Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (68 page)

Now there was an increased murmuring among the throng.

“Yes Drababan is not dead, he has seen something in this one hu-man that made him leave his former life behind so that he could stay on earth and become a freedom fighter.”

The murmuring increased.

The Progerians were no dummies, they knew something was up. “Guards seize them!” One of them shouted from his perch a level up on a catwalk.

I saw some of the Genogerians advance, most were held back by their peers.

“This hu-man Michael Talbot has promised us peace and a place on his planet to foster our own beliefs and to live a life unhindered by cruel masters.”

Any and all murmuring ceased completely.

I didn’t think it was really ‘my planet’ to be making those kind of decisions, but I wasn’t going to correct him now.

“Shoot them
!”
t
he same Progerian said. He knew what was happening
,
even if those
around him
were a little slow
i
n the realization that this was the dawning of a revolution.

“You have been slaves long enough!” Urlack shouted forcibly. A blue shot streaked by my face
;
the shooter was clubbed down by those around him. If it was possible
,
I now felt even more exposed. There would always be those
who
were comfortable with their lot in life and woul
d fear change with every beat
of their heart
s
, I could sympathize with the Geno that had tried to kill me, up to a point
.

I didn’t say a word
as Urlack surveyed his brethren. I was fairly certain anything I said would not be the right thing.
I watched in amazement as about a dozen or so
Genogerians ran up to the catwalk and rounded up the five Progerians staged there.

“Is that it?” I asked Urlack. “That sure seemed easy.” And
as if my words had shattered the illusion, all hell broke loose as klaxons raged.

“What’s happening?” I screamed
,
placing
my hand
s
over my ears.

“Someone
is
preparing to open the airlocks!” Urlack shouted as he dropped from the fighter and headed for the doors. I followed him, no way was I staying up there by myself
.
O
ne of the
Genos
might
have been
hungry.

Urlack
finally got to his destination,
an
oversized keypad
.
H
e typed in a series of commands and then came blissful silence as the alarms stopped.

“Manual override
,” Urlack said
to me. If I hadn’t known better
,
I would have sworn I saw sweat on his brow. The Genogerians were milling around, they didn’t know what to do. Their entire live
s had been dictated by a master.
O
ne minute of freedom would not be able to undo all of that.

“
G
o
!
” Urlack shouted. “Demand your freedom and take it from those that will not give it to you willingly! Spread the word to your clansmen, you all know who your opposition will be
.
I
f they will not surrender you must kill them!”

“Will the Progerians fight? I didn’t think they liked to get their hands dirty.”

“This fight is far from finished
,
Michael Talbot.
The inner
most portion of this ship is heavily guarded
;
first by a ring of Genogerians that have been genetically altered to be the biggest and fiercest of our kind.”

I did not want to think of a bigger
,
meaner version of the brutes
.
T
hey were already fodder
enough
for nightmares. “Won’t they want to join the revolution?” I asked naively.

“No
,” he answered
without even pondering the question. “They were bred specifically for the purpose of guarding their ‘superior’ masters. They can achieve no higher honor than to die in their defense. They have training, superior fire power and position.”

“We have the numbers right?”

“We have the numbers
,
but even then I do not know if it is enough. Because even if we get past them we come to the last
and
most lethal defense.”

“You’re kidding
,
right?”

“Kidding? Does that mean to procreate? I do not see how the reference fits
.
”

“Sorry
,
what does this next circle of hell entail?”

“Hell?”

“What’s after the mutant Genogerians?”

Urlack still looked confused
,
but he seemed to understand what I was asking.
“
The elite Progerian Guard. They have studied the art of fighting since they were
yearlings
.
T
hey used to be allowed to fight in the games but they dominated to the point where no one would bet against them.”

“They volunteered
? For the games?”

“They were bored
,” he answered
.

I looked back at the fighter and a ride back to
E
arth. “Today’s as good a day as any other to die
,” I told
Urlack.

“That’s the spirit
,
hu-man
,” Urlack said
as we descended
farther
into the ship and deeper into the pits of hell.

“Why all the defenses
,
Urlack? I would think your Progerian masters would believe to have the Genogerians completely subdued.”

