Sullivan Saga 1: Sullivan's War (32 page)

He stepped into the light of the station, and his eyes widened. Where he’d had forty men before, now there were over sixty. A man stepped up to him and held out his hand. “Joshua Hunter, at your service.”

“A pleasure to meet you. These your men?”

“Yes. This is Kip O’Donnell, my second in command.”

Sullivan shook O’Donnell’s hand. “How long have you and your men been fighting, Hunter?”

“Nearly twenty hours now. It’s been a hard slog, but we’re keeping them busy.”

“And they haven’t leveled the city yet,” added O’Donnell.

Sullivan nodded. “I was wondering about that myself. I don’t know if Edaline could ever recover if its capital was leveled a second time. And I don’t think the military would ever be able to restore order, either. It’s a miracle they were able to after the last uprising.”

Hunter pursed his lips. “Sullivan, we’ve managed to put up a good fight, but I don’t know how much longer we can survive this. Geary seized power and forced our hand. We weren’t ready for it yet.”

“I understand. But we’ll do what we can. And there is something we can do. Do you have any missiles?”

Hunter shook his head. ”We’ve used them up trying to take out the tanks.”

Sullivan nodded. “There’s a barricade up this subway line at the edge of the admin district. If we had a missile, I think we could breach it and get behind the enemy’s lines, maybe cause enough of a distraction for other forces to create breaches of their own.”

“I’ll send some of my men out to try and find one.”

“Good. It’s almost sundown now. I propose we rest for a few hours and get up our strength while your men look for a missile launcher.”

“We can use some rest.”

“So can we. Let’s secure this position and assign guard watches.”

13

DESPITE HAVING A politically powerful military, Edaline’s forces were not numerous. All young men were required to enlist at the age of eighteen for two years, but this was chiefly a way of indoctrinating them into the system rather than for military purposes. Many of them were able to receive a discharge after one year if they were accepted into the university.

Edaline had not fought a war with another planet for two hundred years. The first uprising had been the only military action that anyone alive on the planet had seen. What was required under those circumstances was not a large military but rather one that exerted its power forcefully. Without an organized military force to contend with, there wasn’t much they couldn’t handle.

Each of Edaline’s larger cities had an infantry regiment assigned to it, along with minimal air and armor support. Edaline’s capital, Agrona, was the only city with more than one regiment. But now one of those regiments, the one commanded by Colonel James Miller, was entering the city and was determined to even the odds.

Miller had lost another two transports to air attacks, but as soon as they were in among the buildings, they had left their vehicles and spread out into the streets. Miller’s regiment had been in the jungle south of the city, and he planned to secure the southeastern corner of Agrona before moving into the city center.

The first order of business was for his men to change out of their uniforms. Those that hadn’t had civilian clothes in their gear smashed the windows of clothing shops and quickly made their affiliation clear: they were on the side of the people.

Miller personally led a company of a hundred men into one of the streets. It was unnervingly quiet. They came across an occasional body, but it didn’t seem as though the fighting had been very intense in this area. Block by block, Miller’s forces secured the neighborhood, moving swiftly until they met resistance farther north. Even then, the fighting was sporadic and unimpressive. Many of the men they encountered were young and inexperienced. Miller knew Geary well enough to know that he didn’t mind sacrificing a few pawns, but his knights and rooks and bishops, the best men he had at his disposal, would be protecting their king. They’d be guarding the administrative district and Fort Hendricks beyond.

Miller looked down at his tactical tablet. Each of his squads had locator beacons with them, and he could clearly see the ragged line of his regiment as they made their way north into the city. He radioed to his company commanders. “A, B and C Companies, hold your position. All other companies swing west and hold at 89th Avenue.”

Miller began moving his own group west, watching as the line of his regiment turned to follow his orders. Based on the sounds and the smoke, he knew that there was intense fighting west of the city center, just on the outskirts of the administrative district. His plan was to clear the southern half of the city then swing north to join in the fighting there.

