Land of the Blind (Chapter 26)

                                                              Land of the Blind

                                                                  Chapter 26

Devereaux Marshall Fox quietly lay in the high reeds that ran alongside the two-lane highway leading to the front gate of Chiang’s base.  They would have been mowed to eliminate hiding spots, had Fox not interrupted the schedule. As it was, it did not matter to Fox as he had engaged his shield’s cloaking device after landing and ditching his copter.

He focused his right eye on the rather strong defenses at the gate.  When the jet copter that he’d set on autopilot spun toward the gate and the defenders opened up on it, he lost his respect.  He couldn’t believe that they’d left the ammunition trucks right behind the armored personnel carriers.

After the shock wave from the resulting explosion passed, he got up and walked right into the smoke and dust. He couldn't see the ground, but he didn't need to. In his vision, he had his scanners mapping out the terrain as he stepped into the huge crater that existed now where once the main gate had stood.

“Apparently they didn’t hear the warnings from Velasquez’s planes to head to the airfield for evacuation,” Fox said to himself as he stepped carefully.

“There have been some very loud explosions, Devereaux,” his microcomputer responded.  “They might have some deafness.”

“Not anymore,” Fox remarked, coldly.

He got to the top of the crater and, within a few moments, came out of the smoke and saw utter chaos.  There was not a building or structure on the base that was not damaged or on fire.  Bodies lay everywhere.  To his glee, though, he saw plenty of abandoned defensive positions.  That made it easier to identify the stalwart defenders who couldn’t or wouldn’t understand the depth of their situation.

He’d already replaced his assault rifle with his shotgun.  His sensor spotted movement to the left and, without looking, he pointed his shotgun and fired.  Screams came back, but there was no need to check.  He dialed a number into the stock, pointed the barrel to the right this time and squeezed the trigger.  An armored personnel carrier exploded, taking with it the four soldiers firing from behind the vehicle.

"Don't you think you're going too far with this revenge, Devereaux?" the microcomputer asked as Fox reset the controls on his shotgun. "Don't you think that all of this destruction is overkill for what Chiang did to the netherworld?"

"Overkill?" Fox asked, sounding incredulous. "I'm being merciful. If I followed the emotions I felt after Area 51, I wouldn't have destroyed the solar mirror after taking out the floating complex. I'd have cut a swath across Florida right into the damn base. Then, I'd have told Anna Velasquez to kiss my ass and let the entire Federation deal with the consequences."

Fox felt the slantium bullets of the Praetorian rifles hitting him but he ignored it.  He’d been hit by worse.  He just kept walking, guided by the map coordinates he’d pilfered from the secret files of Mavromichalis’ regional command headquarters. Only when soldiers appeared directly in front of him did he fire back.

“Corporate elites,” he said, with disgust, as he peered down at the uniforms of some of the bodies.  “No wonder they’re not retreating.  They have as much to lose as their bosses.”

“My sensors indicate that the headquarters building and Chiang’s bunker are ahead and to the right, just past the ring of barracks,” the microcomputer reported.

“Let’s get on with it then,” Fox remarked.

"Yes, let's," the microcomputer agreed. "We don't want to keep the general waiting."

"Scan ahead. Anything major in our way?"

"There is a mobile surface-to-air missile launcher ahead and to the left," the microcomputer replied. "With all four missiles unfired. But, it is abandoned."

"The crew abandoned their position?" Fox mused. "I believe that's dereliction of duty. Well, let's see what we can do about that, shall we?"

                                                                      * * * * *

“Good Lord,” was all Hasagawa could say when she saw the explosion that wiped out the main gate.

She’d been operating the medical triage area in one of the main aircraft hangars.  The place had filled up much too fast, forcing her to use adjoining hangars and to call in more transports to take the most seriously injured to the nearest military facilities.  She’d been virtually overwhelmed by the magnitude of Fox’s attack, but had been greatly helped by Thomas Wojonowski and Adrienne Chinedu, who had been working with Mavromichalis’ regional subsidiary office in Jacksonville when the attack had started.

