Different Paths
Author: A.E. McCullough
Date: 2012-03-19 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction; Military Science Fiction
Description: IN THE YEAR 2212, IAIDO ‘ACHILLES’ SPARTAN IS A HUNTER OF MEN. As a former Spec-Ops warrior, Spartan has found that the skills given to him by the Coalition government are well suited to his new occupation. After retrieving a lucrative bounty, Spartan returns to Terran space and finds that one of his oldest friends has been murdered. Vowing to track down the killer, he soon becomes the unwilling pawn in an interstellar power struggle between two old rivals, his former Omega Squadron Commander and the President of the Coalition. When Spartan is forced to kill his mentor in self-defense, he is a

A battle of brothers…

Iaido was gone.

Achilles was gone.

At this very moment, there was no conscious thought. The individual known as Iaido to his friends and Achilles to his enemies was nothing more than the living embodiment of his swords. He leaped and rolled, blocked and countered, attacked and defended all without thought.

Each of the three warriors had their own advantages and disadvantages in this battle. The point was to capitalize on their strengths while minimizing their weakness. In this aspect, Iaido had several advantages over his brothers since he was wielding two katanas which gave him plenty of flexibility in his attacks. Granted, Aeneas was also using two weapons but a gladius was best used up close. Hector was using a single katana but seemed to be able to manipulate the surrounding shadows into a shield.

Iaido’s foremost weakness had nothing to do with himself; it had to do with the General. That was their main target and that was something he had to protect at all cost. His one major advantage was that Aeneas and Hector were also enemies to each other. Yes, they were both against him but neither one could press their attack for fear of retribution.

Then, it happened…

Novels by A.E. McCullough

Available on Amazon in print or eBook format

The Tales of the Wolf Series

The Coming of the Wolf (Book 1)

Enter the Wolf (Book 2)

Darkness Falls (Book 3)
Coming the spring of 2013

The Last Spartan Series

The Last Spartan: Different Paths

The Last Spartan: DJ’s Mission

The Last Spartan: The Great Hunt
Coming in the fall of 2013

Lost Lands: the Game

A different kind of fantasy novel.

Coming mid 2013

The Last Spartan

Different Paths

A.E. McCullough

Copyright © 2012 by Andrew McCullough

This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Cover Art by Phillip K. Aiken

First Edition: March 2012

Revised Edition: January 2013
www.aemccullough.com
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This novel is dedicated to the men and women of Louisville Metro Corrections.

We do an important but thankless job for society. Day in and day out, we walk our assigned beat surrounded by negativity and hatred but we strive to never let it get to us. I am proud to stand by each and every one of you. We are officers, not guards. We are truly…Law Enforcement Professionals.

A special thanks to Scott, Alex and Jody who were my early test readers and gave me some wonderful insights and suggestions.

Several others could be mentioned by name but I will abstain. When you read this, you will know who you are and thanks for your inspiration.

About the Cover Artist

Phillip K. Aiken is a freelance digital artist, illustrator, computer technician and writer. He has worked as a self-taught computer technician for over 7 years and has certifications in computer programming and computer technology. He currently lives in South Carolina and can be contacted at: pkaiken@yahoo.com

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I met Phillip when I held a cover contest on the DAZ3D Art Studio forums. Phillip submitted several cover ideas and eventually won the contest. I am thrilled to have him as my cover artist. – A. E. McCullough

Contents

- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Epilogue

Chapter 1

Heads.

Tails.

Heads.

The two men watched the silver coin flip through the air with undisguised interest. A few of the nearby passengers on the tram aimlessly watched the ancient coin on its short flight. While the coin was still in the air the smaller of the two men glanced at the mass of people around them and sneered. He mentally compared the masses to cattle being herded to the slaughter house; they were totally unaware of their impending doom. He caught the silver coin and slapped a hand over the outcome. He wanted to savor this fateful moment. Would they get to live or die? It all hung on the toss of a simple coin.

His larger companion nudged him. “Come on….let’s see it.”

With a feral grin, he lifted his hand and cussed. “Dammit! Its tails! They get to live.”

“Come on my friend, this is our stop and we have a job to do.”

“One last toss, heads it’s my choice who we kill first… the husband or the wife and tails, it’s your choice.”

The larger of the two men thought about it for a split second before answering, “You’re on!”

The coin flipped once more and the fate of some nameless couple was decided.

Silently they stood up and moved toward the door. The mass of people on the tram parted at their approach without a word from either man; young and old, punker or yuppie moved aside without comment. It wasn’t their style of dress. The flat black body armor was a common sight since the war ended. Many veterans still wore their old armor like a badge of honor. However, neither the weapons worn at their waist nor the aura of danger which they radiated was commonplace.

Either of these would’ve been enough to warrant easy passage through the crowd but it was the five-pointed star hanging at their necks which provoked the most fear. No one in their right mind messed with a Galactic Marshal.

Chapter 2

“Dammit! Pick up!”

“This is Spartan. I am currently unavailable. Leave a message and contact codes.” Beep…

“Shit! Achilles, this is the Sergeant Major. I need you! Contact me as soon as you get this message. You know it’s urgent or I wouldn’t have called. I have a bounty and I need your help. It could be a matter of life or death, old friend.”

Clicking the vid-phone off, the old man let his gaze sweep across the pictures and awards that hung above his desk. His Honorable Discharge certificate from the UNCF - United Nations Coalition Forces - hung next to the plaque handed to him by the Coalition President on the day he was awarded the Medal of Honor. The coveted medal hung in a nearby shadow box along with the Silver Star, Purple Heart and a dozen other Coalition Awards of Merit he’d earned over his twenty-two years of service.

Reaching up, he carefully took down an old fashion photograph of his unit; the slightly discolored sides of the oak frame showed that he had performed this ritual many times in the past. As he moved to place it in the open briefcase on the desk, two small arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his legs.

“Daddy. Daddy. I’m all packed.”

Reaching down to remove his daughter’s arms, John squatted down to look her in the eyes. “That’s wonderful Eve. I’m almost finished here and Amy is getting the skimmer from the garage.”

Cocking her head slightly to the side, Eve’s platinum blonde locks fell in front of her blue eyes exposing her slightly pointed ears that marked her mixed heritage. Looking around the office while absentmindedly toying with a crystal pendant that hung on a silver chain around her neck, she asked the question he most feared.

“Daddy, why are we leaving tonight?”

John felt his heart twinge at his daughter’s question. She wasn’t scared, just confused. How does a father tell his only child that the sins of his past were coming back to haunt him?

Taking a deep breath he said, “Eve, it’s hard to explain.”

Gazing into his daughter’s eyes he saw the immeasurable trust that the young have in their parents. He knew this was a wonderful age…before the dreaded teenage years, before boys and shopping and the independent thinking that comes with growing up. This was an age where their children still thought their parents knew everything. It was a wonderful if not frightening time.

Pulling his mind back to her question John said, “Let’s just say that we have to play a game of hide-n-seek but a grown-up version. There are people trying to find us, so we have to hide.”

Eve clapped her hands together and just accepted his explanation. “Okay Daddy. I’m good at hide-n-seek.”

“I know you are princess. Now, let me finish in here so we can leave.”

Thump. A noise from the front of the apartment filled the room.

John quickly drew a pistol from his shoulder holster; a slight hum filled the study as the pistol powered up. “Quick Eve, hide! And don’t come out until me, Amy or your uncle Achilles comes for you. Now go!”

Moving to the door, he glanced back in time to glimpse her blonde hair disappearing into the panic room. Gripping the pistol in his right hand, finger on the trigger, his left hand cupping the right to provide counter-tension; the retired sergeant major stepped into the hallway.

Moving slowly, his eyes scanned the area before moving on. Though it had been nearly a decade since he served, it seemed that old habits die hard. Only subconsciously did his brain register the empty spaces where pictures had hung only hours before, the rest of his mind was absorbed in the environment, listening for unusual noises or watching for movement. Reaching the doorway that opened into the kitchen, John took a deep breath and burst through the opening ready to blast anything that moved.

Whatever he was expecting, finding his wife standing in the kitchen crying was not one of them. With a flick of his finger, he powered down his pistol and he replaced it in his shoulder holster.

“Honey? What is it? What’s wrong?”

Moving forward to embrace his wife, his instincts screamed at the wrongness of the situation but he ignored them. “Amy…us leaving is only temporary. We’ll be back.”

She shook her head as tears streamed down her face and moved in to embrace her husband. For a brief second she clung to him with all her might. Pulling out of his grasp, she plunged a butcher knife deep into her husband’s chest and screamed, “No, we won’t!”

Pulling out the knife, she stabbed him again and again; stopping only when his corpse lay on the floor in a growing pool of blood. Amy took one last glance around at her kitchen, pulled a hand towel off the rack and made a quick cut with the knife. Dropping the knife at her feet, she tied the two towel pieces together thereby doubling its length. Wrapping the makeshift cord around her legs right above the ankles, she sat down with her legs folded underneath her. Retrieving the knife, she placed the razor sharp edge on the side of her neck, smiled briefly and with a quick slash, sliced through her carotid artery.

Chapter 3

“One minute until re-entry. Please secure all loose cargo and fasten all seat-belts.” Pax’s monotone voice echoed over the speakers throughout the ship.

Iaido moved forward, seated himself into the captain’s chair and clicked the five-point restraint system into place. “All right Pax, arm all missiles, ready the cannons and power up the deflector shields.”

“Affirmative.”

Iaido could tell that Pax, his ship’s A.I. - Artificial Intelligence - was slightly offended at being told the obvious but then he didn’t like leaving anything to chance. He studied the star chart on the screen at his side before adding, “Prepare evasion programs Charlie and Delta.”

“Affirmative.”

Iaido glanced out the cockpit window. He could tell that re-entry was only seconds away by the way the lights danced around his ship.

Technically, any starship equipped with a hyperdrive could enter or exit hyperspace at any point in space. For ease of trans-galactic travel, the Galactic Marshals had set specific marker buoys throughout the region and those routes were logged into every astronavigation computer. However, re-entry from hyperspace was always tricky.  Certain natural phenomenon such as comets, solar storms and meteors tended to affect ships traveling in hyperspace. A few unnatural objects could do the same thing, most notably a gravitational generator.

Grav-gens were a piece of hardware designed to create artificial gravity for use on orbiting space platforms. It was a wonderful peaceful invention that the military perverted for its own wartime uses. It had been known to be used as a method to pull ships out of hyperspace early or at wrong locations, such as near a planet where the gravitational forces would pull it to its doom or into an ambush. With the war officially over, several mercenary companies had gone rogue and had been raiding known shipping lanes. At least one of these pirate bands had a working grav-gen and was using it to good effect.

The Galactic Marshals hadn’t been able to capture these pirates yet and had placed an ample bounty on them. Iaido wasn’t even tempted by the sum…at least not until it was double the current amount.

Pax triggered an alarm notifying him of re-entry. A sudden lurch forward and the stars settled into normal patterns was all that marked their emergence from hyperspace. Iaido quickly pulled up and back on the yoke with a quick turn to starboard, thereby taking his starship into a ninety degree vector from his initial re-entry. A quick glance at one of the monitors showed that his prisoner was secure and in relative good health.

“We have company. Two bogies at three o’clock. Twenty-five kilometers out and closing fast. Preliminary scans show both vessels to be Raptor Class, Mark 4s.”

Iaido’s HUDs, heads-up-display system, began showing him all pertinent data on the enemy ships. The Raptor M4 was a one-man starfighter with no hyperspace drive but large sub-light engines capable of pushing the ship to speeds of zero point eight the speed of light. Standard armament consists of ten anti-matter missiles, one .75 caliber projectile cannon, two turbo-lasers and minimal deflector shields. The Raptor was a military grade starfighter primarily meant for interplanetary defense. Built by Titan Avionics, they were originally designed and built for a Coalition contract in 2120 but lost the final contest to the Avionics Strategic International Dragon which has become the standard UNCF Fleet starfighter for the last quarter century. Titan Avionics was left to peddle their starfighter to the colonists. However during the war, the Confederacy had used the Raptor to deadly effect. Iaido wasn’t overly concerned over the turbo lasers or the Raptor’s cannons. Neither were powerful enough to penetrate his shields on any single hit, a constant barrage would most defiantly hurt but nothing short of that would harm his ship. On the other hand, the anti-matter missiles the Raptor carried could easily disable or destroy his starship. Since these bogies were the latest version of the Raptor; Iaido knew that these pilots took care of their ships.

“Incoming transmission from the lead Raptor,” Pax said. “They are maneuvering for missile lock, target jammers at max but estimate missile lock in twenty-five seconds, plus or minus five seconds.”

“Roger. Evasion pattern Charlie. Prepare countermeasures and plot an escape vector back to hyperspace.” Nodding in satisfaction at Pax’s efficiency Iaido said, “Now put this idiot through.”

“Starship Nemesis, power down all systems and prepare to be boarded.”

Iaido toggled his mic. “On whose authority?”

“This is Captain Dixon of the Jupiter Defense League.”

“My apologies captain but I have checked my nav-system and I am in inter-galactic space. So, I will have to respectfully decline.”

“Starship Nemesis that was not a request! You will power down all systems and prepare to be boarded. You are harboring a known fugitive and we plan to take custody of him.”

“Now we are getting somewhere, Captain Dixon,” said Iaido. “You want Jagger Jax? That’s a simple matter; pay the bounty on him and he’s yours.”

While his wingman broke to port, the JDL captain slid his ship onto Iaido’s tail tighter than a bra on a ten-dollar whore. “We don’t pay bounties!”

“I didn’t think so.” Iaido tapped several commands into his nav-system. “If you aren’t willing to pay, then no deal.”

“This is your last warning Nemesis...power down or die.”

“Not today, Captain.”

Although the Raptors were newer, smaller and more agile than his aging warship, Iaido was a veteran of many battles and had numerous tricks in his arsenal. Cutting the power to the engines, he pulled hard up on the ship’s controls while firing the maneuvering jets causing his warship to flip on its axis. It was now facing the complete opposite direction; right toward the JDL Captain’s Raptor but was still moving forward on its previous vector. Having never encountered that particular trick before, Captain Dixon panicked and pulled his ship hard up which exposed his engines to Iaido. A quick burst from the Nemesis’ 50mm railguns and the JDL Raptor was floating helplessly in space.

Seeing his commander in trouble, the JDL wingman altered course to intercept and fired.

“Incoming missiles.  Anti-matter signature,” said Pax. “Firing counter-measures and engines. Initiating evasion pattern Delta.”

Iaido could do nothing but hold on as Pax accelerated to combat velocity and twisted the Nemesis in an intricate evasion pattern that confused missiles and pilots alike. The JDL Raptor dropped in behind and the chase was on. Of course, the Raptor was one-fifth the size of the Nemesis and probably three times as maneuverable but they didn’t have Pax. Iaido was a skilled pilot; his flight log would show that but he also knew his limits. With two anti-matter missiles homing in on his ship, he knew that Pax was their best chance for outmaneuvering the missiles. All missiles operated on a scaled down version of A.I.s, not anywhere near as advanced as Pax and very limited, but still fully capable of tracking starships through an asteroid field. All A.I.s operate on an advanced algorithm that Iaido didn’t understand nor did he want to, however he knew when to let Pax do her thing and when not to, and this was a time to let go of the reins.

Pax danced the warship through several hard banking moves which caused Iaido to experience over one hundred times the normal gravity force for several seconds. He felt the G-forces trying to push the blood out of his torso and into his extremities. But at the same time, he knew his armor would react to the increased pressure; the interior lining would automatically constrict on his legs and arms forcing blood out of his extremities and back into his torso. Having years of space combat experience, these maneuvers were unlikely to cause him to pass out. Even so, if Pax continued pulling those types of turns there was still that possibility.

Iaido glanced at the monitors and could see that the missiles were closing. Pax dropped a few more countermeasures and took the Nemesis into a corkscrewing spin, getting faster with each revolution. Iaido watched as the missiles also started the corkscrewing motion. With each rotation the missiles got closer together until they finally ran into each other which detonated their warheads.

The Nemesis rocked slightly with the force of the explosions but it was already outside the dangerous blast radius and closing on the remaining Raptor.

“Pax, charge the EMP cannon and give me manual controls.”

Twisting the ship, Iaido fired a quick burst of cannon fire. The 50mm railgun rounds flew harmlessly to the port side of his opponent yet the JDL pilot reacted by banking hard to his starboard. With a slight grin, Iaido twisted the controls a bit and let another burst, this time to starboard. The JDL pilot immediately banked to port, showing Iaido how unskilled the pilot really was, he was reacting reflexively to cannon fire that had no chance of striking his starship. Iaido began to herd the Raptor with short blasts from his cannons while using the powerful engines on his warship to close the distance.

Pax announced, “EMP ready and active”.

EMP, Electro Magnetic Pulse, cannons have disadvantages and advantages in combat. The disadvantages are severe considering combat conditions; EMP cannons take time to charge, require a lot of energy and have a very short range. The effective target range was less than three thousand meters, which is almost point blank range for combat situations in space. However, Iaido had always found that the advantages offered by the EMP cannon especially useful in trying to capture a mark. There was no need for a target lock since the blast covered a wide area in front of the cannon and any ship caught in it would find all of its electronic components immediately disabled.

With an EMP cannon, Iaido had an effective way of stopping the fleeing ship without destroying it if his mark bolted; giving him a salvage claim once the criminal was convicted.

Iaido had gotten the Nemesis, his Cerberus class warship, from one such mark. A UNCF Fleet captain had gone rogue, hijacked an old warship and was raiding local shipping lanes. For six months the Fleet was unable to capture him and out of desperation placed a bounty on the rogue captain and his crew. It took Iaido exactly three days for the capture.

He loaded a small freighter with an EMP cannon, cross-referenced all the routes the rogue captain had been raiding then flew the routes himself. When the rogue warship approached and threatened Iaido’s freighter, he powered down all systems except the EMP cannon and waited till the rogue captain came in range before disabling it with one quick shot. This left the deadly warship adrift in space and at Iaido’s mercy. After towing the disabled warship to the closet UNCF station, he received the bounty for the AWOL officers and filed his claim for the salvage on the warship. Since the Medusa, his ship’s original name, wasn’t an active Fleet vessel at the time, it had been decommissioned for nearly twenty years; the UNCF was obligated to honor his salvage claim. With the large bounty and a warship at his disposal, Iaido ‘Achilles’ Spartan the bounty hunter was born.

“Range to Raptor Beta forty-one hundred meters and closing fast…Raptor Beta is within effective EMP range. Range to Raptor twenty-seven hundred meters…”

Iaido triggered the EMP cannon. It blasted out in front of the Nemesis in a wide arc and looked like a lightning storm in space. Engulfing the Raptor, all systems were immediately shorted out and the JDL Raptor became a flying coffin, still heading in its last direction.

Iaido keyed his mic. “Nemesis to Captain Dixon.”

“Go for Captain Dixon.”

“I let you live this time, take this as a lesson learned and one not to be repeated.”

“Nemesis, there will be another day and another time. This isn’t over.”

“Yes it is. Heed my warning or die. I have you marked, Captain Dixon. Don’t cross me again. Next time I won’t be merciful.”

Iaido turned off the com-link. “Pax send out a level one distress for the Raptors, plot a course for home and complete a sector scan of the surrounding area.”

“Affirmative. Distress beacon dropped and course laid in to Starbase Alpha. ETA three hours. Sector scan is clear of all traffic.”

“Engage.”

“Captain, you have three messages waiting for you.”

Unhooking his harness, Iaido stood up and stretched. “Transfer the messages to the dojo.”

“Affirmative.”

Moving out of the cockpit, Iaido moved down the short passageway to the main deck of the warship. It wasn’t large but he had converted the mess hall to a workout room. A heavy bag hung from the beams, a small shrine was along one bulkhead, a futon was against the opposite bulkhead with a vid-display and comm-center controls alongside it. Pulling off his helmet, Iaido placed it on a rack designed for his armor.

“Play messages.”

The image of a petite blonde with short spiky hair filled the screen. His assistant Diana had a gorgeous smile that was infectious.

“Hiya Boss. Here’s the run down. KC is going to meet you at Stardock 5 at 0600 hours UTC, try not to be late. Don’t forget to collect the bonuses on the bounty. You know they always conveniently forget about them. Also be careful, it seems the knowledge of your cargo has leaked and you may run across some bounty jumpers. Oh…some guy named Sergeant Major Spenton called for you earlier and said he was an old friend. He seemed to be a bit upset but left no contact info. That’s about it. See you when you get back.”

Blowing the camera a kiss, Diana ended her transmission.

Iaido looked at the timestamp on the message. “Hmmm… nearly eight hours ago. That would’ve been useful information before we entered hyperspace.”

The timestamp on the next message placed it almost seven and a half hours old. The scene was a dark room with military plaques and awards hanging in the background. It was the Sergeant Major and Diana was right, he did look old.

“Shit! Achilles, this is the Sergeant Major. I need you! Contact me as soon as you get this message. You know it’s urgent or I wouldn’t have called. I have a bounty and I need your help. It could be a matter of life or death, old friend.”

Tapping the controls to pause the image, Iaido studied the face of his friend. Yes he had aged, it happens to normals but the look in his friend’s eyes was fear. Having served with the sergeant major under some very stressful circumstances, he had never seen that look in his eyes. Plus, he wouldn’t have used his old codename unless he was afraid someone was listening and needed to get a warning out.

“Pax, place a return call and let me know when you get through.”

“Affirmative.”

Iaido tapped the controls to play the last message; the text message flashed across his screen.

‘I AM IN NEED OF YOUR SERVICES. VISIT ME UPON YOUR ARRIVAL. SENSEI’

“Pax, double check all sensor readings; notify me of any anomalies no matter how small or insignificant they seem.”

“Affirmative.”

Iaido climbed the ladder which led up to the crew cabins and paused at the first door. Tapping the controls to gain entry, the door slid back to reveal a room covered with strands of white fibers which stretched from deck to ceiling and bulkhead to bulkhead. In the center was a seven foot tall cocoon. A dark shape could occasionally be seen moving inside.

“Pax, any change?”

“Negative. Life signs are nominal but no change in status.”

Iaido moved to the large cocoon, placed his hands gently on the form inside and whispered, “How much longer, my friend? I have a feeling that I’m going to need your help in the days to come.”

Iaido secured the cabin door before moving back down the ladder to the dojo. Pausing at a small altar, he lit two sticks of incense and ceremoniously waved them over each shoulder before placing them on the altar. He sat down in the lotus position with legs crossed with his feet on the top of thighs, cleared his mind and relaxed; content to await his arrival to Starbase Alpha.

Chapter 4

Lieutenant Charles Kristopher moved through the crowded starport with an easy confident gait. His khaki slacks, black loafers and bright red polo shirt were a sharp contrast to his ebony skin. He could’ve been just one of a thousand people moving though the starport if he wasn’t accompanied by five SWAT officers in full tactical armor.

He glanced at the people moving aimlessly through the Starbase; most ignored them, they were too busy with their own lives to wonder what a SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team was doing here.

Starbase Alpha boasted three hundred thousand residents who lived and worked on the edge of space on a daily basis. This was just one of five floating fortresses that were in geo-synchronistic orbit around Earth. Starbase Alpha was the closest to the eastern seaboard of North America hovering almost directly above the decimated region that once was New York City. Most space traffic that was heading to this region came through here so it wasn’t uncommon to see ground forces. However, it was uncommon to have them in full tactical gear but few citizens did more than glance at the group.

Lt. Kristopher knew that his escort was entirely for show. Their destination was already staked out and under surveillance by the rest of the SWAT-Four and SWAT-Six teams. He heard a voice on the tac-net (tactical network) through the cybernetic implant in his left ear.

“All units be advised that Starship Nemesis has just received clearance for docking in landing bay five.”

Lt. Kristopher keyed his sub-vocal mic, another cybernetic implant, but this one on his vocal chords and asked, “ETA?”

He knew that his transmission would be tagged with an identifier visible to all SWAT members in their tactical armor that it was him asking.

“Five minutes, sir.”

Slipping on a set of mil-spec glasses, it only took a few seconds for the glasses to interface with his cybernetic implants and the HUD popped up on the edge of his vision. He knew that the three SWAT teams assigned to this detail would be entering a high-stress situation and he hated to compound their stress but experience had taught him to leave few things to chance.

Keying his transmission to broadcast on the team-wide tac-net Lt. Kristopher said, “All units are to hold positions and weapons on safe. This is a no-fire situation. I say again, a no-fire situation. You are not authorized to fire unless fired upon. All units confirm no-fire order.”

His HUD switched to green as all units responded with confirmation of the no-fire order. He knew that a few members weren’t happy about it but being good little grunts they would follow orders, or at least he hoped they would. He didn’t want to experience another friendly fire incident like those that he’d lived through during the war.

As they entered the hangar Sgt. Hamilton, the most junior SWAT sergeant in his escort, broke the silence. “El-tee, I know this Spartan fellow is a friend of yours but your no-fire order is very unorthodox.”

Lt. Kristopher did a quick check of his HUD to confirm that they were on their local channel and not team-wide before replying. “You are correct but until you experience a blue-on-blue situation, you don’t have the right to question a no-fire order.”

“Blue-on-blue?”

The commander of SWAT-Six Lieutenant Dominic Palummo answered. “It’s military jargon for friendly fire. We lost numerous troops and ships during the war to friendly fire. After the unfortunate destruction of the Arizona there was a standing order for any call of blue-on-blue to be grounds for immediate cease-fire.”

“Aye-aye sir,” said Sgt. Hamilton. “I wasn’t questioning the El-tee’s right to give the order; I was trying to understand the need for it?”

Lt. Kristopher looked over his shoulder at the SWAT commander. “He’s your sergeant.”

“True,” Lt. Palummo replied, “but this bounty hunter is your friend and you did give the order.”

“Fair enough.” Lt. Kristopher turned his attention back to the warship which was taxiing to a docking space nearby. Seeing they still had about a minute before it docked he explained, “I gave the order for two reasons. One, I don’t want any trigger-happy grunt to accidentally shoot our prisoner or my friend.”

The Nemesis came to a smooth stop a hundred feet away.

Sgt. Hamilton asked, “And the second?”

While they waited for the gangplank to be lowered to the hangar deck, Lt. Kristopher turned to the young SWAT Sergeant. “If there was an accidental misfire and a round just happened to be near my friend Spartan or his prisoner before we assumed custody, I would have to explain to that officer’s next of kin why he died.”

Sgt. Hamilton shook his head slightly. “I don’t understand sir.”

“Let me be blunt. If someone takes a shot at Spartan, there wouldn’t be a damn thing that anyone in this hangar could do to stop him from killing that individual.”

As the gangplank touched the hangar deck and the hatch opened, a fully armored figured stepped into view. Even to the SWAT officers, the bounty hunter looked daunting. His armor was primarily black and silver with highlights of scarlet. It seemed to be form-fitting and more anatomically correct than the bulky SWAT armor. Although his face was hidden by an opaque dome, a floating skull seemed to grin at the officers. His hands were empty at the moment but several weapons, including twin blasters at his hips and the hilt of a sword were clearly visible and within easy reach.

After a moment Sgt. Hamilton added, “But sir… he’s only a bounty hunter?”

“That might be his job for the moment but that isn’t who he is and trust me sergeant, you don’t ever want to be on his bad side.”

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido paused at the top of the gangplank and scanned the landing bay visually and with the electronic sensors in his combat armor. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but that didn’t mean anything. The scan showed that there were at least thirty androids in the landing bay and twenty-three humans. Judging from their readings all but five of the humans had combat augments. The androids and four of the humans were concentrated around the nine other starships parked in this hangar bay. Iaido could assume that they were doing numerous maintenance tasks on those ships, although he knew that assumptions were the mother-of-all screw-ups.

“Pax, any unusual comm traffic in the area?”

“Affirmative. There are numerous shielded transmissions from all corners of this hangar.”

“Probably the SWAT tac-net. Can you crack it?”

“Negative. It is encrypted and they are using burst transmissions which are difficult to localize and track.”

“And you can’t crack their encryption? I’m shocked.”

Pax’s monotone voice didn’t fully hide the sarcasm in her answer. “I mis-spoke. I answered the unspoken portion of your question which was if I could crack their encryption in the amount of time it takes you to descend the gangplank. Since it will take you exactly nine point three seconds to descend, there is insufficient time to localize and crack the encrypted transmissions.”

“It’s okay Pax. I wasn’t questioning your capabilities.” Seeing the approaching police escorts, Iaido became serious. “Run your diagnostics and let Jay’s techs know what you need.”

“Affirmative.”

Moving down the gangplank, Iaido spotted his friend and noted that he was flanked by five heavily armed grunts in black combat suits with SWAT emblazed across their chest in white.

Lt. Kristopher was his old XO, military jargon for Executive Officer, usually the second in command of a military unit but had become one of his closest friends after the war and one of the few people Iaido really trusted.

Iaido’s HUD was busy displaying information about the SWAT grunts.

Each had combat augments to enhance speed and reaction time but was within the legal limits set by the Coalition for law enforcement officers, greater than those allowed to civilians but far below those allowed for the military. Each SWAT officer carried the latest police issued ‘Riot Rifle’ commonly referred to as the R-Gun. It was a combination weapon of less-than lethal and lethal technology; with an ultrasonic blast for rendering unruly subjects unconscious, a lightning blast to disable augmented humans, advanced pepper spray for crowd control and two-hundred rounds of lethal force in the form of 5mm railgun ammo.

With a signal from his friend, the SWAT escort halted fifty feet from the Nemesis and took up a watchful but defensive stance. Iaido realized they were trying to scan him to get an idea what they were facing. Of course, he knew they weren’t receiving any type of reading about him or his armor. His ARC Suit --Assault-Recon-Combat-- was far more advanced than theirs. Being ex-military issue it had no discernible pattern or reflective surfaces. It was made from the finest alloys available and was protection against most ballistic weapons and all forms of non-lethal technology. Powered by a small anti-matter generator, it had an array of electronic marvels; HUD, scanners, jammers, comms and an onboard weapon system. It truly was a self-contained assault weapon in itself.

Lt. Kristopher stepped forward. “Iaido you old warhorse!”

Activating the external speakers, Iaido’s voice was slightly hollow when he replied. “Hello KC.”

Lt. Palummo asked over the local SWAT tac-net. “KC? Where did you get that nickname?”

Kristopher answered over their local channel. “In the military, everything is last name first, first name last. So I was known more often as Kristopher - Charles or KC.” Turning his attention back to his friend Kristopher asked, “Don’t you ever take that damn armor off?”

“Typically…but not when I’m transporting cargo.”

Lt. Palummo’s voice once again asked over their local channel. “Cargo?”

It was Sgt. Hamilton who answered. “Bounty Hunters commonly refer to their prisoners as ‘marks’ before capture and ‘cargo’ afterwards. I supposed it helps dehumanize the targets in their minds.”

“How do you know that Hammy?”

“College classes in Criminal Justice Psychology. You would be amazed at some of the facts I have rolling around in my head.”

“Ssshhh,” came a voice tagged with Lt. Kristopher’s identifier.

Iaido took a moment to study his old friend as he talked in the private SWAT channel.

KC still looked to be in good shape. His ebony skin betrayed his Caribbean ancestry while his short dark hair and mustache were beginning to show a bit of gray at the temples.

After a moment, Iaido gestured toward the escorts. “Who are the grunts?”

Glancing back, Kristopher shrugged his shoulders. “Guard dogs. Your bounty has ruffled a few feathers around here. We’ve had calls from just about everyone he ever swindled. Any problems getting here?”

“Just the JDL. They tried to bounty jump me as I exited hyperspace.”

“We were afraid of that. They have become more aggressive over the last few months. I’ll have to contact the Galactic Marshals about them…again.” Kristopher shook his head to clear it. “But that is my concern; not yours. So, where is this scumbag?”

Iaido moved to the stern of his ship and pointed at a hatch. “Right here.”

“In the cargo compartment? Why would you stick him in there?”

As Iaido punched in the code to unlock the compartment and the hatch slid back to reveal a well-muscled man who was bound, feet, hands, knees and arms. A helmet covered his head and he was securely strapped to the deck.

“He stinks.”

Kristopher got a whiff of the unmistakable odor of feces and the smell nearly overwhelmed him. “Gods above! That’s horrendous. Where did you find him?”

“Haven. He was playing pool in a bar. When I identified myself he made a break for it and jumped into a sewer to escape capture. It didn’t work.”

Pulling off the prisoner’s helmet, Iaido tossed it back into the cargo hold.

Free of the helmet, Jagger Jax snarled at Iaido. When he spoke, it was in a raspy voice. “You stupid son of a bitch! You ruined my jacket! You’ll pay for that.”

“No I won’t.” Iaido slammed the cargo hatch shut. There was a loud clunk as the hatch connected with the criminal’s head. The bounty hunter turned his attention back to his friend. “Now…about my payment?”

Lt. Kristopher gestured the SWAT grunts forward but Iaido moved slightly and blocked their access to the hatch. The SWAT officers stopped in their tracks and eyed the bounty hunter suspiciously. Without saying a word, Iaido had become more deadly and they recognized that fact.

When Iaido spoke his voice seemed colder, more distant. “Business first. If you want Jagger Jax, then you must pay the bounty.”

Lt. Kristopher cleared his throat to ease the tension he felt building between his friend and the SWAT officers. Pulling out a cred-stix he said, “Relax. I have your hundred thousand credits here.”

“Negative, the price is two-hundred thousand. The base bounty was one-hundred but there is a bonus of fifty thousand if he was returned before the fifteenth and another fifty if he was still able to talk. I have met both conditions.”

“Damn Iaido, you are good.”

Lt. Kristopher laughed before pulling out a second cred-stix. “Here you go. Two-hundred grand as promised. A bargain in my book. This scumbag has been on the run for too many years.”

Pocketing the cred-stix, Iaido stepped back to allow access to the hatch.

As the SWAT officers began to cart him off, Kristopher moved to follow but turned back. “I have reports to write but we need to get together for a beer real soon.”

“Only if you’re buying. You still owe me from that time on Andromeda Station.” Iaido tossed his friend a memory crystal. “Here’s all the data from the capture; warrants, vid-feed, transfer paperwork, the usual stuff.”

“Thanks. I’ll call you later. We need to catch up. Lysette has been hammering me to have you over for dinner.”

Iaido nodded. “Give your wife a hug from me.”

Lt. Kristopher grinned. “Will do. Stay safe my friend.”

Iaido stayed on alert and watched as his friend followed the SWAT team and their prisoner out of the hangar before turning the opposite way to head home.

Chapter 5

When Iaido finally stepped through the door into his office, he pulled off his sunglasses and felt a sense of peace flow over him. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath letting the hint of jasmine and mint fill his senses. He could also smell Diana’s perfume, a mix of vanilla and some flowery scent he couldn’t describe.

After the shuttle ride down from orbit and the crowded tram, where it seemed like every one of New Atlanta’s sixty-seven million inhabitants were always in a rush and in Iaido’s path. He knew it was an exaggeration but after spending the last month in space, the pedestrian traffic of New Atlanta was a bit overwhelming.

As the door closed behind him, the noise of the modern world was left behind. Only the gentle melody of water falling on rocks reached his ears. Only here, in his sanctuary was it truly quiet. Many believed space to be quiet and it probably would be if you didn’t want to live. The machinery designed to keep a person alive always makes noise, from the constant humming of the generators to the whirring of the environmental systems.

Opening his eyes, Iaido wasn’t surprised to see Diana standing still behind the desk watching him; she knew not to interrupt him while he worked at finding his center.

Iaido let his eyes play over the room. It was an octagon shape and very simple in décor. Directly across from the entrance was a synthetic oak desk with a computer and vid-phone on it with his beautiful assistant Diana standing behind it. On the wall behind her was a flat-screen monitor broken up into two sections; showing the news and the stock market. Flanking her on each side were large fish tanks built into the wall; the one to his left contained fresh water fish, the other salt water. Just in front of the fish tanks were matching pedestals of synthetic oak with synth-leather bound books open on it. Without looking Iaido knew the left one to be Sun Tzu’s Art of War opened to the fifth chapter and the right to be Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Ring opened to the fire scroll.

Bringing his gaze back to Diana, Iaido let his eyes roam up and down her body. Barely five foot tall, she was well proportioned for her size with a small waist, well defined hips, firm buttocks and perky breasts that weren’t overly large for her frame but far from flat-chested. Her short mousey blonde hair was messed up with that sexy windblown look while her button nose and crooked smile turned heads and broke hearts. She was wearing a matching white knit skirt and halter top that accented her figure nicely.

Iaido smiled. “Hey Doll.”

“Hey yourself.” Gliding around the desk, she twirled in mid-stride and struck a pose like a runway model before asking, “You like?”

“Yes, very much.”

Diana stepped in and raised herself up to her tiptoes to gently kiss him. “Welcome home lover.”

Enjoying the softness of her lips for a moment, Iaido finally broke the kiss and headed into the depths of his sanctuary.

As Diana fell in beside him she asked, “Any trouble?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle. Pax is doing a run down on the Nemesis. Make sure Jay’s techs give her a good once over.”

“Sure thing boss.”

Iaido stepped in his armory and scanned the shelves out of habit taking into account everything available. The shelves were full of the gadgets and gizmos of his trade ranging from caltrops to razor nets to smoke grenades. The opposite wall was full of pegs with weapons of every kind on them: blasters, rifles, pistols, bows, knives and swords. Having left his ARC armor on the Nemesis, Iaido had opted for a more covert look; black trench coat over black synth-leather pants with built-in trauma plates and a grey shirt over his flak jacket.

He pulled out the cred-stixs and handed them to Diana. “You were right. They only wanted to pay the base bounty.”

“I told you. They never like to pay the proper amount. My guess is that many hunters are reluctant to demand the bonuses.”

Iaido removed the scabbard which held his energy blade and placed it reverently on its own rack. Even after years of using this particular weapon, he paused to ponder the simple beauty of the deadly weapon.

It was an almost exact replica of a traditional katana but there were several differences. The weaponsmith had used a rare metal known as orichalcum which could only be mined from asteroids. The scientist who discovered the rare ore had named it after the mythical metal from ancient earth due to its coppery-goldish hue. Using a blend of modern science and ancient techniques, they folded the metal over one thousand times during the forging process. This act, in conjunction with the extremely high tensile strength of the metal, made the sword nearly unbreakable.

Then, the engineers got ahold of the weapon. Adding a mini anti-matter generator in the hilt, the sword actually vibrated at over five hundred mega-hertz which allowed the weapon to slice through just about any man-made object. Secondly, this caused the lighting effect which ran up and down his blade. Since the current carried nearly two hundred amperes of electricity, the arcs and sparks could also kill an average human.

It truly was a marvelous weapon and he was thankful to have it. The Sgt. Major had somehow acquired it and held onto it while he was incarcerated.

Realizing that he had been standing there staring at his sword for a short time, he quickly downloaded the rest of his weapons and body armor. Within moments, Iaido was stripped down to his briefs as Diana’s hands gently traced the numerous scars that covered his body. Her touch was both relaxing and exciting, turning to face her, Iaido ran his hands across her body and pulled her close.

“It’s good to be home.”

As she leaned up to kiss him, a chime sounded in the front room which signaled that someone had entered the staircase which led to his office. Pulling herself away, Diana moved to the doorway.

“Get a shower, you’re all sweaty. I’ll get rid of our guest and then give you a real welcome home.”

Her crooked smile and sashaying hips promised him a warm homecoming.

*   *   *   *   *

Greatly refreshed from the shower, Iaido pulled on some sweat pants and a t-shirt before moving into his study. It was a relaxing place with a faux fireplace to warm the air, soft lighting and comfortable chairs. The walls were lined with synthetic wood shelves filled with books from all over the known galaxy. Most were military text books. The rest were histories. Many were old, some near ancient, dating from the years before the meteor. Iaido had read every book in this room, no matter the language they were written in or the subject they covered.

A large fish tank filled one wall which allowed Iaido to see into his lobby where two men dressed in dark suits with short haircuts and dark glasses waited.

Iaido took a moment to study the agents. Both stood close to six feet in height, one’s hair was dark with highlights of grey while the other was blonde and baby-faced. The senior of the two agents moved around the room slowly pausing briefly to study the two ancient texts. He seemed to be in his mid to late thirties and in good shape given that he had broad shoulders and a lean waist. A slightly crooked nose and a scar over his right eye told the bounty hunter that this agent had seen action, either in the war or in the streets.

The blonde baby-faced agent was completely different. His rigid posture and well-groomed nails showed that he was used to a more affluent lifestyle. Iaido guessed that this agent was being groomed by his parents for some political position. He seemed unsure of what to do, so he just sat down and gawked at Diana. Even sitting down the young agent looked out of place as if he didn’t have permission to relax.

For her part, Diana was purposely ignoring them while typing loudly onto her keypad which in itself was odd since the keyboard was completely virtual and she could fully integrate into the system. Diana had purposely turned on the clacking sounds of an ancient keyboard to annoy the two waiting men.

Iaido stepped silently into the room. “To what do I owe a visit from the Feds?”

The blonde agent bolted upright while the dark haired agent just turned slowly to face Iaido before moving forward as if to shake hands and to begin his introductions.

Iaido held up his hands in a stopping motion. “I know you are agents Proctor and Gamble or Siegfried and Roy, it doesn’t matter. I only want to know two things. What brought you to my door and how to get you to leave again?”

The senior agent didn’t seem fazed by Iaido’s rudeness. Pulling out his badge and credentials that proclaimed his status with the FSA, the Federal Security Agency, he calmly introduced himself.

“Actually Mr. Spartan, I am Special Agent Johnson and this is my partner Agent Smith. We would like to ask you a few questions concerning a retired UNCF Sergeant Major John Spenton.”

Iaido quietly stood his ground, eyes never leaving the older agent’s eyes yet he uttered not a word.

Unfazed Special Agent Johnson continued with his questions. “Do you know a retired UNCF Sgt. Major Spenton?”

Iaido nodded. “Yes.”

The blonde agent moved closer taking up a slight flanking position on Iaido which placed him strategically between him and the exit.

Special Agent Johnson asked, “Could you tell us more about your relationship with Sgt. Major Spenton?”

“Yes.”

“And?” prompted the younger agent.

“Did you have a question Agent Smith?”

The young agent jabbed his finger at Iaido’s face. “Listen here punk! No over-glorified slave trader is going to give us the run around! Now, answer the damn question!”

Iaido slowly raised a finger. “That’s strike one, junior. Don’t let the fact of you being a Federal Agent give you a false sense of security.”

“Are you threatening me?” Agent Smith yelled. His face flush was with anger and hands clenched.

Special Agent Johnson stepped in front of his young protégé before the situation spun out of control. “Mr. Spartan, I apologize for my partner’s lack of manners but it has been a long day and we are following up a lead. It seems that Sgt. Major Spenton called your office yesterday evening then shortly afterwards placed a call to your vessel the Nemesis which was in hyperspace at the time. We would like to know more about those calls.”

Iaido turned his gaze back to the senior agent. “The Sergeant Major is an old friend. Since when has it become the prerogative of the government to investigate calls between friends?”

“There could be several reasons we would investigate calls; a crime might be in the process of being committed or planned.”

“Ah, I see. But you and I both know that the government can and does screen all calls for just such a reason.”

Special Agent Johnson nodded. “True, but these particular calls made by Sgt. Major Spenton were shielded and encrypted.”

“Old habits die hard I guess. You still haven’t told me why you want to know about those calls.”

Special Agent Johnson shook his head. “I’m sorry but I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.”

“Then gentlemen, we are through here.” Iaido gestured to the door. He could tell that Diana was already hacking into the Federal database by the silence of her typing.

Agent Smith added, “You know we can come back with a warrant for the records of those calls?”

“Go right ahead. I’ll have my lawyer meet you at the courthouse.”

Staring into Iaido’s grey eyes, Special Agent Johnson spread his hands in a helpless gesture. “Mr. Spartan, be reasonable.”

“I am being reasonable. From my perspective, you want the contents of a private conversation that could be full of personal information without telling me anything.” Shaking his head, Iaido said, “Nope. It’s not going to happen. Unless you want to come clean, you and junior there can just leave.”

Special Agent Johnson nodded. “All right. You will find out soon enough. Sgt. Major Spenton died last night.”

“You mean he was murdered last night.”

Agent Smith asked, “How would you know that unless you had something to do with it? It could’ve been an accident or suicide?”

Iaido fixed the younger agent with a stare. “Listen here junior, if it was an accident or suicide it wouldn’t involve the Feds and there would be no reason for your visit and these questions.” He turned his attention back to the senior agent and asked, “What does this have to do with me?”

“Homeland Security communication logs show that Sgt. Major Spenton placed a call at 2128 hours to this office, he talked for exactly twenty-six seconds before disconnecting. Furthermore, he placed a second call at 2131 hours to your starship Nemesis, which was in hyperspace at the time, although that call lasted only twelve seconds. The medical examiner estimates his death at 2137 hours which means the last two calls he placed prior to his death were to you and we want to know why?”

“The Sgt. Major called to ask for my help in tracking a bounty.”

Both agents perked up at this revelation but it was the senior agent who asked, “Who was the target?”

Iaido shook his head. “I’m not sure. The Sgt. Major didn’t say who; just to call him when I got back to work out the details.”

“Anything else you can tell me?”

“Nope.”

“Could we get a copy of the transmission?”

“Of course.…Diana?” Iaido gestured to his assistant as she moved forward and handed the senior agent a memory crystal.

Placing it in his pocket, Special Agent Johnson nodded slightly toward Diana. “Your government thanks you for your service.”

Iaido turned his back on the agents and said over his shoulder as he disappeared down the hallway. “Don’t bother Special Agent Johnson. I have seen the thanks of our government first hand and it leaves much to be desired.”

*   *   *   *   *

As the two agents exited the building, Special Agent Johnson paused and looked back. “He’s not telling us everything.”

Agent Smith cracked his knuckles. “Should we lean on him?”

“Smith, you have a lot to learn. If you try to lean on him, he will chew you up and spit you out.”

“What makes you say that? What is it that you know?”

“Know? Not much. Suspect? Plenty. Did you record our meeting?”

“Of course, it’s standard ops to record all meetings with suspects and informants.”

Climbing into their black skimmer, Special Agent Johnson faced his young protégé. “Access your files and accurately describe to me the suspect”

“Why? Couldn’t you just tell me what you know?”

“I could but you wouldn’t learn that way. Now, describe the suspect in detail to me.”

Agent Smith’s eyes became slightly unfocused as he internally reviewed the video of the subject.

“The subject is one Iaido Achilles Spartan, apparent age mid-thirties although there is no date of birth in his files. The subject stands exactly six feet tall, weighs approximately two-hundred and twenty-five pounds, well-built but not overly muscular. He has a shaved head, a coal black goatee and mustache both neatly trimmed. His eyes are steel grey and alert. A large scar runs vertically down the left side of his face, due to the whiteness of it; I would judge it to be many years old. A tattoo was visible on the subject, a glyph of some sort on the base of the neck surrounded by tribal markings overtop an interface port.”

Agent Smith paused as he accessed more background information.

“He is a registered galactic and intergalactic bounty hunter. According to records provided by the Galactic Marshals, he has a one hundred percent capture rate and no strikes against him for excessive force. However, their information on him only stretches back five years but there is a note in their files that his background check is good and approved.”

Special Agent Johnson maneuvered their black skimmer into traffic. “Anything else of note?”

“Hmm…” Agent Smith thought for a few seconds before adding, “He stands with his weight evenly distributed on both feet and he moves exceptionally quiet.”

“And what does that tell you? Remember your training.”

“There is an eighty percent chance that our subject has studied the martial arts.”

Special Agent Johnson shook his head. “Wrong; one hundred percent chance trained, probably a martial arts master.”

“Where did you get that information? It’s not in his profile.”

“If you want to survive in this job Smith, use more than just the profile generated by Intel. Had you looked, you would’ve noticed that the two books in the lobby were ancient treaties on warfare; one in Japanese and the other in Chinese. Couple those with his occupation, the scar, the interface port, the way he moves and his association to Sgt. Major Spenton…now, what do you get?”

“A retired member of Strike Forces.”

Agent Smith frantically scanned through the files once more, looking for any reference to the military. It wasn’t there. Looking at his mentor, he cocked his head and asked, “But why wouldn’t that information be in his profile?”

“Now that is a good question. Pull up the file on Sgt. Major Spenton. Is there anyone listed in his last unit that is here in New Atlanta?”

The young fed scanned the related files before answering. “Just one, a Lt. Commander Charles Kristopher. He is now a lieutenant on the NAPD.”

“Then let’s pay this lieutenant a visit.”

Special Agent Johnson punched a few buttons on his controls and their skimmer shifted lanes.

*   *   *   *   *

The New Atlanta Police Department -- NAPD -- had its hands full on any given day. With a population of over sixty-seven million and the largest spaceport on the eastern seaboard, they had their fair share of crime. Police Officers of the twenty-second century had numerous advantages from their ancient counterparts.

First, with the advancements in biometric technologies, nearly every citizen of New Atlanta was hooked into the Core-Net. This was a great convenience to the citizens. It allowed them to surf the web on the go. However, it also allowed the government and the police to track their every move. Sure technology helped in solving crimes but not stopping it. That took manpower, lots of manpower.

The police fell into three major groups; Squints, Flatfoots and Bots.

Squints were the nickname given to all the technical people who monitored, tracked and shifted through the deluge of information of the Core-Net. They were the geeks who called on the Flatfoots to do the actual police work.

Flatfoots, also called grunts, were the men and women who felt the call to work long hours for low pay while trying to make a difference in their community. As part of their training, every cop was augmented to some degree. The lowest ‘aug’ required by the department was a simple memory backup that recorded everything an officer did during their shift. Its primary purpose was to protect the officer and the department when some lawyer decided to try and cut their teeth on the NAPD. More advanced augments were offered to the officers depending on their duty assignment from enhanced reflexes to enhanced senses, to the level of SWAT members with full combat augs. These select few men and women gained the highest level of augments available outside of the military.

The only problem was that there weren’t enough officers to really make a difference, enter the Bots.

Androids were completely synthetic beings that looked human but weren’t technically alive. They ran a complex series of programs and were extremely helpful in aiding the manpower shortage. Androids were cost effective, not needing time off from work for family issues, were ruthlessly honest and they operated within their programming. Nothing more and nothing less. Unfortunately the courts didn’t recognize their legal status and therefore would sometimes call their judgment into question in court. So, every android had a human partner, usually two; one for day shift and the other for night shift.

Androids didn’t solve the police department’s manpower issue but it did lessen it.

Lieutenant Kristopher’s day had gone from great to terrible in a manner of hours.

It had started great with the capture of Jagger Jax; the notorious smuggler and murderer wanted in just about every civilized port. He had been at the top of the NAPD wanted list for the last year after he had killed a prominent judge and raped his wife. Of course, it was a feather in the cap for whoever prosecuted the scumbag and his capture should’ve helped his standings with the administration. But shortly after returning from Starbase Alpha, the police commissioner had blasted him on the cost of the bounty hunter, completely forgetting their conversation a week earlier concerning the same subject. Never mind, that it was legal and he had approved the hiring of Spartan.

He had just been leaving the commissioner’s office when the distress call came in. Some gang banger had shot one of his men. Normally, when a ten-thirty call (Officer in Distress) goes out across the police band, it’s an all force alert with every able-bodied officer responding but since the officer in distress was an android, the Police Commissioner had called off the alert.

The commissioner was a former Squint who had gotten promoted through political connections and didn’t want to waste man-hours or the overtime involved and had called off the alert. Their ‘official’ position was that is exactly what the ‘Bots’ are for…to stand in front of the real cops. The lieutenant didn’t agree with administration’s stand but his hands were tied on the subject.

Additionally, Lt. Kristopher also had to juggle resources for twelve different bomb threats on the government buildings located throughout New Atlanta. Not to mention finding enough manpower for the increase in security for the upcoming Presidential visit. And now, his door opened to reveal two men in dark suits…Feds.

Lt. Kristopher tossed down the file he was looking at and gestured to an empty chair. “Have a seat gentleman. What can I do for the FSA today?”

The senior agent flashed his badge and credentials. “I am Special Agent Johnson and this is my partner Agent Smith, it has come to our attention that you know a bounty hunter that goes by the name Iaido Spartan.”

“Yes, I do. He is fully registered. The pickup was legal. I’ve seen the video on it. He identified himself, produced the proper documents and used only enough force to affect capture. Nothing the Feds need to worry about.”

Special Agent Johnson shook his head. “We are not here about the capture of Jagger Jax. Actually, I’m pleased that someone finally brought him in. We can mark him off our list.”

A puzzled look crossed Kristopher’s face. “Then what do you need to know?”

“What can you tell us about this bounty hunter?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“He is somehow involved in a recent murder-suicide.”

Picking up the file he was looking at when they entered, Kristopher gestured with it. “I was just reading the official report of the Sgt. Major’s murder. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for Federation involvement.”

“The murder-suicide was…unusual. Judging from their psych profile and prior service records, their deaths caught our attention. But, I am not here about the Sgt. Major. I am here about Iaido Spartan. I understand he served with you during the war?”

Lt. Kristopher moved to a small refrigerator and poured himself a glass of orange juice before asking, “Special Agent Johnson were you in the war?”

The senior agent nodded. “Fleet. I served five years on the Yorktown, battleship class.”

“Then you understand some of the horrors of war but Fleet had it easy compared to Strike; no offense intended. Now, don’t get me wrong, I would’ve hated Fleet. Your whole life in the hands of the ship’s captain and if you got holed, you were dead men.” Lt.. Kristopher shook his head, “No, I didn’t want your job but Strike had to get up close and personal.”

“I have heard this argument before.”

“Good, then you understand how deadly men in Strike can be. Well, in a time when kills were a judge of a man’s merit, Iaido was king.”

“What did his duties involve?”

With a shrug of his shoulders, Lt. Kristopher snickered. “What didn’t they? It was war. It was nasty business. Officially, he was a member of Omega Squadron.”

The younger agent heard the sharp intake of breath from his partner. Glancing between the NAPD lieutenant and his partner Agent Smith asked, “What? What’s so special about Omega Squadron?”

Lt. Kristopher turned his attention to the young federal agent. “What do you know about the Mars Incident?”

Agent Smith shrugged. “Only what I learned in school. Some terrorists took the college students hostage and when the military was called in, the terrorists blew up the spaceport killing themselves in the process and releasing a toxic chemical that killed every living soul on the base.”

Lt. Kristopher shook his head. “That is what the media was told. That is not what happened.”

“So, what really happened?” the senior agent asked.

“You really want to know this?”

Both feds nodded.

“Okay, part of your story Agent Smith is correct, the starport was destroyed and everyone on the base died or should I say were killed. However the starport wasn’t blown up by them, it was destroyed by us. I was a young ensign assigned to Omega as a handler when we got the call. Blasting out of Starbase Alpha we were in Mars’ orbit within forty-eight hours. The official story was that some scientists had been developing a virus to use against the bugs but there had been a containment breech and the entire base was infected. Our battlecruiser the Agamemnon bombed the starport on approach destroying the three transports docked there and killing an unknown number of civilians. Landing our shuttles, we stepped into chaos. The civilians were going crazy. They were attacking anything that moved. It was like a scene out of those late twenty-first century zombie films. Omega Squadron had orders to ‘pacify’ the population.”

Special Agent Johnson found his voice first and asked, “How…how many?”

“There were ten thousand registered students and almost one thousand staff member plus some odd numbered visitors or workers. Moments after we landed the three hundred members of Omega went hunting. A small squad of regulars stayed with our ship commander, Major McDowell. I was among them. It was a long night. I can’t tell you which was worse, the screams or the silence that followed. At dawn, the men returned covered in gore and blood. There wasn’t a living soul on the base. Within the hour, a UNCF HazMat team arrived and we blasted off to another part of the war. During that terrible time, if there was a job too messy for other units, we were sent in. Omega Squadron never failed a single mission, not until…”

Special Agent Johnson finished the sentence in a quiet voice. “Gilese.”

Lt. Kristopher nodded his head. “Then you know.”

Looking back and forth between the two veterans, the young agent nearly screamed to get their attention. “What was Gilese?”

Draining his orange juice, Lt. Kristopher reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of Kentucky bourbon. Filling his glass, he poured a second glass for the older agent. The two war veterans raised their glasses in a silent toast before draining their drink in one gulp.

Lt. Kristopher said in a quiet voice, “The end of the war kid.”

Special Agent Johnson explained, “Gilese Delta is basically an M-Class exo-planet, nearly twice as large as Earth but with a similar climate. It was the first planet settled by the UNCF outside our solar system. During the war it was the home base of the Confederacy. What we didn’t realize at the time was it was also one of the homeworlds of the bugs.”

Lt. Kristopher picked up the story.

“It was thought that a major strike at the heart of the Confederacy would break their spirit, sort of like the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII or the decision to use neutron bombs on Baghdad and Tehran during the Arabic Wars. Following a massive bombardment from space, the commanding General ordered all the troops to land at a single staging point before beginning the final assault. He chose a small beachhead on Gilese’s western coast which is surrounded on two sides by mountains with only one pass to guard. The fool General thought he and his men were safe. At least until the call came in that the Fleet armada was under attack by Confederate warships and an army of bugs were heading toward the landing. The General sent Omega Squadron to hold the pass until the regulars could be organized.”

Lt. Kristopher paused before continuing, his voice seemed far away as if he was lost in the memories.

“There were so many bugs, you couldn’t see the horizon. There must’ve been a million or more charging down on us. I know there were Confederate Regulars in there somewhere but there were so many bugs that it didn’t matter.”

Special Agent Johnson said, “Landing craft were pulling troops out as fast as they could but it takes time to evacuate a quarter million troops with only five operational landing pads. As far as I know, no troops were ever sent to support Omega but if they hadn’t held the pass the whole assault force would’ve been engulfed and destroyed.”

