Inherited War 3: Retaliation (23 page)

Thalo leaned his hip on the Prime Administrator’s desk and folded his arms in front of him. It was a big desk and there were many Nixa gathered around. Generals, Colonels and many others of varying ranks. The naval personnel were conspicuously absent. Then Thalo remembered that there wasn’t a navy left in orbit. There was no need to include the ground naval personnel in this meeting. In fact, the remaining sailors had been pressed into the army to bolster the ranks. Thalo cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.

“Yes, Thalo,” the Prime said.

“Oh nothing,” Thalo quipped. “Just bored is all. Looking for something to do, I guess.” Everyone in the room looked at the Worlder in complete bewilderment, except the Prime.

“I’m sorry if our annihilation is boring you. Please, what can I do to help?” the Prime said with a perfectly straight face.

“I overheard your plan and I agree with most of it,” he said.

“I sense a but coming on,” the Prime said back.

“But,” Thalo said with a smile, “you need to defend the capitol. Every other city can be abandoned and the enemy drawn away into the rural areas but not here, not now. You have to defend the capitol.”

“Why? Why should we sacrifice every other city on the planet but defend here? We can’t hold them for long, and a prolonged attack here in the city will completely destroy it,” the Prime said.

“Symbols are powerful things, and the capitol means a great deal to your populace. They can rally around the fact that the capitol is well defended and hasn’t fallen.  They will know that the government is fighting just as hard as they are in the country. Besides, a standing capitol gives Cole a place to land his forces when he comes. A central area to link up with us and reinforce our positions. With the rest of your forces spread around the globe fighting a commando war, there is no central unit for Cole to contact. Besides, if we give the Roche a heavily defended capitol, they may shift troops away from chasing your commandos in the country and put them against the city,” Thalo said with confidence. A female voice spoke from the back of the room. Thalo recognized it and groaned inwardly when Snow rose up and stomped forward.

“Cole? Which Cole will be showing up? The Cole that baited us into this war in the first place, or the Cole that nearly beat me to death? Huh? What makes you think he will even show up, and if he does, what makes you think he will help?” Snow snarled.

“Snow please,” her father began before she turned on him and fired off a salvo in his direction.

“No father!” she interrupted. “Jeth is paralyzed and nearly died because of Cole and I don’t for a second believe he will be coming to help.”

“Now wait a second,” Thalo started. “Cole had nothing to do with Jeth. If you want to blame someone, blame me, it was my idea after all.”

“We never would have needed Jeth to fight that monster if we hadn’t been kicked out of the Human’s base,” Snow shot back.

“True, but then again, the planet would have been invaded by now and we would all be fighting for our lives instead of planning our survival,” Thalo said with a calm voice.

“Fine, believe what you want. If Cole shows up and actually helps us, I will dance naked in the street in celebration,” Snow said and stormed out. The room was uncomfortably quiet as the many male Nixa in the room had a sudden image of a naked Snow in the streets played in the theatre of their minds. More than a few smiles graced their faces.

“A-hmm,” the prime cleared his throat and grabbed their attention off his youngest daughter. “What do you propose?” he asked Thalo.

“Every soldier you can spare. We raise a shield over the city when they begin to land. One strong enough to protect us from aerial bombardment. We need to force them to commit ground troops to the siege. And that’s what it will be, a siege of massive proportions. We man as much of the outskirts of the city as possible and fight a retreating action. Building by building falling backwards. Make them pay for every block they take. Mines, traps, heavy weapons and anything else we can hang out of windows, bury in the ground, or throw over our shoulders. Make them pay for every inch while we conserve our strength by giving ground. Slowly. As slow as we can anyway,” Thalo told the gathered leaders.

“General,” the prime said, looking at a Nixa with a great many awards and buttons on his jacket. “How many do we have here?”

“Besides the guards, we have a Corps located in the capitol,” the general responded.

“Sorry, I’m not completely up to snuff on Nixa military formations. Exactly how many is in a Corps?” Thalo asked.

“One hundred in a century, ten centuries in legion, ten legions in a Corps,” the general replied. A smile crossed Thalo’s face. One hundred thousand Nixa under arms in the capitol.

“General, I need you here to help coordinate with the other units around the globe. Turn the two Corps over to your second and give him Thalo to advise. Defend the capitol.” With that order, it was done. Thalo always thought the true mark of a leader was decisiveness. No hesitation. No second-guessing. In his book, it was better to act than hesitate, even if it was the wrong action to take. The other mark of a good leader was someone who agreed with Thalo. His estimation of someone’s intelligence always depended on that factor. Thalo hung around until everyone left with their orders, and only he and the Prime remained.

“What is it Thalo? I don’t think I can take any more of your suggestions. Besides, you have a defense to plan, I believe,” Sky’s father said.

“Already started. I contacted General Torrent as soon as his boss turned command over to him. He is already up top with his men preparing the city. I was more interested in reports from other complexes,” Thalo said.

“What kind of reports?”

“Well,” he said rather sheepishly. “I was the one who told you to release Uriel. I was wondering if he was working out?” Thalo asked. The Prime paused for a moment and released a big sigh.

“He has killed dozens of Nixa and has cleared four areas. He picks and chooses his targets, and it’s hard to believe they aren’t just random murders. How can you be sure he can smell out the possessed from the normal?”