She heard another explosion and looked up again. She just wondered when it would all finally end, while silently thanking God that the hangars had all been built to resist heavy bombing. She moved over to a group of newly-arrived doctors and nurses.



Warrant Officer Cobra had the arduous task of securing the airfield.  There had already been three attempts by Praetorians to use the airfield as a defense line to organize counterattacks.  Cobra had broken them up because Velasquez’s agreement with Fox stipulated that he would not attack the airfield if he was not attacked.

Instead, the warrant officer had ignored their protests, taken their weapons and then sent them to the various hangars to help with the injured and wounded. He even let it slide when some of them called him a coward and traitor for not letting them defend the base against Fox. He could live with it because he had more important things to worry about.



Velasquez and Maria Red Horse oversaw it all from the airfield’s control tower.  They monitored the evacuation and also kept watch for whatever force Mavromichalis was bringing up.

“Is this the best that we can do, Anna?” Maria asked.

Anna could see the plaintive look on her lover’s face.

“We’ve got our orders, Maria,” Anna replied.  “The general said not to engage unless directly attacked.  And, this way, by vetting out the Elites and Cabal Staff, we can rescue a lot of the people who aren’t in Fox's sights.  Of course, from what we’ve seen so far, I don’t think any of them evacuated.  And, quite frankly, I don’t think there’ll be any of them left to evacuate.”

“What’s the end game then?” Maria queried.  “Rickholts was killed by Fox at Area 51.  Donat is likely dead, too or sitting on the bottom of the Atlantic, wishing he were dead.  We all saw Paulius buy the farm.  That leaves General Chiang, the Special Elites and the Cabal.”

“You sound sorry that they might all be killed, Maria,” Anna said.  “I think we’re better served with an old adage – discretion is the better part of valor.”

“It’s not that, Anna.  It’s that we’ve failed in our duty as Federation officers if we just stand here and let it happen.  Chiang should be brought to trial.  He and his Cabal have hurt a lot of people.  We're risking an awful lot for a man who almost killed us.”

Because they were alone in the tower, Anna reached over and hugged her partner quickly.  It was not proper decorum when they were in uniform, but she felt that Maria needed it.  She then stepped back and took the nearest chair.

“Fox and I go way back, Maria,” she said after a time.  “I saw him kill my entire family and I cursed his name, only to find out that he was just being merciful.  I lost men and women under my command only to find that I’d accidentally condemned innocent children to potentially crippling lives. Time has a way of giving you a new perspective on your life.

“Fox is not the enemy I was trained to fight.  He fought to the end to try to save thousands of lives in the Panama Canal.  He killed Lee Chiang to save the Paras in Brazil and to keep the general from getting his hands on a vast quantity of Boron-352. God only knows how many more Boraton bombs would have been made.  He saved our lives, Maria, at Area 51 and then sacrificed his netherworld to save the entire human race, I’m convinced of that.”

Another big explosion caught her eye, but she barely looked at it as she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then exhaled.

“Fox has been leveling the playing field far longer than all of us have been alive,” Anna continued.  “But, not once have I ever seen, heard or read of him personally taking control of a country or region.  He has backed democracy and either brought about or re-established republics, but never has he used force to install someone illegitimate into power.  And he could have, Maria.  Just look at that smoke on the horizon where Jacksonville is supposed to be.  No, Maria, we’ve both seen what Chiang is capable of and now, we’ve seen what Fox is capable of.

“Quite frankly, I think we should be thankful for big favors.  I want to see Chiang prosecuted to the fullest, especially for what he did to me.  On the other hand, I’d be more than glad to just be able to go in afterward and begin the task of cleaning up.  I think that’s an easier choice to make than risking lives in needless combat.”

In the background, a huge fireball shot up 500 feet into the sky, spewing smoke and debris to the edges of the airfield.  Then, just as quickly, three more explosions followed. Maria, though confused at Anna's words, instinctively reached out for Anna when the control tower shook violently from the blasts' shock waves.

"My God, I think Fox just hit the general's HQ," Anna said. "It shouldn't be much longer now."