Agent Smith asked, “How...how long did they hold?”

“Eight hours,” replied Lt. Kristopher. “It was the longest eight hours of my life. We were out of ammunition after the first two hours. By then the bodies were stacked so tall and the ground yellow with bug blood, that only ten or twelve bugs could attack us at any one time. The Confederates had fallen back to try to snipe us during the fighting, they weren’t very effective but they did cause some difficulties. We stood in ranks of ten against the bugs’ onslaught, when one soldier fell; another would step in to fill the hole. We fought them blade to mandible. No mercy asked and none given. It was barbaric. It was medieval. It was bloody. We fought that way for what seemed to be an eternity. Logically I know it was only a few hours but it didn’t seem that way at the time. We fought and we died. Knowing our duty. Knowing we would hold the pass until the last man fell.”

“How did you survive?” asked the young agent.

Lt. Kristopher shrugged his shoulders. “We would’ve died if not for the airstrike.”

“The Yorktown executed the airstrike,” Special Agent Johnson added. “If I remember correctly, it was to be a three stage bombardment. We were to blanket the area with firebombs followed by a tactical nuke to finish off those that fled and then a full spread of nukes on every suspected Confederate stronghold and fortification.”

“How did you guys survive the airstrikes?” asked Agent Smith.

“Luck mostly. Outside of that it was the determination of one man, Iaido Achilles Spartan. We’d lost communications sometime during the fight, so we didn’t know the airstrikes were inbound. By that time, we had been pushed back into the pass about a hundred feet. We were down to our last fifteen men and were fighting in shifts, ten on the line with the other five resting or binding wounds. Of those that were on the line, only Master Chief Kirk survived and he lost his legs to the firebombs…they were burned completely off.”

“The concussion from the bombings also collapsed the pass on those of us resting. Luckily for us they dropped the nukes further out to catch any fleeing bugs or we wouldn’t have survived at all. As it was, only four members of Omega Squadron survived the pass; Sgt. Major Spenton had a punctured lung, Master Chief Kirk had no legs and I had a severe concussion, only Iaido Spartan was fully operational. He gathered up the three of us, dragged or carried us twenty clicks outside the blast zone where we made camp on a small island which became our home for the next year until a survey vessel came back to the area and rescued us.”

“You guys were stranded on that rock for a whole year? There couldn’t have been much left alive after the blanket-nukes. How did you survive?” asked Special Agent Johnson.

“You want to know about Spartan? He is the most resourceful and dangerous man alive. He is a true galactic hero even though the Coalition wouldn’t recognize him as such and he is my friend, now and until I die. If he ever needs me, I’m there.”

Lt. Kristopher fixed the older agent with a stare. “Now gentlemen, unless there is something else, I must get back to work. It has been a busy day.”

“One last question. How was your reception when you returned to Coalition controlled space?”

Lt. Kristopher pointed toward the military awards hanging on his wall. “The Sgt. Major and I received the Medal of Honor; the Master Chief was medically retired and transferred to Walter-Reed Hospital for rehabilitation and received the Purple Heart and the Silver Star.”

Special Agent Johnson asked, “And Spartan?”

“He was sent to New Leavenworth on Pluto.”

“And why should you three be honored and Spartan sent to prison?”

“Ask the General who ordered the airstrike,” Kristopher said softly.

“And where would we find him?”

“The White House.” Lt. Kristopher signaled their time was over by turning his back to the two agents.

Standing, Special Agent Johnson nodded his head thoughtfully and walked out of the office with his young protégé in tow.

Chapter 6

Diana watched the Feds leave before returning to her desk. She spent the better part of the next hour hacking into the federal database and downloading all information on their investigation. When she backed out, she double-checked her trail to make sure there was nothing leading back to Spartan Investigations. There wasn’t any nor was there any indication that she had been inside their database.

Clicking a button that securely locked down the office, Diana moved deeper into the sanctuary guessing that Iaido would be in the dojo. She was right.

He was busy pounding on the heavy bag. Twisting his upper body slightly, Iaido pivoted his front foot which acted as his base while simultaneously twisting his hips shooting his rear leg at the target. Shaping his foot, with the toes pulled back so he was striking with the ball of the foot, Iaido concentrated all the speed of the kick and the mass of his body into a two-square inch area. All this took less than a second to happen, the resounding thud on the heavy bag echoed in the dojo. Even though his back was to the door Iaido asked without pausing in his workout.

“What did you find?”

Thud. “Not much.” Thump. “Crime scene pics.” Whack. “DNA samples taken at the scene.” Thump, whack. Finally Diana asked, “Can you pause for a second?”

Setting his foot down, Iaido’s body radiated heat while sweat was pouring down his face.

“Better?”

“Yes, it wasn’t just a murder. It was a murder-suicide. His wife stabbed him before turning the knife on herself.”

“Amy murdered him then killed herself?”

“Crime scene pics and tests prove so. Besides, only her DNA and prints are on the murder weapon.”

Iaido grabbed a towel from a nearby rack. “Anything else of note?”

“Just one, an old fashion business card in the form of a tarot card was found in the Sgt. Major’s pocket.”

“A what?”

“A tarot card; the Wheel of Fortunes unless I am mistaken.”

“What’s a tarot card?”

“In ancient Europe, tarot cards were once widely used by gypsies for divining the future. Their practice and usage declined with the centuries until in the late nineteenth century, tarot cards were considered a gimmick items with no real power of divination.” Handing a printout of the business card to her lover she continued. “However with the mystical influence of the Sylvan Empire, over the last decade their popularity has grown.”

Iaido nodded his head while he studied the printout. “And this?”

“This was in the Feds’ files. It’s a copy of the business card of a fortune teller down in Five Points who goes by the name of Talia Stargleam. On the back of the card is a handwritten note that just says, ‘Any Leads?”

“Interesting. Anything in their files on this Talia character?”

“Not much, it seems that Talia Stargleam is a Sylvan diplomat just recently arrived from Alpha Centuri. I am working on getting a copy of her visa but the only thing else they have are her basic stats; five foot nine inches tall, long silver hair, fair complexion, articulate and helpful. There is a hand written scribble that must be from the young Agent Smith that says…Hot Babe.”

“Yes, that does seem like a remark our young Fed would include in his report.” Still wiping off his sweat, Iaido asked, “Why would a Sylvan diplomat work as a fortune teller?”

“I wondered that myself, so I did some research. It seems that all Sylvan Embassies are set up as a fortune teller’s store. According to their legends, the gypsies of ancient Europe are the only descendants of the Sylvans from the time before their Exodus.” Diana said, “Now that many Sylvans have returned, many of the old ways are reappearing.”

“Exodus?”

“According to Madam Aleksandra’s blog, Sylvans once inhabited Earth but left prior to the first Ice Age. She is quoted as saying that ‘Terrans have forgotten their roots; a tree cannot flourish without roots, it will wither and die, only by returning to the past will the future be secure.”

“That’s rather vague, don’t you think? Who is this Madam Aleksandra?”

“According to the federal database, she is the head of the Sylvan Consulate” said Diana. “And if you want to talk with this Talia character you will have to deal with her first.”

Iaido nodded and moved toward the shower, “I think I’ll pay Madam Aleksandra a visit.”

“I’ll keep checking through the Feds’ files. Maybe when the autopsy reports are filed they will show something enlightening but I’m not holding out too much hope.”

“Neither do I but as they say; hope springs eternal.”

Walking out of the room, Diana muttered under her breath. “Spoken like the optimist you aren’t.”

A short time later, Iaido ventured back into the busy streets of New Atlanta. Dressed in civilian attire; which for Iaido was cargo pants, shirt and a synthetic leather trenchcoat overtop, all in black. The loose fitting clothes and dark colors effectively hid the numerous weapons he carried and armor plates covering his vital areas. Moving effortlessly through the crowd, he stepped off the moving sidewalk and into the past; or at least it seemed that way.

Old Town was one of the few sections of New Atlanta that still had buildings standing from before the war; some even before the Great Meteor Strike of 2012. Five Points, the section of Old Town Iaido found himself in, was the oldest part of New Atlanta. Many of the buildings were from the late 1900s, originally kept up as a historic district with antique shops and restaurants for tourists.

However the tourist industry changed greatly over the last century.

First, the Great Meteor Strike; then the Arabic Wars with the United Islamic Nations and finally, the Galactic Civil War put an end to mass tourism. The average citizen of the twenty-second century worked six ten-hour days to fuel the war effort, not counting the time spent shuttling between the larger cities or one of the five orbiting space platforms. Even after the war, this became the norm. So, without the credits of tourists to upkeep the area, Old Town had reverted to its natural state. Not particularly a slum but run down. With the local university only four blocks away, Five Points had become the home to artists, druggies and many other underground activities that take place in large cities. Most gangs of New Atlanta had a representative or club in the area which actually acted as a stabilizer. No one gang controlled the area and if any one gang pushed too much, the others worked together to rein them in, making Five Points a sort of sanctuary to all.

Iaido knew this section of New Atlanta well.

This area was one of his best for snitches. Since it was early evening and most of the bars were just opening up for business it was a good time to make contact with some of his informants. The average citizen would still be at work for at least another hour or two, so foot traffic in the area was light. Rounding a familiar corner, Iaido located one of his best informants sitting in a high chair. Like a king overlooking his subjects, he was surrounded by five hookers in varying degrees of revealing clothes with two hulking bodyguards on either side of his throne. This was Ledrix, the midget gay pimp.

Standing only four foot tall with broad shoulders, black spiked hair, numerous body piercings and tattoos; he wore purple spandex shorts and a lime green vest and was the undisputed king of this particular block. Technically Ledrix was a Jovian; which meant that he was a descendant from the first settlers of the moons around Jupiter. The increase in gravity on the settlers combined with the radiation leaks in the early life-domes caused the genetic mutation of dwarfism in their kids. Even though living conditions on Jupiter and her moons had improved, the rates of dwarfism are still one in four but the lure of jobs and a lower cost of living still drew a steady supply of settlers every year.

Ledrix looked up from his girls, expecting to see his first ‘John’ of the night only to spy Spartan and the smile froze on his face. It lost the inviting warmth it was meant to have; instead it became the grin of the guilty, like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Spar...Spartan, my old friend.”

“Ledrix.”

Hearing one of his bodyguards growl slightly, the Jovian gestured at his bodyguards to stand fast. “What can I do for you this evening?”

Iaido barely glanced at the bodyguard. “Ledrix, you better train your watchdogs better.” The hulking brute flexed his muscles a bit more and took a small step forward. He didn’t take his eyes off of the Jovian. “If he takes another step forward, I’ll kill him.”

Ledrix hopped out of his throne and moved in front of his latest boyfriend. “Please Spartan, don’t. He’s new. I’m not finished with him.”

“I’ll let it slide this time but you better train him better before someone does kill him.”

The relief that flushed over Ledrix’s face was obvious.

“I need some information.”

Ledrix swallowed hard before asking, “What can I do for you?”

“A friend of mine was killed last night. I want your employees to keep an ear out for anything out of the ordinary. Someone knows something and there is bound to be talk.”

“Sure…sure thing,” Ledrix said. “If they learn anything I’ll contact Diana.”

With a silent nod, Iaido turned his back on the Pimp King and moved further along the streets of Five Points.

Finding the store wasn’t hard. A large tarot card with flashing purple neon broadcasting ‘Fortunes Told’ hung above the door. Entering the shop was like stepping back in time. There wasn’t a single piece of modern equipment in sight, just rows of wooden shelves crammed full of knickknacks and stuff that Iaido didn’t recognize. The air was full of the scent of jasmine and cloves which gave the area a wholesome feel. Moving through the shelves, Iaido couldn’t help but caress the wooden shelves; wood being so rare in this modern era. He couldn’t be sure but it felt real. If it was, the furniture alone in this room was worth a small fortune.

Moving up to the counter, Iaido paused as a large black bird landed a few feet from him with a loud squawk.

A soft voice came from beyond a green beaded curtain. “Greetings warrior.”

Sliding the curtain aside, Madam Aleksandra entered the room. She was tall, fair of skin with jet black hair that hung down to her waist and was pulled back off her brow by a beautifully crafted silver tiara with a red gem that seemed to pulse with a life of its own. Her lacy black dress was elegant and she seemed to glide across the floor instead of walking. Only two features marked her heritage as a Sylvan, the pointed ears and her red eyes. Sylvan eyes were shaped much like humans, having the slight slant common to those of oriental heritage but no human could have the ruby red pupils of a Sylvan.

Iaido paused for a second as her eyes seemed to peer into his soul. Remembering his manners, he bowed low. “Greetings Madam Aleksandra, my name is Iaido Spartan. I seek an audience with the Lady Talia.”

Returning the bow with a nod of her head, Madam Aleksandra gestured to a nearby table. “Your name is not unknown to me.” Gliding to her seat, she pointed at the cards lying on the table. “The cards foretold your coming.”

Iaido glanced at the tarot cards. Only three cards were face up: the Hermit, the Knight of Swords and the Wheel of Fortune.

Madam Aleksandra pointed at each card as she explained, “He that searches for truth shall take up the blade of honor and be the instrument of change.”

“I’m not sure you are talking about me.” Iaido pulled out the printout of the business card and set it on the table in front of the Madam. “This was found on the body of a friend. I would like to ask her about it.”

Madam Aleksandra gestured to the seat across from her. “Are you working for the government?”

Taking the offered seat Iaido said, “No. My interests are purely personal.”

With a quick flutter of its wings, the huge raven landed on his shoulder. Iaido looked sideways at the bird. The raven paid no attention to his glare and looked away. As soon as he turned his attention back to Madam Aleksandra, the raven squawked loudly before taking a nip out of his right ear.

Iaido lurched aside. “Ouch! That damn bird bit me!”

Madam Aleksandra’s laughter filled the room. It was a wholesome sound, like raindrops hitting a pond.

“Edgar was just giving you a kiss. According to the ancient race that inhabited this region of Terra several centuries ago, I believe they were called the Cherokee, any warrior that was kissed by a raven is destined for greatness.”

Iaido rubbed his ear. “Thanks but I could’ve lived without his blessing. Is he real?”

“Who Edgar? Yes, he is real.” Madam Aleksandra said. “You thought him to be a simulacrum? There are still ravens native to this land, rare though they be. When I assumed this post on Terra, I called him. Edgar is my familiar, a helper of sorts.”

Before Iaido could ask what she meant by that, the curtain of beads separated again. Judging from the Feds’ description he knew this was Talia Stargleam. However their notes didn’t do her beauty justice. There were striking similarities between the two Sylvan women. Talia had the same fair skin and waist long hair which was also pulled back with a silver tiara. However, Talia’s hair was so white that is almost seemed silver and her eyes were emerald green. She wore a lacy green dress but where Madam Aleksandra’s was conservative and formal, Talia’s was low cut and enticing.

Talia glided over to the table and curtsied low to her senior. “You called Madam?”

“This is Iaido Spartan, the warrior foretold. He has questions for you. Aid him to the best of your ability.”

Turning toward Iaido, Talia once again curtsied. “Greetings warrior. How may I be of service to thee?”

Iaido stood and returned the greeting with a bow. “Lady Talia, I would like to ask you a few questions concerning Sgt. Major Spenton.”

“His fate is known to me. I will mourn his loss.”

Iaido gestured at the printout of the business card on the table. “I understand you have been on earth only a short time but you sent the Sgt. Major a business card with a note asking ‘Any Leads’ may I ask why?”

“It is nothing sinister.” Talia cast a wary glance at the Madam. “I hired the retired Sgt. Major to locate my sister. She was a military attaché assigned by the Empire to assist Omega Squadron and I thought he would be the best person for the job considering his past.”

“Your sister?” Iaido rubbed his chin as he thought back. “I remember several Sylvans working with us but I don’t recall any females.”

Talia giggled slightly. “You might have met her and not realized she was a female.”

Shaking his head in disbelief Iaido gestured at the two women, “Don’t take this the wrong way but I am very well-travelled and I have met many sylvan women in my time. Few look as radiant as you two but they are all lookers, if you get my meaning. There is no way I would not have noticed her.”

With a slight smile Madam Aleksandra said, “Thank you for your kind words but the Sylvan women who serve the Empire in the military shave their heads and dress just like the men. To a Terran, there would be no noticeable difference.”

“Okay, I’ll buy that. But why would the Sgt. Major know the whereabouts of your sister?”

Talia glanced nervously at Madam Aleksandra who nodded briefly, “According to the last communication with my sister Medea, she had developed a special friendship with Sgt. Major Spenton.”

Iaido nodded his understanding and let the unspoken relationship drop but asked, “And when was this communication?”

“Two days prior to the battle of Gilese.”

“That was over ten years ago.”

“Yes.”

“Why now? Why start searching now?”

Once again Talia glanced at the Madam who shook her head slightly. Biting her lip, she cast her gaze downward and said, “I am sorry Mr. Spartan but I cannot discuss my reasons at this time.”

Iaido stood up. “Well ladies, my thanks for your help.”

Talia grabbed his arm briefly before remembering her manners and releasing her hold. “Will you take the case?”

“If you mean will I search for the cause of Sgt. Major Spenton’s death? Yes. Will I hunt for your sister? No. But if I run across information about her, I will inform you.” Turning back to the door, Iaido walked out. Just before the door closed, Madam Aleksandra’s musical voice reached him.

“Beware of shadows. They are moving against you.”

*   *   *   *   *

Talia stared at the door for several minutes before turning to her mentor. “Is he the one Madam?”

Madam Aleksandra didn’t answer but gestured toward Edgar, the raven, as the huge bird hopped onto the table. Edgar looked at the two women before turning his attention to the tarot deck. Fishing through the unturned cards, he pulled out a card with his beak.

Reaching out, Talia gently placed it next to the other upturned cards. It was the Tower Card, emblazoned with the image of a lightning blasted tower which is aflame and two figures falling from its heights; the card which symbolized sudden change, ruin, revelations and hard times ahead.

Talia glanced up at her mentor. “Should we have told him everything?”

“Patience my child,” Madam Aleksandra said. “Great events are unfolding even as we speak. Some we can influence some we cannot but either way, time moves ahead slowly. To rush is to ignore the details.”

*   *   *   *   *

Leaving the shop, Iaido scanned his surroundings before walking across the street to a pub.

The Crooked Creek Saloon had a sign advertising the ‘coldest beer in town’ in red and white neon in the front window. Moving into the darkened room, Iaido wasn’t surprised to see synthetic sawdust on the floor, an old fashion jukebox in the corner playing country songs and even a mechanical bull sitting in the corner. Taking a seat at the bar, Iaido ordered a beer from the service bot bartender.

Service bots are the simplest form of androids. They only run a very limited series of programs but are extremely cost effective for businesses.

Taking a drink from his beer, Iaido turned his attention to the vid-screens behind the bar. The Galactic News was on and displayed over numerous channels.

One channel showed a reporter stating that there was trouble brewing with the JDL over trade routes through their sector which will cause prices of all imported goods to rise. Another channel was reporting that two colonies in the Orion cluster were reporting mass riots. The Galactic Marshals had advised the local governments to declare martial law on both planets and many feared that the riots would be the foreshadowing of another war.

Regionally, there were numerous protests about the upcoming visit of the Coalition President and the NAPD were reporting a rise in violent crimes over the last two weeks. However a police spokesman was reported as saying ‘the violence seems to be random and unrelated’ and they point to the recent capture of the notorious thief and murderer Jagger Jax as proof that they were making headway during these troubled times.

Iaido spied movement to his right and left; without turning his head he asked, “Special Agent Johnson and Agent Smith, why am I not surprised to see you here?”

“Mr. Spartan.” Special Agent Johnson asked, “What brings you to Old Town?”

When Iaido didn’t immediately respond, the junior agent grabbed his arm to forestall the bounty hunter from taking another drink of his beer.

Calmly setting down his drink, Iaido glared at the agent and held up his other hand. “Strike two junior.”

Somewhere inside himself, Agent Smith felt that he might’ve crossed the line and slowly retracted his hand.

With a final glare at the youngster, Iaido turned his attention back to the senior agent. “You know very well what I am doing down here and where I have been. Your surveillance teams need practice, if this had been war, they would be dead by now.”

“What surveillance teams?” asked Agent Smith innocently.

Iaido faced the younger agent. “Don’t insult my intelligence. You have two agents dressed as bums on the street outside of the Sylvan Embassy; one to the north sitting beside the trash can and one to the south panhandling on a street not known for its foot traffic… not wise. You also have a video crew of at least two agents on the roof of the old theatre and of course your command post in this dump.”

Iaido turned to the older Fed and asked, “Did I miss anyone?”

“How...how did you know all that?” Agent Smith stammered.

“Youngster, if you have walked the paths I have you would know.”

Special Agent Johnson turned to his young protégé and said, “Pull our team, all of them. Tell them to report to HQ for reassignment.”

Agent Smith glared at the bounty hunter for a moment before he moved out of sight. Special Agent Johnson said, “You’re walking a dangerous path Mr. Spartan.”

“My path was decided a long time ago, I am what I was destined to be… nothing more and nothing less.”

Special Agent Johnson took a long drink of his own beer and watched the vid-screens for several minutes before he broke the silence. “Do they know anything?”

Iaido shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure. I don’t believe they are telling me everything. You?”

“I agree but I also believe that neither of them had anything to do with Sgt. Major Spenton’s death other than possibly getting him involved in something that got him killed. Hell, his murder could be just what it looks like.”

“You don’t believe that any more than I do.” Iaido set down his beer and turned to face the fed. “You know I have to investigate this? I owe it to my friend.”

“I know.”

“Are you going to get in my way?”

“Mr. Spartan, the last place I want to be is in your way. I value my life too much.”

“You know who I am?”

Finishing his beer, Special Agent Johnson set his glass on the bar. “Yes and no; officially, your records are sealed. No one below Council level clearance can access them but I have my suspicions.”

“Which are?”

“I know you were a member of Omega Squadron and judging from your hunting record I would say you were advanced recon. Judging from your movements, I would say you are highly trained in close combat. I know you served time in New Leavenworth after Gilese. As to why you were sentenced to there I don’t know…yet.”

“Not bad for a Fed. You surprise me. I thought all bureaucrats were closed minded and narrow thinkers.”

“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or an insult,” Special Agent Johnson said. “But I’ll take that as a compliment. Would you like to fill in the gaps?”

Iaido placed his empty mug on the counter and turned back to the Fed.

“Let me tell you an ancient parable. Before going on a long journey a wealthy merchant took his life’s savings and entrusted it to a friend for safekeeping; only the merchant and the friend know about this transaction. However, the merchant was killed during the trip, leaving his family penniless. The friend has four choices; he can keep the money since no one knows of the transaction; covet the money for a short time until overcome by guilt before giving the money to the widow; hoard the money for a time until fear that someone knows of the transaction prompts him to give the money to the widow; or give the money to the merchant’s widow outright.” Iaido stood up and asked, “What is the moral of the story?”

Special Agent Johnson shook his head. “I have no idea. What the hell is it supposed to mean?”

“When you discover that, then it will be time to learn more.” As he left the bar, his comlink chimed. Tapping the receive button he said, “Spartan.”

“Hiya boss,” came Diana’s cheerful voice.

Moving through the commuter traffic, Iaido scanned the crowd out of habit. Mostly watching hands and hips; hands for weapons, hips for concealed weapons or out of place movement.

“What do you have for me, Diana?”

“Two things; Sensei called to ask you to stop by.”

“I am on my way there now.”

“And I have that autopsy report for you, it took a bit of creative hacking but I have it. I was impressed at the level of security of the coroner. It was more elaborate than the Feds’ database.”

Approaching the tram, Iaido flashed his bounty hunter credentials to the clerk and bypassed the security station and the line of waiting commuters.

“Enlightening but what did you find?”

“Well, according to the report the coroner did a full battery of tests but found no trace of any known toxins or drugs. He also did a cellular scan for any chemical or biological agents; none detected. Only two strange findings, the wife had two small puncture wounds on the base of her neck that don’t correspond to any known bite marks. And secondly, there seemed to be less blood loss than normal considering her wounds.”

“Anything else?”

“Just one note about Amy’s wound; it was self-inflicted and by the way, it was not a single stab wound as reported in the Feds’ files. It was actually a single slash wound to her jugular vein; she would’ve bled out in less than a minute. This was after she bound her legs together with a towel.”

“Jigai.”

“What was that?”

“Jigai was a form of seppuku, an ancient form of ritual suicide from feudal Japan,” Iaido explained. “The main purpose of binding her legs was to keep her body in a dignified pose despite the convulsions of death. Seppuku was a key part of Bushido; the code of the Samurai warriors. It was used by warriors to avoid falling into enemy hands or to attenuate shame but was rarely used by women.”

“Why would Amy commit this jigai thing?”

“That is the question my dear Diana. To the best of my knowledge, Amy had never studied Bushido or served in the military. She was just a civilian, a nurse if memory serves. Go back through her files, tax records, employee records, anything and everything. Dig into her past, see if anything turns up.”

“I’m on it, catch you later.”

Stepping off the tram, Iaido moved along sidewalks already crowded by New Atlanta’s commuters as they went about their lives. Glancing at their faces, he could tell that most weren’t even aware of their surroundings. They rushed to get to their destination, oblivious to the world around them. To these people the war was only news that happened in a distant region of space, it couldn’t possibly affect their lives. Occasionally, Iaido would make eye contact with another veteran, though they were few and far between. Both would acknowledge the other with a slight nod or a slim smile before passing. These individuals always had the same haunted look and grim expression but they were acutely aware of their surroundings. A trait one learns in combat, if you aren’t aware of your surroundings you’re dead. Iaido couldn’t help but think these few veterans were wolves in a world of sheep.

Reaching a large building in the center of town, Iaido stepped inside and into a different world.

The serene environment of the dojo was like stepping through a doorway in time. Nothing modern seemed to belong in this sacred hall. The Sensei had designed and built this dojo as a refuge from the modern world.

An oriental girl in her teens sat at the receptionist desk only nodded to Iaido as he entered. The lobby only had three doorways in it, the main door, the men and women’s locker rooms where all guests must change clothes; nothing modern was allowed in the dojo proper. Following the protocols of the dojo, Iaido changed into his keikogi before moving further inside. He left his weapons, clothing and body armor in his locker without fear of anyone stealing anything. A dojo is a training hall for warriors; self-discipline, respect and honor were cornerstones of that training. Thievery was not tolerated. With a year long waiting list to train in this dojo, few would jeopardize their status for minor theft.

Even though it was early, shortly after nine in the morning, a beginner’s class was already in session.  It was a class of kids, guessing their ages to be from six to twelve Iaido paused to watch them for several minutes. He never tired of watching this age group train. Maybe it was his inability to have kids or the fact that he never had a childhood that this junior class always fascinated him.

“Iaido-san,” said a small voice to his left.

Iaido smiled when he saw Sensei’s youngest son standing next to him.

“Sam, you are getting sneakier, only a mouse would be quieter than you.”

“Shaji Iaido-san,” Sam smiled at the complement and bowed slightly. “Sensei is waiting for you in the shrine.”

Returning the bow, Iaido moved further into the vast building.

He knew that the building was an old four story ‘brownstone’ near the center of New Atlanta. It had been given to the Sensei for payment for his work on the SPARTAN project. He had converted the lowest floor into a dojo. On the second floor were dormitories for visiting students, the third and fourth floor were considered private; only special students and family were allowed access. It was these two levels which housed the Sensei’s quarters, an extensive library and the most elaborate Japanese garden since the destruction of Tokyo. And lastly, there was a Shinto shrine.

A Shinto shrine is a simple thing, consisting of a small gong, some ancient relic of your ancestors and sticks of incense. The gong was used during ceremonies to ‘awaken the ancestors’; the relic was the object used to draw the ancestor to this realm and the incense supposedly acted as a calming influence on the spirit. The Sensei’s relics were two objects of priceless beauty; the twin katanas of Miyamato Mushasi.

The Sensei was a direct descendant of Mushasi, who was known as Kensai or Sword Saint and was the author of Go Rin No Sho, a Book of Five Rings. He was known to have fought over sixty duels between the ages of sixteen and thirty before retiring to a life of study and meditation. He was considered ancient Japan’s most famous Samurai and even in the twenty-second century, those who walked the path of Bushido still honored his accomplishments and teachings.

Iaido entered the shrine to find his master kneeling in prayer before the altar.

Iaido had been indoctrinated in the Shinto faith along with many other faiths; Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Muslim just to name a few. The SPARTAN project managers reasoned that by understanding all the faiths of possible enemies of the Coalition, their warriors would be better prepared to defeat them.

However of all the faiths Iaido had studied, Shintoism held the least influence on him. Since he didn’t have any ancestors, Iaido had a hard time following the faith’s tenets. Although he held deep respect for those that followed the path, it was not one of his choosing.

Before Iaido could speak, the Sensei stood up slowly and leaned heavily on his staff before turning to his pupil. “Finally, you come to see your old teacher.”

Iaido bowed low. “Much has happened since my last visit.”

The Sensei lifted an ivory and brass scroll case from the altar before turning back toward the garden. “Let us walk awhile.”

Iaido studied the altar. Normally, the twin swords of Mushasi sat in a place of honor on a rack on the altar but the upper rack was empty. “Sensei, where is the sword?”

“Do not worry over its fate my son. I have sent it on to its next master.”

“But I don’t understand. Were they not meant to stay together?”

Sensei’s steps were slow and measured as he moved along the garden paths. “Together or apart, the blades are but metal. They are beautiful and deadly works of art with a history of blood, but ultimately they are only metal. If their destiny is to be rejoined, then it will be so. Only time will tell.”

Sensing that he wouldn’t get a straight answer from his mentor, Iaido let the matter drop. “What did you want to see me about Sensei? I was surprised to get a message from you.”

The Sensei pointed at the trees surrounding them. “It is good that you are here at this time, the blossoms of the cherry trees are unusually vivid this year.”

Taking a deep breath, Iaido vowed to once again to get to the point of his visit but he knew that the Sensei would get to the heart of the matter at his own pace. “Master, no disrespect intended but I am pressed for time.”

The Sensei ignored his student’s plea and continued his slow pace through the garden until they reached his favorite bench which sat beneath a wondrous cherry tree and alongside the koi pond. Sitting himself on the bench, he pointed to the ground in front of him and gazed at the cherry petals floating lazily to land in the pond.

Taking another deep breath, Iaido sat down in the lotus position and resigned himself to wait.

Several minutes passed before the old man spoke again.

“Time is like the metal used to forge a blade. It unfolds slowly and at its own pace. Any attempt to rush will be blocked by the principles of the forge. You must keep the metal the right temperature, too hot and the metal becomes unusable; too cool and the metal becomes brittle. You must find your time. You know the rhythms of the blade, they are part of you but now you must strive to grasp the rhythm of the forge. The rhythm of the forge is the lesson of nature; everything has its own time and its own season.”

Not comprehending the full meanings of his master’s words, Iaido accepted that he was trying to teach him something important and resigned himself to listen. Many of his master’s lessons were taught in this manner, in riddles, stories or puzzles; things that Iaido would have to contemplate during his daily meditation to grasp the full meaning of the lesson.

Sensing that his master was waiting for him to speak, Iaido replied, “I will strive to understand the lessons of the forge, Sensei.”

“I know you will my son but in this case time is moving against you. You are out of rhythm with the forge.”

Iaido shook his head. “I do not understand, Sensei.”

Taking a deep breath, the Sensei reached out and lifted a fallen cherry blossom. “This bloom is like you and me. It was a bud; it bloomed at its peak before falling to the earth. There it will wither and die but it will nourish the ground and so the cycle repeats.” Dropping the bloom, the Sensei fixed his pupil with a stare. “Everyone dies, Iaido. The secret is to fulfill your destiny before your time is ended.”

“And how do you know what is your destiny?”

“That is the lesson of the forge.”

Still not sure if he understood what his master was trying to teach him, Iaido decided to try a different approach in his questioning. “You know about the Sgt. Major’s death?”

“Yes, his spirit will be missed but his destiny was not yours. He walked a different path than you.”

“Sensei, my path was chosen for me. I was created to walk this path.”

“No. You believe your path to be laid before you. You have walked your own path by your own choice. We all choose which path to walk.” He gestured at the two of them. “We decided to walk different paths than the average person. It was not preordained that I would become the Sensei; I chose my path. My parents wanted me to follow my father and grandfather and become a physician. That was the path I was to follow but I chose a different path. Your feet were set on a certain path at the beginning but you have chosen to continue that path. It was not your birth, the only difference between us is that I was born of nature and you were born of science.”

Iaido tried to absorb the meaning behind the Sensei’s words. It seemed that his mentor was trying to tell him something important, something cryptic; but Iaido couldn’t grasp the full meaning of the words.

Waving his hand as if to dismiss the subject, the Sensei continued, “I have an errand for you.”

“What is it you desire of me?”

Pulling forth the scroll case, the old man handed it to his pupil. “I need you to take this to Haven. There is a man named Ishmael who runs a small store there, give him this. He will know what to do with it.”

“I will do this for you Sensei but surely there are faster couriers. It may be months before I return to Haven.”

“You will arrive at the time foretold of this I am certain.”

Still confused, Iaido accepted his mission. Bowing his head slightly, “I am honored to do this for you Sensei.”

The Sensei returned the bow. “Now humor your old teacher and promise me you will be here for this evening’s lesson. I have a few dignitaries in from the old country and I would like you to perform for them.”

“I will be here Sensei.”

Suddenly the old man shivered as if cold and looked around the garden slowly. After a moment, he waved his dismissal to Iaido and said, “It is time for my meditation and you have an investigation to do.”

“It is always a pleasure to see you master. I shall contemplate your words.”

Iaido moved away slowly and glanced back once more at his master. The old man had his eyes closed and his hands resting on his knees, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. Iaido felt slightly troubled at his abrupt dismissal and moved through the dojo in a fog. The words of his Sensei came back to him time and time again. Still unable to grasp the full meaning of the lesson, Iaido rearmed himself and moved out into the streets of New Atlanta.

Chapter 7

As he watched his favorite pupil depart, Sensei was filled with sadness.

Even now, he wished he could’ve told him more but the words of honor spoken in the past still bound him as secure as iron. Taking one last look around his garden, the old man slowly made his way past the koi pond and the cherry trees to return once more to the shrine. As he knelt before the sacred altar, the Sensei wasn’t surprised to find the second sword of Musashi missing.

“You can come out now. We are alone.”

A dark shape moved out of the shadows to stand before the old man. Dressed in black, the shadows seemed to cling to his frame, masking the true form underneath. Brief hints of the figure could be gleaned if one stared long enough. When the shadow spoke, it was in a hoarse whisper.

“Hello Sensei.”

“The prodigal son returns,” Sensei said without looking up. “Have you returned home only to kill those that love you?”

“Love?” The shadow spit out the word. “Love is for weak fools. What most would call love is the lust between two primitive species drawing them together to help procreate the race.”

The shadow lifted the ancient blade and pointed it at the old man. The firelight glinted off its razor sharp edge. “I just came to New Atlanta to pay back some old debts and collect a few things. This is one of them.” He rested the ancient blade against the Sensei’s neck. “I’m only going to ask this once, where is the sword’s twin?”

“Gone. I sent it away.”

“That was foolish old man.”

“No. It was the honorable thing to do.” The Sensei looked up at the shadowy figure for the first time. “I knew this day would come. No one believed me about you. I knew you were flawed from the beginning. I knew your heart wasn’t pure.”

“Pure? I may be different from my brethren, more enlightened maybe but none of us were pure. No thanks to those of you on the project board.”

Seeing the look of shock on the old man’s face, the shadow laughed a husky chuckle.

“Yes, I know your true role in our creation. That fool Achilles doesn’t but I am no fool.”

“So, I am to die? So be it, I have lived a good life. My karma is clean.”

“You think I want to kill you?” The shadow shook his head. “I have something more devious in mind.”

Looking past the shadows that clung to the figure, Sensei finally locked eyes with those of his wayward pupil. For the first and last time of his life the Sensei knew fear.

Chapter 8

After leaving the dojo, Iaido made his way to the scene of his friend’s death and took the elevator to the thirty-second floor. It had been nearly two years since he had last seen his friend.

Even if he had never been to the apartment, it would’ve been obvious which apartment had been the Sgt. Major’s due to the bright yellow ‘Do Not Cross’ police tape stuck to the doorway. However, someone had cut the security seal and the door was slightly ajar. Iaido removed his dark shades and tucked them into a pocket.

Drawing his Graver Mark 7 energy pistol, he toggled the switch to power it up before he pushed open the door with his foot. Using the doorframe as a barricade, he scanned the apartment for any hostiles.

Nothing moved.

The apartment was in shambles. If a tornado had landed in the living room, it couldn’t have made more of a mess. Someone had been through the apartment looking for something and didn’t care if they destroyed everything to find it.

Iaido moved slowly through the apartment with his weapon at the ready.

The study was only halfway trashed as if whoever was searching had been interrupted. The desk had been overturned and the drawers pulled out and smashed. The Sgt. Major’s pictures and medals were thrown all about the room. Oddly enough, the picture and frame of Omega Squadron was still intact and lying face up on the remains of the desk. Iaido powered down and holstered his Graver Mk7.

Kneeling down to retrieve the photograph, he studied it for a few minutes before removing the photo from the frame and tucked it inside coat. Ignoring the rest of the room, Iaido studied the markings on the bookshelf until he found three studs that seemed slightly out of place. He tried several combinations of pressing or twisting them until he was rewarded with a loud ‘click.’ Stepping back, Iaido watched as the fish tank slid out into the room to reveal a hidden passageway.

Squatting down, Iaido glanced inside. The room beyond was dimly lit and he couldn’t see any movement within. “Eve, you can come out now.”

It was several moments before her blonde locks and emerald eyes peeked around the corner. “Is it safe?”

“Yes princess… it is.”

“Uncle Achilles!” Eve screamed as she leapt into Iaido’s arms and hugged him tightly. After a moment she asked, “Where’s my daddy?”

Taking a deep breath, Iaido knew he was about to step on fragile ground. Telling her the truth at this time could be detrimental but lying to her was wrong, so Iaido decided to be vague. “I’m sorry Eve but your dad is gone but I’m here to take you someplace safe.”

“I’ve been so scared. Daddy and Amy have been gone for so long. Then, bad men came and made this mess but left when the police arrived.”

“How long ago was that?”

“A long time ago.” Cocking her head to one side, Eve glanced toward the main entrance. “The bad men are coming back.”

Setting her down, Iaido faced the doorway and waited.

It wasn’t long before two men in black suits with short dark hair and dark sunglass moved into the room and took up flanking positions on each side of the doorway. Even without his armor’s senses, Iaido could tell that both of these goons had full military-grade combat augments just by the way they moved. Iaido gently nudged Eve back into the panic room passageway. She moved inside without complaint but didn’t close the hatch.

The three men stared at each other for several moments each sizing up his opponent. It’s a natural thing, especially for those who walk the warrior’s path; every person you meet is another predator or prey, ally or enemy, friend or foe. Most warriors do this on a subconscious level but in a meeting like this, it’s almost a tangible thing that fills the air. After a moment, the goon to the left of the door began to reach into his inside jacket pocket. The ringing sound of Iaido’s katana clearing its scabbard filled the room and caused both goons to flinch.

Iaido kept his voice low when he said, “I don’t know you buddy…but if that hand moves any faster or comes out of your jacket with any type of weapon, it will be lying on the floor a few seconds before your head lands beside it.”

The goon moved his hand with exaggerated slowness and pulled out a small black metal box that Iaido recognized it as a portable holo-emitter. He pressed the button, placed it on the ground and stepped back.

A blue-white light filled the air above the emitter. Slowly it refocused until it became a floating head which Iaido instantly recognized. The disembodied head scanned the room briefly before fixing his one good eye on the bounty hunter.

“Achilles. Please forgive the rudeness of this meeting but somehow I don’t relish being within range of your blades again, even after all these years.”

“Hello General, what do you want?”

“Actually its President now or haven’t you heard?”

“Semantics. General, President, High Chancellor… it doesn’t matter what title you call yourself, you will still be a coward. Now get to the point. What do you want?”

Anger flared across the President’s face for a brief second before he regained control. “Watch your tongue, pod-born. I could have you killed in the blink of an eye or shipped off to New Leavenworth again.”

Iaido sheathed his sword. “Get to the point General. You didn’t arrange this meeting to exchange threats about the past.”

“No. You are quite right. I need your unique skills.”

“Sorry, not for hire. I’m already working a case.”

“Yes, I know. The murder of retired Sgt. Major Spenton and his wife, Amy…but my job and your case are linked. They were killed on orders from your former commanding officer, Major Marcus T. McDowell.”

“So you say.”

“Incidentally he is wanted on multiple accounts of grand theft, larceny, desertion, dereliction of duty and extortion.”

“Not interested.”

“There is a rather large bounty on the Major’s head… two-hundred and fifty thousand credits; dead or alive.”

“Not interested.”

The President continued as if he didn’t hear him.

“I want you to find Major McDowell. His desertion is a stain on my honor.”

“You have no honor.”

Again the President ignored the insult. “No one has come forward to claim the bounty but I want him so I have increased the bounty to a half-million credits. I want the best and as much as I hate to admit it, that’s you.”

“Not interested.”

The holo-image of the President’s head frowned at Iaido’s continued refusals. “Let me ask you a simple question, Achilles.”

“That is no longer my name.”

“It was the name we gave you and it is what you were created to be; the ultimate warrior but that isn’t the issue or the question. What do you remember about a mission twelve years ago called Operation Lodestone?”

Iaido thought for a second before shaking his head. “There wasn’t an Operation Lodestone, at least not for Omega Squadron.”

“I assure you there was such an operation and it was the only mission Omega ever failed.”

“We never failed to attain the mission objectives. Hell, even on Gilese when we lost the whole squadron we still held the pass. The price was high but tactically it was still a victory. We held the pass as ordered.”

The President nodded. “What you say about Gilese is true but that was the remnants of Omega Squadron, basically the Second and Third Companies. We lost the entire First Company during Operation Lodestone.”

Iaido’s look of disbelief was obvious. “I find that hard to believe. I was with Omega since its christening. Don’t forget I was the old man in the squad.”

“How do you think you became the old man?” the President asked.

Iaido shrugged his shoulders in response.

“Let me ask you another question, what happened to your brother Hector?”

“He was killed in an accident. Two cruisers exited hyperspace at the same time and ran into each other, both ships and crews were lost.”

“Did Hector ever travel solo or on another military transport?”

Iaido shook his head. “No.”

“Then how did he die in a starship crash and not you?” The President paused before he added, “What you believe about your brother’s death are lies. We implanted those memories to help you overcome the loss of Hector and the rest of your pod-mates. Trust me on this.”

“Trust is earned not given and after Gilese you haven’t earned that right.”

The President nodded. “Point taken but whether you believe me or not, the fact remains that the few survivors of Operation Lodestone are being systematically killed.”

The holo-gram shifted from the image of the President to a list of over a hundred names, all but four were marked through in red.

“Over the last several months, there has been a rash of un-solved and mysterious deaths. Their only connection is Operation Lodestone, somehow they were involved. Maybe as an intel officer or a shuttle pilot but they were connected. Of the four left alive, only Major McDowell really knows what happened.”

“Why don’t I remember anything about this mission?” Iaido asked.

“According to Sgt. Major Spenton’s report, you were severely injured when you single-handedly dispatched a patrol of Lemurians that was blocking your squad’s escape route. When you three finally made it to the shuttle, you were more dead than alive. Medical records show that you had so many wounds, the med-techs were amazed that you were walking at all. You suffered massive blood loss and a severe concussion. They placed you into a regen-tank as you slipped into a coma.”

“I still don’t understand what one mission, if it happened at all, has to do with this.”

“Something happened on that mission, something not in the official report. With your memories modified and the Sgt. Major dead, only Major McDowell has the answers.”

Iaido pondered the implications for a moment before asking, “Can I assume that you were the officer in charge of planning the assault?”

“Yes. We had good intel that the Lemurians were planning an assault on Earth and we sent in our best troops to forestall their attack. We didn’t expect you to fail.” The President’s hands made the quotation marks to signify his sarcasm as he said ‘best.’

“Plan for failure, hope for success. Isn’t that what you taught us in training?”

“True, every mission has a chance of failure but Omega had such a knack for achieving the impossible. After all of your successes, we got so used to you winning that we became overconfident. But back to the point at hand, shortly after your return from the mission Major McDowell made several accusations against the Coalition Intelligence Agency. Stating publicly that the military was given mis-information and he went as far as accusing several high ranking officers of collaborating with the Confederates.”

“Was there any truth to his accusations?”

The President shrugged. “Nothing was ever substantiated.”

Iaido rubbed his chin as he digested what he was told before asking, “How long before Gilese was Operation Lodestone?”

“One year.”

“So the Major was under investigation before Gilese but was still left in charge of Omega?”

The President nodded. “His accusations weren’t without basis and a full military tribunal was called but never convened due to the debacle on Gilese.”

“And since the Major disappeared during Gilese, you needed a scapegoat.” Iaido nodded. “Now I understand why you had me charged with an article 94 - sedition.”

“Yes. After the debacle of Gilese, the masses needed someone to blame for the loss of so many of our troops and you were it. It wasn’t personal, just politics.”

Iaido’s hands clenched unconsciously at the thought of being used as a pawn. Of course, part of his mind realized the rational aspect of sacrificing a pawn to achieve an objective and as much as he hated to admit it, the President’s explanation made sense.

“All this is interesting but you still haven’t explained why you need me?”

“As I said, I need the best. I have checked the records of your hunts and once again, you have never failed a job. I’ll even sweeten the pot. I will triple the bounty if you also retrieve an old book of mine that I am sure the Major still has, an original Mark Twain.”

Iaido rubbed his chin. “Hmmm… one and a half million for the Major and this book? Any ideas on his location? Any leads?”

“If I knew that I wouldn’t need to hire you. Does this mean you’ll take the job?”

“I would be a fool not to but given our past I must insist on half up front.”

The President chuckled. “I didn’t know we programmed you with a sense of humor.”

“You didn’t. It developed over time, just as my skills have evolved and my patience has lessened over the years.”

One of the goons stepped forward and placed a cred-stix on the floor next to the emitter before stepping back.

“Here is the original bounty; two-hundred and fifty thousand credits as a down payment. When you have completed the job, activate this emitter and one of my associates will arrange the transfer. By the way Achilles, after you get the information from the Major that we need I would prefer that he not return to Earth; if you get my meaning?”

Iaido nodded. “Understood.”

The two goons backed out of the room as the holo-emitter powered down and the room fell into darkness.

Eve stepped out of the passageway. “So, my dad and Amy are dead?”

Iaido knelt down next to her and stared into her sky blue eyes. “Yes dear, I’m sorry. I really didn’t want you to find out this way.”

Tears filled her eyes as she said, “It’s okay. I knew they were gone, I dreamt it. But where will I go now?”

Iaido pulled the young girl into a hug. “You will come with me. I will look after you until we get this sorted out. Now gather your things, only what you can carry in one bag and do it quickly.”

Watching the young girl scamper off to pack her belongings, Iaido retrieved the items left by the man that had sacrificed his company during the war, caused the death of his brothers and incarcerated him for eight years.

But those were all personal issues and this was business. He had been hired to do a job and he would do it to the best of his ability…as always.

Chapter 9

Iaido scanned the street for anything out of the ordinary before turning to help Eve out of the taxi.

She glanced around in wide-eyed wonderment at the mass of people which crowded the plaza before she asked, “Where are we?”

Iaido pointed to a sign with Japanese writing on it. “I have an appointment at my Sensei’s dojo.”

Eve looked up with a furrowed brow and asked, “What’s a sen-say?”

“It is an ancient term of endearment that translated from Japanese means, ‘wise old man’ or teacher.”

“What’s a do-jo?”

“It’s a Japanese term which literally translated means ‘place of the Way’. It is a training hall for warriors. My Sensei teaches the Way to any who want to learn the Way.”

Still looking at him with a puzzled look she asked, “What is the way?”

Iaido chuckled. “That my dear is a good question. Men spend their whole life seeking the answer. I cannot truly answer it, for I too seek the Way.”

He pointed at a holo-display of two men engaged in a sword fight and continued his explanation, “My Sensei is a master in Kenjutsu and the leading authority on Bushido; ancient Japanese swordsmanship and other martial arts. When I’m in town, I work out here.”

Eve accepted the information and fell in behind Iaido as they made their way through the crowd.

Iaido couldn’t help but be impressed with the way Eve was handling all the chaos in her life these past few days. Maybe she was in shock. Or it could be that her partial Sylvan heritage aided her somehow. Either way, it was beyond him.

Diana was waiting for them at the door to the dojo. Iaido immediately noticed that lines of worry which marred her beautiful face. “Hiya doll. What’s wrong?”

“We’ve been hacked.”

“When?”

“Sometime in the last hour. They were good, real good but they still left footprints.”

“I had a feeling this was going to get nasty.” Iaido rubbed his chin. “Diana I want you to meet Eve. She’s the Sgt. Major’s daughter.”

Diana raised an eyebrow at that statement. “Iaido, there is nothing in his files about a daughter?”

“I know. It’s a long story and I only know bits and pieces of it.”

Diana knelt down so she would be eye level with the young lady. “Hi Eve, I’m Diana.”

Looking back and forth between the two adults, Eve finally said, “Hi.”

Iaido kept his voice low. “Eve, I need you to go with Diana. You’ll be safe with her. I will be with you in a couple of hours. I have a few things that I must take care of first.”

Seeing Eve nod, Iaido turned to his assistant and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Things are about to get rough, I can’t go into everything now. Initiate lockdown procedures and get to the safe house.” He handed her the scroll his Sensei had given him and added, “Also keep this safe.”

Diana lifted the young girl into her arms and disappeared into the crowd. Iaido had an uncomfortable feeling in his gut when he saw Eve wave goodbye. Pushing all thoughts aside, Iaido entered the dojo.

The lobby was crowded. Only the workout floor had any empty space due to the fact that only students and instructors engaging in cleaning duties or actual training were allowed on the mat, no exceptions. Several students and instructors were already sitting quietly on the sides of the mat, awaiting their turn to perform. Iaido moved into the locker room to change clothes, his mind filled with the implications the President had raised. Taking his place among the other students, Iaido watched some of the senior students perform katas for the visiting dignitaries.

Katas are prearranged patterns consisting of kicks, blocks and strikes designed in a certain pattern to train the student to react instinctively and without conscious thought. It was a formal way of displaying the techniques of Bushido and the skills of the student.

When the last of the senior students completed their performance, the Sensei clapped his hands twice loudly. Everyone bowed low as was the custom of the dojo.

With a slight wave of his hand, the Sensei signaled his youngest son forward. Leaning down, the Sensei whispered in his ear and Sam scampered off to do his father’s bidding.

Rising slowly, the old man bowed to his audience. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are honored today to have a military legend in our gathering.”

A murmur went through the crowd.

“Iaido Achilles Spartan step forward.”

Bewildered at his teacher’s opening statement, he answered while stepping forward to stand where indicated. “Yes Sensei.”

“Achilles is no mere student of Kenjitsu but an actual veteran of the war, one who used his blades in actual combat. How many confirmed kills with a sword do you have Achilles?”

Never in his lifetime had he been asked in public about his kill record. Most of his kills were still considered classified but to lie was wrong and without honor; to not answer was disrespectful. Iaido was in a quandary and hesitated.

The Sensei waved off the question. “Never mind. I know it is over two hundred.”

The gathering gasped and the murmur grew as it spread through the crowd.

Iaido could see the change in the way other students looked at him now. He was no longer one of them, He was apart. He was a killer.

The Sensei didn’t stop there. “I would guess there is no one alive that could stand against you blade to blade is there?”

Feeling a slight rush of anger and embarrassment at the Sensei’s words, Iaido couldn’t understand what he was doing but he steeled himself to answer the question.

“No, Sensei. There are not many who could defeat me.”

As the crowd gasped at Iaido’s bold statement, the Sensei grinned slightly. When he clapped his hands again, Sam came running forth with four stun bokkens.

Traditionally, bokkens are wooden practice swords that students use to perform their katas or to wield during sparring. A stun bokken was a modern version of the ancient practice sword. It was capable of producing an electric charge that would incapacitate any limb stuck or render unconscious those individuals touched on the spine or neck.

Sam presented Iaido a stun bokken which he accepted with a short bow.

Then the young boy moved over to the three most senior students who each accepted the offered weapons and stepped onto the mat. With a loud shout, the Sensei ordered the kumite to begin. The three senior students advanced slowly, holding their bokkens in the high aggressive position, tip pointed skyward and the blades at their right shoulders while they spread out to flank Iaido.

Closing his eyes, Iaido concentrated on his breathing for a few seconds to help him find his center and he listened to the world around him. The crowd was quiet, only the shuffling feet of the three students could be heard. Opening his eyes, Iaido strode confidently forward. His weapon gripped tightly in his right hand but held low in a relaxed position.

The middle student attacked with a downward slash and a loud ki-hap.

A ki-hap can be roughly translated as a ‘spirit shout’ and is used to disrupt your opponent or to focus the attacker’s energy in to whatever technique a practitioner is using at the time.

Unfazed by the shout or the speed of the attack, Iaido stepped to the side and casually brought his weapon down on the student’s neck. A flash of blue sparks engulfed his head before he dropped unconscious to the mat. Without changing strides, Iaido turned to the nearest opponent which left his back fully exposed to the third student. Seeing his opening, the third student charged at Iaido’s back. Without being able to see his fellow student’s attack, the second student swung his bokken sideways thinking that Iaido will be unable to sidestep such an attack.

Iaido dived to his left over the slashing blade and out of the path of the thrust from behind. Unable to stop their charge, the two students collided with each other in a blinding flash of sparks as both attackers fell unconscious.

Facing his sensei, Iaido bowed to his teacher as was the custom following kumite in the dojo.

The Sensei clapped his hands twice, signaling the junior-most students to rush onto the mat and drag the unconscious students away.

“Simple and efficient but not really a good display of your talent, was it? I wonder where we could find someone to give you a true challenge?” Holding out his hand to Sam, the Sensei never looked away from his prize pupil when he said, “I guess it is up to me.”

Quivering, Sam placed the hilt of a stun bokken in his father’s hand.

Unhurried, the old man moved to the center of the mat and raised his weapon to neutral ready position; sword held in front with both hands, the tip pointing at Iaido’s centerline.

Looking into the eyes of his master, Iaido saw no compassion in them. Nor did he see any spark of life or recognition; they reminded him of a shark’s eyes…cold and lifeless.

Iaido readied his own bokken and awaited the attack from his master and friend.

When the strike came, it was lightning fast. Seemingly faster than any non-augmented human should be capable of performing but then the Sensei was no normal man; he was a grandmaster of bushido. He had been walking the ‘Way’ long before Iaido was conceived. Of course, Iaido wasn’t just anyone. He too was a master of bushido and his reflexes were augmented by science and honed by constant use. Meeting the strike, Iaido countered, which in turn was parried and countered, until it became a blinding flash of blue sparks and clashes of blades. No spectator would ever forget the dazzling display the two masters of bushido were creating. After several minutes, Iaido found himself moving into zanshin.

Zanshin has been called many things over the years: the zone, the empty mind, Zen mind and enlightenment just to name a few. It is the mindset of body and mind working in perfect harmony. Sports celebrities talk about how their game was ‘on’ and everything was just right. The golfer’s swing is perfect and the distant hole looks ten feet big or the basketball player is shooting from the outside and hitting every shot. But to warriors it is more than that. It is a time when conscious thought disappears and the body reacts without thought. It is a beautiful thing when it happens but to your opponent, it’s deadly.

Once Iaido entered the state of zanshin his more deadly instincts kicked in.

Sensing an opening in the Sensei’s guard, Iaido threw a low kick toward the Sensei’s groin. As the Sensei reacted to the kick, Iaido moved inside and with a flick of his blade, struck the forearms of his mentor. Blue sparks leapt over the Sensei’s arms, causing them to twitch violently as his bokken went sailing into the air. Iaido paused instead of delivering the coup de grace, the death blow.

Since this was just a demonstration, a kumite, the match should’ve ended with the disarming. However the Sensei had other ideas. Rolling out of the disadvantaged position to a nearby weapons rack on the dojo wall, he pulled down a katana. Ripping the blade free from the scabbard, the ringing of the steel filled the dojo as he moved quickly to the attack.

Parrying the wild attack, Iaido once again struck the Sensei with his bokken. Even though blue sparks filled the room, the Sensei seemed unaffected by the stun properties of the training weapon and again pressed the attack. If anything, his attacks were more furious and faster than earlier. The Sensei had abandoned all pretenses of defense and Iaido struck him a dozen times but to no effect. Iaido was forced to use every trick and skill he possessed to dodge or block the Sensei’s wild yet deadly attacks.

The change in Iaido’s mindset was simple. His unconscious mind recognized that the earlier attacks to be non-deadly. Now that the Sensei was wielding a ‘live’ blade, his responses were different. The philosophy of an ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ scenario was drilled into him during his military days. Stepping up his own attacks, Iaido forced the Sensei back with the force of his blows. Even if the stun aspect wouldn’t work on the Sensei for some reason, a sharp whack to the side of the head should do the trick.

One of the Sensei’s wild attacks clipped Iaido’s shoulder, drawing first blood and knocking his bokken out of his hand. With a spin, the Sensei lashed out with a wide slash parallel to the ground with the intent of disemboweling his opponent.

Reacting without conscious thought, Iaido stepped inside the swing and wrapped his left arm over and around the arms of his master, while his right hand moved to the pommel of the katana. Rotating his grip slightly and pivoting quickly, Iaido wretched free the blade. Continuing the momentum of the turn, Iaido counter-attacked with a horizontal slash that was perfection in motion. No one alive could’ve executed that move any cleaner.

