Trident Fury (The Kurgan War Book 3) (5 page)

The mercenary screamed in pain and pulled his hand back.

In a flash, Sheridan smashed his right hand into the injured man’s head, knocking him senseless. The man’s pistol fell to the ground. Before Abbas could get a clear shot, Sheridan grabbed the mercenary by the neck and spun his body around, using it as a shield.

The two girls with them saw what was about to happen, screamed in panic, and pulled themselves free from Abbas’ grip. He snarled at them but let them go; he wanted to kill Sheridan more than he wanted the girls. He could always get more girls. He did not care that one of his men was in the way. Without hesitating, Abbas opened fire.

Sheridan felt each bullet as they struck the guard’s body. Luckily the man was wearing some form of light body armor under his jacket or the rounds would have passed through and struck Sheridan as well. For what seemed like an eternity, Abbas fired his pistol until the slide remained back—he was out of rounds.
 

The odds were now even. Sheridan tossed the dead mercenary’s body to one side and yelled at the top of his lungs before charging straight at Abbas. He struck the man hard in his stomach, bowling him over. Both men tumbled to the marble floor. Sheridan was the first to recover. He jumped up to his feet and looked around for a weapon. He spotted the dead guard’s pistol lying by the elevator and dove for it.

Abbas may have been a portly looking man, but he was fit and fast on his feet. He saw the weapon at the same time and rushed to grab it as well.

Both men collided into one another and slid across the smooth marble floor. Sheridan rolled over and swung his right elbow at Abbas’ face. He heard a crunch as the cartilage in his opponent’s nose shattered. Blood ran like a river down Abbas’ face. If Sheridan thought that was the end of it, he was sorely mistaken. Abbas wiped the blood to one side, got up on his knees, and pulled a curved blade from behind his back.

Sheridan saw the knife he had jammed into the dead guard’s hand and grabbed hold of it. He yanked it out and stood up.
 

Both men were breathing heavily.

Like a pair of weary prizefighters in the ring, Sheridan and Abbas circled one another looking for a weakness, for the opportunity to strike.

Abbas struck first. He swung his knife down aiming to cut his adversary’s right arm wide open.
 

Sheridan saw the move and at the last moment tried to pull his arm back. Abbas’ sharp blade still sliced through his jacket all the way down to his skin. A burning pain shot up Sheridan’s arm making him wince. He jumped back, trying to put some space between him and his attacker.

Abbas twirled his knife around in the air. “Hurts, doesn’t it?” he taunted.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“I doubt it. You don’t rise to the top of the Clans by being nice. Now stand still and I’ll promise to make this fast.”

“Screw you!” snarled Sheridan, thrusting his blade at Abbas’ face, forcing him to step back.
 

From the pit, a bear let out a deep roar, followed by its partner. “They’re hungry,” said Abbas. “You were supposed to be their supper.”

“Sorry to disappoint them.”

“It’s not too late,” replied Abbas as he flipped the knife in his hand up in the air until he took hold of the tip of the blade. With a lightning-fast move, Abbas dropped to one knee and threw his knife straight at Sheridan’s chest.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion to Sheridan. He saw the knife coming straight for him. He started to turn, but realized that he wasn’t going to be fast enough. He lowered his left arm to block the blade. A split second later, the knife struck home, slicing through his jacket before lodging itself into Sheridan’s forearm. He let out a gasp. It felt as if someone had just jammed a red-hot poker into his arm and was sadistically twisting it around.

“Time to die,” said Abbas as he reached for another concealed knife.

Through the pain, Sheridan knew he had to do something or die in the next couple of seconds. He closed his mind to the pain, turned toward his adversary, and ran straight at him. Abbas had not expected an attack and was defenseless when Sheridan hit him head-on and thrust his knife deep into his fat stomach.
 