                                                                      * * * * *

Chiang picked himself up off the floor and leaned against a console to get his bearings.  He coughed as the smoke from numerous electrical fires showered the command center with sparks.  Most of the viewing screens were out, and so were just about all of the computer banks. The only lighting he could see came from the red glow of the short-term, strategically-placed emergency lanterns.

“Waltrip, what the hell happened?” he spat out between coughs.  “What the hell hit us?”

“The last view we had of the surface was the lone surviving long-range mobile SAM launcher, sir,” Waltrip said as she stumbled forward, dodging dead or badly injured personnel.  “Fox fired all four missiles in succession.  It appears that each explosion was compounded by each succeeding warhead.”

“Last view?” Chiang asked, though the sinking feeling in his stomach told him he already knew the answer. "And we just got those surveillance systems back up. Damn. Where did the missiles hit?'

“The surface level, sir,” Waltrip replied.  “We’re completely sealed off from it now.  Everybody up there is dead, including all the Corporate Elites.  It would take a battalion of engineers an entire day to dig down to us or tunnel through what’s left of the escape systems.”

“Could it actually be?” Chiang whispered.  “Have Colonel Robinson and Major Nadi assemble in the Void.  My good fortune may still be working.”

“Sir?”

“I said that this is good for us,” Chiang replied, suddenly smiling.  “It means that Fox cannot get to us.  He has sealed us in, to await General Mavromichalis.  Don’t you see, Waltrip?  It means I’ve won.”

The general walked out of the command center, leaving Waltrip to stare after her commanding officer with incredulous eyes and unbelieving ears.

                                                                    * * * * *

“You realize that you’ve completely sealed the general in, don’t you?” the microcomputer queried.

“All part of the plan,” Fox replied as he looked at the smoking ruins of the front entrance of the headquarters building. 

“You’re getting slow in your old age, Devereaux,” the microcomputer noted.  “Shall we stop wasting time and leave since you’ve conveniently cut off our only entrance to the general?”

“Not quite yet,” Fox countered.  “I’ve got someplace to go first.”

“Care to share?”

“You’ll see.”

                                                                      * * * * *

Lt. Colonel Robinson was almost at wit’s end, perturbed that neither she nor any of her people had gotten the chance to fight Fox.  She’d already beaten him once – her mind conveniently ignoring that she had him outnumbered 30 to 1 -- and she was reasonably sure that she could do it again.

Standing beside her in the area known as the Void, Major Nadi was not so sure.  He’d seen the Boraton blast at Area 51 and knew that Fox should have been vaporized.  Yet, he also knew that the man had lived.  In fact, not only had he lived, but he had systematically destroyed a military force that Nadi had once thought well nigh unstoppable.

He tried to hide his discomfort from his platoon, as well as Robinson’s.  The colonel was dishing out new assignments that included escorting Cabal members to individual rooms, as well as securing the command center.  Nadi and a few select others would work with technicians to purge files from the main computers so that Mavromichalis would find little to no incriminating evidence.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t whip Fox’s butt again,” Robinson announced to the combined group.  “But, we’ve been sealed in.  Just remember that we proved we could beat him once and, if push had come to shove, we know he’s vulnerable.  We could have beaten him again.”

Nadi heard many murmurs run through the group as the Special Elites agreed with their commander.

“Major Nadi will hand out the room assignments for the Cabal members,” Robinson continued.  “The Cabal members are likely to put up resistance which is why we're handling it.  If they give you problems, show them why we're Special Elites.  Don't kill them, just remind them.  Okay, any last-minute changes that we know of?”

“None, except that Mister Lightburn is dead,” Nadi replied.  “Broke his neck in a nasty fall when Fox destroyed the topside entrance.”

“Well, his problems are over then,” Robinson remarked, coldly.  “We are to clear the bottom bunker out for use by the general and his direct staff.  First squad of my platoon will handle interior and exterior security for the bunker.  We delay Mavromichalis and Velasquez and their people for as long as possible.  But, do not fire unless fired upon.  Any questions?”

“Yes, Colonel,” a muscular blonde answered.  “The command center has determined that there is no way in or out.  Couldn't Fox just commandeer digging equipment and burrow down to us?”