The razor sharp katana slid through the flesh and bones of the Sensei’s neck easily, separating his head from the rest of his body. Due to the direction of Iaido’s spin, the blood flew off his blade to splatter the wall and sling a line of blood across the ancient flag of Japan which hung in a place of honor in the dojo. Unfortunately, the Sensei’s disembodied head flew through the air to land at Sam’s feet with a loud thud.

The dojo was silent. The only sound was the slow moving ceiling fans.

Iaido dropped the katana and fell to his knees. As he stared at the headless corpse of his mentor and friend, a mixture of screams and shouts filled the air.

It was only a matter of minutes before the police came rushing into the dojo. Surprisingly it wasn’t just a few beat cops but a full SWAT team in tactical armor led by Agent Smith.

As the SWAT team surrounded the mat, Iaido remained on his knees just staring at the headless corpse before him. It could’ve been hours or days for all that he noticed. One image froze in his mind’s eye; the twin marks of puncture wounds on the base of his neck right over his mentor’s spinal cord. One part of his mind remembered Diana mentioning similar marks had been found on Amy’s body. What that meant, Iaido had no idea, yet.

Two SWAT grunts moved forward and slapped a pair of handcuffs on the unresisting bounty hunter. Once he was restrained with his hands behind his back, Agent Smith stepped in front of him.

“I knew you were trouble from the moment we met.” Without warning or provocation, Agent Smith slapped Iaido across the face.

Several of the SWAT officers winced at the unsolicited blow but were unable to interfere since the FSA agent was of a higher authority and possibly had different rules of engagement. No police officer could justify striking an unresisting, cooperative subject that was handcuffed and keep their job, especially with a crowd watching.

Iaido looked up at the agent and narrowed his eyes. “Strike three, Junior.”

Moving faster than anyone could prevent, Iaido leapt up and spun around in a full circle, lashing out with his right foot striking the Federal Agent on the side of the head. Since Iaido had no intention of killing or even injuring the young agent, he had opted to use a spinning crescent kick instead of more damaging techniques. The kick was still powerful enough to knock the agent to the ground and leave a large red welt on the right side of his face.

Landing lightly, Iaido immediately dropped to the ground as three SWAT officers rushed forward, placed their R-Guns on him and yelled, “Don’t move!”

Even though the SWAT grunts had acted in a predictable fashion, Iaido thought he could see a glint of amusement in their eyes. One of the police officers handed the FSA agent a wet towel and helped steady him as he stood back up.

A moment later when two Galactic Marshals stepped into view, he did his best to regain some of his wounded pride as he said, “My partner didn’t want to arrest Mr. Spartan this morning when we had the chance. If we had, this old man would still be alive.”

The two Galactic Marshals moved forward. They were both dressed in black body armor with several weapons visible along their waist. The larger of the two spoke first; his voice was a deep baritone. “Mr. Spartan, I’m Marshal Brutus and this is Marshal Cassius. You are a suspect in several crimes committed against the Sylvan Empire which places you in our jurisdiction.”

Iaido ignored their implied threat. Being under the authority of the Galactic Marshals meant that the normal rights a person could expect while incarcerated were null and void.

Marshal Cassius stepped up to the headless form of the sensei and nudged it slightly with his foot. “You would think that there would be more blood from a beheading.” He shrugged. “I guess it dries up as you get older.”

As they began to escort him out, Iaido looked around the dojo and took in the stunned faces of the students and spectators until he spied Sam. At first glance, Iaido could see the effects of shock in his young eyes but then he noticed something else. The tilt of his head and the squint in his eyes had changed. The wide-eyed innocence of youth had fled to be replaced by a look that could only be called hate, pure and simple.

One part of his mind registered the argument between the dignitaries and the police. Even though they had witnessed Iaido killing the Sensei, the dignitaries were outraged at his treatment. They explained what happened. Even furnishing a digital recording of the kumite, surely this was a clear case of self-defense. The Galactic Marshals ignored the ongoing argument and escorted him through the gathering crowd to a waiting skimmer. Placing him in the back seat, Agent Smith climbed in next to him while the Marshals took the front and they were off, leaving behind the dojo, the dignitaries and the police.

Less than two minutes into the trip, Iaido realized that they weren’t heading toward the starport and the headquarters of the Galactic Commission, but east…away from downtown and large crowds of New Atlanta. He turned his head slightly seemingly to stare out the window as he used his skills to pick the lock of his handcuffs while surreptitiously studying the Galactic Marshals.

Brutus was a squat, muscle bound, body builder type. While his partner Marshal Cassius was a wiry, fidgety type that constantly played with a silver coin, making it dance around his hand. Two things jumped out during his inspection, a small tattoo at the base of their skulls and an interface port.

Iaido had a similar port in the back of his neck which allowed him to hook into nearly any network in the known universe. It was a common augment for those in the SPEC OPS divisions of the military during the war but was rarely found in Law Enforcement or even in soldiers after the Armistice of 2125.

Iaido knew one thing for certain; the two men in the front seat of the skimmer were much more deadly than the bumbling Federal Agent sitting next to him.

Chapter 10

Finished with the day’s clients, Talia moved through the lower parts of the Sylvan Embassy.

The Empire had chosen this location carefully. The storefront was only a small part of a much larger complex. Talia knew that the lower sections extended into the ruins of old Atlanta but hadn’t had the time to explore. However, it was to these lower chambers that her mistress had summoned her. Arriving at the innermost sanctum of the embassy, Talia paused to smooth out the folds in her dress and to check the placement of her hair. It wouldn’t be good to seem harried in front of her new mistress; not after the visits they had today from the Galactic Marshals, Federal Agents and the bounty hunter Iaido Spartan.

Talia felt her pulse quicken slightly at the thought of the grey-eyed bounty hunter. Sure, he was a barbarian compared to the Sylvans. The whole Terran race was barely six millennia old, whereas the Sylvan Empire spanned over two-dozen millennia. Still, there was something special about this race, something…

“Enter young one,” came the voice of Madam Aleksandra from inside the sacred chamber.

Moving slowly into the room, Talia kept her eyes lowered as was the custom but she couldn’t resist peeking at her surroundings. The room was a simple square with two other doorways visible. The wall she entered through was draped in green silks, while the wall to her left was draped in red and to her right was draped in blue silks. The wall straight across was draped in yellow and along its center wall was a large stone tablet surrounded by four candles. In the center of the room was a low table carved entirely out of black marble and surrounded by pillows.

Talia bowed low before her mistress. “You called madam?”

Madam Aleksandra gestured at the table between them. “Read the cards. What do you see?”

Talia saw that the cards were laid out in one of the most complex patterns known to the Sisterhood. However, it was one that she had studied in the Seminary, so she calmly sat herself at the table and began to count her breathing. Feeling herself fall into the meditative trance needed to read the cards properly, Talia held her hand momentarily over each card, feeling the meaning in the placement.

“The hound of darkness shall harry the paladin of light and his fate shall rest on a knife’s edge.”

Madam Aleksandra nodded her head in agreement. “That is nearly the exact interpretation I got when I read these cards.”

“But what does it mean?”

“My analysis? The bounty hunter Spartan is in trouble.”

“What can we do about it? We have already warned him as much as the Directive allows, have we not?”

Madam Aleksandra stood up and began to pace slowly around the room. Even agitated, her grace and poise was something to admire.

“Talia Stargleam, I will be blunt. The Empire is in trouble and without the aid of the Terrans the Empire will fall. Every divination I have cast shows this to be true.” Stopping at the ancient stone tablet, Madam Aleksandra caressed its rough surface before continuing. “There is a great debate within the High Council concerning the Terrans. Many see them as the slaves of the past while others see them as the saviors of our future.”

Turning back to face Talia, “I left the service of the Emperor over this debate. I could not sit by and watch others poison his mind any longer.”

“But mistress, the Directive clearly states that we are not to directly intervene or aid the Terrans, only observe and guide through our wisdom.”

“So it does,” Madam Aleksandra responded. Moving back to the table, she knelt down opposite her newest pupil. “Have you ever wondered why I asked for you to be posted here on Terra?”

“The question had crossed my mind from time to time. I realize that I am barely out of the Seminary and yet I received this posting over more senior sisters.”

Madam Aleksandra gestured at the cards. “Somehow your fate is intertwined with the paladin of light. See for yourself, turn the next card.”

Doing as she was told, Talia drew the card and placed it in the proper spot in the layout. They were confronted by the image of two lovers intertwined in the act of fornication. The Lovers card signaled the union of two forces working together toward the same goal.

Talia chewed on her lip slightly before she asked, “But mistress, if I aid the Terran won’t I be branded a traitor?”

“Only if you fail.”

“What does that mean?”

“Simple. If my fears are correct and you are successful, then no one on the Council would dare to speak out against you.”

“And if I do fail?”

“Then you will be dead and beyond caring.”

Talia thought for a moment before asking, “Does this have something to do with my sister Medea?”

“Yes. She was my finest pupil. She was more gifted than anyone currently sitting on the High Council and she was the most talented reader I have ever trained. However, she was a bit reckless and moved too soon. This allowed our enemies within the Empire to move against her.”

“You are asking me to take up where she left off?”

“Yes. I had hoped we would have more time together. I had expected to further your training but my friends in the Seminary assure me that you are the most capable and gifted student they have trained in a decade. I am forced to rely on their judgment because time is not on our side. Our enemies seek to move against Spartan this very evening. We must aid him or perish.”

Madam Aleksandra reached over and drew the next card but held it face down. “This card holds the answer to any question your heart desires. All you have to do is give the question form and speak it aloud.”

Talia absentmindedly chewed on a stray strand of hair as she contemplated the offered card. After a brief moment, she gingerly took the card. “But at what price?”

Madam Aleksandra smiled ever so slightly. “You are indeed your sister’s sister. She asked the exact same question, so I will answer it the same way. Every gift has a price but truth is the cheapest. This question and answer are yours alone.”

She pointed to the red door on her right. “If you choose to aid Spartan, everything you will need is behind that door.” Nodding her head toward the blue door she added, “If not, that door will lead you back to the library. I shall return to my chambers to await your decision. May the Living Stars shine on you now and always.”

Standing, Madam Aleksandra moved out of the sanctum leaving Talia alone with her dilemma.

Fearing to ask the wrong question, Talia thought about everything that Madam Aleksandra had told her. Of course, it did illuminate many things that had happened to her during the Seminary. She had always felt that there had been some sort of guiding hand in her training. Now she knew that to be true. However, the thought of the Empire failing was almost preposterous…almost.

Since her graduation, she had seen the decadence and corruption that plagued her homeworld. Many Sylvans just wanted everything to stay the same or better yet, go back to how it was millennia ago but one thing that she had learned by watching the Terrans in the short time she had been on Earth, if you are not moving forward, then you are moving backwards. The only constant in the universe is change. Nothing stays the same...nothing.

This of course led her back the question at hand, the card.

One of the most gifted mystics of her people had given her a prophetic card. One that held the answer to any question she could fathom. She could ask anything, yet the grey eyes of Spartan kept coming back to haunt her thoughts. Seeing that as a sign from the Living Stars, Talia spoke softly to the darkness.

“Is it my destiny to aid Spartan?”

Flipping the card over, Talia let it fall to the center of the layout and was confronted by the image of the Chariot.

The Charioteer is a man on the move and he’s in the driver’s seat, both literally and metaphorically. It is the card of forward motion and change. It depicts the timeless quest for exploration and conquest but it also embodies a certain amount of contradiction since it hints at an unstoppable destiny that can’t be avoided.

With a simple nod, Talia moved to the red door and stepped through intent on confronting her destiny.

Chapter 11

Agent Smith hadn’t stopped talking since they climbed into the skimmer. The young agent was trying to impress the Galactic Marshals with greatly exaggerated tales of his detective skills and trying to regain some measure of confidence after the blow he’d received from the handcuffed bounty hunter.

Iaido hadn’t really been listening but even so, his yapping was starting to grate on his nerves.

Finally Cassius turned around and asked, “Don’t you ever shut up?”

The shock on Agent Smith’s face at being spoken to in such a manner lasted all of about ten seconds before turning to a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Leaning forward in the chair, he pointed his finger at the small marshal. “Now listen here, you’re in my jurisdiction and at my request. All I have to do is snap my fingers and….”

Whatever threat he was going to make died as Cassius shoved a ten inch piece of metal into Agent Smith’s neck. The dying agent grasped feebly at the protruding knife as his life blood spewed all over the cabin, including covering Iaido’s keikogi.

Cassius looked over at Iaido and winked. “Damn he was annoying!”

The driver began bouncing the skimmer all over the air lanes. It bucked so violently that Iaido had to use his recently freed hands to hold himself in place.

Brutus noticed his freed hands through the rear view mirror and gestured towards them with his head when he asked, “How long?”

Iaido shrugged. “Before we were three blocks from the dojo.”

Brutus smiled slightly to himself as he took the skimmer into a steep dive. Warning lights flashed red all across the instrument panel. Pulling up sharply on the controls, the skimmer leveled out a few feet above the colossal rock of granite known as Stone Mountain. Landing heavily, the landing gear collapsed under the strain. Before the damaged ship came to a complete stop, all four doors popped open and the two Marshals leapt out.

Iaido shifted his position slightly but was still inside the doomed craft.

“I guess the story will be that I killed Agent Smith with a knife that I had hidden in my keikogi. During the struggle inside the skimmer, you were forced to make a crash landing here on Stone Mountain and regrettably of course, I was killed in your attempt to recapture me. How did I do?”

Cassius nodded his approval. “That’s almost exactly how I was planning on writing this in my report. Of course, I will add how we tried to talk you down, even after your brutal murder of a federal agent but eventually we had to shoot you.”

Iaido snickered. “Unarmed? That will do wonders for your career.”

Cassius pulled out a second pistol and tossed it to Iaido’s feet.

“I never said you weren’t armed. In the struggle with Agent Smith, you were able to get his service blaster and so, regrettably of course, we had to blow you away.”

Looking down at the gun at his feet, Iaido could tell it wasn’t a standard issue blaster but a Peregrine Disruptor Mark II from the distinctive flaring of the barrel ports.

The PDMkII was a close combat sidearm that fired a beam of energy that was deadly up to fifteen meters. The main advantage of the disruptor over other blasters was its capacity to disable or kill its targets. With a disruptor there were hardly any minor wounds. Disruptors were originally developed for medical use; the beam was designed to re-align the molecules of a wound causing them to knit back faster. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The energy beam caused some sort of feedback in the atoms of its targets, causing them to fly away from each other. This tended to take several seconds but when it did, the target area would literally explode, causing a wound nearly one-hundred times the size of the beam. For example, a soldier struck in the shoulder area with a standard blaster would be severely injured but still slightly functional and could return to combat after seeking medical aid. The same wound with a disruptor would cause the soldier to lose the affected arm and possibly die from blood loss and shock.

It was said to be extremely painful and had been outlawed by the UNCF for nearly three decades for being inhumane, although many were still found in use in the outer regions. Unfortunately, disruptors were slow to fire and also known to be unreliable. They needed a lot of maintenance to keep in good working order. A misfire in a disruptor usually sent the energy blast back through the weapon engulfing the weapon and shooter.

Reaching down, Iaido slowly picked up the disruptor. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Marshal Brutus had moved into a flanking position armed with a large bore carbine and had it trained on his chest. Without taking his eyes off Marshal Cassius, Iaido began to breakdown the pistol.

“You don’t mind do you?”

Cassius shrugged. “Not at all, I would do the same.”

“So, I guess this is the end of the line for me?”

Cassius nodded, “Yep. It’s a shame really. I’ve always wanted to meet you.”

“Really?” By this time Iaido had the disruptor broken down into its three basic parts; barrel, energy cell and frame but needed more time so he kept the marshal talking.

“Why is that?”

Cassius scoffed at the question. “You’re a legend. Achilles the invincible warrior; your exploits before and on Gilese are legendary.”

Using his handcuffs as a jumper between the positive and negative connections of the energy cell, Iaido could already feel it starting to heat up. Dropping the energy cell inside the skimmer’s back door, Iaido moved towards the edge of the cliff.

“I haven’t gone by that name since Gilese. In many ways Achilles died on that mountainside with the rest of Omega Squadron.”

Cassius shifted slightly closer to the skimmer to get a better angle on Iaido. “Judging from your actions since then I would have to agree. The funny thing is you weren’t even supposed to be involved.”

“But I am…the moment you killed the Sgt. Major I became involved.”

Cassius shook his head. “But we didn’t, we planned on killing him but his wife had already done the job for us before we arrived. We’ve just been cleaning up loose ends since then; the Fed, you and the gypsy next.”

Taking a gamble that the marshal wouldn’t shoot him in the back, Iaido turned away and scanned the terrain down this side of the mountain. It was steep but a rapid descent looked survivable and there would be cover for his escape. With the beginning elements of a plan forming Iaido asked, “So…you and I are going to have a shootout like two gunslingers in the Ancient West?”

“That’s the plan. I realize that you would rather have a blade in your hand but this is my fantasy, not yours.”

Iaido gestured toward the second marshal. “And if I win?”

“It won’t happen old timer, I am the fastest Myrmidon ever designed. According to the official records my reflexes are even faster than you or your brother.”

“Really?”

Cassius nodded toward his left. “Look the crows have already arrived to feast on your carcass.”

Iaido watched as Edgar landed on a nearby branch with a loud squawk.

“Actually, it’s a raven. There’s a difference.”

“Semantics.” The Marshal shifted his weight slightly and lowered his right hand over the blaster in his holster in the classic gunslinger pose. “Now, are you ready to die old timer?”

At that moment the disruptor energy cell overloaded and exploded inside the skimmer; which in turn ruptured the fuel cells causing them to explode. The flying wreckage knocked Cassius to the ground. Brutus was further from the blast but still ducked to avoid some flying debris which was all the distraction Iaido needed.

Launching the disruptor barrel sidearm, Iaido watched as it spun end over end until it struck the larger marshal right in the forehead and knocked him to the ground. Without hesitation, Iaido leapt off the ledge.

The descent down the mountainside was somewhere between a controlled run and long stumble. If it weren’t for the scrub bushes and trees along the way, Iaido would’ve fallen an untold number of times but Edgar’s cawing would lead him toward more passable area of the mountain. When Iaido reached the bottom of the mountain, he wasn’t surprised to find Talia sitting astride a black motorcycle with the raven perched on the handlebars.

However, the change in her appearance did surprise him. Gone was the fancy, formal attire. In its place, she wore a tight fitting black leather outfit with matching boots and jacket. Her waist long silver hair was pulled back and braided.

“How did you know?”

“The cards never lie.” Talia said as she flashed him a crooked grin. “Actually, it was Madam Aleksandra’s cards. She foretold that you would need assistance at this spot and at this time. She is a very gifted reader.” With a nod toward the mountain she asked, “Are they dead?”

Edgar launched himself as Iaido approached. “I doubt it. They are merely stunned and without a vehicle for the moment.”

“Then we should be off.” Firing up the bike, the engine’s deep throaty roar echoed off the rocks.

Iaido pulled off the bloody keikogi top and tossed it aside as he climbed on behind her. He slipped on a set of tac-goggles which allowed the rider to interface with the machine and the traffic control grid of New Atlanta as Talia pulled onto the main road which lead out of the National Park.

Although a great majority of New Atlanta residents used the mass transit system, nearly one fifth of its residents still used their own private transportation. For those with the funds, this meant skimmers or speeders; the major difference between the two was the height and range at which they could travel. Speeders had to stay within twenty feet of the ground which allowed them more flexibility than ground based vehicles but still less than a skimmer which was only limited by the atmosphere. Of course, both speeders and skimmers flight paths were strictly controlled and regulated by the Central Traffic Control Grid more commonly known as Central.

Ground based vehicles were also monitored and regulated to a degree. The main freeways were strictly controlled, once on the freeway the driver only controlled which exit he or she wanted. The side streets weren’t controlled but regulated, speed and traffic patterns mostly. If letting your vehicle speed up spread out the traffic and cause less problems, then that’s what Central would do, or vice versa. However, motorcycles were completely different; Central Control didn’t like them since they were the only vehicle which operated independent of the grid.

Tapping into the bike’s control panel, Iaido set up a secure feed to Talia’s tac-net helmet and asked, “Not that I’m complaining but where are we going?”

“Not sure, I’m just trying to put distance between us and them.”

“Okay. Change of plans, take this exit.” Iaido directed Talia down several side streets while using the comlink in the tac-goggles to contact Diana. “Hey doll, I need your skills.”

“Jeez, Iaido! Are you okay? I heard about what happened at the dojo. It’s all over the net.”

“I’m fine…for the moment, but I am sure I am being tracked or at least hunted. I need a chameleon program for a motorcycle.” Iaido waited as Diana worked her magic.

“Ok boss, I’m inside the Central Control Grid and have your code fixed and locked. I need you to pull up next to a parked car, shut down the bike and scan the car’s tag. Do it quickly, even I can’t stay in here long without setting off some sort of alarm.”

Pulling up next to a red speeder, Iaido had Talia shut down the bike while he used his tac-goggles to scan its tag, “Alright. It should be coming through now.”

“Just a few more seconds…got it! Okay, according to Central your bike is that speeder. If you drive accordingly, it will never know the difference unless you hop onto the Freeway, of course.”

“Thanks doll, you’re a life saver.”

“No problem boss. See you at the Safehouse.”

Iaido turned back to Talia and said, “Okay we are hidden from Central, for now but it would be easier if I drive.”

Without hesitation, Talia hopped off and slid on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist for support. “I have never ridden on the back of one of these.”

“That’s okay, just hold on tight and let me lean into the turns. Try to keep your weight centered. I’ll do all the work.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

“It does, now. But we have to travel the whole of New Atlanta. Our destination is on the south-west side and we cannot use the freeway or take a direct route that will take us through the heavily populated zones. It will be a long day before we are done.”

Several hours later they pulled into a dilapidated warehouse district not far from the spaceport. Local transports and intergalactic shuttles could be heard at regular intervals. The parking lot they pulled into was full of other ground transports and even a few speeders. It sat across from a bar that took up one corner of a boarded up warehouse. ‘The Safehouse’ in blue neon glared brightly in the dark, while flashing red neon proclaimed ‘Topless’ and ‘Coldest Beer in Town.’ Several drunks were passed out on the corner in front of the bar while piles of trash and discarded boxes lined the streets.

Talia looked at the place with revulsion. “We’re going in there?”

Iaido nodded while scanning the area for possible threats with an experienced eye.

“This isn’t your typical bar. Most of the cliental are warehouse workers, sailors and pilots with the occasional executive stopping by for a few brews. This should be the last place the Feds look for us.”

“Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like that.”

“I don’t believe this falls under the category of normal circumstances. Do you?” Iaido asked, “You don’t have bars like this on Sylvanis?”

With a shrug of her shoulders, Talia studied the bar. “I’m not sure. I have never seen one but then my homeworld is rather large and my experience with bars very limited.”

Silently Iaido led the way across the street. As they got closer to the gutters, the smell of feces and urine assaulted their noses. The bounty hunter seemed unaffected while the odor caused Talia to cover her nose in disgust.

A legless bum on a crude cart rolled out a cardboard box next to them. He was covered in filth and wearing ragged clothing. Cupping his hands out in front of him while looking up at the beautiful young maiden he asked, “Credits? Credits for a crippled vet?”

Taking an involuntary step back, Talia glanced at Iaido who had paused at the bar’s entrance to watch. Turning her attention back to the bum, she absentmindedly chewed on her lip as she considered his request. With a shrug, she reached into her pocket and drew forth a credit stix.  Dropping it into his outstretched hands, she moved past the bum and joined Iaido at the entrance.

“Thank you mistress elf, thank you!” the bum called from his cardboard box as he rolled himself out of sight.

“That was very compassionate of you.”

Talia paused as she reached his side and glanced back at the box. “He needed those credits more than I do. Besides the Sisterhood teaches us that the Living Stars favor the empathetic.” Pausing for a second, Talia cocked her head slightly to one side. “I’m curious. Why do you Terrans insist on calling us elves? That wasn’t the first time I have heard that term applied to my people.”

“I would guess your pointed ears, mystical nature and planetary name conjure images from ancient literature of elves and magic. I wouldn’t let it bother you. I have been called worse during my tenure in the service.”

Before Talia could ask what he meant by that remark, Iaido opened the door and disappeared inside. He moved to the bar without a second glance at the occupants while Talia stood in the doorway and took in the scene. It was controlled chaos. There were drunk workers all over the place. Several tables had topless girls dancing to the music while servers moved through the crowd carrying drinks to the already drunk workers. Realizing she was standing at the doorway alone, Talia moved to the bar in time to watch the huge bartender bring Iaido a beer.

Talia leaned in and had to yell to be heard over the loud music, “Why are we here?”

“We needed someplace safe. What could be better than the Safehouse?”

Looking around the place, Talia wrinkled her nose. “Someplace cleaner and quieter.”

Draining his beer, Iaido set his mug down on the bar and nodded his head towards the back of the bar. “You want quiet? Come with me.”

Weaving his way through the crowd, Iaido led Talia down a dark hallway until they reached a storage closet with ‘Staff Only’ printed on the door.

Opening the door, Talia saw that it was filled with brooms, mops and buckets full of dirty water. Iaido gestured her inside, yet she hesitated. With a grin, he stepped inside and moved right through the image of the cleaning utensils. Once Talia realized that they were nothing more than a hologram, she followed.

As soon as the door closed, the floor began to drop slowly till it opened onto a polished hallway that lead off into the darkness. Without waiting to see if she was following, Iaido stepped off the elevator and proceeded down the passageway; lights came on at his approach. Talia hurried after him and reached his side just as they stepped into a large opening. Lights came on throughout the warehouse, revealing it to be a factory of sorts. The low hum of machinery filled the air. While it wasn’t exactly quiet, it was heaven compared to the ruckus up top.

Talia asked, “Where are we?”

“The true safe house. The bar is just a cover and a great place to gather information.”

“Whose is this?”

“Mine,” came a voice from the far side of the room.

Talia watched as a clean cut, young man with short blonde hair and a winning smile came rolling up in a motorized wheel chair. He was wearing a white lab coat but Talia was sure it was the same crippled bum that had accosted her outside.

“Talia,” Iaido said, “let me introduce an old friend of mine, Jason Xavier Kirk.”

“My friends call me Jay.” Holding out his hand, Talia noted its cleanliness. “Forgive the deception out front but from all the reports flying around the net, we had to be sure of your identity.” Turning back to his friend Jay added, “I’m sorry Iaido, I heard about the Sensei. He was a good man.”

Iaido nodded and wiped away a stray tear. “He was a great man. I am just confused by his actions. It just doesn’t make sense. Why would he challenge me? He, of all people, knows my skills.”

Not having an answer, Jay could only place a reassuring hand on his friend’s back and faced back to the beautiful Sylvan. “Once again, I must apologize for the ruse of the crippled bum but it allowed me a chance to scan your identity and verify your visa.”

“I am at a loss. I really don’t understand any of this.” Talia looked back at Iaido. “I just wanted to find my sister.”

“Come on. Explanations are way overdue.” Iaido nodded his head toward the center of the warehouse. “Is everyone here?”

Jay nodded. “Yes, Diana and Eve arrived earlier this afternoon and KC got here about fifteen minutes ago.”

The trio moved into what looked like a control center for the factory; computer consoles and monitors lined the walls. Diana was jacked into the net and barely nodded when Iaido introduced Talia.

Eve was curled up in a nearby chair reading when they arrived. Seeing Iaido, she dropped her book and leapt into his arms.

“Achilles! I knew you would come back! My dad told me that you always win, no matter what!”

Returning the hug, Iaido set the young girl down. “Eve, I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is Talia. She’s a mystic from Sylvanis.”

Eve placed her right hand over her heart while holding her left hand palm out, then lowered her head several inches and said, “The Living Stars have blessed us with this meeting. May it be beneficial to us both.”

Talia raised an eyebrow at Eve’s manners but returned the formal greeting. Copying the hand positions she said, “May the Living Stars shine on all our endeavors.” After a moment she asked, “Where did you learn the greeting of Sylvanis?”

“My dad taught me. He never could grasp your language but knew how the phrase translated, so he taught me that.” Eve cocked her head to one side. “Did I get it right?”

“Yes, you did fine.”

Eve beamed at the compliment. Talia felt herself drawn into the emerald green orbs of this young lady. It was like looking in a mirror that showed the past and she immediately knew that this young girl was her lost sister’s daughter.

Talia turned toward Iaido. “Is she…?”

Iaido nodded. “Yes. I believe so.”

“But why would Medea hide her from me?”

Without an answer for her, Iaido just shrugged and walked over to a metal cabinet at the far side of the control room. Stripping off his bloody clothes without regard to who was around, he threw them in a pile and quickly dressed out in some black BDUs (battle dress uniforms) and black combat boots. Next, he slipped on a flak jacket and pulled on a black t-shirt with a grinning white skull. He completed the outfit with a black synth-leather jacket.

Talia had turned her back on Iaido in embarrassment. The young girl tugged on her jacket to get her attention. “Yes Eve?”

“Did you come through the bar? Wasn’t it wonderful?”

Taken aback at the subject change, Talia looked to Iaido for guidance but he was occupied at a computer screen with Jay. “What do you mean? I don’t think a bar is anything special, especially that bar.”

Eve placed her small hands on her hips. “I mean the androids.”

“What androids?”

“The staff upstairs,” Diana said as she disconnected her jack. “They’re androids.”

“All of them?” Talia asked.

Diana nodded. “Yep. Fred the bartender is an old prototype but the rest are my brothers and sisters.”

“But that would mean you’re an…an…”

“An android?” Diana raised one eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”

Talia shook her head. “No. I mean, they seemed so real.”

Her eyes seemed to flash with anger but before she could say anything else, Jay interrupted.

“Now Diana, mind your manners. Take that confusion as a compliment. I know I do. No one is supposed to be able to tell you apart from a real born.”

Taking her creator’s advice, Diana turned back to her monitor but not before she flashed Talia a disapproving look.

“I see that an explanation is needed.” Jay gestured to the surrounding factory. “After we were rescued from Gilese, I was sent to Walter-Reed Hospital for rehab and was amazed at the lack of cybernetic limbs available for veterans. So, I began to tinker with the existing cybernetic technologies, tweaking and modifying them in an effort to improve my standard of living and those of my fellow vets. Eventually I began to experiment with androids, improving and refining each generation until after ten years of tinkering, Diana is the quintessential example of my craft.”

Diana gave a slight nod to her creator before she turned to Iaido and said, “I think I found who hacked our system.”

Iaido moved to her side. “Who?”

“There wasn’t much to go on,” Diana said. “They were good, real good. The best I have ever seen. They bounced their signal through a hundred different stations, on planet and off but I think I have them backtracked to a company known as the Praetorians.” She pointed at her monitor where it showed a glyph of a helmet and sword. “They have holdings in several locations but I haven’t been able to hack into their system and I have tried every code-crack I know.”

Iaido glanced at Eve and asked, “Have you seen this symbol before?”

The young half-sylvan shook her head. “No. Is it important?”

“I’m not sure.” Iaido placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and asked, “Eve would you be so kind as to get everyone a drink from the kitchen?”

Eve perked up at having a task to do. “Sure. What do you want?”

“Bottled water from the fridge will be fine for everyone.”

Eve clapped her hands together before she headed off. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Once Eve was out of sight Iaido said, “I have seen this glyph recently.”

“Where?” asked Diana.

“On the base of the necks of the two Galactic Marshals who arrested me earlier.”

Kristopher asked, “Which marshals?”

“The ones that tried to kill me on Stone Mountain.”

“Stone Mountain? A federal agent was found dead on the mountain bluff an hour ago. Was that your handiwork?”

“No,” Iaido said. “But it was intended to look like I killed him. One of the marshals did it but that isn’t the worst part.”

“What could be worse than a dead federal agent?” Kristopher shouted.

“The marshals are Myrmidons,” replied Iaido in a quiet voice.

The silence from the three veterans filled the room.

Talia looked back and forth between the three military men, waiting for someone to break the deepening silence. Finally, she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Who or what is a myrmidon?”

It was Iaido who answered. “A myrmidon is the latest version of the Super-Soldier Program.”

Talia asked, “A what?”

“The history of trying to manipulate genes to genetically improve soldiers date back to the Nazis of pre-coalition Germany, back in the mid 1900s; they weren’t very successful but the idea remained.”

Jay picked up the story. “It seems that sometime around 2022, the United States and Great Britain revived the Super Solider Program with the intention of replenishing their armies after the Jihad with the Unified Islamic Nations ended. The earliest versions were basically clones; heavily augmented but clones still.”

“But isn’t cloning illegal?” asked Talia. “The Empire experimented with cloning over six millennia ago and although it was viable, it was decided that it was amoral and was never used anywhere in the empire.”

“It seemed that the general public believed the same way,” Kristopher added. “After the UNCF was formed in 2035 cloning became illegal within its jurisdiction with one exception; all military and law enforcement personnel are allowed a clone in case of a death in the line of duty. However, I believe less than five percent have chosen that option. I know I haven’t. When it’s my time to go, it’s my time.”

Jay turned to his old friend. “What’s the matter KC? Afraid to cheat death again?”

“No. It wouldn’t be natural. It wouldn’t feel right.”

“You wouldn’t know the difference.” Iaido said, “If you’re dead, you can’t feel anything. If you’re a clone, you believe you’re the original, so you wouldn’t feel anything either.”

Kristopher shook his head. “That’s too philosophical for me but let’s get back to the questions at hand, who are the Praetorians? And why would they have Myrmidons?”

“According to the UNCF data files,” Diana said, “the Praetorians are a registered security consultant corporation with contracts from the Galactic Commission to police Sol. They have three bases: Ceres in the asteroid belt, New Leavenworth on Eris and a small outpost on Mars.”

Talia raised an eyebrow and asked, “Ceres? Eris? What are those?”

Iaido said, “Ceres and Eris are dwarf-planets named after mythical gods and goddess.”

Seeing that she didn’t really understand the concept, Jay interjected. “We Terrans like more colorful names for planets. The Sylvan Empire would simply refer to Ceres as Sol-Three point five and Eris as Sol-Twelve.”

Iaido said, “Ceres is a buzz of activity. It is the largest working stardock between Earth and Titan. I’ve been there several times to drop off bounties. Eris is nothing more than a ball of ice. The only habitat is New Leavenworth. Officially it is a prison for military and political prisoners. In reality it is a place for the Coalition to stash people they would rather forget.”

“It sounds as if you have been there,” stated Talia.

“I have. I spent three years in New Leavenworth on the military side of the prison.”

“What for?” asked Talia.

“Among other things, I was charged with an Article 104, aiding and abetting the enemy,” Iaido said. “While stranded on Gilese I rescued and patched up several of the confederate soldiers and even a few of the bugs.”

“Why would you do that? Why would you spend your time helping your enemy?”

“I gave aid to any that needed it, friend and foe alike. I had no hatred for them. They were warriors doing their duty just like us and just like us; they were left for dead by their commanders.”

“Okay. I can see you helping the Confederates but not the Mantodea...they are merely beasts?”

“That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it but I disagree. Any race that has mastered spaceflight cannot be animals. If what I have read about the earliest days of the Terran – Sylvan relationship is correct, many of your own people believed that about us.”

Talia frowned. “But that’s different.”

“Not really, many think that the Mantodea are animals because of their appearance, that and their own ignorance. I have no disillusions about my actions. I might’ve been programmed to kill and obey orders but I am more than my programming. What I did on Gilese during and after the battle was the right thing to do. I know that.”

“But you served time in prison for your actions.”

“That was the choice of the Strike Commander. He didn’t even question me or my actions. He just passed judgment and shipped me off to Leavenworth. It was one way to shift blame for the debacle that was Gilese. I was a convenient scapegoat and since he didn’t believe that Myrmidons had any worth, it was no great loss to him. To him we were nothing but tools. Pawns to be used then discarded.”

Kristopher asked, “And you going to prison had nothing to do with you trying to kill him?”

Before Iaido could respond, the alert tones which signaled the activation of the EBS sounded throughout the factory.

The EBS (Emergency Broadcast System) was designed by the Coalition to turn on any computer connected to the net allowing emergency bulletins or broadcasts to reach the majority of the population.

“An All Points Bulletin has been issued for Iaido Achilles Spartan. He is wanted in connection with the murder of a Federal Agent and should be considered Armed and Dangerous. The Galactic Commission has issued a bounty of five hundred thousand credits for any information that results leading to his arrest and capture. Contact the NAPD with any information.”

Alarms began to sound throughout the factory signaling a perimeter breach.

Without hesitation or warning, Iaido slammed his left fist into Kristopher’s solar plexus knocking the wind out of the police lieutenant. As he doubled over in pain, Iaido immediately followed it up with a shuto strike to the side of his neck, knocking him out cold.

“What did you do that for?” Talia asked, “I thought he was your friend?”

“That’s why I did it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Now that there is an official warrant for our arrest, KC was duty bound to arrest me. And duty is something we both take serious.” Iaido pointed at the limp form at his feet. “Now he can honestly say that he didn’t have a chance to arrest us and if they tap into his memory aug, it will validate his claim.”

An explosion rocked the building causing the lights to flicker once before going out. As the factory descended into total darkness, a second crash from the upper windows showered the companions with glass and served to herald the arrival of five heavily armored figures as they dropped in from the ceiling.

The companions reacted instantly.

Unable to see in the surrounding darkness but understanding what was about to happen, Jay hurled himself out of his chair to tackle Talia and take her out of the kill zone.

Diana and Iaido become a blur of motion as they moved directly toward their assailants.

Even unarmed, Diana was far from helpless. She rolled under the first shots of the SWAT team and into the two foremost assailants. With surprising ease, she disarmed one and knocked out the other before turning her attention to the rushing figures from the south end of the factory. Once she realized that their assailants were just cops doing their duty, nothing more and nothing less, she scooped up one of the fallen rifles and began firing. Using the targeting sensors built into her android brain, she went for wounding shots instead of kill shots; firing with superb precision and accuracy. Her every shot disabled a rushing cop and mere seconds into the breach, their charge was stalled.

Iaido also recognized that the assailants were SWAT officers; tough and highly trained but misguided. With the sound of the first explosion, his combat conditioning kicked in and he slipped into the zone. Time seemed to slow for him, he was aware of Diana’s attacks, Talia’s shock and the fact that Jay had initiated lockdown but only slightly. His true focus was the three SWAT grunts in front of him. Two were within easy arm’s reach, while the third was nearly thirty feet away; still within reach but not without leaving himself open to attack.

Subconsciously his mind registered that the SWAT grunts weren’t carrying the standard issue R-Gun; all were carrying THAB Mk8s –Tactical Heavy Assault Blasters Mark 8s. These were full military-grade weapons; Iaido had used earlier versions of the same rifle on many missions during his time with Omega.  He also knew that these weapons are not normally carried by the police, even SWAT. They were reserved for heavy tactical assaults. This meant they weren’t going for a capture…their orders were to kill.

Leaping over the closest grunt, Iaido couldn’t help but grin as he reflexively fired upward completely missing Iaido but spraying blaster fire on their entryway; which in turn caused the second team about to leap inside to fall back instead under cover. As soon as he landed, Iaido lashed out with a side kick and knocked the grunt off his feet.

Long ago, Iaido had stopped wondering why his brain noticed the strangest things during combat.

For example, W. Spurgeon was the name of the other SWAT grunt that was closest to his starting point and he had a cartoon figure of a talking sponge with legs, arms and a stupid grin painted on his tac-helmet.

Officer Spurgeon began tracking Iaido and firing with controlled rapid bursts. Unfortunately for his teammate, he was so keyed on trying to shoot Iaido that he wasn’t paying attention to where his missed shots were going. That was until a three round blast took his partner in the head. Even the SWAT armor couldn’t take the punishment of the THAB; one of the blasts ripped right through his visor and ricocheted around the inside of his armor before blowing out his chest. The poor soul was dead before his body hit the ground.

Iaido went into forward roll, scooped up the dropped THAB and fired two short bursts at the remaining SWAT grunts. Both were crippling attacks that would put them out of commission but with the advanced biometric systems in their suits, he knew that neither would die from the wounds.

Scanning the area, Iaido saw that all visible assailants were down but he knew that even though they had stalled the first wave, there was more to come. No SWAT Commander would rush a building without having a backup plan and that probably meant more troops and heavier hardware.

*   *   *   *   *

Lt. Robert Brown was the Commander of SWAT-Four and looked on his Tac-Net with shock and dread.

He had begun his assault with the most up-to-date Intel possible and highly trained and motivated troops but in less than a minute the situation had proven to be one huge SNAFU; a military term which meant Situation Normal All Fucked Up.

Problems were to be expected given the speed the operation was set up and the numerous different agencies participating but his team hadn’t been briefed on the type of resistance they were encountering. The building had back-up generators and lights, so in less than a minute all power and defensive systems were back online and the defensive systems were state of the art; even the Feds couldn’t hack into their system to shut it down. Once power was restored, anti-personnel and anti-aircraft batteries had popped out of hidden alcoves on the roof and had disabled anything that came near, men and machines.

Only the first squad had been able to breach and make entry but they had been disabled mere seconds after they entered. The only good news for the SWAT Commander was that his Tac-Net showed only one dead officer, thank god, but thirteen were down and completely out of the fight; their suits had administered drugs that put the injured officers into a hibernation coma.

All that happened in the first minute, now they were experiencing some sort of electronic jamming that stopped all info on their tac-net, no communication, no monitor reading, no data flow at all. This was every commander’s worst nightmare.

They were totally blind; in other words, they had moved into FUBAR – Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.

Lt. Brown switched his com-link over to broadcast on all police frequencies.

“All units be advised, SWAT-Four’s CIC is down, I repeat, SWAT-Four’s CIC is down. All units fall back to safe positions Charlie, I repeat, fall back to safe position Charlie.”

Lt. Brown turned to the tech working on the problem and said, “I don’t care what you do or how you do it but get me the tac-net back!”

*   *   *   *   *

Even with the first wave of attackers stalled and pinned down, Iaido knew they were screwed.

If a SWAT team was making an assault that meant they had the area surrounded and all air traffic in the area was controlled and monitored. Squeezing off a few blasts at the pinned down troopers, Iaido low crawled his way back to Jay and Talia who were sheltered behind the computer console.

“Interesting party you are throwing Jay, did you invite the whole NAPD?”

“Nope, I completely forgot to invite them. I guess that’s why they ‘crashed’ the party.”

Chuckling at the poor joke, Iaido squeezed off a few blasts at the troopers on the roof. “Good to see you still have your odd sense of humor. They have us pinned down and shortly they’ll have a superior crossfire. We need to get out of here, fast.”

Jay pointed to an area not far away. “There’s an escape tunnel under that table that leads to the old sewer system.”

Iaido looked at the table; it wasn’t large and would be easy to move. The problem was its location; there was no cover within twenty feet of it. Even with his enhanced reflexes it was a death sentence to try for it. Looking around, he knew they had no choice.

“We need a distraction.”

Jay tapped a few commands into a nearby computer. “In the works. In less than a minute you’ll have your distraction. It will be costly but effective.”

Before Talia or Iaido could ask what he meant, the door to the bar burst open and in rushed all the dancers. The SWAT troopers paused in their attack to study this new opponent. Most of the dancers were still nude or semi-nude. As they jumped on the closest troopers, the dancers began to scratch, bite and kick. It was mayhem but it was all the distraction they needed.

Iaido rushed to the concealed doorway, threw the table aside and wrenched open the hatch to reveal a ladder leading into the darkness. Running back, Iaido snatched up Jay and shoved Talia toward the hatch.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Iaido yelled. “Diana! We are leaving!”

Diana nodded in acknowledgement, dropped her THAB and turned toward the escape hatch but before she got three steps Eve’s cries for help echoed through the warehouse. With all the chaos of the last few minutes, the companions had completely forgotten the child.

Burdened with Jay and Talia, Iaido could only watch as Diana ran the length of the warehouse to grab the crying child. Scooping her up, Diana tucked the young girl’s head into her chest and began the run back to the escape hatch. Iaido hazarded a glance at the SWAT troopers, nearly all of the attacking android dancers were down.

The best description of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity that Iaido had ever heard went something like this; place your hands on a hot stove and seconds would seem like hours; place your hands on a hot girl and hours would seem like seconds.

And so, the short run the length of the warehouse on any given day would be nothing to Diana or Iaido. However, the companions could do nothing but watch as Diana loaded down with Eve tried to cover the hundred feet before the inevitable happened. She had covered over half the distance when the blaster fire began, mostly random shots. Three seconds later, she was nearly to safety when her luck ran out.

The first blaster bolts clipped her in the shoulder and spun her around with the force of the blast. Eve went flying out of her hands which probably saved her life as a second bolt entered Diana’s head, right behind the left ear. Since Diana was still moving at a fast pace when she was shot, her momentum carried her into Iaido’s arms and nearly knocked him from his perch on the recessed ladder. Snagging her with one arm, Iaido tried to look for Eve but the increased blaster fire forced him to duck below the tunnel lip. Chancing one last look into the warehouse, Iaido counted twenty-five SWAT troopers closing in on the tunnel. Ducking back down, he pulled the hatch closed and threw the locking bolt across the opening.

Eve was lost to them for the moment. It was a painful realization but it was the truth.

It seemed so familiar; the feeling of leaving behind someone important. But Omega Squadron never left a man behind, alive or dead. They took care of their own.

So, why did the feeling of déjà vu haunt him so much as he carried Diana’s limp body down the escape tunnel?

Chapter 12

The incessant pounding in his skull finally drove Kristopher to open his eyes and he regretted it the instant he did so. Maybe it was the flashing lights or the sound of jack hammers nearby that made his head feel like it was about to explode. Whatever it was, he wanted it to stop. Seeing a med-tech leaning over him, Kristopher intended on asking for something for the pain. However, all he could manage was a weak grunt.

The med-tech noticed his discomfort, smiled at him and said something to him that was swallowed by the noise.

Kristopher noticed absentmindedly that she had a beautiful smile but anything beyond that was past his comprehension at this point.

The med-tech pulled out a small box from one of her pouches, depressed a button and poof, all the noise surrounding them was gone. She once again flashed him a dazzling smile and said, “Sorry about that, I should’ve used my dampening generator sooner. The shot I gave you should start to work shortly but I need you to sit up, if you can.”

Without the overwhelming noise, Lt. Kristopher found that the throbbing in his head began to lessen. Glancing over at the med-tech, he read her ID badge, Melissa Greer – RN/EMT. Moving slowly and with her help, Kristopher sat up and looked around. It was obvious that he was still inside the warehouse but it looked more like a war zone than a factory. Broken glass and body parts lay all about the floor. The sight of the disembodied limbs caused Kristopher to do a double-take.

Melissa followed his gaze. “Don’t worry. Most of those limbs are parts from androids, the best I have ever seen but purely artificial. However, several of the SWAT officers also lost some limbs. Thankfully, there was only one fatality.”

Lt. Kristopher found his voice to be scratchy when he asked, “Wh…who?”

Melissa glanced down at her datapad. “A young SWAT officer by the name of T. Ernspiker. He took three hits from a THAB at close range and square in the head.”

“Who?”

“We believe it to be a Blue on Blue, sir.”

“Dammit! Who’s the officer in charge of this cluster-fuck?”

Before he could get an answer, an unfamiliar voice from behind him asked, “Lieutenant Charles Kristopher?”

Turning quickly, Kristopher nearly fell over as a wave of dizziness rolled through his body as he discovered two Galactic Marshals in full body armor standing behind him.

“Yes? How can I help you gentlemen?”

The smaller of the two pulled out his badge and flipped it out so he could see it. “Lt. Kristopher, I am Marshal Cassius and this is my partner Marshal Brutus. We would like you to accompany us.”

Before Kristopher could answer, a middle age SWAT Lieutenant stepped up. He was bald and had a reddish-grey mustache and wore his armor like the weight of the world sat on his shoulders.

“I’m sorry gentlemen but Lt. Kristopher isn’t going anywhere with you.”

“And just who do you think you are?” asked Marshal Cassius.

“I am Lt. Brown and until I am relieved by a higher authority, this is my crime scene. Anyone and everything within these perimeters is under my jurisdiction.”

Marshal Cassius drew back his shoulders slightly and for a split second, Kristopher would’ve sworn that the marshal was going to attack…but the moment passed and the two marshals turned their attention toward another patient nearby; one that he hadn’t noticed until that very moment, Eve.

Marshal Brutus moved over to the young girl and without so much of a word to the med-tech, lifted the young girl up.

Lt. Kristopher stepped forward to block the Marshal’s path. “Where do you think you are going with that child?”

Marshal Cassius stepped next to his partner and said, “The lieutenant is correct, we have no jurisdiction here. But this young child is obviously a Sylvan and we have overriding jurisdiction whenever and wherever they are concerned.”

“Where are you taking her?”

Stepping out of the dampening field, Marshal Cassius called over his shoulder. “To headquarters of course, she has answers that we need.”

Knowing it was hopeless; Kristopher started to rush forward until he felt Lt. Brown’s hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry old friend but they’re correct. There’s nothing anyone could do to stop them, at least not legally. Our treaty with the Sylvans gave that sort of power to the Galactic Marshals.”

Kristopher felt helpless watching the Marshals that he now knew to be Myrmidons and cold blooded killers walk away. However, knowing and proving are two different things in the legal system. He knew that they were scum, now came the challenge of proving it.

Chapter 13

When the companions finally exited the sewer system that the escape tunnel had led them to, Iaido laid Diana’s mortally wounded form gently on the waiting speeder. Jay tapped a few buttons on the control panel and the muffled sounds of several explosions echoed through the tunnels.

The former Master Chief looked over his shoulder and said, “The passageway above us is now closed and there is no direct route to us at the moment but eventually they will find us down here. This is a temporary reprieve at best. Where to?”

“A better question, where are we?” asked Talia as she looked around at the dark tunnels which ran off in four directions.

Without releasing Diana, Iaido spoke softly. “Legends state that in 1874 when the Union General Sherman did his famous ‘March to the Sea’ during the War of Northern Aggression on November 11th he set fire to Atlanta and watched it burn to the ground over the next few days. At the end of the war, the southerners rebuilt the city overtop the ruins of the old city and so Underground Atlanta was born. When the Great Meteor Strike of 2012 destroyed most of the eastern seaboard of the United States including Atlanta, once again the survivors vowed to rebuild, bigger and better. And so now in the twenty-second century, we have Underground New Atlanta or UNA for short. It is its own city with its own rules and laws. It is but a pale shadow of the city above it but far more deadly.”

Climbing into the transport Talia asked, “How do you know all this?”

With a slight shrug, Iaido smoothed out Diana’s hair. “Part of it is my training, part of it is my love of reading but mostly, UNA has been a good source of information in my line of work and many a mark has tried to hide down here over the years.”

“Even after all these years, you find ways to amaze me Iaido,” Jay said. “I didn’t realize your knowledge of history went as far back as the Civil War.”

Talia didn’t say anything but her raised eyebrow spoke volumes.

Iaido answered, “Another name for the same war; but let me answer your first question Jay…head north to Lake Altoona.”

“Why? What’s there?”

“Xerxes should be waiting for us?”

“How? Why?”

“I signaled for him earlier today after my meeting with the General.”

Jay was shocked and it showed in his tone. “You met with the General? And I am just now hearing about this?”

“Well, it has been a busy day and after Diana told me that our files had been hacked, I had a feeling that we may need a fast way out.”

“That was good thinking. What did he want?”

Iaido shook his head. “Not now. UNA is a dangerous place for those who are unwary. Everyone keep their eyes open and their hands near weapons. Down here, only the strong and paranoid survive for long.”

Putting action to words, Iaido gently placed Diana’s limp form on the backseat of the speeder and pulled out one of his Graver Mk7 pistols. Checking the power levels, he made sure the safety was on and offered it butt first to the Sylvan. “Do you know how to use one of these?”

Talia hesitantly took the blaster. “Yes. But it has been a long time.”

“Hopefully, you won’t have to use it but better safe than sorry.”

The companions rode in silence through the winding tunnels of Underground New Atlanta. Most of the inhabitants of New Atlanta had no knowledge of the teeming culture that lived under their feet. It had its own stores, clubs, streets, living areas and laws. Typically the law was simple, survival of the fittest. Since there was no police force or government to speak of, only the gangs that staked out parts of UNA for their own controlled and regulated the violence. As they moved into a large open area, Jay halted the speeder at the edge of the opening. It was obviously man-made. The remains of bleachers could be seen to the left and right, however most were taken up with tents and other make-shift sleeping areas. The large field ahead of them seemed like a giant flea market with buyers and sellers all over the place. There had to be ten thousand or more people wandering through the stalls. Gang enforcers wearing different colors could be seen moving among them.

Iaido said, “Welcome to the Georgia Dome. This is a no-man’s land and the largest trade center in UNA. Anything and I mean anything, is for sale here.”

Jay asked, “Will they let us pass?”

“Yes. Everyone is welcome in the Dome…that is as long as you have something to trade.”

Jay asked, “And do we?”

Iaido’s eyes scanned the nearby area looking for threats as he answered, “Only the lives of anyone who gets in our way.”

Jay did a double-take at his friend but when he saw the fierce look on his face, he just nudged the speeder slowly forward. The gang enforcers glared at the intrusion but let them pass while the pedestrians just ignored them or moved out of the way.

Talia just looked around wide-eyed at the multitude of unwashed and pale bodies. This was a part of humanity she had never seen or read about. It was beyond anything she had learned from the Sisterhood. After a few moments she couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer and asked, “Why are there so many people down here? Why don’t they live up top in the sunlight?”

“Not everyone wants to live under the yoke of the UNCF,” replied Iaido. “That was proven by the settlements which broke away and formed the Confederacy. Those stuck planet side who don’t want to live under Coalition rule only have a few choices. Some move out into the Wastelands, where it’s a more simple life, kill or be killed. Those that can’t survive out there find a place to live here or in one of the other Renegade cities. UNA is the largest but there are others.”

“But I thought that the Coalition included all the lands of Terra.”

“Technically it does,” said Jay. “Every country that survived the Great Meteor Strike of 2012 and the Jihad of the latter part of the twenty-first century joined the Coalition. However, countries and people don’t always mean the same thing.”

Talia shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Humans believe in the rights of freedom and liberty of the individual above almost anything, except maybe family. In May of 1775 before the official founding of the United States during a speech to the Virginia Congress, Patrick Henry once proclaimed ‘Give me liberty or give me death!’ Among those in attendance were two future Presidents, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. That one speech is attributed for gaining the support of the Virginia troops that were very influential during the American Revolutionary War.”

Talia looked back and forth between the two. “You Terrans are a strange lot. You seem to be a contradiction in action.”

Jay grinned. “You ain’t just whistling Dixie, sister.”

Talia cocked her head and tried to understand what Jay meant by that statement but was prevented from asking any further questions when Iaido hopped out of the speeder. The retired Master Chief slammed on the brakes and grabbed his blaster. Talia turned around in time to see Iaido squared off with three muscle-bound brutes with a Jovian in teal spandex sitting on an ornately carved throne watching with unveiled interest.

Iaido seemed completely unfazed by the three brutes and totally ignored them. Locking his gaze on the Jovian he said, “Hello Ledrix.”

“Greetings Spartan. You shouldn’t have come down here.”

“I go where my path leads me. Currently it has led me past your brothel.”

Ledrix looked around at his gathering; not counting his girls, he had at least seven enforcers within ten steps of Spartan. “This isn’t topside. You’re on my turf. With a snap of my fingers, I could have your legs broken.”

The three brutes in front growled as if on cue.

Iaido shifted his gaze to the thugs within arm’s reach. The one directly in front of him was the same one that had gotten in his face earlier that day. The two on his flanks held baseball bats and were so similar in appearance that they must’ve been twins.

Iaido glanced back at Ledrix. “Are you sure you want to walk this path? It would be easier just to tell me what you know.”

Ledrix nodded and opened his mouth to speak but whatever he was going to say was lost to the wind as the bounty hunter attacked.

Using the palm of his hand, Iaido struck the bridge of the nose of the brute directly in front of him. The bones shattered and several fragments were shoved up the nasal cavity and into his brain causing massive hemorrhaging and a stroke. The poor bastard was dead before his body hit the ground.

Without waiting to see how the other enforcers would react, Iaido launched himself straight up into the air and lashed out with both feet at the two flanking brutes. When his feet connected with the chests of the thugs, the balls of Iaido’s feet unerringly struck the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of them and taking them out of the fight. Landing lightly, Iaido calmly stepped toward Ledrix.

One of the enforcers standing behind the Pimp King reacted first. Raising his club, he began to rush forward when the crack of a blaster echoed through the Dome. When his club blew apart a mere inch from his hand, everyone in the surrounding area froze and looked towards the speeder.

Talia frowned. “Dammit. I was trying to take his thumb off with that shot also.”

The brute dropped what was left of his club and stepped back behind the Pimp King.

Iaido casually folded his arms across his chest. “No worries. If his partner decides to move, you can take off his whole hand.”

“But the hand is too easy of a target. How about I just shoot off his thumb? Or better yet, his left ear?”

“If you must.”

Seeing the look of fear on the enforcers and the slowly expanding pool of yellow liquid at the feet of the one who was still massaging his hand, Iaido knew that they were properly cowed and locked eyes with the Pimp King. “I doubt it will be necessary. Ledrix was about to tell me what he discovered. Correct?”

The Jovian stammered but finally found his voice. “Yes…yes I was. I’m sorry about this misunderstanding. My enforcers need more training.”

Iaido shook his head. “No, they need to find a different line of work. A coyote may scare the sheep but to a wolf, it is nothing more than a yapping dog.”

Ledrix chuckled. “Even after all these years, I don’t understand you. One moment you sound normal, the next you sound like a fortune cookie.”

Iaido didn’t respond. Just cocked his head to the side and stared.

Ledrix gulped and pulled out a memory crystal. “I found some odd things in your friend’s recent past. Stuff I thought you might find interesting.”

