Beyond the Shroud of the Universe (12 page)

“
Now!
” Master Chief ordered, and the platoon dove off the road and engaged the invisibility on their suits. The security guards had obviously been expecting it; machine gun fire sprayed both sides of the road and grenades began bursting. The soldiers continued to disperse, but Master Chief saw the status bars of Corporal Anderson and Sergeant Al-Sabani rapidly heading toward zero. Damn. Al-Sabani had been with the platoon a long time.

Master Chief went further off the road into the forest and began advancing on the castle. He could tell from the sounds of the battle that the platoon’s heavier weapons were having an effect; most of the largest explosions were coming from the area of the castle gates. The automatic weapons on the four cyborgs were also firing near continuously.

“
Holy shit! I’m visible!
” Sergeant Geisenhof commed.

“
Me too!
” several others added. The life signs for Second Squad’s medic, Sergeant John Russert, went to zero.

“
All right, don’t get jumpy,
” Master Chief ordered. “
Stay in cover and advance by fire teams. Arges has more money than God; it’s not surprising he has a disrupter field. He’s bound to have some other tricks lined up too. Go slowly and kill everyone that isn’t part of the platoon.
” He paused and then asked, “
Can anyone see Sergeant Russert?
”

“
Yeah, he was working on Staff Sergeant Hirt when the invisibility went out and took several laser bolts to the head.
”

“
Lasers? They’ve got lasers?
” Master Chief asked.

“
Yeah, we’re taking laser fire now and…holy shit! They’ve got tridents! Down!
”

An enormous explosion came from Master Chief’s right.

“
Fuck, they got Fury!
” The life signs for the cyborg and Master Gunnery Sergeant Hendrick zeroed.

“
Screw this!
” Master Chief commed. “
Hit them with everything you’ve got. 100 nanograms on the tridents! Level the fucking walls!
”

The ground shook as the platoon complied with his orders and began lobbing the explosive equivalent of bombs at the castle.

Master Chief advanced at a jog, hoping to outflank the castle defenders and hit them from where they weren’t expecting it. “
Hold fire!
” he commed as he reached the tree line. Looking across the open killing zone, he could see that the platoon had taken him at his word; the castle wall was down across the majority of its front. The right gate post still stood, with a section of the gate hanging limply from it, but there was only rubble for 50 feet on either side.

There were no live defenders to be seen although a number of bodies were strewn across the courtyard. Master Chief hoped one of them would be the smart-ass lieutenant, but doubted he would die that easily.

“
Move up!
” Master Chief commed as he picked his way through the rubble. The castle would need repairs too; pockmarks from shrapnel covered its façade, and almost all of the forward-facing windows had been shattered.

Master Chief waited for the rest of the platoon and then crossed the courtyard with them. As they approached the front door, they could feel the grinding of machinery in motion, and a familiar silver shape rose from the side of the hill below them, although this one had Arges’ logo on the side. It raced upward in a full power climb and was out of weapons range before anyone could think to shoot at it. Master Chief raised his laser rifle and fired several shots, anyway.

“
Fuck!
” he said in frustration as the ship disappeared into the sky.

“
Hey Master Chief, this is Lieutenant Canada at the shuttle. I just tried to get Captain Train but couldn’t reach him. It looks like the entire Swiss police force is headed up the hill to you. Well, except for the group stopping here to arrest us, anyway.
”

A lieutenant poked his head into the meeting. “I’m sorry to interrupt, sir, but there is an incoming transmission for Admiral Wright from Terran President Nehru,” he said.

“Thank you,” Admiral Wright replied. “I’ve got it.” He pushed two buttons on the panel in front of him and his monitor came to life with an image of the Terran president already on it. This can’t be good, he thought. She never waits around for
anyone
.

“Yes, ma’am,” Admiral Wright said. “What can I do for you?”

“Did you authorize an assault on Arges’ home?” President Katrina Nehru asked.

“An assault on Arges home?” Admiral Wright asked. “No, I didn’t. Why? What happened?”

“He just complained to me that members of the Terran Space Navy attacked his house, killed his guards and threatened his very life. He has video documentation of all of this! Aren’t the Efreet big enough problems for you? Why do you feel the need to attack law-abiding Terran citizens too?”

