No Mercy (Blood War Book 4) Read online

  This was no homecoming for Mala. She wasn’t sure what it was.

  Hu too noticed the Von Fleet logo on the ships in the harbor, and he was also surprised by his reaction. The Confederation, after nationalizing the corporation, had retrieved the money Von Fleet had garnished from his wages when they brought suit against the government over its use of DNA. That money had hit his account as soon as they had entered the system and communications had been established. He had well over a year’s worth of salary with interest sitting in the bank. He had enough to do what he had planned to all along. He could buy the mining rights to an asteroid and start his own operation.

  But he had no one to do it with. His plan all along had been to buy his family out of their Von Fleet contracts and start a family business, but he no longer had a family. They were on a Xotoli-controlled planet, and he knew what that meant after what he had seen them do to the children on 703. Those images were still giving him nightmares. So seeing the Von Fleet logo carried a lot of baggage with it. Hu pushed those thoughts out of his mind and concentrated on the sights on his heads-up, he wasn't a miner anymore he was a Marine Raider. It felt like that it is all he had ever been the last years had been so intense.

  The Mike boat was crossing the night-day line. Hu had seen a number planets now, between the Legion and the Marine Corps, but he had never seen one as beautiful as Earth. The deep blue of the oceans with white clouds floating over it was breathtaking, even for him. Some of the clouds looked like puffs of white, while others were strings of individuals that were miles long. The continents were a variety of rich shades of brown, with green patches interspaced between cities. It was hard to take it all in at once. Hu found he couldn’t take his eyes off the planet. This was where it all had started. This was where the human race had originated, before it spread to hundreds of planets over thousands of light-years.

  But this beautiful blue ball was also the place that had created a system that had taken advantage of Hu and his family as well as billions of others. How could a place so beautiful and rich in resources have produced the kinds of men and women who ran the corporations and made decisions about the lives of billions? A corporation had genetically engineered him so that he could work in the mines of his home planet. The corporation had argued in court that they owned his DNA. It was like saying they owned him. Now he was about to risk his life to defend these Sols, who during normal times would not have had him over for dinner.

  Then Hu reminded himself that he wasn’t just defending these Sols. He was defending all of the billions of humans spread across the Confederation from a fate like those of Rift and 703. He took his eyes off the beauty of the Earth and looked around the compartment at the men and women locked down in their armor. Their armor was scratched, dented, and faded from days, weeks, and months in combat and training. He recognized every one of them, even with their faceplates down. He could recognize them by their armor or the way they moved.

  Across from him sat Gras. He had a big dent in his armor on his chest that had destroyed the ability of the nanos to return to their original shape. The armor was still good, but he had a permanent dent, and some of the platoon had started to call him Lumpy. Next to him sat Lena. He could tell because her helmet had taken a round on 703 and left a long scar from her chin to the top of her head. They had started to call her Scarface. He could go on around the compartment, naming each man and woman. They were his family now, and he knew that when he fought he would not even be fighting for the Confederation or for the billions of other humans, but for the men and women in the compartment and the other Raiders. He needed to remember that, because this was going to be a fight to the finish. Either they stopped them like they had on Rift, or they would die trying.

  Who was he now? Was he the Hu who had plans for the future, or was he now a combat veteran who only knew war and could only look as far ahead as his next battle? To let anything else get into his head before going into combat was a good way to get dead, and he didn’t plan on dying. He realized he still wanted to find that asteroid and create his piece of this universe. He wanted that even though he knew his family would not be part of it.

  It was funny. Before seeing Earth back on the Tarawa, he had felt hopeless, facing a long string of impossible battles. Now he wanted what those Sols on Earth had always had: a home, a business, and a place to raise a family. Maybe coming to Earth had a purpose after all, if it reminded him of who he was underneath all of this war.

  Lee pitched the nose of the Mike boat downward as he began his final descent into New York. They had just passed the orbital chemical plant and propellant depot for small fuel-driven ships. The harbor was full, with ships in their slips and a myriad of small vessels moving within it on various jobs. He gave it a wide berth and stayed on the outside edge of the green rectangle that was guiding him down to his landing pad.

  At 22,286 miles, he saw the string of energy panels that converted sunlight into microwave energy that was beamed down to receiving stations. The energy panels stretched in an unbroken line as far as he could see. To his port was the orbital power station that was responsible for their upkeep and coordination.

  “Sure is busy up here,” Toland said idly.

  “Yeah. It makes Rift look like some backwater planet instead of the main anchorage for the fleet.”

  Once they passed through the energy panels, only a few cargo haulers filled the next few thousand miles as they transferred cargo from the harbor to the port or up from the port to the harbor. Lee had heard about Earth his whole life. Now here it was in all its glory, the pinnacle of the human race’s technology and power on display.