“I saw him in action in my system. They hid in caves, crevasses, other beings, and under rocks. He found them all. He didn’t stop until he had killed every last one. When he said he was finished, we believed him. If there was ever anyone born to do a certain thing in their life, it was Uriel. So be assured, if he kills someone, it’s because they are Esii or they are in his way,” Thalo told him.

“Damn it. I hate it, but I trust you. The mad Kin hasn’t stopped since we released him and told him what we needed. He moves through the connecting tunnels from area to area without rest. There have been no sabotages in any of the areas he’s cleared, so he must be getting them all. Is there anything else?” Thalo shook his head no and left the office of the Prime. He took the nearest access tunnel back up to the city and linked up with General Torrent.

“Good start, General,” Thalo said as he walked into the command building. “But we need to work harder. Here are my plans. Adjust as needed, but this is what I believe we need, at minimum, to hold out for a few days.” Thalo handed over the data chip to the general.

“And after a few days?” the General asked.

“Who knows, general? Who knows?” Thalo gave the General some time to look over his plan before both beings got to work disseminating the orders.

CHAPTER 13

Cole sat quietly in his quarters on the base. His elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands. Next to him was West, also quiet and waiting. His wife Jess was behind him with her hands on his shoulders. No one spoke. No one needed to. They all watched Gavreal as he knelt next to the bed. His eyes were closed and his head was bowed. His right hand was spread wide on Sky’s forehead, and his left hand was under the blankets on top of her heart. Gavreal and Sky’s chests rose and fell in unison, and Cole bet his life that their hearts beat the same rhythm.

Suddenly Gavreal broke his connection and sat back on his legs. His head remained bowed and his breathing even.

“She is there and well.” He started. “Her mind must reconnect with her brain and I have shown her the way. What she did and how she did it pushed her to her limits and she needs more time to recover.”

“Why aren’t the nanites helping?” West asked before Cole could speak.

“They can do nothing. Physically her body and brain are intact. The mind is separate from the brain and cannot be healed by the nanites. She was gone for a long time from her body and needs to ground herself once again,” Gavreal said as he turned to look at those seated behind him.

“What can I do?” Cole said.

“Be here, stay near, and be the first thing she sees when she wakes up,” he said as he rose. “Helping her has tired me. I will go rest for a while and return.” He walked out the door and left the room in silence once again.

“Glad your back,” West said and reached a hand up to grab Jess’s hand.

“Me too. Thanks by the way,” Cole said, never taking his eyes from Sky.

“Well, you know me. Mister always thinks of others first,” West said with a smile and got his ear pinched by his wife. Cole snorted a laugh. It was quiet again for a moment.

“Where are we on the planet we found?” Cole asked.

“Really? After everything that has happened you want to talk about that?”

“Yes.” Cole looked at West. “My first priority is to ensure our survival, human kind’s survival. So I want to know how things are going.”

“On schedule. The
Missouri
left as soon as you woke up and should have already started its strategic strikes on the planet to jump-start the process. She is going to stay online for a few days to make sure everything is going according to plan, then head home.”

“Have you sent out messages to our allies?” Cole said.

“We haven’t received any from the Nixa, and I wanted to talk to you again before we contact the Worlders.”

“No this discussion is over. I told you what to tell them, and I meant it.” Irritation toward his friend crept into Cole’s voice.

“Yeah, I know. I know how you feel but it should wait until this is over. I am not letting you turn yourself over to a Worlder government to face capitol charges,” West said.

“I killed those Worlders, in cold blood. I have to answer for that.”

“No, actually you don’t because you didn’t kill anyone. Sure, your body did but it wasn’t you controlling it. Think of it like someone puts a gun in your hand and your finger on the trigger and squeezes it with theirs. Sure it was your hand, but wasn’t you in control.”

“That’s up to them to decide, not us, not you. Send the message. Now,” Cole said.

“Okay, fine but this is on you. That bastard Senator has everyone worried about your state of mind and turning yourself over to a foreign government for a trial would see your career as our leader terminated,” West said as he rose.

“Base,” Cole nearly shouted bringing West to a stop. “In the event I am unable to fulfill my role as commander, all access and codes will be turned over to SMG West. Understood?”

“Affirmative, SMG West to assume command and control of base facilities and ships,” the Base computer responded.

“There, you get the hot seat if the Worlders want my head,” Cole said.

“Shit, thanks just what I always wanted.” He turned and walked out of the room.

“Go easy on him,” Jess said. “He has been worried over you for days now and doesn’t want to lose you again.”

“I know and I’m sorry, but I can’t live with what I’ve done without paying for it somehow. Eric understands me, and he may be mad now but he knows I have to do this,” Cole said. She nodded and followed her husband out of the room. Cole stood up and pulled his chair closer to Sky’s bed. He brushed a few stray hairs off her forehead and grasped her hand in his.

“Cole, wake up man. Shit this is an emergency.” West was nearly frantic. “God damn, this is why I can’t be left in charge,” he whispered the last part under his breath. Cole woke slowly and took a few seconds to clear his head. He wasn’t nearly as recovered from his ordeal as he let on.

“What, what’s going on? Are we under attack?” he mumbled out, trying to knock the sleep from his mind.

“No, but something weird just happened. All of our troop transports just left.” That woke Cole up in a hurry.

“What do you mean ‘just left’?”

“They all powered up and jumped before anyone could stop them. We got one scan in before they left, and there was no one on board so they weren’t stolen by people,” West replied.