“Uh, yes ma’am. The Efreet are enough trouble on their own,” the admiral replied. “I don’t know what was going on or who was doing it, but I will look into it immediately.”

“You don’t know who was involved?” President Nehru asked. “Your people assault one of the leading citizens of the Terran Republic and threaten the local police force, and you don’t know anything about it? Perhaps you have lost control of your forces and need to step down. You know what? That is a good idea. You are to arrest the perpetrators of this crime, then you are to tender your resignation to my office, immediately. It is obvious you are no longer in control of the people under your command.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied automatically, but the monitor had already gone dead as she terminated the connection. He looked up to see the concerned faces of his senior admirals and ship captains. “Does anyone know anything about the attack the president referenced?”

Heads shook all around the table.

“There’s only one unit I know of that would, or even could, try to take on the security at Arges’ mansion,” Admiral Wright said. “You are all dismissed. Captain Sheppard, please stay a moment.”

The meeting room emptied, somber looks on the faces of the men and women as they shuffled, heads down, out of the conference room.

“Yes sir?” Captain Sheppard asked after everyone had left. “You think it was Lieutenant Commander Hobbs’ platoon?”

“I know it was Lieutenant Commander Hobbs’ platoon,” Admiral Wright replied. “What I don’t know is
why
they did it. Sure, they sometimes do things that might be a little unorthodox, but there has always been a good reason for what they did in the past. You have been around them more than anyone else…have you ever known them to do something that completely defied reason or the rule of law?”

“Sir, I have known that group for as long as anyone, and I have worked closely with them on a number of occasions. They are courageous, aggressive and not afraid to do whatever they think needs to be done to save the human race. But to just attack someone’s house with no reason? No sir, that doesn’t make any sense to me. They must have had a reason, and a damn good one at that. I don’t have any idea what it might have been…but I
know
they didn’t just do that on a whim.”

“My thoughts, exactly,” Admiral Wright replied. “Unfortunately, my orders on this are quite clear. I am going to have to arrest them, and then I am going to have to tender my resignation.”

Admiral Wright paused for a moment, deep in thought, before looking up. “It would, however, be improper of me to arrest them without first confirming they were actually the ones responsible for the attack, so I suppose I need to call Arges to confirm the identities of the attackers. That might take…a while, as he is a busy man and might have fled. In the meantime, I would like you to find Lieutenant Commander Hobbs, if he was rescued from the Efreet, or Captain Train if he wasn’t, and use your best judgment on what needs to be done.”

“I understand, sir,” Captain Sheppard said.

“Do you?” Admiral Wright asked. His eyes narrowed. “Do you really? Because I can’t offer you any protection if this goes badly. I am probably done here, so it’s your own career that is on the line.”

“Yes sir, I know. I also know I wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for Lieutenant Commander Hobbs and his troops. I’ll do what needs to be done.”

“Thanks,” Admiral Wright replied. “Now, get the hell out of here. I’ve got some calls to make.”

Master Chief slammed his suit down on the couch in his room and tossed the rest of his gear onto it. The day couldn’t get any worse. Half of the platoon wiped out, the CO abducted by an overgrown fairy and the XO dead. And now he had to go file all of the paperwork because he was the senior person remaining in the unit. He kicked the couch in his frustration and broke the bottom board with his augmented strength.

Great, now he’d have to pay for that too. What else could go wrong?

A smear from floor to ceiling appeared on the other side of the room, and it coalesced into a uniformed black man wearing the insignia of a captain in the Terran Space Navy. As the transporter beam cleared, Master Chief recognized Captain James Sheppard, the commanding officer of the
Vella Gulf
.

“Uh, hi sir,” Master Chief said, recovering from the shock of seeing someone beam in. No one was supposed to use the transporter system, as none of the Terrans had been scanned. Without a molecular scan, the person being transported ran a much higher chance of being incorrectly combined on the opposite end, or ending up off target. Both outcomes were usually fatal. “Can I help you?”

“I hope so. Where is Lieutenant Commander Hobbs?”

“I don’t know, sir. He was taken away by that bastard Nightsong.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know, sir. He left the planet in a spaceship, but that was in the other universe, so I have no idea. He could be anywhere.”

“Well, what about Captain Train? Where’s he?”

“Dead, sir. Arges killed him. We just delivered his body to the morgue.”

