Marathon: The Complete Series (Books 1-9) (Complete Series Box Sets), page 85
part #1 of Marathon Series
Where was the Patriot? Eckhart searched the surviving Regiment vessels, but he couldn’t identify any single ship from this distance.
The other men strolled in, and froze when they saw what Eckhart was looking at. “My God!” Clifton whispered.
“Is that...?” Short croaked.
“Yausqith,” Eckhart replied.
He kept working over the scans in a desperate race to locate the Patriot, but it was probably already too late. His hands shook, sending emergency alerts to every other ship he could contact. He ordered them to withdraw out of Yausqith’s path and to put as much distance between themselves and every other Regiment asset as they could.
None of them moved. Did they receive his warning, or did they just ignore it because it didn’t come from the chain of command?
At last, Yausqith reached the Stormbreaker line, leaving Banshees and Colossuses in fragments behind him. Eckhart’s eyes hurt watching the destruction, but at that moment, a single Colossus broke through and hurtled away toward the rear.
The Patriot outpaced Yausqith in a dead race back toward Earth. The regulators buzzed again, and Captain Hennessy’s dirty face reappeared. “They won’t listen to me, Eckhart! I tried to tell them—”
“You did what you could. Now I need you to transmit the same message to the rest of the Regiment. Tell them they can’t beat this alien.”
Her jaw dropped. “Alien? It’s only one?”
“I’m afraid so. Make sure the rest of the Regiment stays out of his way and tell them not to assemble any force against him. They’ll only make him mad, and he’ll take out his vengeance against Earth.”
She wiped her wrist across her forehead. “Okay. I’ll try…but they won’t listen. Rear Admiral Mitchell is the one who communicates things like that up the chain of command to the General Staff. If he doesn’t tell them, they’ll never find out.”
“What about Admiral Thiel?” Eckhart asked. “He listened.”
“He’s dead, isn’t he? The General Staff will take his murder as evidence that the aliens will only betray their word.”
“Regiment assets killed Admiral Thiel, not aliens.”
“There’s nothing I can do about that, Eckhart. I have to go. My ship is a mess.”
She signed off, and Eckhart let out a shaky breath. “That’s another Regiment force destroyed.”
“You were right, Eckhart,” Clifton remarked. “Getting the Intergalactic High Court to rule against the Regiment is the only way to stop them.”
He, DeWalt, and Short left the bridge. Eckhart tried to ignore Nuñez watching him. Eckhart regretted that he hadn’t gotten Nuñez to confirm that he and his fellow assets were the ones who’d killed Admiral Thiel, but it was too late now. Captain Hennessy couldn’t do anything about it anyway.
Nuñez broke in on his thoughts. “Thank you, Eckhart.”
“What for—for dragging you back to Earth to stand trial for crimes against humanity? You don’t want to thank me, pal. You’re probably going to spend the rest of your life in prison when this is all over. Maybe you should have gone off with D’Alia and Fontana.”
“I meant…thank you for giving me a chance to do the right thing. None of this would have happened if not for us.”
Eckhart looked up. “You’re welcome. Everyone deserves a chance to do the right thing.”
Nuñez compressed his lips and then threw back his shoulders. “I want to go after them. I want to tackle D’Alia and Fontana. I want to neutralize them and bring them in to testify, too.”
“Hold your horses, man. We need you to testify first. That’s more important. If you try to tackle both of them, you might not come back at all. In fact, I’m sure you won’t.”
“Maybe not.”
“You want to do the right thing? Give evidence before the High Court. Then we’ll deal with the other two.”
“You’re a good man, Eckhart. You’re the best leader the aliens could ask for.”
“I doubt that,” Eckhart muttered down at the regulators. “I didn’t ask for this. I’d like to quit.”
“But you don’t quit. You’re still here.”
“Try not to remind me, okay? Oh, look. Here comes another goddamn transmission. What it is to be popular.”
