Vance lowered his visor and switched the monitor. Invariably, all surviving members of the group emitted their ID codes. The invisible pulses registered on his visor, rolling like concentric circles from each forearm.
“Why are they firing on us?” Yen shouted, his words barely audible over the constant hum of the automatic defenses.
Vance didn’t even try to answer. There was no reason for the guns to fire on them. Their signals were still strong. He didn’t believe the automated system could make a mistake between a Seque and one of the soldiers. It was too complex for such a simple mistake. Here was no reason for the guns to fire on them unless they were reprogrammed.
Vance shook his head, not eager to follow that line of thought. If they were reprogrammed, that meant someone betrayed four platoons of Alliance soldiers. If there was a traitor among them, turret guns ahead, and Seques waiting hungrily behind them, the survivors were doomed.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Halo,” Vance said, “I don’t know why the guns are firing on us, and right now, I don’t have time to care. I need you to shut them down.”
“I’ve been trying, Michael. Someone’s blocking my attempts to hack the outpost’s computer system.”
“Keep trying.”
Slivers of rock shattered free, as more bullets slammed into his barricade.
“We need a way out of here and fast!”
“I’d doing all I can,” she said, an edge of panic in her voice. “I’m working as fast as I….”
The transmission stopped.
“Halo? Halo, answer me!”
“I wish I could say I saw this coming,” her soft, feminine voice said.
Vance knew she wasn’t speaking to him. She intentionally left the radio active, so he could listen.
“I have cameras on you. I can see the gun behind your back.” She paused. “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”
“I haven’t really been left any other choice,” a familiar male voice replied.
A loud gunshot echoed in Vance’s headset. He jerked at the sound, his heart racing.
“Halo?” He felt weak. Nausea threatened to overwhelm him. “Aleiz, please answer me.”
“She won’t be answering you,” a man replied. “Halo’s gone.”
“Captain Young?” he asked in disbelief. “I don’t understand.”
“What’s to understand?” Captain Young asked angrily. “I sent you on your last mission with two simple instructions-retrieve the data and don’t open the disk. You couldn’t manage to follow two simple tasks.”
Vance sat paralyzed and bewildered. His thoughts raced in a jumbled mess, individual thoughts lost in a cloudy haze. “I don’t understand,” he said, unsure what to say.
“You aren’t listening, Michael! You had very specific instructions. Did you or did you not complete both your assigned duties?”
“We retrieved the disks like you asked.” Vance’s head spun. “Why’d you kill her? We did what you asked!”
“I told you, in no uncertain terms, not to open the disk!” he screamed, sitting beside Aleiz’ body. Blood dripped from the destroyed side of her head, pooling on the leather seat below. “I’m not stupid, Michael. I could tell you opened the files.”
“I didn’t!” he shouted back, wanting to close his hands around the captain’s throat and shake him until he understood. “I didn’t open the disk. You didn’t need to kill her.”
“But someone did. If you didn’t, then someone on your team did. If it wasn’t you, then the blood of all those soldiers is on the hands of one of your teammates.”
Vance’s head jerked toward the remaining teammates. Yen and Eza entered the room and retrieved the disk. Could they have opened it? They weren’t involved in the conversation and were blissfully unaware of the accusations against them.
“Because they opened the disk and read a file, you’re willing to sacrifice over one hundred lives?” Vance’s anger grew. “If you wanted my team dead, why not send us in alone? Why send all those infantry soldiers along, condemning them to death?”
“Think about it, Michael,” the captain replied coolly. “It’ll come to you.”
The realization froze Vance’s breath in his lungs. For a moment, he couldn't speak. Finally, he said, “In one mission, you killed almost every soldier who could stand against you onboard. You’re taking the ship for yourself, but that doesn’t make sense. You already have possession of the ship as its captain. Who else would want it besides…?”
The captain left the sentence hanging.
“But why?” Vance asked breathlessly. “I’ve known you my entire life. You’ve been loyal to the Alliance your entire career. Why suddenly turn traitor? Why would you want to turn Goliath over to the Terrans?”
“That’s the question you’ve been yearning to ask,” the captain said, holstering the still-smoking pistol. “You beat around the bush, but you finally got to the heart of it. Gods alive, Vance, I’d love to tell you they kidnapped my family and are holding them for ransom. I wish I could tell you a tale of epic heroism, where I have to do this, or my family dies.
“Real life isn’t a storybook, Michael. I did it for money. The Terrans wanted an operational warship and a halo system to analyze. Even with her dead, the system’s in place, ready for reverse engineering.”
“Don’t you dare talk about Aleiz like she was a cog in a machine.”
The captain continued as if he hadn’t heard. “Did you know the Empire has a massive budget set aside just for bribing Alliance personnel? They have more money than they know what to do with, and they’re paying me enough to buy a small moon on which I can retire. You don’t realize how rich this will make me.”
“For money?” Vance’s face flushed with rage. “You killed my men, Aleiz, and all these soldiers just for money? You pathetic son of a bitch!”
“Watch that temper, Michael,” he replied coldly. “I killed only those who wouldn’t see the common sense I offered. The rest of the ship supports me. They’ve all been offered very comprehensive financial payoffs for their support.
“Everyone has a price, but it’s more than just the money. You and I both know neither the Alliance nor the Empire have been following the Taisa Accord. As of right now, the Terran Fleet has slipped ships past the demilitarized zone and has begun an invasion of Alliance-occupied space. The war’s coming, and I’m here to tell you the Terrans will win. Sure, they offered me money, but they also offered me a chance to be welcomed back into the Empire’s fold, regardless of my Pilgrim background. Had you not been so damned stubborn, you might’ve had the same offer.”
“Unlike you,” he roared, “I’d never sell my own people for money!”
“News flash, Michael. The Terrans are your people. Just because your grandparents made piss-poor decisions about which side they wanted to fight on doesn’t mean you’re that far removed from the Empire. You’re still a Terran.”
Vance seethed. His depression and horror at the blood on his hands was replaced by a deep-seated yearning for vengeance. “Believe me when I say I’ll personally see you dead before this is over.”
“Let’s be realistic. You’ll never get off that planet. Since you’re going to be this way and insist on making threats, there’s nothing more to say to each other. Good-bye, Michael.”
The radio went dead, and Vance howled in frustration. Yen and Eza looked at him from across the small gap. He shot both of them a look of pure malevolence. Rage showed in his bloodshot eyes.
“You two have a lot of explaining to do. First, we have to find a way off this rock.” Slumping back down behind the rubble, he muttered, “I’ll find a way off here, so I can send that son of a bitch straight to hell.”
Vance’s salvation came seconds later, as a turret gun exploded and lit the night sky with a shower of sparks. Sitting atop a four-story building fifteen blocks away, Ainj aimed at the second turret gun and fired.