“Okay, I realize that some of you are new,” Robinson replied.  “But, it’s one thing to override computer programs.  It’s quite another to dig down deep enough to get to us before Mavromichalis gets here.  All right.  Let’s get to it.”

Robinson took Nadi aside for a conference.  She wasn't sure of his confidence in her plans.  She'd seen the way he'd looked after she had lied to the blonde Elite.

“They seem a little too anxious,” Nadi noted.

“Which is why we’re in the Void,” Robinson said.  “Electromagnetic pulse negates Fox's emissions. He can't project his shield or his laser."

"Yes, but it means we can't configure our laser cannon either," Nadi said. "Or fire our weapons."

"We don't need to," Robinson retorted, her eyebrows furrowing. "We can transform into our individual weapons and fighting modes. We can show Mavromichalis that we're still primed for action. I need our people to remember that. And I need to know that I can count on you to remember that.”

Just then, the lights dimmed again and the hallway was bathed in green.

“Well, that’s just great,” Nadi said, in disgust.  “The fusion reactor that powers this little bunker went into emergency shutdown.  Must have suffered too much damage.”

“So, you’re saying that we’re about to be poisoned by radioactive fumes?”

“No, ma’am.  The emergency vents will send all poisonous fumes and radiation through a myriad of filters before reaching the surface. And the solar backup will keep essential systems powered for a week.”

“Well, then, don’t blow this assignment with your own fear,” Robinson snapped.  “It’s conduct unbecoming.  You're second-in-command of the Special Elites.  Act like it for a change.”

Nadi bristled at the insult and started to say something, but Robinson was already heading back to her platoon.  He snorted derisively and then went to his platoon.  A moment later, he took his people to get the Cabal members, wondering if being under arrest with Mavromichalis would be better than taking any more of Robinson’s egomaniacal crap.

                                                                    * * * * *

The news from Chiang soothed a lot of jittery nerves within the Cabal.  Van Sant took Lightburn’s death hard, but Chiang knew she’d get over it, considering the scope of her legal problems.  He was mildly surprised when his idea to have them escorted to their individual quarters was readily accepted.

“You’ll have full access to the bunker’s private computer links to begin purging your files,” Chiang had explained.  “As far as I can ascertain, Fox has not accessed or breached them.”

Strangely enough, the Cabal had been extremely protective of his niece, Elise.  He wondered if they had changed their position because of what Fox had revealed about the mental implant he’d tricked her into wearing.  Secretly, he knew he’d have to have the thing surgically removed before Mavromichalis or Velasquez arrived; the implant had been storing information since it had been activated.  He made a note to send a surgical team to his bunker, as soon as the doctors finished with their numerous other emergencies.

“I think it would be good if Elise stayed with one of us,” Dr. Singh had suggested after taking Kober aside.  “In light of the recent, ahem, news, she might need to be anything but alone.  I may be able to remove the implant with the technical instruments I brought to show you for the meeting.”

“You might be right, Doctor,” Chiang had agreed.  “But, for the meantime, I suggest she stay in Mademoiselle Vashon’s room until I can arrange for an area to be set up for your procedure.”

Chiang hadn’t trusted the doctor’s libido since he’d first sent Elise to him to work on the Boraton warhead.  He’d had spies reporting Singh’s constant attempts to maneuver Elise into his bed.  He may have mentally manipulated his niece, but he’d gone to great lengths to make sure she wasn’t physically violated either.

After the Cabal members were escorted out, he had the bunker sealed off.  Special Elites from Nadi’s platoon secured the inner doors while Nadi himself secured the hallways and access ways to the bunker.  Once this was done, Chiang found his special massage chair and collapsed into it, glad to be able to find a little peace at last.

“Begin purging the files,” he ordered.

Then, the power died and the bunker was soon lit by the green glow of the emergency lighting system.  A minute later, the regular lighting returned and the computer systems came back online.

“What happened?” Chiang demanded as he bolted out of his chair.

“The fusion reactor has gone into full shutdown, sir,” a colonel named Amanda Beamer reported.  “Systems started to come back online, but failed. Backup systems have activated, though.  No radiation danger. And we have enough power for a week, for essential systems, sir.”

