Land of the Blind (Chapter 26)

Land of the Blind



Devereaux Marshall Fox quietly lay in the reeds that ran alongside the two-lane highway leading to the front gate of Chiang’s base.  The reeds had grown high in the sediment that had built up in the drainage culvert.  This day, they were cut short, but that did not matter to Fox as he had engaged his shield’s cloaking device.

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.

He got up out of the reeds and walked toward the main gate just as the burning copter bounced over the defensive line and hit the semi tractor trailers.  He did stop to drop to one knee as the shock wave from the resulting explosion washed over him.  When it passed, though, he got back up and walked right into the smoke.

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

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

“Not anymore,” Fox remarked, coldly.

He 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 and spotted several vehicles heading for the airfield.  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.  Five screams came back, but there was no need to check.  He dialed a number into the stock, pointed the barrel to the left this time and squeezed the trigger.  An armored personnel carrier exploded, taking with it the four soldiers firing from behind the vehicle.

He could feel 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.

A mobile rocket launcher appeared around the corner of a burning building and, for the life of him, he wondered what the soldiers surrounding it planned to do.  He was too close for any of the rockets to hit him.  Maybe, he thought, they were just looking to use anything they could against him.

He fired his laser and ignited the warheads.  The truck disintegrated, the fireball taking out most of the building next to it.  Fox didn’t bother to wonder what happened to soldiers around it.

“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.

#

“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 since Area 51 had been destroyed by the Boraton bomb.

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.

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.  They also saw the tremendous explosions on the other side of the base.

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

Anna could see the plaintive look on her lover’s face, but she was at a loss to other options.

“We’ve got our orders, Maria,” Anna replied.  “The general said not to engage unless directly attacked.  And, this way, we can rescue a lot of the people who aren’t the main targets of Fox.  We’re carefully vetting anyone from the Corporate Elites and Special Elites, as well as the Cabal staff.  Of course, from what we’re seeing, 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.  It would be a shame for him not to answer for his crimes.”

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 over and took the nearest chair.

“Marshall Fox and I go way back, Maria,” she said after a time.  “Much further than you.  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.

“He 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 him from freely mining Boron-352 for the general to make more Boraton bombs.  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 – as he called it – 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 but never used force to install someone into power.  And he could have, Maria, he could have.  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 1000 feet into the sky, spewing smoke and debris to the edges of the airfield.  Maria just looked at it for a moment and then turned away.  She needed no hugs, just a moment to reflect on the strange turns that her life had taken.

#

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 most of the computer banks were down as well.  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 he stumbled forward, dodging dead or badly injured personnel.  “Fox fired all four missiles in succession.  It appears that each explosion was compounded by each successive warhead.”

“Where did they hit?” Chiang asked, though the sinking feeling in his stomach told him he already knew the answer. 

“The surface level, General,” Waltrip replied, sullenly.  “We’re completely sealed off from the surface.  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 his 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 to Chiang’s headquarters building.  “Oh and tell me again why I never gave you a name other than microcomputer?”

“Because of your tendency to shorten them down to nicknames like Prof, MC and Mike.”

“Oh, now I remember.”

“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.”

“I’m guessing you don’t mean Hell,” the microcomputer quipped.  “At least not yet.  I wish you would let me in on the secret.  My sensors have detected no other way into the complex nor have my reviews of the structure’s architecture revealed any secret entrances.”

“And this is why they put you in my head,” Fox retorted.  “To marry technology with the human hunch.”

“And what, pray tell, does your human hunch tell you?”

“You’ll see.”

#

Lt. Colonel Robinson was almost at wit’s end, but not because of being trapped in the general’s underground fortress.  Rather, she was 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.  I won’t lie to you by saying that this isn’t the man we fought at Area 51.  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.  “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.  “We can transform into our individual weapons and fighting modes, but won’t be firing lasers accidentally.  By the time you get them their assignments and they get into action, they should have enough on their minds.  I just need to know that I can count on you.”

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.”

“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 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 shutdown,” a colonel named Amanda Beamer reported.  “Backup systems have activated, sir.  We have enough power for a week, at full use.”

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.  He could divert power to the systems in the bunker, but they did not contain even a tenth of the secret data he had accumulated over the years.  No, the bulk of his information was in a special underground storage unit 10 miles north of the base and two miles underground.

The information storage unit was accessible only through Chiang’s bunker via an electronic rail system.  However, Fox had destroyed the tunneling between the two.  Only the physical conduit lines still existed intact but he did not have the power available to use them.  He also had no way to send signals to satellites to bounce back to receivers within the information depot.

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.  Though none could fire their laser cannons, all could defend themselves in hand-to-hand combat, if necessary.  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 would kill even us.  To get through there, you’d need some kind of…oh, dear God.”

“Funny you should mention him.”

Elites at both ends of the Void spun around, weapons high 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.

“Considering the crap you’ve been doing for the last 10 years, I didn’t think you’d remember him,” Fox quipped.  “Oh, and don’t worry.  I didn’t bring any radiation from the emergency vents with me when I crawled down.  My shield -- that's what you were about to say was needed to get through the vents -- protected me.”