  He felt pride being part of something so big and powerful. He had been just a term spaceman getting his tech training so he could get out and go get a good job. Then Rift happened and it changed him. He was the pilot of a Mike boat and a squadron leader. He wasn’t some tech punching keys for a living. He was a combat pilot, and one of the best at that. He had found his place through the fire of combat at Rift, on 703, and at Chika. He was somebody now, and he relished the responsibility. There were people alive today because of his skill, and not many could say that. Lee pulled the nose closer to the center of the green rectangle as they began to close in and went lower and lower in the atmosphere.

  “There’s the New York Stair elevator,” Toland said. “Starboard.”

  Lee glanced over to starboard and saw the impossibly long structure that reached from the surface all the way into just below Earth orbit. At the top was a large complex. Civilian, commercial, and military vessels swarmed around it like bees around a flower bush, their multicolored lights illuminating the scene against the absolute blackness of space. Lee nosed the ship down as the guidance pointed to New York.

  “Have you looked at our landing pad?” Toland asked.

  “Yeah. It’s not made for Mike boats, but I think we can squeeze her in.”

  “You’d think they would have thought about transporting troops, since it’s the naval headquarters for the Confederation.”

  “Yeah, but they didn’t, so we are going to have quite a dance to get her in there.”

  New York was now filling their front display—a twinkling light show that stretched unbroken to the horizon.

  “Mike 2525, this is New York Approach.”

  “Approach, this is 2525.”

  “You are cleared all the way to your pad.”

  “Thank you, Approach. I got a line of friends behind me.”

  “Roger that. We are ready for them too.”

  Lee felt the first buffeting of the upper atmosphere. The boat just sailed through the upper winds with no problem. Lee switched to the squadron channel and said.

  “This is Lee. Everybody ready for our first Earth landing? I don’t want any damaged boats.”

  “Chief, how could you say such a thing?”

  “I’ve seen you land your boat, Nanez. Now, all pilots, do not take this landing for granted. Keep an eye out for civilian traffic as we
near the complex. Approach may have cleared the way up top, but down this low there is no telling what we will run into.”

  Lee glanced at the string of Mike boats behind him on his radar display. They were in tight but were starting their own approaches. They were to land in the naval headquarters, which was a three-Mega building complex with landing pads in each building. They would drop their troops off, then return to orbit until all of the Marines had been delivered. Then they were to land at something called Central Park and await further orders.

  “On our final,” Toland said.

  Lee switched to the Marines’ frequency.

  “Five minutes, Lieutenant.”

  “Thanks.”

  At the end of the tunnel of green rectangles, he could see his landing pad now. It was on one of the upper floors of the Mega. Landing lights were flashing and the pad door was open and waiting.

  “Lights,” Toland said as she switched on the powerful floods that lit up the night like it was daytime. “Shit, this is going to be tight.”

  “No shit,” Lee said as he saw just how small the opening to the pad was. He didn’t want to go in too fast. He would go to hover and inch his way forward.

  “Translate.”

  “Roger translate.”

  Toland rotated the engines until they were vertical, and their forward speed slowed to a crawl.

  “Give me measurements on that opening.”

  “Aye.”

  Toland switched on the measurement layer on their windshield display.

  “You have got to be shitting me,” Toland said. “We got about six inches on a side.”

  Just then a gust of wind rocked the boat.

  “Give me more forward speed. So we can cut through these winds.”

  Toland gently eased the throttles forward until Lee said, “Enough.”

  Lee could see the landing lights. Two long rows inside the building. The green rectangle was just the size of the pad opening. Lee placed the nose of the ship in precisely the center of the rectangle and slowly eased the boat inside the building. Toland actually closed her eyes as they entered, waiting for a crash, but they slipped through the opening and into the pad. A robot came out and showed them where to stop. Lee dropped the rear hatch.

  “Lieutenant, you’re here. Now you guys call us when you need a little help.”

  “Oh, you can count on it, Lee. You guys stay flying, ’cause we’re going to need you SWCCs on this one.”

  After a few moments the rear gunner said, “Chief, they’re off.”

  “Check. Here we go.”

  Lee brought the ship to a hover. They eased it out the other end of the landing pad to make room for the next ship.

  Chapter 26

  City-State of New York

  Secretary General’s Mega

  As soon as they disembarked on the naval-headquarters landing pad, Captain Yu called Lieutenant Mala Nani over.

  “Lieutenant, I just got the word from on high. Sand is planning to fight this fight just like we did on Rift and he wants an Alamo preplanned. Since this is where the CIC is, this is where we’ll make our stand. It’s like fifty stories below this building, so the Alamo should be on the ground in this area. Since you were at the Alamo on Rift, you get the job. Get your platoon and find us a good place to make our stand.”

  “Aye, aye, sir. First platoon, on me. We’re going to find a place we can use as an Alamo.”

  “Boy, that’s positive thinking. Already thinking of our last stand.”

  “Shut up, Bien, and load up on the elevator,” Nani snapped.