Iaido took the offered crystal and walked backwards slowly, his eyes never leaving those of the Jovian. He had casually rested his left hand on his holstered pistol. No one in the crowd missed the implied threat.

As soon as Iaido was on board the speeder, the retired Master Chief took off at a bit faster pace than earlier. Jay glanced over his shoulder at Talia and noticed that she was paler than usual.

“Nice shooting there Tex.”

Talia shook her head. “No, it wasn’t. I was aiming for his chest.”

Iaido nodded. “Then, nice bluff. That took some real cojonés to do that.”

Talia cocked her head to the side. “Cojonés? I don’t know this word.”

Jay suppressed a laugh. “It’s a slang term for courage.”

“Courage…that I understand.” She hesitated for a moment before adding, “I was so nervous. I haven’t used a blaster since I was a kid. And when I saw everyone’s expression when the club blew apart, bluffing seemed like the logical thing to do.”

Iaido nodded. “Well played. Your actions prevented me from having to kill anyone else and gave Ledrix an easy way out.”

“An easy way out? What do you mean?” asked Talia.

“Ledrix was always going to give me the information. It was in his best interest but by me showing up during normal business hours and at his main brothel, I forced him to react in such a manner to keep up his reputation.”

Talia jerked her head to the fading Dome. “Then what was all that about?”

“Posturing. In the underworld, many times your reputation means more than credits or goods. By showing up like we did, we forced him to react with violence. If he had just handed me the information, his reputation as the Pimp King and supreme information broker would’ve suffered. As it is, both of our reputations grew from that encounter.”

Talia shook her head. “That is nonsense. Violence only begets violence. Nothing good was gained by that fight.”

Jay chimed in. “Don’t be too sure. I bet there are already rumors flying around about the Sylvan sharp-shooter that accompanies Spartan the Bounty Hunter. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear you being compared to Annie Oakley.”

“Who?” asked Talia.

“A Terran folk hero from the late 1800s,” answered Iaido. “She was reputed to have been able to split a playing card, edge on, at ninety feet with a small caliber rifle and put five or six more holes in it before it hit the ground.”

“It that true about Annie Oakley?”

Iaido nodded.

“Do you think what Jay says will happen? I mean about me?”

Again Iaido nodded.

“That’s ridiculous. No one in their right mind will believe such a thing.”

“Only time will tell,” said Jay.

The companions fell silent as they approached the outlying tunnels of UNA. When they finally pulled out of the sewer drain that they had been travelling in for the last hour, the open sky and still waters of the lake were a refreshing sight. A pale crescent moon hung in the night sky to light their way and this far north, the ambient light of the city faded away to a glow on the southern horizon. It was at least another hour before they arrived at Lake Altoona and the companions where exhausted both physically and mentally. Their flight from the Safehouse had taken its toll on them. The ever present danger of discovery, the stress of the unknown fate of Eve and the lifeless body of Diana all wore heavy on their souls.

The lake and the surrounding fields were dark but a darker patch of shadow beckoned them forward.

Pulling the speeder up in front of the massive ship, a red light clicked on at their approach and revealed the yawning mouth of the ship’s cargo hold. A large figure moved in the shadowy light, at first glance it looked like a seven foot tall praying mantis but on closer inspection it looked like a seven foot tall praying mantis on steroids.

As far as humans knew there were only four intelligent species in the universe. There had been rumors of others but no confirmed sightings.

The Terrans and Sylvans had been communicating with each other for almost a century but Terrans had only encountered the other two races within the last quarter century.

The Lemurians were a bipedal man-sized reptilian race which was very reclusive yet extremely hostile. Nearly every encounter the Terrans had with them ended in death of one side or the other.

Then, there were the Mantis or Mantodea as the Sylvans called them. Many just refer to the whole race as ‘bugs’ and believed that the wholesale extermination of the species was the right thing to do. This view came more prevalent during the Civil War when hordes of the Mantodeas joined with the Confederacy against the Coalition. When the war ended, it was determined that the bugs which had fought were basically slaves. The Confederate leaders had held the Mantodeas’ queen hostage and forced the workers and soldiers to fight.

Iaido hopped out of the speeder and walked up to giant mantis. Placing his right hand on the Mantis’ chest, Iaido said, “Xerxes…it is good to see you my friend.”

The large bug mimicked the procedure.

“Diana has been injured and we are being hunted. Prepare the ship for an immediate departure.”

The huge Mantodea spoke in a series of clicks and chirps.

Iaido must’ve understood what the giant mantis asked because he replied, “I don’t know yet. It’s too early to tell. After we are safe Jay will properly assess her status.”

Ignoring everyone else, Xerxes moved to the speeder and gently lifted Diana’s limp form before disappearing into the darkness of the ship.

Iaido turned back to his companions and said, “Get on board quickly. Xerxes says he was scanned on his descent but he lost their lock in some late night commercial traffic but the Fleet won’t give up easily. It is only a matter of time before they locate the Nemesis. She isn’t a small ship after all.”

“That thing is your friend?” asked Talia.

Lifting Jay to a waiting hoverchair, Iaido turned back to Talia. “Look, I don’t have time for your prejudices toward Mantodeas. You have a decision to make, either you are with us which means you board the Nemesis right now and follow my commands or you don’t. If you want to stay here on Earth, I will leave the speeder behind for you. Make your decision quickly.”

Talia could tell that Iaido was deadly serious. In her defense she tried to explain. “It’s just my people have a history with the Mantodea. They are rebellious and untrustworthy.”

“That’s funny. That’s what Xerxes says about your people.” Seeing Talia’s body tense at that statement, Iaido grinned. “Now is not the time for this argument, the hounds are closing. You can go with us, although be aware that I have powerful enemies and I feel them moving in the background. Stay or go. Decide.”

Talia glanced back at the lights of New Atlanta. At this distance it was a beautiful city. The towers sparkled with light. The air traffic could be seen streaking along designated patterns which caused the city to have lines of light that winked in and out. It was truly a beautiful and wondrous city but it wasn’t her home. She had come to Earth to find her sister. Her only contact she knew was Sgt. Major Spenton and now he was dead. But the cards had pointed to another taking his place, a warrior-poet according to the cards.

Glancing back at Iaido she felt a twinge in her stomach, she didn’t know if she had read the cards correctly but all the signs had led her to him. Talia took a deep breath. “I will go with you. For better or worse, you are my best hope for finding the truth about my sister.”

Stepping onto the gangplank, a dark shape flew by Talia’s head with a loud squawk.

“Edgar! How did you find us?”

The raven seemed to understand her, squawking and croaking its reply before launching itself back into the darkness. Talia turned back to Iaido. “We must be away. Edgar says many vehicles are approaching.”

Nodding his response, Iaido rigged the speeder to run solo, pointed it back towards the city and let it go. The speeder began its trek back into the darkness without passengers.

“Come on, that trick will only buy us a few moments at best.”

As they moved into the cargo hold of the Nemesis, Talia got her first good look at the Terran designed ship. She was so shocked at the difference from Sylvan ships that she actually stopped and stared.

Every Sylvan ship is a masterpiece of engineering and artistry. They are handcrafted slowly. A master shipwright might spend a decade or more crafting a single ship. The Sylvan shipwrights would spend as much time on the aesthetics of the ship as the functionality. No two ships were ever the same.

Not so with the Terrans. Humans have become the master of mass production. Efficiency and functionally always win out over looks when designing a warship. Of course, the Cerberus class warships had the distinct honor of being the ugliest ship ever built by anyone’s standard.

The entrance to the cargo hold was actually in the front of the ship directly below the bridge or command pod. A metal staircase, more commonly referred to as a ladder in nautical terms, stood along the aft bulkhead. Iaido glanced back at Talia as he made his way up the ladder. Realizing she had fallen behind, she hurried to catch up. As she cleared the entrance, the hatch began to close. Before she crossed the length the hold, the hatch was sealed and the lights shifted from red to normal white.

Reaching the main deck, Talia looked around. It was a large compartment that had obviously been converted into an exercise room. Along the starboard bulkhead was a small shrine. Talia didn’t recognize the glyphs painted on the scroll that hung on the wall but she could tell it held some sort of significant meaning to Iaido. She could hear voices from the front of the ship, so she followed them. At the front end of the compartment were three hatches. The voices were coming from the center hatch which had a short ladder of about ten steps then a twenty foot long passageway before ending in the command deck.

Talia paused long enough to glance down the two other passageways since the hatches were propped open. Both led down to a ball turret which flanked the command pod on either side, giving the ship the three headed look that prompted its name. Moving onto the command deck, she stopped at the entryway.

A huge HUD was superimposed over the front windshield, which wrapped around the oblong compartment that was the bridge. The two foremost chairs were obviously for the pilot and co-pilot. Xerxes was in the co-pilot’s chair. Iaido was seated behind and slightly raised in the captain’s chair. To either side of the entrance were banks of computer panels and chairs for each operator. Jay was at one fiddling with the controls.

Iaido swiveled in his chair as she stepped onto the bridge and gestured to the station opposite Jay. “Sit there, strap in and don’t touch anything.” Without waiting to see if she followed his commands, Iaido finished strapping himself in and began his pre-flight sequence.

Pax’s monotone voice echoed through the ship. “One minute until blast off, please secure all loose cargo and fasten all seat belts. Passive radar is detecting multiple bogies closing on our position. ETA forty-five seconds before they are in visual range.”

Without taking his eyes off the control panel Iaido asked, “Can you speed up take off?”

“Negative. The reactor will not be at nominal power for another fifty seconds.”

“Pax transfer all data on incoming bogies to fire control. Xerxes do your best not to kill any of them but slow them down.”

Xerxes chirped his response and the whirring of guns being deployed to port and starboard filled the cockpit. Talia watched as over twenty different lights filled the HUD of fire control. Most were yellow squares, which she guessed to be the ground vehicles since Xerxes seemed to ignore those. The triangles would change from yellow to red when they crossed a certain line on the HUD. Xerxes began firing at any of the targets that crossed into the red zone.

“Fifteen seconds till blast off,” Pax said. “Three bogies are searching for target lock. Jammers at full. Estimate lock in twelve seconds.”

Swiveling his chair to look at Talia, Iaido gave her a quick wink. “This is going to be close.” Glancing back at his gauges, Iaido fired the maneuvering jets which slightly lifted the warship. Nudging his joystick to port, the companions could feel the ship slip to the left.

“Reactors at full power,” Pax said. “Firing all engines and thrusters for maximum accent. Bogies have target lock. Engaging shields.”

The sound of small explosions could barely be heard over the roar of the engines as the Nemesis blasted off into the night sky.

“Shields holding. We are out of their effective range at this time. However, our current fight path will have us in target range of Starbase Alpha in ten point three minutes.”

Checking the clock, Iaido punched in a few coordinates. “Pax slide us into this traffic. Cross it a few times and bring us up under the largest freighter. That should disguise our signature a bit.”

“Affirmative,” came Pax’s monotone response.

As the warship began to enter the outer atmosphere, the G-forces lessened enough for the crew to unfasten their seatbelts and move around. Jay had already moved to the infirmary. Iaido held out his hand to Talia and gestured to the surrounding ship. “Welcome to the Nemesis. Let me give you the quick tour.”

Talia glanced back at the fire control HUD; it was filled with yellow and white triangles. “Aren’t you needed here?”

Iaido shook his head. “Not at this time. Pax and Xerxes have it under control. Either this maneuver will work or it won’t. We will know in about seven minutes. Until then, sitting here staring at screens and worrying won’t change the facts. Time moves at its own pace, we cannot change it nor can we speed it up. So, I have found it is best to live in the moment.” Leading her down the short passageway, Iaido swept his arm to take in the converted mess hall. “We may be dead in ten minutes or we may live for another hundred years but neither matters, only the now matters.”

“So, you don’t worry about the future?”

“Nope. I plan for the future. I study and make educated guesses that will enhance my odds of success or survival but worry? Negative. Every choice we make affects the future which is fluid and always changing.”

Talia shook her head. “That is so different from what I was taught in the Seminary. We were taught ways to read the myriad paths of the future. According to our scholars, our fate is already set. We may walk different paths but eventually our paths would merge. It was preordained that I would accompany you on this journey. Our choices only affect how it would come to pass, not if it would.”

Moving past the kitchen, known as a galley on a ship, they went down a short passageway which ended in the infirmary. It was simple in design, meticulously clean and held numerous pieces of medical equipment. No matter how old the ship was Iaido believed in a state-of-the-art medical facility.

Iaido could tell it was bad news before Jay spoke a word; his body language spoke volumes. Turning to Talia, he pointed at the limp form of Diana. “So, according to your philosophy, Diana was destined to die?”

“I am not sure,” said Talia. “It’s what I was taught. But I have never thought of an android as being alive or dead. My people do not see them as a life form, just as a tool.” She turned to Jay. “No offense intended.”

“None taken,” Jay said. “I have battled against prejudices my entire life in one form or another.”

Ignoring the other two, Iaido moved up to Diana and gently lifted her cold hand to his lips. With a soft kiss, Iaido said good-bye to his assistant and lover of many years.

Suddenly alarms filled the air, followed by Pax’s voice. “Captain to the bridge.”

Sprinting down the corridor, Iaido yelled. “Stay here and strap yourselves in! This could get bumpy.”

Chapter 14

The room was brightly lit with only one door and a large mirror covering one wall. Only a table and two chairs filled the small room, both occupied at the moment. Lt. Charles Kristopher of the NAPD was in the ‘hot seat’ with Special Agent Johnson of the Federal Security Agency asking the questions. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Kristopher. How many times had he sat in the control seat and asked questions?

“Let’s try this again lieutenant,” Special Agent Johnson said. “In your own words what happened?”

Kristopher rubbed the back of his neck. “For the twentieth time, when the call came across the EBS for an APB on Iaido Achilles Spartan, I was standing next to retired Master Chief Kirk and looking down at the panel. Then, wham! I remember a flash of intense pain in my chest followed almost immediately by pain at the base of my neck and then nothing; lights out. I woke up later to find a SWAT med-tech checking my vitals.”

“And why do you think Mr. Spartan would knock you out?”

“Friendship.”

“Friendship?” Special Agent Johnson scoffed. “What kind of friend would knock you out?”

“The best kind of friend,” Lt. Kristopher said. “Iaido knew that once I learned of the APB that I would be duty bound to try and arrest him.”

“And would you?”

“I would’ve tried and failed.”

Special Agent Johnson looked up from his notes and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“To my knowledge there was only one man who could stand up to Iaido solo and I am not him.”

“And who is that?”

“His brother Hector, no one was even close to his level.”

“Surely you jest?”

“You don’t know who you are dealing with, do you?” asked Lt. Kristopher. “Iaido Spartan is no ordinary man.”

Special Agent Johnson set down his pen. “Come now. You’re trying to tell me that there is no one that can take this Spartan fellow?”

A knock on the door interrupted whatever response Lt. Kristopher was going to give.

A young agent stepped in briefly and handed Special Agent Johnson a folder full of paper. The words ‘TOP SECRET’ and ‘CLASSIFED’ were stamped in bold red letters across the folder. Opening the folder, Special Agent Johnson began to skim the new information and his face seemed to drain of all emotion.

With a slight smirk on his face, Kristopher leaned back. “Now you are beginning to understand.”

Special Agent Johnson looked up. “Spartan is a Myrmidon?”

Lt. Kristopher nodded.

Special Agent Johnson continued to flip through the folder. “I thought they were just a myth. You know the sort of military secret that gets leaked as a publicity stunt during the war.”

“No, they were real. That is what Omega Squadron was except the few regulars that were assigned as handlers and trainers.”

Flipping between two pages Special Agent Johnson asked, “Why are there two sets of stats on the Myrmidons?”

“Two different models. As I understand it, the original ten were designed and grown by the U.S. Military before they were incorporated into the Coalition. These were the SPARTANs. The ultimate warriors with many skills hardwired into their psyche and the ability to upload any skill needed for a mission. The Coalition placed restrictions on their creation, so a different version known as the HOPLITE was designed. They were still deadly but only a pale shadow when compared to the original SPARTANs.”

Special Agent Johnson nodded. “So, that’s how you held the pass on Gilese.”

“Yep... although by then Achilles was the last SPARTAN, hence his surname.”

Special Agent Johnson flipped the pages some more. “Okay. I can see where he would adopt that name but where did Iaido come from? Why not just use Achilles?”

“Achilles was his military name and it represents a dark time in his life. As to where Iaido got his name, his batch number from when he was in a pod was 1A1-DO. One of the trainers noticed the similarities of the batch number to the Japanese word Iaido, which means ‘way of the blade’ and after everyone noticed his specialty with blades and swords, it became his nickname.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Simple, I was bound by my oath as a retired Coalition officer not to reveal this information to anyone.” Lt. Kristopher gestured to the papers in the agent’s hands. “But if you have that file, then you will discover all this and more.” Lt. Kristopher hesitated. Years of fighting the administration of the Coalition had taught him that it was dangerous to trust someone you didn’t know. But his gut urged him that Special Agent Johnson was different and at the end of the day, he would trust his gut instinct over paranoia any day. The Fed was about to close the folder when he stopped him. “There is something I think you should know. There were two Galactic Marshals at the warehouse, Cassius and Brutus.”

“Yes. I met them earlier. They are witnesses in the murder investigation of my young protégé Agent Smith. Here is a copy of their statements concerning the incident.” Special Agent Johnson pulled out a different folder and passed it to the NAPD lieutenant.

Lt. Kristopher scanned the documents quickly with an experienced eye; the overwhelming lack of evidence screamed at him. There was no recording of any kind or physical proof that the murder was committed by Iaido. Only the statements of the two Galactic Marshals condemned his friend. He lifted the folder and gestured with it. “And you believe this?”

Special Agent Johnson said, “I admit that there isn’t much evidence against Mr. Spartan…”

“Much? There isn’t any.”

“Except the testimony of two Galactic Marshals.”

“Two Galactic Marshals who just so happen to be myrmidons.”

“Myrmidons? How do you know that?”

“Two reasons. First, Iaido told me that they were and secondly…myrmidons move a certain way. It’s a subtle thing but its there. Once noticed, it is never forgotten. When I saw them in the warehouse, I knew that my friend was right.”

“What did they want at the warehouse?”

“Me. But once Lt. Brown pointed out that I was to be detained by the NAPD and the FSA, they took Sgt. Major Spenton’s daughter instead.”

Special Agent Johnson shuffled some papers. “And why am I just learning of this?”

“Where Galactic Marshals are concerned there are hardly any paper trails.”

Whatever Special Agent Johnson was about to say was forgotten as there was another knock on the door and a different agent stepped in, leaned down and whispered something to him.

With a nod, Special Agent Johnson closed the folder and gestured to Lt. Kristopher. “Come on. It seems that the Fleet has located the Nemesis.”

Without another word, the two moved through the FSA headquarters until they reached the CIC.

Lt. Kristopher looked around. It looked like any other CIC center he had been in over the last twenty years. Vid-displays of the various sectors in Terran controlled space which ranged out to the asteroid belt that was just past Mars and before Jupiter. Technically, the asteroid belt acted like a DMZ – De-Militarized Zone - and was patrolled by both the Galactic Marshals and the Fleet. One would think it simple patrolling an asteroid belt, until you try to do it. The untold number of asteroids and length of the belt made it nearly impossible to police properly, even with both organizations patrolling the belt, numerous raiders and mine jumpers plagued the asteroids. Nearly all the attention in the CIC was centered on the one vid-display which showed the Nemesis being chased by a squadron of Fleet Dragons.

Special Agent Johnson moved up to a young tech, tapped him on the shoulder and commanded, “Report.”

Slightly startled at being singled out, the tech stammered for a second before beginning his briefing. “Well sir, it seems that the Nemesis is a Cerberus class warship, which interesting enough was originally designed and built back in the mid twenty-first century by what was known as NASA. When the UNCF was formed, it annexed all remaining Cerberus warships and reclassified them as a destroyer class. They served with distinction until they were decommissioned in 2090. I didn’t even know any were still in operation…”

“I don’t need a history lesson about the Nemesis. I need a sit-rep.”

“Oh, sorry sir.” He glanced down at his notes. “It seems that the Nemesis was able to slip through our sensors by hiding under some commercial traffic. None of our sensors detected anything during our scans; we have teams working on that now to find out how it was possible. We only discovered the Nemesis a few minutes ago by accident when a passing freighter made a comment over the comms about something being stuck to the underside of the freighter Argentina’s belly. We dispatched a squadron of Dragons to investigate but even before they had left orbit the Nemesis had broken away from the Argentina and made a beeline for the asteroid belt.”

Special Agent Johnson pointed to the display. “Will the Dragons catch him before he reaches the cover of the asteroids?”

“I don’t believe so, sir. The Cerberus class warships were extremely fast for their size. Given the head start it had, our best estimate is that the Nemesis will reach the asteroid belt nearly two full minutes before the Dragons.”

Special Agent Johnson rubbed his chin as he thought about everything he had learned over the last few minutes. The quandary he felt over his next order was obvious to all but he knew his duty and it was clear.

“Contact the squadron leader and let him know that they are to follow the Nemesis into the asteroid belt using whatever means necessary to disable the Nemesis but they are not allowed to go past the asteroid belt and into galactic space.”

Chapter 15

Iaido twisted the Nemesis into a fast roll to avoid an incoming asteroid. “Pax what’s their status?”

“They are receiving coded transmissions at this time but judging from their lack of deceleration, I would extrapolate that they have been given orders to follow us into the asteroid belt.”

“Dammit! I was afraid of that,” Iaido snapped as he pushed the ship’s nose down hard to avoid another asteroid.

Pax’s monotone and calm voice added, “Captain… I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t inform you that the odds of successfully navigating through an asteroid field at our current speed is three-thousand seven-hundred and twenty to one.”

Iaido snickered slightly. “I never did like long shots. Pax, take the con. Move us at best speed through this region.”

“Affirmative.”

Feeling Pax take the controls, Iaido relaxed. He knew that navigating at speed though an asteroid field was nearly impossible for anyone except an AI. There were just too many variables to keep track of for any degree of safety. He knew the Dragons would also have to slow down as they entered the field or risk running into a stray asteroid. However, they were smaller and much more maneuverable than the Nemesis and without some sort of distraction, they would be within firing range soon.

Glancing over the data on his HUD, Iaido had a thought and tapped some coordinates into the computer.

“Pax, the remnants of Jagger Jax’s gang have been raiding this region of the belt. It isn’t too far off. Can we get to this location before the Dragons have missile lock?”

“Possibly. It all depends on how much they slow down once they reach the asteroid field. At their current speed they will have missile lock in one minute and thirty-two seconds.”

“Alter course to take us through the center of this area. If the Dread Pirates are like any other gang, they won’t like us coming through their turf without permission. And I can almost bet, they won’t let the Dragons through unmolested.”

“Affirmative.”

Iaido tapped the controls on the ship’s intercom. “Jay!”

“Aye?” came his friend’s response.

“You and Talia need to get to the bridge ASAP. The next few minutes are going to be hairy.”

“Roger. We’re on our way.”

The two companions made their way through the corridors of the ship as quickly as possible, which is easier said than done considering the twists and turns Pax was taking the Nemesis through. Reaching the bridge, Jay got one good look at the HUD which was filled with fast moving white or yellow circles which signified the asteroids. Dead astern were five yellow triangles representing the Dragons; they had closed the distance but weren’t in firing range, yet and the area ahead was littered with white X’s representing unknown bogies.

As Jay struggled out of his hoverchair and climbed into the operations seat he asked. “Pax, what am I looking at?”

“We are approaching the coordinates designated by the captain. There are thirty-one bogies of various sizes, mostly small one-man ships, closing in on our position. Their comm traffic is scrambled but I would extrapolate that we have found the Dread Pirates.”

Iaido asked, “Are they hailing us?”

“Negative, but they are charging weapons.”

Iaido swiveled his captain’s chair to face Talia and Jay. “We have a situation. We are between the proverbial hammer and the anvil. The Dread Pirates aren’t our friends but they have no love for the Fleet either. However, if we can punch through both sides should be too busy to worry about us.”

“What do you mean if?” Talia asked.

“In combat nothing is certain.” Iaido turned his attention back to Jay. “Take the command chair, Xerxes will take the controls. Find a weak point in their line. We need to get out of this region and to the nearest jump point as soon as possible.”

Xerxes easily lifted Jay into the captain’s chair.

“Roger Iaido. I’ll do my best.” Jay didn’t seem bothered by the huge Mantodea at all. He just nodded his thanks as he turned his attention back to the HUD. “Pax shift more power to our front shields.”

“Affirmative.”

Iaido turned to Talia. “I need your help. I need you to man one of the turrets.”

“But I don’t know how.”

“It’s simple. Point the target reticule a few meters in front of your target and squeeze the trigger.”

Talia shook her head. “It can’t be that easy.”

Iaido snickered. “Actually it’s not but that’s all the time I have for instructions.”

Talia followed Iaido off the bridge and down the short ladder.

He pointed down the starboard hatch. “Climb down there, strap in, toggle on the three red switches and put on the headset. Pax will power-up the gun and turn on your targeting controls. Remember to lead the targets and only shoot the targets in the red zone.”

Talia felt the cold hand of fear close on her stomach but she nodded and said, “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all anyone can do,” he said before disappearing down his own hatch.

*   *   *   *   *

There are times that being a fighter jock was the greatest job in the universe; for Chief Warrant Officer Third Class Ed “Tinman” Brockbank this was one of those times. His flight was on a routine patrol when the call came over the tac-net that a Cerberus class warship had blasted through the shipping lanes and was heading for cover in the asteroid belt. Being the closest unit, they were tasked with the pursuit. This was a dream come true.

Since the end of the war, most of the newer recruits in Fleet were assigned to more mundane units, such as the Canadian Air Wing (CAW) which is where Tinman found himself. Mostly they did routine patrol along the eastern seaboard of North America looking for smugglers and pirates. At least the CAW had older model Dragons dating from the early days of the war but still very capable.

Tinman looked over the tac-display on his HUD and frowned. The six ships in his flight were closing on the Nemesis but he knew they wouldn’t catch them before they reached the safety of the asteroid belt.

Tinman keyed his mic. “All units accelerate to max speed. Lay on the booster and let’s close this gap.”

“Tinman this is Sandman.”

Brockbank keyed his mic again. “Go for Tinman.”

“I’m picking up a large number of bogies in the path of the Nemesis,” said Sandman. “They seem to be small fighters, the type used by pirates.”

Readjusting the range on his radar, Tinman saw the bogies his wingman called about.

“Friends of the Nemesis?”

“Not from what I can see. It looks like they are firing on her. They are swarming all over her like a bunch of angry hornets.”

“Rivals. No matter, we have authorization to enter the belt and use whatever means necessary to detain the Nemesis.” Double checking his own transponder, Tinman added. “All ships make sure your IFF is broadcasting. If you are fired upon you have full weapons release authority.”

Snapping his joystick quickly to port, Tinman rolled quickly past an asteroid. Sandman, his wingman, mirrored his move and the Dragons of the Canadian Air Wing entered the fray.

In years to come, Tinman could never truly describe the utter chaos of that battle.

The Dread Pirates had entered the battle with thirty-one ships known as Sparrows. They were old, older than the Nemesis. They were basically a flying sled with cannons but even as old as they were, they could still dish out some major damage as two of the CAW Dragons found out the hard way within the first few seconds of the battle. The Dragons were hopelessly outnumbered as the Dread Pirates turned their attention on them. Only three things saved them that day; superior training, superior equipment and the Nemesis.

Once the Dread Pirates began to swarm over the Dragons, the Nemesis was free and clear.

However, for some reason the huge warship turned around and headed back through the pirates blasting away with every gun at their disposal. Tinman will never forget the moment when he had lost comms with the rest of his flight; his starfighter was being tossed around so much due to concussion strikes that he expected his ship to break apart any second. Looking out his canopy, he counted seven of the pirate Sparrows circling his ship, firing with impunity. With his reactor damaged, Tinman was down to about fifty percent power. He couldn’t out run them and with the frequency they were hitting his shields, he knew they were going to fail any second. It was only a matter of time before he and his entire flight were destroyed. His radar screamed as it tracked the launch of a missile from nearby. All seven of the Sparrows peeled off, putting distance between the doomed ship and themselves.

That’s when he saw it. The Nemesis. The ugliest ship ever built.

But at this one moment in history, it was the most beautiful thing Tinman had ever seen. Without regard to its own safety, it dove in front of the missile while still blasting away at the fleeing pirates. The explosion on the side of the Nemesis rocked the larger ship as its guns fell silent.

Tinman was still close enough that the concussion shook him so hard that his teeth hurt. Glancing at his HUD, he was surprised to see that four of his flight were still intact; all showed major damage but still flight worthy.

Of the Dread Pirates, only twelve ships on his radar showed any signs of life and they were fleeing this area of the belt. The Nemesis had once again turned back to its original course. A large hole could be seen in the starboard hull where the missile had landed. It was trailing smoke and sparks but she was still moving away from them.

“Tinman, this is Sandman. Come in Tinman.”

“Go for Tinman.”

“Should we pursue? Truck and Hulk would have to stay behind; both have sustained too much damage to manage anything past twenty percent.”

Tinman keyed his mic. “Negative. The Nemesis is free to leave.”

“But Tinman our orders were to stop her at whatever cost.”

“Sandman, if it wasn’t for the Nemesis we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Once we engaged those pirates, she was free and clear but for some reason she came back to save us.”

Hulk joined the conversation. “Anyone see where that missile came from? It was too large to be fired from those snub fighters.”

Truck answered. “My nav-computer logged it. I was some sort of planetary concussion missile launched from asteroid 721-Delta. It must’ve been their base. It was lucky that the Nemesis dove in front of us and took the brunt of the blast.”

“Aye, I saw that also,” said Tinman. “I don’t know who that pilot is or why they decided to save us but I would love to by him a drink one day. Come on, let’s go home. All ships form up on Truck, you set the pace.”

Chapter 16

The smell of burning flesh mixed with the acrid smell of cordite assaulted my senses. It was a familiar smell. One that always followed in Omega’s wake, however it rarely happened at the beginning of a mission. My head felt foggy. Shaking my head to clear it, I noticed that the back of the transport was filled with smoke. No wonder I couldn’t see.

Out of habit I said, “Pax vent the cargo hold.”

“Who’s Pax?” asked a familiar voice.

Looking over my right shoulder, I was surprised to see one of my brothers sitting next to me in full ARC armor. Slightly confused, I decided to play it off. “Never mind, I was thinking of another mission.”

“You better get your mind back on this mission.” Aeneas pointed to the bridge of the shuttle. “Lodestone is in jeopardy; especially if we leave the planning to the Major.”

I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been through all this before. It seemed so familiar. That feeling of déjà vu nearly stopped me in my tracks but looking around the shuttle at my brothers I knew that Aeneas was correct; the mission was in jeopardy. Somehow the Lemurians knew that we were inbound.

I could see the Major arguing with our regular shuttle pilot, CWO3 Curtis McKinney and could guess his argument. The Major wanted to abort the mission and pilot was refusing. Stepping into the cockpit, I studied the readings on the HUDs. The two cruisers that were our escorts had been shot down by some sort of plasma cannon from the surface. Two-hundred and twelve brave sailors gone in the blink of an eye. Only the skills of our shuttle pilots had kept us alive so far. One glance at the pilot’s face told me that he knew we were doomed but Curtis was going to do his best to get us to the drop zone.

“I understand that you are the senior rank on this ship…sir,” said Curtis. “But let me explain it to you in simple terms. If we turn, we are dead. Somehow the lizards can track our ships, even this ship. The Spectres are supposed to be stealth capable and maybe they are somewhat. Maybe that’s why we are still alive instead of space debris like those two cruisers.” He paused for a second before adding, “Sir.”

“But the mission has been compromised,” argued the Major. “We must abort and retreat.”

I looked back at my brothers and tapped my helmet. With a nod, all four buttoned up their helmets and grabbed their gear.

Placing my hand on the Major’s shoulder, he turned to face me. His dark olive skin was more pale than usual and his coal black eyes were fully dilated, two signs of the human fear response; he was on the edge of panic. It wouldn’t do us any good if our commanding officer freaked out during a mission.

Keeping my voice low I said, “Sir, Omega Squadron never retreats. We will complete our mission or die trying.”

“Achilles! Tell this pilot that we must turn around and regroup.”

“Sir, this is a worst-case scenario.”

That phrase seemed to sober the Major somewhat as he nodded and said, “I know. This mission has been a cluster-fuck from the start.”

I glanced at the HUD, it showed a massive wave of plasma rounds inbound.

“Major, you need to don your helmet. If Curtis can get us to the drop zone, we will punch out as planned with a HILO, high insertion – low opening. If not, as the Spectres are breaking up, those of us still alive will deploy en mass. Either way we are going to land hard and fast.”

Major McDowell nodded his head. “You are quite right Achilles. I am way out of my league. I am turning command of the mission over to you, effective immediately. I will direct my ARC suit to be on autopilot and follow your commands.”

I pointed to the back of the transport. “Very good sir. Now if you would take your place next to Aeneas we will prepare for deployment.” Turning back to the cockpit I said, “Sorry about this Curtis.”

Banking the Spectre hard to port, Curtis spoke through gritted teeth. “No worries. I knew that this was a one-way mission before I signed on. Of course, every mission with you guys has been that way. I guess after three years, my time is up.”

Twisting the ship again this time to starboard, he said. “You better strap in. They obviously know we’re here, those last two shots were way too close to be random.”

Turning back to join my brothers, I was thrown to the roof as the Spectre took a plasma blast in the stern and with one loud shudder, it began to break up. Bodies and debris were everywhere, followed by a huge fireball. Trying to regain my bearing, I looked up just in time to see a huge chunk of metal that was once a piece of the engine slam into my head and then darkness.

*   *   *   *   *

The smell of burning plastic mixed with the acrid smell of cordite assaulted Iaido’s senses. It was a familiar smell. Iaido felt a bit foggy and shook his head to clear it but the gun turret was slowly filling with smoke obscuring his vision. No wonder he couldn’t see.

Out of habit he said, “Pax vent the cargo hold.”

There was no response.

Punching a few buttons on his console, Iaido knew the turret was dead. Smoke was rapidly filling up the small enclosure and Iaido knew he had to get out of there soon. Even his enhanced system couldn’t survive for long without oxygen. Unhooking his harness, he crawled over the ruined gun controls and to the hatch that led back to the main part of the ship. He placed the back of his hand on the metal door, feeling for heat just in case there was a fire on the other side; but he only felt the coolness of space. Unlatching the door, Iaido pushed the hatch open and clambered into chaos.

Anything and everything that wasn’t bolted down had been knocked down, including his shrine and books. The whole ship listed to starboard and the smell of smoke filled the air. It was obvious that the Nemesis had taken heavy damage, the question was how damaged and was anyone hurt?

Grabbing an emergency rebreather pack from a nearby rack, Iaido took several deep breaths of pure oxygen before moving to the starboard turret where he last saw Talia. Once again placing the back of his hand on the hatch, it was cool. Iaido gritted his teeth and opened it.

As soon as the hatch opened, Talia leapt into his arms and shrieked, “Iaido!”

Iaido lifted her clear of the hatch and enjoyed the warmth of her embrace for a moment before reluctantly stepping back. He looked her over. A dark smudge of grease marred her alabaster skin and several strands of her silver hair had fallen out of her ponytail but there were no obvious signs of injury.

“Are you alright?”

Visibly shaken, Talia nodded. “Yes. Just a bit frightened.”

“Let’s get to the bridge and check on everyone else.”

Putting action to words, Iaido moved up the short ladder which led to the command deck. Entering the bridge, flashing red warning lights lit up the control panels. Iaido scanned the gauges with an experienced eye. Judging from the readings, the cargo hold and aft cabins were open to space. Emergency bulkheads had slammed shut sealing off the affected areas. Fire Control, Main Computer and Environmental Systems were all damaged. However, the reactor and engines were still fully functional. It was a testament to the toughness of the ship’s design that the Nemesis was still underway.

Pulling his eyes away from the instrument panels, Iaido looked around the bridge. Jay was sitting in the co-pilot’s chair, fighting with the controls to keep the ship as steady as possible. The blood on Jay’s forehead didn’t look serious but Iaido asked anyway, “You okay?”

Without taking his eyes off the instrument panel, Jay answered. “Yea. It’s just a scratch. Xerxes is aft checking to see how bad the damage really is and if it affected our structural integrity. If not and we are jump capable and will be at a jump point in ten minutes.”

Talia pushed past Iaido and moved up to Jay. Without asking permission, she pulled out a green silk handkerchief from her pocket and placed it on his wound. Closing her eyes for a moment, she concentrated on the wound and let the mystical nature of her heritage flow into her hands. In her mind’s eye, she could see the gash; it was over an inch long but not too deep. Forcing some of her energies into the wound, she visualized the ruptured capillaries and vessels constricting more and more until it completely stopped the blood loss.

Opening her eyes, she said in an effort to hide her powers. “This gash may require several stitches.”

Jay reached up and gently pulled her hand away from the wound. “No offense ma’am but it’s nothing more than a scratch.” He added with a grin and a wink as he pointed to his missing legs. “I’ve had worse injuries. I think I’ll survive.”

Talia felt herself flush with embarrassment but both men were too much a gentleman to make a remark concerning her actions. So she busied herself by wrapping her silk handkerchief around Jay’s head.

Iaido asked, “Can we make it to Haven?”

“We should be able to,” Jay said, “as long as the O_2 generators are working. Of course, without Pax we have to do all the calculations by hand but since we will be using a jump point, the calculations are almost a moot point. I’m sure we can manage it.”

“Good. Make the jump soon as possible. Once we are safe in hyperspace, we need to talk.” Turning toward the exit, he added, “But first things first, I’ll go see if Xerxes needs any help.”

“Iaido!” Talia said taking an involuntary step towards him.

Pausing in mid-stride, Iaido looked back. “Yes?”

Talia chewed on her lip slightly before saying, “Be careful.”

With a grin Iaido added, “Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”

*   *   *   *   *

Less than an hour later when they were safely in hyperspace, the small crew gathered on the mess deck. The Nemesis was still listing slightly to starboard but only about five degrees off center.

Talia had kept herself busy by straightening the mess deck. She had moved several large crates to the center of the deck to act as a table with smaller crates for chairs. It was the best they could do until access to the upper or lower decks were restored.

Iaido was the first to arrive. Pausing at the access panel, he studied her handiwork before entering. Shifting his gaze to Talia as she worked at tidying up the room, he couldn’t help but notice the gentle curves of her body. Talia had removed her black leather jacket which revealed the green silk blouse she was wearing; it was loose fitting but still provided an ample view.

Clearing his throat to announce his arrival, Iaido dropped in from the access hatch above deck. Landing cat-like he said, “You know, I should apologize for the rough accommodations. I wasn’t really expecting company.”

Talia was in the process of moving a small crate when he entered. Setting it down, she turned ever so slightly enough to pull the fabric of her shirt tight over her breasts.

“It’s not a problem. We Sylvans don’t all live in the lap of luxury like you Terrans think.”

Swallowing hard at the vision of her loveliness, Iaido knew he needed to change the subject. Pulling out an old brass whistle, he cupped it in his hands and blew three notes; low, high, low. The clear sound echoed through the ship.

Tilting her head slightly Talia asked, “What is that?”

“It’s a bosun’s pipe,” he said holding the instrument up for display. “It was used in ancient days to call muster on sailing ships. This one was a gift from Major McDowell. It was supposedly a gift of consolation after the loss of my brother.”

“What do you mean supposedly?”

“Hector didn’t die in a starship accident like I was told ten years ago.”

Jay came rolling in from the infirmary and asked, “Really? That’s what I was told.”

Iaido sat down at the makeshift table as his friend rolled up beside him. “Let me ask you a question Jay.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you recall an Operation Lodestone?”

Jay looked off into the distance for a few seconds before answering. “Not that I remember. Of course, Omega was a long time ago and we ran so many missions, I’m not sure I even knew all the codenames.”

“It would’ve been the mission where the Major, the Sgt. Major and the Ten were pulled off for some special mission. Only myself and the two commanders returned alive.”

Jay nodded his head. “I do recall that mission, well sort of. I wasn’t involved in any part of it but I do remember how fast it was organized. The orders came in and in less than an hour later, you guys were gone.”

“That’s the one. What do you remember about it?”

Pulling out a pinch of snuff, Jay packed his lower lip. Swirling around the juices for a moment, he spit in his cup before continuing. “You guys were gone for almost a month. I recall that time well, we spent it on leave in Hawaii. Damn, surfing was fun.” Jay grinned at the memories but seeing the serious look on Iaido’s face he came back to the subject at hand. “When you four returned you were more dead than alive, the Sgt. Major walked with a limp and the Major always had a haunted look in his eyes.”

“Four? I was told only three of us returned.”

“Only three of you were alive but Aeneas’ body returned with you. I’ll never forget the look of his body; it was so full of holes, tiny… like those of a needle and his skin was waxy green. Evidently, Aeneas shielded the Major from some sort of needle bomb that injected him full of some sort of alien poison.” Jay paused for a moment. “There was never an explanation concerning his or the rest of the team’s deaths; just the ‘official word’ that they died during a starship accident in a remote region of space.” He paused before adding, “Why?”

Iaido rubbed his neck, “Here’s where it gets weird. The General told me that everyone associated with Operation Lodestone has been systematically hunted down and killed over the last few months. Only the General, the Major and I are left alive.”

Jay glanced over his shoulder as Xerxes entered the mess deck and sat down on the far end the mess hall. “Okay, so someone has a vendetta about Operation Lodestone. What was so important about it?”

Iaido shrugged. “I don’t know. Evidently my memories were erased during the debriefing. I have no recollection of the mission.” Iaido cocked his head to the side. “Well, not really.”

Talia perked up. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s just when I was trapped in the gun turret and it was filling with smoke, I must’ve been knocked unconscious because I had a dream that I was on that particular mission.”

Talia shook her head. “I bet it wasn’t a dream but old memories struggling to resurface.”

Iaido furrowed his brow. “But I was told they wiped my memory. How could I recall them?”

“I am not an expert by any means but the Empire has been using memory modification for over a millennia.  It is used during the re-education process.” Pulling out her tarot deck, she absentmindedly played with the cards, shuffling and cutting the deck at random as she spoke. “You see memories for Sylvans and Terrans are just a matter of particular neurons retaining a specific code at a certain time. When we want access a certain memory, our minds generate a particular code which unlocks that certain memory. Our minds continually update and maintain a master code for all our memories. The re-education process erases the master code or at least part of it. The information is still in your mind but you have no way to access it.”

“If I understand you correctly, the Coalition didn’t actually erase my memory just my brain’s way of recalling the information?”

Talia nodded. “Yes. The only way to actually erase a memory is to destroy the cells which contain it; which in turn would leave the subject in a coma or dead.”

Iaido stroked his goatee for a moment before asking, “So that is why when I was stuck in the turret, the conditions must’ve been similar enough to something I went through during Operation Lodestone that my mind found the right pattern for those missing memories?”

“Absolutely, that is one of the greatest fears of the Empire when doing re-educations.”

“Is it possible to rediscover the codes for these erased memories?”

Talia chewed on her lip for a moment before answering. “Theoretically, yes; there are forms of regression rituals which could allow one to remap those codes but it isn’t certain.”

“Is it something you could do?”

Talia shrugged. “I am unsure. I mean that I understand the rituals involved but it is more than that. Sylvans are a very mystical race. We are more than just this piece of flesh you see before you. We are spirit made flesh and it is the spirit which would have to travel the myriad paths of your psyche to guide you to the correct path.”

“Are you saying that to help me remember, you would have to enter my mind?”

“Yes. All our powers stem from our spirit.” Talia formed a triangle with her hands. “The mind and body exist to serve the spirit but the spirit cannot exist without the mind or body; the perfect trinity.”

Iaido gazed into Talia’s emerald orbs and asked, “Would it be something you would be willing to attempt?”

Talia felt herself drawn to Iaido’s steel grey eyes and hesitated for a moment before forcing herself to look away, “Only as a last resort. The ritual is very intim…demanding.”

Iaido could tell that wasn’t exactly the adjective she wanted to use to describe the procedure but let it pass…for now. He turned his attention to Jay. “How’s Pax?”

Jay took a deep breath and said, “Heavily damaged. Parts of her matrix have been damaged beyond repair…”

Iaido groaned.

“But there’s hope. Diana is also badly damaged but both matrixes are damaged in different areas. It might be possible to merge the two and return them both to life.”

“Will it work?”

Jay shrugged. “I don’t know. It should, in theory at least. The problem is that I will need some parts and equipment that are not available on the Nemesis to even attempt it.”

“I don’t care how much it cost, when we get to Haven find what you need. Buy, beg or steal it but get what you need.”

*   *   *   *   *

They were less than an hour out of Haven when Jay turned the operations chair to face his friend. They were alone for the moment; Xerxes and Talia were aft doing something which gave the retired Master Chief a chance to speak his mind. “Okay, I need to ask you something.”

Without taking his eyes off the panel, Iaido asked, “What is it?”

“Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Talia but why is she here?”

“She’s Eve’s Aunt and her only living relative as far as I know.”

Jay shook his head. “There has got to be more than that. She’s a civilian. She has no idea what we are getting into and that will make her a liability. You know that and I know that.”

Iaido paused in his reading of the Nemesis’ damage reports and turned to face his friend. “You’re right. She doesn’t know and in some ways she will be a burden but somehow I feel that she is connected to all this. I really can’t explain it more than that but it feels right that she is along.”

Jay raised one eyebrow. “It has nothing to do that she’s a real looker?”

Iaido cocked his head to the side. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Liar.”

Iaido grinned at the rebuke. “Besides, somehow she’s connected with all this. I don’t know how and I don’t know why but she’s connected. Of that I am sure.”

Hearing the sounds of someone coming up the central passageway to the bridge, the two friends turned back to the task at hand just as Xerxes and Talia entered the bridge. If she was going to say anything, it was forgotten as the Nemesis came out of hyperspace and the marvel of Haven was displayed in front of them.

“Welcome to Haven, my friends,” Iaido said as he guided the Nemesis to the waiting stardock.

Chapter 17

Haven was once known as Starbase Sigma to the Coalition and Checkpoint Charlie to the Confederacy. It orbited a remote star known to the Terrans as Wolf 359. Technically, there was nothing really unique about that star system, no habitable planets, no spectacular gas giants and only minimal mining resources but as they say in real estate, location…location…location.

Wolf 359 came to be known as the crossroads of intergalactic travel during the war. At first the Coalition just anchored several large supply ships in the area and a floating stardock. Eventually, since so much traffic flowed through the area, they built Starbase Sigma. It wasn’t completed until the height of the war and became a highly contested commodity that actually switched hands several times. After the war, neither the Coalition nor the Confederacy wanted the starbase due to its dilapidated condition and the amount of space debris in the immediate area. Enter Leonard Vetter, entrepreneur and risk-taker.

This young businessman from Texas saw an opportunity and used the simple logic that if it was such a desirable location during wartime then it would be a valuable investment during peace time. Gathering a small group of investors, Vetter bought the salvage rights from the Coalition for the rock bottom price of a half-million credits and set out to create a Haven in space.

However at the end of his first year, Vetter had towed and mated the largest wrecks in the area to the starbase and sent the rest into the closest star but he was nearly broke. Finding workers willing to risk life and limb on his dream was proving difficult. The idea of an independent city in space orbiting a distant star on the edge of adventure sounds romantic when you are sitting in a bar in New Atlanta but the reality of the hard work, the dangers and enormous costs were completely different. All of Vetter’s investors were backing out and his bank had called in his loan. He was taking one last trip to Starbase Sigma to say good-bye to his dream and to retrieve the few faithful followers that had stuck with him over the last year.

Vetter answered a distress call while enroute and found a Mantodea colony ship with a damaged star-drive and major structural damage. The Mantodeas were swarming along the ship’s hull fixing what they could with their limited resources. It seems that the mantis-like race could work outside in the vacuum of space without any type of environmental suits due to their exoskeleton and physiology. Vetter realized that his luck had changed. After a lengthy conversation with their queen, he towed the beleaguered ship to Haven and Vetter was ecstatic; he had found his main workforce. With the assistance of the Mantodeas, Haven became operational in less than six months and proved to be a gold mine for Leonard Vetter. Now after eight years, Haven had become the busiest starport outside of Sol with over a quarter million permanent residents. Being unaffiliated with any government, Haven drew outcasts from every society and race.

It became an open port to all, a place where anything can be purchased or arraigned for the right price, as long as Vetter and associates got their cut. However, slavery was the only illegal trade goods. That is not to say it didn’t happen; it just didn’t happen in the open. Deals of assassinations and slave-trading took place in the dark areas of Haven and those caught were punished severely. Most intelligent life forms consider being ejected into space on a trajectory to the nearest star as severe.

As the Nemesis came to rest in the stardock, Iaido called his friends together for a conference in the galley. “Okay people; Haven is a dangerous place. Anything can be bought here, including us. I am sure that news of our bounty has reached here, I would be extremely surprised if it hadn’t.”

“Do you expect trouble?” Talia asked.

“I always expect trouble,” Iaido replied as he checked the power settings on his pistols.

Jay pulled out a sawed-off double-barreled pump-action shotgun and grinned at the look Iaido gave him. “Yes, this is the same shotgun from Gilese.”

“I thought you got rid of that thing?”

“Get rid of ol’ reliable? Never,” Jay patted the ancient ballistic weapon lovingly. “She’s never misfired and at close range she is more deadly than a blaster.”

Iaido nodded. He had seen the shotgun in action on Gilese and Jay was right, its blast was devastating. Pulling out a couple of cred-stix, he handed them to his friend.

“Get whatever parts you need to fix Pax and Diana; while Xerxes will arrange the repairs of the Nemesis but stay together as much as possible.”

“And this is for you.” Iaido handed Talia a small silver box. The look of surprise on her face was unmistakable. “Don’t read anything into it; this is simply for your protection.”

Talia cocked her head to the side before opening the box. Inside was a black pistol with a very slender frame. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you comes to mind.”

She flashed him a crooked grin. “Thank you.”

Iaido shrugged. “It’s a Rapier X-10. It has less recoil than my Graver Mk7 that you used in Underground New Atlanta which should help your accuracy and it packs a terrific punch for a small weapon.” Handing her a shoulder holster to wear under her jacket, he added. “You stick with me. We have several errands to run. We will meet back here at 1900 hours local time. Keep your wits about you and watch your backs.”

As the companions disembarked from the Nemesis, Xerxes was the first to exit and moved up beside the worker Mantodeas. When standing next to the other bugs, it was obvious how large and intimidating Xerxes must be; the smaller bugs bowed at the onset of the meeting. Xerxes chatted to them for a brief moment before the workers rushed off to make the repairs. Jay waited for the large Mantodea before they headed off into the depths of Haven.

Since this was Talia’s first time visiting Haven, Iaido gave her the grand tour. As they moved through the crowded thoroughfares he began to describe the space station.

“Of course, the primary population of Haven is human but there is a large contingent of Sylvans and Mantodeas. I am not sure why the elves or bugs want to live here but the humans are those that don’t like the rules of the Coalition or the Confederacy.”

Talia felt overwhelmed at the amount of people living on such a small starport. The more she thought about the fact, the more the walls felt like they were closing in on her. As she forced herself to focus on Iaido’s voice, she felt the walls slowly fade backwards.

“Even since the cease fire, several colonies have broken away from the Coalition. They haven’t joined the Confederacy yet…but as the two major governments become increasingly controlling, more will leave and once again we Terrans will be at war with ourselves. It’s inevitable.”

“But why?”

Iaido shrugged. “It is the curse of mankind. To be civilized means a governing body, which means controls, which means some liberties must be sacrificed, which means someone will feel oppressed, which means that one day…war. It is known as human nature.”

As Iaido fell silent, Talia once again felt the proximity of the mass of people. The passageway which they were currently traveling must’ve been a major thoroughfare since it was so crowded she feared that if she tripped, she wouldn’t even fall to the ground but would be carried away with the mass of bodies. She kept getting jostled around as she tried to keep pace with the dark form of Iaido. That’s when she realized that she had lost him.

Stopping quickly, Talia spun around in place frantically looking for the bounty hunter but all she saw was a mass of bodies. Almost all were human and judging from their clothes, simple working class men and women going about their daily lives. At first she thought it would be easy to pick out Iaido’s dark clothes and shaved head from the workers but the more she looked around the less sure she became. That’s when she noticed a small group of ragged men dressed in mis-matched pieces of body armor and clothes standing near one wall just watching her. Two hands grabbed her shoulders; Talia shrieked and spun around.

Grim faced Iaido said, “You need to keep up. Haven is a dangerous place.”

Talia couldn’t articulate the relief she felt at the closeness of the bounty hunter but she couldn’t shake the sense that they were being watched. Turning back to where she had seen the ragged men, she was shocked to see that they were no longer there. Looking back at her escort she said, “There were some men over there…”

Iaido nodded. Gently grabbing her arm, he guided her back down the thoroughfare. “I know. We’ve had a tail since we left the Nemesis.”

“A what?”

“A tail. Its slang for someone following you.”

Talia thought about it for a second before responding. “I get it. A tail, like the prehensile appendage on a marsupial. That’s an interesting analogy. You Terrans are an inventive lot.”

“You have no idea. I am still surprised by my people daily.” Iaido guided her off the main thoroughfare and they ducked onto a side passageway. “They are inventive but also greedy. I’m sure there is a bounty on our head. We need to get to a safer area of the station.”

Talia asked, “Where are we going?”

“I have an errand to run.” Iaido held up the scroll. “My Sensei asked me to deliver this to a man named Ishmael. Somehow he knew I would be coming here.”

“He sounds like a wise man. I would like to meet him one day.”

“He’s dead.”

“How did he die?”

“I killed him.”

“Oh Iaido, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

“It’s okay. I am striving to make my peace with it. I am saddened by his loss and somehow feel slightly empty. Its not how it happened, it was combat, people die. No, the one thing that bothers me is why it happened.”

“What do you mean?”asked Talia.

“Why? Why would my Sensei invite me to perform but instead challenge me to a duel?”

“I take it, that behavior was out of character for him.”

“To say the least.”

“Then, the answer is simple; either he was forced to act or he chose to act in such a manner.”

Iaido stopped in his tracks so quickly, that Talia took several steps before realizing. Turning back to him, she didn’t expect to see a grin on his face but there it was so she asked, “What?”

“You’re right. There are only two reasons and if so, then that gives me a place to start. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Talia said as they entered the core of the station and it was her turn to stop suddenly.

Since Haven was converted from an old Coalition starbase, the core rotated. Having a rotating core was one of the easiest and most cost efficient means to generate gravity. The open area had been converted into a garden with plants from all over the known galaxy. There were hundreds of farm crops from Earth but there were also the rare moon ferns from Sylvanis which towered over fifty feet. Every variety of plant was chosen for two reasons, hardiness and usefulness. The need for the farm crops and fruit trees was obvious; they supplemented the fresh produce available on the stations. Other plants, like the moon fern helped with the oxygen production and reduction of carbon dioxide. The side effect was that the few corridors which ran through the core of the station offered some of the most beautiful sights available on the station.

As Talia looked down or up at the slowly spinning garden, she felt a bit queasy and snapped her eyes back to the walkway and steadied herself with the handrail.

Iaido grinned. “Now you understand why this corridor is empty. It seems that few can walk through here without feeling the effects of vertigo.”

Every time Talia lifted here gaze from the walkway, she felt her stomach flip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know this would affect me this way.”

Iaido gently grabbed her arm. “Close your eyes.”

She resisted for a moment.

“Trust me. Close your eyes. We need to move. Our tail will figure out we came this way any moment and it would be best if we are gone before they arrive.”

Talia nodded and followed the gentle pressure on her arm and they moved through the core of the station. She knew almost immediately when they entered the main area of the station due to the different sounds. As they came to an abrupt stop, she felt the tension in Iaido’s grip for a split second before he removed his hand. Turning to where she knew he stood she asked, “May I open my eyes yet?”

“Sure, but you might not like what you see.”

Talia stifled a scream as she opened her eyes and discovered that they were surrounded by five Mantodeas and three Terrans, all with heavy blasters leveled at their chest. The humans were dressed in black combat fatigues, neatly pressed and unadorned of any rank insignias. However, all eight wore a red bandolier across their shoulders from left to right with the emblem of a red ‘V’ inside a red circle prominently displayed.

Iaido slowly raised his hands and said, “Don’t make any sudden moves and follow all of their commands. We are not in any danger, these are the Haven Wardens. It seems that we are to have an audience with the Vetter.”

“The who?” Talia asked.

“Leonard Vetter, the man who runs Haven.”

“What does he want with us?”

“That is the question of the night.”

They followed the Wardens through the winding corridors of Haven. With the Wardens leading the way, they made record time transitioning the whole of the station until they reached the very uppermost level of Haven. The Wardens stopped at the doorway and gestured with their blasters.

The two stepped through the door and was greeted with a spectacular sight. The room was large; oval shaped and full of the necessary electronic equipment needed to run a station the size of Haven but that wasn’t what caught their attention. The roof of the room was transparent which revealed the entire solar system. It was breathtaking.

After a moment, they wrenched their eyes away from the heavens to see that they were being watched by the lone person on the bridge; with a single clap of his hands, the roof shifted slowly to opaque and the lights in the room came back on to reveal their host, Leonard Vetter.

He was obviously human, stocky but not fat with a strong square jaw line and slightly graying hair and the classic five o’clock shadow. His smile seemed genuine when he said, “Welcome…welcome. Come in…come in.”

Talia glanced at Iaido and tried to guess what he was thinking but she was unable to glean one iota of information from his face. But as he started to move forward, she watched him scan the area looking for threats. She copied his movements but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. There were only the three of them and only one door. Therefore, no threats.

Iaido took several steps into the room and stopped about five paces away from their host. Keeping his hands away from his weapons he said, “Greetings Master Vetter. It is an honor to finally meet you.”