“Fox, I’m going to personally kick your ass,” Robinson snarled.  “And I won’t have to worry about orders to pull back.  You’re in the Void now and no energy can be projected within it because of the electromagnetic pulse waves running through it.  Your shield is useless here.”

“Electromagnetic pulse?” Fox asked, looking confused.  “Oh, you mean the EMP that was powered solely by the fusion reactor.  A massive design flaw, but, hey, when you use corrupt Cabal contractors, you deserve what you get.”

Robinson stifled a gasp when she realized the implications of the EMP being down.  On the other hand, she was quick to act on it.  She had her people drop their shoulder weapons and begin transforming their arms into laser cannons.

“Jeez, did you think I was born yesterday?” Fox said.

He 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.

“Major Nadi, looks like you just got a promotion,” Fox said when the pain in his head eased enough for him to breathe normally.

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 and her entire platoon had been destroyed.  Even worse, Fox had done it, after crawling down through emergency vents filled with enough radiation to kill a thousand Elites.  That meant that nothing he had available was going to stop the man.

Something akin to a howitzer being fired echoed through the nearest stairwell.  He 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 he would be dead before he saw what Colonel Robinson had long suspected – 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.

“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.”

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.  When the door exploded, the shrapnel 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.  Behind him, a few men and women screamed and he was sure one or two passed out in sheer terror.  He could only look on, totally helpless, a feeling he’d not had even in his earliest days as an infantry officer in Central America.

His fears materialized when a tall, slender silhouette stepped out of the smoke, the only clue to its identity being the glowing blue right eye.

“Well, well, well, looks like we finally meet,” the silhouette said.

#

“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.  “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, not to mention the Special Elites and their corporate clones.  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.”

“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 radiation from the venting system of the fusion reactor.  The lower chambers of those vents have enough radiation to kill a Special Elite.”

“Yes, Warrant,” Mavromichalis agreed.  “But maybe not a man who survived a Boraton warhead.  Now, if you would kindly take an old general to see her old man, I’d greatly appreciate it.  Don’t worry, 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.

#

Devereaux Marshall Fox said nothing.  He walked out of the smoke, stepped over the bodies of the dead Elites and walked right up to Kober Chiang.  He saw that the man was trying to be brave in front of his people, even as he struggled with intense fear.

This was finally his moment.  He stood opposite Kober Chiang, his nemesis for almost half a century.  This was the man who’d killed two thousand innocent people in the Panama Canal; the man who had told his brother to attempt genocide on the Paras in Brazil.  Here was Kober Chiang, who had nearly destroyed 10 billion people with a Boraton bomb.  A man who’d mentally violated his own niece in order to build that bomb.  A man who’d perverted the ideals of democracy for a demented goal of reasserting Federation leadership in the world, but who had simply done what so many thousands of others had done throughout history – had made a grab for power that could only end in tragedy.

He struggled to control his breathing, not wanting his anger to get the better of him.  As he bathed the general and his cowering minions in the blue light of his right eye, he thought of the millions of people who had suffered under this petty thug.  It suddenly all came down to this historic moment.

He reached out quickly…

…and grabbed Chiang’s right hand, shaking it vigorously, before letting go.

“So nice to finally see my arch rival face to face,” Fox said, simply, to a shocked Kober Chiang.  “I have to admit it was worth bypassing your Cabal members.  Thanks for locking them in their rooms.  After I dispatched their guards, all I had to do was seal them in those rooms by fusing the locks.  Well, I did make an exception for your niece, Elise.  She’s sleeping comfortably after I removed their manipulation device.  Miss Vashon is taking care of her, in exchange for life without parole instead of execution.”

Fox turned and walked toward the door.

“Is that it?” a stunned Chiang stammered.  “After all that we’ve been through together, after all the pain and misery we’ve caused each other, you just shake my hand and walk away?”

“I promised Anna Velasquez that I would let justice take its course,” Fox said, looking back over his shoulder.  “And, now that I’ve had time to think about it, I’ve realized that she’s right.  If my actions are to have any meaning, I have to let the Federation give you and your Cabal due process.  No matter how I personally feel.  It just goes to show you.”

“Show me what?” Chiang demanded, now feeling slighted.

“That she’s the only person who can lead the Praetorian Guard,” Fox answered.  “Maybe then, the world won’t need someone like me.  Goodbye, Kober.  We won’t be seeing each other again.”

Fox walked out.

Just as quickly, though, he walked back in, raised his shotgun and pointed it at Chiang.  The general gasped and heard the blast of the shotgun.  He saw nothing but the ceiling, then uniforms and, finally, the floor.

"Sorry, I just couldn't let it all end with a whimper," Fox said, bluntly.  "Coloner Beamer, please help the general to his feet."

She hesitated for a moment and then she stepped over the body of a sergeant who was missing most of his face.  It wasn't too gruesome a sight for her, though, because his body was sparking heavily.  He, like the other sergeant who'd been killed earlier, had been a Special Elite.  She grabbed Chiang by an arm and pulled him to his feet, steadying him as he fought out of the haze he'd literally melted into when he thought he was about to die.

