Broken Soldier (Book One) (31 page)

Eventually, the Saurans were going to discover they
had a missing transport. When the word got back to them, they would
show up here with overwhelming force and Mike couldn’t imagine the
people of Earth being ready in time to deal with them.

He realized he didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on
his worries. At the moment, there was work to be done.

Before they could pursue anything else, they had to
get as many of the old vets, into med units. Half way to the Mother
ship, the old men came out repaired, slightly younger, yet groggy
and not fully recovered. They were put in stasis and another person
was put in a med unit.

Bambi told them it made no sense to stop for the
robots they had left in the asteroid belt. They had room for them,
but no place left to store the gold, platinum, silver and other
metals they had collected. So she sent them on a mission to do a
closer study of the four asteroids she had identified as usable by
the new Terran Space Navy.

The entire time on route, Bambi had been listening
to the Presidents comm unit. Mike was correct about his reaction.
He explained to the Secret Service what had happened and they
wanted to move him immediately. He pointed out that was closing the
barn door after the horses got out and that if Mike had wanted him
dead or kidnapped, he easily could have done just that.

As a salve to the Secret Service, the President
agreed to triple the number of agents at Camp David and a second
company of Marines was sent there as well. All on duty personnel
would wear oxygen breathing apparatuses (OBAs), in order to avoid
being gassed again. It was uncomfortable for the men, but a logical
defensive measure.

Bob Stassen was remarkably calm, as he explained to
his chief of staff what had happened and what he had been told.
Oldfield was skeptical. He suggested that the President bring in a
few experts, such as the head of the Science Foundation, the
National security Advisor and his close friend, the Secretary of
Defense. Very shortly after that, they lost contact through the
comm unit, because John Oldfield had placed the comm unit in a
Faraday cage to block any signals. He had correctly assumed that it
could be used as a listening device. What Oldfield didn’t know was
that Bambi had placed micro-drones around Camp David; so she was
still monitoring their conversations.

Two days out from the Mother Ship they received a
call from the President.

“Sergeant Hurst, are you there.”

Mike was munching on a delicious blob of chicken and
his mouth was full; so he responded using his comm. “I’m here Mr.
President. How can I help you?”

“You can answer some questions for me. There seems
to be some people missing and I suspect you have…brought them onto
your spacecraft with the intent of improving their health.”

It was a delicate way of accusing Mike of
kidnapping. The man was definitely a clever politician.

End of
Book One

This story is copyright 2015 by Bruce George.
All rights reserved.

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Excerpt from Book two of the
Broken Soldier
series

The large shuttle slowly made it’s way toward the
damaged transport. They moved with deliberate caution, not wanting
to alarm the crew of the ship by rushing straight at them, at
attack speed. When Mike looked at the transport on the viewing
screen, he saw the huge hole in its side.

Bambi commed,
That hole goes all the way through
it, General. I calculate that the damage is severe. The engineering
equipment has been nearly completely destroyed and there is a
possibility that some damage was done to the computer housing. That
might explain why the responses from the ship were not within the
normal ranges of accepted computer behavior.

If the computer has been damaged, I suspect that the
responses we received were actually generated by a live Sauran and
not the computer. Sir, there is a distinct possibility that they
are without the aid of their internal comm. If that’s the case, it
is an extraordinary opportunity for us to achieve success.

Jo warned,
I agree, Bambi. But, we are still
going to face Sauran warriors and they will fight with their usual
ferocity. I suggest we stick with the existing plan.

Mike added, “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.
I can see where the Saurans losing comm would be an advantage for
us, but not enough to drastically change the guidelines for this
op. We’ll go in as we planned.”

Bambi told them,
I’m being told to bring the
shuttle in using our computer, which would be me, of course. This
is highly unusual. In nearly every case, the ship’s computer takes
control of all vehicles entering the ship for safety’s sake. It
must mean the computer on this transport has been damaged. Here we
go.

The shuttle slowly entered the hanger, revealing the
large hole, where something had blown through the ship and the
hanger. Two shuttles had been mangled by the shot and there were no
robots in sight. That worried Mike.

Bambi, why don’t we see robots working on the
damage?

General, it can only mean that that the Saurans have
lost their comm with them.

The shuttle set down and an enormous set of doors
began to move across the width of the deck, closing off the damaged
portion of the hanger.

General, they’re pressurizing this part of the
hanger and I’m being ordered to have you exit the shuttle and greet
the Sauran who awaits you. Be sure to show the proper respect,
sir.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for the closed off
portion of the hanger to pressurize. Bambi pointed out that was
very slow.

Mike, Wayne and Max slowly walked down the open ramp
and entered the damaged transport. When a single Sauran approached
them, they bowed deeply, showing him the maximum respect. The huge
alien slapped Mike and kicked Wayne, before shoving Max to his
knees.

“You are here to repair our environmental system.
Has the appropriate information been downloaded to you?”

Mike commed,
Yes, master.

“You must speak to me, using your stupid human
voices. Once our computer has been repaired, we will use the comm.
Do you understand, slave?”

Mike responded, “Yes, master.”

“Then don’t keep me waiting. Go and rebuild it.”

He slapped Mike again and asked, “Where are the food
supplies you were told to bring?”

Mike’s short temper caused him to alter the original
plans. He’d had enough and decided to make his move early. He
angrily said, “I have some right here, master.”

He reached behind his back and brought out a plasma
pistol. The Sauran moved with lightening speed and kicked it out of
his hand, sending it flying across the floor of the hanger.

Wayne jumped at the hulking warrior and Max was
right behind him, driving the creature to the deck. Mike’s hand
hurt like hell, as he went to retrieve the gun. He heard Wayne
scream and turned back to see his son’s head being twisted until
his neck snapped. Mike’s mind went into combat mode, ignoring the
emotional agony of his son’s death. He didn’t have the luxury of
grieving just then. As Max struggled with the Sauran, Mike grasped
the plasma weapon and put two shots into the alien’s head, nearly
decapitating it.

He looked at Max and the man’s head exploded, as a
powerful plasma round ended the life of his friend. He spun to his
left, ducking immediately, as a shot went above his head. But,
before he could aim his plasma pistol. A round caught him in the
chest, driving him down to the deck, as he descended into
darkness.

This story is copyright 2015 by Bruce George.
All rights reserved.