Burden of Sisyphus

Reaching into the pouches in the front of his body armor, Vance took one of his last two magazines and tossed it to him. “I’m almost out, too. Make every shot count.”

Sweat seeped into Vance’s eyes, blurring his vision. Even in the cool twilight, he was sweating profusely after running so long in full armor. His pounding heart and the adrenalin coursing through his veins weren’t helping matters. Still, the outpost loomed in the distance, just a short sprint away.

“Push it out!” he shouted. “We’re almost there!”

They were close, but they lost many men to get there. Three platoons were decimated. He didn’t have time to check at the moment, but Vance was certain any survivors of the initial assault had been hunted down and killed. Of his own group, he had two remaining team members, Decker, Dallis, and a small handful of infantry. Though he refused to voice his concerns, Vance wasn't sure reaching the outpost would make any difference. Even the turret guns’ ammunition was limited, while there seemed to be a nearly endless supply of Seques destroying the city. Still, with the compound so close, he pushed on harder than ever.

As they ran the last block, nearly all of them low on ammunition, Vance saw relief flooding the men’s faces. They reached the rubble of the collapsed wall and scrambled over it, an army of Seques on their heels.

As the beasts scaled and bounded over the crumbled wall, Vance heard gears whir. The two turret guns rose from their resting positions, taking aim at the new threat. As the barrels spun, fire leaped from both ends of the weapons, as massive-caliber slugs tore through the Seques’ thick hides. Green blood sprayed in sheets. Dozens of the monsters were cut down in the opening barrages, and those that followed slipped in their counterparts’ blood before being gunned down next.

The survivors let out a ragged cheer before collapsing in exhaustion. Even Vance doubled over with his hands on his knees while he tried to catch his breath. He allowed himself a faint smile, as the Seques began hesitating after watching so many of their ilk killed so quickly by the perimeter defenses.

Reaching the outpost bought them a little more time to think, plan, and find a way off the planet. Vance had to assume that the Seques had the outpost surrounded. That didn’t mean transports couldn’t land within the compound during an emergency evacuation. Once he was inside, he’d pull up the schematics for the base and call Goliath.

While lost in his plans for escape, he noticed an absence of noise, a haunting drop in gunfire that left him feeling exposed. Though it seemed unlikely, he wondered if the turret guns were already running out of ammunition. If the Seques tried to breach the outpost before, it was possible the guns had been firing intermittently for some time, draining the belts of ammunition. If that were the case, the survivors wouldn’t have much time before the Seques returned.

He turned toward the weapons, expecting them to be resting with their barrels down, the common position once they stopped firing or expended their rounds. Instead, the weapons whirred back and forth, scanning the group of soldiers who hid and caught their breath on the other side of the outer wall. Vance’s confusion caught Dallis’ eye, who supported an infantryman who coughed hoarsely, his lungs burning from exertion.

Dallis looked back and shrugged, unable to explain the weapons. Without warning, the guns fired again. The Uligart commander and the solider he supported vanished in red mist, as the high-caliber rounds dismembered the Alliance troops.

Blood splashed the soldiers seeking refuge near the pair. Vance’s instincts took over, and he slid behind a pile of nearby rubble. He heard the guns change trajectories again, and another soldier screamed before his body was shredded by the high-velocity rounds.

The remaining members dived for cover, as rounds rained down, splitting the stones they hid behind and showering flecks of debris on the petrified soldiers.

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.”