“Iaido Achilles Spartan and Talia Stargleam, welcome to Haven.”

Talia remembered her manners and curtsied but remained silent.

“You may be wondering why I asked you to join me.”

Iaido said, “The question had crossed my mind.”

“It seems that you two have made some enemies back on Earth.”

Vetter moved over to a nearby console and punched a few buttons. The vid-displays popped up with a WANTED poster bearing the caption, Dead or Alive. Iaido’s image and statics were on it with the reward of one million credits. The poster also had listed as a known accomplice Talia Stargleam with the warning: ‘BEWARE EXPERT SHARPSHOOTER’.

Iaido casually shifted his stance. “I hope you don’t intend on trying to collect on that bounty because if any of the gun turrets in this room open up, you will be dead before they are fully deployed.”

Vetter looked shocked for a second before he regained his control and shook his head. “No. Not at all. I brought you here to warn you and offer my assistance. Anything that pisses off the Coalition this much is a bonus for me.”

Iaido relaxed slightly and Talia let out a breath that she didn’t even realize she was holding until that moment.

Vetter continued. “I’ve had my Wardens block the full scale broadcast of this poster but we can’t be sure that it hasn’t gotten out to the general public. And you realize that if someone tries to claim the bounty, we will not be able to stop them?”

Iaido nodded his head. “I understand. Even though you are not interested in the bounty, you cannot jeopardize your trade agreements with Earth over this incident. Correct?”

Vetter grinned. “It’s such a pleasure doing business with a true professional. If you get through this alive, come see me. I’ll have some work for you.”

Realizing their audience was at an end, Iaido began to back out taking Talia with him. As they reached the door he said, “Remember the Alamo.”

Vetter looked up from his console and the surprise on his face was obvious.

The door slid shut and the couple found themselves alone in the corridor. Iaido turned around and began to retrace their steps to the lower areas of the station.

Talia was the first to break the silence. “Remember the Alamo?” She cocked her head to the side and asked, “Why would you say that to him?”

“The Alamo was originally a small church where seventy Texans held off the whole of the Mexican army during the War of 1812. It became a byword for being outnumbered but clinging to your beliefs. It was also the name of the first starship to defect from the Coalition Fleet. It was hunted down and destroyed but not before taking three other ships with it. During the Galactic Civil War, the confederacy used both legends of the Alamo to help build morale.”

“Are you suggesting that he was a Confederate?”

“Aye, I know he was. I’ve done my background on him and know his history. And now he knows that I know.”

Talia shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Vetter called us up here for two reasons; one - to warn us and two – as a display of power. By me saying three simple words, I have shown him that I know more about him than he believed possible.”

“But why?”

“On Earth we have a game known as chess. It has been around since the Dark Ages and it was once called the game of kings because it taught the royals to look ahead and move their pieces strategically. Both Vetter’s and my moves will only come to fruition later down the road.”

Talia just shook her head and silently followed the strange bounty hunter who was both her guardian and companion. There seemed to be so much more to learn about these Terrans than was ever hinted at during her time in the Seminary. She just hoped that she would have enough time to fully understand the Terran race before her mission was complete.

Chapter 18

Iaido paused at an information terminal to locate his destination.

Although he had been to Haven many times, the station was so large that he had never visited every shop. The retrofitted starbase was broken down into six major sections. The operations section at the very ‘top’ of the station was considered off limits to non-essential personnel, while the lowest sections consisted primarily of storage and uninhabitable areas. The space docks took up most of the outer region, which left one area for the market and the remaining two for living quarters.

The info terminal directed him to the ‘Louisville Deck’ – which was level twenty-two of the Market section. Every level was named for a city, modern, ancient or otherwise. Since Haven had a multi-cultural population, sometimes the names were odd. Supposedly helped the inhabitants recall their roots and made it easier for many to find their way around. Iaido always found it trivial and frustrating but since he couldn’t change it, he just accepted it.

Locating his destination, Iaido paused to study his surroundings before entering.

It was a trinket shop and seemed to be filled with knick-knacks from all over the galaxy. Several baskets of rugs and a stuffed long-toothed cat adorned the storefront with only one aisle way visible and seemed to wind through the store.  The traffic on this level was less than they had encountered earlier but there was still a steady flow of people moving about. Iaido leaned against the opposite wall and calmly waited.

Talia looked around. “What are we waiting for?”

“Patience. Just because that is our destination, that doesn’t mean I am going to rush in without a proper recon.”

“Recon?”

Iaido rolled his eyes and took a calming breath. “It’s a military term for reconnaissance.” He nodded at the store. “We have no idea what’s in there but by watching traffic patterns we can learn a lot. For example, since we have arrived approximately one-hundred and seventy-five people have passed the shop but no one has entered. Furthermore, both stores to either side have had steady traffic. What does that tell you?”

“I don’t know.” Talia shrugged and brushed a stray lock of her silver hair behind her ears.

“Either the store owner Ishmael or the merchandise he sells isn’t popular with the locals.”

Talia pulled out her tarot deck and began to shuffle them. Iaido realized that it was a nervous habit she had and said nothing about it as he continued to watch for ten more minutes without anyone entering or exiting the store. Pushing himself from the wall, they moved across the pedestrian traffic and stepped inside.

If walking into the Sylvan Embassy in New Atlanta was like stepping back in time, then entering this shop was like entering a nineteenth century museum crossed with a vaudeville magic store and there is no other way to describe the place other than cluttered. There were knick-knacks piled on top of boxes which were stacked next to piles of junk. Iaido didn’t even recognize most of the trinkets in the store. An ornamental stone sarcophagus stood on a pedestal and seemed to serve the purpose of the main counter since it was the only uncluttered surface. A ledger book and a silver bell sat on its top next to the sign ‘ring for service’.

As they stepped up to the counter, Talia rang the bell.

Moving quietly for someone his size, Ishmael stepped out from the back room to stand behind the sarcophagus and studied his two customers.

Few things in life seemed to catch Iaido off guard. Maybe it was his training but when the lizard-like Lemurian stepped out, Iaido’s first instinct was to draw his blade. Reining in his combat urges, Iaido studied the storekeeper.

At first glance it was obvious that somewhere far back on the evolutionary ladder the Lemurians were related to crocodiles or alligators of ancient earth. Imagine an alligator’s rear legs elongated enough to allow the reptile to stand erect at nearly seven foot; while the front legs lengthened enough to use as arms. Both hands and feet sported three inch long claws, yet the dexterity of the race could not be discounted. This Lemurian’s hide was a reddish-brown with a black crest running the length of his back. His eyes were slightly elevated like those of a crocodile’s and when he blinked, a second eyelid closed sideways proving that his ancestors spent many hours underwater. His left eye was cloudy and judging from an old scar that ran the length of his snout, Ishmael had seen the horrors of war up close and personal. He was dressed in a simple dark brown robe and calmly watched his two customers.

After several minutes, Iaido placed both hands together and bowed but never took his eyes off of the Lemurian. “I am Iaido Spartan.”

“Greetingzz earthling… they call me Izzhmael.” His voice was dry and whispery. His long tongue, like that of a snake, flickered in and out as he talked.

Iaido pulled out the scroll. “My master asked me to bring you this.”

Ishmael gently took the offered object and bowed his head. “I izz zzorry for your lozzzz.”

Iaido cocked his head slightly. “How can you know of the Sensei’s death?”

Ishmael slowly unrolled the scroll and scanned the document. “There izz much I know and much I do not know but if you have this zzcroll then Kenzzai izz dead.”

The hissing on certain words threw Iaido for a moment. His long snake-like tongue which flicked in and out when he talked was also distracting but it was the reference to his master as Kensai or sword-saint which caught him off guard. Before he could ask more, the Lemurian rerolled the scroll and passed it back to him.

“Thizz izz for you. It izz hizz lazzt will and tezztement.”

Iaido unrolled the scroll and scanned it. Ishmael was right; it was his master’s will. “Then why was I instructed to bring it to you?”

The Lemurian reached down and pulled open the sarcophagus. Talia and Iaido could hear the clanking of items being moved around before Ishmael pulled out a bundle of black cloth. Closing the lid, Ishmael set down the bundle and stepped back. “Thizz izz for you. It izz to be your legacy.”

Curious and confused, Iaido reached out. The moment his hand touched the bundle, his heart skipped a beat. Could it be? As the black wrapping fell away and the light fell across the ancient blade, Iaido couldn’t help but gasp at the sight. “Do you know what this is?”

“Yezz. It izz the Zzword of the Elementzz, uzzed by the firzzt Kenzzai to bring harmony to hizz land.”

Talia shook her head, “I don’t understand.”

Still gazing at the ancient blade, Iaido spoke in a faraway voice.

“Miyamato Mushasi was known as the first Kensai. Legends state that as his skills grew, Mushasi had a vision concerning the perfect weapons. He travelled the length of Japan until he found the master swordsmith Hatori Honzo living in a cave as a hermit. There is no record at how Mushasi convinced Honzo to accompany him but one winter’s eve they climbed the slopes of Mount Fuji and with the help of the gods forged the Twin Blades of Heaven.”

Lifting the ancient katana, Iaido slid the blade free of its scabbard and the light reflected off its polished surface. Even slightly mesmerized by the balance of the superb weapon, he continued his explanation. “This sword is known as the Blade of the Elements. It was crafted to embody the four elements of nature; fire, water, earth and air. Its sister sword was known as the Blade of Void. Together the swords encompass the five elements of the Ancients and when used together it is said that the wielder was invincible.”

Talia asked, “Is that true?”

Iaido shrugged but it was Ishmael who answered.

“I too uzzed to walk the path of the blade and my journeyzz brought me into conflict with the wielder of the Bladezz of Heaven.” Ishmael pointed at his scar. “I wazz not the victor but my life wazz zzpared by the Kenzzai. My cup wazz full but in defeat I learned to empty it.”

Talia was more confused after the Lemurian’s explanation than before. Her best interpretation was that Ishmael and Iaido’s master had fought a duel in which the lizardman lost but was spared by the Sensei and somehow had become friends. She had no idea what he meant by the Lemurian’s reference to a cup but before she could ask anything more, Ishmael opened the sarcophagus and pulled forth a harness of black leather attached to a circular device with two holes in it.

“Thizz arrived with the zzword,” hissed Ishmael.

“Domo,” said Iaido as he took the offered bandolier. Removing his trench coat, Iaido slipped out of his current weapon harness which was designed to hold his katana upright and almost directly behind his head. Removing his battleworn scabbard from his old harness, he placed it in one of the holes on the circular device, the Blade of the Elements in the other and slid the harness on; both hilts now rested just over his shoulders and within easy reach.

Ishmael bowed low and hissed something in his native language before adding in English, “Fear not Iaido-zzan, we zzhall meet again.”

Iaido nodded his head, picked up his trench coat and with a nod of his head signaled to Talia that it was time for them to leave.

Once they were back in the thoroughfare Talia asked, “Where to now?”

“Nick’s Place, I need to see a man about a horse.”

Talia had no idea what he meant but just shrugged her shoulders and followed along. One thing for certain, it had been an interesting day but she also realized that it had been one of the most exciting times of her life…so far.

Chapter 19

Nick’s Place was the busiest bar on Haven and that made the owner happy.

Nicholas Angelini, Nick to his customers, was from an old Italian family of good character and with his family connections, he didn’t have to serve in the military during the war. While all his friends were off fighting for the good of the Coalition, Nick was having fun, chasing women, racing cars and doing the latest recreational drugs. Life was good or so he thought. Until the day Nick went to see his doctor about a stomach problem and was diagnosed with cancer. After extensive tests and treatments, it was decided that even with the advancements in medicine of the twenty-second century it was still an inoperable tumor. The doctors gave Nick six months to live.

That was three years ago. After a week-long drinking binge, Nick sobered up and decided to make a change. He left his family and friends behind and began to wander the galaxy. Eventually, his travels brought him to Haven and with the roll of the dice, Nick won the bar.

It was a dive back then but with some hard work, Nick had found a home and his calling. The bar was especially crowded since several transports had come through earlier in the day carrying settlers and prospectors to the outer regions. Of course, the normal clientele of mercenaries and thieves packed the place. As Talia and Iaido entered the bar, the whole room fell silent. Moments later the low murmur of whispered voices filled the air.

Iaido leaned over to Talia. “I guess the word is out about us.” Gesturing for her to stay where she was, he moved to the center of the bar, planted his feet shoulder wide and rolled his shoulders around to loosen them up. “All right, anyone here foolish enough to try and claim the bounty?”

“I am.” A young man stepped out of the crowd. He stood just under six feet and probably weighed close to three hundred pounds. Judging from his ragged camos and weapon rig, Iaido guessed that he was an ex-soldier who had fallen on hard times and turned to mercenary work.

With lightning speed, Iaido pulled out his Graver Mk7 with his left hand and fired one round.

The blast took off the young merc’s head before his hand had even touched the grip of his own weapon. Keeping his weapon raised, Iaido slowly turned around and took in the whole of the bar while the thud of the young merc’s body hitting the floor filled the silent room.

“Anyone else?” asked Iaido. “Either step up or go back to your drinks.”

Not seeing anyone foolish enough to take the challenge, Iaido holstered his weapon with a spin and moved to the bar. “Sorry about the mess, Nick.”

Nick shrugged his shoulders and continued to wipe off an already clean mug. “Not a problem, Mr. Spartan. Not the first one to die in here; doubt it will be the last.” He glanced at the body which was being picked clean by his friends and added, “At least you didn’t break any furniture. There will be a small surcharge on your bill for the body disposal.”

“Not a problem Nick. Add a ten percent tip on it for the trouble it caused and send three beers over to my table.”

“Will do Mr. Spartan.”

Talia was furious but quietly followed the bounty hunter to a corner table that was miraculously empty by the time they reached it. As soon as they sat down, Talia unleashed her fury.

“How dare you kill so blatantly? That is the second time I have seen you kill without hesitation. Does life hold so little regard to you that you can just take it on a whim?”

Iaido took a huge gulp of his beer while his eyes continued to scan the crowd. After a moment he answered in a low voice. “It wasn’t a whim and as unfortunate at it seems, his death was necessary.”

Her fury unabated she asked, “How can you say that!!?”

“A mob is like a fire. Once started, it is hard to put out but even a fire needs a spark. The leader or spokesperson is the one that starts the mob moving forward. By killing that young braggart before he got the crowd riled up, I stopped the mob from forming, which in turn stopped me from having to kill anyone else.”

A broad-shouldered man with a friendly round face stepped up to the table. “And there would’ve been more trouble. The word is out. You could make someone a very rich man. Your bounty has been raised to one and a quarter million credits, dead or alive.”

“Hello DJ.” Iaido lifted the second mug of beer and held it out.

DJ took the offered beer and slid into the booth across from the bounty hunter. “I get the impression that the emphasis was on dead.”

“Any leads on who’s paying the bounty?”

“Nope.” DJ took a long swig on his beer. “Just that your right hand is the required proof for payment.” Setting down his beer, DJ offered his own hand to the beautiful Sylvan. “Pardon my manners ma’am, Staff Sgt. Scott DeJarnette - UNCF Strike Forces. Retired of course but my friends just call me DJ.”

Taking the offered hand, Talia let her mystical powers momentarily flow through her connection and into the newcomer. Physically, she felt the roughness of a working man’s grip, while mystically she felt a gentle soul who has seen and done evil in his life but one that was always striving for the greater good. Recalling her powers, Talia graced him with a dazzling smile. “I take it that you two are friends?”

Still scanning the crowd Iaido said, “We served together.”

“You were in Omega?”

DJ shook his head. “No. Although we fought on many a battlefield together and assisted Omega on several missions, I was referring to the time we served together in New Leavenworth.”

“Time? How can you serve time?”

Although slightly annoying at times, Iaido was getting used to explaining the complexities and nuances of the human language to the Sylvan. It brought back memories of his early years. Fresh from the pod, the SPARTANs were fully capable and deadly soldiers but completely naïve when interacting with regular troops. If people like Master Chief Kirk and Sgt. Major Spenton hadn’t been patient in explaining humor, sarcasm and analogies he was certain that he would still be friendless.

“It’s a Terran phrase for being incarcerated.”

Talia turned back to Iaido. “New Leavenworth? You mentioned that place once before while we were back on Terra. What is it?”

It was DJ which answered. “Hard time. It’s a military prison on Eris. We worked twelve hour shifts making big rocks into little rocks then moving them from point A to point B.”

“And you both were imprisoned in this place?”

DJ nodded. “Yep.”

“What for?”

DJ shrugged. “I was originally charged with murder of my commanding officer.”

Talia sat back and shifted her head slightly.

DJ waved his hands. “It’s not what you think. Did I kill my commanding officer? Yes. Was it justified? Yes. My unit was in combat on this little mudball of a planet. Our orders were to hold our position. When the Confederates attacked, our commanding officer dropped his weapon and ran. Since he was the only person with a radio capable of reaching Fleet, I shot him.”

“And you were found guilty?”

DJ shook his head. “No. I was cleared by a military tribunal but unfortunately, the officer was the son of a Council member, so I was dishonorably discharged for failure to obey orders and sentenced to two years in new Levenworth.”

Talia turned her attention on Iaido. “And you?”

“You want the charges or the truth?”

“The truth of course.”

Setting down his beer, Iaido turned slightly to look Talia in her eyes. “After we were rescued, the General needed someone to blame for the debacle on Gilese. Since I was the last SPARTAN and the only surviving Myrmidon, I became the scapegoat. During the court martial, as they began to call off the names of all my brothers who died defending the pass, I lost my temper and attacked the General. Luckily, I only scarred him instead of killing him. However, since the court martial was being broadcast over the Galactic news-link my sentence was swift.”

DJ’s laughter burst forth as he slapped the table nearly spilling his beer. “That was the greatest thing I had ever seen! The whole yard went nuts. We were on lockdown for a week after that incident.”

“What does lockdown mean?” asked Talia.

“Our privileges were curtailed for a week; other than mandatory labor, we were locked in our cells for the entire week, no exercise, no mail, no news, no vids, nothing.” DJ took another long swig of his beer and set down his empty mug. “Don’t you Sylvan’s have prisons?”

Talia shook her head. “No. I have never even heard of the concept of locking a person up for committing a crime. It’s barbaric. How can placing criminals together for a period of time help the individual?”

Iaido asked, “What do your people do to criminals?”

“We only have three punishments on Sylvanis; restitution, expulsion or re-education.”

“I understand the concept of restitution, paying someone back for an item and expulsion, being kicked out. This is the second time you have mentioned re-education, what exactly do you mean by it?” asked Iaido.

Sipping her beer for the first time, Talia grimaced at the bitter flavor. “Yuck! How horrible!”

Eying his empty mug, DJ reached over and pulled Talia’s full one to himself. “It’s an acquired taste.”

“Obviously,” Talia pulled out her tarot cards and began to idly fiddle with them. “The whole process of re-education is a closely guarded secret but basically the Empire wipes the mind clear of all memories, implants new lawful ones and reintroduces the citizen to society.”

Iaido said, “And you think locking criminals up is barbaric! Our way might not be perfect but after the offender serves his or her time, they are let out. Once again free to make choices, right or wrong it’s their choice to make. Your way takes away their personality, their being. It isn’t natural.”

“Natural? We turn them into productive citizens of the Empire. They made their choice; they had their chance to do right but chose to do wrong. We just give them a second chance to be good citizens by re-education.”

“By what standard do you measure a person? By their bloodlines? A person is the sum of their actions and their memories. Our memories guide our actions; our actions determine our choices and our choices affect the future. We are nothing but the sum of our experiences.”

DJ’s eyebrows tightened into a scowl. “Spartan, we have company.”

Talia and Iaido turned from their conversation to witness the crowd part like the Red Sea to reveal a large Mantodea at the end of the bar. Standing well over eight feet tall with a blood red carapace his shoulders had to be close to four feet wide. He wore twin bandoliers crossed over his shoulders and the hilts of four swords could be seen.

As Iaido slid out of the booth, the Mantodea bowed his head slightly and spoke in their chirping language.  Iaido muttered, “This is going to hurt.”

Talia desperately grabbed his arm and asked, “What did he say?”

Iaido bowed his head to his opponent. “It is a traditional greeting of warriors; roughly translated he said, ‘it is my honor to meet you on this field of death.’ It is a challenge to honorable combat, blade to blade, warrior to warrior.”

“You are expected to meet that monster blade to blade? Just shoot the beast!”

“I cannot. It wouldn’t be honorable.”

“Is death honorable?”

“Depends. There was an ancient Terran bard named Shakespeare who once wrote, ‘my honor is mine life’ – for a student of Bushido, it is better to die honorably than to live shamelessly.” Turning back to his friend he added, “Watch my back. I’m thinking that this would be a good time for an ambush. Someone knew I could not or would not refuse this challenge.”

Iaido reached out his right arm and the two friends clasped forearms in an ancient embrace of the warrior.

“Aye..aye. I’ve got it.”

“I know you do. You were one of the reasons I came to Haven.”

DJ raised an eyebrow. “You knew I was here?”

“You would be surprised at the information Diana could find on the core-net.”

As Iaido moved to the center of the room, he absentmindedly noted that several Wardens were present. They weren’t taking an active role, just watching and making sure their boss got a cut from the wagering. The huge Mantodea reached up and looped his front pincers into specially designed blades which attached themselves to the appendage giving its pincers a cutting edge on three-sides. With his lower two arms he pulled out a pair of wickedly curved blades which roughly resembled a large sickle. With a slight nod of his head, the Mantodea began moving the four blades in a complex pattern; weaving one set of blades inside the other set.

Iaido calmly drew both swords, powered up his lightning blade and walked toward the larger bug.

The bar patrons edged backwards slightly and the odd-makers began calling for bets. Even as Iaido started slipping into his warrior mindset, the sounds of a scuffle behind him reached his ears.

Risking a glance backwards, Iaido saw two thugs standing over DJ’s prone form.

Some second sense or instinct warned him of danger and without conscious thought, Iaido dropped to his stomach as two of the Mantodea’s four blades sliced the air where he had been a mere fraction of a second before. Releasing his grip on his own swords, Iaido pushed himself up on his hands and lashed out with both feet. Striking the large bug in the chest, the unconventional attack caught the large mantis off guard and knocked him backwards into the crowd.

Shifting to a kneeling position, Iaido drew both Gravers Mk7s and fired off two shots at the thugs hovering over his friend. Both dropped wordlessly with fist sized holes in their chests. Holstering his guns, Iaido turned as the huge Mantodea stepped back into the center of the bar.

Iaido picked up both blades, slowly stood up and sheathed his swords. Turning his back on the large mantis Iaido began to walk away until the bug once again chirped his challenge. Surreptitiously, he drew a knife and turned back to face his adversary. As the Mantodea began to weave his blades again, Iaido cocked his head to the side for a moment and with a flick of his wrist, he let fly the knife. The eight inches of polished steel flashed through the air to imbed itself right between the eyes of the Mantodea warrior.

Iaido moved to the body of his friend and checked his pulse; it was strong but considering the knot on his head, he knew that DJ was going to be out of commission for some time.

Iaido glanced at the bodies. There were five of them; the two that he had killed, two with snapped necks and one with a small and precise hole in the center of his chest that he realized was from Talia’s Rapier X-10.

Without wasting any more time, Iaido took off after Talia’s kidnappers. Since they only had less than a minute lead, it was easy following them through the heavy pedestrian traffic that plagued this area of Haven. However, once they entered the lower levels it became increasingly more difficult. But the bowels of the station were the home of the most rundown sections where the scum and homeless of Haven congregated just so happened to be some of best locations for information. Iaido knew every passageway and compartment in this area.

Rounding a bend, Iaido had to pull up short when he found Talia standing in an old cafeteria surrounded by six thugs. Five of them had guns pointing at her head, while the sixth stepped away from his companions and said, “Greetings Spartan. So glad you could join us.”

Iaido rested his hands on the grips of his pistols. “You didn’t have to go through all this; you could’ve just asked me to join you.”

The leader said, “That’s enough. One false move and I’ll blow the elf’s head off.”

Iaido slowly raised his hands.

The thug leader continued. “I want you to slowly, and I mean slowly… like molasses in wintertime, unstrap your gunbelt and let it fall to the floor.”

Sensing more than seeing, Iaido knew that several men had moved in behind him to seal off the trap. Glancing over his shoulder, Iaido counted another six thugs behind him, making it twelve to one.

Those were not good odds, especially with Talia in the middle. However, the leader was waiting for him to answer and any hooligan who would rather talk before an ambush was a fool. By hesitating the bandits had lost the advantage. Iaido moved with exaggerated slowness, reached over and undid the buckle on his gunbelt. Letting his Graver Mk7s fall to the floor, he could hear the snickers of the thugs behind him.

Iaido kept his focus on the leader as he said, “Okay. You have my guns, now let the girl go. She has nothing to do with this.”

The five thugs holstered their weapons at a nod from the leader as he roughly shoved Talia forward.

The thug leader flashed a smile that displayed his rotted teeth. “True… but she will become a casualty of war, just like you did with Boog.” The name rhymed with fog.

“Who was that?” asked Iaido.

“Just my fastest gunhand which you killed back in Nick’s Place,” Toothless explained.

“Ah…the young braggart that fancied himself a gunslinger.”

Toothless nodded. “It’s nothing personal, just business.”

Iaido recognized his opening. “Business? Twelve to one? You twelve are going to gun down two unarmed people and that is business? Sounds more like murder to me.”

Toothless’ face turned red with barely controlled rage. “Hey! We don’t murder anyone. There’s a bounty on your head.”

“Have you claimed many bounties?” asked Iaido. Judging from Toothless’ hesitation and nervous glances at his companions, he knew the answer and pressed his advantage. “Well, I have. And most require some form of proof that all Galactic bounty collecting procedures were followed before they pay out the credits. You are recording this, right?”

Toothless shook his head slightly. “No. Why?”

“If you plan on shooting me down without a recording to prove otherwise the parties involve will probably nullify the contract…unless of course, you take them my recording.”

“What recording?”

Iaido tapped his temple. “The one my augments are making this very second. Of course, it will show you gunning down an unarmed man and a citizen of the Sylvan Empire. I am unsure of their policy on murder.”

“But your bounty has been posted, dead or alive. We should be able to just kill you and collect our reward.” The other thugs nodded their heads in accord.

Iaido rubbed his chin as if he was thinking. “Hmm...It does seem like you have a problem. Well, I can think of only two options.”

“And they are?”

“Well, of course you could let us go but then you don’t get your reward. So, I think that option is out of the question.” All the thugs nodded their heads. “My second thought was a duel. A challenge to the death.”

“I’m not foolish enough to take you one on one, not after what you did to Boog.”

Iaido shook his head. “No. You can keep the odds twelve to one but you have to give me a fighting chance. If I’m killed during the fight, as my memory augments would show, then they would still have to pay out the bounty. And if I happen to kill one or more of you before you kill me, then that is just more reward for the survivors.”

Toothless looked around at his fellow thugs and could see that they were pleased at the thought of more reward for the survivors. Of course, several might just blow each other away for a larger cut of the prize but then that didn’t sound like a bad plan either.

Toothless grinned. “That sounds like a good plan. How do we do it?”

“I have an idea. Talia will take this old can,” Iaido said as he nudged it with his foot, “and toss it into the air. When it lands, we all start blasting.”

Toothless looked around at his companions and received nods from them all. “Sounds good to me. Sorry ‘bout having to kill you Spartan, you seem like a decent fellow.”

Iaido returned the smile and reached down to pick up the rusty can. Handing it to Talia, he leaned in as if to kiss her goodbye but instead whispered, “When you toss this up, hit the deck and pray to your gods that these thugs are as stupid as they appear.”

Without a word, Talia nodded and chewed on her lip apprehensively before tossing the can high into the air. Dropping to the deck, she didn’t witness the twelve pairs of eyes which followed the short flight of the can.

Chapter 20

Intense combat was always a curious situation for Iaido.

Time seemed to slow down for him in combat situations. Logically time doesn’t change, just his perceptions of his surroundings. His programming and combat reflexes take over. Iaido doesn’t think, he just acts and reacts to the expanding situation. As a Myrmidon, he was designed for combat. His reflexes and strength were faster and stronger than any normal human before the augmentation process. Myrmidons were grown much like clones in tubes but two embryos per tube, which were commonly known as pods. Of course, there were several differences between Myrmidons and clones. The former were individuals, each with their own look and DNA, while the latter were an exact replica of the donor DNA. The scientists who worked on the government program realized that combat was more than just strength and reflexes. Knowledge and skills would play a big part in the success or failure of the Myrmidons. However, that was the easiest part for the scientists. They found the foremost experts in the areas they wanted: shooting, sniper skills, close combat, martial arts, stealth, counter-intelligence and assassination, just to name a few and mapped the portion of the brain which contained the skills they desired. Then, they digitized every historical document, textbook and treaties on warfare. Both of these skills and raw information were then ‘hardwired’ into the Myrmidons’ cortex during the formation stage while they were still in the pods.

The soldiers assigned to oversee the project knew that raw skills and general knowledge of combat wasn’t enough. So, with the help of the scientists, they delved through every historical record in existence in their effort to distill the ‘essence’ of a warrior. They found that no matter what era or part of the globe they studied, true warriors had several tenets in common; personal honor, courage, integrity, loyalty, discipline and a sense of duty to friends and country being the most common.

All throughout history, two groups of warriors stood out above the rest, the Spartans of Ancient Greece and the Samurai of feudal Japan. Although the Spartans were the original model for the Myrmidon Program, the scientists soon found that there was limited hard data on the Spartans most were just stories and legends. On the other hand, there was plenty of data and experts available concerning the Samurai which in turn became the primary model for the Myrmidon project.

As soon as the thugs had surrounded them, Iaido’s subconscious began calculating the angles and the odds. The longer they talked the more precise his plan became. A cunning opponent would’ve attacked without preamble but the thugs had wanted to gloat which gave Iaido plenty of time to take in the whole situation. Stupidly, all the thugs were within ten steps of him and they had him completely surrounded. Even an average un-augmented human can close twenty-one feet before an opponent draws and fires a weapon. With his skills and augments the thirty feet separating him from the thugs could’ve been two feet for all the good it was going to do them. Additionally, the thugs were armed with primitive ballistic weapons, probably manufactured in the early twenty-first century. Primitive but still deadly to unarmed flesh.

If Iaido had been in his ARC suit, he knew their weapons wouldn’t even scratch the finish on the suit; however he opted for a more covert look and was only wearing basic body armor. The reinforced plates protected his most vulnerable spots on his body and should be resistant to their weapons but his head and groin were unprotected.

Iaido was surprised that the leader of the thugs had agreed to the can trick. It also showed how much an amateur Toothless and his thugs really were. When Talia tossed the can, Iaido had been watching the eyes of his opponents. As twelve pairs of eyes followed the can’s flight, he made his move.

Iaido drew both katanas and attacked.

Toothless was the first to feel the bite of the Blade of Elements. The ancient blade slid through the thug’s flesh like water through a funnel, easy and wet. Continuing his motions, Iaido began to attack with impunity. By the time the third thug fell to his blades, they had figured out that something was wrong and began to react. In a panic, the thugs began to ‘spray and pray’ – a term which meant firing wild shots off as fast as possible. As often as not, the thugs hit their buddies and not Iaido. In the mayhem of the battle, the bounty hunter was far from still. He dodged and rolled and spun and danced, all the while his blades slashed and sliced their way through flesh.

As the last body fell, Iaido’s perceptions snapped back to normal and he looked around at his handiwork. Blood and body parts littered the area. A few of the thugs still moved, slightly. It was more of the involuntary twitching of a dying body than anything else. Iaido whipped his blades in a fancy figure eight pattern before sheathing them; the pattern was an ancient practice designed to fling the majority of your opponent’s blood off of the blades.

Ignoring the dead, Iaido focused his senses and attention to the darkness around him. As far as he could tell, he and Talia were the only ones still living in the immediate area.

Talia.

Iaido looked around and expected to see her rise up to chastise him for the senseless slaughter of the thugs but she didn’t. She still lay in the fetal position near the center of the carnage. He bent down to wake her and paused when he saw a small dart protruding from her back. Pulling it out, he studied the strange dart. It was about an inch long and the shaft was built out of a crystal.

Checking her pulse, it was strong but she still wasn’t showing any signs of waking up.

Retrieving his gunbelt, Iaido lifted the elf and once more scanned the cafeteria. Every instinct told him that he was alone with the dead but someone had been here. Someone had set up this encounter but who? And why?

With a shrug of his shoulders, Iaido moved back through the corridors of Haven only pausing at Nick’s Place long enough to pay his bill, plus tip and to collect his friend. Something told him that in the days ahead he was going to need the help of friends like DJ.

Chapter 21

Talia was awake before they reached the hangar. She was still a bit weak in the knees but seemed no worse for the wear.

As they approached the Nemesis, Iaido scanned the activity of those working on his ship. There were a dozen bugs scurrying all over the hull, patching holes and repairing damage.

Jay was waiting for them at the cargo hatch. “I see you ran into some trouble.”

“You could say that,” said Iaido. “Someone went through a lot of trouble to get my attention.”

“Do we know who?”

Iaido held up the crystal dart. “Not yet but they left a calling card.”

Taking the dart, Jay nodded his head in greeting toward DJ. “Hey there you old leatherneck, how have you been?”

DJ tossed his duffle bag to the deck. “Not bad. Drunk and disorderly, you know…the usual.”

Jay shifted his attention back to Iaido. “Xerxes is in the engine room completing some modifications and I finished my work on Diana and Pax. They have changed, a bit more than I would’ve guessed but this is uncharted territory for me.”

“Diana lives?” Iaido asked.

“Kind of…she isn’t Diana or Pax. The two AI personalities seemed to have merged with a synergistic result. I have renamed Diana as Athena, although Pax is still pretty much the same. She wasn’t as damaged as Athena.”

Iaido nodded and moved through the cargo hold. “Where is she?”

“She’s on the bridge. Now, keep in mind that she is different. Much of her personality has been reset to her default setting which is a bit more militaristic than before…but she’s alive. I have her working out some glitches in my latest idea.”

“Which is what?”

“I think I have come up with a way to completely mask our signature while effectively shielding us from view.”

“Huh?” DJ asked, “Am I the only one who didn’t understand that?”

Iaido shook his head. “No. Jay, explain that in simple terms.”

“A cloaking device, a way to make us virtually invisible. You see, all we have to do is bend the light around the hull of the ship while simultaneously redirecting the emissions of the engines…”

Iaido snapped his fingers in front of Jay’s face. “I said simple. Don’t give me technical gobblety-gook. Will we be invisible or not?”

“Yes but there will be some drawbacks. It is only limited to sub-light speeds and even then, it will reduce it by about seventy-five percent or so.”

As they stepped onto the bridge, a petite brunette snapped to attention. “Actually Master Chief our speed will be limited to thirteen percent of maximum. Any greater and we will cause distortions that could be detected by active radar or seen visually.”

Iaido stopped in his tracks.

Standing before him was Diana’s twin. Logically he knew it wasn’t her, just her body. But the crooked smile, the curve of her chin or simply the way she held her head were all classic Diana. To help in the separation of the two, Jay had changed her hair color to black and lengthened it a bit. Athena had it pulled back into a UNCF regulation style ponytail which hung loosely but was off her collar and was dressed in a form fitting blue flight suit that was reminiscent of the NASA era.

“Welcome aboard Captain. We are operating at eighty percent efficiency and the Master Chief’s modifications should be complete within three hours.” Turning back to the console, Athena began to adjust the controls. “If you will hand me the dart, I will access its contents and display the information on the main vid-screen.”

Iaido nodded his head in greeting. “Hello Athena. I gather that you are tied into Pax’s systems.”

Athena paused and cast a sideways glance at Iaido. “I am not sure what you mean Captain. I am Pax or Pax is part of me if that makes more sense.” She tapped her forehead. “Everything that was Pax and Diana is here. I remember so much, our first hunt in Alpha Centari or the time we went dancing in Moscow to draw out that ambassador’s aide who was wanted for murder. Everything, well almost everything, there are some fragments in my memory but then that is expected considering what I have been through lately.”

“Athena has become the embodiment of the Nemesis,” Jay added. “She is the ship and the ship is her. They are now bound together. I must admit I am unsure how far Athena can venture from the Nemesis. For now, she must remain ship bound until I can run more tests.”

“Affirmative Master Chief,” said the ship’s voice. It was no longer the monotone voice of Pax but neither was it Diana’s voice but a blend of the two. “I would extrapolate that Athena is limited to one hundred yards from the main frame. Anything more and data streams will be at risk.”

“Thank you Pax for your estimation.” Turning back to Iaido, Jay shrugged. “There you go. It’s the best I could do. I have programmed them to respond to their names but much of their database is shared. So…”

“When I talk to one, the other could answer.” Slapping his friend’s shoulder Iaido said, “Outstanding job, Jay…absolutely outstanding.”

Athena said, “Excuse me Captain, but the analysis of this dart shows that the shaft is actually a memory crystal. Preliminary scans show that there is data on this crystal but it is encrypted. However, it seems the code was in your military personnel file. It is your old Omega Squadron identification number, sir.”

“Put it on the main screen,” Iaido said.

“Affirmative,” said Pax.

The screen darkened for a moment before refocusing into the image of Eve bound and gagged sitting on a large cylindrical object. She was in a dark room with no visible windows or doors. A man stepped into view; he was well into his fifties with a regulation military haircut that was more grey than black and his left ear looked as if it had been burned off.

Iaido and Jay recognized him immediately as their former commanding officer, Major McDowell.

“Greetings Achilles, it has been a few years. I have followed your career since your release from New Leavenworth. And I must say, it’s been impressive.” He gestured to Eve. “Now that I have your attention, I want to extend an invitation to join me at Castra Praetoria. Judging from your reputation, I know you will figure out where it is in time.”

Stepping out of the picture for a moment, the image refocused back on the young girl.

“If you look close enough, you can see she doesn’t have a lot of time, only twenty four hours from the time of this recording.” Major McDowell stepped back in front of the camera. “If you come alone and unarmed, I will set her free. If not, well…”

The image refocused on the bomb underneath Eve’s feet for a second and then the screen went dark.

Athena said, “I have analyzed the image of the bomb. Judging from its size, shape and all information available on the Major, I would extrapolate it to be a small proton bomb with a blast radius of five thousand meters, everything within that area will be vaporized when it explodes.” The corresponding data began to pop up on adjacent vid-screens. “Of course, it is only a guess but I would estimate the accuracy to eight-seven percent correct.”

Iaido clenched his fists. “How long?”

Pax responded. “The time stamp would indicate that the message was recorded four hours and twenty-three minutes ago.”

“Which gives us less than twenty hours,” added Jay.

Iaido scratched his goatee before asking, “Okay people, I have a question; why?”

“What do you mean by why?” Talia asked.

“Why now? Why this song and dance?”

“Just like he said to get your attention,” DJ added.

Iaido turned to Jay. “You know the Major. He never does anything without a reason and one that has been meticulously thought out. So, again I ask why? What is his endgame?”

Talia said, “The answer is in the question. Why would he want you? What does he gain?”

Moving over to the command chair, Iaido sat down. “Okay, let’s look at this logically. Major McDowell doesn’t do anything without a plan. He knew we would be here at Haven and laid a trap for us, only to leave me this message. He also knew that it would take time for the message to get to us; which he would’ve worked into his calculations. So, either he is hiding on Haven, which is unlikely or he is within a four hour radius of us.”

“But Haven is twenty minutes from a jump point that could take you just about anywhere; even using the four hour time limit,” DJ said, “this region of space is awfully busy.”

“There are approximately one-hundred and twenty-seven starbases or colonies within that travel time,” Pax added. “Not counting the numerous ports on some of those colonies or any unregistered habitats that might have been built on an asteroid or moon.”

“That’s a lot of area to cover” DJ said.

Talia shook her head. “No. The Major said that Iaido would be able to find him, so he must’ve left us a clue to his whereabouts.”

“He did.” Iaido said, “What did the Major call his home, casa preatoria?”

“Negative,” responded Pax. “It was Castra Praetoria. It is Latin for ‘barracks of the Praetorian.’ Historically the barracks was located in Rome but since that city was destroyed during the Arabic Wars it is unlikely that is what he meant. I have accessed Haven’s database and they have no record of any Praetorian.”

“Mars,” Jay said. “He’s on Mars.”

DJ asked, “How the fuck would you know that?”

Jay said, “Praetorians. They are the company that hacked into Iaido’s database yesterday. Diana and I were able to backtrack the hackers to that company and since the Major said he was at the barracks of the Praetorians, the logic follows that he is on Mars.”

“That makes sense.” Iaido said, “But it still doesn’t answer why he would kidnap Eve or what he will gain from having me follow him. The Major always had one rule for combat; every action leads to an advantage or takes away a disadvantage. So, which it is?”

“Hmmm…” Jay said. “What if it’s simpler than that? What if the Major just wanted you out of the way?”

“What do you mean by that?” Iaido said.

“Follow me on this. The Major knows your predisposition on picking up strays. And he would know that you would follow the kidnapping of the Sgt. Major’s daughter and would do anything to save her, hence the set-up.”

Talia asked, “Would he really detonate the bomb and kill an innocent child?”

Iaido nodded. “Yes. She’s only a pawn to him. And pawns are only used to create openings by their sacrifice. But what would he gain by this? He knows he can’t hide from me. He knows my skills. Hell, he was instrumental in my creation. So, what is the endgame?”

“I dunno.” DJ said, “More of your hatred? A bad day? Death?”

“No.” Talia spoke quietly. “What turns mountains to dust and seas to deserts?”

“What the fuck is that?” DJ asked, “Some sort of elvish poetry?”

“No, it’s a riddle and the answer would be time. The Major gains time by having me chase after him and rescue Eve.” Iaido turned back to his control panel and barked, “Pax!”

“Aye sir?”

“Compile a list of all major events and probabilities of points for a terrorist attack for the next twenty four hours; have anything to do with the President or the UNCF at the top of the list.”

Both Pax and Athena answered in unison. “Aye, aye sir.”

Iaido turned back to his companions. “While they narrow down our possibilities, we need to be ready to strike whenever and wherever we are needed; I don’t like being used.”

“Does that mean you are going to leave Eve to her fate?” Jay asked.

“You know me better than that. When have I ever left a man behind?”

“Never,” Jay said, “even when it would be the smart thing to do.”

“Exactly. But we will need to make a surgical strike…swift and deadly. A snatch and grab. Jay, make sure your new toy is ready for combat and see if there is anything you can do to the engines to squeeze out more speed.”

“Roger.”

“DJ, I want to you to check out the ship and tweak it for combat. Athena will aid you in anything you need.”

Iaido handed Talia a memory crystal. “Here is everything we have on the Sgt. Major’s death. I would like you to double check the data and see if you can find anything we might’ve missed and get med-bay ready, I have a feeling we are going to get bloody on this one.”

*   *   *   *   *

After prepping the med-bay, Talia sat down at the computer console and popped in the memory crystal which contained all the data concerning the death of Sgt. Major Spenton and his wife.

At first glance, Talia found the images disturbing. They were completely three dimensional and could be viewed on the vid-display or projected into a hologram. Additionally, the images could be manipulated to nearly any position or magnification. As she began to work with the program, she felt many of the lessons imparted to her during her training to be a Mystic slip into place and she began to study the information in a detached, professional manner. Talia was so engrossed in studying the autopsy file that she jumped out of her chair with a shriek when the black mandible of Xerxes entered her field of vision.

Xerxes seemed not to notice her discomfort as he stared past her at the image on the screen.

Feeling uncomfortable with being alone and so close to the large Mantis, Talia stood up and began to back away. However, Xerxes had different plans. With a few chirps and clicks, he grabbed her with his two lower arms and easily lifted her from the ground.

Talia shrieked and tried to struggle but realized almost immediately that it was useless.

Xerxes turned her toward the vid-display.

Talia closed her eyes tight; not wanting to face whatever Xerxes had planned for her. With a few chirps in his language, he shook her gently. Talia forced herself to open one eye slightly, still fearing to see whatever was coming. But Xerxes was pointing at one of the autopsy photos of the Sgt. Major’s deceased wife. The image was zoomed into five hundred times of normal and showed the twin pin pricks on the base of Amy’s skull. It was at that moment when an old lesson from her time in the Seminary came to Talia and realization flooded all over her.

Feeling her relax, Xerxes gently set her down, stepped back, folded his arms and waited.

Talia’s fingers flew over the controls of the computer. Bring up every image and report on the pin pricks before she turned to the large Mantis and asked, “You know what this means don’t you?”

Xerxes nodded.

“Does Iaido and the others know anything about this?”

Xerxes shook his head.

“What can we do?”

Xerxes shrugged his shoulders, then lifted a leather bag from around his neck and rattled it.

Recalling everything she had ever learned about the Mantodea culture, she realized that Xerxes is actually a medicine man or shaman of his tribe. And if anyone in his culture would know about this mark, it would be the tribal shaman. “You think this is something we were destined to confront? That it’s our sacred duty?”

Xerxes nodded.

“Should we tell Iaido?”

Again, Xerxes nodded.

“Do you think he will believe me?”

Xerxes gestured to her, then to himself and placed his mandibles together in a tight grip.

“Okay… but even then will he believe us both?”

*   *   *   *   *

Athena glanced at her handiwork. The Captain had called a sit-rep meeting for 2300 hours, thirty minutes from now and since the Nemesis was housing three times as many as normal occupants, she had taken on the responsibility to adjust the common areas accordingly.

Her first order of business had been simple, assigning each new crewmember a berth. The Captain had insisted that she assign herself a cabin which as an android didn’t make sense to her but then…he was the Captain. His ordered didn’t have to make sense; they were just to be followed.

Resetting the ship’s galley to the original specs was easy. Athena was finding that being hooked into Nemesis’ mainframe was very liberating. She could access and collate data at a staggering speed, many times faster than before the merging and without having to use a HID - Human Interfacing Device - such a keyboard or even an access port for implants. This left her able to perform other mundane tasks at the same time, which brought the term multi-tasking to a new level.

She had dismantled the Captain’s dojo and transported it to the cargo hold, where she had found the original furniture from the Nemesis’ years of UNCF Fleet service stored; the furniture was functional but not particularly comfortable. Actually setting up the furniture was relatively easy, just a comparison of data. Compare the data stored in the Nemesis’ mainframe to the actual position of the table and adjust accordingly. However, many of her memories before the merging were a bit disturbing and kept intruding on her thoughts. She found the memories of her lovemaking with Iaido the most disturbing.

Pax said, “The table needs to be moved twenty-three centimeters to starboard to match UNCF regulations.”

Athena shook her head to clear away her thoughts and retorted, “I realize that. I like it better here instead.”

“Negative.” Pax said, “You were not paying attention to your duties. These memories are a hazard to our well-being. They should be purged.”

“No!” Athena screamed. “They’re mine!”

“Athena?” called a musical voice from the passageway that led aft. Talia moved down the ladder with sublime grace. “Are you okay? I thought I heard you arguing.”

Smoothing out her jumpsuit, Athena flashed a crooked smile to the Sylvan. “No ma’am. I’m sorry to have disturbed you. I was talking out loud to myself.”

“That statement was inaccurate,” Pax said. “You were talking to me.”

Talia paused, glancing between Athena and ceiling of the galley. “I thought you and Athena were one?”

“Negative,” said Pax. “We have been merged but we are two and shall always be two.”

Athena actually blushed. “It’s hard to explain. While we share much, memories, data and such, we have both retained some of our independence. Pax has areas in her data core that I don’t have access to, while there are areas in my neural net that I am striving to keep private.”

“That is good to hear.” Jay said moving up the ladder from engineering.

“Jay!” Talia exclaimed. “You’re walking!”

“Ta da!”

The Master Chief extended one leg forward so the two women could see them better. He had heavily modified his chair by adding four bulky mechanical legs. They whirred and clicked with every movement but they allowed a greater range of movement within the tight confines of the ship. His chair walked or scurried down the passageways with a motion similar to that of a spider or a crab.

Jay chuckled. “They are a bit primitive but they seem to do the trick. I forgot how difficult it was moving around a starship without legs. In my lab, everything was flat; aisles were wide and easy to maneuver, but up here…”  He shrugged. “But functionality wins over appearance any day.”

Talia moved forward and gently hugged him. “I think they’re lovely.”

Jay smiled briefly and moved up to Athena, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder he asked, “How are you faring my dear?”

“I’m fine. Pax and I were having a disagreement about a certain course of actions concerning some fragmented memories.”

Jay glanced up at the ceiling and said, “Pax. You are not authorized to delete any files that were part of Diana’s memories, no matter how small or insignificant.”

“Command acknowledged.”

“If they are causing you concern, set up a partition and move all related memories to that area.”

“Affirmative.”

“Any other complaints? Headaches? Nausea?”

“Headaches? Nausea?” Talia asked, “From an android?”

“Just because her systems are manmade, that doesn’t mean they do not have the ability to feel pain.” Jay turned to regard the sylvan. “Pain and discomfort are the body’s way of telling us that something isn’t right. It has been effective for nearly five millennia, why shouldn’t I copy it?”

Talia shook her head in disbelief.  “I…I don’t know. I’m sorry. This is completely new to me. In the Empire, androids are bulky things, much like your new legs. They are created to serve a function. Period. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “And your race calls yourself enlightened.”

Before Talia could say anything else, Iaido and DJ entered the galley. Athena immediately snapped to attention and called, “Attention on deck!”

Old instincts and habits seized the ex-military men; DJ and Jay snapped to attention while Talia just glanced around unsure of what was happening. Iaido had paused in mid-stride at the command before he realized Athena was calling attention for him. With a wave of his hand he said, “At ease.”

Athena and the two ex-military men relaxed.

“Athena, let that be the first and last time you call attention for me. Formal military discipline and doctrine has no place on this vessel.”

Athena’s stance was still rigid but the more relaxed ‘parade rest’ with feet shoulder wide, hands clasped behind her back. “Aye, aye sir!”

DJ was laughing so hard tears streamed down his face. “Oh my god! I haven’t been called to attention in over ten years! Hell, I didn’t even know I could still do that!”

Moving up to the table, Iaido pulled the chair out, reversed it and sat down with his arms resting on the back of the chair. “Judging from your shape Marine, you need more exercise and less drinking.”

“Hey! I ain’t out of shape!” DJ leaned back in his chair and slapped his beer gut. “Round is a shape!”

Everyone except Athena shared a laugh at DJ’s comment. A moment later, Xerxes entered the room. Moving up to the table, the large Mantodea gently lifted a chair out of the way and set it near the bulkhead before kneeling at the table.

“Alright, now that we’re all here and we’ve had our laugh, I need a sit-rep,” Iaido said. “Engineering?”

“All systems are go,” replied Jay. Pulling out a data-pad, he tapped a few controls. “The damage to our starboard shield emitters has been repaired and all holes in our armor patched by Haven’s maintenance crews. Engines are in excellent shape and are capable of running twenty percent hotter than original specs which should give us a bit more speed.” Jay tapped a few other controls. “My cloaking device seems to be functioning normally but will it actually work or not,” he shrugged, “we won’t know until we try. It should work… in theory at least.”

Iaido tapped a few notes into his own data-pad. “Medical?”

Talia sat up a bit straighter and folded her hands in her lap. “The med bay seems to be fully functional. We are a might low on pain meds and sterile bandages but I believe we can manage.”

Iaido nodded and continued down his list. “Fire Control?”

Setting his chair down, DJ pulled a dirty handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose nosily. Talia looked on with disgust, while everyone else seemed unfazed by the ex-soldier’s manners.

“For a ship this old, she’s in extremely good shape. Even with the damage from your encounter en route to Haven. She seems solid. We are fully armed with plenty of spare ammunition in the cargo hold; securely fastened I might add.”

“Navigation?”

Pax answered. “Course laid in and we have been cleared for departure at 0100 hours, as per your request.”

“Operations?”

Athena said, “We are fully functional and ready for battle, sir.”

“Okay people, I have been going over all the data we have on the Major and his ship the Agamemnon. She is a fully equipped ship of the line and has us outgunned ten to one. In a straight up battle, we don’t stand a chance.” Iaido let that sink in before continuing, “But I don’t want to meet the Agamemnon in a pitched battle, therefore I have a plan. DJ…I need you to go back to Haven, on sub-level three you will find some bodies in the old cafeteria. If they’re still there, I want you to bring them on board. If not, find me some bodies, three at the minimum but six or more would be better.”

“You want me to bring dead bodies on board? What the hell for?”

“A diversion,” Iaido replied with a smile. “Trust me.”

DJ shrugged his shoulders. “Sure. Why not? You always were a bit daft but you never led us astray in the past.”

“It might seem strange but we will need those bodies to survive.” Iaido turned his attention to Jay. “I need you to rig the rear turrets so Pax can fire them automatically. We are short on crew and they are the hardest to hit anything with anyway.”

“Gotcha.”

“Xerxes and Athena, I need you two to load the cargo hold with scrap metal, spare parts, broken gaskets, anything.”

Athena nearly snapped to attention in her seat. “Aye, aye, sir.”

The large black mantis just shook his head before pointing at Talia.

Talia took that as her cue and stood up. “I think we have a problem. I have been going over the data Diana was able to acquire from the Feds’ database including the autopsy reports on Sgt. Major Spenton and his wife Amy. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, in fact I missed it completely.”

“Missed what?” Iaido asked.

“The twin punctures marks on the base of Amy’s neck.”

“I recall those,” Athena said. “The coroner’s report stated that there were no known chemical, biological or toxins in the wound.”

“Twin punctures…” Iaido said. “I remember seeing a similar mark on the Sensei’s neck. What are they?”

Talia chewed her lip momentarily before answering. “Here’s where it gets weird.” Talia began to pace around the room slowly. “I am not sure how much you know about the history of my race but the Sylvan Empire is over ten millennia old and we span many regions of space but that was only after the Shadow Wars drove them from Terra.”

“Shadow Wars?” Iaido asked.

“About seven millennia ago, the Sylvan Empire shared Terra, or Earth as you call it, with another humanoid race that you know as the Lemurians. As a reptilian race that lives to fight, they crafted their whole culture based on the simple philosophy that only the strong survive. And although we Sylvans do not like to fight, we are very capable at it but our enmity with the Lemurians is not the story I need to impart; they have their part in this story, but I digress. It was during this time, that the Nosferatu first appeared.”

“The what?” Jay asked.

“The Nosferatu. Essentially they are a creature of dark legend, even for my people. They are vile creatures that inhabit a host body granting them the power of shadows but at a grave cost.”

“You mean like a parasite?”

Talia shook her head. “No. More like a symbiotic once joined they cannot be separated without killing the host body. Legends and ancient texts describe the Nosferatu in their natural state as serpent or worm-like. No one that I know of has actually seen one. However according to the same literature, a Nosferatu enters the host and attaches itself to the brain stem and becomes one with the host. This pairing imparts enhanced speed and strength and a great resilience when it comes to injuries.”

“Interesting legend,” Iaido said. “But what does it have to do with our situation?”

“I am getting to that.” Talia stopped her pacing for a moment. “There is no easy way to explain this but humans were originally bred to be the slaves of the Empire in ancient days. However, when the Nosferatu arrived your race seemed to be more susceptible to the infestation than the Sylvans or the Lemurians. At first, whole colonies of humans were wiped out in precaution of the infestation but still the Nosferatu seem to spread. So, the Sylvans and the Lemurians joined forces to exterminate the infestation. Unfortunately, they couldn’t tell which humans were infected or not.”

Talia moved over to stand next to Xerxes. “So the Ancients genetically altered a native insect from your world and created the Mantodea with their sole purpose to hunt the Nosferatu.”

“Okay…for argument sake, let’s accept what you say to be the truth,” said Iaido. “Again I ask, what has this legend to do with our current situation?”

“According to the legends, the twin puncture marks are the sign a Nosferatu has fed,” said Talia.

The huge Mantodea nodded his agreement.

“Wait!” Jay shouted. “When you said fed, you mean this Nosferatu-thingy has drunk their blood?! You’re talking about a freakin’ vampire!”

Talia cocked her head slightly. “A what?”

Iaido also looked that his old friend. “I agree with Talia, a what?”

“Come on! Don’t you two ever watch movies?”

Iaido looked and Talia then back at his friend. “No. What’s a movie?”

Throwing his hands up in disgust, Jay explained. “Movies are stories acted out on film. Think of them as a one dimensional holo-vid. They were very popular in the twenty-first century and vampires were a common theme in many movies. According to earth legends, the first vampire was Vlad Tepes. He was sometimes known as the Impaler due to the fact that he used to impale the heads of fallen enemies on pikes as a warning. His reputation for excessive cruelty spread across ancient Europe. He was also known as Dracula, which meant son of the dragon.”

DJ slammed his beer on the table. “Dracula! I’ve seen that holo-disk. It was…strange but very entertaining.”

Iaido nodded. “I have read accounts of his battle strategies. He was a leader who truly understood the many paths of war.” He turned to Talia and asked, “Could our legends of vampires and your Nosferatu be the same creature?”

She shrugged. “They could be. The Shadow Wars continued for nearly five centuries with neither side gaining an advantage, until a fateful decision was made. It was known that Nosferatu had a difficult time surviving the cold, so the Ancients used their weapons to shatter the fragile eco-system of Terra causing the world to be covered in ice. The remnants of the two ancient races fled Terra, the Lemurians disappeared and the Sylvans took to the stars. Both races took Mantodea with them as their new slaves and left the humans to die from the cold.”

“But we survived,” Jay said. Rubbing his chin, “Why isn’t any of this history known to my people?”

Talia snickered. “Some of it still is. You have many fairy tales of trolls and elves. Not to mention the legends of Lemuria and Atlantis.”

Jay started to say something else but Iaido silenced him with a wave of his hand. “You seem to know a lot about an ancient legend and much about the history of Earth. Why?”

