Soul at War (3 page)

“Are you coming back yet?” he said
laughing. “We need all the help we can get.”

“If it's bad enough to want me back it
must be bad.”

Jeff's face turned deadly
serious. “All I can say John is it's
that
bad now.”

*

As promised I began finishing the
gates. As I was applying the paint, I heard something above the
bird calls and rustling pines. It was oddly familiar, a sort of
thumping sound, mechanical and deep toned. It shook the turpentine
in the jar on the windowsill. It began to get louder, the thumps
closer together. Putting down the paint pot, I walked out into the
sunlight - until it was blacked out.

It settled down in the field across
the path, anti-grav pads sending clumps of soil and turf in all
directions until they cut off and feet extended out from the sides
like a spider. Then hatches lifted outwards and a set of steps shot
out into the dirt. It was an Mk IV assault speeder, but an updated
one with matt black anti-radar shielding, plexi-glass hatches and
twin machine guns mounted in the nose. Streaked in white lettering
above the frontal exhaust pipes was written 'MILLITARY OFFICE'.
Then a figure emerged from the starboard hatch in olive green
dress, followed by a tall, wide shouldered officer in black
breaches, boots and a peaked cap. Across the arm of his jacket was
a Lieutenants stripe and the pips on his collar confirmed his
rank.

I watched the spectacle for a few
moments, and then returned to the rapidly drying paint.

"Excuse me," A voice shouted over my
fence. It was the Lieutenant's aide, all youth and
arrogance.

"Can I help you?" I shouted without
turning from my work.

"We're looking for a Lieutenant John
Shap. Could you tell us where we might find him, it is of the
utmost urgency."

"There is no man of that rank around
here, Private," I replied, working the brush into the welds where
the catch jutted out. Maybe my fence could rust, but if people saw
the Church gates rusting my reputation would be ruined.

"But is there a John Shap
then?"

"Finished," I said to myself,
satisfied. Putting the brush in the turps, I turned and wiped my
hands on a cloth. "Who's asking?"

"Military command," The Lieutenant
piped up, obviously fed up with the wait. "If we don't find him,
we'll have to hunt him down with dogs until he owns up."

"I didn't see any dogs on that
rust-heap of yours. You're bluffing."

"Try me." The young adjutant looked on
in shock, wondering why his Lieutenant hadn't put a bullet in my
head for my insolence.

"What the hell are you doing in a
black dress, Dan?" I shouted. His aide looked fit to burst, his
face had changed colour.

"What's with the face hair? You get
lazy in your old age, John?"

"What's with the rank? Did you stop
being lazy?" We met half way up the drive and shook hands, all
grins and laughs. "How long has it been, Dan? Nine years or
so?"

"Just about. How the hell are
you?"

"I'm good. Damn good. That's record
time. I was only on the 'link to Simms an hour ago. He's usually
quite slow in reporting people."

"You've been off the scanner for too
long. Sometimes we just need to know where you are and what you're
doing. We don't want another case like we had in New
York."

Dan Burns was an old school
friend. We'd both joined up at sixteen but after a year in basic
we'd gone our separate ways and only met up again as part of a
peace keeping force posted to Ganymede. As usual we'd promised to
keep in touch but such promises were always made on the way
out
of the door. He'd
been a sound bloke though and I'd met a few troopers who'd served
under him who only echoed that assessment.

"So go on, what brings you out this
far? They could have sent anyone to check up on me," I asked. We
were sat on the porch; the sun beating down fiercely now it was
afternoon. That had led to a round of cold beers, then another and
I was just about to get the third when I decided that was enough
small talk. Military Office didn't pay house calls for
fun.

"I suppose you've heard about the Zion
conflict," Dan said.

"I have. Something about an ARC fleet
moving into the region was the latest."

"The information has been delayed.
It's six weeks old. As of last night, we lost two planets to a full
on assault, the other three are in jeopardy and over sixty-three
percent of our forces are being redeployed to make sure they don't
go the same way."

"What's so special about Zion? It's
full of colonists with no war interest, no hostile intentions." Dan
looked to his aide, they exchanged something non-verbal.

"John, this stopped being a war of
property and material gain years ago. To the enemy, it's a
crusade."

"A religious crusade? They're
more like 20
^th
century Communists.”

"Do you remember Scientology in the
twentieth century? How it was started by one man?"

"A tax dodge you mean."

"That's never been proven. They are
following someone called 'Asc Theros', a man who's managed
something we've never been able to do in centuries."

"And that is?" Dan leaned forward,
hands out in front. His face was set like a tombstone.

"Unite the entire population. There
are no factions, no splinter groups following unorthodox practices.
They're a collective, they act as one united force."

"There's nothing new to that.
Communism managed it for a while. Can't we just take out this guy,
this 'Theros'?”

"No chance. There's more to this than
you think. These guys aren't just fanatics. We were able to capture
a supply frigate moving into the sector trying to bypass our lines.
We took several prisoners who weren't able to kill themselves
before we got to them. John, they're like nothing we've ever seen
before. They're brainwashed in ways our shrinks can't begin to
unravel. Plus there's something else.”

“Like what?”

“Their bodies, altered in some way.
Not just improvements, bizarre changes, changes that don't make
sense.” Dan had gone pale, sweat forming beads on his fore head. It
was bothering him and I suspected he'd seen this first
hand.

"Well you'd better get back to it,
Lieutenant. Sounds like the world needs you." I made for the
kitchen, but Dan was on his feet.

"Let's not dick about, John. According
to your contract, you're property of the Military Office for
another eighteen months."

