Peace Warrior (21 page)

"Something like that, Zal. Something like that," Grant acknowledged with a thoughtful nod. "But you’re not leaving this planet. Either you put down that bomb and surrender to us, or you go ahead and use it to blow us up. Your choice.

“But this ship is not going back to wherever it came from. That's unacceptable."

"It seems we have a problem then, human. You see, this bomb will not only destroy this ship." The Minith shook his head rapidly.

"No. This device will destroy the entire planet! Who do you think you are trying to bargain with, you lamb? This is not our first conquest. Nor will it be our last. You cannot win!"

The alien's words had an effect on Grant's soldiers. They murmured excitedly to each other, a couple even retreated a step. They had been watchfully silently before, resigned that they might give up their own lives in return for ridding the planet of the Minith. Now, the concern shifted.

"He's lying, Grant!" Mouse interjected. "That little thing? He would have a hard time blowing up this room with that. There's no way it can blow up the entire planet!"

Grant did not waste time explaining to Mouse that the device was probably just the detonation mechanism. Instead he considered the alien's revelation in silence. He had no reason to doubt the Minith's words. What was worse was that he did not feel the alien was bluffing. He quickly concluded that the bomb was probably built into the ship and that it most likely could do exactly what the alien said. Destroy the entire Earth.

"What if I killed you outright?"

Zal had that planned also. "This ship has been programmed to depart this planet in exactly," he consulted an odd looking object on the nearest control panel that Grant took for a time piece, "thirty-four minutes and eight seconds. So you see, even if you kill me, the ship will return on its own to Minith."

"You bastard," Mouse growled. He stepped by Grant and went for Zal but Grant put out a hand to stop him.

"It's your decision, human. You can leave this ship now and trust me when I say that none of my race will return... or you can pay the ultimate price for certain liberation."

The alien indicated the bomb he held, "Which will it be?"

"How do I know you won't activate the bomb when your ship is out of danger, Zal?"

"You won't. It is a matter of trust."

"I don't trust you at all." Grant aimed his pulse weapon at the alien and tightened his finger on the weapon's trigger.

"Then you'll just have to kill me and take your chances that I don't hit this switch when I fall," Zal said, indicating a toggle switch on the bomb. His thumb hovered above it precariously. "Even if I don't fall on the switch, there's no way you can stop the ship from taking off. It's well protected against any damage you could hope to inflict upon it. It's sabotage-proof."

Grant's mind raced. The firing of their weapons and the explosions from the grenades had done little more than blacken the walls of the ship and Grant had to concede that what Zal said about the ship was true. They would not be able to prevent the ship from leaving.

"Okay, Zal. Let me see if I have this right," Grant ventured. "I can let you and the ship leave without any interference... or I can try to kill you and hope you don't blow us all to hell in the process. But if I do kill you without setting off the device, then the ship will leave anyway?"

"I think that's an accurate description of what we have here, human. Leave the ship now and I will depart Earth. Kill me and, if I do not set off the device, the ship leaves anyway. Either way, it will arrive on Minith within a few months. What is your decision?"

"We don't have any choice but to trust him, Grant," Mr. Blue whined from behind Grant. "We have to let him go." Several of the men from the prison mumbled their agreement.

Not for the first time, Grant felt like hitting the administrator.

"Now there's an intelligent male human," Zal observed wryly. "And what do you say, my little lamb?"

Grant's face was blank as his mind worked. Mouse and the others watched him nervously.

"I say screw you, you ugly bastard.'"

The blast struck the alien's skull at a point directly between the eyes and exited, with a burst of purple and yellow gore, from the back of Zal's head.

Zal fell backwards.

The blinking device tumbled, end over end, from the alien’s hands. It landed in the middle of the large purple pool with a resounding smack and slid across the slick floor. It came to rest, flashing button up, next to Grant's left boot. The entire group released their breaths.

Grant reached down to retrieve the bomb.

"Okay, everyone," he said as he checked the time on the ship's control panel. “This flight leaves in exactly thirty-two minutes and thirty-one seconds. Everyone not holding a ticket to the planet Minith is asked to please depart the vessel at this time."

The men and women looked at Grant and then at each other, unsure of what to do.

"How do I...which way is out?" Blue asked in a wavering voice and Grant felt that the man was not such a fool after all. Hell, the man had even played a very important part in their mission, Grant conceded. No one spoke and Blue, giving up on them for assistance, turned for the door intent on finding his own way out.

Grant turned and caught Sue’s eye.

“Can you help Blue find the exit?” Sue nodded and left the command center at a run. Grant took the radio from his belt, and handed it to the woman soldier who had been with him in the corridor.

“Get Tane. Tell him we need those carriers here NOW! Tell him to land them as close to the ship as possible and get ready to accept passengers.”

The woman took the radio and ran for an exit where she could get a signal. Grant was glad their plan had included coordinating for extra carriers to be on hand. They knew they would be evacuating the humans from the ship, but they had not known it would be an emergency evacuation. He just hoped they were close enough to arrive, get loaded, and be on their way before the Minith ship lifted off. He remembered the scorched ring of earth surrounding the ship. It would be close.