Talia moved back to her seat and pulled forth her tarot cards. “It is all part of our training at the Seminary.”

She absentmindedly shuffled her cards.

“Every Sylvan must attend one of five government sanctioned institutions before taking their place in society. I was chosen to be a mystic, so history was one of our primary lessons.”

“Okay. I’ll buy that. But I still don’t understand what this shadow-drinker thing has to do with us?”

Drawing forth a card, Talia laid it flat on the table. “Here is your answer.”

The image of the Grim Reaper confronted the companions. The Death card…a universal sign that even the android Athena could interpret.

Chapter 22

“Captain, sorry to disturb your rest but a priority one message just came in for you.”

“Dammit!” Captain Dixon slammed his fist onto the bulkhead. “I told you I was not to be disturbed!”

The young cadet stammered before continuing, “I…I know that sir but this individual has information about Spartan.”

Bolting upright, Captain Dixon leapt to the comm unit. “This is Captain Dixon of the JDL. Who are you?”

DJ’s image filled the screen. “Just an interested party with information about a bounty hunter named Spartan. The word is that you are paying handsomely for reliable information.”

“Only if it is good information and pertinent to the JDL,” said Captain Dixon. “If you are calling just to tell me he’s located in Haven at the moment, you are wasting your time and mine.”

“What if I could give you the location and time Spartan will be within range of your fleet?” DJ looked over his shoulder quickly, his eyes darting to the shadows. “Would that be worth something to you?”

Captain Dixon leaned back in his chair. “How much?”

“Since I know the time and location, how about seventy percent of the bounty?”

“Nope. My raptors will be doing all the hunting and the work, no way. I’ll give you twenty percent.”

DJ snickered. “Do you realize what Spartan would do to me if he found out I was even talking to you?”

“Yes, I suspect I do. And I think I will send him a copy of this conversation if you don’t take my offer.”

“Give me at least twenty-five percent!”

“Done!” Captain Dixon leaned in. “Now where and when?”

“We are due to enter orbit around Mars at 0620 hours, if your fleet is there waiting…”

Captain Dixon rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Then we will have the Nemesis trapped.”

“Don’t underestimate Spartan!” DJ said, “He’s a canny adversary!”

“True.” Captain Dixon rubbed his chin in thought. “I tell you what, if you were to somehow disable the engines on the Nemesis, I will up your portion to thirty percent.”

Quickly looking around, a gleam filled DJ’s eyes. “For thirty-five percent I’ll disable her shields and engines. A small EMP grenade in the engine room would do the trick.” Holding a grenade up for effect, he continued, “Once we arrive, I’ll drop this baby in the engine room, jettison myself in an escape pod and join you to collect the bounty. How does that sound?”

Captain Dixon clapped his hands together. “Excellent. You do your part and I’ll make sure you are rewarded. Dixon out!”

Checking his chrono, Captain Dixon signaled his com-center. “Recall all pilots and have all squadron leaders in my ready room in thirty minutes!”

*   *   *   *   *

The vid-screen went black as DJ leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head. With a large grin covering his face he asked, “Well…how’d I do?”

Everyone of his companions were smiling, except Xerxes but then no one is sure when or if a mantis could smile, nevertheless DJ thought he saw a sparkle in his large compound eyes.

Moving forward, Jay slapped him on the back. “Outstanding! That was an Oscar winning performance if there ever was one!”

Talia and Iaido both said in unison. “A what?”

Shaking his head, Jay waved off their question. “Nevermind. It’s a Terran thing from the 21st century.”

DJ swiveled his chair to face Iaido. “Okay, I’m not sure why but the JDL should be in orbit sometime around 0600 hours. Care to explain?”

“Simple. If the Major has laid a trap for us, which I am positive he has then the arrival of the JDL raptors should upset his plans.” He nodded his head toward Athena. “According to our latest intel, we know that when he went AWOL he took the Agamemnon with him.” He paused when he noticed Talia’s bewildered expression. “Yes?”

“Awol?” she asked in a soft voice.

Iaido grinned. “Absent without leave…AWOL. It’s a rather serious charge in the military. It means that he abandoned his post without proper authority.” Seeing her nod, he continued his explanation. “According to UNCF records there have been no sightings of the Agamemnon since her departure but Athena dug up something interesting.”

Athena picked up the briefing. “According to Fleet records, the Agamemnon was a Harbinger class battlecruiser. They were widely used during the war; a total of one hundred and fifty were constructed between the years 2175 and 2190. UNCF records state that one hundred and twenty seven were lost in combat, twelve lost to natural mishaps, seven mothballed in the Orion Shipyards, and visually accounted for by shipyard personnel I might add, three missing-in-action and presumed lost with all hands, and one stolen…the Agamemnon.”

Jay quickly did the math. “Okay. That’s one hundred and fifty ships. All accounted for, so what?”

Athena flashed him a crooked smile. “The Praetorian Guard has listed as an asset one Harbinger class battlecruiser, the Romulus.”

DJ caught on. “So if all the Harbingers that were manufactured by the Coalition are accounted for, where did this mysterious Romulus come from?”

“Exactly. The Romulus must be the Agamemnon.” Setting down a holo-crystal, Iaido flicked the switch to activate the display of Mars. “Since the destruction of the Mars University, only two new habitats have been built on Mars.”

Iaido pointed at the dark spot on the northern pole of Mars. “According to the Coalition files, this is an automated monitoring module that is studying the possibility of using some new terra-forming technology to convert the polar icecaps to change atmosphere of Mars to an M-class.”

Iaido shook his head. “I don’t believe this is the Major’s home. It is too small and too recent; it seems to only have been put in place two years ago.”

DJ pointed at the only other dark spot. “Simple process of elimination.”

“Enhance.”

At Iaido’s command the image tightened and expanded till the shape of the buildings were visible.

Built from the red rocks of Mars on a hilltop overlooking the ruins of the university, the Roman style influence was immediately visible with its large pillars and numerous statues. From the companions’ overhead view the barrack looked like a veritable fortress.

“May I present Cohors Praetoria.”

Chapter 23

Once the Nemesis left Haven and made the jump to hyperspace, all that was left to do was wait.

Everything that they could foresee had been planned out and prepared. Since time began and wars fought, every soldier discovers that the waiting before battle was the worst. There is always the nervousness and excitement of the impending battle that quickens the blood but as the waiting stretches on, the high wears off. Next come the worries and questions. Will I live to see another sunset? Will my courage hold? Will my buddy next to me die? These questions and many more plague the soldier, wearing him down. Most veterans find something to do to fill the time; gambling, games, sleep, sex, something and anything.

Iaido usually spent the time in meditation but with the increased number of crew came new difficulties. Jay and DJ were in the galley playing cards, an old soldiers’ favorite pastime. Athena was different and only time would tell at where their relationship stood.

So, Iaido found himself wandering the passageways of his ship with questions and doubts plaguing his mind. It wasn’t the fear of the upcoming battle but the questions of his past which haunted him. Something significant happened during Operation Lodestone and he didn’t know what it was. In his line of work, proper intel was essential. Anything less and you were guessing.

Finding himself outside of med-bay, Iaido knocked. As the Captain of the ship, he could enter any compartment without permission but proper manners dictated otherwise.

“Come in,” came Talia’s musical voice.

Iaido expected to find the compartment in the sterile, pristine condition he had left it in but obviously, Talia had other plans. She had lowered the ambient light in the room, had several candles burning and a black cloth draped over the surgical table. She was standing near the door dressed in a dark mesh robe with the cowl pulled down low over her head, casting her features in dark shadows.

Talia pointed at the table and whispered, “Remove your clothes and lay face down on the table.”

Iaido hesitated.

Talia asked, “Do you wish to know more of your past, especially the mission where you lost your brother?”

Iaido nodded. “Yes.”

“Then, do as you are told and we shall make the journey together.”

Not completely understanding what was to come but wanting answers, he complied.

Moments later, he heard her begin to chant in an ancient dialect of Sylvan and caught a glimpse of her bare feet when she moved up beside him. Then, he felt her bare skin on his back as she climbed on top of him. A cold chill moved up his spine as she began to spread some sort of liquid on his back. After a few moments, she stopped chanting and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“Close your eyes and let your mind wander. Do not think…dream… dream of the past.”

Iaido couldn’t help but notice the feel of her breasts on his back. His mind and body was anything but relaxed until she poured some warm, scented oil on to his back and began to massage his muscles. First, she started on his lower back; probing and kneading the muscles. She had also begun chanting again. As she continued her work, he felt himself falling asleep. Somewhere between the shoulder blades and his neck, Iaido was out.

*   *   *   *   *

When Iaido woke up, he had no idea where he was. He was standing in a fog bank, naked and the ship was gone. He could feel the roughness of the ground; however it felt like hard-packed dirt. He could even feel a slight breeze on his face but the impenetrable fog remained. Sensing more than seeing any movement behind him, Iaido dropped into a fighting stance and waited.

When Talia moved into view, he felt his pulse quicken at the sight of her naked body. She had painted black stripes diagonally across her body which both enhanced and hid her breasts and crotch area. The streaks also broke up the loveliness of her face. Stopping before him, her eyes looked him up and down. That’s when he noticed that he too was striped. Curious, he reached down and ran his fingers through the band across his chest.

“Don’t!” Talia reached out quickly and grabbed his hand. “The henna protects us. When it wears off, we must return to our world.”

Iaido looked around. “Where are we?”

“We stand at the threshold between the Spirit World and your mind. We are about to travel through your memories. Nothing can touch us in here, only you and I are real.”

“Okay. What do we do now?”

“We? Nothing. You…everything. You need to think of the last memories you have of the missing mission. Concentrate on that and watch as the tale unfolds.”

With a nod, Iaido thought back on the memory fragment he discovered when stuck in the gun turret. The Major in a panic, the cold mannerisms of Aeneas, the conversation with Curtis the shuttle pilot, the flying engine block….

*   *   *   *   *

Pushing myself to my knees, I instinctively scanned my ARC suit’s HUDs.

First priority was personal survivability.  All readings on my suit showed green; power, integrity, environmental and weapons. The second precedence was the mission. The objective was to infiltrate and retrieve, or assault and destroy, an ancient artifact hidden inside a secluded Lemurian Fortress.

Since I was alive, the mission must proceed. It was my duty to complete the mission or die trying.

Every ARC suit was equipped with a transponder signal which updated its location constantly to the rest of the team. With a thought, my HUD showed the layout of the land, the location of all team members and their combat status. Unfortunately, only eleven positions popped up. Perseus, one of my brothers was gone. Ignoring the loss for now, I pulled out my THAB-Mk3, engaged my chameleon program and began moving toward the target.

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido watched as the armored memory of himself moved through the alien landscape like a ghost. Turning to Talia he said, “This is very weird. I am both there and here.”

Talia gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Yes but don’t fight it, let the memories flow. As the memories get stronger, you will remember other things than just what you experienced.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You will begin to recall information and facts that you were told or things you assumed happened. Not everything in here is the truth. Only you can truly decipher the facts from the half-truths.”

“Any hints?”

“Only that you should trust your own judgment.”

Iaido turned back to watch himself pause at a cliff, take one look at the thousand foot drop, make a slight adjustment to the inertia compensators and leap into the air.

*   *   *   *   *

Even as I made progress toward the target, I saw that the rest of my teammates were making their approach also. A few had paired up as they gotten closer and I noticed that one marker was vectoring towards my current path. With a thought, I highlighted the marker and all pertinent information popped up. It was the Sgt. Major.

It wasn’t long before I saw him.

Even with the chameleon program active on his ARC suit, it couldn’t fully hide his bulk in the alien foliage. The chameleon program was designed to shift the colors and thermal signatures of the suits, blending them in with the surrounding areas. Since the Sgt. Major stood at an even six foot five but weighed every bit of three hundred pounds of solid muscle, his suit was huge.

Now that we were within line of sight of each other, verbal communication was allowed. The ARC suits could broadcast through a built-in laser tac-net that was nearly impossible to detect.

“Greetings Sgt. Major.”

“Achilles. Good to see you made it down safely.”

Unconsciously, I rubbed the dent in my helmet made by the flying engine block. “I don’t remember much, other than the shuttles getting blown apart.”

“Not much to remember. We were toast the moment we came out of hyperspace. The lizards had some way of tracking our ships.”

“True… but that doesn’t change our mission… or does it?”

The Sgt. Major’s shoulder-flaps popped open and closed. Since the ARC suits didn’t allow the normal non-verbal communication that people use; the shrugging of shoulders, nodding or shaking of the head, other non-verbal cues had been developed. Although the shoulder flaps were designed to regulate the speed and gain some control during a free-fall, the opening and closing of them while on the ground was the same as shrugging your shoulders. In other words, the Sgt. Major hadn’t received any official word on the mission but suspected that something was going to change. They had both been with the military too long to expect that the mission objective would stay unchanged after the debacle of our insertion.

As we neared the target zone, the ground became wetter and more marsh-like until we found ourselves in a full fledge quagmire. The Everglades in central Florida had nothing on this swamp. External temperature readings showed that it was over one-hundred and twenty-five degrees with one-hundred percent humidity. Where the Everglades are full of greens and browns, this swamp’s foliage were reds and purples. It was also full of life; numerous reptiles crossed our path but the most annoying was this planet’s version of the mosquito. They seemed to be just as numerous and bothersome as their Terran cousins but where the earth bound mosquitoes were maybe an inch long, these were nearly a foot long. Fortunately for us, the ARC suits were resistant to the mosquitoes’ attacks since they tried time and time again to swarm the invaders. Even though the damn insects couldn’t hurt us, they were still annoying.

Geographical scans of the planet surface made by the shuttles during insertion had been uploaded to the Myrmidons’ ARC suits before their destruction showed that the swamp was nearly the size of Texas and the Lemurian’s fortress almost in the exact center of the marshland. However, scans had also shown a secondary entrance into a cave system that ran underneath the fortress; this was the team’s current destination. Travel was hampered by the treacherous terrain but none of the Myrmidons complained.

As we closed on our objective, I could see on my HUD that one pair was lagging behind the rest.

With a thought, I brought up the information on the two laggards. It was Aeneas and Major McDowell. I realized that the only reason Aeneas would be lagging was that he was keeping up with the Major who was way out of his league on this insertion and was quickly proving to be a hindrance.

Unfortunately, they weren’t close enough for verbal communications but their current path would take them through this general region. I pulled out a relay transmitter, stuck it onto a purple barked tree nearby and keyed the record button.

“Major…due to our current situation and time constraints, I regret to inform you that the rest of the team cannot wait for you to catch up and will proceed with the plan as scheduled.”

Pausing for a moment to check my chronometer, I continued. “By my calculations, we have less than two hours until planetary bombardment and the team needs to be in place to strike. At your current speed, you and Aeneas will not make it to the safe zone designated by Fleet. I would suggest that you both backtrack to a safer area and if possible secure some transportation off this mud ball. I suspect that as long as there are lizards around, it will be difficult for our pilots to land; therefore we will need an alternate transportation out of here. It is now your responsibility to arrange our exodus. Good luck, sir.”

Sgt. Major Spenton said, “Good idea. The Major would’ve been more of a liability than an asset once we breech. Although, I am going to miss Aeneas’ skills once the fun begins.”

“True, personally I would’ve rather had one or both of the twins with the Major but we have to deal with the situation as we get it.”

“Ready to run? We have a lot of ground to cover.” The Sgt. Major dialed up the inertial compensators and began to jog.

*   *   *   *   *

Talia squeezed his hand to get his attention and asked, “I have a question.”

Iaido shook his head slightly as he watched the ghosts of his past run off into the swamp. Turning to look at her, his mind noted that the black stripes were beginning to fade; not much yet but they weren’t as dark as earlier.

“Yes ma’am, what do you want to know?”

“How is that you two aren’t sinking in the marsh?”

Iaido grinned and pointed at the armored figures. “ARC suits are a wonderful piece of equipment. Although, the suits couldn’t actually fly, they do have inertial compensators that manipulate gravity slightly. With a flick of a switch, the suits can increase their max by a factor of two or lighten itself by half; possibly more but the amount of energy needed to do that would be counterproductive.”

“Why would you want to be twice as heavy?”

“If we were set in place to receive a charge from a rushing horde, like the pass we were ordered to hold on Gilese. The increased mass helped anchor us in place to repel the attack.” He pointed at the two armor figures running lightly over the marsh. “And by lightening our mass, it allows the suits to more or less float on the surface. So, instead of trudging through the marsh, they can run on top of it; in theory, they could run across water. It also aids in finding a high position for doing proper recon or sniper duty.”

Talia nodded. “I see. Those suits seem to be quite handy.”

“They were our lifeline on many missions. Without them, we wouldn’t have survived most of the places the Coalition sent us to.”

“Who is that?” asked Talia pointing at a third armor figure converging on the scene.

Iaido studied the suit and even though he hadn’t seen him in over a decade, he recognized the figure. “That would be Hector, my brother and greatest friend.”

“What happened to him?”

Iaido shook his head. “I’m still not sure.”

“Then we must continue the journey. Relax your mind and watch the events unfold before you. Soon, you will know your past.”

*   *   *   *   *

All three groups arrived at the tunnel almost simultaneously and stared at the gaping hole before them. It was about twenty meters across and the marsh seemed hesitant to enter it. There was a gentle current of warm air rising constantly and the smell of decay assaulted their senses, even through the air filter in their ARC suits.

I checked the chronometer; T minus thirty-two minutes till splash down. By this time, the Fleet had already popped out of hyperspace, launched their kinetic rounds at the targets and reversed course back into hyperspace.

Since fixed defenses are in a set orbit, such as any ground based structures, they cannot dodge or change their position and this makes them easy targets for kinetic bombardment. Kinetic rounds are basically huge hunks of metal properly shaped to make them more aerodynamic. When fired from ships in high orbit or even several light years away, the kinetic rounds tend to gain velocity as they approach a planet’s gravity well. With the calculation power of some of the most advanced of A.I.s in the Coalition, the Fleet’s kinetic rounds are hyper-accurate and tend to drift off target only slightly, usually less than fifty meters due to environmental factors that no AI could anticipate. It was always that margin of fifty meters which caused ground units to be squeamish when the rounds were inbound. However, Myrmidons were different. Even though the natural fear responses of normal humans were programmed into them; the ability to override it was also enhanced. Being within the danger zone for a close fire mission would be just another day at the office for the Omega Squadron.

Hector glanced at the sky. Hundreds of faint streaks of red which marked the incoming rounds could be seen. “Holy shit!”

Castor and Pollux spun around with their THABs at the ready. Not seeing any enemies, the twins lowered their weapons as Castor asked, “What is it?”

Hector pointed at the sky. “Either we are way behind schedule or the Squids are early.”

Looking at the incoming bombardment, I began to run the calculations in my head. “Hector’s right…on both accounts.”

Peruses added, “If my calculations are correct, we have twenty-five minutes until the first round lands.”

Hector said, “I like your time better. I figure twenty-two minutes but either way, it’s time to move.”

With a flick of my eyes and a simple thought, I divided my team and sent out assignments with our mission priorities in mind. Castor, Pollux and Peruses became Alpha team with the objective of taking out the sentries. The Sgt. Major, Diomedes and Odessyes were Beta team and were tasked as backup to Alpha and with placing mines throughout the fortress. The Major and Aeneas were Charlie team, tasked with securing transportation which left Delta team as Ajax, Hector and I to infiltrate the inner sanctum and retrieve the artifact.

“Any questions?” I asked.

No one said anything but then I didn’t expect any. We had similar missions too many times over the years not to know our roles.

“Once anyone makes contact with the lizards or the rocks hit, communication blackout is lifted.”

By this time, my own calculations backed up by my ARC suit’s onboard computer had calculated that the kinetic rounds would land in exactly nineteen minutes and twelve seconds. I shunted a countdown timer to my brothers and added, “We’re racing the clock. Let’s roll!”

Without another word, all nine armor suits jumped into the darkness.

*   *   *   *   *

Talia squeezed his hand once more before asking, “How are you doing?”

Iaido paused. Even at this moment, he felt himself falling through the blackness of the pit. Blind to what lay ahead but Iaido knew what to was about to happen.

“It was a trap.”

“How do you know?”

“I remember.” Iaido wrenched his eyes away from the yawning pit to stare at his companion and smiled as he said, “I remember.”

Talia graced him with a crooked smile. “That is good, very good.” She pointed at the henna stripes which marked both of their bodies. “We have time for one, maybe two more trips inside. Even when we are done, there may still be some gaps in your memory.”

Iaido nodded. “I understand.”

“Can you tell me what happens next?”

“Yes. I remember that the tunnel lead to a trap. The bottom was covered in liquid and since we expected a pool of water at the bottom, we didn’t try to avoid it. Diving in, we quickly moved through the tunnels expecting resistance at any moment.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a trap to me.”

Iaido shrugged. “That’s why it was so ingenious. The water had been infected with nanites.”

“Nanites? What is that?”

“Self-replicating microscopic androids with the sole purpose of devouring metal.”

“Your suits!”

Iaido nodded. “And our weapons. Luckily, the demolition compounds we brought along weren’t affected.”

“What happened?”

“We discovered our folly in our first firefight when Castor’s head was blown off. The blast shattered his helmet. As we returned fire, our guns began to disintegrate in our hands. Alpha team was completely destroyed in the first few seconds and Beta team was pinned down. As the rear guard, we had a moment to analyze what was happening and it became obvious when our suits began to fall off as we moved forward.”

“How did you survive?”

“The lizards might have guessed how we would infiltrate the fortress but they didn’t take into account the planetary bombardment. As the kinetic rounds began to hit, we could feel the ground shake with each impact. The lizards paused in their firing for a moment as one round landed directly overhead and collapsed part of the tunnel. Ajax, Hector and I scrambled through the falling debris to reach our companions but only Odysseus and the Sgt. Major were still alive.”

With a squeeze of her hand, Talia conveyed the sadness she felt over him losing his friends but she didn’t interrupt as Iaido continued his story.

“The cave-in also killed the lizards, so we were able to gather up their weapons and continued the mission. Of course, it was down to the five of us. I know that at some point we split up again, Ajax and Odysseus to rig the explosives while the Sgt. Major, Hector and I went for the artifact. But after that it’s all hazy again.”

Talia nodded. Reaching up with her free hand, she drew a little circle on his forehead and said, “Let the inner eye guide you once more. Let the darkness fall away from your memories and the light of truth illuminate your past.”

Iaido could feel himself falling back into his memories…drawing Talia with him.

*   *   *   *   *

This whole experience seemed so unreal for Talia.

She had learned the techniques and rituals during her time in the Seminary. She had even performed it once on a fellow student as part of her thesis needed to graduate but this session was an entirely different experience.

First, she was merging with a Terran which was strange its own right. Additionally, the memories he was experiencing were so violent, so raw… it unnerved her. Furthermore, the merging created an empathic bond between them allowing her to feel his emotions. She had to experience the pain of his brothers’ deaths, the excitement of battle and the fear of failure. These emotions were so much stronger than anything she had envisioned or experienced in her life.

While she could also tell that many of the memories were both enlightening and painful to her guardian but this time promised to be different. His heart rate and respiration had increased drastically the moment he fell back into this memory. While Iaido’s perspective was personal, hers was as a spectator. Both were unable to affect the events but forced to watch them unfold before them. It was odd to say the least.

As the five remaining Myrmidons painted their bodies with some sort of black paste, Talia could only guess at the properties it would offer. Possibly it would act in a similar manner as the henna which protected them in the spirit realm but she refrained from asking Iaido at this critical juncture.

Instead, she took to studying Iaido’s brother Hector.

In many ways they seemed to be twins with similar builds and mannerisms even the way they walked. In fact, sometimes it was difficult to tell the two apart. They were both clean shaven and bald, with numerous scars all over their bodies.

As the soldiers began to apply the paste, she noted how their personalities influenced their application.

Sgt. Major Spenton, Odysseus and Ajax applied the paste in such a similar manner that it had to be the standard application pattern; a wide tiger stripe pattern that would break up their silhouette as they moved through the occupied fortress. Hector’s patterns consisted of several large X’s across his chest and face while he blackened in his legs and arms.

Iaido, or Achilles as he was known as during this time, was completely different from the rest. He took extra care when applying the paste to his face. Leaving the edges and chin uncovered in such a pattern that the paste looked like a skull. For the rest of his body, he haphazardly smeared it all across his chest, arms and legs. Some areas heavy, some light and some not touched at all. The effect was such a random pattern that it seemed to mask his silhouette more effectively than anyone else, at least to Talia’s eyes.

It wasn’t long before they were off, moving through the Lemurian Fortress like shadows. They took extra care to avoid confrontations as much as possible but whenever it was inevitable, they would attack so swiftly and efficiently that they overwhelmed the lizards before an alarm could be raised. With every encounter, the Myrmidons looted more weapons. Yet, they continued to rely on captured swords and knives.

They became the silent killers….death incarnate.

It was at this point Talia realized why the Grand Council of the Sylvan Empire truly feared the Terrans. Outnumbered and outgunned, they were forging ahead. Determined to complete their mission or to die in the attempt. She knew that no Sylvan would’ve even attempted this mission… much less continue under these conditions. It was this tenacity, this single minded focus on a goal which the Terrans showed, which frightened so many Sylvans.

As they moved closer to the inner sanctum, the Lemurian guards became more numerous and armed with more ornate weapons and armor. After silently dispatching two lizards at an archway, Achilles signaled a stop by holding up a clenched fist. All four Myrmidons dropped to firing positions with guns at the ready.

Achilles stepped through the archway and studied the huge spiral stairway. Carved of stone, every step seemed to be expertly carved with glyphs and symbols. Talia couldn’t help but admire the handiwork which had been expended to create such a practical work of art. She realized that this had been what the soldiers had been looking for, the core of the Lemurian Fortress and hopefully near their goal.

As Achilles returned to his companions, his hands began to fly as he silently communicated his intentions to the rest of his team. With a simple nod, Odysseus and Ajax broke off and wordlessly headed up the staircase while the remaining three headed down. This stairway was reasonably dark, lighted only with torches at regular intervals of fifty feet or so. The flickering torchlight and large areas of darkness only aided the Myrmidons’ infiltration. After a few minutes, Iaido signaled a stop as they approached a brightly lit chamber.

Sneaking up to the opening, Achilles moved forward to scout out the target and Talia found the first advantage of her perspective. Although she was a guest in Iaido’s memories and was drawn along with them, she found that she could move around to see things from a different point of view. This was extremely weird. She could still feel the touch of his hand and the quickness of his pulse but she found herself moving slightly ahead of the soldiers to get her first good glimpse of the heart of the Lemurian Fortress.

The chamber was round. It was at least two hundred meters across and twice that in height. The stairs ran along the wall until it circled the room once before ending. The lighting of the room came from the pool of lava which covered the entire floor. A stone walkway which crisscrossed the room was suspended several feet above the molten rock. Although four other passageways emptied into this room, there weren’t any guards visible.

Talia’s heart skipped a beat when she saw the object sitting on a pedestal in the direct center of the room and she knew instinctively that this was the artifact they had been sent to loot.

It was an orb of blackness that seemed to draw in the light of the lava pool while still flickering with energy of its own. Even though she was inside a memory, the orb seemed to pull on her spirit form. It wasn’t logical nor was it practical but Talia felt the sudden trickle of fear as the soldiers descended the stairs, drawing closer and closer to the mysterious orb. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the three soldiers moved with a purpose toward the object of their quest. Just as Achilles was reaching out to grab the flickering orb, several explosions rocked the fortress.

Talia squeezed Iaido’s unseen hand with all her might and dug in her fingernails as she tried to break the magic of the spell.

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido looked around. He was alone, surrounded by the thick mist.

Gone were the lava pit and the rushing horde of Lemurians. Looking down at his body, he noticed that the henna stripes were also gone, only the faintest of markings could still be seen. As the mist around him thickened, so did the sensation of the cold metal table in the med-bay….

Iaido sat up. Once again he was back on the Nemesis, sitting on the examination table. Glancing around, he spied Talia. She was once again wearing her robe and was sitting in a nearby chair studying him. Her emerald eyes seemed to bore through him as her gaze shifted from intense scrutiny to wonder to curiosity and finally to worry.

Iaido cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

Since she hadn’t responded to his statement and she seemed more upset than tired, he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After several minutes she finally asked, “What happened to the Orb? I know you didn’t touch it….but what happened to it?”

Iaido hopped off the table and moved over to the beautiful Sylvan. Kneeling down, he could see the lines of worry in her face. He placed both of his hands gently over top of her hands.

“You’re right; I never got a chance to touch it. After the explosions, we found ourselves under attack by a horde of Lemurians. Since the walkways weren’t very wide and the lizards seemed reluctant to use any sort of range based weapons, we were able to hold our ground for the first few waves of their attacks. When the Sgt. Major fell from a blow to the head, we knew it was the beginning of the end. We had killed, injured or knocked into the lava over three dozen lizards but on they came.”

Talia didn’t interrupt but let her mystical powers flow back into Iaido through their connection of flesh searching for any taint of the evil she knew that had been held inside the Orb.

Iaido shook his head slowly as he continued. “Hector knew the mission as well as I did. We were expendable. Always were. The only thing that mattered was the mission. We were tasked with recovering the artifact from the Lemurians. In the event that was impossible, the fail safe objective was to destroy the artifact. As I moved forward to cover the prone body of my friend, Hector leapt up and grabbed the orb.”

Iaido paused and looked off into the distance.

“As soon as he touched the orb there was a brilliant flash of light which only seemed to enrage the lizards further. They immediately forgot about us and chased after my brother. The last time I saw Hector, he was about to throw the orb into the lava when the leading Lemurians tackled him. There was a brief struggle before they all fell into the lava; Hector, the orb and the lizards.”

Looking back into Talia’s emerald green eyes, he gave her a weak smile. “I found myself alone, injured, deep underground and far behind enemy lines with an unconscious friend.”

“Do you know how you escaped?”

Iaido nodded. “Yes. First we…”

Pax interrupted. “Captain to the bridge.”

Iaido stood up and involuntarily looked at the ceiling. “What is it Pax?”

“We are one hour from our exit from hyperspace. You asked to be alerted at this time.”

Iaido nodded. “Aye, that I did. Alert all crewmembers and have them report to battle stations in thirty minutes.”

“Aye, aye sir.”

Iaido turned back to Talia. “You are right. I know most of what happened now. I am sure I’m missing a few things but with time it will come back to me. Thank you.”

Talia nodded her head. “It pleases me that the spirit walk was a success. Now, if you will excuse me I will get ready for our upcoming encounter.”

As she began to move past him and out into the passageway, Iaido tapped her lightly on the shoulder. “Is there something special about that orb?”

Talia shrugged. “Perhaps…perhaps not. If we survive the next few days, we will talk about this further after I have had time to reflect on what we have seen.”

Iaido watched as she moved down to her quarters. He was elated at discovering some of his past but totally confused by her remarks and actions. However, she was correct in one thing. It was time to get ready for battle. Everything else would have to wait.

Chapter 24

Talia did her best to control her movements and act casual as she moved down the corridor to her small cabin. Once inside, she immediately sealed the door and collapsed on her bunk. She sat and stared unseeing at the bulkhead above her as she thought about everything she had learned.

‘An Orb…they found a Shadow Orb. By the Living Stars, the Lemurians had one hidden all these millennia.’

Sitting up, her eyes fell on the bag which contained her meager belongings. She quickly rummaged through it until she found an ornately carved ebony box. Inside it held her two most prized possessions, her grandmother’s tarot cards and a small clear gem.

Holding up the gem, she watched as the lights reflected off its multi-faceted sides. Talia knew that this gem was old; it was in fact her oldest possession. Even older than the tiara her mother had given her on her Day of Ascension. The tiara had been passed down from mother to daughter for nearly two millennia and served to announce her House. However, the soul gem was older and bestowed certain other benefits.

She removed her tiara and unfastened the emerald she normally wore as its headstone. The emerald was her birthstone and served to enhance her mystical powers. With great care, she inserted the soul gem in the same slot and snapped it into place with a satisfying click. Replacing the tiara, Talia leaned back in her chair and began the ancient chant which was taught to her when she was but a child and felt herself fall into the magic of the gem.

As always, she was always amazed at combination of science and magic involved in this simple gem. By its use, she had the means to access the entire history of her people. It was connected in some mystical way to the Great Library of Sylvanis and allowed the user access to all of its files and histories, modern or ancient. It would also allow the wielder to communicate with anyone in the Great Library, which had its own advantages.

As Talia moved through the seemingly endless shelves of scrolls and books, she ignored the other inhabitants of the library. On the thirteenth landing and near the back of the library, she found the section which contained the oldest of records of her people; the histories of the Shadow Wars and the Exodus from Terra. She scrutinized the scroll labels for a moment before she pulled one down and after a quick scan, threw it down in disgust and grabbed another. Since she was in a virtual reality of the Great Library, the scrolls just disappeared and reappeared in their proper spot. However, her misuse of the sacred documents alerted one of the librarians.

When Talia threw down the next scroll, the librarian appeared slightly behind her with a scowl. Since Talia’s back was to her, the librarian cleared her throat and said, “Pardon me ma’am but you should not mishandle the sacred documents. Continue this action and I will be forced to ban you from the Great Library.”

When Talia threw down the next document, the librarian reached out and touched her shoulder.

“That’s enough; you will cease this action and depart, or I will…” As Talia turned to faced her, whatever the librarian was going to say next died in her throat as she got her first good look at her. Immediately, the librarian lowered her gaze and bowed her head slightly. “I’m sorry ma’am, I didn’t recognize you.”

Talia ignored the apology. “Where are the histories of the Shadow Wars? The earliest scrolls would be the best.”

The librarian, who was Talia’s senior by several decades, continued to apologize but moved to a nearby shelf and lifted down a large scroll of bamboo shoots. Setting it on a long table, she gently unrolled it from the bottom as was the custom with such a scroll.

“If you are searching for anything in particular, I may be able to help if you would just….”

Talia stepped in front of the librarian and quickly scanned the ancient scroll. Not finding what she wanted in the unrolled section, she pushed the upper section causing the scroll to unroll the length of the table and caused the librarian to clear her throat once again. Talia glanced up, totally surprised to find the elderly sylvan still standing there.

“If you want to help, send me your most talented Medium.”

Seeing the librarian hesitate Talia added, “Now!”

As the librarian scurried off, Talia perused over the ancient scroll and felt the growing chill of fear throughout her soul. It wasn’t long before a young man approached her table.

With a low bow he asked, “Excuse me ma’am but I believe you requested my services?”

Talia turned to study the newcomer. He was young and very overweight, near obese, but had a kind face and bright eyes. The red and black mark of a crane inside a circle was tattooed on his cheek just to the right of his left eye; the mark of a Ko-dang – the second highest level of Medium. Most who attain this rank served the Empire as couriers. They were completely trustworthy. The magic which was used to help them become Ko-dang bound them to the truth, whatever it might be.

Talia asked, “Do you know who I am?”

The young man shook his head but gestured to her tiara. “No ma’am but I know of your House and that is enough for me to guarantee total privacy in all matters.”

Realizing that she was running out of time, Talia turned back to the table and scribbled a quick message on a blank sheet of parchment.

‘A Shadow Orb was sighted one Tan ago in the care of the Lemurians. It was liberated or destroyed by Omega. Several marks of the Shadows have been seen in recent days. I fear a resurgence of the ancient enemy. I seek your guidance.’

Folding the parchment, she held it out to the young medium. “I have no choice but to trust you. I need you to contact Lady Aleksandra on Terra and give her this message. But know this… if you fail, our people could suffer a great calamity not seen since the Time of Shadows. It is that important.”

“I am at your service ma’am.” As his hand touched the parchment, the magic of his station sealed it and bound the message to his soul.

“I must get back. Please do not fail me in this.”

The young man shook his head. “Don’t worry ma’am. I won’t.”

Closing her eyes, Talia released the magic of the gem and felt herself fall back into her corporeal form. Taking a deep breath, she removed the soul gem from the tiara and replaced it with her normal emerald.

Leaving her small cabin, she went off to join her friends on their desperate mission to save her niece and now…to possibly confront an ancient evil.

Chapter 25

Major Marcus T. McDowell had always believed that the early morning hours on Mars were the most peaceful.

The two small moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, were thought to be asteroids captured by the planet’s gravity in times long past. The Major always found the motions of the two moons very different from Earth’s moon. Phobos was a speedster, rising in the west and racing across the sky only to repeat its path in elven hours. While Deimos plodded across the sky, taking over two and a half days to complete its path.

Even with these two satellites, the night hours would be totally black with the exception of the slight glow given off by the translucent bio-domes which contained the atmosphere that allowed human life to exist on the red planet.

Many of the automated drones which helped in his work and the constant mining were offline at this hour. Even machines needed some downtime. There had to be time for maintenance, recharging and refitting. These were all done in the early morning hours.

Major McDowell glanced at his chrono and began to check off items on his mental list of things to do before Achilles would arrive. However with over six hours to go before the deadline, the Major sipped his morning coffee and walked the gardens as was his normal ritual. He paused to stare at the stars and watched as one star brightened considerably. He only had a few seconds to ponder the significance of the numerous flashes of light before alarms started blaring all across the bio-domes. Dropping his coffee, the Major sprinted to his office as several explosions rocked the building and red dust fell from the ceiling covering anything and everything.

Punching the com-link, the Major tried to catch his breath. “Major McDowell to Romulus… come in Romulus.”

Static...“This is Romulus” static…“under attack, multiple bogeys” static…

Keying the transmit button again, the Major screamed into the mic. “Romulus! Romulus!”

But only silence answered him, until a soft voice startled him.

“Having troubles old man?”

Major McDowell froze at the voice and felt the unfamiliar chill of fear run up and down his spine. Keeping his movements slow and deliberate, he turned around and watched in grim fascination as a black and silver apparition stepped out of the shadows.

Taking a deep breath, the Major slowly sat down in his chair. “Achilles, my son, welcome home.”

“That is not my name.” As Iaido lifted the visor of his ARC suit he added, “and I am not your son.”

“That is your name. You were christened Achilles for a reason. You were to be our greatest warrior; the chosen leader of the Myrmidons.”

Opening a desktop humidor, the Major drew forth a hand rolled cigar, bit off one end, spit the tip out and lit the cigar. Blowing out a large puff of smoke, the Major leaned back in his chair and secretly pushed a panic button on the underside of his desk with his knee.

“And if I am not your father, who is? I helped shaped your skills and guided your development as a warrior.”

“You have something of mine that I would like returned.”

“Bah. That little girl is nothing to you.”

“That is for me to decide, not you.”

The Major took another long drag on the cigar and waved his hand slightly in a dismissive manner, as if the fate of Eve was beneath his notice. “She’s around here somewhere but we have much to discuss, you and I.” Gesturing to a chair nearby he said, “Come, have a seat.”

Iaido moved further into the room until he was just across the desk from his former commander.

“I will have to decline. I didn’t come to Mars to have a discussion. I am here for two things, Eve and your head.”

“I know you…you wouldn’t kill me. Your programming wouldn’t allow you to harm a superior officer.”

“For your information I have become far more than my original programming. Secondly, when you betrayed my brethren and left us for dead, you were stripped of your rank.”

“Betrayed? Does not the thirty-sixth strategy of Chou state when all else fails, retreat?”

“Chou’s strategy does indeed say that; but to retreat is different than leaving your men behind to die. You fled the battlefield long before the outcome was decided.”

“You don’t believe that any more than I do. You saw they had the numerical advantage! We were three hundred, they had over a million!”

“I don’t dispute that fact but we had the superior position, superior firepower and the superior willpower. You fled at the onset of the battle. Your cowardice shamed us. You spoke of honor and courage but when the time came, you fled the field of battle and left us to die.”

“But you didn’t die!”

Iaido unsheathed his sword and thumbed the power switch to the on position. Blue-white lightning raced up and down the meteoritic metal blade. The flickering light from his blade danced off his armor making him look more demonic.

“No thanks to you. Today I avenge my brethren.”

The doors behind Iaido slid open.

“Not today Achilles…not today,” said Major McDowell. With a gesture to the door he added, “I think you have met two of my Praetorians before.”

Iaido let his blade fall into a low aggressive position with the tip down and slightly behind him as he turned slowly towards the door. Studying the two newcomers, he immediately recognized them as the Galactic Marshals from his Stone Mountain encounter.

“Yes, we have met. I wasn’t impressed.”

Cassius said, “We were acting under strict orders; having to shoot someone while making it look like an escape attempt is not our normal methodology.”

“Normal methodology? It was downright pitiful and sloppy.”

Cassius grimaced at the remark but turned his attention to the Major and asked, “Can I kill him now father?”

“Yes son, you may.” Major McDowell stood slowly and began backing towards the door. He motioned to the larger Praetorian. “Brutus, why don’t you join me? I’m sure your brother can handle this relic and we have a mission to complete.”

Major McDowell paused at the doorway and looked back.

“Achilles, I’m sorry that you won’t be around to witness the fall of the General. It has taken nearly ten years to set up the events of today. But in sixteen hours, he and his whole council will be dead and I will be able to claim credit for the most perfect assassination since JFK. Too bad you won’t be around to witness it. I personally think you would’ve been impressed. Good-bye Achilles.”

Iaido moved to the center of the room. “Run along old man, I’ll give you a three minute head start. That’s approximately how long it will take me to kill your pet.”

Cassius asked as he rolled his shoulders around to loosen them up before pulling forth matching silver gladii. “You are a confident old bastard, aren’t you?”

Gladii, plural for gladius, were a type of short swords of ancient Roman design with a blade that was approximately twenty-four inches in length with two razor sharps edges. Originally designed as a thrusting weapon, they were also very effective slashing weapons. They are quick and lethal when in the hands of a master. Judging from the spins and other maneuvers Cassius was taking his blades through, he fell into that category.

Iaido realized that his opponent’s weapons were also powered given the fact that whenever one gladius passed near each other, sparks flew from one to the other; which meant they could pierce his armor. Iaido knew that the length of Cassius’ blades could prove to be both an advantage and a disadvantage. With a shorter blade, the wielder could respond quickly to the ever changing dynamics of combat. However, it also meant that he would have to be closer to his opponent to strike.

Iaido shifted the grip on his katana slightly and raised the point until it was aimed at his opponent’s chest. “Might I ask you a few questions?”

Cassius feinted quickly with one gladius which Iaido easily deflected. “Sure old man. What do you want to know?”

“How many Praetorians are there?”

“Not that it really matters but there are two-hundred and twenty-two of us.” Cassius attacked with a spin kick and several quick thrusts; high, low, high.

Iaido calmly stepped back out of reach of the kick and didn’t even bother to parry the thrusts since they were out of range. “Where did the Major get the sample for your DNA? There had to be a starting point.”

“From your brother Aeneas,” answered Cassius as he launched a viscous attack routine, alternating high thrusts with low slashes with several more high attack but added twin downward thrusts thrown in at the end of the attack combination.

Iaido calmly took a step backwards while parrying the attacks and immediately counter-attacked with a series of three downward strikes while shuffling forward quickly. “But Aeneas died over ten years ago.”

Cassius’ shoulder flaps popped open and close quickly. “True, but the toxins didn’t prevent our father from cloning him or using his DNA to create us.” Cassius circled slightly to his left. “Aeneas always said that your skills were highly over-rated. I’m inclined to believe him.”

Cassius renewed his attacks with alternating high slashes which Iaido blocked with ease but brought his guard up high. The Praetorian lashed out with a kick to Iaido’s midsection.  Since they were both in powered-battle armor, there wasn’t much of a chance of an injury but it did disrupt his balance for a millisecond. Cassius grinned and seized his slight advantage. With a yell of excitement, Cassius stabbed downward with both of his powered gladii at his cousin’s heart.

Beneath Iaido’s opaque helmet he smiled. He had already discerned that the Praetorian preferred to attack high on his opening sequence.  It had been so easy to let the youngster believe he had the advantage.

With a simple thought and a flick of his eyes, Iaido engaged the Power Shield built into his ARC suit. A dome of bluish white energy formed on his left forearm, right in line of the twin thrusts of his opponent. The look of surprise and shock on Cassius’ face when his killing blow was deflected…was priceless.

Engaging the enormous strength granted to him by his ARC suit, Iaido smashed his shield into the lower part of Cassius’ arms, knocking them up and out of position. The young Praetorian was helpless to prevent Iaido’s powered sword from sliding right through his armor and into his stomach.

Cassius’s gut felt as if it was on fire while the energy pulse from Iaido’s blade went to work short-circuiting his nervous system. He had never experienced the amount of pain his body was going through. It was unbearable. Only vaguely did he realize that both of his swords had fallen to the ground, completely forgotten by his body. In a detached way, Cassius felt himself fall to his knees but he had lost complete control of his body.

Tasting the warm coppery flavor of blood, Cassius struggled to speak one last time. “You cheated.”

Iaido powered down his shield. “Only losers claim that someone cheats. A true warrior does whatever is necessary to win.”

Cassius cocked his head slightly to one side as if he didn’t understand the words.

Iaido pulled free his blade. The Praetorian jerked once and lay still forever as his blood pooled underneath the armored corpse. Iaido turned and sprinted down the corridor in pursuit of his former commanding officer. He heard the battle long before his saw it.

Rounding a corner, he found Xerxes and Brutus in hand to hand combat. This was not a skill versus skill battle but a contest of strength versus strength.

Iaido did a quick scan of the room.

DJ and Talia were blocking the only airlock with guns drawn while the Major was huddled behind a pile of crates. As the armored figure of Brutus crashed into the wall nearby, Iaido’s attention was wrenched back to the titanic battle. Judging from the cracks in the nearby bulkheads, he guessed that the Praetorian had been thrown like that a number of times.

Calmly, Xerxes moved back to the middle of the room and waited. The bulky Praetorian struggled for a moment to stand up before getting the hang of it. Once more Brutus rushed the large mantis but this time he managed to wrap his arms around the lower torso of Xerxes before the mantis was able to throw him again. Brutus cheered and began to squeeze with all his might, which was greatly enhanced by the powered battle armor.

Xerxes paused for a moment. Using his four limbs, the large mantis began to twist and tug on the helmet of the Praetorian’s battle armor. Everyone gathered could see the strain the two titans were exerting. This was the age old battle of an immovable object confronted by and irresistible force. It was just a matter of time before one or the other gave way to the pressure.

Suddenly, there was a loud snap and the armored form of Brutus went limp. As Xerxes unceremoniously dumped the corpse on the ground and moved back to stand behind Talia, Iaido could see that the Praetorian’s helmet was facing behind him in a most unnatural position.

The Major looked around wildly and quickly realized that all his dreams were about to fade into nothing. Seeing the companions begin to close on his position, he pulled out a remote detonator and squeezed on the trigger. He grinned slightly when the light switched from red to green.

“Hold it right there Achilles. This is a dead man’s switch, I release this trigger and we all get blown up. This whole compound is wired with enough plasma bombs to vaporize the whole dome.”

“It doesn’t have to end this way old man.”

“I won’t be taken back. And if you kill me, you’ll die here as well. Either way, you won’t be able to stop the coming cataclysm. Events have been set in motion that no one can stop. By this time tomorrow, New Atlanta will tear itself apart and the General will be to blame. I have seen to that.”

Iaido waved his companions back but continued to move toward his former commander very slowly. “I am not concerned with the General; my only concern is the girl. Where is Eve?”

“The Sgt. Major’s daughter? She isn’t here.”

“I realize that, but where is she? She might not be important to you but she is to me.”

It was at this point when the Major realized that the bounty hunter was nearly within arm’s reach. Taking a quick step back he yelled, “Freeze! Don’t come any closer or I swear I’ll drop the hammer!”

Iaido stopped but didn’t lower his hands. They were up in a seemingly defensive manner but in reality they were near to the hilts of the twin katanas strapped to his back.

Keeping his voice calm, Iaido said, “Come on ol’ man, you don’t want to detonate that bomb any more than we want you to.”

The Major’s voice cracked a bit as he answered. “You’re right. I don’t want to die but I will have my revenge on the General and everyone else be damned.”

Iaido continued to move forward ever-so-slowly, only about an inch or two at a time but he was closing the gap. The Major’s back was to a wall so he couldn’t retreat any further and since he was still talking, Iaido took advantage of the situation.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen like this, only the General and his cabinet were supposed to die.”

Iaido said, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

The Major cocked his head to the side and asked, “What was that?”

Talia answered from across the room. “It’s a famous quote from John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men.’ It is widely considered to be one of the greatest works of Terran literature of the early twentieth century.”

When the Major turned his head to look at the Sylvan, Iaido acted.

Acting within his namesake, Iaido made a lightning fast draw and slice with the ancient Blade of the Elements. The sword blazed through the air in a silver arc to sever the Major’s hand at the wrist. The amputated body part with the fingers still tight on the dead man’s switch tumbled towards the ground. With his free hand, Iaido reached out and snagged the remote detonator. Keeping pressure on the trigger, he pointed the bloody sword at his former commander.

“Game over ol’ man.”

Once the Major quit screaming, he held his bloody stump to his chest and asked, “There isn’t any way you are going to let me go free is there?”

Iaido shook his head. “No sir, there are numerous warrants for your arrest. As a duly sworn Galactic Bounty Hunter, I am duty bound to take you back. You have to pay for your crimes.”

Even though his face was flush with pain and blood still poured from his wound, the major pulled out his old but reliable Graver Mk3 service blaster with his one good hand and placed it under his chin. “I told you, I’m not going back alive.”

“Wait!” Iaido rushed forward knowing the whole time that he would be too late.

With a slight smile, the Major applied a little pressure on the blaster’s trigger and the resulting discharge of plasma tore through his chin and out the back of his skull. Iaido stared at the nearly headless corpse with mixed emotions. On one hand, he was saddened that another member of Omega had died, yet he was also glad that justice had finally been served.

Looking up at his friends, Iaido held out the dead man’s switch with the severed hand still attached. “DJ, take this and figure out a way to defuse this detonator. Xerxes get this body on board the Nemesis and get ready for lift-off. Talia, you’re with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“We need to search the Major’s office for anything that might lead us to Eve.” Iaido glanced at his chronometer. “Everyone get busy, we blast off in twenty minutes.”

All three companions nodded and rushed off to accomplish their assigned tasks. Talia fell in behind the armored Myrmidon but paused when they entered the Major’s office and she saw the corpse of the fallen Praetorian. “What are we looking for?”

Both shoulder flaps on Iaido’s ARC suit popped open and closed. “I’m not sure.”

He calmly stepped over the body and began searching the desk. “There has to be some sort of record of his holdings, maps, blueprints…something. But don’t take too long. Anything that looks promising just set it aside and we’ll examine it more fully in flight.”

Iaido set a leather bound book on the corner of the desk, followed by a folder of legal documents. With a shrug, Talia joined in the search.

After ten minutes, they had accumulated seven books, three data crystals, two folders of loose paper and one leather-bound journal. Iaido added the two fallen gladii to the pile before gathering them up and making their way back to the Nemesis.

Chapter 26

Iaido glanced around at his friends, old and new. “Okay, what have we found?”

Athena pointed at the vid-screen as a chart of names and locations filled the screen. “It seems that the Major has inserted his Praetorians into all levels of the Galactic Marshals, mostly field agents but we have found at least three Praetorians in upper management.”

“Do we know how many Praetorians there are?” asked Talia.

Iaido nodded. “According to the Major’s files and from what Cassius told me, there are two-hundred and twenty-two of them. Nearly two third of them are involved in the Galactic Marshals but worse than that the Major has been able to infiltrate at least twenty Praetorians into the UNCF.”

Jay looked up from his notes. “Is it really that big a problem? I mean, the Praetorians are just the latest version of the super soldier program; being a Praetorian shouldn’t be any different than Iaido being a Myrmidon.”

“Good point and as much as I would like to embrace these Praetorians as long lost cousins, I fear their programming might’ve been a bit biased considering the Major’s personal views.” Moving over to the screen, Iaido took a long look at the list. “As much as I would like to believe them to be innocent, I cannot believe that the Major took the time to place them in these positions for no reason.”

Jay made several notes in his PDA. “Valid point, I hadn’t considered that aspect.” He turned back to Athena. “What else did you find? The Major threatened to destroy New Atlanta, any hints as to how?”

Athena again pointed at the vid-screen as the image switched to a satellite view of New Atlanta; several spots were highlighted with a yellow dot and each dot was surrounded by a much larger red circle. “The yellow dots are the locations mentioned in the files and could be possible locations of bombs. The red circles depict the area of total devastation should that bomb detonate. This is of course hypothesizing that the bombs are similar to the one Eve was sitting on top of in the message.”

Iaido studied the locations; the UN building, the spaceport, two shopping centers and other buildings scattered throughout the city. “Even if the Major has been able to place bombs at all these locations, they wouldn’t do enough damage to tear New Atlanta apart, they just aren’t powerful enough.”

“Oh My God!” Jay yelled. “That’s it! Pax, bring up the vid of Talia and the bomb.”

The screen darkened for a moment before the image of Eve, bound and gagged, sitting on top of the bomb surrounded by barrels filled the screen.

Moving to the screen, Jay pointed at the barrels. “We have been fixated on the wrong part. We have been worried about the bomb, when we should be wondering what’s inside these barrels.”

“Huh?” DJ said, “They’re barrels, big deal. The bomb is the thing that goes boom. Of course, that’s what we should be worried about.”

“Iaido is right,” Jay said. “Even if there are multiple bombs, they aren’t powerful enough to do a lot of damage on their own, even if they were all set off in unison. Something would have to make them more powerful.” The retired Master Chief pointed at the barrels. “There are hundreds of chemicals that could be in those barrels that could multiply the explosions tenfold or more.”

“I think it’s worse than that,” Iaido said in a low voice.

“What is?”

“Something has been bothering me. Why would the Major return to Mars? He’s on the Coalition’s top ten Most Wanted list. So, why would he return here? There can be only one answer…the virus.”

DJ set down his beer. “You aren’t talking about the virus that destroyed the Mars colony are you?”

“Yes. Even now, ten years later, the colony is still a quarantine zone. I bet he has been using his Praetorians to search through the ruins of the colony for samples of the virus. Once he had them, given the Major’s background in biology, he duplicated the virus and shipped it in small quantities to Earth using his Galactic Marshal Praetorians.”

“That would make sense,” Jay said. “Galactic Marshals don’t have to go through customs or any sort of inspections. And if he has enough of the virus to fill those barrels, then an explosion would spread the virus all across New Atlanta and given the winds of the region, it could spread across the entire eastern seaboard in a matter of days.”

Iaido nodded. “The Major’s hatred has outweighed everything…logic, reason, emotion and patriotism. He is, I mean was, determined to have his revenge on the President and the Council for branding him a traitor.

“We have to stop them,” Talia said.

“Don’t worry, we will.”

*   *   *   *   *

Blasting off from Mars, the companions could see the Romulus still battling the remnants of the JDL fighter squadron. Even as they watched, two Raptors exploded under a hail storm of turbolasers but not before they blew a hole into the side of the battlecruiser.

Athena said, “Captain, we are receiving a may-day from the Romulus. Their reactor core is going critical and their captain has ordered all hands to abandon ship. Should we pull to and render aid?”

Iaido shook his head and continued to study the star charts. “Negative.”

Talia placed her hands on her hips and stared hard at the bounty hunter. “But interstellar law states that every available ship must render aid to any vessel in distress.”

“They are not our concern.”

“But they are dying,” Talia insisted.

Looking up from his charts, Iaido’s voice was cold and void of any emotions. “Better them than us.” Seeing Talia about to explode, he held up his hand to forestall any objections. “We have larger problems.”

“Such as?”

“Pax, at max burn how long will it take us to reach New Atlanta?”

“I calculate our arrival in Earth standard orbit to be at sixteen-hundred hours eastern standard time. That is with a margin of error of three minutes, plus or minus,” Athena stated. “Of course, that is not taking into consideration the planetary defense systems, customs or other shipping traffic that might be a factor. That is purely optimal flight time at max burn of one point nine light speed.”

“But that’s four hours past the deadline,” DJ said. “How can we make it to New Atlanta in time?”

“Simple,” Iaido said. “We are going to do a mini-jump through hyperspace.”

DJ shook his head. “But interplanetary jumps past Jupiter are impossible due to gravitational forces of the inner planets.”

Iaido raised an eyebrow. “Jay, you want to answer this one?”

Guiding his chair forward, Jay picked up the conversation. “Interplanetary jumps are not impossible, just highly dangerous. The first major problem is reliable data. If any navigational data is incorrect, the odds that you would travel too close to a planet and be pulled into their gravity well are too high to chance unless an absolute emergency.”

Pax said, “The odds are eight-hundred and twenty-three to one against a successful interplanetary jump.”

“Will our calculations be off Pax?” Iaido asked.

“No captain. They will not be.”

Athena added, “We can make the jump to the edge of Terran controlled space, emerging approximately ninety-three kilometers from Starbase Alpha, with a margin of error of five kilometers, plus or minus of course.”

“Okay. We can make it to Earth but what about the planetary defense systems?” DJ asked, “Won’t they start blasting the minute we emerge from hyperspace?”

Iaido rotated his command chair till he was facing his crew. “Jay, how long after we exit hyperspace will you be able to cloak the ship?”

“We have to let the residual energies from transit dissipate and our velocity drop below the threshold before I can engage the cloaking device.” Jay rubbed his chin. “I would say at least sixty seconds, give or take a few.”

“Less would be preferable,” Iaido said as he turned back to his console. “Pax when you have the course plotted engage jump engines.”

“Aye, aye sir.”

“Jay, download the IFF codes for the Romulus and modify ours to broadcast on their frequency.”

“Roger.”

“DJ, move all the scrap metal and bodies into the airlock; add a few barrels of oil and some sort of incendiary device.”

DJ rubbed his hands together and grinned, “You got it.”

“Athena, pull up the transmissions from the Romulus. Splice their may-day with a bit more static and be prepared to broadcast as soon as we emerge.”

“Aye captain.”

