T. Harris - The Tactics of Revenge

McCarthy turned to Thomas. “Get them all to the shuttle. We’ll meet you there as soon as we’re done.” Thomas nodded, and then slipped out the door, followed by all the others.

“What are you going to do?” Adam asked, suspiciously.

“It’s what the two of us are going to do, Mr. Cain.” McCarthy pointed a freckled finger at the main building. “See that antenna array on the roof? That’s the main comm link between the Klin command and the rest of galaxy. I’m sure you’ve been pretty impressed with what they can do as far as communications are concerned. Well it’s through that damn thing up there that all the magic happens.” He grinned broadly at Adam. “We’re going to take it out.”

“With what…these swords?” Adam protested. “You’re fucking crazy!”

“Have faith, mate. Like I said, I’ve planned ahead.”

The massive ginger-haired man stepped out of the jailhouse and began to casually stroll toward the main building; Adam quickly moved up beside him. The other prisoners were now about halfway to the parking lot, and even though they weren’t running, it was still an odd scene, as small clusters of Humans nonchalantly strolling across the green lawn of the estate, yet all headed in the same direction.

There were several aliens outside of the main building, some tending to the grounds, others coming and going from the huge parking lot. There were easily a hundred transports or more parked there. Occasionally, a few of the aliens would look over at the slowly approaching Humans and lock their gazes on them for a moment, but none pursued it beyond idle curiosity.

Tobias and Thomas were the first to reach the parking lot. Since most of the transports were sized to carry four passengers at the most, they would need either the largest vehicle they could find, or a convoy of four of the smaller cars to get all fifteen of them away. Thomas checked the door of a large truck sitting near the edge of the lot. It was unlocked — another consequence of the Klin’s trust amongst themselves. He jumped into the driver’s seat while Tobias run to the back and raised the rear door panel. As the others arrived, they began to climb in the back.

Sherri looked around just as she reached the rear of the truck and didn’t see Adam. Riyad noticed, too, and they both began to scan the grounds.

Adam was nearly at the main building by now and noticed when Sherri hesitate at the rear of the truck. They made eye contact. Sherri shook her head and raised her arms out to her side in a gesture of “What are you doing?”

Adam moved his right hand back and forth and then waved for her to go ahead. Still she hesitated, until Riyad grabbed her by the arm and almost threw her into the back of the truck.

When McCarthy and Adam reached the side of the huge brick building, the SAS operative moved swiftly to a stone bench sitting near the structure, facing the lake and nestled in a cluster of small trees and bushes with brightly blossoming flowers. Using his considerable strength, McCarthy lifted the stone bench off its base and set it down on the grass. Inside the base Adam saw four canvass satchels.

The ginger-man pulled two of the bags out and handed them to Adam. “Do you know what cyclotrimethylene trinitramine is?”

“Yeah, it’s C4 explosive.” said the Navy SEAL.

“Well we’re going to climb to the roof the building and place these charges around the base of the antenna.”

“That’s pretty convenient, that you’d have these explosives just sitting here.” Adam said.

“I’ve been planning for this contingency for a long time. I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to use these, but we can’t have the Klin sending out word to stop us as we’re leaving the planet, now can we? Knocking out their communications will give us a jump start. It’s basic stuff, Cain.”

Just then, a loud whooping sound rose up from seemingly everywhere around the estate. The two Special Forces operatives crouched down lower in the bushes and looked toward the prison building. There was a small car parked outside of it now, with several aliens — including a few Klin — scrambling about. Adam looked over at the parking lot and noticed that the truck carrying the team was now gone. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Let’s go!” McCarthy ordered as he sprinted for the side of the building. Adam was only a breath behind.

The building was very ornate, with all kinds of decorative quoins and plant trellises adorning its surface. The two Humans began to scramble up the walls, made easier in the three-quarters gravity and their Earth-toned muscles. As they reached the top of the four-story building, they threw themselves over the top ledge and ducked behind it for cover. They could hear shouting and the whining of electric vehicles rising up from the ground below. Adam was sure the Klin were wondering what had happened to thirteen Humans and two aliens in the span of only fifteen minutes. Their search would naturally move to the parking lot.

The communications antenna took up about a quarter of the vast roof area of the main estate, and Adam could see now how it had been hidden from the front view of the building by a false wall about fifteen meters tall. The antenna itself was very compact, and was a series of three cylindrical tubes surrounding a central spire and connected to each other with side supports. The array reached about twenty meters into the air, with the top third of the antenna painted green to blend in with the backdrop of the forested hills on the other side of the lake.

The antenna rested on an eight-sided platform that appeared to rest on rollers, allowing for the structure to rotate. McCarthy ran for the antenna. “Place the charges equal distance around the base.”

Adam moved to the other side of the antenna array and opened one of the satchels. He withdrew a charge containing three wrapped bricks, each about the size of a sleeve of crackers, and after inserting the radio-controlled detonators into the soft material, slipped it into the area between the base and rollers. “This is all well and good, McCarthy, but have you figured out how we’re going to get down from here, what with the whole Klin army running around below us?”

McCarthy rose up after placing a charge of his own and ran further around the antenna. “I have to admit, when I originally planned blowing the comm antenna, I didn’t think I’d have to do it with the Klin looking for me. This does change things.”

“So you don’t have a way off the roof?”

“I thought we’d improvise.”

Adam placed his last charge and stood up, his arms hanging limply at his side. “So why did you want me to come along with you on this suicide mission?”

McCarthy pulled a small remote detonator control from his last satchel placed it in his pocket. He smiled over at Adam. “It’s because I’ve always fostered an intense hatred for you, Mr. Cain.”

“Why? What have I ever done to you?”

“You have disrupted my plans ever since the first moment you showed up in the Fringe three years ago. I had a pretty sweet gig going here until you came along.”

“Yeah, about that — why are you working with the fucking Klin in the first place?”

“They promised me a planet of my own after all this is over with — the planet Earth.”

“And you believed them?”

“To a point. Like I said, I never fully trusted them in the first place. But you have to admit, it was a tempting offer.”

Adam ran to the edge of the roof and looked over the edge. He was looking down at the parking lot and lake beyond. Below, dozens of aliens were now moving about, most armed with flash rifles and looking angry. McCarthy came up beside him and looked over the side as well.