The Szuiltan Alliance (The Szuiltan Trilogy) (41 page)

More unnatural sound. A shuffling to his left. Closer, more cautious.

He pushed himself off the ground, diving forward as gunshots cracked through the forest. He felt the searing pain in his left leg as a bullet grazed the ankle, landed and rolled onto his side.

No time for subtlety of aim here. This one's good!

He opened fire, all but emptying the gun into the man who had stepped out from the cover of a tree for a better finishing shot.

Two bullets left, if I've calculated right. Presuming, that is, that Jeff had a full clip and one in the barrel as we would on active duty.

He thought of Tina then, realising that they would want to kill her just as much as him, perhaps more. He ran for the open door of the summerhouse, screaming at the pain that shot through him from his ankle.

Feels like the bastard chipped the bone!

He saw three more Reagold men break cover from the trees between him and the doorway. Two turned towards him, one towards Tina.

I can't get there in time. Tina, I'm so sorry.

He raised his gun, fired off the last two shots, feeling some slight satisfaction as one man went down, his jawbone smashed. The other raised his gun, his expression flat and emotionless.

Just a professional doing his job. Nothing personal.

Martin stumbled, fell face down into wet leaves and dirt. He relaxed his grip on the gun, let it fall from his fingers.

Larn help me. What a way to go! Naked in a forest in the rain.

He almost laughed, until he thought of Tina and of the fate that awaited the whole of Earth if she was right.

He looked up into the face of his killer and forced two words out through his frustration and anger.

"Fuck you."

He looked straight into the dark barrel of the gun.

Martin cried out, showered with blood and gore as the man's stomach erupted in an explosion that left organs scattered randomly across the forest floor.

He managed to roll aside as the body fell, landing with a strangely satisfying wet sound precisely where he, seconds before, had expected to die. He looked towards the summerhouse, saw that the Reagold man heading Tina's way already lay dead, just a short step from the doorway.

There were more men between the trees now, uniformed, striding confidently through an area they regularly used in training exercises.

Martin rose to his feet, his nerves gradually calming themselves.

I thought I was going to die.

"Lieutenant Lichfield," said the first soldier to reach him. "You do realise that you're out of uniform?"

Martin smiled, a smile that grew into a laugh that was as much relief as humour. These were soldiers from his own unit, the Controller's personal guard.

"How?" The question died on his lips as a small stealth troop carrier rushed by overhead, its suppressed engine noise barely audible over the rain.

The soldier smiled. "You didn't
really
think we'd let you do such an important assignment on your own did you?"

Martin and Tina were rushed back to the Controller's palace in the troop carrier, Martin's ankle and Tina's arm, where the first bullet had hit, treated by the on-board medic. They dressed on the flight and were accompanied by three soldiers. The others stayed in the forest, clearing up, checking for survivors.

No doubt with orders to kill
, thought Martin.

The Controller was waiting for them in his private quarters.

"What happened Lieutenant?" The Controller was agitated, not yet angry but prepared to be, pacing back and forth. "I had a backup unit keeping a casual eye on you from far away. No surveillance devices, no attempt at listening or even particularly caring about what you were up to. Nothing, in fact, that even Reagold's devices could detect."

Tina, beginning to regain her composure after the turmoil of the last hour, nodded quietly to herself.

That makes sense. We would have known about any genuine surveillance, however sophisticated, but someone watching from a distance could be anyone or no one. That was down to the individual to decide.

She made a mental note to put a comment in her report that perhaps Reagold's security people were
too
reliant on technology, before she realised that there would be no report,
could
be no report. She was no longer part of Reagold. She had made that decision when she told Martin the truth, or at least part of the truth.

She thought of the dead bodies in the forest. There could be no more emphatic notice of resignation than that.

"I appreciate that Controller..." began Martin.

"Then," the Controller interrupted, "I receive a message from the troop carrier supporting
your
support to tell me they have scrambled and are engaging the enemy!"

He stopped pacing, seemed to calm himself, visibly slow himself down. When he next spoke his voice was quieter, reasonable.

"They took a field decision based on the situation and I respect that. I have no argument about that. But what about you, Lieutenant? Why was there a situation on the ground,
your
ground, that necessitated this intervention?"

Martin was not fooled by the restraint and control of the voice. He knew that anger lurked just beneath the surface. The Controller did not know quite why what had happened
had
happened, but he suspected incompetence or negligence or just plain stupidity. It was important to put forward the facts before reason was abandoned in favour of rage.

"Controller," said Martin. "They were trying to silence Representative Harrison. She had revealed information to me that they did not want broadcast."

"Stop trying to build the tension, Lieutenant," said the Controller, a trace of irritation seeping into his tone. "Just tell me."

Tina stepped forward, placing a hand on Martin's arm. The look in her eyes stopped him from saying anything further. It was obvious she had made a decision, accepted her current position. She would speak for herself.

"Controller." She bowed slightly, a delicate show of respect while retaining her own integrity.
I may have turned away from Reagold, but I am not yours to command
.

"Representative." The Controller bowed in return, indicating that he understood and accepted her statement of position. "Perhaps you can be more direct than my Lieutenant?"

"Certainly. I was informed by my..." she hesitated, corrected herself, "
former
company of an invasion fleet heading towards Earth. The fleet is joint Aksian and Szuiltan."

"Invasion fleet?" interrupted the Controller. "They wouldn't dare! There hasn't been any surface fighting on populated worlds for more years than I care to remember. And an actual planetary invasion..."

"I realise it breaks every signature, every understanding, every morality you care to name, but I believe it to be true. The Director would have no reason to lie. I, myself, was ordered to aid this invasion once it had started."

She paused, seemed to consider some matter of importance and reach a decision.

