The Last Spartan 1: Different Paths Page 23

  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.”