Miller brought his company to a halt. They’d arrived at 89th Avenue. He checked his tablet and saw that the other companies were in position as well. “Move forward slowly,” he radioed to his commanders. The regiment began crawling its way across his map of the city. One block up, gunfire erupted to the north of his position. “F Company, report.”

“A few squads of Edalinian regulars, sir. Nothing we can’t handle.”

Hunter studied his interactive display. “Companies A and B, swing north. Rendezvous with C Company.”

“Aye-aye, sir,” and “Yes, sir,” came the replies.

Miller began moving his men north. There was nothing happening in the south of the city, and if the companies to his north were engaging then that’s where he would concentrate his forces. As they made their way north, they began taking fire from the cross streets. They were finally in the thick of it. They were finally engaged in the battle for Agrona.

GENERAL GEARY WATCHED with amusement as Miller’s forces crept their way west and north. Miller was a good commander, and he was making all the right moves, securing each block before continuing on.

Geary’s finger hovered over his intercom button. “Tactical strike on Sector 32B,” he said, depressing the button.

He licked his lips as he watched his satellite image. The screen next to it had been turning increasing red as the rebels destabilized the city, block by block. Miller’s main force was too close to his own troops, but two or three companies at the far southern end of his line were well away from the fighting.

Geary’s eyes widened as the image in front of him illuminated. Half a city block was devastated within a matter of seconds. “That’s a message, Miller,” he said to himself. “Get your men in the fight.”

COLONEL MILLER PINCHED his eyes tight and fell to the ground as the shock wave hit him. After waiting for the air to clear of smoke, he looked south down the street. There was no doubt that a tactical missile had been launched against his men. Through the smoke, all he could see was that where half a dozen buildings had once stood, there was now only rubble.

Miller checked his watch. The sun would be setting within the half hour. “All companies, report.”

He listened to the reports. Three of his companies were engaged in firefights. Three more were unresponsive, those that had been to the south where the missile had hit. He weighed his options. If they continued on at this pace, they’d be slowly whittled down before they could take any decisive action. He had to get his men into a position where they could actually make a difference.

Miller fingered his radio’s talk button. “Listen up, men. In exactly three hours, we’re going to be at the greenbelt along 20th Avenue, at the edge of the administrative district. It’ll mean moving fast and hard, but we’re taking the fight to them tonight.”

SULLIVAN COULD HEAR the fighting up on the street growing more intense. Based on what he was hearing, it seemed that a larger force was engaging the Edalinian troops.

“You have any idea how many are fighting for the rebellion?” he asked Hunter.

“I’d estimate a few hundred men, at most. But a lot more are offering support in other ways, feeding us, giving us places to rest for short periods of time.”

“Well, unless every rebel in the city has converged on this location, I’d say something else is going on. I’m going to go up and check it out.”

Sullivan cautiously climbed the stairs leading up to the street. He dashed across to the corner of a building and peeked around. Through his binoculars, he could see the military’s tanks and barricades at the end of the street. They were being engaged by a small group of rebels. Footsteps behind him caught his attention. A line of men had rounded the corner at the far end of the block and were approaching him. Even in the darkness, he could see that they weren’t in military uniforms, but they were heavily armed. Sullivan held up a hand.

The lead man stopped and eyed Sullivan for a moment. “You’re not one of my men.”

“No. How many do you have?”

“About five hundred left.”

Sullivan’s eyes widened. “That’s impossible.”

“Colonel James Miller.” Miller held out his hand.

“You’ve defected?” asked Sullivan, taking the hand.

“No. Me and my men are loyal to the people of Edaline. We’re still fighting for them. But the rebel forces are no longer our enemy. General Geary is out of control.”

Sullivan nodded. “My name’s Sullivan. We have a handful of men down below, but we don’t have the firepower to get through the blockades.”

“Did you say Sullivan? Richard Sullivan?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re a hero to a lot of people here, Mr. Sullivan. And a monster to many others.”

“What am I to you?”

“Right now, you’re an ally. You’re a man who needs help getting through to the administrative district and Fort Hendricks.”