Chiang felt ill again.  He had power, but he knew that the emergency systems were meant for special use – to provide lights and power for communications.  It did not provide the kind of power needed to begin massive purges of server banks in his bunker and definitely not for the main storage banks, housed a mile underground in a hardened facility 10 miles north of the base.

If so many junior personnel had not been around, Kober Chiang would have broken down and cried.

                                                                      * * * * *

Robinson had all of her bases covered.  She’d set her people at each end of the Void.  All of them were powered up and had converted to one of three fighting forms -- minimum for quick fighting; medium for defense, and ultimate, which gave the most offensive power but petered out quickly.  Though none could fire their laser cannons, all could defend themselves in hand-to-hand combat.  Additionally, they still had their regular XM-19 slantium rifles and light machine guns.

Only Robinson knew what the defense was for.  She’d ordered that her people not fire on Federation personnel.  She was more concerned with the security personnel of the Cabal members.  She’d been around long enough to know that, when push came to shove, mercenaries like the Cabal members cared only about their individual survival.  They had no loyalty to a greater organization.  She wouldn’t put it past them to try to make a break for it or get into a firefight with Federation soldiers that could get everyone killed.

“Sergeant Corvin, what’s the status of the fusion reactor?” she called out.

“Still venting, Colonel,” a beefy squat Elite replied.  “Radiation levels in the lower vents are still within lethal range, but we’re in no danger.  It’s a shame, though.  It just hit me that we could use those vents to escape.”

“Not on your life, Sergeant,” Robinson shot back.  “The radiation at the core level would kill even us.  To get through there, you’d need some kind of…"

"Shield? That is what you were going to say, wasn't it?”

Elites at both ends of the Void spun around and saw Devereaux Marshall Fox in the middle of the hallway.  Above him, they saw a hole in the ceiling where the air shaft ran through.  To say they were surprised would have been a vast understatement.

“What, no trash talk like Area 51?" Fox queried.

"How in the hell did you get down here?" a startled Robinson asked.

"My shield."

“Well, that shield won't help you now,” Robinson snarled.  “You’re in our specially-designed Void now and no energy can be projected within it because of the electromagnetic pulse waves running through it. It's going be hand-to-hand combat and we both know how that's going to turn out. Want a few seconds for final prayers? Is that trash talk enough for you?"

“Void? Electromagnetic pulse?” Fox asked, looking confused.  “Oh, you mean the EMP that was powered solely by the fusion reactor?  And is not connected to the solar backup because of the power drain?"

Robinson stifled a gasp when she realized the implications of the EMP being down.  She had never bothered to find out exactly what powered the EMP because she had never envisioned having to use the Void. On the other hand, though, she was quick to act on the news.  She had her people drop their shoulder weapons and begin transforming their arms into laser cannons.

"You know, the last time we met, I let you draw the battle out so I could give Anna Velasquez and her people time to escape," Fox noted.

"And this time?" Robinson asked, as she completed the transformation of her right arm into the cannon.

Fox fired his laser beam in a wide swath that encompassed the entire Void.  Normally, his beam would have been greatly weakened by firing in such a wide arc, but he’d let his shield absorb a massive amount of power from the radiation in the emergency vents.  It had been nauseating but he’d figured he wouldn’t be holding onto it for long.

The enhanced energy shattered the storage units within the laser cannons.  The entire passageway exploded.  When the fire died down, Fox stood tall, with just a thin stream of blood rolling back into his nose and a look of excruciating pain on his face that eased by the second.

“Hey, Nadi, you just got promoted," he joked.

He looked ahead and behind and saw the same thing.  Not a single Elite was in one piece.  Bionic arms and legs lay everywhere.  Blood pooled and Fox had to carefully make his way around it.  He headed for the staircase, the hallway lit only by the sparks of malfunctioning Elite internal electronics.

“I thought you wanted to take revenge for the beating they gave you,” the microcomputer said.

“I thought I just did,” Fox replied.  “If I had more time, I might have made it last longer.  Hey, sounds like my first date.”

“Devereaux, your humor has not improved in a millennium.”

