Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (47 page)

Urlack struggled to get up, his muscles still spasmi
ng
from the after effect of the shock. Turval involuntarily backed up. A small victory, Urlack thought, but a vic
tory nonethe
less.

“They will sing songs about me
,
Urlack
,
when word of this battle gets back to our home p
lanet. I will probably become a
Supreme
-Commander when this is done. And all at the expense of the
Genogerians
!” Turval roared in laughter. “Put him
in jail, unharmed.
I want him to live
long enough to lead his men
and watch as I rise on the broken
backs of his kindred.”

Urlack was helpless a
s
he was dr
agged away from Turval’s
office.
H
e was two hallways away before he couldn’t hear Turval
’s
echoing
laughter. Hatred boiled over, but he tried to relax as much as possible. To fight the shock
was the worst possible solution;
let it course through
him
and out was the only way to
be
rid
of
it. He had practiced more than once, realizing that this day or at least one like it was only a matter of time for someone like him. He calmed himself even
further
, going as limp as was
G
enogerianally possible
,
his dead weight making matters difficult for the guards.  Urlack waited until the hallway was clear before he made his move
—
the speed in which he moved completely caught the guard to his left by surprise, he never had a chance as Urlack reached one hand
behind
his neck and the other around his jaw, the short quick movement was punctuated with a loud crack as the guard
’
s neck snapped. The guard dragging Urlack’s right arm found himself against the far wall before he was able to take his next breath. One of the rear guards had just brought his stun weapon up to the ready when Urlack brought his mighty fists to bear on the somewhat sensitive snout. The guard crumpled to the floor without ever firing a shot. The second rear guard was attempting to figure out which of the
three
stun weapons he was carry
ing could be fired the quickest.
H
is thoughts were completely interrupted as the first blast caught him center mass. Urlack shot him twice
more for good measure. The guard against the far wall was beginning to stir when Urlack shot him in the head effectively scrambling his thought processes for the rest of what would be
a short existence. Urlack cursed himself for what he done as he surveyed the damage around him. He had let his emotional geno side take over from the cold calculating
Progerian
side. He had no plan, he had just made damn sure he couldn’t stay
t
here
.
I
t didn’t matter now that
his father
was a
supreme ruler
,
Urlack would be shot on sight. But where was he going to go? The planet was as hostile environment as he had ever stepped foot on. In the end
,
he had to take the only chance available to him. He grabbed some weapons and headed for the outer perimeter, concocting a viable story as to why he needed to leave the safety zone. He was no more than
fifty
yards from the make-shift demarcation zo
ne when the alarm was sounded.

Well
,
no turning back now
,
h
e thought as he casually strolled on. The guards
were
focusing all their attention
on
the perceived hu
-
man threat they thought was approaching
rather than the lunatic officer that was rapidly retreating from view.

CHAPTER SIX
T
Y-ONE

Tracy waited in her quarters until she just couldn’t take it anymore. Mike hadn’t come at all, was
he with
Beth?
Already? She couldn’t believe
he would just abandon her—
could he? She wanted to go straight to his quarters but she didn’t think she could take it if he wasn’t alone. She went to the cafeteria first and bought a cup of coffee
,
trying to make it look like she had come specifically for that and wasn’t wandering around aimlessly like a lost puppy. She hated herself for having th
o
se feelings
,
but there they were and she couldn’t do anything but deal with it. She was attempting to cool the coffee off when she spotted Mike at an intersection
right outside the eatery,
her heart skipped
.
H
e was clearly talking to someone
,
but she couldn’t tell
who
because the person was in the other hallway. She walked as casually as she could which more resembled a speed
walk. Mike never turned
,
he hadn’t even noticed her. She was close enough to hear him now.

“I love you too
,”
s
he heard him say. Her coffee splashed to the floor as Mike turned her way.

“Oh
,
hey Tracy. I was just coming to see you
,”
Mike
said with a genuine
smile on
his
face.

That caught her off
guard
.
S
he hadn’t seen a genuine smile f
rom him since she’d known him.