Captain Sheppard’s gaze narrowed. “Just tell me one thing, Master Chief. Was there a reason for attacking Arges’ mansion?”

Master Chief met his eyes. “Yes sir,” he said without a trace of doubt. “Arges is the person behind all of this. He has been helping the Iranians and the Efreet.”

Captain Sheppard looked into Master Chief’s eyes, searching for deception, but didn’t find any. He nodded. “Okay, Master Chief,” he said. “I believe you. Grab your gear. We’re beaming out of here.”

“Beaming out, sir?” Master Chief asked. “I didn’t think we were supposed to use the transporter.”

“We’re not,” Captain Sheppard said, “but Fleet Command is looking for you, and they are going to arrest you. We’ve got to get you out of here.”

“
Arrest me?
” Master Chief exploded. “Arrest me for
what?
” Even as he asked the question, he began picking up his gear.

“Arges has filed charges against you and the rest of the platoon for attacking his home,” Captain Sheppard replied. “They specifically name you as the leader of the invasion force that killed most of his security detail and destroyed millions of dollars of his property. He also said you attacked him because he found out your platoon was helping the Iranians.”

Master Chief dropped his gear. “
What?
That little rat bastard accused
us
of attacking him?
He’s the one who has been helping Nightsong and the Iranians!
”

“Apparently, he also has a video of you saying that you hate him and want to kill him.”

“Well, of course I want to kill the little son of a bitch;
he’s been helping the enemy!
”

“Do you have any evidence of that?”

“Well no, not really.”

“That’s the problem. He has video of your attack on his castle and a recording of you threatening to kill him.

“
He killed Captain Train!
”

“He says it was in self-defense.” Captain Sheppard sent Master Chief an audio file. “Is this your voice?”

“
Go slowly and kill everyone that isn’t part of the platoon.
”

“Well yeah, I said that, but it was on a secure comm set and it’s taken out of context. We were taking heavy fire, and they had just canceled out our suits’ invisibility.”

“He says you threatened to kill everyone there.”

“But, but…he’s lying!”

“Yeah, well you’ve been had by a master manipulator,” Captain Sheppard said. He nodded to Master Chief’s gear, still sitting on the floor. “Grab your gear; we’ve really got to get out of here. I hear the Swiss are standing in line to get their hands on you. Did you really threaten to tear off the police chief’s arms and beat him to death with them?”

Before Master Chief could answer, a window opened up in his mind, and Admiral Wright appeared in it.

“
Master Chief Ryan O’Leary,
” Admiral Wright said, “
you are under military arrest for a variety of crimes stemming from the assault on Arges’ mansion. You are to proceed immediately to the brig and turn yourself in.
”

“
Sir, you have to know all of that is bullshit,
” Master Chief replied. “
Captain Sheppard just told me about the charges, and you have to know they’re all bogus.
”

“
Captain Sheppard is with you?
”

“
Yes sir, he’s standing right here.
”

There was a pause, and then Captain Sheppard was brought into the conversation.

“
Captain Sheppard, you are to take Master Chief O’Leary and the other members of his platoon into custody.
”

“
Yes sir, I am rounding them up,
” Captain Sheppard replied.

“
Good; see that you do,
” Admiral Wright said. “
Wright, out.
” The windows all closed.

“Oh, shit,” Master Chief said.

“See,” Captain Sheppard said. “I told you it was serious.”

“It’s worse than you said. Did you see the flags behind Admiral Wright?”

“Yeah, there was the Terran flag and a U.S. flag, why?”

“The U.S. flag was upside down,” Master Chief said. “That’s what you do when you’re under duress. There must be more going on than we know.”

“Well, he told me to take you into custody, so you are now my prisoner,” Captain Sheppard said. He cocked his head and looked at the enlisted trooper. “So, prisoner, what do you intend to do next?”

Master Chief shook his head. “Sir, I don’t have any idea beyond the fact we can’t stay here.” He paused, then added, “This is where Lieutenant Commander Hobbs usually comes up with a great idea for what we’re supposed to do.”

“Unfortunately, Lieutenant Commander Hobbs isn’t here.”

“No sir, he isn’t,” Master Chief said. He met Captain Sheppard’s gaze. “I guess we ought to go find him then, don’t you think?”