David Golemon - Legacy

“Jack, I don’t think these men respect our rank,” Everett said. He kneeled beside Jack and waited.

“That’s what you get when you set an example like that. By the way,” Jack hissed, “you’re fired, Mr. Everett.”

“That’s a nice reward for trying to save you.”

“That’s the reward for not saving me.”

Everett turned back and his smile was brief as he saw the lead robot nearing their fragile targets. He watched as the first stepped onto the mortar tube, crushing it like it was a straw, and then continued on up the rocky slope to the real threat-the men who had used the weapon.

Everett reached out and removed his nine-millimeter from its holster. He raised it and fired.

The flash of the light made everyone in the gallery look away. The momentary brilliance of the blue light was followed by a loud buzz, as if a thousand saws had bitten into the same piece of wood at the same moment. There was a sudden smell of ozone as a beam of light reached out and hit the leading robot in the left leg just as it was seeking purchase against the slippery slope of the incline. Then another flash of light struck the robot as it slipped partially backward from its original position. Everett just stared at the barrel of his nine-millimeter, which was when he saw what was happening below at the bunkhouse. Appleby, Pete, Niles, Dubois, and Charlie Ellenshaw were standing and pointing up toward their position. Ellenshaw was aiming one of the alien weapons from the rack. As Everett watched, he fired on the trailing robot. The beam sliced both of its legs off and Everett saw it fall. Then he smiled as he saw Ellenshaw jumping up and down and pointing at his perfect shot. The others were jumping also, slapping Ellenshaw on the back.

“You’re not going to believe this one, Jack,” he said.

Collins wasn’t going to answer. He had closed his eyes and that was when Everett saw that the blood had soaked the bandage. He grabbed Jack in his arms, and with Tram leading the way didn’t wait for Ellenshaw and the others to stop their firing. As the laser weapon discharged again, Everett smelled the molten steel of the monsters as the intense heat melted their huge metallic frames. The thick blue beam arced out and sliced the arms off the first as it tried to right itself. Then another shot creased the giant’s head, separating it from the rest of the body. Everett heard the turbine inside its massive chest start to run down.

Another shot took the second creature out as cleanly as the first. Then Charlie turned the weapon on the men the Mechanic had sent down the slope toward the blockhouse. The single shot brought them all down, most of them in pieces. As Everett, Tram, and Jack neared the bottom of the sloping gallery wall, there was a burst of light and the sound of a small explosion. When they hit the bottom, Carl saw Sebastian and his men emerge from positions where they had been firing on the metal monsters. They looked as though they were in shock. Carl looked over at the scientists as they finished rolling Charlie Ellenshaw around on the gallery floor in an attempt to smother the fire that had engulfed him after the last shot. There were shouts of anger and happiness coming from the group as Ellenshaw sat up and looked around, the remains of the alien weapon in his hands. His long, stringy, white hair was singed, a mess of electrostatic complications as he sat on his butt, not really sure what had happened to him. Carl approached the men at the same moment Sebastian and his troops arrived.

“What happened?” Everett asked, as two medics started looking Jack over.

“I told him that the mineral was still too unrefined, but Wild Bill here had to keep pressing his luck,” Niles said as he walked over and looked at Collins. “Jesus, get him inside.” The medics tried to pry Jack away from Everett. Collins reached out and grabbed Carl, anchoring himself.

“Alice,” he said, as he was finally pulled away.

“Now we go and get her, Jack.” Everett watched them take Collins inside and then turned to Sebastian and Tram. “We have one more thing to do.”

The three men sprinted back up the slope, toward a showdown with the man who was holding their friend hostage.

The Mechanic ordered the last of his men to hold off the advancing troops, who were led by the large commando he had seen in Germany. He had witnessed the power of the alien technology and knew he had to secure at least one of the weapons for reverse-engineering, to use in the great Jihad against the unbelievers.

He pushed Alice Hamilton toward one of his men and ordered him to guard her, as they still had need for her services. Then he wrote out a note in English requesting a meeting with Colonel Collins. He shoved it into the man’s hand and pushed him in the direction of the Americans. With a glance down at the shattered scene below, the Mechanic could see the devastation wrought by the alien weaponry, even as he remained stunned at the destructive power of the giant robotic monsters. In a span of five seconds the tables had been turned by just one of the weapons. He nodded his head-yes, he thought, the weapon was truly a gift from Allah to the true believers. McCabe and Rawlins had been such fools thinking they could just sell off the magnificent gift from the heavens.

Everett was moving at a full run toward the spot where he thought the Mechanic had last been. Sebastian and Tram were having a difficult time keeping up with the large Navy SEAL as he bounded up and over rocks to reach the top of the slope.

As he approached the Mechanic’s last known whereabouts, he saw movement ahead. He steeled himself behind a large rock outcropping and waved Sebastian and Tram to a stop. Ahead he saw one of the Mechanic’s men moving slowly and cautiously down the slope. Everett stood and pointed his nine-millimeter at him. The shadows cast by the lighting from above showed that the man didn’t fear the death that was facing him. Everett had seen this many times before in the men he had faced during the Gulf War and after. A true believer. The man had a rifle, but it was slung over one shoulder. Then he saw the man raise his left hand into the air. With the other he held something out toward Everett. Carl stepped forward, as did Sebastian and Tram. Everett opened the folded note and read.

“Trade, one Alice Hamilton for one alien weapon,” he read aloud.

Sebastian stared at the man who had delivered the ultimatum. The man glared at the three men with contempt etched across his harsh features.

“What are your orders for after you deliver this?” Everett asked.

“To return with an answer,” the man said with vehemence coloring his broken English.

Everett raised his nine-millimeter and shot the man in the head. He dropped like a weighted bag onto the rocks.

“I like the way you negotiate, Captain,” Sebastian said as he kicked the terrorist over with his boot.

“The conversation sort of dried up. Besides, we don’t reward people who kidnap friends of ours.” He looked over at Sebastian and then at Tram. “Do we, Private?”

Tram only nodded and gestured upward with his hand. Everett nodded back, then turned and ran, retracing the dead man’s steps.

Carl, Sebastian, and Tram had gone about a hundred yards when they saw the top of the ridge and the end of the gallery. Everett smelled water and suspected the Mechanic had gained access to the gallery from the very place he and the others had escaped two weeks before. He knew that if they didn’t stop the Mechanic here and now, no one else would stop him. They had no men covering this access point to the mines. The Mechanic would escape justice for the crimes he had committed. He decided to take his chance now and stop him.