"Are you conscripting me?" I felt like
throwing the glass at him - if I thought it would help. I'd seen
this coming long before now, only it was confirmed when the Mk IV
had landed. He was right, I might have been kicked out, but that
didn't end the contract. It just left it open until I was
needed.

"You're being recalled to active
service, effective immediately."

"Why me? It's not like I was a war
hero, not some medal winner. Why waste all this time to get
me?"

There was something in Dan's eyes,
something that hadn't been there on the battlefield all those
bloody years ago. It was the same look Mark had, that look of
despair, of helplessness but kept back only by a glitter of hope
somewhere deep within it.

"You were there. On the front lines in
that sector. You know the terrain, the tactics of...”

“Go on. The tactics of
what?”

“Of Rorsch. Of Major Heinrich Rorsch.
He's why we can't kill their leader. He's one of our
own.”

"No," I said, flatly. “Not a chance.
The guy was a nut job even when he was on our side of the battle
barges. It might never have been proven but that's why we lost
Pothos, that's why we lost that fucking farm world. Nobody listened
to me then either.”

“Well I can assure you, they're
listening now.”

The sun was beating down now and the
air was thick with the lazy scent of summer. I could imagine
harvest, or days just sitting on the porch with a cold beer, or one
of the village barbeques. "I'm not going back there. You can drag
me if you want, but if you've really read that file you'll know
exactly what will happen. I’m not some ‘story’ you can sell to meat
fresh out of basic, my war days are over.”

There was a stretch of silence between
us, Dan looking straight at me. Then he got to his feet, put on his
cap and held out his hand.

"If you change your mind." We shook,
his grip firm and resolute - like a man with a purpose. Then his
aide handed me a slip of yellow paper with a number on. "We leave
for Zion tomorrow night."

"I'm confident that the war will go on
without me."

"Indeed. It was good to see you
again," he said and headed back towards the Mk IV.

"Thanks for the beer," His aide added,
quickly following. Then the anti-grav units churned up more of the
field and a moment later they were gone, a speck that disappeared
into the clouds.

*

The following day I was sat out in the
garden that stretched across the back of the house, taking in the
bird calls and sipping lemonade from a chipped glass. It was
slightly overcast and the sky seemed to be moody, the air tingling
with tension. I was just starting to shut my eyes for a moment when
I heard the side gate squeal open.

"Good morning," Mark said, taking the
seat next to me.

"It doesn't look like it will be a
good afternoon. Look at that sky." Something bounded across the
overgrown grass, a swift blur of browns and grays.

"I saw that speeder land yesterday,"
he said. "For a brief moment I thought it was looking for
me."

"I'm sorry, I never thought. I got in
touch with my friend at the MOD, he confirmed that David was in the
Zion system on Sidon one of your missionary planets but that's all.
Communications are limited now. I meant to come round and tell you
but as you saw the MOD were glad to pay me a visit once they traced
where I was. Sorry.”

"Actually I came to apologise to you,
I thought maybe you'd received some bad news yourself."

"Well," I said. "Some might say it was
bad news. It was an old army buddy, come to take me
back."

"He didn't do a very good job - you're
still here." We laughed. I hesitated to tell him what Dan had said.
In the end I had to tell him though I knew what it might mean to
him.

"He offered me a post in the Zion
group. My former rank and command as before," I said. Mark's face
took a serious turn. I didn't add any more to the story, there was
enough for him to worry about.

"Quite a position, John. Well unless
you're leaving tomorrow, I assume you turned it down."

"I'm afraid so. It would just be too
much, seeing it again; I don't know how I'd react. I could end up
getting people killed if I hesitated even once. I'm what they call
a liability now."

"But they would have known your past,
it's the military. They obviously thought that you still had the
ability to command.”

"Who knows? Anyway, I turned it down.
I like my life the way it is."

"Well only you and God know how you
feel. I'm sure you made the right decision." He got up to
leave.

“Mark.” I called. He stopped and
turned. “Forget it.” I replied. Maybe some things are best not
said.

Out on the front we walked to the
path, but before he passed through the gates I caught something
missing in his eyes. Where Dan's had held a tiny glimmer of hope
for the future, Mark's had faded like a dead star. It didn't take a
genius to figure out what he'd have thought when seeing that
speeder land on the porch of an ex-soldier, he was only human. But
most of all he was a father and that put David above everybody else
and I expect the very concept of doing so cut him
deeply.

“Mark.” He turned. “Say the
word.”

“Excuse me?”

“Say it and I'll go. I'll try and find
him, bring him home.”

“I can't ask you to do that. He might
not even...”

“That's a possibility.”

“But John, I have no other hope.” he
muttered, choked.

“I didn't think so.”

CHAPTER 3

The troop transport vessel 'Midian'
lurched out of the magna-locks with a shudder of power as the twin
fusion engines kicked into life. Out in the deep blackness of
space, the ship traversed a small asteroid field before settling
into a steady flight plan. In two weeks we'd be arriving at Sidon,
the first planet in the Zion group. There Lt. Dan Burns expected to
rendezvous with the battle cruiser 'Avalon' where we would begin
deployment as required.

There had been no fresh reports from
Zion and I was partly glad. The last communication that Burns had
received reported that the enemy fleet was still several weeks from
the next planet and that Command was confident we would be deployed
well in advance. I was in no rush to resume active combat detail,
but I had a strange comfort from being back amongst troops again.
It was like putting on a familiar pair of shoes, instantly I felt
at ease and in my rightful place.