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Fox remarked, sourly.  “You’re a real buzz kill.  Let’s move on, shall we?  I’ve got an appointment to keep.”

"No 'I-told-you-so'?" the microcomputer asked.

"For trusting my human hunch to get us in here?" Fox said.  "Never crossed my mind."

"Now, who's being funny?"

                                                                    * * * * *

Achbar Nadi couldn’t believe it.  Robinson was gone, her entire platoon had been destroyed. It seemed like it was all going away. Everything that he and Robinson and the rest of the command had achieved. Paulius was dead. Donat was probably, too. Even the weaselly Rickholts' death had left an empty spot in the command structure.

And now, the cause of the Praetorian Elites' downfall was almost to his own position and he had no idea what to do. Except what he had been trained to do, no matter if none of it seemed to work anymore. Fortunately, he had kept his people busy so they did not notice the apprehension on his face or sense what Robinson had noticed earlier -- his fear of failure when his command skills were needed most.

As it was, that fear came to fruition much too quickly.

Something akin to a howitzer being fired echoed through the nearest stairwell.  Nadi heard a door open, heard another boom and saw three of his Elites fall back.  He spun around, already transforming his arm into the laser cannon when Fox stepped into the passage way.  He fired.

To Nadi’s horror, Fox merely jumped back into the stairwell and let the beam hit three other Elites coming up to help.  He powered up to fire again, knowing it would be too little, too late.  He watched Fox step back into the hallway, his right eye glowing blue while the man’s incredible shotgun was pointed in the opposite direction, at his remaining Elites. 

The good news was that none of those under his command would be alive to see that Achbar Nadi had not been strong enough to be a leader of the Special Elites.

                                                                  * * * * *

“General, I can’t contact Colonel Robinson,” Colonel Beamer reported.

Chiang walked past the other computer operators in the bunker and over to the main communications console where his last senior officer stood. Beamer should have been in the command bunker, but Chiang needed her to run things in his personal bunker. With Lightburn dead, he was running out of people he could count on.

“Contact Major Nadi then,” he ordered.

He started to shiver a little, but mentally forced himself to stop, lest he show fear before his troops.  He wondered about Robinson being out of contact.  He’d known her to be completely loyal and had tasked her with making sure no corporate elites tried to have their bosses make a separate escape that might endanger them all.  No, there had to be another reason why she wasn’t answering.

“Can’t raise Major Nadi either,” Beamer said.  “It might be that explosion a few minutes ago, sir.  It seems as if it was a secondary system for the fusion reactor.  No danger of radiation, though.”

“Any word from outside?” Chiang asked.

“Nothing yet, sir.  I have no idea if General Mavromichalis has arrived yet.”

Chiang bit his lip and shivered a little, hoping no one noticed.

"I'll be in my office if anyone needs me," he said.

Slowly, he walked over to a small door, opened it and stepped inside.

                                                                        * * * * *

Most of the fires in the corridor slowly burned themselves out, though the acrid smoke still remained. However, there was no one left alive to complain about it. The bodies of Special and Corporate Elites littered the floor. The Specials had sparks still flying out of their cybernetic and bionic parts. The Corporates were just filled with bullet holes.

Of the 10 room doors on the floor, only one was open. Inside, Elise Chiang moaned. She stopped after a few seconds and soon was snoring lightly. Above her, a shadow moved away from her.

Fox looked at the small, silvery device he had just removed from Elise’s head. He tossed it up in the air and blasted it with his laser. Shaking his head in disgust, he turned to his right and bathed his eye glow on Angella Vashon, who cowered in a corner, looking as if she wanted to both die and lose control of her bowels.

“And now, Mademoiselle Vashon,” Fox said. “Whatever are we to do with you?”

                                                                      * * * * *

“She’s here,” Maria called out.

Anna looked up and gasped.  Approaching the airfield was an armada, like something out of D-Day.  The sky was filled with thousands of planes.  On the grounds, untold numbers of tanks, armored personnel carriers, assault vehicles, trucks, mobile anti-aircraft vehicles and other vehicles were swinging about to completely encircle the base.