“The rest of you, search the ship quickly. There are humans here. Find them and get them outside. We don’t have much time!”

Understanding settled among the group and they hustled to follow out their orders. Only Grant and Mouse remained in the Minith ship’s command center.

"That was a hell of a gamble just to kill one alien, man. Shit, the ship's leaving anyway. You should have let him go with it." Mouse was obviously shaken over Grant's unnecessary gamble.

"You don't understand, Mouse. This ship is leaving in thirty minutes for the planet of Minith. If I allowed Zal to go with it, he would have brought back reinforcements and we would have been back to square one." Grant inspected the bomb as he talked. He cleaned the purple stains from it, unsure of how the blood might affect its operation.

"And what do you think is going to happen when this ship returns to Minith with no one alive on board? They're going to send their soldiers here anyway!"

"That's just it, Mouse. The ship won't arrive at Minith with no one on board."

He finished cleaning the blood from the bomb and set it down next to the Minith clock. It read twenty-eight minutes and forty-two seconds until lift off.

Grant looked at the large black man straight in the eye and grinned.

"I plan to be on it."

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The Minith ship was a beehive of activity as the two carriers swept downward. Titan watched men and women running from the alien vessel, while others milled about outside the ship uncertainly.

"What is going on?" He spoke to no one in particular. They knew as little as he did. He did not plan to remain in the dark, though.

“Land right in the middle of that group,” he pointed.

As the carrier settled to the ground, Titan had a clearer view of what was happening. He recognized several of the soldiers that Grant had taken with him. They were helping other, unarmed persons out of the ship and through the sparse growth of grass and shrubs towards several waiting carriers. They were all leaving the Minith ship as quickly as they could. Titan watched the scene as he stepped from the carrier and realized that the unarmed men and women were blind.

They were the slaves the Minith had on the ship!

"You men,” he ordered to the group who arrived with him from the prison, “help get these people out of the ship and into these carriers! And quickly!"

He was not sure why they had to hurry but took his cue from the panic he saw on the faces of the soldiers who had come with Grant. He hailed one of the soldiers who was assisting a blind woman from the ship.

"What's going on here? Where's Grant?"

The young soldier's urgency was evident but he stopped what he was doing and answered.

"We beat them!" he shouted. "We kicked their leather asses! But the ship's been programmed to take off! We only have a few minutes to get these people out of here!" Like Grant, Titan had also noticed the large circle of burnt earth surrounding the alien ship and understood what had caused it. No wonder these people were hurrying to get away from the ship!

"Put them aboard these carriers!" Titan ordered the young man. The soldier looked at the vehicle as if seeing it for the first time. He nodded in understanding and yelled for the others to quickly load the carriers.

Titan turned to the pilot and gave him his instructions. He went to the second carrier and did the same.

"Get these people loaded! As many as you can. I don't know how much time we have left."

The pilot nodded and immediately began directing the prisoner-soldiers and blind civilians where to sit in the carrier to maximize its capacity. They had arrived at less than half capacity. They would be leaving at more than full capacity.

Within a minute both carriers were full.

But there were still a couple dozen people left without transportation. Titan made the tough call.

"Get these people out of here! Travel at least ten miles beyond where the earth is burned, drop them off and get your ass back as soon as possible! I don't want to cook when this thing takes off!" Titan jerked his thumb toward the huge alien ship.

The pilot gave him a thumb's up sign and closed the hatch.

Titan watched as the carriers rose and headed off to the north. He did not know how long they had until the ship took off, but hoped it was long enough for the carriers to return for them. They had to get well away from the barren area surrounding the ship in order to be safe, and that would take at least three or four minutes.

"There's no one left inside! I think we got them all," one of the prisoner-soldiers informed Titan. “Except for Mouse and Grant. They’re still inside!”

"Damn," Titan swore. "How much time?"

"Can't be more than ten or fifteen minutes left, I’d guess," he answered.

Titan was about to say it wouldn’t matter anyway when he noticed a group of three carriers landing close by. He smiled when Tane Roland stepped from one of them.

“Alright,” Titan ordered the soldier. “Get the rest of these folks loaded and out of here. You too.”

He then trotted over to Tane.

* * *

Grant and Mouse continued to argue. They were facing away from the dead aliens scattered outside the door of the command center. Not because they cared about the aliens or felt badly about the violence that caused the deaths. They faced away so they could watch the clock set into the alien control panel. The seconds ticked away quickly and Grant knew he had to make his point soon so that Mouse could be on his way.

"Why, Grant?"

"Because it has to be done, Mouse. It's the only way! I've kicked this around in my head since Tane brought me back from my... my sleep. There has never been a way of making sure they never come back. But now there is! Don't you see? They’ve given us a way," Grant said, indicating the dead aliens lying at their feet. He picked up the Minith bomb. Checked the alien clock to see how much time remained.