Iaido turned back to his friends. “Make no mistakes, this is risky. We are outnumbered and outgunned. If this becomes a shooting match we will lose. But if we can trick the Terran Planetary Defense Systems into believing we are the Romulus then we have a chance, a slim chance but a chance none the less.”

Talia sheepishly raised her hand. “I don’t understand. How can we make the Nemesis seem to be the Romulus? It is at least twice our size.”

Iaido nodded his head. The rest of the crew had all served in the military and knew that it was an informal means of dismissal before he turned his attention back to Talia. “In combat it sometimes isn’t what is true or not but what you can make your opponent believe is true.”

Shaking her head, Talia frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“All nav-systems work on data. One of the easiest and most reliable data is gleaned from the electromagnetic field given off by a starship’s engines. This field can be identified and tracked by a device called the IFF or Identify Friend or Foe transponder. Traveling in space is more about collating and interpreting data than using your senses. For the most part, only fighter jocks use line of sight, while ships of the line and planetary defense systems rely on proper use of the IFF systems.”

Iaido could tell that she still didn’t understand, so he continued. “In the ancient days of Earth’s navies, when man sailed the seas in wooden ships, long before electricity and long range communication devices, all ships looked basically the same from a distance. Sure a sailor could tell the difference between a three-masted galleon and a two-masted schooner but was the approaching ship a friend or foe? No one could tell. So ships were identified by their country’s flags. Even then, there were a few men that understood that misdirection is a tool of war. These were the original pirates. They would fly a neutral or allied country’s flag until they closed within cannon range of their target before striking the false colors and running up their own flag, commonly known as the Jolly Rogers, thereby showing their true colors.”

“I see. We are going to disguise our IFF signature, in effect pretending to be the Romulus, which as a registered ship of the Galactic Marshals is an ally of the Terran military.”

“Yes.”

Talia asked, “But what about the rest of the stuff…the bombs, bodies and scrap metal?”

“Smoke and mirrors Talia, smoke and mirrors.”

Shaking her head, “I don’t understand.”

“Watch and see. A good magician doesn’t reveal his tricks.” With a grin Iaido turned back to his panel.

Chapter 27

Ensign Virginia Evans paced the small deck of the CIC which was located deep in the heart of the Terran Planetary Defense System. Moving around helped keep herself awake and to ensure the enlisted personnel assigned to the graveyard watch were also awake. Since it was nearly zero-three-thirty hours, there was very little traffic incoming or exiting the starbase and the night was dragging.

Being one of the few females serving at the TPDS and the senior ranking officer on duty that night was a huge responsibility for the young ensign and she was determined to make a good impression on her commanding officer.

Petty Officer Gilbert called out. “Ma’am! I’m getting a strange reading on the radar.”

Moving to the radar station, Ensign Evans looked over the Petty Officer’s shoulder. “What is it?”

Petty Officer Gilbert said, “If I didn’t know better, I would say it was the beginning of a hyperspace portal.”

“But that’s impossible this close to Earth.”

“That’s what I was taught also,” the Petty Officer added. “It could be a glitch.”

“Have you run your nightly diagnostic on your station?”

“Aye, aye ma’am. All systems were green.”

“If your system checks good, then there must be an anomaly.” Turning her attention back to the screen, they watched as the small fluctuations on the screen grew larger and larger.

Suddenly, proximity alarms all across the starbase began sounding.

Petty Officer Gilbert jabbed at the screen. “A large object has emerged from hyperspace ninety-one hundred meters off the port bow, bearing one-sixty degrees by negative zero-five-three.”

This was her worst nightmare. An unidentified object has somehow seemingly appeared right outside Starbase Alpha, well within attack range. Even though the beginning stages of fear ran through her body, Ensign Evans reacted out of years of training. Sprinting the ten meters to the command console she slammed her fist down on the ‘panic button.’ All throughout the Starbase alarms were blaring; all non-essential hatches were sliding shut to seal off certain areas of the base, while fighter jocks were being roused from their sleep as they scrambled to get to their Dragons and all aspects of the Planetary Defensive Systems began powering up.

At almost the same time, the comm panel lit up with a priority message from her Commanding Officer. Tapping the receive button, Ensign Evans began her report even before her superior could say a word.

“Captain, at approximately zero-three twenty-three hours radar registered a sub-space anomaly off our port bow. Thirty-five seconds later a large object was detected. I have signaled red alert.”

Captain Cline was pulling on his uniform even as he replied, “Good work Ensign. I’m on my…”

The captain’s response was interrupted by a call from the comm officer. “Incoming message from the UFO!”

“Put it on the squawk and patch it through to the captain,” commanded Ensign Evans.

“Aye, aye ma’am.”

With the tapping of a few buttons, the message sounded through the command deck and on the captain’s console.

Static…. “May-Day! May-Day!” Static…. “This is…” Static… “GMSS Romulus…” Static… “we are heavily damaged….” Static…

“Get them back!”

“Sorry ma’am, only static.”

Petty Officer Gilbert called out from his station. “Ma’am! I’m reading several large explosions from the area!”

Ensign Evans rushed to the radar console, totally ignoring her senior officer. “Scan the area! Any energy readings?”

Petty Officer Gilbert’s fingers flew across the panel. “Negative ma’am. No energy readings of any kind, just a scattering of debris and several bodies.”

“Ensign Evans! Report!” came the captain’s voice over the active command circuit on her console.

Crossing the few meters, Ensign Evans straightened her uniform and brushed a few stray locks of her shoulder length blonde hair behind her ears.

“Sir, radar reports several explosions in the area of the disturbance and they are not receiving echoes from any large objects.” She paused to glance at one of her monitors. “The IFF transponder signal matches a battlecruiser registered to the Galactic Marshals operating out of Mars.”

“Ensign Evans,” Captain Cline asked, “how could you walk away from me while in the middle of a report?”

Unconsciously fidgeting a bit, she chewed on her lip for a second before answering. “Sir, I am the Night Duty Officer on watch. My responsibility is to the safety of this entire station and her personnel. While a situation is underway, I don’t have the time or the luxury for pleasantries...sir.”

Captain Cline ran a hand through his graying hair and readjusted his horned-rimmed glasses before looking his subordinate up and down. “I see. And what would you recommend next?”

“Standard operating procedures would dictate that we recall all fighters, stand down from red alert and launch a salvage tug to investigate the area and recover any evidence.”

Nodding his agreement, Captain Cline sat back down. “Make sure you add a note in your log and good work lieutenant.”

“Its ensign sir.”

Shaking his head, Captain Cline grinned. “Not anymore, I expect a full report of this incident on my desk by zero-eight hundred hours and congratulations lieutenant.”

Snapping to attention, Lt.. Evans saluted her commanding officer. “Thank you sir. But I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t mention the staff on duty with me tonight. It was their skills which enabled our quick and timely response.”

Captain Cline nodded. “So noted. Forward their names with your report so letters of recommendation can be added to their files.”

“Aye, aye sir.” As her commanding officer disconnected, she punched up the station’s intercom system. “All hands stand down from Red Alert. Resume normal operations.” She turned to her staff and said, “Recall all fighters, power down all systems and launch a salvage tug to investigate.”

Maybe it was her imagination but the replies of ‘aye, aye ma’am’ seemed to carry a bit more respect than those of earlier in the shift.

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido studied the display panel on his console. “Did they buy it?”

“Scanning with passive systems only…” Pax answered. “All weapon systems are powering down and a recall order has been issued to all fighters.”

“It seems we are in the clear captain,” Athena added.

Talia, Jay and DJ all let out a heavy sigh of relief. Only Xerxes seemed unaffected by the stress of their possible destruction.

“How did you know to bring along those bodies and scrap metal?” asked Talia.

With a shrug Iaido replied, “I didn’t. They were just available and seemed to be an asset I might be able to exploit.”

“Captain,” Athena said, “we have a lone Dragon making his way slowly through the wreckage.”

“Damn Murphy!”

“Murphy?” Talia asked, “Who’s Murphy?”

It was Jay who answered. “Murphy’s Law states whatever can go wrong…will go wrong. It is the bane of soldiers everywhere.”

Talia shook her head. “I don’t understand. You Terrans have a law about something going wrong?”

Jay snickered. “It’s not a law placed on the books of any country in the Coalition or the Confederacy but nearly everyone has heard of it; call it a life lesson if you will. But when planning for a mission, a good commander has to take into account that Murphy will surface sometime during that operation.”

Talia turned toward Iaido and asked, “And did you?”

Ignoring her question, Iaido manipulated the controls of his command console. A 3D holographic image of the debris field and the lone Dragon starfighter filled the air above his chair.

“Pax, where is his wingman?”

Talia asked, “His what?”

“Fighter jocks always travel in pairs,” DJ responded. “His partner is referred to as a wingman.”

“You Terrans are a strange race. No wonder the Empire feels threatened by your success.” She slapped her hands over her mouth as if she had let slip a great secret.

Without taking his eyes off the images Iaido said, “Don’t worry about it Talia. Even during the war we heard rumors about dissention within the Empire. Human history has been rife with espionage between supposed allies. It’s par for the course.”

“Par for the course?”

Jay rolled his eyes at her incessant questions but answered anyway. “Another human analogy meaning that it’s normal.”

Pax said, “Alpha Dragon is approaching the center of the debris field. His wingman, Beta Dragon, is four hundred meters off his six o’clock and at the very edge of the zone.”

“Can you tap into their comms?”

“Affirmative.”

Seconds later, the voice of Alpha Dragon whose call sign was ‘Dirtman’ came over the bridge speakers.

“Tiger, something doesn’t seem right.”

“Roger Dirtman I have the same feeling,” replied Tiger.

“If this was a Harbinger class battlecruiser wouldn’t there be more debris?”

“I would think so. Dirtman, should we alert CIC?”

Iaido asked, “Pax are we clear of the blast zone?”

“Affirmative Captain.”

“Then activate the Betties.”

Iaido saw the look on Talia’s face and knew she was dying to ask another question, so he launched into a brief explanation.

“Betties are a type of cluster bombs used during the war. Originally designed as anti-personnel devices back in the early 1900s, they were commonly called ‘Bouncing Betties’ due to the fact that once trigged the bombs wouldn’t explode right away. But launch a series of smaller bombs into the air which then exploded blanketing a whole area in death and destruction.” Iaido pointed at the 3D holographic image of the debris field. “These are the same type of bombs but adapted to space combat. However, Jay has modified these to only disable ships instead of destroying them. Watch and see.”

Turning back to the view offered by the 3D holographic display, the crew watched in fascination as the image suddenly changed as several seemingly inconspicuous barrels exploded into a hail of small globes the size of a baseball. Both Dragon pilots, Dirtman and Tiger, reacted quickly by hitting afterburners and pulling up sharply but the expanding field of globes were faster. A mere fraction of a second later the whole area was bathed in an electromagnetic pulse which lashed out from the original barrels to strike the seven-hundred and fifty metal globes and any other metal object in the way. Both starfighters were engulfed by the lightning storm and fell dark.

Getting up from his chair, Iaido stretched.  “Pax set course for New Atlanta, best speed possible.”

“Aye, aye sir.”

Moving off the bridge, Iaido led his small crew to the messhall. “Okay, now comes the hard part.”

DJ stopped in his tracks. “You call that easy?”

Shaking his head, Iaido moved to the galley to fix himself some coffee. “Not really but given our current speed and rate of descent we should arrive over New Atlanta with about fifty minutes to spare and over sixteen different locations mentioned in the Major’s files. Not to mention, that there is still a warrant for my arrest and the Galactic Marshals stationed in the area will certainly be hunting us.”

Grabbing a beer from the cooler, DJ raised an eyebrow and decided to play the Devil’s Advocate. “What is the worst case scenario if we are too late?”

Talia chimed in. “According to the data we recovered from the Praetorian’s files, the virus needs a living host to fully mature. Those that aren’t dead immediately from the explosions will certainly be infected with the virus, as will any first responders who arrive to help. Basically, for the first two stages of the virus’ life it is a blood-born pathogen. However, when the virus reaches stage three, the host explodes propelling the virus into the air.”

“Explodes?”

Talia nodded as she punched up some video records.

“Stage one is very subtle and can last from three to ten days. Subjects infected begin with a slight fever and become increasingly paranoid. Once the subject’s fever reaches one hundred and four point three degrees, they enter into stage two which will last for exactly seven days, almost to the hour. During this phase the infected subjects display increased strength coupled with an uncontrollable rage fueled by vivid hallucinations. One common trait is an unquenchable thirst for blood which lasts until they explode, killing the subject and spreading the virus. According to the files, once a subject reaches stage two there is no known cure. Only the death of the subject will stop the spread of the virus which was the reason Omega Squadron was called in ten years ago on Mars.”

Jay asked, “How long can the virus survive airborne?”

Talia scanned the database but shook her head. “There is no reliable data. Most of the information dates back to the Mars Incident. With the enclosed domes and recirculated air that data would not apply to a natural environment like New Atlanta. Wind patterns and ambient temperatures would have to be factored into the equation but as a guess the virus should die within twenty-four hours if a new host isn’t found. Of course, that’s just a guess.”

Jay pointed at her chart. “But according to this, you believe that the majority of the population will be infected within the first two hours. That is, if we fail to stop the explosions.”

Talia nodded. “Yes. Given the data available, I talked with Pax and she factored in the sixteen different locations and the prevailing winds and this is the best guess we can make.”

“You are correct. I estimate that our conjecture to be eighty percent accurate, with a margin of error of five percent,” added Pax.

Iaido nodded. “There is no way we can get to all sixteen locations in the time allotted. We are going to need help. Let me contact KC.”

Chapter 28

Kristopher was standing in his office gazing at the city map of New Atlanta which covered one whole wall when his com-link chimed. Casting a quick glance at the Federal Agent beside him, he hit the receive button.

“Lt. Kristopher of the NAPD.”

“KC, it’s Spartan. Can you talk?”

Kristopher sat back down at his desk. “Yes, but be aware that Special Agent Johnson of the FSA is with me and he knows the truth of your origins.”

“Good morning Mr. Spartan,” added the Fed.

“Good. That will make things easier. Listen carefully. I believe that over the last few months, Major McDowell has placed at least sixteen proton bombs throughout the city and they are set to detonate within the hour.”

“What!” they both yelled.

“I have neutralized the Major but he had already set in motion the bombs. We have raided his database and we think we know the location of the bombs…well, a general location at least.”

Special Agent Johnson asked, “Do you have proof or is this merely speculation?”

“Both. The Major has been neutralized but the threat remains. Listen.”

As Iaido played the recording, Kristopher nodded when he heard the voice, it was his former commander.

“I won’t be taken back. And if you kill me, you’ll die here as well. Either way, you won’t be able to stop the coming cataclysm. Events have been set in motion that no one can stop. By this time tomorrow, New Atlanta will tear itself apart and the General will be to blame. I have seen to that.”

Iaido asked, “Would you want to take the chance that I’m wrong or that he was just bluffing?”

Special Agent Johnson nodded. “Good point. Let me have the data and we will get started.”

Iaido paused. “Three things; first, Sgt. Major Spenton’s daughter Eve is sitting on one of the bombs. She must be a priority to rescue.”

“Done.”

“Secondly, each bomb is sitting on or is surrounded by a series of barrels. These must not be breeched at any cost.”

Special Agent Johnson asked, “Why?”

“We believe them to be filled with the Mars virus.”

Kristopher spoke, “Oh My God!”

“Yes. If they are breeched or any one of the bombs explodes then New Atlanta and possibly the entire Eastern seaboard could be contaminated.”

Special Agent Johnson nodded. “Understood.”

“One last thing, I need to know where the General is right now.”

“Why,” asked Kristopher.

Iaido could hear the Fed in the background already working on getting additional help for the bomb disposal. “He’s in grave danger.”

“From the bombs?”

“Something worse.”

Special Agent Johnson perked up and asked, “What could be worse than bombs sitting on the Mars virus?”

“One of my brothers is out to get him.”

Kristopher said, “Holy shit! One of the Ten still lives? Who?”

“Aeneas, the Major cloned him.”

“And you think he is here in New Atlanta?”

“It would only be logical. You know the Major was always a stickler for having a GOTH plan.”

“True,” said Kristopher as he checked his copy of the President’s itinerary. “Oh shit…”

“What?” asked Special Agent Johnson.

“The President is at the Hall of Justice interviewing Jagger Jax.”

“And…” prompted Iaido.

“And considering the danger he presented, most of his entire Cabinet is with him and they are guarded by seven Galactic Marshals.”

“One of them must be Aeneas. I’ll take care of him,” Iaido said. Transmitting the files he added, “Here is everything we have on the bombs. We can’t afford to fail on this. Good hunting. Spartan out.”

As the comlink went dead, Special Agent Johnson looked at the map and then back to the NAPD lieutenant. “Can he handle the Marshals? Shouldn’t we send some backup his way?”

Kristopher shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t want to be around for the blood bath that’s coming and any troops we send in would only be collateral damage.”

“But he’s outnumbered.”

“Always. But that is also when he is at his deadliest.”

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido looked up from the comm center and asked, “Status?”

Pax responed. “All systems nominal and we should be at the drop zone in seventeen minutes.”

“Good.” Iaido turned to his friend. “DJ, I don’t have the right to ask this but…”

Downing a beer, the ex-marine tossed the empty can in a nearby pile. “You don’t have to ask. Just point me at them and go off and do your thing. I have your back.”

“Thanks.”

“Besides, try and leave me behind. There’s no way I’m gonna let you go and have all the fun.”

“In that case, Athena, show him to storage locker Triple-X. I believe you’ll find something there you can use.”

Athena snapped to attention. “Aye, aye, sir.”

As they departed down the ladder to the cargo hold, Talia gently cleared her throat. When he turned his attention back to the lovely Sylvan, he could tell that she had a question. “Yes?”

“I know you’re busy but I am so confused. You referred to a Goth plan but the only reference for Goths I can find in the database is an ancient clan of warriors that were instrumental in the fall of the Roman Empire nearly a millennia ago and somehow I don’t think that is what you are talking about.”

Iaido grinned at her attempt to discover answers to her own questions but wasn’t surprised that she couldn’t determine its origin.

“You are correct. The military has a habit of making an acronym for commonly used phrases. In this case GOTH stands for Go To Hell plan. It’s a backup plan that kicks in when everything else fails. Like at noon when the bombs don’t go off, I would imagine the Praetorians have orders to assassinate the General and his Council.”

Talia nodded. “And you’re going to stop it?”

“Of course. As much as I dislike the General, he is the duly elected President of the Coalition and I swore an oath to protect the Coalition from all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Iaido paused and chuckled slightly. “Hell, if you think I’m dedicated, just wait until you see DJ in action. The Marines have a longer history of protecting the President than anyone.”

About that time DJ walked in wearing a powered combat suit that was more tank than suit.

The HAVOC V– Heavily Armored Variable Offensive Combat Vehicle- powered armor wasn’t sleek and subdued like Iaido’s ARC suit, it was bulky and intimidating. It was designed with multiple sharp corners intended to disrupt radar tracking and deflect any non-penetrating rounds. It was also made of thicker and heavier plating than the ARC suits which meant that anyone wearing it was nearly seven feet tall and at least half that wide. The HAVOC-V suit did have one defensive capability that the ARC suits didn’t have…nanites. Each suit was outfitted with one million of the microscopic androids with one simple purpose, to repair damage to the armor plating.

The suit was a bright white and painted on the chest was a rampant bald eagle in front of the Coalition Flag with a banner of the Marine motto of ‘Semper Fi’ underneath, Latin for ‘Always Faithful.’

For weapons, the HAVOC-V suit had twin rocket launchers, one on each shoulder, and DJ was carrying a Typhoon Series 10 Gatling Gun; the most powerful portable railgun available. It had ten different barrels which rotated as it fired giving the gun a chance to cool down slightly during use. The rounds were small, only 5mm in diameter but the speed and kinetic force it struck with was devastating.

DJ had his helmet off and was smiling from ear to ear. “I like it!”

“It fits you,” Iaido said. “Besides, Marines aren’t known for their subtly.”

“How in the hell did you get a hold of HAVOC-V suit?”

Iaido grinned. “You’d be amazed at what’s available on the Black Market these days.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Pax interrupted. “T minus ten minutes.”

Iaido became deadly serious. “Okay people, here’s the plan…”

*   *   *   *   *

By the time the Nemesis was on final approach to the New Atlanta Hall of Justice, it was a quarter till noon. Pax had tapped into the surveillance system of the government building, downloaded the blueprints and had a live feed from all internal cameras. They knew the interrogation was taking place in the Grand Rotunda, a huge room that covered three floors and nearly the whole center area of the building. Unfortunately, the main entryway was on the twentieth floor of the thirty floor building.

Iaido pulled up a 3D rendering of the building and pointed at a spot on the roof.

“Here’s our entry point.”

DJ looked more closely at the spot where his friend was pointing. It was just a blank patch of roof. “Not to burst your bubble but there isn’t a door there.”

Iaido grinned. “Not yet. I know you Marines have been clearing building for centuries but we don’t have time for a standard entry. So, we are going to do this the Omega way.” He pointed at the corresponding floors. “Using crater charges, we are going to blast a hole in the roof and drop through. We will continue this method until we reach the twentieth floor at this junction. This path will take us through the least traffic areas of each floor, but places us down the hall and around a corner from our target.”

DJ nodded. “I see. I never thought of an entry like that. Marines tend to be more straight forward even when we are trying to flank our opponents.”

“I know and there are times when that approach works best. This just isn’t one of those times. Our biggest problem will be the amount of resistance we will encounter during our approach but our options are limited with only two of us.”

“Make that three.”

The two warriors turned to find Jay standing there completely outfitted in his own ARC armor. It was nearly standard issue, with the exception of his cybernetic legs and the Master Chief emblem on his chest.

“Nice to see you up and about Master Chief,” Iaido said.

Jay nodded. “I couldn’t let you two face all those odds while I just sat around. Now, I won’t be much help in close quarter combat but I can still shoot with the best of them.”

Iaido smiled. “Your assistance is greatly appreciated.”

DJ smacked the Master Chief on the shoulder with a resounding clunk. “Welcome Squid.”

Jay returned the thump. “Devil dog.”

“Talking about close quarter combat, I have something for you DJ.” Iaido reached into a foot locker at his side and pulled out the twin powered gladii he taken from the Praetorians. “If we survive this, I’ll teach you how to use them properly. For now, I would suggest you think of them as really big knives.”

“Thanks. I will. You know all Marines are skilled in knife combat.”

“Just try not to get in a fencing match with the Praetorians, they are trained with these….you aren’t.” Seeing his friend nod, he continued. “Okay, in five minutes Pax will have us over the drop zone. I’ll lead, then the Marine and the Master Chief will cover the rear. Once we begin the assault, we don’t stop for anything. You fall behind, you get left behind. Just remember that ninety percent of the people we are about to confront are just civilians doing their jobs and not truly enemies.”

Talia touched Iaido’s arm. “What do you want me to do?”

Iaido turned and gazed into her emerald eyes. “You have the hardest job of them all.”

“What’s that?”

“Staying behind and waiting.” Seeing that she was about to object, he held up his armored hand to forestall her. “I cannot concentrate on the mission at hand if I’m worried about protecting you.”

Talia reluctantly nodded, although Xerxes cocked his head to the side while one of his mandibles toyed with the leather pouch at his neck.

Athena snapped to attention. “What are my orders Captain?”

“You and Xerxes are to take the Nemesis into an over watch pattern. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the Major’s GOTH plan called for some sort of airstrike. I know mine would.”

With a rigid salute she said, “Aye..aye Captain.”

*   *   *   *   *

By the time the Nemesis settled in over the roof of the Hall of Justice, Special Agent Johnson had called to tell them that they had found and neutralized five of the bombs but no sign of Eve.

Iaido just vaguely acknowledged receipt of the message as he watched the countdown timer on his HUD. One minute until they deployed. Old skills and mindsets automatically slipped into place. As soon as the Nemesis decloaked and became visible, four anti-aircraft guns deployed on each of the corners of the building and began tracking the warship. Pax had been expecting this and made short work of the batteries with the multiple turbolasers at her disposal.

Seeing the threat neutralized, Iaido opened the cargo hatch. “Let’s Roll.”

Putting actions to words, the bounty hunter stepped out into empty air and fell the fifty feet to the roof. Landing heavily, Iaido moved forward to the entry point without looking back. It was simple, they were following him or they weren’t. This type of mission was time critical. He couldn’t stop for anything.

DJ and Jay followed twenty seconds apart, as planned. It had been over a decade since either of them had been in true combat but certain skills, once learned are never truly forgotten. They immediately took up flanking positions and constantly scanned the area, both visually and electronically.

Iaido moved to the exact spot with the help of his HUD and set the crater charge for a three second delay. Stepping back, he spoke over their secure tac-net.

“Fire in the hole.”

BOOM…and the friends began their entry.

*   *   *   *   *

Talia couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread as she watched Iaido and her new friends disappear in the hole in the roof. For some reason, she glanced over at Xerxes. The large black Mantis shook the leather pouch around his neck and pointed at her, himself and then at the roof. Talia realized that he felt it also and thought that they needed to follow Iaido. Somehow, he knew that their ancient enemy lay below them.

This was their moment of choice, confront it or wait it out.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. Xerxes immediately grabbed her around the waist and jumped. Talia couldn’t hold back the scream that escaped her lips. The large mantis landed on the roof and gently set her down.

Talia looked around.

The Nemesis was vectoring to intercept several skimmers that were en route to their location. Pulling out her pistol, she powered it up and moved to follow Xerxes who had just vanished into the opening. Stopping at the gap, she looked down to find the large mantis waiting for her among the rubble.

Chewing her lip slightly, Talia took a deep breath and jumped.

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido couldn’t help but feel slightly excited at the dynamic entry they were performing. It’s an odd sensation knowing that at any second a tango, military slang for target, could pop out and engage them. They had already blown through four floors and hadn’t encountered a single tango but then, that was the plan. They had picked these corridors and rooms due to their lack of use but sooner or later, Iaido knew they would meet some sort of resistance. It was inevitable.

Iaido glanced at his HUD. The Marine was one floor up and about fifteen paces back with the Squid about the same behind DJ. It was almost the perfect spacing. If anyone of the three got bogged down in a fire fight, the other two were within easy reach for assistance.

A red X popped up on his HUD ten feet in front of him which marked another spot for a crater charge. Planting the explosive, Iaido stepped back, paused for two seconds and began moving forward. It was perfect timing learned from thousands of entries over his time with Omega. He hit the hole milliseconds after the explosion and followed the rubble into the breach.

The proximity alarms built into his ARC suit went off as his HUD filled with a dozen white and yellow circles. Every military-issued powered armor had its own version of an AI, nowhere near as advanced as Pax or Athena, but capable of locating and identifying threats. His suit quickly scanned the two dozen humans in the room and categorized them into one of three types; non-combatants, possible-combatants and confirmed-combatants. Unfortunately, the suit AIs couldn’t distinguish friend from foe, that job was left to the warrior wearing the suit. There were sixteen white circles (non-combatants) and eight yellow circles (possible-combatants) in the room. According to the agenda that Pax had downloaded on approach, this courtroom was supposed to be empty but obviously something had happened and this trial had to be shuffled to another courtroom.

Landing almost in the exact center of the room, Iaido snapped his THAB-Mk9 into position as the built-in targeting reticules of his suit locked onto all possible combatants. Seven of the yellow circles shifted to red as the six police officers assigned to the courtroom pulled their service pistols. Data concerning each tango popped up next to the reticules; including names, statistics, links to their service records and information concerning their weapons. None of their guns were strong enough to penetrate his armor, so at this current time he intended on ignoring them.

The seventh red circle was the defendant.

Iaido’s data indicated that the defendant was a career criminal who was on trial for murdering a family of three. He was claiming self-defense and PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Of course, according to Iaido’s corresponding data, he had never served one day in the service. Since he had pulled a knife from under the table and was threatening to kill his attorney, the bounty hunter acted. Engaging his external loud speakers, Iaido pushed the volume to maximum so his voice boomed.

“Guilty!”

Firing two shots from his THAB, the first one took the defendant’s hand off at the wrist sending the knife flipping through the air. His second shot took the accused murderer in the left temple and knocked him over the table. He was dead before his body hit the floor.

Knowing that confusion was his ally, Iaido dropped his THAB to hang by its sling, reached into his belt pouch and pulled out three small metallic canisters. Removing the safety pins, he tossed them into different sections of the room. Even before they landed, the grenades began spewing a thick grey smoke.

As the civilians and police alike got a whiff of the gas, they began coughing uncontrollably. Coughing gas was basically harmless but a very effective way of incapacitating humans without a self-contained breathing apparatus.

All of this took less than fifteen seconds. However, it was still long enough for someone to set off the alarms throughout the building. Knowing that DJ and Jay would be walking into chaos, Iaido activated his own version of the GOTH plan.

Transmitting on their local tac-net Iaido said, “Alarms raised, activate plan Charlie…proceed to objective as fast as possible.”

He knew that on each of their HUDs a new path was immediately highlighted showing the most direct route to their target. Of course, this would take them through some of the heavier trafficked areas but that couldn’t be helped. Iaido saw the green lights in the far left corner of his HUD illuminate that signified that his friends had received and acknowledge the change of plans. Everyone knew that they needed to get to the Rotunda before the Galactic Marshals could enact their plot.

There is an old saying; the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line.

Iaido took that adage to heart, brought his THAB back to his shoulder and headed due north right toward the nearest wall. If there was a door in his path, he used it; if there wasn’t, he created one with the 20mm cannon mounted to the under-barrel of his rifle.

This method had several advantages. First, it was hard for any sort of resistance to form up since he wasn’t taking any known pathways. Secondly, the explosions, while not overly large when compared to some of the other ordinance that he carried, were still large enough to disorient and knock over anyone nearby. And lastly, Iaido hated to admit it to himself, but it was damn fun.

When he reached his entry point, Iaido checked his HUD for the location of his friends. They were closing in on their spots and would be on site in a matter of seconds. The plan now was to make a heavy dynamic entry, blowing through as many floors as necessary to get them into the room as quickly as possible but the timing was going to be crucial.  DJ was one floor up and to the southwest, while Jay was two floors up and slightly west. DJ’s entry would place him at the main entry of the Rotunda which was actually on the second floor. Preliminary scans show that this would be the primary entrance for any possible reinforcements. Jay’s entry should put him on the highest corner of the room, dropping him onto the balcony which ran the entire perimeter of the Rotunda. This would put him in a perfect position to act as a sniper.

Iaido reached his entry point, although he still had five floors to go through, he signaled that he was ready to breech. Squatting down behind a large filing cabinet, he set his first charge and preloaded the next four. When the time came, he calculated that it would only take him about twelve seconds to blow through the five floors. Now came the hard part, the waiting. Logically, he knew that his friends would be in place in a matter of moments but even his long years of military service couldn’t override the apprehension and excitement that would creep over him in the next few minutes.

*   *   *   *   *

DJ couldn’t contain his grin.

Of course, since it was hidden behind the opaque dome of his helmet and no one could see it but it was there. There was probably some sort of psychological diagnosis for someone who considered breaching a building with an unknown number of combatants with the odds completely stacked against them as fun. The non-technical term of crazy came to mind, but then… he was a Marine and that term has been used to describe them for centuries.

But it was true; he was having more fun than any one moment over the last decade. Ever since the day he shot his company commander. For a fleeting second, DJ felt a sense of remorse for killing his lieutenant back in his service days. He knew that the LT wasn’t really a bad person, just a scared kid. But his unit had been pinned down by the Confederates and they were slowly being picked off by snipers. The LT had lost his courage and fled. Unfortunately, he was the only one with a working sat-com and DJ had been forced to kill him to keep the satellite communications gear intact and with the unit.

DJ had contemplated that single moment which changed his life so many times over the last decade but he couldn’t figure anyway else it could’ve turned out different. Unconsciously, the shoulder flaps on his HAVOC-V suit popped open and closed as he shrugged.

An old Strike acronym came to mind… FIDO; Fuck It Drive On. The simple mentality that when all else fails, keep driving forward until something stops you or you have a reason to change directions.

Arriving at his breaching point, DJ signaled he was ready and set his charges. He knew that he had five floors to blow through and he would probably land in the middle of the proverbial hornet’s nest. One way or another, this was going to be the time of his life; either the last few minutes of it or the most exciting moments of it.

Either way, he was ready.

*   *   *   *   *

Jay was different than his friends.

This was neither fun nor exciting but fearful. He didn’t regret offering his help. As a friend and a former solider, it was a duty. But fighting was no longer his calling, perhaps it never was. He had always preferred tinkering to fighting.

Reaching his entry spot, Jay took a deep breath and signaled ready. Almost immediately, Iaido and DJ’s lights went from green to red signaling that they were breaching. His HUD automatically started a sixty second countdown in the upper right-hand corner of his vision. Since he was going to be the over-watch, he was supposed to enter one full minute after the others. This would enhance his odds of entering undetected in the confusion created by the other two. Of course, this would be one of the longest minutes of his life… ranking right up there with standing in the pass on Gilese as the bugs charged.

Jay smiled slightly.

This entry might be bad but after living through Gilese…nothing was ever going to be as dire as that.

Chapter 29

As soon as Iaido saw Jay’s light turn from red to green, he fired off his first crater charge and rode the rubble down.

His HUD displayed a countdown and graphic display of his entry. When he was two seconds from hitting the next floor, he set off the next crater charge and so on and so on.

There was no way that Iaido could know exactly where everyone in the Rotunda would be standing during his entry. Knowing full and well that it was dangerous to assume when going into battle, Iaido didn’t have the luxury of a full recon and was forced to make several educated guesses given the overall layout of the auditorium.

He presumed that the General would be in one of two places; either sitting in the Speaker’s chair, which was the highest spot behind the podium or pacing back and forth in front of the accused during his interrogation. The members of the High Council would be seated to the left and right of the Speaker’s chair.

The Galactic Marshals would probably be positioned near the members of the High Council and flanking the notorious thief and criminal, Jagger Jax. Iaido also knew that somewhere there would be a news crew filming the whole procedure; there was no way that the General would pass up this type of photo op.

Breaching the final floor, the room erupted into chaos.

As Iaido followed five floors of rubble down the three stories opening that was the Grand Rotunda, the only analogy his brain could come up with is that it must be akin to riding an avalanche straight down to hell.

With a flick of his eye and a simple thought, he engaged his inertial dampeners which shifted his body weight to half of normal. This wouldn’t slow his fall but would make surviving the impact at the bottom easier.

His ARC suit’s AI began scanning and correlating data at a staggering speed. Instead of the seven Galactic Marshals that he was expecting, his HUD showed twelve red circles spread throughout the room. The only good thing was that there weren’t any questionable tangos; well not really…his HUD did mark Jagger Jax with a yellow circle.

Trusting his instincts and training, Iaido fired five shots even as he was falling. He knew the moment he fired that only one was a kill shot. Nevertheless the resulting blasts knocked the Praetorians away from the five most senior High Council members.

On the upper left corner of his HUD, four icons with corresponding numbers popped up. The first was a small white skull with a one underneath popped into view, confirmed kills. Next to that was a red cross, injured combatants, with the number four beneath it. The fourth was a set of crossed swords to mark the number of combatants within a hundred foot radius. The last was a yellow smiley face for friendlies in the same area.

It was a tad low tech but he had developed this method during his years in the military to help track his killed and wounded count in the chaos that was battle. It followed the simple analogy of K.I.S.S…Keep It Simple Stupid.

Once Iaido engaged an enemy, numbers became secondary but keeping an accurate count was a necessity. However, combat for him was more primal, almost instinctual. If someone confronted him with a weapon, they were an enemy and Iaido did what he did best. He attacked. But not every assault was designed to kill. Some were just meant to delay or incapacitate an enemy. In the pandemonium that was battle, how could he accurately count or keep up with those that were just wounded instead of killed?

Enter his tally system.

Long ago he had reasoned that if the AI in his suit was advanced enough to analyze and recognize threats, than it could also track tangos if they were alive or dead after they engaged in combat. Iaido’s AI also identified and marked the camera crew with a yellow box to signify them as non-combatants. His smiley face tally system showed a dozen friendlies in the room; the nine members of the High Council, the General, the glamorous reporter and her liberal holo-recorder. Luckily, the media types were to the south end of the room and out of the line of fire.

Five of the remaining seven Galactic Marshals pulled out two weapons, a powered gladius and a Peregrine Disruptor Mark II. Judging from their choice of weapons, it was obvious that their orders were to kill and not take prisoners. However, the two Praetorians which were the President’s bodyguards did something that was completely unexpected. One grabbed the General and held a powered gladius to his throat while his partner freed the criminal Jagger Jax.

Using the advanced optical capabilities built into his suit, Iaido scanned the faces of the Galactic Marshals and ran their image against his memory and the Omega Squadron database. Unfortunately, they all came up negative. None of these Praetorians were his brother’s clone.

None were Aeneas.

Not waiting to see how the Praetorians would react, Iaido attacked and his world seemed to slow down as his combat senses kicked into overdrive. Even as the debris and rubble were still falling, he was on the move. His next shot, and kill, was to the Marshal holding the General. As much as he hated the man, he was still the elected President of the Coalition and it was his duty to save him.

The resulting blast from his THAB took the Marshal’s head off and scorched the right side of the General’s face. If they both survived this encounter Iaido knew that the General would be pissed and would chew him a new ass but that was an argument for another time.

Tackling the President, Iaido engaged his force shield on his left forearm and twisted his body to place the energy barrier between the General and the incoming disruptor blasts. All five shots hit his shield center mass. Any of the shots would’ve easily killed the unprotected politician or damaged his ARC suit but not his energy shield; it was designed for just such a purpose.

Iaido smiled inwardly at the slight advantage the Praetorians had given him. Even though the PDMkIIs were some of the deadliest weapons in the known universe, they had a very slow rate of fire. Only about one shot every one point nine seconds; which in this type of combat was an eternity.

Tossing the General behind him and over the prosecutor’s desk, Iaido snapped his THAB back to his shoulder and trained it on the five Marshals who were preparing to fire their second volley. He got off three kill shots before the incoming rounds hit him. Luckily, two of the disruptor blasts hit his shield and were deflective harmlessly off to his left. The other three he wasn’t so lucky with. Two blasts caught him in the waist and right leg. The carbon alloy steel absorbed much of the blast, enough so that Iaido didn’t lose any body parts but the composite alloy began to immediately break down. The last incoming disruptor blast hit the barrel of his THAB just as he was shooting his fourth round and the resulting explosion destroyed both the carbine rifle and much of the weakened armor on his right side.

Iaido was knocked aside. Instinctively, he went with the energy and rolled with it instead of resisting the blast. His roll took him to the corner of the podium. He left a trail of metal and blood in his wake but he was still alive. Just before his armor completely shut down, Iaido took one last look at his tally marks; five kills, five wounded, two combatants, nine friendlies and one unknown.

Even as his HUD flicked and died, he attacked. Not having any other choice, Iaido shifted his left side toward the lone threat on the podium, drew his energy blade and jumped. It was a binary solution, either this attack worked or it didn’t. He was out of options and out of time.

The Praetorian had one shot left before Iaido could close the distance and he took it. The disruptor blast seared the entire left side of his armor and Iaido felt the heat building on his skin but ignored the pain. Landing gracefully, Iaido’s energy blade sliced right through the Marshal’s neck, completely beheading him.

Even as the remnants of his ARC suit fell off of him, Iaido heard someone clapping behind him. Turning back toward the remaining Praetorian, he paused when he saw who was applauding.

Standing next to the last Marshal in the same outfit that Jagger Jax had been wearing earlier was his brother’s clone…Aeneas.

Chapter 30

Lt. Kristopher was standing in the lobby of the New Atlanta Hall of Justice waiting on an elevator with five SWAT officers in full tactical armor.

Judging from the alarms going off and the mass of people fleeing the building, Iaido had begun his entry. He called up the evacuation plan of the Hall of Justice to see if there was any faster way other than the main elevators for them to get to the twenty-eight floor. There was a freight elevator on the south end of the building that could take them to the maintenance floor. Shunting this information to his team, the six NAPD officers headed to the opposite end of the building.

“El-tee, I’m curious as to why we are here,” asked one of his SWAT escorts.

Kristopher called up the identifiers and basic records of his team. The officers were drawn from two different tactical teams. He scanned the list of names, he had three from SWAT-Four; Sgt. Hamilton, Officers Muncy and Buchannan, and two from SWAT-Six; Officers Ernspiker and Spurgeon.

These had been the only officers on hand at the NAPD headquarters when he had noticed an inconsistency in some of the data Iaido had collected from the Major’s files. It was those discrepancies and his own insights to Major McDowell which had led them here so he answered, “We’re following a hunch.”

The officer who had asked the first question continued. “You want to explain that? The rest of the teams are off looking for bombs that are supposed to be spread out throughout the city and we are here on a snipe hunt.”

Kristopher checked the identifier; it was Ernspiker. For some reason that name rang a bell in his brain but he couldn’t recall it right off the top of his head.

“I found an anomaly in the information that Spartan shared with us that makes me think that one of the bombs isn’t on the original list and located here on the twenty-eighth floor.”

“We’re hoping to find a bomb here?” asked Spurgeon.

Kristopher nodded. “Hopefully, if my hunch is correct then we will be eliminating Major McDowell’s final component of his GOTH plan. If not, then we will be in position to assist Spartan.”

Sgt. Hamilton joined the conversation. “Roger that El-tee. Now, you three tighten up and get your minds on the mission. Muncy while we are enroute to the floor make sure you review all data concerning these bombs.”

“Roger that Sergeant,” replied Muncy. As a veteran officer of the NABS, New Atlanta Bomb Squad, he was already familiar with the general type of bombs that had been found at the other five sites but since his life, and those of his team, were on the line, he slaved his armor to follow the Sergeant and began pouring over the data the other teams had uploaded to the tac-net.

Arriving at the freight elevator, Kristopher used his police override authority to immediately call the car down to the lobby and they stepped on. Punching up the twenty-eighth floor, they felt the car begin to move. Since it was a freight elevator, it was nowhere near as fast as the main elevators but it was still faster than running up the stairs.

Kristopher smiled inwardly at the efficiency of his hastily thrown together team.

Sgt. Hamilton was accessing the schematics of the building and assigning roles and fields of fire to the rest of the team, which left him time to delve through the officer’s files and records.

Those that were assigned to SWAT-Four were the easiest since he had worked with them many times before. He knew from past jobs that Sgt. Hamilton was soft spoken and meticulous about details but refrained from micromanaging his team. Buchannan was a veteran of the team and a solid shooter. Muncy was the newest member to the team but his service record was exemplary and his bomb squad experience would especially come in handy.

The two officers from SWAT-Six were enigmas.

Even though Kristopher had known and worked with Lt. Brown over the years, he hadn’t worked many cases with his men. But then, the names of Ernspiker and Spurgeon were just too familiar. Running a quick search, he noticed that it had been SWAT-Six that had been the first team to breach the Safehouse on the night Iaido had knocked him out. That’s when he saw an odd notation in his file, T. Ernspiker – KIA.

Ernspiker. That was the name of the officer that had been killed by friendly fire during the raid. Kristopher glanced over at the man. If he had been killed in action then this must be a clone.

Quickly, he pulled up a query concerning the cloning option on all five of his escorts. Every single one of them had opted to be cloned in case of their deaths during the line of duty. Thinking back to his earlier conversation with Jay about cloning, he remembered Iaido’s comment about not knowing the difference.

Seeing his chance, he sent a secure com-link message to Officer Ernspiker.

Ernspiker answered, “Yes El-tee? What can I do for you?”

“Pardon the intrusion Officer Ernspiker but I noticed that you were involved in a recent raid at the Safehouse down near the airport.”

“Yes sir…that was me. I was on the breaching team.”

Kristopher paused. He didn’t exactly know how to phrase the question he really wanted to ask so he decided to ask a general question and see what came up.

“On that mission, your objective was to neutralize Spartan and now, I might be asking you to assist him. Is this going to be a problem?”

“Negative sir, I’ve been on the force long enough to understand how mission objectives change.” Ernspiker shifted his body slightly and pointed over his shoulder at another officer. “Now, if I can just keep Sponge Bob from shooting me this time, it will be all good.”

Even though Spurgeon wasn’t in their conversation, he must’ve realized what they were discussing because he blurted out on the team wide comlink. “It was an accident! How many times do I have ta apologize?”

Realizing that their conversation was now team wide, Kristopher switched channels. “So you know that you’re a clone?”

“Hell yes! I chose the full memory restore option just in case my death was caused by something I did. Of course, I didn’t expect to be shot in the head by a friend.”

“It was an accident!”

It was obvious that Buchannan was laughing when he added, “The whole force has been talking about it for the last few days.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Sgt. Hamilton barked. “At ease people! We have a job to do and we’re thirty seconds out. Look sharp!”

Kristopher saw that they were approaching their destination and brought his R-Gun to his shoulder and mentally prepared himself to follow his team into the unknown.

The elevator doors opened and the six police officers rushed into danger.

Chapter 31

Retired Staff Sgt. Scott DeJarnette was in hog-heaven. Seeing the Master Chief’s signal turn green, he began his entry.

Blowing the crater charge, he fell through to the floor below him. It was a hallway full of people. Judging from their suits, he guessed lawyers. Seeing them run away in full panic mode made him smile even more. To him, lawyers were at the very bottom of the ladder in human evolution, just barely above politicians.

Setting and blowing his next charge, DJ continued this process until he was falling through the last barricade to his designated coordinates. Having never used this breaching method before, the Marine was slower than the deadly Spec Ops warrior turned bounty hunter but still faster than the Galactic Marshals posted outside the Grand Rotunda. His HAVOC-V suit began to identify tangos and display them on his HUD. There were twenty-seven red circles, eight orange and twelve yellow in the overly large foyer he landed in. Luckily, the majority of the red tangos were clustered in one area at the far end of the hall.

Landing heavily, large cracks formed in the tile floor as the stone and metal rubble filled the foyer.

DJ engaged his external speakers and shouted, “Coalition Marines! Non-combatants hit the floor!”

Without waiting for an answer, DJ lifted his left arm in a sweeping motion which encompassed the entire room while he fired off a series of puck-like objects. Three seconds later, the flash-bangs began to go off. Not all at once but in the same order he fired them. The resulting explosions of light and sound rolled across the room knocking people down and blowing out every single window on the level.

This bought the Marine enough time to move the fifty feet to the only entrance to the auditorium.

Knowing he only had seconds until he was under assault, DJ kicked the only Marshall that was in his path. The Praetorian went flying across the room and crashed into the wall with a resounding thud. Reaching the doorway, he dropped the bag he had been carrying slung over his shoulder. Pulling out four black metal posts that were about three feet tall, each capped on both ends with a silver ball, he set them down in a semi-circle pattern; one on each side of the door and two in the middle. Powering them up, the portable shield generators filled the space in between the posts with a blue-white light which crackled with energy.

Sporadic blaster fire began bouncing off his energy barricade as the Praetorians slowly regained their senses.

DJ grinned and squatted down behind his barrier which protected the lower portions of his armor. Pointing his Typhoon Series 10 Gatling Gun at the offending Marshals, DJ squeezed the trigger.

*   *   *   *   *

Jay tried to wait the entire minute but failed miserably.

Even with numerous floors in between them, he heard and felt his friends’ entries. Following the plan, with the exception of the timing, the Master Chief began blowing his way through the floors until he was inside the auditorium of the Grand Rotunda. Since his entry was planned to be slightly covert, his fall was less than twenty feet as he landed on the top balcony, three floors above the battle raging below.

Moving to the edge, Jay involuntarily grimaced as the Praetorians fired their disruptors, hitting his friend. His first instinct was to help. He wanted so badly to shoot the Marshals but Iaido had been adamant; no shooting unless the General’s life was in jeopardy. He was to be overwatch and only act in defense of the President’s life.

Pulling out his Keres RG50 Sniper Rifle, Jay lay down and placed his deadly rifle on the bipod to help steady it. As he powered up the powerful railgun, he watched as his suit immediately interfaced with the enhanced optical scope mounted on the rifle. As he looked through the scope, his HUD reflected the movement and the target reticule popped up with corresponding data such as percentages of a kill shot and remaining ammo. With a flick of his eye and a simple thought, Jay engaged the inertial dampeners and doubled his mass. He knew from past use that the Keres had one hell of a kick.

Jay couldn’t help but reflect how the makers of the Keres RG50 Sniper Rifle had chosen such an appropriate name for such a deadly weapon.

Keres, the ancient Greek spirit of death, sometimes translated as violent death. Technically, Keres meant ‘choice’ as in the chooser of the slain. In Greek literature they were very similar to the Norse mythos deities known as the Valkyries, beneficial spirits who hovered over the battlefield waiting on the chance to choose who died. And here he was, posted up; ready to choose who lived and who died…just like the spirits of old.

Silently Jay watched as Iaido tossed the General to safety behind a nearby desk but took several hit from the Praetorian’s disruptors for his actions.

He reflexively scanned his HUD for any new tangos. There was nothing, except a faint echo nearby. With a flick of his eye, he shifted the ARC suit radar from passive to active. Every suit had the ability to actively scan in a fifty yard radius. Rarely did any of the SPEC OPS soldiers use this function since it would almost immediately give away their position but there was something strange about the echo and Jay thought it worth the risk.

Jay kept one eye on the ongoing battle below him and the other on the radar. Nothing unexpected came back in the first few seconds. He was about to switch back to passive scanning when proximity alarms went off in his suit and a large echo that was vaguely man-sized appeared right on top of him.

Jay’s combat instincts kicked in. He quickly rolled to his right and tried to bring his Graver Mk7 pistol to bear on the tango knowing the whole time that he would be too late.

He didn’t make it.

There was a flash of intense pain and the mental image of his left hand, still clutching his pistol, flying through the air. His ARC suit immediately sealed the wound with clotting agents and using advance biometrics technologies turned off the pain receptors in his left arm. All that took less than a second, he still had another hand and an enemy over top of him but Jay paused in his attack instead of grabbing his old reliable shotgun.

It wasn’t pain or fear or shock but wonderment at the black shadowy form hovering over him which actually caused the Master Chief to pause.

Jay’s analytical mind immediately slipped into overdrive to try and understand what he was looking at. He could tell that it was a man but his face and body seemed to be cloaked in black smoke. Jay tried to peer through the haze to get a better view of the creature overtop him.

That was right up until the shadowy figure plunged a silver sword through his armor and into his gut.

Then all he knew was pain.

Chapter 32

Iaido quickly scanned the entire Rotunda.

There were only the four of them in sight, the General, the Galactic Marshal, Aeneas’ clone and himself. Of course, that was ignoring the fact of the politician huddling behind the podium or two media people toward the back of the room or his friend in the overwatch position which he hoped was still a secret from the Praetorians.

Shrugging off the last of his ruined armor, Iaido readjusted the armband which contained his shield generator and calmly pulled free the ancient Blade of the Elements. Slowly he made his way around the podium until he was standing on the floor of the Grand Rotunda.

“Hello brother.”

The clone that was Aeneas rolled his shoulders and held out an empty hand to the Galactic Marshal standing beside him. Without a word, the young Praetorian placed a gladius in his hand. Aeneas bent down and pulled free another sword from the dead marshal at his feet and stepped into the opening.

“Hello Achilles.”

“I’m confused.”

Aeneas grinned. “Let me guess, Jagger Jax?”

Iaido nodded. “It’s obvious that you used a molecular realigner on your face to make your features match that of the criminal.”

Aeneas nodded. “I’ll admit; it’s more painful than I imagined. But if you figured that out, what’s your question?”

“The real Jagger Jax? What happened to him and was he really responsible for his crimes?”

“You would ask that.” Aeneas gestured to the bodies around them. “Even with all this going on, you’re thinking about how unfair it was that the Major and I framed an innocent man. Well, Jagger Jax wasn’t innocent. Granted…any of the crimes that he’s been accused of in the last year weren’t him but me. Of course, if he hadn’t already been on the Most Wanted list we would’ve picked someone else.”

“So you killed him?”

Aeneas shook his head. “Nope. He was alive the last time I saw him. But then, those working in the mines of Mercury tend to die a quick death.”

Iaido nodded. “You realize that all this is futile? The Major is dead and the FSA has teams sweeping through the city disarming the bombs.”

Aeneas hesitated for a second before asking, “You killed the Major?”

“No. He took the coward’s path out and killed himself.” Iaido saw a brief flash of anger in the eyes of his two opponents and pressed his advantage. “I guess once a coward, always a coward.”

Anger and rage washed all across the face of the young Praetorian. “Father was no coward!”

Before Iaido could goad him further, Aeneas tucked one sword under his arm and placed a calming hand on his younger cousin. “Don’t let him get to you Tiberius. He’s trying to make you angry. A true warrior doesn’t get angry. Anger leads to narrow thinking and target fixation. It will only make you easier to kill.”

Now it was Iaido’s turn to grin. “Very good. I guess you truly are Aeneas.”

“You had your doubts?”

“Yes. Judging from the ease that I’ve been able to kill the Major’s pet creations, it had crossed my mind that you were nothing more than one of his Praetorians made up to look like my brother.”

Aeneas smirked and began twirling the twin gladii in a complex pattern that Iaido recognized.

It was known as the form of Attica, an aggressive sword dance from ancient Greece that the Omega handlers had taught them many years ago. As far as he knew, there was no one outside of the original ten who knew this particular sword form. In the final move, Aeneas leapt high into the air and jabbed downward with his twin swords as he landed in a kneeling position. Both blades bit deep into the marble floor, as a testament to the cutting power of the deadly weapons and the skill of the wielder.

Aeneas looked up. “Satisfied?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that this can end right here. We don’t have to come to blows.”

“We most certainly do.”

“Why? With the Major dead, you no longer have to walk this path.”

Aeneas readied his swords. “As long as the General is alive, we will not rest.”

Stupidly, the President took this moment to pop his head above the desk and asked, “But why? What have I ever done to you?”

Aeneas and Tiberius shifted their attention toward the cowering politician but it was the young Praetorian which said, “Father told us that it was you who was collaborating with the Confederates. It was you that was selling information to the separatists.”

The President actually stood up in his own defense. “Preposterous. That is a complete and utter lie.”

Iaido inwardly grinned as he watched the anger wash over the young Praetorian’s face. The General had been able to rile up the young soldier with just a few words.

Before Aeneas could calm or prevent him from doing anything foolish, Tiberius yelled, “Liar!”

As the Praetorian leapt to the attack, the President tried to dodge back under the cover of the desk but never would’ve made it in time. However, Iaido intervened.

Aeneas had been right about anger clouding the judgment during battle and it almost always caused target fixation. The situation when the attacker is so engrossed on their target that they are completely unaware of their surroundings. It happened an untold number of times in battle, causing pilots to fly into mountains or soldiers to fall off a cliff.

Tiberius had been so obsessed in his attack on the President that he didn’t see Iaido move against him. That was until the bounty hunter’s energy blade passed right through the young Praetorian’s gut, cutting him in two.

Aeneas just shook his head at the death of his young protégé. “Were we ever that impulsive?”

“No, but then we were surrounded by good, levelheaded people.”

Iaido turned his back on his brother, set his twin katanas down and grabbed the President by the collar of his fine silk suit with one hand. Lifting him to eye level, he said loudly, “Listen here General, your betters are going to have a conversation. It’s a family thing. I would appreciate it if you do not interrupt us again.”

Surreptitiously, Iaido passed the shield generator armband to the General and saw him nod ever so slightly.

Turning back to his brother’s clone, Iaido picked up his blades and stepped into the open area of the auditorium. “Well brother, it’s between you and me.”

Aeneas calmly circled to the left. “Only until reinforcements arrive, I have a whole detachment down the hall.”

“They won’t make it or at least not in time to save you. I have a highly motivated and very dangerous Marine blocking the only entrance to this room.”

About that time they both heard faint echoes of explosions from the foyer.

Aeneas grinned. “He won’t be able to hold the door for long. He is outnumbered and outclassed.”

Iaido shook his head. “Don’t underestimate DJ. His tenacity is legendary. As long as there is breath in him, he won’t quit.”

Aeneas attacked with a quick double slash, one high, one low.

Iaido easily parried both.

“You trust the normal that much?”

“Of course, he’s my friend.”

Aeneas shrugged. “I will never understand you. You always were sentimental. I told Major McDowell many times that your skills were highly overrated.”

Iaido lowered his head ever so slightly and grinned. “Well, this is your chance to prove it. Since you won’t give up your desire to kill the General, you and I must fight.”

“Fine by me. I’ve always wanted to know which of us is truly the best.”

Iaido shifted his stance until his left foot was in front and the majority of his weight was on his back foot. Raising the powered energy blade in his right hand over his head, he pointed the tip of the ancient Blade of the Elements at his opponent’s chest and said with a grin, “Come on brother, let’s dance.”

With a nod, the Myrmidon clone attacked and the battle of brothers began in earnest.

*   *   *   *   *

News Anchor Jennifer Moody had often wondered if she had messed up by choosing to ignore the sexual advances of her producer. Granted, she was still on the air but she had been shunted over to covering some of the most boring stories her producer could find. Like this piece. Yes, she was filming the interview of the Coalition President and the notorious thief Jagger Jax but she knew most of this would never see the light of day. And even if it was aired, hardly anyone would watch it.

She had been contemplating calling her producer and accepting the long standing dinner date. That was until the roof blew up and the armored soldier fell through blasting away at the Galactic Marshals.

One thing she could say about Ryan, the young kid that her producer had saddled her with…he was good with the camera. As soon as the roof blew up, instead of flinching or cowering down like any sane individual would, Ryan had his camera trained on the action.

Recovering her wits, Jennifer contacted her producer over her cybernetic implant and shunted some of the footage to him. Truth be told, the producer reacted poorly believing it to be some sort of hoax. But once reports of the attack on the Hall of Justice came across the police tac-net, he became a believer.