Abbas gasped. His eyes widened in surprise and fright. He reached over and grabbed the hilt of the bloody knife. On unsteady feet, he staggered back a few paces and turned to look over at Sheridan before collapsing to the floor. He knew his wound was mortal. Abbas lay there moaning, unable to stop his coming demise.
 

Sheridan felt his head grow woozy. His feet gave out underneath him. He tumbled to the ground, looking over at his dying opponent. From out of nowhere, an arm reached down and grabbed hold of Abbas and started to drag him toward the open pit. A couple of seconds later, the man tossed Abbas into the pit. Sheridan heard the bears roar. They were followed right away by the sound of a man crying for his life. He struggled to sit. Through the haze in his mind, Sheridan saw a man walking toward him.

“You okay, Captain?” asked Cole, his face coming into view.

Sheridan reached out and touched his friend’s arm. “You’re dead. I saw you die.”

“Not bloody likely,” said Cole as he unbuttoned his shirt. He tapped on a spot that had hardened the instant it was struck. “Liquid armor did the trick. This is better stuff than the sets they issue us back in the Corps. I told you to buy some last week when we were at the bazaar.”

“I got sidetracked.”

“Typical officer. Listen to me next time,” admonished Cole as he began to check out Sheridan’s wounds. “Looks like you’ll live. A shot for the pain and a couple of stitches and you’ll be as right as rain.”

“What happened to Abbas?”

Cole grinned. “It was feeding time at the zoo.”

Chapter 4

The morning began like any other. Tarina and Wendy woke up to the sound of a Kurgan prayer being read out over the camp’s PA system. After washing, they joined the rest of the people from their building at the mess tent and waited in line to be fed their usual breakfast of fruit and grains. Overhead a dirigible showed the same video it had for months: a young human family finding peace among the Kurgan Empire.

“I’d pay good money for something new to watch,” murmured Wendy so only her friend could hear. Negative comments about the re-education training were not taken lightly by the Kurgans and their Chosen helpers. Wendy pulled her long red hair back and tied it off. She had let it grow ever since they had been taken prisoner, reasoning that while they were light-years away from the fleet that she could do as she pleased—at least with her hair.

“Some news from back home would be nice,” mused Tarina.

Both women chuckled and kept moving in the long line. Once they had their food, they sat down at their usual table and began to eat their meal. They were joined by Diane, a single mother with a boy, named Jerrod, who was barely more than a year old.

“So how are you today?” Tarina asked Jerrod, who saw her looking at him and smiled.

“I think he likes you,” said Diane.

“He’s the only thing that brightens up this awful place.”

“Then I’m sorry to tell you that I spoke to our group leader and asked to be moved from the camp to a Kurgan colony. Growing up in a camp is no life for my child.”

Tarina nodded her understanding. “I don’t blame you. I haven’t any children of my own, but if I did, I would have made the same decision.”

“Thanks, that means a lot to me. I know that he’ll grow up as a Kurgan citizen, but at least he’ll live.”

“Look after yourself,” said Wendy.
 

“I will.”

The PA system came to life. For the next two minutes, the names of several dozen camp inmates were read out. They were told to report to the camp’s gymnasium right away. Tarina’s and Wendy’s names had been part of the list.

“I wonder what that’s all about?” said Diane.

“I don’t know,” replied Wendy, looking around the tent as people began to rise from their seats.

“Oh, Lord, no,” said Tarina.

“What’s wrong?” asked Diane.

“Military, they’ve only called the names of people from the military.”

Wendy turned to face Tarina; her eyes were filled with fear. “Do you think the rumors are true? Are we being moved?”

“I don’t know, but I bet we’re about to find out.”

Ten minutes later, a Kurgan female walked into the gym accompanied by a Chosen translator. Tarina, Wendy, and all the other prisoners of war were formed up as if on parade. Unlike the male warriors who wore segmented body armor from the bottom of their feet all the way up to their necks, the females wore long white robes that covered everything from the neck down. The Kurgan stopped in front of the assembled prisoners, looked everyone over, and then began to speak through her translator.