Nuñez snorted, but he didn’t laugh. He never laughed. He always walked around with a cloud hanging over his head, but Eckhart guessed he was doing the same thing himself lately.
13
Eckhart gazed at the high, jagged peaks of the Swiss Alps. City streets streamed with people—all Earthlings.
Their weird vehicles buzzed through the streets. Ships and personal transports floated from building to building. The whole place looked curiously…inhabited.
Why did he think it would be so different from the fringes? He didn’t see anything that made this little planet so special. “Tell me again why I decided to do this.”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Short replied.
“Because it’s the only way to stop Yausqith,” Clifton added.
“And the Regiment,” Staton finished.
“And because you were curious about where all the Earthlings come from,” DeWalt told him. “Tell me you don’t at least want to see it. Tell me you aren’t dying of curiosity to see the one planet in the galaxy without a single alien anywhere.”
“You’re right. I came this far. I’d better see it. Then I can go home.”
Eckhart left the bridge, went to the cargo hold, and looked out at the streets full of people. They were all Earthlings. How strange this place looked. Was he really going out there?
The old hatred for Earthlings infected his thoughts. He’d spent so much time around aliens that he’d started to see Earthlings as his enemies, too. Spending the last several weeks with these five men hadn’t changed that.
These creatures walking around looked so alien, so out of place. Where were all the real people?
DeWalt bumped into him on the way outside. He nodded to motion Eckhart forward. Short, Nuñez, and Clifton strode right out of the Marathon like this was no big deal. They didn’t even notice how bizarre everyone looked.
The other five men surrounded Eckhart in a protective huddle. They kept looking around in mild interest, but he still sensed them shielding him like his personal bodyguards.
They crossed a huge square toward the giant building they said was the Intergalactic High Court building. It held pride of place over a huge circular driveway. Pedestrians, ground vehicles, and transport hovercraft revolved around this circle in some unspoken coordinated dance.
His companions crossed the street and stopped at a round spot in the center. Grass, flowers, and a collection of statues rose behind the wrought-iron fence. The statues were all of Earthlings, too.
What a curious little world this was. Eckhart didn’t understand it at all. All these people seemed to be celebrating the fact that they were all Earthlings. They seemed to want to elevate themselves and pretend there wasn’t a horde of deadly aliens right on their doorstep.
DeWalt beamed at Eckhart. “Well? What do you think? Not too bad, huh?”
Short took a deep breath. “I never thought I’d make it back to Earth alive. It’s good to be home.”
“Let’s get this High Court nonsense over with and get some food,” Staton added. “I’ve been gone way too long.”
Even Clifton was smiling, but Eckhart couldn’t stop scowling at everything. What in the world was he doing here? Why did he even wonder if he could belong in a place like this?
DeWalt bumped his shoulder again, and the five of them started to walk around the statues. Eckhart couldn’t figure out what the statues were supposed to be. They looked like Earthling females, but they were positioned in such unrealistic postures that they only looked hideous.
The group made it a quarter of the way around the circle. Eckhart passed the street on his left. He could look right in through vehicle windows at the Earthlings inside.
They didn’t notice him. They didn’t see anything unusual about him walking past them. None of them had any idea who he was.
He’d worried on his way to Earth if he would feel too at home here. He’d kept experiencing pangs of misgiving that he’d like it too much and decide to stay. Now that he was here, he only felt more alien than ever. A great pressure blocked him from moving forward. It seemed to lean against his chest. It was trying to push him backward, back toward the Marathon. It wanted him to get on board, fly away, and go back to the fringes where he could start breathing freely again.
He couldn’t back out on his mission now, though. He’d made a commitment to these men, to the fringes, and to himself to finish this once and for all. He’d lost Alice to accomplish this, and he couldn’t let that sacrifice go for nothing.
Clifton and DeWalt sped up now that the High Court building was right in front of them. It looked even taller and more impressive here. It actually looked like it might be powerful enough to stop the Regiment, if Eckhart could only make it listen.
