Beyond the Shroud of the Universe (21 page)

“
Roger that,
” the shuttle’s WSO, Lieutenant Neil ‘Trouble’ Watson, replied. “They found Lieutenant Commander Hobbs, but he is pretty screwed up. Lieutenant O’Leary wants us to move closer so we can get him back to the
Gulf
ASAP.”

“I don’t know how well that’s going to work,” replied Lieutenant Jeff ‘Canuck’ Canada. “I didn’t see a lot of open space in the city when we came in.” His suit twitched as he shrugged. “Bring the ramp up and we’ll go take a look.”

“
There’s no place to set down,
” Trouble commed. “
There are houses for a good quarter mile in all directions.
”

“We don’t have much time, sir,” Lucky said. “The suit just went into stasis mode to try to keep the Skipper alive as long as possible, but even the suit has limits. We’ve got to get him back
now
.”

“Let me see what can be done,” Lieutenant Contreras said. “I used to be a forward air controller, and making landing zones was part of the job.” He ran out and surveyed the houses around them.

No matter what he did, he wasn’t going to make any friends with the Efreet. The houses were all built with something that looked like adobe; when he dropped one of the houses, the others around it were probably going to sustain severe damage as well.

If it were a choice between the Efreeti houses and the life of the Skipper, though, it wasn’t a choice at all.

He waved over the Efreeti lieutenant. “See that house over there?” He pointed to one a couple doors down and across the street. “I need to level it so we can get our shuttle in here. The ones on both sides will probably be destroyed too. You have two minutes to clear the occupants.”

“Over my dead body,” the Efreeti said, seething. “I forbid it.”

“Your death can easily be arranged,” Lieutenant O’Leary said, coming out to supervise the process. His weapon was once again almost-aimed at the Efreeti. As O’Leary glanced around, he saw the Efreet who had been guarding the house were now also holding their weapons in the same position. The platoon outnumbered the Efreet and had better weapons and armor; it would be a slaughter.

“We are wasting time,” Lieutenant Contreras said. “I am sure our government will reimburse the occupants for what they lose, but let me make one thing clear. We
are
going to blow up that building. If you want to add your death and the deaths of all your men to the list of people who got killed today, then so be it. I have done my part to warn you; I don’t care. Are you going to go evacuate those buildings, or should we kill you first?”

Contreras watched as the Efreeti looked at the forces arrayed against him. Not only did the Terrans outnumber his forces, but Contreras also guessed the Efreeti had no idea how capable the Terrans’ weapons were. The Terrans also held the planet’s orbitals so Contreras was pretty sure the Efreeti would come to the correct conclusion.

“We will evacuate them,” the Efreeti said in capitulation.

“Thank you,” said Contreras with a sweeping bow. It never hurt to be gracious in victory.

Calvin opened his eyes a crack and tried to focus. Bright lights. White walls. Everything else stainless steel. He had seen this vista too many times. He was in medical,
again
. Then everything flooded back, and his eyes sprang wide open. Being in Medical was
good!

“How’d I get here?” he asked, hoping the computer would answer since he didn’t see anyone in the area.

Master Chief leaned into his vision. “Welcome back, sir,” he said. “It was touch and go with you for a while. That bastard Nightsong really did a number on you.”

“Yeah, I remember him turning off his nanobots and then the pain hit. I’ve never hurt that much in my life; I must have passed out. How did I get here?”

“Well, that’s kind of a long story, but the bottom line is we figured out you had been taken by Nightsong, and we followed you to anti-Domus from Earth. We even got a little help along the way from some old friends.”

“Hi, sir,” Second Lieutenant Contreras said, leaning forward into Calvin’s line of sight.

“Wait a minute,” Calvin said, finally recognizing the silver bars on O’Leary’s uniform; “you’re a first lieutenant now?”

“Yes sir, I…uh…sort of got promoted.”

“What, I’m out of it for a little while, and everyone starts getting delusions of grandeur? What’s Contreras now, a lieutenant colonel?”

“No sir,” Contreras said, “I’m still a second lieutenant.”

“And it’s a damn good thing we had him, too,” O’Leary said. “He leveled an entire block in the Efreeti city so we could get a shuttle in to rescue you.”