"There will be someone to take my place here. Someone else will have been told to help."

"Every member of Reagold's mission to Earth is being rounded up as we speak, and armed soldiers are boarding and quarantining your ship." He shrugged. "I thought it prudent after the forest incident. But why have you changed your allegiance Miss Harrison? Why didn't you just agree with The Director as usual and follow orders?"

She glanced towards Martin, saw his smile of reassurance.

"Personal reasons."

The Controller, in turn, allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. His belief in Martin Lichfield had not been misplaced.

"I believe it's the truth," said Martin. "Particularly after the reaction of Miss Harrison's entourage. Why else would they try and kill us both?"

"I had thought of that myself Lieutenant," said the Controller.

Martin saw Tina reach out her hand and he took it in his own, squeezing her fingers gently. He felt the slight tremble in her grip and began to realise some of the enormous courage and conviction it had taken for her to turn on her company as she had done. He knew enough about Reagold to know it was as intoxicating, hypnotic and indoctrinating as any of the extreme sects of the Larnian faith that arose on some of the myriad colonial and ex-colonial worlds in the galaxy. To break such conditioning, to stand up and denounce Reagold as she had done, took more courage than he could imagine. He squeezed her hand tighter, feeling guilty that he could not return the love she felt for him, the love that had helped make her decision about Reagold and her future.

"I still find it hard to believe," said the Controller, facing Martin and Tina. "However, I would be foolish to ignore the possibility, especially since the death of Leader Lane and the takeover by the Szuiltans."

Tina smiled in relief and returned Martin's squeeze with her own fingers.

"I will order an immediate mobilisation and the return of the main fleet from deep space duty. If they do invade, we will be ready for them. Their breaking of the old agreement will force the colonies to take our side. This will mean the end for..."

The sound of gunshots close by broke into the Controller's words. Gunshots and explosions.

"What's happening?" shouted the Controller as the three members of his personal guard who were in the room rushed to cover the door.

Martin pushed Tina towards the wall as the gunfire increased, automatic weapons joining what had at first sounded like single shots. It was closer too, Martin realised, and not just from beyond the door. There seemed to be firefights happening on all sides.

"Give me a gun!" shouted Martin.

The soldier nearest to him pulled his handgun from his holster and threw it to Martin just as an explosion ripped the door off its hinges.

Martin was knocked to the ground by the blast, as surely as if someone had lifted him from his feet and physically thrown him. As he shook his head clear, he saw his three colleagues sprawled among the wreckage of the door and the rubble from the surrounding wall. None of them were moving. He had to presume they were dead.

He looked towards Tina. She looked stunned, frightened, but alive. The Controller, too, was moving, pushing himself to his feet, a volatile mixture of rage and fear twisting his face.

"What is the meaning of this?" he roared at the figures entering the room, weapons drawn and ready.

Martin recognised the uniforms worn by the soldiers. Terramarine Corp. His old unit!

"This is mutiny, punishable by death!" shouted the Controller, aiming his tirade at those soldiers who now faced him, their weapons trained on him. "Who is in command here?"

"We are, Controller."

Martin recognised the voice, stayed still on the ground. They had not paid him or Tina any attention so far and, suddenly realising who was behind this coup, he wanted it to stay that way.

High Priests Loadra and Zeina strode between the honour guard of Terramarine Corp. soldiers, closely followed by the Commander-in-chief of the military, Markland.

"You!" The Controller spat the word out with venom. "What are you doing, you idiot?"

Loadra only smiled, drew a handgun from beneath his robe, and shot the Controller point blank in the face.

He stepped over the fallen body and laughed.

"Finally,
we
are in control."

Chapter 59

"There's no one here," cried John as he, Ursa, Steve, Jason and Isabelle clattered down the cellar steps.

Ursa said nothing, but stood tense and motionless, glaring at the litter-strewn darkness that had, just hours previously, been home to Walker and his rebels.

"I thought they said they would be here for another day or so?" John's voice was on the edge of hysteria as he ran about the cellar, checking all alcoves, all shadows and corners, desperate for a sign, a note, anything to say what had happened.

"They've gone, all right?" snapped Isabelle. "Stop moaning about it. We've got enough problems."

"But Walker said..."

"Fuck Walker," said Steve, sitting in the centre of the cellar. His head ached, his legs ached,
everything
ached.

Ursa stared at him for a moment and then walked to stand close by him. Steve was uncomfortably aware of her being there, close, so close he could almost reach out and touch her. He wondered at his thoughts, his feelings. Whatever else he had thought about Ursa, he had never found her anything other than cold, functional, man-like and desperately unattractive.

So why do I want to pull her down here and make love to her?

"Steve's right, if a bit basic," said Ursa.

She called me Steve
, he thought.
That's a first
.

"Walker's gone. The reason doesn't matter." Ursa moved away from Steve and he relaxed.

"Maybe the reason
does
matter," said Isabelle. "Maybe the reason is that Walker never expected us to come back."

Steve watched her sit not far from him, thought
Isabelle is more attractive than Ursa. It should be her I'm thinking about, not Ursa.

He looked around, felt a shudder pass through him.

Why am I thinking of things like this now? There are more important matters than sex to concern myself with.
He shook his head, buried his face in his hands
. Perhaps I'm finally going mad, or in shock or something.

"What do you mean?" said John coming to a stop in front of Isabelle. "What do you mean he never expected us to come back?" His voice was pleading, whining.

"She means that maybe Walker betrayed us, set us up," said Ursa, her voice low and calm, but her eyes betrayed the thoughts racing through her head.

Perhaps she's right. They certainly knew we were coming.

"No." John shook his head. "No, he wouldn't. Why would he betray us? Why would he turn against us? He hates the government. He would never inform!"