Sullivan nodded. “They have a barricade down in the subway station, more or less in line with the barricade at those tanks.”

Miller peeked around the corner.

“My men can take them on down below,” Sullivan continued, “but we need a missile or two. Can you handle those tanks?”

“We can.” Miller waved a man forward. “Give this man your missile launcher,” he said.

Sullivan took it and nodded. “How do you want to coordinate the attack?”

Miller looked at his watch. “In exactly thirty minutes, we’ll take out those tanks. Breach the barricade in the subway at the same time, and it’ll prevent either position from reinforcing the other.”

“Right,” said Sullivan, checking his watch. “I’ll see you on the other side.” He jogged back across to the subway entrance and took the stairs down.

“We’ve got help,” he said, handing the missile launcher to Hunter. “A colonel named Miller has defected with his regiment. About five hundred of them are still in the fight. He’ll be taking out those tanks in half an hour.”

Hunter smiled. “Then we’ll be ready to take that position in the subway station.”

“Right. Spread the word to the men.”

SULLIVAN RAISED THE missile launcher and made sure the men behind him were clear. He checked his watch. Thirty seconds. He poked his head around the corner of the tunnel and brought the barrel of the missile launcher up to bear on his target: the big automatic anti-infantry gun behind the second barrier. Taking that out would give the men time to rush up the tunnel and take the enemy’s position.

Sullivan glanced at his watch again, pointed the red dot in his sight at the big gun and pulled the trigger. The missile left a trail of smoke as it went and struck the gun a second and a half after being fired. As soon as the explosion reached their ears, his men streamed into the tunnel and ran along the tracks, firing ahead of them as the soldiers in the station recovered from the blast and began returning fire. Sullivan dropped the empty tube of the missile launcher and took up his rifle, following the men into the fray. A few of them had fallen short of the barrier, but by the time the smoke in the tunnel began to clear, he could see the others leaping over the barricade and taking on the men in the station. By the time he arrived, it was over.

“Up!” he yelled to his men.

They followed him up to the street where they could hear the sound of gunfire. A massive explosion rocked the stairwell, then another. “That would be the tanks!” he yelled. “Keep moving!”

He reached the top of the stairs and raised his rifle. In front of him, Edalinian soldiers were retreating away from the advance of Colonel Miller’s forces.

“Guns down! Guns down!” he yelled, popping up from the stairwell. He and his men were forced to take down a few soldiers who raised their guns, but the majority of them threw down their weapons and put up their hands.

After a few minutes of tense confusion, the gunfire subsided and Sullivan caught sight of Miller leaping over the barrier. He paused to study the burning tank beside him then, seeing Sullivan, strode forward.

“Good work, Sullivan,” he said, shaking the man’s hand.

“You, too. Your men take out the other barricades?”

Miller spent a few moments speaking into his earpiece. “Yes,” he said. “This street is secure for five blocks in either direction. And beyond the greenbelt,” he said, indicating the copse of trees in front of them, “is the administrative sector of the city. Beyond that is Fort Hendricks and General Geary.”

14

FRANK ALLEN LISTENED carefully as Dale Hammond explained the situation on Edaline.

“Well, this changes everything,” said Allen, rubbing his chin. “And only four of the original eight ships returned?”

“Yes. The rest were shot down by Edaline’s planes as they were dropping off the ground troops. Are you still taking the second wave in?”

“I have to. If Rick is relying on me to relieve him, I can’t let him down. Even if we draw some fire, it might give him a break, give him time to plan, to organize.”

Hammond nodded. “You’re talking about a potential suicide mission.”

“I’m talking about what needs to be done. I know this isn’t your fight, Hammond, you’re not from Edaline, so if you….”

“Neither are you,” said Hammond, “but you’re going.”

“I owe it to Rick.”

“And I’ll take you to him. I know these ships better than any of the other pilots here.”

Allen smiled. “I appreciate that. I’ll go say goodbye to Steve Hall and let him know that we’ll be departing in exactly one hour.”