“We have many enemies among the stars
,
hu-man.”

“Yeah,
that’s what happens when you take stuff that doesn’t belong to you.”

“Your anger is misdirected. I am of the same mind as you, remember?”

“Sorry
,” I told
him.

There was the sound of sporadic shots being fired
,
but i
t
could have been celebratory.
Even though
Genogerians really didn’t seem the festive kind, I couldn’t really imagine a band of them f
estooned in beads at Mardi Gras.

“It is good to see you smile in the face of death
,” Urlack said
. “
I
t
is the true sign of a warrior.
”

I was in no way going to let him know what had brought the grin to my face, he might retract his statement. As we swept deeper into the ship
,
we began to come across casualties.

“Any chance these are the Genogerian guar
d
s
you spoke of?” I asked.

“No,
these are the poor souls that do not believe we can ever be set free and fight blindly to preserve their
present
life no matter how dismal it is.”

“Kind of like Yankees fans
,” I replied
and my insane grin
grew
wider.

“Perhaps
.
A
lthough I do not know what Yankees fans are.”

“You’re better off
,”
I
told
him and le
ft
it at that.  I grab
bed
the downed
Geno
’
s
rifle and fe
lt
immediately better.

Now it
was beginning
to sound like a battle as we approach
ed
the chow hall
.
S
creams of rebuke, betrayal
,
and pain emanate
d
from the open doors.

Urlack put out
his arm
,
barring my way. “I think it would be best if you did not go in there. You would most likely die.”

“Can the rifles kill you
,
Urlack?” I ask
ed
.

“Most assuredly,” he answered
.

“The
n what advantage d
o
you have over me in there?” I ask
ed
.

“If you
fall
,
the Genogerians might not be so willing to die
,”
he
stated
.

“I think you over
play my importance
,
Urlack.
I think they are fighting for their
freedom. And if what you say is so true, how would the Genogerians rally if they realized I was fighting alongside them
?
”

Urlack thought about it for a moment. “
You
r
words are valid
,
but I will go in first and you will do your best to stay behind me.”

“Sure
.
W
hatever
,” I said
it with sarcasm
,
but since
Urlack really had no clue what that
was I would plead ignorance later, if there were to be a later.

Blue tracers arced across the room
amidst all the fighting
I was having a hard time distinguishing one set of
Genos
from the other. As I began to control my breathing
, I took
well
-
aimed shots
,
I began to discern that not only were
the uniforms of the mutant Geno
s different
,
they were much bigger and nowhere was this more evident when a standard Genogerian got t
o
o clos
e and now found himself in hand-to-
hand combat with the mutant. It wasn’t quite the size disparity from Geno to human
,
it was more like a teen Geno to a fully matured
adult
.
The
regular
Geno put up a good fight
,
but it was clear he was outmatched. My shot hit the mutant high along its skull plating
,
peeling back the t
hick hide and exposing the bone-
white skull before it was flooded
over with blood.

The Geno I had saved looked over to me and perhaps nodded
his appreciation
and
immediately thrust his long knife into the throat of the mutant before it could
recover
from the damage I had inflicted. The fighting was fierce and the Genogerians took some serious casualties
,
but within
twenty
minutes
,
all of the mutants had been killed. To a being
,
each had stayed and fought
un
til its death. Not one ran or surrendered.

“Well,
that is the opening salvo
,”
Urlack said
,
standing tall.

“Apparently
, t
hat’s not all of them?” I asked dismayed.

“No,
they rotate by platoon to the feeding hall.”

“This was a platoon?” I asked. I looked o
v
er the carnage, a full
twenty
mutant
Genos
were dead
,
but close to fifty
regular
Genos
were dead or dying and another
thirty
or so injured
and we had a huge element of surprise
.
N
ext time we wouldn’t be so lucky.

“We cannot sustain these types of losses
,” Urlack said
,
summing up everything I was wondering. “They will dig in now.”

“Does the ship itself employ any type of defensive measures
,
Urlack?” I asked. “Can they electrocute hallways or shut off life support systems or anything along those lines?”

“
I
f they felt all
wa
s lost
they have at their disposal
a self-destruct mode
.”