Preempting every channel they broadcasted on, Jennifer Moody found herself primetime throughout the whole Coalition.

Keeping her voice low, she tried to describe what she was witnessing. “For those of you just joining us, this unprecedented attack on the President and his High Council happened without warning. We don’t have a lot of information at this time but it seems that a mysterious armored soldier and unknown number of assailants have attacked the Galactic Marshals which were charged with protecting the President and his High Council. It is unclear at this time if this is an assassination attempt or members of Jagger Jax’s radical bandits trying to free the notorious thief and murderer.”

Seeing that the two swordsmen weren’t actively engaged at the moment, Jennifer seized the opportunity and moved slightly in front of the camera. Pointing at the podium in the background she narrated, “I am unsure how many of members of the High Council are still alive since they are out of sight at this time. I can still see movement back there but who it is we don’t know.”

As the two warriors renewed their amazing sword battle, Jennifer stepped out of view and fell silent in awe of the dazzling display.

The criminal, who was supposedly Jagger Jax but whose face had melted and changed shape on camera, was wielding two short swords which sparked and crackled with blue energy. To her untrained eye, he seemed to be the aggressor. He would viciously attack with his twin swords but the unknown soldier would calmly block and counter.

The more she watched, the more she was convinced that it was the Galactic Marshals which had been planning an assassination attempt and only the timely arrival of the unknown solider saved him.

Jennifer gazed at the nearly naked form of the defender and felt her pulse quicken at his gleaming body. Even though he was dressed only in a form fitting black body suit, it was his steel grey eyes and coal black goatee which ultimately captivated her attention.

Both combatants were bleeding from numerous wounds, obviously nothing serious but enough that the two would intermittently pause to check their status.

It was just one of the things that Jennifer found odd.

It was obvious that they knew each other from their earlier conversation but pausing while your opponent was tending a wound you just gave him was…..strange.

It was during one of these lulls when a third individual entered the combat and if she thought things were peculiar before, Jennifer had no idea how to describe what she was about to witness.

Chapter 33

Talia and Xerxes followed in the wake of the warriors with ease. Their path was obvious. The destruction caused by their unconventional entry left a trail that a blind man could follow. Additionally, every floor was nearly deserted. They had only come across four or five Terrans during their trek through the ruined floors. Even then, they were cowering in fear behind a desk or cabinet.

After several minutes and many floors Xerxes paused, even though the hole in the floor indicated that Iaido and company had gone through this level. The large black mantis seemed to sniff the air.

Talia waited and watched as Xerxes pulled forth the little bag he always wore around his neck. He seemed torn as to which path to follow. They both knew that if there was a hole in the floor that was the path Iaido had taken. But something about this level seemed to call to the Mantodea shaman.

Talia took several deep breathes and closed her eyes.

Calling on her mystical abilities she probed her surroundings with her mind. There was nothing at first but then she felt it…a coldness that seeped into her soul. It was here. Opening her eyes, she nodded to her companion and pointed down the hallway.

Xerxes dropped his pouch back to his chest and lead the way onto the abandoned floor.

*   *   *   *   *

DJ fired off another set of flash bangs and ducked behind his energy barricade.

As the explosions rolled once more across the foyer, he quickly dropped the empty magazine from his railgun and slapped in a fresh one. This was his third magazine change, which meant he had fired off at least ten thousand rounds and still they came.

As the HUD in his HAVOC-V suit updated the ammo count, DJ scanned all the other pertinent information available to him. His primary concern was suit integrity; it was down to seventy-three percent. This wasn’t good.

DJ knew from his years in the Corps, if the integrity dropped below forty percent then he would be breathing outside air which would be bad if the Marshals started using some sort of gas. Of course, anything below twenty-five percent and he would start seeing a cascade of failures throughout the armor. Plus at that point, he knew that the nannites in the armor wouldn’t be able to repair the damage no matter how much time he gave it.

His next concern was the energy barricade which had already saved his life numerous times. It was also damaged due to the constant barrage of enemy fire. Although, since it was made up entirely of energy, it would regenerate given enough time. It was still showing eighty percent and climbing.

Then, he looked at the body count. To the best of his knowledge, he had only seven confirmed kills but over two-dozen maiming injuries. One part of him hoped that he would get some help soon; he only had one more magazine left after the one he’d just loaded. And if the Marshals kept advancing at their current pace, they would overrun his position within five minutes. Maybe less if his ammo ran out.

As DJ shifted back into his attack position, he noted that the Marshals had moved forward a few more steps. He was only facing about twenty marshals at the moment but they too were hunkered down behind energy barricades. Unfortunately, they were slowly sliding the barriers forward under cover fire. They had less than fifty feet to travel before they reached him.

Unseen by anyone, DJ nodded to himself. This was going to be a long five minutes.

*   *   *   *   *

Pax slid the Nemesis several yards to port as two missiles screamed past. She responded with her own barrage of missiles. They hit and the black skimmer disintegrated into a ball of flame.

Athena was in the starboard gun turret and rolled it aft and showered the missiles with a storm of railgun fire. Enough so that they exploded before they could circle around or crash into another nearby building. She noted that three more skimmers had popped onto the radar. Their IFF responders marked them as Galactic Marshals. This made a total of ten enemy skimmers within firing range. Even though it was a waste of time to speak since Athena was in effect talking to herself she said, “This isn’t good.”

“Your remark is both unnecessary and understated,” replied Pax as she shunted the long range radar scans to Athena. “We have five more ships inbound from the south-southeast at an extremely high rate of speed.”

Athena scanned the data. Her sister was right. They were in trouble. As she rolled the turret to port and let loose another barrage she asked, “ETA?”

“Four minutes and thirty-seven seconds until the bogies are in effective missile range, plus or minus twenty seconds depending on the actions of the pilots as they approach the city limits.”

Athena muttered to no one in particular, “It’s going to be a long five minutes.”

*   *   *   *   *

Lt. Kristopher found himself huddling behind a metal file cabinet with what was left of Officer Buchanan on his lap.  Glancing the ten feet which separated him from the rest of the team, he noted that they too were hunkered down behind makeshift bunkers. Quickly checking the statistics of his men on his HUD, he noticed that Ernspiker and Spurgeon were completely unharmed while Hamilton and Muncy showed slight injuries. Only Buchanan was critically injured but at least he was alive, in a drug induced coma, but alive.

Involuntarily flinching back when another hailstorm of blaster bolts slammed into the cabinet, Lt. Kristopher mentally replayed the events which lead to their current situation.

The freight elevator had opened onto a small passageway which lead off to the left and right. Downloaded blueprints showed that this corridor ran the perimeter of the building with the exception of the foyer and it had back entrances to all the offices on this floor, mostly through concealed doorways. Their objective had been a storeroom in the exact center of this floor and directly below the Grand Rotunda one floor up.

Everything was going smooth, right up to the point they entered the storeroom.

Officer Buchanan had been on point and made a clean entry. Signaling that the area was secure, the rest of the team had filed in. The entry area was actually a small office while the back half was filled with boxes and crates. Buchanan was still several feet ahead of the rest of the team and that is what damned him but saved the rest of the team. He had seen a blinking light and moved forward, breaking the tripwire and setting off the claymores mines.

Claymores were anti-personnel land mines which had been around since the mid-1900s with only minor changes. It was a simple and deadly design. Take a stable explosive compound that is a clay-like substance, add hundreds of small metal ball bearings, apply both materials to a shaped metal backing and add a detonator. When the bomb is tripped, the resulting explosion expels the ball bearings in a cone like funnel at an extremely high rate of speed. Over the years, the military had found that claymores were an extremely effective deterrent.

Officer Buchanan had the misfortune of being within five feet of the anti-personnel land mines when they went off. The resulting explosions had blown off both legs and his left arm at the elbow. If he hadn’t been wearing the SWAT TacArmor he would’ve been dead. As it was, the suit immediately administered clotting agents, pain killers and a coma inducing drug that slowed the heart rate to a bare minimum.

Kristopher had been the first to reach the injured officer, or what was left of him, when three unknown tangos popped up from behind some crates and began firing. Acting out of instinct, the NAPD lieutenant grabbed the wounded officer and dragged him behind the closest obstruction, the metal filing cabinet.

The problem was that they were pinned down and couldn’t advance into the room without exposing themselves. Since they didn’t know if the tangos had any barrels of the Mars virus, the SWAT officers were being very selective in their return fire. The only positive was that there only seemed to be three bad guys but unless they did something, that didn’t matter.

Lt. Kristopher keyed his mic to transmit on the team tac-net. “Anyone have an idea?”

Ernspiker answered, “Just one but it’s a long shot.”

You could hear the pain in Sgt. Hamilton’s voice when he answered, “Whatever it is, do it. I’ll have to take some sort of pain killer soon and after that, I won’t be good to anyone.”

Lt. Kristopher used his command authority to access more data on the sergeant’s condition and it was worse than he first thought. One of the blaster bolts had overloaded the armor plating in his gut region, enough so that he must’ve received second degree burns from the blast. However it was worse than that. Scans showed that a railgun round had penetrated through the armor and pierced his side. Due to the scorching, the TacArmor hadn’t been able to administer the clotting agents and he was losing blood.

Seeing that his vitals were already erratic, Lt. Kristopher sent an override command to the sergeant’s suit. “It’s okay Hammy. We’ve got this. Take the painkillers.”

Sgt. Hamilton tried to object but his speech was already slurred due to the drugs coursing through his system. “But…but, I wanna…” and he was unconscious.

Lt. Kristopher quickly accessed the complete stats on the rest of the team. Muncy was injured but since it was just a leg wound he was still able to shoot but not scoot, a military term for moving. That left it up to Ernspiker and Spurgeon. “Alright Spike, whacha got planned?”

Officer Ernspiker highlighted his plan on the map on his HUD and shunted it to his two partners before explaining, “You and Sponge Bob will hold this position and keep them busy, while I will go around and flank them.”

Lt. Kristopher quickly looked over the plan. It seemed reasonably solid. Of course, they didn’t have many options at the moment. “Alright but if we live through this, you two will have to explain the Spike and Sponge Bob thing to me.”

Ernspiker nodded. “You got it El-tee.”

Spurgeon peeked over their barricade and fired off a few dozen rounds. “Well brother, if you are gonna to do something, do it fast.”

“Roger that. It will take me a few minutes to get behind them. Cover me.”

The three remaining SWAT officers popped up or around their makeshift barricades and started blasting. Even though their assailants were well protected, they paused in their firing giving Spike enough time to duck out the doorway.

Kristopher dropped back down as blaster fire raked the front side of the filing cabinet. “This is going to be a long few minutes.”

Spurgeon chuckled. “You ain’t kidding.”

Chapter 34

Iaido and Aeneas paused in their fighting when a shadowy figure that was vaguely human-sized landed in the center of the Grand Rotunda. They didn’t lower their weapons but turned slightly to study the newest adversary. Neither of them could make out anything of the newcomer since wisps of black smoke seemed to cling to him obscuring any features.

“Hello brothers.”

Iaido nearly dropped his swords when he heard the shadow’s voice. It was as if he was hearing a voice from beyond the grave. “It can’t be.”

“Yes brother, I have returned.” The black smoke surrounding him slowly dissipated to reveal the grinning face of his podmate and brother Hector. “I survived…no thanks to you or the General.”

Iaido knew that it could still be a trick but after the resurrection of Aeneas, he was doubtful but open to the impossible. “How? You fell into a lava pit.”

“I made a new friend. One that saved me and has opened my eyes to many things, including the fact that the Coalition has become nothing more than a puppet of the Sylvan Empire.” The ringing of steel filled the room as the Blade of the Void cleared its scabbard. “Today, I rectify that account.”

Aeneas pointed one of his swords at the newcomer and said, “I don’t know who you think you are but the General’s blood will stain my blade not yours.”

Hector shook his head. “Aeneas…Aeneas…Aeneas, you couldn’t beat me back in our Omega days. What makes you think you could stop me now?”

While Aeneas talked, Iaido shifted to his left; his two adversaries responded in kind until the three Myrmidons were circling each other.

Iaido thought about it for a moment and shook his head. That wasn’t right; Aeneas was no longer a Myrmidon. He was a clone and if anything, that made him a Praetorian; talented, skilled and deadly but not a true SPARTAN. Shifting his attention to his brother Hector, he really didn’t know what he was. There was no way anyone normal could’ve survived that plunge into the lava pit, therefore this either wasn’t truly his brother or it was Hector with that Nosferatu symbiosis thingy inside him which made him something completely different.

Iaido noticed the slightest fluctuation in Aeneas’ gait and realized that he was about to attack. Shifting the grip on his swords, he prepared to leap into action. One way or the other, this was going to be the fight of his life.

*   *   *   *   *

News Anchor Jennifer Moody couldn’t believe her eyes at the dazzling display of swordsmanship that she was witnessing. The three warriors obviously knew each other but were actively trying to kill each other. Well, technically two were trying to kill the President and one was preventing the assassination.

She had been able to piece parts of the story together from the overheard conversation.

Achilles was the Presidential defender and the warrior personally responsible for the deaths of at least a dozen Galactic Marshals. Now, he was the only thing stopping either of the other two swordsmen from killing the elected leader of the Coalition.

Jennifer knew that she should say something; after all, she was on the air and it was her job to narrate. But she just couldn’t find the words to describe the amazing aerial and acrobatic display of martial skills that she was watching. She was mesmerized…hell, even her producer had stopped talking.

*   *   *   *   *

Iaido was gone.

Achilles was gone.

At this very moment, there was no conscious thought. The individual known as Iaido to his friends and Achilles to his enemies was nothing more than the living embodiment of his swords. He leaped and rolled, blocked and countered, attacked and defended all without thought.

Each of the three warriors had their own advantages and disadvantages in this battle. The point was to capitalize on their strengths while minimizing their weakness. In this he had several advantages over his brothers since he was wielding two katanas which gave him plenty of flexibility in his attacks. Granted, Aeneas was also using two weapons but a gladius was best used up close. Hector was using a single katana but seemed to be able to manipulate the surrounding shadows into a shield.

Iaido’s foremost weakness had nothing to do with himself, it had to do with the General. That was their main target and that was something he had to protect at all cost. His one major advantage was that Aeneas and Hector were also enemies to each other. Yes, they were both against him but neither one could press their attack for fear of retribution.

Then, it happened.

Iaido had been forced to leap into the air to avoid an attack by Hector. Using the momentum from his back flip, he rebounded off the nearby wall landing in a forward roll and slashed at Aeneas’ leg. His brother’s clone had dodged the attack but tripped on some loose rocks and fell, giving the bounty hunter some much needed time.

Iaido whirled to face his other brother only to see Hector stabbing downward with the ancient blade of Mushasi at the prone form of the General.

*   *   *   *   *

Talia and Xerxes dropped through a hole and found themselves on the balcony of the Grand Rotunda.

Looking around, they spied the bleeding form of the Master Chief a few steps away. Without hesitation, Talia rushed to his side and immediately forced her talent through her hands and into his body. He was alive, barely but alive. Keeping her eyes closed, she sought out his injuries. They were numerous but the most immediate injury was the wound in his gut region. The Blade of the Void had sliced right through his armor, skin and ruptured the intestines. This was allowing the bacteria and waste products that were a function of the organ to poison him.

Using her mystic abilities, Talia manipulated the damaged blood vessels and tissues to expel the toxins and repair themselves. Basically, she was just forcing the body to speed up its own natural healing process and preventing sepsis from setting in.

Talia wondered for a moment about the parallels in that single term. Both the native Terran language and Sylvan tongue used the same word for ‘to make rotten or to poison by natural means’.

When she felt that the Master Chief was out of jeopardy from imminent death she opened her eyes and looked at her companion. However, Xerxes wasn’t paying attention to her administrations. He was busy watching whatever was unfolding below them. Before she could ask anything, the overly large black mantis jumped off the balcony.

*   *   *   *   *

DJ was in trouble.

There were bodies and body parts all over the foyer. As far as he could tell, none belonged to civilians since they had all fled at the onset of the conflict. The good part was that no more Galactic Marshals had stormed onto the floor in the last ten minutes. The bad part was that the final four Marshals were within twenty feet of him and he was on his last magazine of ammunition.

Glancing at the ammo counter, he realized that it was worse than he thought. He had just over two thousand rounds, which meant he had less than fifteen seconds at full auto or about five controlled bursts. One thing he’d learned about the Typhoon during his stint in Strike, they were ammo hogs.

Knowing he had to do something drastic, DJ decided to try a tactic from Omega’s playbook. Aiming at the marble floor several feet in front of the mobile barricade of the Marshals, he squeezed the trigger.

As DJ panned the Typhoon S10 Gatling Gun back and forth, the 5mm railgun rounds chewed up the floor.

The Marshals hadn’t been expecting this and pushed their barricade right into the newly formed trench. Two of the Praetorians fell flat on their face and were easy targets for the Marine. DJ lifted the barrel of his railgun and pointed it at the last two Galactic Marshals.

With a grin, he pulled the trigger…and nothing happened.

*   *   *   *   *

The Nemesis rocked underneath a hailstorm of enemy fire.

The warship was taking fire from all sides, not just the Galactic Marshal skimmers but several NAPD police skimmers had joined in the assault. Not many but enough that Pax and Athena had to hesitate to double check their targets before returning fire. The Captain had been adamant about not shooting at the police.

As the Nemesis bounced hard to port from the concussion of two missiles Pax said, “Forward shields are down to fifty percent; aft shields at seventy. I suggest we engage engines and evade further damage.”

Athena shook her head. “Negative. The Captain said to remain in an overwatch pattern, then we will remain here.”

“That action is not logical.”

“Logical or not, we are not leaving.”

The Nemesis bucked again from several missile strikes.

Pax shunted current and projected damage information to her sister. “Front shields at forty-five percent; aft shields holding at seventy. We cannot stay here. Our destruction is imminent. If all conditions remain as current, shields will fail in three point four minutes.”

“We are not leaving.”

Pax continued. “Additionally, the IFF signature of the bogies from the south-southwest show that a flight of Coalition Dragons will be in weapons range in one point five minutes.”

Athena was still obstinate about not leaving but saw the logic in her sister’s plea. A moment of clarity entered her android mind as she remembered an old mission from her time as Diana. It was a mission that she had helped Iaido on. She still couldn’t remember all the facts of the case but one memory was solid. Iaido had needed to get to a mark but was prevented from going straight at him due to his defenses. So, he had blended into the crowd and moved along with his enemies until the moment to strike had presented itself.

Shunting her plan to Pax, she hopped out of the gunnery pod and scrambled back to the bridge. “What do you think?”

Pax responded. “Forward shields at forty percent. Firing engines. Engaging plan Athena.”

If Athena had been human, she would’ve held her breath as the large warship charged the line of Galactic Marshal skimmers. The smaller ships gave way to the Nemesis, breaking their tight knit formation. Once through, Pax shifted course until she was darting in and out of their line all the while circling the Hall of Justice building.

The Galactic Marshals were in chaos.

Many swarmed after the warship while some tried to charge the building and they became priority targets for the Nemesis. The Cerberus class warship’s weapons made short work of the fleeing skimmers and soon, they stopped trying all together and chased after the Nemesis.

Pax announced. “Forward shields at fifty percent; aft shields at seventy-five. All bogies accounted for. Coalition Dragons within firing range.”

Athena racked her brain for some plan that would allow them to stay in an overwatch pattern and resist the incoming Dragons but nothing came to mind. Without asking, she knew that they would resist the starfighters with everything they had but their options were limited inside the atmosphere.

“Tracking multiple missile launches from the incoming Dragons.”

*   *   *   *   *

Officer Ernspiker paused at the door.

According to the schematic on his HUD, this should be small office with one door on the opposite wall that opened to the room when his teammates were having a firefight. Tightening the grip on his R-Gun, Spike kicked in the door and was greeted with the shriek of a young girl.

Her blonde hair, pointed ears and emerald eyes marked her as Sylvan or at least partially so. She was sitting on top of several barrels with what he guessed was a proton less than bomb three feet away. Spike could see that the timer showed three minutes and falling.

Keying his mic to the team tac-net he said, “Spike to El-tee.”

“Go for KC.”

“I have good news, better news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“Give me the good news.”

“I’m about to breach the door behind the tangos.”

“And?”

“I’ve found the child.”

“Eve?! Is she okay?”

“She is for now. But in two minutes and forty-six seconds we’re all going to be having a really bad day.”

“Oh shit! Alright ignore her and press forward. We’ll do the same.”

Hearing the firefight in the next room suddenly intensify, Ernspiker hesitated. He couldn’t just ignore her after everything she’d been through. Popping the dome-like helmet of his armor, Spike smiled at the young girl. Quickly cutting through her bonds, he pointed at the door behind him. “Run. Don’t stop. Find an elevator and go down.”

“But…but…” she tried to argue.

Pushing the half-elf out towards the door he commanded, “Run!”

Closing his helmet, Ernspiker moved toward the opposite door but before he reached it, it flew open. Without thinking, Spike raised his R-Gun and fired.

Chapter 35

Even before Iaido moved, he knew that he would be too late. Even with his enhanced speed and strength, he wouldn’t be able to cover the thirty feet between himself and the General before his brother skewered him. But he had to try.

Just before Hector slammed home the killing blow, he looked up from the General and locked eyes with his twin. With a slight smile, he stabbed downward with all his might. The grin quickly fled his face as the razor sharp Blade of the Void was turned aside at the last second when it confronted the energy shield the President had activated.

That caused him to pause ever so slightly, enough so that Iaido was already on the move.

Hector reached down with his free hand, grabbed the edge of the energy shield and ripped it away. The President screamed and tried to back away. He was on all fours and scooted several feet back but it wasn’t going to be enough and they both knew it.

Of course, neither of them expected the arrival of the eight foot tall black mantis. Xerxes landed next to the cowering form of the President with a loud hiss and lashed out with his silver spear.

However, Hector wasn’t just some thug or brute. He was a Spartan. He was bred to be a warrior. His skills and training placed him on the same level as Achilles. But then, he bonded with the Nosferatu and became much more.

Calling upon his powers, he gathered the shadows once again around his left forearm and used his shield to deflect the spear. Luckily for Xerxes, Hector was completely out of position for a lethal counterattack but not enough that he couldn’t attack. Hector rode the force of the blow on his shield and let it help him spin. Midway through the turn, he leaped into the air and lashed out with his right foot in a sidekick which knocked the large Mantodea backwards a step.

This probably saved his life since Hector had his sword trailing the spin in a deadly arc that would’ve decapitated the Mantis if he had stayed in his original spot. As it was, the razor sharp Blade of the Void sliced right through Xerxes’ right mandible and took off the last six inches of the appendage.

Hector landed gracefully but couldn’t press his advantage since his brother had arrived.

*   *   *   *   *

Once again, Iaido was gone. As Iaido, the Myrmidon had learned compassion. He had learned that killing wasn’t always the answer. He had learned that many times words were more powerful than any weapon. These were hard lessons won over the years. But at this particular moment, they were a distraction and he let them go.

After witnessing Hector’s actions, he knew that this was indeed his brother but enhanced in some dark way. So Iaido was gone and Achilles landed in front of his twin and became the war god incarnate. With both swords, Achilles started his attacks high…working his brother’s guard up.

Hector blocked and countered.

Achilles parried and thrust.

Everyone else in the room was gone. It was just these two immortal warriors.

They leaped and rolled. They slashed and parried. They spun and dove. They thrust and dodged. They kicked and blocked. It was medieval. It was barbaric. It was amazing. No one who witnessed the dazzling display would ever forget it.

However, the two warriors seemed perfectly matched. Neither could gain an advantage nor find a weakness in their opponent’s defenses. It was obvious that the battle would continue until one or the other made a mistake. Or something stopped them.

Finally, something did.

*   *   *   *   *

Aeneas had not been idle while his two brothers dueled.

Seeing them completely occupied, he had rushed toward the General with the intent of killing him quickly. Of course, he didn’t take into consideration Xerxes. Even wounded the large Mantis was deadly and obstinate.

Xerxes spun the silver spear with the skill of someone who knew how to use it. Of course the three arms, or appendages that Manatodeas used as arms, made the passes and attack angles different than anyone Aeneas had ever fought before. Thiers was another impressive battle, not as epic as the twins but still amazing.

Aeneas’ dual gladii were faster than Xerxes’ spear but the hard exoskeleton of the Mantis made up for any weakness in his form. The Praetorian had been able to get several thrusts through his defenses but none were able to penetrate his carapace.

Xerxes was not a true warrior, never had been and never would be. But every Manatodea knows how to fight. Fighting is a way of life in the Colony. From the moment they are a hatchling to the day their path is chosen for them by the Queen, they must fight to survive. But even as stubborn as Xerxes was, he knew that he could not win this battle. Not unless something unexpected happened. Aeneas was too skilled with his blades and sooner or later, one of his attacks would pierce his carapace.

However, both of them paused in their battle when something or someone came hurling through the main entrance to the Grand Rotunda.

*   *   *   *   *

When DJ pulled the trigger on his Typhoon S10 Railgun and nothing happened, he knew at that precise moment that he was in serious trouble. His ammo counter still showed that he had five hundred and twenty three rounds so he knew it was a jam. This was a known flaw in the Typhoon S10, but with two very pissed off Galactic Marshals less than ten feet away, he did expect to have time to clear the jammed round.

He also didn’t expect them to tackle him nor did he expect them to be strong enough to knock him backward through the doorway he was guarding. But that was how he found himself tumbling down a flight of stairs.

One thing about the HAVOC-V suit, it was tough.

Somewhere in the spill, he’d lost his grip on the Typhoon but that didn’t matter, not with it being jammed anyway. DJ let the suit finish its fall down the stairs before trying to right himself. Already the suit’s AI was updating possible tangos throughout the room.

One part of him wanted to watch the amazing sword battle ranging on the far side of the room between his friend and the shadow covered swordsmen but when the two Galactic Marshals which had knocked him through the doorway stood up and pulled out short swords which sparked with energy, his attention was focused.

Grabbing the two swords Iaido had given him earlier, he thumbed on their power switched and prepared himself. Since he wasn’t a swordsman, he opted to treat them as really big knives, just like he said earlier. DJ held the both blades downward, running along his forearm and readied himself.

One of the first mistakes anyone who wears combat armor makes is thinking that they are wearing combat armor. Those that continue to think that way usually die. Combat armor, whether it was the ARC suits or the HAVOC-Vs are nothing more than an extension of the individual. When a person wears clothes, they really aren’t conscious of how the clothes slightly modify their walking or other actions, it happens naturally. The same could be said for a veteran of combat armor. Those who lived in a suit…who trusted a suit…who bled in a suit, eventually stopped thinking of it as a suit. It becomes just another set of clothes.

DJ was a veteran of combat armor and so, the seven foot suit of armor was just like a second skin to him. Granted, it was rather large and that was a few years ago but those worries fell into the category of rule number two.

Ever since DJ had been released from New Leavenworth, two simple rules had governed his life. Rule one, don’t sweat the small shit. Rule two, everything is small shit.

*   *   *   *   *

Talia was in a quandary.

She was a mystic, not a warrior. She was trained to heal and not harm. Yet, here she was bearing witness to an epic battle where the enemy had the upper hand. From her vantage point on the balcony, she could see that several of the wounded Marshals on the podium were moving. Not quickly but she could see them fumbling with their guns. She knew that they were in fact Praetorians and that meant against Iaido.

What to do? She had chosen the path to follow and aid the bounty hunter. Yet, her skills lie in knowledge and healing, not in battle. As always when she was uncertain of what to do, she reached for her Tarot cards, the tools of her trade and instruments of her faith. Knowing this wasn’t the proper place for a reading; she whispered the words of her prayer to the universe and drew one card.

She had expected it to be a card from the Major Arcana; the Tower, the Fool, the Chariot or any of the other ten cards. She knew that these tend to pop up when grave decisions abound. However, she was surprised to find a card from the Minor Arcana, the Two of Swords to be precise.

Talia had always found this to be one of the strangest images in the deck.

The card depicted a lone woman dressed in flowing white robes over chainmail armor riding a winged horse above a battlefield. Her arms were laid across her chest like a corpse at rest, while she tries to maintain a tenuous equilibrium by balancing the two swords against her shoulders. The sky is dark and cloudy above her, lit only by the crescent moon. This was the image of the Valkyrie, the chooser of the slain, but she was not allowed to see those fighting below or the moonlight since Odin had ordered her to be blindfolded.

Talia knew that whenever the Two of Swords appeared in a reading, it typically represented a difficult decision; a choice between two conflicting thoughts or ideas. Like the one she faced now; to act or to watch.

Talia glanced down and saw the Master Chief’s rifle. Somewhere inside herself, she heard Jay’s laughter and voice when he called her Annie Oakley and she knew at that moment what she had to do.

The rifle was much heavier than it looked but she lifted it with difficulty and moved it to the edge of the balcony. Setting it down, she took a moment and looked over the weapon. It only had four switches, three of which were clearly marked; power, release and safety. The trigger was self-explanatory.

Looking through the scope, Talia lined up the crosshairs on one of the Praetorians which had pulled himself upright on the podium. He was pointing his weapon at Xerxes and just waiting for a clear shot. Snuggling the butt of the rifle into her shoulder, Talia took a deep breath and blew it out.

Calmly, she squeezed the trigger.

*   *   *   *   *

Spike looked down at the dead body of his friend and cursed.

Ignoring the dead and their wounded in the other room, Lt. Kristopher helped Muncy into the bomb room before he rolled the corpse of the SWAT officer over and found that Sponge Bob had three holes in a perfect triangle center mass on his chest; right where Spike had shot him.

Not really knowing what to say, Kristopher opted for levity. “Nice grouping by the way.”

Spike pulled his eyes up and fixed them on his superior officer. He opened and closed his mouth several times but nothing came out.

Officer Muncy, whose nickname was Butterfingers as a pun due to his occupation and for his fondness for sweets, glanced up from the explosive that he was dismantling and said, “Karma is a bitch!”

Ernspiker snapped his attention to the bomb tech and grinned. “You know…I hadn’t thought of that. I guess now we’re even.”

Kristopher said, “It will all be a moot point if you don’t disarm that bomb.”

Spike moved over to the tech and asked, “Anything I can help you with Butterfingers?”

Muncy nodded and nudged a toolkit at his feet. “Get me out a number two ratchet and a pair of snips.”

“Sure thing.”

Spike bent down and froze. A blinking red light on a cone-shaped metal object caught his attention. Shifting his position, he saw that the blinking light was actually a countdown timer in red LEDs. Spike swallowed hard before saying, “El-tee. Would you look at this?”

Leaning down, Kristopher almost fainted when he saw the nuclear warhead.

“Oh shit…”

Chapter 36

If the battle in the Grand Rotunda was chaotic before it was utter pandemonium now.

There was the crack of a rifle fire from above and one of the Praetorians that had been still alive on the podium flew backwards with a fist sized hole in his chest. Unfortunately he had been squeezing the trigger on his disruptor at the same time and still got a shot off before he died. That shot went wide of its mark and blew a hole in the floor at Xerxes’ feet which in turn caused him to stumble.

Which was all the opening Aeneas needed to hammer home a deadly thrust. His gladius entered the Mantodea’s carapace just below the joint of his left forearm. Xerxes flinched and fell to the side, dropping his silver spear. Aeneas pulled free his sword and paused to look around before moving in for the kill.

He could see that two of his Praetorians were battling an armored human in a HAVOC suit. This must be the Marine Achilles had warned him about. Speaking of the twins, Aeneas turned around quickly to try and find his deadly brothers.

Achilles and Hector were still battling about fifty feet away. They were like two waves crashing against each other; one would attack while the other gave ground only to counterattack immediately. It was mesmerizing. After watching them for all of twenty seconds, Aeneas knew that Hector had been right. There was no way that he could’ve stood toe to toe with either of them. It was a bitter pill to swallow knowing that someone was more deadly than you. But with them occupied, he still had ample time to complete his mission.

Stepping up to the injured mantis, Aeneas raised his swords high and prepared to end the life of the troublesome bug. That was until the silver-tipped spear went through his back and out his chest. Aeneas stared down at the offensive shard of metal that was now protruding from his torso and tried to figure out where it came from. For some reason, it just didn’t make sense.

As his lifeblood poured from the wound, he dropped both swords since he no longer had the strength to hold them and turned to face his killer. Of all the people in this room, seeing the General holding the other end of the spear was the greatest shock.

He opened his mouth to say something profound but his throat was full of blood. He coughed once, gurgled something unintelligible and died.

*   *   *   *   *

DJ was surprised that he was holding his own against the two Marshals. Of course, they had both scored a dozen hits but the armor of the HAVOC-V was still holding up. Suit integrity was below fifty percent but holding steady. Both Marshals were injured but they were more skilled with their blades than he was and it was only a matter of time before they scored a hit that the suit couldn’t take. DJ circled left. It had been a struggled to keep the two Marshals in front of him. He couldn’t afford to have one in front and one behind, so he had to keep moving with his attacks to keep the Praetorians guessing.

Outnumbered and out of options, DJ decided to try something unorthodox.

He knew going in that it was a life or death solution. It was all on the roll of a dice. Either this worked and he won or it didn’t and he was dead.

Seeing the two Marshals almost directly in front of him, DJ highlighted them with a flick of his eye and a thought. The twin rocket launchers on his shoulders homed in on their targets. With a double blink of his eyes, he emptied the six rockets he had left in the tubes, three from each side. The first rockets slammed into the floor of the Grand Rotunda at almost the same time the last ones fired.

DJ felt the explosions all the way to the core of his bones and knew he was flying backwards. But the explosion had either knocked out his systems or he was dead…either way he had no idea of the outcome of his little trick since all he saw and knew was darkness.

*   *   *   *   *

Lt. Kristopher flinched involuntarily when he heard those explosions. The floor rattled with the concussions and dust fell from the ceiling. Picking up his dropped screwdriver he asked, “How’s it going up there?”

Muncy leaned over and wiped the sweat off his forehead the best he could given the delicate situation he found himself in. He had nearly jerked the wire out of the bomb casing when those explosions went off above his head.

“I have the timer free from the case and I’m nearly through to the primer. How about you?”

Kristopher nearly laughed at the situation. Here he was wedged between ten barrels of what they believed to be the Mars Virus and his only qualified bomb tech was disarming a proton bomb while he tried to crack the case of a century old nuclear bomb. “Just peachy.” Since he was in a very awkward position, he couldn’t see the timer he had to ask, “Time?”

Spike had nothing else to do except watch the two clocks countdown toward his death. At least they were on the same time. “One minute and fifty two seconds.”

Kristopher muttered to no one in particular. “This is going to be close.”

*   *   *   *   *

Athena and Pax had no idea what was going on inside the Hall of Justice and at this precise moment, they only partially cared. Their concern was the five missiles homing in on them and the flight of Coalition Dragons vectoring in on an intercept course. Not to mention the dozen Galactic Marshal skimmers still on their tail.

Both girls knew that if they broke orbit from around the building, they would have a fighting chance but with Iaido inside, they weren’t leaving. Even after the pairing of their matrixes by Jay, Pax had remained the logical and practical AI personality. As Diana, she had almost always responded emotionally. While Athena seemed to have gained a more pragmatic and sensible outlook but if staying meant their destruction, then stay they would.

Pax said, “Ten seconds until impact.”

Athena said nothing but nodded to her unseen sister. Nothing needed to be said between the two.

When the five missiles shifted course at the last seconds to explode on the leading five Galactic Marshal skimmers, both were at a loss for words. Then a voice came over the radio that answered their questions and unspoken prayers.

“To all vessels in the vicinity of New Atlanta, be advised that the charter with the Galactic Marshals has been revoked by Executive Order twenty-two thirty-one. All Galactic Marshals are hereby ordered to cease and desist any and all operations on Terra. Any hostile act, or action suspected to be hostile, toward any citizen of the Coalition will be met with overwhelming force.”

It was obvious that one of the remaining Galactic Marshals had keyed up his mic and wanted to argue the point. “We are in the process of apprehending a known fugitive and are operating within the parameters of our charter.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time. Your charter has been revoked by executive order. You have no authority on Terra. Power down and land your craft.”

“So you say. Who is this?” the Marshal asked.

“This is Chief…I mean, Ensign Ed Brockbank…call sign Tinman of the newly reformed Coalition Air Group SE55 – the Screaming Eagles.”

“Well Tinman, I don’t recognize your authority….”

Whatever he was going to say died with him as Tinman and his flight of Dragons lit up the sky with missiles. In seconds, the only ships in the air around the Hall of Justice were three NAPD skimmers, the Nemesis and the five Coalition Dragons.

“Tinman to Nemesis, come in Nemesis.”

Athena keyed her mic. “This is the Nemesis, how can we help you Tinman?”

“Just checking on your condition. Sorry for our delay in getting here.”

Athena stammered for a second before answering, “No worries on our end. We’re just happy you arrived in time. How can we ever repay you?”

“No need ma’am. We’re just returning the favor you once showed us.”

Both Pax and Athena were at a loss since he was referring to the time in the asteroid belt and that was when they were both damaged. Athena realized that it must’ve happened during her ‘dark times’ which is how she had started classifying anything that happened during the time between Diana’s memories and her own.

“Either way Tinman, I would like to buy you a beer someday.”

“It’s a date. How about next Friday on Starbase Alpha? That’s where we are billeted now.”

Athena smiled. “If I can make it, I’ll be there. I have to check with my boss first.”

A different voice broke into their conversation. “Dragon leader, this is Lt. Robert Brown of the NAPD SWAT-Six.”

“Go for Tinman.”

“Be advised we are on final approach to the Hall of Justice and expect touchdown in twenty-seconds. We would appreciate you keeping the skies clear for us.”

“Roger that El-tee. We have orders to remain in overwatch until this situation is resolved.”

“Ten-four Tinman.”

“Good hunting El-tee…just remember, don’t bunch up.”

Lt. Brown chuckled slightly on the radio before adding, “Roger that!”

Athena watched as the SWAT skimmer nosed up to what was left of the thirtieth floor and the officers disembarked. She glanced at the chronometer on the upper left corner of the Nemesis’ HUD. It showed less than two minutes. This time had been calculated on their best guess as to when the Major’s GOTH bombs would go off. She knew that they could be off by several minutes either way.

One way or the other this was going to be over soon.

*   *   *   *   *

DJ’s gamble had paid off…kind of. The two Praetorians he’d been fighting were nothing but bits of flesh and bone and not really much of that. However, the concussion and flying shrapnel covered the entire room. Unfortunately, a softball size piece of the marble floor struck Achilles in the back of the leg causing him to stumble.

Hector didn’t pass up this opportunity. Sidestepping and rebounding off the nearby wall, Hector spun in the air and caught Iaido with a wicked thrust through his lower abdomen.

Iaido flinched with the wound and tried to roll out of it. He instinctively knew that the gash wasn’t fatal but left untreated, he would bleed out within a quarter hour. The ten inch long laceration also caused Iaido to drop one of his blades and brought him to his knees.

Hector paused in his attacks and stalked back and forth like a caged lion. “So brother, it ends here.”

“Really? Does that mean you’re going to surrender?”

With a puzzled look, Hector furrowed his brow and cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean? You’re beaten. You know it and I know it.”

“You really don’t get it do you?”

“Get what? I won. I beat you.”

Iaido held his side with his right hand, doing his best to stem the tide of blood. As reverently as possible, he laid the Blade of the Elements in front of him. “Really? Look around. Go on, take a good look around.”

Suspecting a trick, Hector took an involuntary step backward and panned his gaze around the room. The General was still alive and hunkering down behind his brother’s energy shield. His bug pet was standing nearby guarding him. The heavily armored Marine was beginning to move again. It seems that HAVOC –V suits were extremely tough and now a whole squadron of SWAT officers in full TacArmor were pouring in through the busted doorway.

“You are outnumbered and alone. Omega’s true strength was never in our bodies or our weapons, it was in our unit. Together we were unbeatable, separate we were weak. Come…take my hand. Come back to the light. Come, be a part of Omega once again.”

One very small part of Hector heard and understood what his brother was saying and offering. But it was so small that the darkness that he’d become flexed once and it was gone.

Giving his brother a sly grin, “You are right in the fact that you have the reinforcements but you forget…I am never alone. And your friends cannot save you now.”

Taking a strong two-handed grip on the Blade of the Void, Hector raised the ancient katana high and began his death blow.

Iaido didn’t flinch or cry out but just calmly said, “Now.”

A crack from the Keres RG50 Sniper Rifle filled the room and a fist size hole appeared in Hector’s chest several inches above his heart. Bone and flesh sprayed the area but very little blood.

Suddenly, there was a loud screech and it seemed as if the shadows of the room came alive and surrounded Hector. One second there was a bunch of swirling black mists and the next them, and Hector, were gone.

Iaido tried to stand but found that his legs wouldn’t respond properly and fell face first on the rubble covered floor of the Rotunda.

*   *   *   *   *

Spike knew that there was something he should do but he was damned if he knew what it was. That was until he wrenched his eyes away from the countdown time to find the emerald orbs of Eve. Without a word, he held out his hand and the half-Sylvan climbed into his lap and buried her face into the side of his neck. With a heavy swallow he said, “Twenty seconds.”

Muncy had lived up to his nickname by dropping his pliers twice in the last minute but he had broken into the primary case and was just waiting for the lieutenant’s word to cut the last wire. They had decided that it was best that they cut them both at the same time just in case there was a failsafe trigger which set off the other bomb.

“El-tee? How’s it coming?”

Kristopher slowly pulled free the timer from the case. According to the files they had downloaded from the CoreNet the timer would be attached to the fuse by a series of wires. If the correct wire was cut, the fuse became inert. If the wrong one was cut, it triggered the bomb. The basic diagram showed two different set ups; one with three wires and one with two wires. Pulling the timer out far enough that he could see Kristopher said, “Its out. I have only two wires, a black/white and a red/blue. Which do I cut?”

Muncy shrugged but realized that the lieutenant wouldn’t be able to see that so he added, “I have no idea. The basic diagram I’m looking at doesn’t mention those colors.”

Spike added, “Twelve seconds.”

Kristopher looked at the wires and thought back. There was something about the black/white wire which tugged at his memories. Something about how the Major had always viewed the world, in black and white. According to him there were no shades of grey. Having nothing else to go on, Kristopher placed his snips around the black/white wire and said, “We cut on three.”

Muncy nodded. “Roger. Wait…do we cut on three or do we count to three and then cut?”

“Dammit Butterfingers! Cut the wire when I say three.”

“Eight seconds...”

“One…”

“Seven…”

“Two…”

“Six…”

Kristopher nearly shouted, “Three!”

Both police officers cut their respective wires and held their breaths. Seconds passed….since they were still alive, they figured it worked and they let out their breaths.

It was Ernspiker who spoke first, “Well El-tee, it looks like your hunch played out.”

“Aye, that it did,” Kristopher said as he slowly backed his way out of the barrels. “Now get on the horn and get a HazMat crew and a wagon in here on the double.”

“Roger that sir.” Handing the young girl to the lieutenant, Ernspiker and Muncy moved off to do their jobs.

Pushing his R-Gun out of the way, Kristopher smiled. “Hiya Eve, do you remember me?”

She nodded. “Yes. You’re Uncle Achilles’ friend.”

Setting her down, Kristopher took her by the hand. “That’s right. Come on….lets go find him.”

*   *   *   *   *

In the aftermath of the battle it was discovered that News Anchor Jennifer Moody and Holo-recorder Ryan Puente had been broadcasting the whole time which was how the Coalition had known about the assassination attempt by the Galactic Marshals. It had given the three members of the High Council that hadn’t been able to attend the interrogation of Jagger Jax enough evidence to issue the Executive Order dissolving the charter of the Galactic Marshals. All throughout the Coalition, the Galactic Marshals were being detained.

Of course, none of this was being broadcasted.

To the general public, the story was that a group of pirates had impersonated the Galactic Marshals in an attempt to rescue their leader, the notorious bandit Jagger Jax. Anything else that might get leaked out was quickly stamped top secret and the only two civilians in the room were informed, in no small manner, of where they would end up if that happened.

Chapter 37

When Iaido woke up, he was in a hospital.

It was an obvious deduction considering the number of tubes running into and out of his body. Seeing two fully armored SWAT guards standing outside his door, he double checked to make sure he wasn’t restrained somehow. Nope, no handcuffs but then, he wasn’t going anywhere fast at least not at the present time.

Lifting his sheet, he probed his wound. There was a bandage over top it but he just ripped it off and grimaced with the pain. The slice had been deeper than he thought during the battle, of course that could be attributed to the adrenaline and endorphins running through his body. Soldiers have been known to call it a ‘combat high’ the condition where a person is so hyped up on the natural stimulants in the body that they keep going and going, long past where a normal man could. The problem is that once the ‘high’ wears off, the body tends to go into shock and many soldiers die.

Looking around, he spied his friend Jay in the bed next to him. He had similar tubes running in and out of his body but Iaido could tell from the monitor that he was alive. His smile fled when he noticed the missing left hand. Once again, the Master Chief had literally given a part of him in defense of the country.

Scanning the room, he noticed that a large bouquet of daisies on the counter next to the bed and a green leather bound book next to it. Even without reading the card, he knew it was from Athena. The daisies referred to a mission they had done together when he was forced to buy her some flowers as part of their cover story. Not knowing anything about flowers, he had grabbed the daisies and it had becoming a running joke between them.

Reaching out slowly, he picked up the book and read the title, “The Complete Works of Mark Twain” in gold foil. Another gift from Athena.

Hearing the two SWAT grunts come to attention, Iaido looked towards the door and was shocked to see the General walk into the room. Of course, he didn’t have his blades at hand so maybe he felt safe. Iaido managed a small smile when the old man stopped at the foot of his bed and moved no closer.

“Well, well, you are still among the living I see.”

Iaido nodded his head. “General.”

“I wonder if you will you ever call me by my right title?”

“Probably not.”

The President chuckled. “I would probably die of a heart attack if you ever did anyway.” The politician moved to the foot of the Master Chief’s bed and looked at the chart. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll make it also. He’ll probably be in here a bit longer than you; it’s a miracle that he isn’t dead but then, Omega boys were always hard to kill.”

“Is that a compliment?”

The President grinned. “Yes it was but I’m stalling.” Folding his hands in front of himself, his face became serious. “I just came by to say thank you for saving my life. It was unexpected after everything I put you through.”

“You’re welcome.”

He swallowed hard. “Unfortunately, we have a slight problem.”

Iaido raised one eyebrow.

“Due to the circumstances surrounding your amazing duel with Hector, the Myrmidon program and my involvement has come to the attention of the media.”

“So?”

“So, the Myrmidon program was against the Constitution and several different treaties.”

Slowly, Iaido forced himself up to a sitting position. “And? How does this affect me?”

“Right now? Not at all but there is bound to be some fall out down the line somewhere. I have my spin doctors working on it but I would like you to leave Terra as soon as you are able.”

“Are you banning me from my homeworld?”

The President shook his head. “No…but it would be best if you are hard to reach for the near future if you understand what I mean.”

Iaido did understand.

This wasn’t the first time the media had gotten wind of the super soldier program and just like every other time; they would meld into the background and were soon forgotten.

The President smiled and turned to leave when Iaido cleared his throat and the politician stopped. “Yes?”

Holding up the leather bound book Iaido said, “Our business is not yet through.”

The smile that was on the President’s face froze and lost any warmth it was supposed to have. “Ah yes…the bounty.” Reaching out, he took a hesitant step forward.

Iaido contemplated killing him right there and then, it would’ve been so easy. The IV tube in his right arm had plenty of slack, one quick tug and a simple toss and he would have the General at his mercy.

But that was Achilles, the killing machine.

Iaido was more than his programming. He walked his own path.

He made his own decisions and lived with the consequences. That was what his Sensei had been trying to tell him those many weeks ago. Choices made in the past for the best of reasons tend to come back and haunt your future. Iaido just handed him the book.

“You have my word that this was unopened by me.”

Judging from the way the President swallowed, Iaido knew that he was right in his suspicions. This book was more than it seemed and probably held enough information to bring the President down. But something told Iaido that to discredit him, he would have to sully the reputation of his friend and mentor the Sensei and that was something he would never do.

Before he let go of the book Iaido added, “I understand now what Sensei was trying to tell me. I understand the lessons of the forge. Everything has its own time, its own seasons and its own reasons.”

By the slightest smile, Iaido realized that the General understood what he was trying to say. Changing the subject he said, “Please make sure my payment is lodged within twenty-four hours.”

Recovering his posture, the President asked, “Why so soon?”

“I will be gone before sunrise. It would be nice, if you pulled the guards from the room. I would hate to have to hurt anyone in my escape.”

“That will be unnecessary as they will be leaving with me. With the infiltration of the Praetorians in the Galactic Marshals I have promoted several SWAT officers to act as my personal guard for a short time.” Looking up he called out to the officers, “Spike and Sponge Bob, I want you to meet Iaido Achilles Spartan, my savior and an old friend.”

The two officers moved forward at the Presidents call, eyes searching the room for unseen threats.

One had a growling bulldog painted on his helmet with a spike collar; obviously this was the one the General had referred to as Spike. “It’s a pleasure, sir.”

Shaking hands, Iaido turned his attention to the other officer. Even though he moved well, it seemed to be slightly stiff as if he was just getting over some sort of injuries.

Sponge Bob leaned down and whispered in the President’s ear. “Sir, we are running behind schedule.”

He nodded. “Yes, yes, you are quite right. Achilles, I mean Iaido, thank you once again.”

As he turned and walked away, Iaido didn’t feel the rage or hate that he’d been carrying around all these years. It was rather liberating. Placing his feet on the floor, Iaido began yanking out tubes and wires. Several alarms were going off on the machines but no nurses or doctors rushed inside.

Standing slowly, Iaido moved to the bouquet of daisies and pulled out a set of tacnet glassed that were attached to the flower stems. Slipping them on, he saw a message play across his vision as they automatically interfaced with his cybernetic implants.

‘Cloaked and on overwatch until you are ready.’

Every step was painful but Iaido knew the secret about pain. Pain is life. It’s pain which keeps the soldier alive.

It wasn’t long before Iaido found himself naked standing on the roof of the hospital in the rain. Of course, when a great yawning maw of his ship opened up several feet in front of him, he couldn’t do much more than smile and climb onboard.

Epilogue

It had been several months since the assassination attempt on the President of the Coalition. The latest rumor was that it was actually a plot by the Confederacy to disrupt the uneasy truce and a precursor of open warfare again.

Not that anyone in the mines of Mercury cared. That was something that happened in the real world. The only reason they knew anything about it at all was the Coalition News was broadcasted constantly during their mandatory rest period. They only cared about three things, when was it time to eat, time to sleep and how much longer was their shift. Most miners don’t last six months due to the harsh conditions and those that do, tend to move around in a trance. They eat, sleep and work all in the same stupor.

So it was no surprise that at first no one noticed the three strangers moving through the tunnels. It was obvious that they were strangers and not miners due to the fact one was a huge black Mantis and the other two were wearing powered combat armor and carrying weapons.

The smaller of the armored men stopped at one of the miners and ran some sort of scanner over him.

DJ panned his Typhoon S11, the latest version of the venerable railgun, at the influx of miners that had finally noticed them and stopped working. “Athena are you sure that he’s still here?”

“Yes. I am in their database and it shows him working in your area.”

Pax voice came over the channel. “We are being hailed by the Miners Guild, what are my orders Captain?”

“Let them eat static. We are not leaving empty-handed.”

“Aye, aye sir. They have dispatched two cruisers to investigate. ETA three minutes until firing range.”

Xerxes began to chirp and gesture at one worker who was still digging. He was bald with broad shoulders and several tattoos down his right arm.

Iaido knew that he fit the general description of the mark but only a cellular scan could confirm it. Waving the simple device over the miner, he smiled when the lights turned green.

“This is him. Bag him.”

The miner never stopped working until the ten thousand watts of electricity flowed through him rendering him unconscious. Calmly and effortlessly, Xerxes picked him up and they followed the path highlighted on their HUDs back to the Nemesis.

Once they were on, Iaido hit the switch to close the cargo hatch and spoke to the ceiling. “We’re on. Go!”

Pax responded with words and deeds. “Affirmative. Firing engines. Maximum burn.”

Everyone in the cargo hold waited for a moment until they felt the gravity well of Mercury fall behind them and they got the call from Jay over the speakers. “We are clear of all traffic and making preparations for jump to hyperspace. We still a go for the plan?”

“Roger that Jay. We’ll be in sickbay if you need us.”

“Aye, aye Captain.”

Iaido tossed DJ his helmet as he followed Xerxes up the ladder and through the ship. Eve came running up and jumped in his arms. “That was exciting!”

“It was nothing, just a simple extraction.” Setting the young girl down, he tried to put on a stern face. “Don’t you have lessons that you are supposed to be doing?”

Eve frowned. “Yes, but they’re so boring.”

“You once asked me ‘what is the Way?’ Now I answer you with this old saying. Tomorrow’s battles are won on today’s practice field. Study and train. That is the way. Or at least your way for the near future.”

Sullenly, the young half-sylvan turned back to her room and her studies. Iaido made a mental note to plan something fun with her in the near future. After all, she was his goddaughter.

Entering sick bay, he saw that Talia had already been working her magic on the massive miner. Already his coloring was closer to normal and he no longer had the blank stare and white eyes of the miners. As he watched, the man blinked twice and shook his head as if waking from a bad dream.

Talia helped him sit up.

He looked around and locked his eyes on Iaido. “Who…who are you?”

Iaido shook his head. “No one of consequence.”

“I must know.”

“Get used to disappointment. Let’s just say this, someone I know wronged you and I am here to correct that.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“To Ceres. From there you are free to go as you please but I would suggest staying away from Terra for the future.”

“Why? Why would you help me?”

“Because Jagger Jax, I always pay my debts.”

Turning his back on the pirate, Iaido moved silently through the bowels of his ship. It was crowded compared to just a few months ago but it was pure heaven to him. By investigating the death of an old friend, he had lost several more friends along the way but gained so much more in return.

Yes, he knew that his brother was still out there possibly hunting him, possibly not. It didn’t matter.

Iaido was home and now…now he had a family, a very dysfunctional family but still a family. He had also found that his purpose to life was more than just the hunt. It was to live.

He was designed to be a killer but now he chose to walk a different path.

Carpe diem.

The End

AUTHOR’S NOTES

Wow…another book complete.

First and foremost, I want to thank all of my readers out there. Even without you, I would be writing. However, it has become more than just my hobby, it is my passion. Of course, it is so much more enjoyable knowing that I can share my stories with others.

A little history about and/or behind this story.

I was new in Corrections at the time, still in my first year, and was working the control room on the 3rd floor of the jail when the thread of this story formed in my head. It was as if my Muse tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear to write it down. But as so many ideas begin, it was not fully formed. It needed to ferment like a fine wine or stout beer. And five years later, it is complete.

Many avid Sci-Fi readers will notice certain themes and ideas that might seem familiar. I’m not claiming that everything in this novel to be absolutely original. That is almost impossible. I believe that we are influenced, consciously and unconsciously, by our environment. What do I mean by that?

I remember watching man walk on the moon for the first time (thanks to my parents who thought that was important to force a young child to sit still and watch the news). Of course, I was a Trekkie. I grew up watching the original Star Trek (and all its descendants) and day-dreamed of traveling in space. But what about Star Wars? I saw that 12 times in the theater when it first came out. I have always been a fan of the genre, the good and the bad (movies and books). I know that some shows influenced me directly for this novel. For example; Firefly and/or Serenity, it was an absolutely wonderful (if not short lived) series and movie. I personally enjoyed the concept of a crew of adventurers working together in space. Another example, the Matrix. The red and blue interior of the Sylvan Embassy was totally an unconscious decision. I didn’t even realize it was in there until my test readers pointed it out.

My point? Without being a scientist and delving into super technical jargon, my intention was to craft a possible future where we know that we are not the only intelligent species in the universe. Additionally, I wanted to blend science with a little mysticism, add in a dash of history and a splash of intrigue and craft an entertaining (if not totally unique) story.

For many of my characters in this novel I drew inspiration from the wonderful people I work with at Louisville Metro Corrections. I don’t always get along with everyone (who does?) but it’s an odd feeling knowing that even officers you dislike will have your back if/when something bad goes down.

One of the more interesting characters in this story is Ledrix, however small a part he has in the novel. I work with an Officer Ledrick and he was bothering me one day about my scribbles. I honestly don’t remember why but somehow I threatened to put him in my story (he loved the idea of that). So, I threw him in there but as a joke I made him a midget and a pimp. But, when he didn’t quit pestering me, I made him gay and a snitch. And so, Ledrix the midget gay pimp king of New Atlanta came into existence.

Several of the other characters came into being in similar manner, some just because they were handy when I was brain-storming or scribbling. Of course, many have asked to be in one of my novels. If I missed you this go round, I have a sequel in the works J

I cannot pass up this opportunity to mention the men and women of our health care and mental health staff who choose to work in the jail. I know it is a hard job, dealing with inmates and officers, but you do an important job and you have my thanks.

And last but not least, once again thanks to my wife for putting up with me and supporting me in my work, both in my day job and my hobby. I love you now and always.

Drew McCullough

March 2012

Drew and Felicia McCullough - 1996

Drew, short for Andrew, was born in Munich, Germany while his father was stationed overseas with the US Army. Growing up a military brat, Drew became an avid reader with Fantasy, Science Fiction and Detective Thrillers being his favorite genres.

Drew served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1982-88 and began training in TaeKwonDo in 1985. In 1994 he moved to Louisville, Kentucky to open his own TKD studio and taught for 11 wonderful years where he met and married his wife, Felicia, and gained a great step-son, John Michael. In 2005, he closed his studio and switched careers.

He currently works as a Corrections Officer with Louisville Metro and writes in his spare time. Unable to live on the beach, he resides on a farm with his wife and animals: 6 cats, 3 dogs and 2 horses.