“Yep, when a day sucks this bad, it helps,” said Huber, watching Taylor’s response.
“You know I’m not a politician, Admiral?”
Huber sighed. “Son, we all have to be and do things we never wanted or expected for ourselves. You are whatever we need you to be, just as I am. You don’t have to like it, you only have to give it your all.”
“But I suck at it. I’m just as likely to cause as much trouble as I resolve.”
“We’ll see about that. You’ve done just fine this far.”
“Huang is gonna come after you. He won’t let this go.”
Huber sighed. “I know, but we will deal with him in due course. We’re an almost random cross section of Earth’s population thrown together on a whim. We have to accept that it isn’t going to be plain sailing.”
Huber’s communicator flashed before him, and he accepted the call.
“Sir, I have a Captain Morris requesting an audience with you.”
Huber looked surprised and then to Taylor.
“He’s one of mine.”
“See him in,” Huber replied.
The door to his quarters opened and Morris entered. Taylor could immediately see the distress in his face.
“What’s up?” Taylor quickly asked before the Admiral could get a word in.
“I just heard my people didn’t make it off Earth.”
Huber looked to Taylor in surprise.
“You said he was one of yours?”
“He is, via the Moon Defence Force.”
“Admiral, did any of my people make it?”
“I do not have that information, Captain, but I can make some enquiries.”
“Please do so, Sir. They are my people. My family.”
Huber got to his feet, seeing the distress in Morris’ face.
“You have my word, Captain. I will do everything in my power to discover the fate of your people. They inhabited an area of Germany, if I remember correctly?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then please leave this with me, and I will liaise with the contacts I have to find out whatever I can.”
Taylor got up and went to his friend. He placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.
“You know Kelly. He either made it out or he’s fighting like hell.”
“Yes, that’s what worries me.”
“Trust me, and trust the Admiral. We’ll do what we can.”
Morris accepted his promise and stepped outside the quarters. Taylor took a seat once again before the Admiral.
“This is gonna get a lot worse, you know that?” Taylor asked.
“Yeah, I know.”
“What we need more than anything else right now is to stick together, work together, and fight together. Without that we are finished.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do, Colonel. Just not everyone sees it that way. I think we’re done here. I want you to make sure your people are on the top line and ready for anything. You defended this ship admirably. Please be ready to give such service at a moment’s notice whenever we need it.”
“You got it, Sir.”
Taylor got up and left. He’d only been awake a few hours, and he felt like he’d endured a few days of combat. He could sense the tension throughout the ship and could only imagine how much worse it was across the rest of the fleet. As he left the Admiral’s quarters, he finally looked at his watch and realised it was time to get dinner. He was hopeful he would catch a few of his unit still there.
He reached the canteen and found Parker waiting for him. There was nothing on the table before her except a glass of water. Silva sat opposite her. As he approached, they perked up. He could tell they had been waiting there for some time.
“Thought you’d vanished for good,” Parker said.
“You can’t get rid of me that easy.”
Taylor smiled as he passed them and queued up with a dozen others to get his meal. It was slumming it for an officer of his status, but he didn’t care.
“Colonel Taylor, isn’t it?” a man in the line up asked.
“Yes,” Taylor replied, looking over for the source of the question. As he did so, a fist struck his jaw and snapped his neck back. He staggered back a pace before getting his footing. He looked back in surprise to see a tall, well built Captain had struck him, and his eyes were full of hate and fury, yet Taylor could not understand why. The man wore a Naval uniform, but he was not American. As he turned slightly, Taylor could see a Spanish flag on his shoulder.
Parker and Silva leapt to their feet and came to Taylor’s aid, but he held up his hand to stop them in their tracks.
“That’s right, you son of a bitch, about time you fought your own battles!” the Captain sneered.
“Man, who the fuck are you?”
“Captain Rodrigo Cordero.”
Taylor spat out blood.
“And what the hell is your beef? You just took a cheap shot like a cheap bitch. So what is it?
“You’re a traitor, Taylor. You changed sides like the wind. You just pick and choose as suits you each day, and expect everyone to rally around you and treat you as some great fucking hero.”
“He is a fucking hero, you low life asshole!” Parker shouted.
She tried to rush forward in a frenzy, but Silva took hold of her and held her back.
“That’s right. You need a woman to fight for you because you’re too pussy to fight for real. Sure, you’ll fight on TV. You’ll fight some bullshit theatre for all your audience to applaud, but when the real fight comes, you can’t handle it.”
Taylor was astonished by what he was hearing. He could only imagine the man had bought into the propaganda spun by the UEN and the Krys agents working within it.
“You don’t know me. You’ve not seen what I’ve seen. What gives you the right to spill this kind of crap about me? What have you done through these wars? I’ve bled and fought, and suffered, and endured. I won’t justify myself to any one, let alone some low life sailor boy like you.”
The Spaniard picked up a nearby chair and swung it at Taylor, but he caught the legs and pulled hard so that the man was launched off his feet and over onto another table. The Captain sprawled rather unceremoniously over the table and landed the far side on the deck.
“Whatever hate you’ve built, it’s all bullshit,” Taylor said, watching the man haul himself to his feet.
He could see the bitter anger was burning ever greater in the Captain’s eyes. He wanted to kill, and there was no doubt about it. He rushed at Taylor in a frenzy and swung a hook with all his force. It was a powerful strike, but it was off balance and telegraphed. Taylor ducked under and delivered a sharp uppercut to his stomach, causing the man’s legs to lift off the ground slightly.
Taylor did not let up. He grabbed Cordero’s hair with his left hand and punched him with three heavy rights until blood gushed from his face, finally throwing him down onto the floor.
Cordero’s friends went to help him to his feet, but Taylor launched towards him. As he did so, one of the man’s friends swung for him, and it was all the cue Silva needed to join the affray, and Parker with him.
A few minutes’ later six men lay on the deck unconscious or crying in pain. Taylor, Silva, and Parker remained standing, and the ship’s marines rushed in with the master-at-arms in tow. They instantly recognised Taylor and hesitated, to which he responded.
“What are you waiting for? Do your jobs!”
Ten minutes later he found himself on a bench in the brig, with Parker and Silva in adjoining cells. After a few minutes of taking it all in Parker began to laugh. Her white teeth were coated in her own blood.