The largest plane detached from the others and, escorted by two fighters, landed near the control tower.  Anna and Maria went down to meet it.  Cobra joined them.

“You’ve done a wonderful job with the evacuation of the base, Anna,” Mavromichalis said as she stepped off her plane, with her aide, Captain Goa, close behind.  “Any problems?”

“There were a few, but Warrant Officer Cobra handled them ably,” Anna replied. “We’ve gotten more than a few insiders who worked directly with Chiang and the Cabal. Your husband and his people are handling the interrogations.”

“That’s a good start to what’s going to be a very long road,” Mavromichalis noted, with a heavy sigh.  “It sure wasn’t easy to miss this place.  We just followed the explosions.”

“I hear that the steam cloud has dissipated,” Anna said. “At least that’s some good news.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Goa replied. “The rain is helping to put out a lot of the fires in the city. But, it’s dying out fast. It won’t reach here.”

“What’s next, General?” Maria asked.

“We circle Chiang’s bunker or what’s left of it,” Mavromichalis replied.  “And then – what else – we wait.”

“But, we don’t know if Fox is even in there, ma’am,” Cobra said.  “He sealed off the whole complex before he could go inside.  The only thing leaving the bunker is non-lethal emissions from the venting filter system of the fusion reactor.  The lower chambers of those vents still have enough radiation to kill even Special Elites.”

“Yes, Warrant,” Mavromichalis agreed.  “But maybe not a man who survived a Boraton-plasma warhead.  Now, if you would kindly take an old general to see her old man, I’d greatly appreciate it. Keep your head up and your wits about you, Anna.  The toughest part is yet to come.  We have to trust Fox to do the right thing.”

Anna looked at Maria and wasn’t sure if she still had as much confidence in her general’s plan as she’d had an hour earlier.



Kober finished buttoning his shirt, moving meticulously to avoid smudging the white fabric. He eyed the sharp creases of his sleeves and made sure his cuffs were done up smartly, the gold cuff links shiny. He then buttoned his choker collar. After that, he carefully pulled on dress jacket and buttoned it. He took a quick glance at the soiled battle dress uniform he had been wearing when the fighting started. He had discarded it as it seemed totally useless now. The dress uniform seemed much more appropriate.

He looked around his sparse office and frowned. He'd had it installed when the bunker was built, as a respite against the tension he knew would exist should the need arise to use the facility. He had just never imagined actually having to use it.

Satisfied that he looked dignified once again -- though he certainly did not feel it -- he opened the door and stepped back out into the bunker command center. For a moment, he saw everyone stop and turn to look at him. He was certain that he saw surprise in their eyes and, for some, fear as the meaning of his change of dress settled in. He cleared his throat and his staff turned hastily back to their duties.

“Any word yet, Colonel?” he asked, vainly.

“No, sir,” a dejected Beamer replied. “Sensors have picked up no movement and the guards outside the security door have reported nothing.”

An explosion shook the bunker.

“My God, that’s right outside the door,” someone shouted.

The Special Elites by the bunker door stepped back, arms already formed into laser cannon.  It did them little good.  The next explosion made the safety door into a show of lethal metal splinters that cut them to pieces.  It also caused intense panic within the bunker, with people running towards the rear, for a safety that did not exist.  Ironically, the panicked mob forced Chiang to the front, shielded by his last two Elites.

He tried to peer through the smoke, even as he tried to shield his nose from the fumes.  One of the elites stepped forward to activate another vent to de-smoke the room when his head virtually disintegrated.  The other Elite raised his gun but flew backwards with a huge hole in his chest and back, landing atop a sergeant who caught the shotgun slug that had passed through the hapless Elite.

Chiang barely turned his eyes away but still caught a spray of blood across his head and shoulders. Disgusted, he looked down and saw blood and tissue despoiling the rows of ribbons on his left breast pocket. He fumed, knowing he was totally helpless to say anything about it.

Just then, his peripheral vision caught movement by the doorway. He looked up and saw a silhouette moving out of the smoke. He did not see a face, but he couldn't miss the glowing blue eye.

“General Kober Chiang, I presume.”