“Si,” Contreras said, lapsing into Spanish. “I hadn’t blown up anything in a while so I was sort of out of practice and, you have to admit, those houses really weren’t built that well.”

“No, they weren’t,” O’Leary agreed; “however, you still used too much antimatter.”

Contreras shrugged. “We were in a hurry. Better too much than not enough.”

“So,” Calvin said, “back to the point. Please tell me you guys caught Nightsong.”

“No,” Lieutenant O’Leary replied; “however, I did recover this for you.” He held up the Progenitor’s Rod he had found at Nightsong’s house.

“That one’s Nightsong’s, but since he destroyed mine, I’ll be happy to claim it. Seriously, you didn’t catch him?”

“I wish,” O’Leary said. “When I get my hands on him, he’s going to tell us everything. And then I’m going to kill him.”

“Hey,” Calvin said, looking around. “Where’s Night?”

“I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this,” O’Leary said, “but Night got killed leading the attack on Arges’ house.”

“You attacked Arges’ house?” Calvin asked. “Geez, I missed everything. How did you find out they were together?”

“Some of the things Nightsong said about him didn’t ring true. We went to confront him, and fought with his security forces.”

“And Night got killed? Wow, I thought he was indestructible.”

“No one is indestructible, sir,” Lieutenant O’Leary replied, “although Captain Train’s tougher to kill than most…”

Lieutenant Salo’s Room, Bachelor Officer’s Quarters, NAS Oceana, October 6, 2021

“I think it will work,” Night said, leaning over a chart laid out on the table. He straightened and met the eyes of the other members of the team. “What do you think?”

“I agree with you,” Sergeant Hattori ‘Yokaze’ Hanzo said. “If nothing else, it is our best chance for success.”

“My part’s easy,” Lieutenant Kenyon ‘Bucket’ Salo, the team’s pilot, said. “I don’t have to do anything difficult, just fly you guys there. If you two are crazy enough to try it, I’ll drive the bus.”

“Yeah, Bucket’s right,” the shuttle’s WSO, Lieutenant James ‘Jamming’ Miles, added. “Our part’s easy. And I’ve already been there once, so I know the area. If you really want to try it, we’ll take you there. What’s the worst they’re going to do? Throw us in jail?”

“No,” Night replied, “if this goes badly, I imagine Arges will try to find you and kill you so no one knows this mission ever happened. Megalomaniacs aren’t known for ignoring people who are threats to their supremacy.”

“Then I guess you’d better not fail,” Jamming replied. “I’m pretty sure my mum would be annoyed if you got me killed.”

“I can do this by myself, Captain Train,” Yokaze said. “Actually, I can probably do it better that way. There is no need for you to go.”

“And miss out on killing Arges?” Night asked. “I don’t think so. The little piece of shit tried to kill me; it’s payback time. Besides, this is a two-person mission; you need someone to watch your back. Especially if anything unexpected happens.”

Night turned to the last man in the room, Lieutenant Sam ‘Cashman’ Casher. “Can you arrange for the tech we need?”

“No problem,” Cashman said, who was on leave from Department X. “I can tell anyone who asks I’m doing some off-site testing. I am, after all, to a certain way of looking at it.”

“So that just leaves acquiring the transportation,” Night said. “I’ve got some ideas on where we can…borrow…a shuttle. Hopefully, no one will notice it’s missing before we bring it back.”

“With all due respect, sir, I have a better idea,” Yokaze said. “We don’t need to steal one; I know someone who will let us have one.”

“You do?” Night asked. “Can they keep it quiet? We can’t allow any word of this to get out, or Arges will figure out we’re coming.”

“No, the person I know is very good at keeping a secret. There will not be a problem.”

“Okay, you’re in charge of getting the shuttle then.” Night looked around the table. “There’s one last thing I need to make sure everyone is aware of. We can never let anyone know about this mission. Ever. If we fail and get caught, we’re going to jail. Probably for a long time. But we’ll never see the end of it because something unfortunate will happen to us. We are going after the richest person in the world. Probably the richest in the universe. If we piss him off, he won’t rest until we’re dead, and he can finance any number of unpleasant ends for us. If you want to back out, now is the time to do it.”