Clifton glanced behind him to make sure none of the vehicles were about to cut them off. DeWalt approached what looked like a crossing. A few colored lights flashed to signal pedestrians to cross or not to cross when vehicles were nearby.
Eckhart stopped with his comrades. Short twisted his fingers together and looked over his shoulder before squinting up at the building. He wasn’t smiling anymore. No one was.
DeWalt pushed the button to change the signal. Eckhart peered past the statues toward the Marathon, parked in a public lot across the square. Dozens of other ships surrounded it. It didn’t look like anything special here. No one knew it brought the alien leader to Earth.
A chirp sounded to indicate they could cross the street. Clifton and DeWalt started forward, and Eckhart waited for the crowd to start moving, when a vicious laser smashed into the sidewalk right in front of DeWalt.
The pavement cracked, and screaming people surged back against Eckhart. They bounced off him, running for cover.
Eckhart froze, staring up at one of the assets hovering over the High Court building. Whoever it was pounded the street right on top of the five friends.
Nuñez launched off the ground streaking for the asset. “No, Nuñez!” Eckhart bellowed. “Nuñez—no!”
Nuñez paid no attention. He rocketed into the air and collided with the asset in a blaze of glory. They hurtled over the High Court roof, and the blazing light from their combined coronas soared higher, getting smaller.
At the same instant, the second asset dropped from on high, cutting up the street as he went. He veered around the circle, destroying vehicles and buildings, and blasted three statues to smithereens.
The asset came whistling around the other side, carving the pavement in deep furrows. The lasers crawled closer to where Eckhart stood.
He bolted away with Clifton, DeWalt, and Staton right with him. Eckhart realized a moment too late that Short wasn’t with them.
The young man remained rooted to the spot, gaping up at the asset in slack-jawed shock. Eckhart charged back to Short’s side, grabbed him, and pulled him into a run. “Move it! Get back to the Marathon! Run!”
Short stumbled into their midst. The other three surrounded Short, and Eckhart tried to find his way back to the Marathon, but the asset had other plans.
The asset veered in front of them, pounding the sidewalk with lasers. So many people stampeded for cover that they all ended up fighting each other to get away. Everyone ran in another direction and blocked each other from escaping.
Eckhart tried to plow his way through them, but the asset came rocketing back just as fast. Screaming, falling bodies jumbled into a confused mass, preventing Eckhart from going anywhere.
The asset wheeled to his right, and Eckhart looked straight up at the guy. The black outline inside the halo had short-buzzed hair. It was Fontana.
Fontana hung in space right in front of Eckhart. Eckhart’s scalp prickled, and he realized Fontana was about to fire on him a fraction of a second before it happened.
Eckhart grabbed Clifton and DeWalt. “Get down!”
He flattened them an instant before Fontana fired. The lasers zinged over Eckhart’s head and smashed into the iron fence. They burned through the metal and decimated the statues.
Fontana’s assault leveled everyone around the friends. People who didn’t take cover in time hit the pavement, and Eckhart yanked his friends to their feet. They took off running, stepping on bodies, vaulting broken pavement, and reached the street on the other side.
Fontana swiveled in front of them to stop them from reaching the Marathon. He spouted lasers at them, and Eckhart shoved his friends into another run. They dodged vehicles only for Fontana to detonate them right on top of them.
Eckhart dove into an alley between two brick structures. He dragged his four friends behind the walls and huddled for cover.
Fontana swooped back and forth beyond the mouth of the alley. He stationed himself between the five fugitives and the Marathon. Eckhart couldn’t reach the ship with Fontana in the way. Even if he could, Fontana would only start shooting at the Marathon next.
“Eckhart, I never…want to see…you again,” Short wheezed. His lower lip started to tremble. “Seriously…just…leave me alone from now on…okay?”
Eckhart gripped his shoulder. “I’m sorry, son, but it’s too late now. He’ll kill you whether you’re with me or not.”