"I take it having Special Elites disguised as regular Praetorians was meant as a surprise for Mavromichalis," Fox commented, wryly.  "I hope everyone saw that.  Without your Special Elites or Paulius or your so-called friends in the Cabal, what are you, Kober?  After all the blood that's been spilled between us, after all the destruction across seven continents and 40-plus years, what does it all come down to?  A waste of time and way too many innocent lives.  I guess I'll see you in Hell one day.  Not today, but someday."

Fox turned and walked out for good this time.

Chiang, aware of all the menacing and awkward stares directed at him, collapsed into a chair.  He said nothing coherent.  He could barely hold back his emotions enough to do more than babble. 

#

Anna, Maria, Mavromichalis, Cobra, Thomas Wojonowski, Steve Nguyen and Hasagawa had just taken up positions near the bunker complex when Fox climbed out of one of the vents.  Instantly, every soldier grabbed a weapon.  Every chain gun, missile and turret pointed at the man who’d virtually destroyed northeastern Florida.  Overhead, jets aimed guns, bombs, rockets and missiles at him with laser guidance to avoid hitting their own people.

Fox just looked at all of the weapons with disgust.

“Is this how it ends, General Mavromichalis?” he called out.

“I promised to let due process be done upon the general and his Cabal,” Mavromichalis replied through a public address system accessed by her implant.  “But, we still have a problem.  What do we do with you?”

“I’ve destroyed your problem and let you have due process without any real danger to the Federation’s military forces,” Fox retorted.  “And this is my reward for you screwing up and doing nothing for the last decade?”

“Then we’re at a stalemate,” Mavromichalis noted.  “We could argue our viewpoints all day and still not get anywhere.  I've made my position known.  The next move is yours.”

"And what about your people?" Fox asked.  "What do they have to say about it?  I'm tired of making widows, widowers and orphans."

"They know their duty, Fox," Mavromichalis shot back.  "They've seen the worst of Chiang and, now, they've seen the worst of you.  Can you honestly say they would not be doing their duty if they didn't at least challenge you?"

“Talk some sense into your general, Anna,” Fox snorted.  “You’ve got bigger problems than me.  I don’t start things.  I finish them.  But, I made a separate promise to you.  I didn’t leave Chiang to due process because of you, Mavromichalis.  I did it for Anna, for the strength and leadership she’s matured into over the years.  I felt that, after all she's suffered because of me, she deserved a chance to show her leadership.  You should let her have it by letting her take down the general personally.”

“You still haven’t answered the general’s question,” Anna called out.  "I thank you for the respect you've given me.  But, she's right.  We've seen the worst from you today and so has the whole world.  How can the Federation survive if we let someone as dangerous as you run around free without so much as a challenge?  Where is the due process for you?  When do you finally answer for what you've done?" 

“Already displaying that leadership, eh, Anna?” Fox noted.  “You married a good woman, Maria.  As for me, I've been around for more than a thousand years.  My judgment day is coming and it will be done by a much greater power than you've got here.  But, don’t worry.  I’ll be around.  Somewhere.”

What happened next shattered the boundaries of human thought and belief.  A wall of shimmering light suddenly appeared next to Fox.  Streams of light bled off its edges as it took the form of a door.  Fingers eased off of triggers, eyes widened in surprise and jaws dropped in awe.

Fox stepped into the doorway and faded away.  The light dimmed and the shimmering energy disappeared as if it had never existed.  All was deathly quiet for several moments.

Anna looked down and saw Maria squeezing her hand lovingly, for support.  She glanced left and saw the same thing happening with Mavromichalis and Nguyen, Cobra and Adrienne Chinedu, and even Wojonowski and Hasagawa.  They had all witnessed something that made their trials and tribulations of life seem petty in comparison.

“Okay people, we’ve got work to do,” Anna blurted out to break the uneasy silence.  “We’ve got people to rescue.  Bring up the digging equipment.  Secure the rest of the base and put out these fires.”

Subordinates, snapped out of their trance, moved to follow Anna’s orders.  Weapons of war moved off and rescue machines replaced them, as thousands of soldiers and airmen started the process of rebuilding their Federation.  Mavromichalis watched all of it with admiration for the officer she’d reclaimed so many years ago. 

“I think she’s finally going to be all right,” Nguyen said.  "After what I just saw, I don't think we're going to be, though."

“Oh, I knew about Anna all along,” Mavromichalis replied.  “As for us, well, don't quote me on this, but I’d say the Praetorians and the Federation will be in good hands after this.”

“And what about Fox?”

“It seems as if he was telling the truth at Area 51,” Mavromichalis said.  “What it means for all of us, I can’t even begin to guess.  As far as Fox is concerned, he got along without us for a thousand years.  I’m sure he’ll get along fine for another thousand.  But, we’ve got to live in the here and now, my love.  Let’s see what we can do for the living.”