Did Beth give
him that smile
?
She was furious and confused. Confused because he honestly looked happy to see her, he didn’t look like someone who had just got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

“
Who
were
you talking to?” She tried her best to not let t
he rage that threatened to over
take her show in her words.

“Huh? Oh
,
that was my brother.” He smiled.

Her face flushed with relief. Mike stoope
d over to try to
salvage some of her coffee
, but
it was to no avail.

“Come on
,
I’ll buy you another cup.
Figuratively, we don't have to pay for shit here.
”
He answered when she looked at him strangely.

“Don’t bother
,
I didn’t really want that one
,” she said
. Mike looked at her
quizzically.

“Well,
then come on I’ve gotta get some
napkins from the counter
so I can clean that mess up.”

“Uh-
huh
,”
she managed to get out.

Mike finished picking up the spillage. "Come on let's go to my quarters I've got some things I'd like to discuss with you."

After five minutes of talking with Mike, Tracy’s mood did
reach
the rage threshold
,
but not for the reason she would have guessed.

“
Don’t think I’m stupid
,
Mike!”
s
he yelled.

Mike backed up a step
,
wary of her fury. “Hold on, hold on
,” he said
put
ting
his hands up for emphasis and partly for defense should he need to. “I never said you were stupid.”

She didn’t let him finish. “Just because the orders are coming from General Gin
son
—
” Her tone getting angrier
—
“
t
his idea reeks of you
!” she said
and
violently
thrust
her finger
toward
his sternum. He was glad that he had the foresight to back up, he was pretty sure she put enough force in that finger to lodge it up to the first knuckle in his chest.

“Hold on
,”
h
e pleaded again. “I came up with that idea
,
but th
ere
were a few other people at the table
.
Paul, I mean
,
the
g
eneral had to pick the one that made the most sense for everyone.”

Her edge didn’t ebb in the slightest. “This doesn’t make the most sense for
me
!”
s
he yelled even louder. “The heaviest resistance battle this planet may ever see and you want me to lead a legion of doomed refugees to where? To what?”
s
he screamed.

“That’s only if my initial plan fails.
Tracy you’ve got to take it down a notch
,”
Mike tried.

“Don’t tell me what to do
,” she said
as Mike tried to draw her close. Partly to calm her down but mostly to try
to
quiet her down
.
H
im she could yell at
,
but to take away what little hope the civilians had was
unacceptable
.
“
A
nd speaking of your ‘initial plan’
,
”
s
he spat the words out. “What are you thinking?”

“
I do what I have to,
Tracy
.
Y
ou’re an officer, you’re a leader. Now is you
r time to lead these people to safety. I told you what is going on.
If I should fail
,
to
stay here is absolute suicide. Those ‘doomed refugees’ include my brother. I am putting my family in your hands.”

“Don’t try to turn this
,” she said
, her posture easing. “This has nothing to do with protecting these people, it has to do with you trying to get rid of me.” A small tear began to form in her eye
—
that pissed her off almost more than Mike.

“I’m not trying to get rid of you
,
Tracy. I’m trying to protect you.”

“Ah
,
so the truth comes out.” Almost making good on her threat to put her index finger through Mike’s sternum. “I don’t need your protecting
,
Mike
,” she said
. “I’m a big girl now
.
I made it all this way all by myself.”

“Ok-
ok
,” he
plead. “This is about me.”

She looked at him waiting for him to clarify. Mike’s mouth went dry as he fought to find the words to explain what he was feeling.

“Tracy
,
you and I both know
the odds of my raid aren’t good, it isn’t quite a death sentence but I wouldn’t put any money down on it
,
either.
” She nodded minutely. “There is no way I will be able to be an effective part of the mission if I’m
constantly
think
ing
about your safety
.
I need to know that if push comes to shove you will get out of here, that you will survive. That means more to me than anything else.
”

“Mike.” Her tone softened as she watched the pain cross his face. She grabbed his face in her hands and stroked him softly. “I was a Marine before I met you, I’m a Marine now, and I want to go out a Marine. There is no way I would be an effective part of the mass exodus if I had to constantly worry about you. If you die, I die.” Mike nodded. He knew he had lost, the only way he was going to get her to leave with the civilians was in chains.