“Good morning, I am sorry to take you away from your studies; however, I have received a message that must be read to all of you without delay. As prisoners of war, you have been treated with the utmost respect by the Kurgan Empire. It was our deepest desire that you would see the path to peace through the Kurgan religion and join us as citizens of the Empire. This regrettably has not been the case. In this camp and others like it spread throughout the Empire, you have all proven to be stubborn and less than receptive to our teachings. I am to give you one last chance to join us. Any man or woman who feels that they can find peace in the Empire will move off to the far side of the gymnasium and wait for me there.”

Tarina looked around. Not a single person moved.

The Kurgan female shook her leathery head. “This is your last chance. Join us or face the consequences.”

Tarina’s stomach began to churn with fear.
Were they going to be shot
?

“Very well, you have chosen your path. You will be in
Kyseth
before me.”

Tarina held her breath.
Kyseth
was the Kurgan word for heaven. They were going to be killed.
 

A young soldier standing near Wendy heard the word and began to cry.

The Kurgan female stepped forward. “It is not too late.” She held out a hand. “Come with me, my child, and I will save you.”

The soldier took a step back, hurried to wipe the tears from her face, and tried to look as defiant as the others.

“Fools, you are all fools.” With that, the Kurgan female turned and strode out of the room. As she was leaving, a platoon of well-armed Chosen warriors ran in and lowered their weapons at the prisoners.

Wendy reached for Tarina’s hand and held onto it for dear life. Both women held their breath and raised their heads. They weren’t going to cower in fear at the end.

The Chosen’s officer, a Kurgan in full armor, walked between his men and the prisoners. “You will not die here,” said the officer in understandable English. “You will go to a new camp to work for the Empire.”

A Chosen sergeant walked alongside the officer and smiled. He placed his hands on his hips and said, “I want all of you to take a seat and not try anything foolish or you will be shot for attempting to escape. A transport ship will be arriving in the hour to move you to your next and final camp.”

“Where will that be?” called out one of the prisoners.

“Klatt, it’s a prison planet. If you’re not used for target practice, you’ll spend the rest of your miserable lives mining perlinium for the Kurgan war effort. Now, no more questions. The next person who bothers me will be beaten for insolence.”

Wendy held Tarina’s hand so tight that it hurt. Tarina leaned over and said, “Let go of my hand before you break it.”

“Sorry,” whispered Wendy, releasing her grip

Together they sat down on the wooden floor of the gymnasium. Tarina wrapped an arm around Wendy and pulled her close. “I guess we knew this day would come. As we always say, at least we’re still together.”

“I’d hoped to be rescued by now. I guess no one’s coming for us.”

“Wendy, you can’t think that way. You know that if our friends knew where we were, they’d risk their lives to free us.”

“I guess so. It just seems that we’ve been out here for so long and things just keep getting worse.”

Tarina squeezed her friend in her arms. “I need you to keep up your spirits. As long as we’re alive and together, there’s always hope. You’ll see, something will turn in our favor. I know it will.”

“Can I have your word on that?”

“Yeah, you can have my word on it.”

Tarina knew she was just saying what Wendy wanted to hear. The rumors she had heard about Klatt were horrific. Brutal guards, starvation rations, disease, and overcrowding all combined to give a prisoner there a six-month-to-a-year lifespan. She closed her eyes and rocked Wendy in her arms, all the while praying that someone somewhere would hear her prayers and rescue them before it was too late.

Chapter 5

With the flick of a switch, Master Sergeant Cole turned on the lights abruptly ending Michael Sheridan’s deep sleep.

“Wake up, sleepy head, the captain wants to see us,” said Cole loud enough to wake the dead.

Sheridan rolled over and pulled his pillow over his head. “This is unfair,” he protested, holding up his bandaged arm. “Can’t you see I’m wounded?”