  The platoon in their armor was barely able to fit into a large freight elevator. They were on the two-hundredth floor. Nani saw a button that said Ground and punched it. The elevator was spotless and polished, as if for an inspection, and it was only a freight elevator. Guess everything was spotless in the headquarters for the entire Confederation Navy.

  The elevator began its stomach-turning descent to the ground floor. Hu looked around. In their scarred, pitted combat armor, they appeared completely out of place in their surroundings. The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened. They were still seventy-five floors above the ground. When the doors opened, two women—civilian employees—started to get on the elevator. When they saw it was filled with Marines they stopped in their tracks. One looked scared and the other looked excited.

  “We’ll catch the next elevator,” the scared looking one said.

  The rest of the descent was uneventful. When the doors opened, they were in a loading area. There was a door to their right.

  “Hu, scout out that door.”

  Hu slipped up to the door, his rail at the ready.

  “You got to come see this, Nani,” Hu said as he went through the door.

  While intelligence had told them that there were no Xotoli, they had been briefed to expect hybrids anywhere, so she was taking no chances. When she stepped through the door, in a street that would surrounded by tall buildings covered with a thousand different colored lights. Huge, colorful, multistory displays hundreds of feet high lit up the area with pictures of strange-looking products from hundreds of years ago. They included what looked like a bottle of beer being drunk by a beautiful model. Nani slowly walked into the middle of what felt like an amphitheater.

  They were old 2-D billboards she had read about. She had never seen one before. Streets crisscrossed the area from one end to the other. High above, a clear dome arched overhead, enclosing the area. While it was a part of the Mega, it looked like the area was on the original ground it had occupied hundreds of years ago. Through the dome, Nani could see Megas surrounding this small patch of ground that had been left as it was in the past. The Sols must have built the Megas on top of the existing city, leaving a few areas in their original condition.

  Buildings lined the streets, reaching ten or more stories. A viewing balcony ten stories up connected the buildings so people could look down on the way things used to be. A narrow building that fit between two streets and then widened into a wedge shape was directly in front of her a few hundred yards away. Street signs were on the poles that held lights that illuminated the street.

  “Fuck, this is huge. It must be some kind of museum. I’ve seen pictures of places like this, but they are hundreds of years old. This is the way Earth used to look, I guess,” Nani said.

  “Can anyone find it on the suit’s AI?”

  “I found it,” said Gras. “It’s the Times Square Museum.”

  “What the fuck is a Times Square?” Bien said.

  “Well, according to the library, it’s a place lots of people used to gather when they came to the old New York.”

  “And do what?”

  “Fuck if I know. What do I look like, an AI node?” Gras said.

  The men and women of the platoon spread out into the huge space, staring at the old buildings and signs. There was a poles with signs on it. One read To Southbound 7th Ave, with an arrow pointing in a direction with Turn Here. Another said One Way. One said W. 45th.

  Nani turned to her right, and the buildings that lined the street were covered with brightly colored signs for all types of ancient products. Some were electronic and ran through a series of different images. Others showed just one product and stayed lit. She and Hu walked down the street and saw a building with yellow arches on it. Nani glanced into the window, and above the counter was a list of things to eat.

  “Anybody know what a Big Mac is?” Hu said.

  “What?”

  “Apparently it’s something to eat. I think it was called a hamburger.”

  “I got one that sells something called fried chicken,” Bean said. “Apparently it’s made with a secret recipe.”

  “Who would eat something if they didn’t know what it was made of?”

  “I don’t see any food printers,” Retig observed.

  “You dumb shit. This was long before food printers. They actually handled the parts of animals then cooked them.”

  “
Shit, gross.”

  “Yeah, but they knew how to drink. Look at this one, it’s a huge bottle of beer. Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

  “Okay, boys and girls, enough sight-seeing. I like the way this looks. It’s got a million defensible positions and open ground that they will have to cross. This place is directly over the secretary’s command post. As we move down from above, we will make our stand here. This is our Alamo position. If the shit gets deep, we will retreat to this place. I’ll relay what we’ve found up to the captain and see what he thinks,” Nani said.

  “Hey, LT, what about all the lights?”

  Nani thought for a minute. “All these lights produce heat. It might just confuse their sensors. I know the Xotoli won't have thought about filters for this kind of light. Now spread out and find good defensive positions. I want strongpoints with interlocking fields of fire and good cover. Snipers, find good perches up on those walkways and always have a fallback position. The same with the rest of you. We will need to shoot and scoot from one position to another. Mark them on the platoon map and I’ll send them up to battalion so everybody will have them.”

  The platoon began to spread out and to investigatethe buildings. The snipers jumped to a third-floor balcony and went inside.

  “Hu, on me,” Nani said.

  Hu followed her across the streets to what the sign said was a hotel. They walked up a wide staircase to the second floor. Nani caught sight of herself in a mirror on the wall. She looked completely out of place in an old hotel in full armor. It was as if she came from some violent world and had been thrust back in time to a place of entertainment and fun. She didn’t belong here anymore.