“I am in,” Yokaze said. “The man has no honor and needs to die.”

“I’m in,” Bucket said. “Just don’t screw it up, okay?”

Night smiled. “Just for you, I’ll try not to.”

“I’m in,” Jamming said. “Remember, my mum will be angry if you get me killed.”

“I’m in, as well,” Cashman added. “Arges helped the Iranians, just for fun. There’s no telling what he’ll do next. He needs to die.”

“We’re agreed, then,” Night said. “Arges must die.”

Admiral Wright looked up as his door opened, and a janitor in dirty white coveralls came in. He recognized the black man as one of the floor’s usual cleaners.

“Thanks, but I don’t need anything today,” the admiral said.

“Yes sir,” the janitor said as he approached the admiral’s desk.

Admiral Wright recognized the automatic way he replied. The man had to be prior military. Probably Nigerian army, as the man obviously didn’t speak English well enough to understand him.

“I’m sorry,” Admiral Wright said. “I don’t need any cleaning today, and I’m in the middle of something.” He indicated the pile of paperwork on his desk with a motion of his hand. It was the last chore he had to complete prior to leaving the Terran Navy.

“I’m sure you are, sir,” the man said, his English flawless; “this, however, is more important.” He held out several sheets of paper to the admiral.

As Admiral Wright automatically reached for the offered papers, he noticed the hand holding it wasn’t black. His eyes jerked upward in surprise to find the man had changed. No longer was the janitor African, he was now Asian…probably Japanese…and a good six inches shorter than he had been previously.

“What is the meaning of this?” Admiral Wright snapped.

“Please, sir, just read the note,” the man replied. “It will explain everything, and I don’t have much time.”

Admiral Wright took the letter and began reading. After the first sentence, he looked up in surprise. The man looked at the letter in the admiral’s hands, indicating with his eyes that the admiral should keep reading.

Admiral Wright read another two sentences and looked up again. “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am Sergeant Hattori Hanzo of Lieutenant Commander Hobb’s platoon,” the Asian man replied. “I am now on…detached duty…for a special mission.”

The admiral nodded once. “I’ve heard of you,” he said and went back to reading. This time he finished the letter. When he looked up again, a feral grin suffused his face. It was the first time he had smiled all week. “What do you need from me?” the admiral asked.

“Only a signature,” Yokaze said, pulling a second set of papers from the inside of his coveralls.

“What is this?” Admiral Wright asked as he took the papers.

“Just a set of orders for a crew to requisition a shuttle to fly up to the moon and pick up a piece of equipment for delivery. It is all above board and totally legitimate, sir.”

Admiral Wright signed the papers and handed them back.

“Thank you sir,” Yokaze said. He turned to leave.

“One last thing,” the admiral said. “We never had this conversation.”

“How could we?” the janitor asked. He turned around, a black man again. “I was never here.”

Lieutenant Salo’s Room, Bachelor Officer’s Quarters, NAS Oceana, October 8, 2021

“Is that really the Fleet Commander’s signature?” Bucket asked.

Yokaze nodded.

“How did you get it?”

“Ninjas are experienced in the art of disguise,” Yokaze said. “I disguised myself and walked into his office.”

“And no one noticed you?” Jamming asked.

“I was very good at disguise
before
I met the Aesir,” replied Yokaze. “When I saw the things Reeve Farhome could do, I knew having those abilities would come in handy, so I asked him to teach me. I can’t do everything he can, and I used up most of the nanobots he gave me visiting the admiral, but it worked. Now I just have to figure out how to get to the Aesir home world so I can get more nanobots.”

“He trained you as an Eco Warrior?” Night asked.

“No, he said the training takes 150 years. Sadly, I do not think I will have the time available to complete the program. He did, however, teach me how to control nanobots and showed me how to get them to do a few basic things.”

Night looked at his watch. “Okay,” he said; “time to go. Remember, we have two objectives tonight. Kill Arges and find something that incriminates him. Killing him frees our planet; getting the evidence gives us back our lives. Without it, no one from the
Vella Gulf
can ever come home again.”

“
Hai!
” Yokaze said. “We will find what we need, and we will kill Arges. Honor will not be satisfied with less.”