Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (12 page)

“What the fuck are you doing?” I screamed above the din.

“Freedom
,
hu-man
.
S
hut up!” Drababan answered, more blood spittled from his mouth. The world was dark
er
and quieter, we were
through the mouth of the tunnel.
Drababan didn’t stop, even as we passed what looked like a
c
olonel laying down suppressing fire, astonishment blazed on his face for a millisecond as he recovered and barked orders for his Marines to disengage from the heated battle. As we retreated f
a
rther into the depths
,
the screams became softer until the world almost shattered, I would learn
later that the transport ship had blown the escape route shut
,
sealing the fate of seven more Marines. Twenty had given their lives for me, on one level I knew that was their job but it didn’t soften the blow much
,
if at all
. The transport had blown holes in a good portion of the city looking for me, but
it
had retreated, in need of many repairs as the local militia had
begun to open fire with hand
held
surface-to-
air missiles. In all
,
thirty-eight
alien
troopers had fallen before the transport swooped down to pick up the survivors and make
its hasty departure.

Drababan had finally stopped running and my bumpy ride had mercifully come to a conclusion. The tunnel had opened up into an underground train stati
on, barren except for the burnt-
out husk of a derailed engine car. Beer bottles and junk food wrappers littered the enclosure and the smell of urine was exceedingly strong. I was home and I couldn’t have been happier. Drababan walked a few paces and slouched his great bulk against one of the cement pillars, in my joy to be free I had forgotten how truly wounded he had been.

“Drababan?” I asked as I approached him.

“Step away from the prisoner, Mr. Talbot.”

I wheeled to see ten or so Marines enter the station cautiously, all of their weapons were trained on Drababan’s sagging body.

“Wait
,” I said
trying to put my self between them and their target. “You don’t understand.”

“I understand all I need to right now, Mr. Talbot
.
I lost
twenty
good Marines out there today saving your ass, and I’ll be damned if I go and let you get killed now.”

“He’s hurt, Colonel, surely you can see he’s no
threat at the moment. And while
I do gratefully acknowledge the sacrifice you and your men made, Drababan also had a part in my getting here.”

“Do you not remember him trying to kill you?”
o
ne of the Marines closest
shouted. “That mother
fucker
is the enemy, we should be making shoes out of him!” As he approached, his finger squeezing ever so slightly more, hoping that Drababan would make some sort of move. Drababan merely looked on as the drama unfolded, it seemed that he couldn’t care less.

“You’re sure he isn’t going to kill you or anyone else for that matter?” A shorter figure asked as she pushed her way to the front. It was the
woman
who
had saved my life twice, even covered in dirt, blood, and a camouflage uniform it was easy to see that she was beaut
y
.
T
he other Marines towered over her, but she commanded respect as she approached
.
T
hey lowered their weapons, but
never too far from the ready.

“
Sergeant
,”
I said when I noticed her insignia and my tongue worked
,
“
h
e’s injured, and yes I know he
—
I mean, they
—
are the enemy
but
he was as much a prisoner as I wa
s
.
H
e
was forced i
nto that battle just like I was
and I think that you can all tell that he’s done with that now. I’m asking you all to please put your weapons down and help him.” And as if on cue
,
D
rababan coughed and more blood flew from his snout.

“Grubner
,
”
t
he
s
ergeant
ordered, “
g
et over
there and do what you can for him. Baker, Fields, you cover him, if that thing so much as flinches, I want a
belt
”

Grubner didn’t flinch when the order came his way
.
I’ve got to hand it to those medics
,
they think nothing of their personal safety when it comes to the well being of others. Baker and Fields
,
however
,
didn’t seem nearly as confident
.
I approached Drababan with Grubner, after all he was human, he had to have some fear for his safety, getting shot was one thing, get
ting eaten was entirely
another.
H
e nodded to me as we got on either side of Drababan.

“Drababan, this man is going to help you
,” I said
, fearful that it already may
have been
t
o
o late.

“I would welcome that
,
Tal-bot.”
H
e
fell into unconsciousness.

CHAPTER
S
IXTEEN

Indian Hill wa
s
a
buzz, everybody had been crammed around the
twenty
or thirty televisions that were stationed throughout the complex. Everyone had seen what had transpired
,
but no one knew what
had
happened. Paul had kept the raid very
tight to the vest in case there
was a spy among
st
them or at least a sympathizer, pretty much the same thing Paul figured
,
one definition let that person sleep easier at night. Paul had yet to hear from the Marine raiders
and he was apprehensive as hell.
H
e didn’t know how
anyone could have survived the barrage the transport laid down, but if anyone could
,
Paul was confident it would be
Mike
. T
he guy was just about unstoppable. Whatever doubts Mike might harbor about his skills, Paul knew
he
would be the key to any type of successful resistance. The price had been high to save him but the payout would most assuredly be higher. Paul heard from the Marines almost ten hours later. The message was sent over a ham radio with a taped message. There was no doubt in his mind the aliens would be scanning the globe for any and all transmissions, so it would be a lot safer for the sender
s
to put the message on tape and have it go off at a safe time when
t
he
y
could put as much distance between
t
h
e
msel
ves
and the radio. Four minutes after Paul received the message the bunker that
had
contained the
sending
radio had been destroyed.

‘The packages are in hand
—
will deliver on schedule.’

“Packages?” Paul muttered.
“That has got to be an enunciation error.” But Paul knew better, the Marines wouldn’t have said the
plural if they hadn’t meant it.
W
hat it meant he would find out soon enough
he figured
.

“Hey
,
Paul
,
at least you won’t have to stop any riots tonight
,” Frank said
leaning against the door
frame leading into Paul’s office
,
a
drink in each hand.

“Double fisting it tonight
?
” Paul asked specu
la
tively.

“No, not at the moment
,” Frank answered
.
“
I thought you might want to join me in a celebratory toast.
”

Paul had to ponder for a moment, but the feeling of utter relief was flooding through him,
“Actually,
that sounds pretty good
,” Paul said
as he stood up to receive the proffered drink.

CHAPTER S
E
VENTEEN

“
So when is the next Worcester run?” Beth asked as she finished off her supper of canned apple pie and something that resembled meat, of which variety she didn’t dare ask.

Max looked at her a little curiously, “Why
?” he asked
cautiously.

“I would like a ride
,” Beth answered
.

“Lady
,
it’s not exactly a trip to the mall
,
” Max said, doing his best to impress the seriousness of the situation.

“It’s not that at all
,
Max
.
I’m trying to get
somewhere
. I’ve been here for three days. There’s someone I’m trying to get back to.”

In more ways than one
,
she thought.

“Lady
,
there is no ‘home’ anymore
,” he said
. “There’s just here.”

“Max
,
I know you won’t understand
,
but I need to. There’s some wrongs I need to right
,” she said
, having a hard time believing that she had to explain herself to
an eleven
year old. “There’s a place I know that might be safe.”

“You’re gonna leave this place for some other place that ‘might’ be safe?”
h
e stressed.

She could see his logic but her determination remained “Max can I get a ride or not?”

Max understood the tables were turned
.
H
ere was an adult asking for his permission, even at his tender age he could understand the irony of it.

“What about the little ones?”

Beth stared at him
,
not understanding.

“They need a mother
,” he said
trying his best to put on a brave front, but Beth could’ve sworn that he turned his head to wipe an eye that wasn’t quite as dry as it previously was.