"In this hand I have a bomb that is supposed to be strong enough to destroy a planet the size of Earth. And in twelve minutes, this ship is leaving for Minith. You tell me what has to be done, Mouse?”

"Aw, man," Mouse growled.

Grant knew he was right, and he could see that Mouse knew it also. There was only one way to defeat these monsters once and for all and they held the key to that puzzle in their hands.

"Can't we rig up something that would set it off automatically when the ship lands?"

"Yeah, maybe we could. If we had more time. But not now. What if something went wrong and the bomb didn't go off? That's a chance we can't afford to take."

Grant had considered the possibilities and options and the only one that afforded even modest success was if one of them accompanied the alien vessel back to its home planet and set off the bomb when they arrived.

"Then let me do it, Grant. I'll go."

"No, Mouse, I can't do that. It's my responsibility. I have to go."

"Why you? Why are you so quick to volunteer, huh?"

Grant thought about the question for less than a second. He did not need any longer than that.

"Because I don't belong here, Mouse. My time for living was up a long time ago."

Grant cursed the fates that had placed him in such a position and wondered if there was really a God and if there was, did He enjoy the joke he was playing?

"Hell, Mouse, these aren't even my own," Grant said, holding out his arms and slapping his legs. "Tane brought me back and gave me these for only one reason. So I could stop the Minith from killing Earth."

Grant put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Mouse, it's my destiny," Grant whispered hoarsely. Avery's face swam before his eyes and he hated himself for having dragged her into this. She would be hurt by what he had to do and that was his only regret. "You'd better get going. There's less than eleven minutes left."

"Okay, my friend," Mouse finally said. "I understand."

* * *

"But I don't."

Titan’s fist slammed into the side of Grant's head. The blow, while not fair, felt good considering who he was hitting. It was just a small pay back for the beating Grant had dealt him inside the prison.

"What the -- ?" Mouse yelled, spinning around to face the other man.

Titan smiled in return. He had entered the control room while Grant and Mouse were turned away from the door and had heard everything. Grant never knew what hit him. He just fell limply into Mouse's arms. Titan reached out and caught the bomb deftly before it had a chance to hit the floor.

"Why did you hit him?" Mouse held Grant's still form and glared daggers of anger at Titan.

"Get him out of here," Titan said. He placed the bomb on the control panel next to the clock. "You've got ten and a half minutes to get him loaded onto a carrier and away from here. Just pray there's a carrier waiting for you when you get outside."

"I can't take him out! Someone has to go with the ship, you giant idiot!"

"I'm going, Mouse," Titan calmly explained. He chose to ignore the man's threatening tone and was surprised that he was able to do so. It was a first for him. Somehow, his release of violence upon the Minith allowed him to tolerate this threat from another human. Before, he would have been enraged at any man for speaking to him in such a manner. Now, he simply brushed his anger aside as irrelevant.

"There's nothing for me here, Mouse. I'm a man of violence on a world of Peace. Besides," he added, looking down at Grant’s unconscious form. "I made a promise to Avery."

Mouse nodded, and Titan knew that he understood. Both about the promise to Avery as well as being a man of violence. He wondered briefly how Mouse and Grant were going to cope in the new world that they had just helped forge.

"Good luck."

"Thanks, Mouse. Tell Grant I'm sorry about the sneak attack. Now, you'd better hurry."

"You got it!" Mouse agreed. He tossed Grant's body over his shoulder and headed for the door. He stopped just before he reached it and turned around. "I could have taken you, Titan. I just wanted you to know that."

Titan threw back his head and laughed.

"Then you should have tried me, little one! I do not roll over so easy. But let's not discuss what might have been. You have very little time."

"I hear you, friend," Mouse said as he left the room and started to run. "I hear you."

* * *

Grant came to as he was being loaded onto a carrier. His head hurt. And he was pissed.

He felt the carrier lift off the ground. Heard the whine of the engines as the pilot maxed out his speed. He opened his eyes and saw Mouse looking down at him.

“Why?” It was all he could manage for the moment. His head felt like a blacksmith's anvil after a hard day of shoeing.

“Titan clobbered you, man. He said he's sorry he had to sneak it in on you. But I got the feeling he was kind of happy to oblige. If you know what I mean."

Grant stared stupidly at Mouse, unsure of what the other man was talking about.

“Titan? He’s at the prison.”

“No, Grant. Titan is on that Minith ship getting ready to take a long trip.”

The whine of the carrier vehicle was suddenly eclipsed by another, louder sound. Grant knew the source of the noise right away and sat up. He turned to look out the back viewing window and saw the Minith ship on fire. No. Not on fire, just sitting on a platform of fire. A platform that began rising as the alien ship lifted off of the ground.

Grant looked down for the ring of scorched earth but he couldn’t make it out. They would have to hope they were beyond the destructive path of the Mothership and he settled back, suddenly content to just let things happen. There was nothing he could do now anyway. Nothing except watch the ship as it rose higher and higher.

When it was gone, he lay down on the floor of the carrier.

He slept and dreamed of Avery.