Eckhart couldn’t look at the kid hovering on the brink of hysteria. He didn’t want to think he might be responsible for getting Short killed. That would be too much right now.
Eckhart glanced outside again. “We need to distract him so we can get to the ship.”
“What about…?” DeWalt began.
A high-pitched shriek of some falling projectile cut him off, and at that moment, the same starburst of blinding light rocketed across the square. It leveled the last remaining statue and smashed into Fontana with a deafening boom.
The momentum carried all three assets the rest of the way across the square. They slammed into a large ship parked near the Marathon, and in a split second, their combined halo zoomed back the other way.
“Go!” Eckhart hauled Short and DeWalt into the open. “To the ship!”
He bent his head and ran for all he was worth. That terrible whistling howl of the assets rocketing around the circle drove his nerves to the breaking point.
He pounded up the hatch and pushed Clifton, Staton, DeWalt, and Short into the cargo hold. Eckhart looked back in time to see the supernova of all three assets collide with the High Court building.
The building imploded in a massive cloud of dust and flying stone. “Holy crap!” Short croaked.
“Go!” Eckhart wheeled away and slammed the release to shut the hatch. “Strap in! Hurry!”
14
Eckhart slammed the regulators forward, and the Marathon sprinted through Earth’s atmosphere. He checked the tactical grid for any sign of the three assets, but he didn’t see anything.
Staton sprang to the navigation station where Alice used to sit. “You’re being hailed by about fifty Regiment ships. They’re coming in from all over to fight the assets.”
“That’s rich,” DeWalt replied from Rixby’s old workstation. “They’re the ones who are supposed to be controlling these guys.”
“Half the Regiment force is demanding your immediate surrender,” Staton went on. “The other half are requesting assistance after Fontana attacked them.”
“Just find them!” Eckhart ordered. “We can’t do shit if we don’t know where they are.”
“Here they come!” DeWalt cried. “They’re coming from—”
Another shriek vibrated the hull, and then the assets slammed the Marathon sideways as the three men streaked past.
“They’re heading back toward Earth—” Staton began. “No, scratch that. They’re veering off.”
Eckhart could see perfectly well what the assets were doing. They jerked back and forth, changing course every second. The three men wrestled and struggled and fought inside their combined halo.
“It’s a miracle Nuñez has been holding his own this long,” Clifton remarked from behind Eckhart’s chair.
“He won’t be able to hold out forever. Hold on!”
The three assets rocketed around the sun, and came winging back on another collision course for Earth. Their corona wobbled, but Nuñez couldn’t stop the other two.
Eckhart reacted on instinct and ripped the Marathon into their path. He braced his body back in his chair, and the assets smashed into the Celdian shields with unspeakable force.
The ship staggered, but that blow was enough to stop the assets from reaching Earth. They pulled back, sprang forward to make another attempt, and Eckhart opened fire.
He pounded them with Datrium even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good. He couldn’t make a dent in one of these guys, let alone three of them.
His shots hit their halo and enveloped it for a second. The next instant, an unholy spray of lasers erupted from the rim and drove all that Datrium back against the ship.
“Hang on!” Eckhart roared over the noise.
“They’re draining our Celdian fast!” Staton called back. “We’re down to 30% and falling fast. We can’t stand this much longer!”
“Forty Regiment vessels on approach!” DeWalt reported. “They’re ordering you to stand down, the fools!”
Eckhart didn’t answer. He gritted his teeth and strained his arms to the breaking point. He smashed down the regulators to hold the ship in position. He fired all his plasma at the assets, but nothing broke the continuous fountain of lasers pounding the shields.
He squinted down at the floor so the epic blaze of light coming from the halo didn’t break his concentration. He had to hold out for…something. He was the only thing standing between the assets and Earth.
“Celdian at 15%!” Staton called. “We’re reaching the ionosphere! If they drive us any lower, gravity will take us down.”
