the atmosphere and seem to be putting down somewhere over Africa or Europe. What the hell happened up there?'
'It's a long story. But the short version is that the mothership was taken down when Admiral Huber rammed it with the Washington. It's broken into two sections and has come down to Earth.'
White's eyes widened.
'And the lack of communication? From down here it looked like both fleets just went dead. My experts tell me some kind of EMP.'
'Exactly that, Sir.'
'Okay, so let me get this straight. We won up there. Their fleet is now stranded somewhere on Earth?'
Taylor nodded.
'Well, the last thing I ever wanted to see was those bastards step foot here again, but it could have gone a whole lot worse. This Planet Killer weapon, is it done with?'
Taylor turned to Jafar for confirmation.
'Absolutely. The Gezgen K'til was the weapon, and that has gone.'
White took in a deep breath and relaxed. He needed to hear the information from a reliable source before he could really take it in.
'What now, Sir?' asked Taylor.
'That's not my decision to make. They have not landed on our soil. It is for higher powers to decide that. Right now, my priority is getting these wounded seen to. I'm glad to see you made it through, Colonel.'
'What are our orders?'
'Stand down, rest. You've been through hell. We have plenty of marines to get to work here. There will be a briefing at 0800 hours that I expect you to attend. Until then your time is your own.'
'Thank you, Sir.'
White had just left when Taylor heard his name yelled once again. It was Parker rushing towards him. Her pace slowed as she saw the bodies being carried from their Stallion. She looked at him, checking he was okay.
'You did it?' she asked.
'No, Huber did it. Our nukes went off but didn't get the job done.'
'I'm afraid that's not how we saw it.'
Taylor looked passed Parker to see Vega, the Washington's XO. The man had never liked him, but that dislike seemed to have washed away.
'We picked up a lot of the drop pods after the blast,' Eli added.
Vega paced forward to shake Taylor's hand. He was shocked but accepted as the Captain continued.
'We were doing everything to get power back when the Planet Killer began to cycle that weapon up. We could see it but were powerless to do anything. We figured we had just a couple of minutes, but it wasn't enough. Then a massive blast tore through the ship. Not enough to destroy it, but they lost power to the weapon and had to begin the cycle again several minutes later. In that time,we had got power to the engines.'
'What are you saying?'
'That you delayed the weapon for maybe five minutes, enough for our engineering crews to get the ship back on her feet for one last run. Huber ordered all crew off and remained at the manual controls until the very end. The Washington may have destroyed that thing, but it would never have been possible if it were not for you and your people.'
Taylor could see Jones' platoon had been listening in. Their efforts had not been wasted, and the deaths of three of their comrades had not been in vain, but the sombre tone remained until Eddie finally felt the need to break it.
'So the long and short of it is, we whooped 'em again?'
Taylor had to smile.
'See to the dead and wounded. After that you have the night to yourselves. The battle for the Solar System is over. Tomorrow the second Battle for Earth begins. Get some rest and be ready for it.'
Parker wrapped her arm around his as the others parted and led him back towards his quarters.
'You're a crazy son of a bitch, you know that? One of these days one of your crazy missions is going to be the end of you.'
He turned to her and could see she jested with him. It was hard to be tough on him after the results he had achieved.
'All the crazy stunts you pull, and yet you're still alive? How do you do it?'
'I'd like to say I'm lucky. But I don't feel lucky. I ache like hell,' he retorted with a smile.
They got back to his private quarters to find them just the way he had left them, spotless. All squared away and with little sign of a living inhabitant at all. He stripped off his armour and suit, throwing it all to the floor with no care in the world.
'Damn it feels good to be out of that thing.'
He felt Parker's arms wrap around his shoulders from behind, and the soothing feeling of human contact made him relax immediately and feel drowsy.
'We've got one night till the shit hits the fan again,' he said.
'Then let's make the most of it.'
Taylor stepped out of his quarters feeling fresh and invigorated. A jeep awaited him with Captain Ryan at the wheel.
'’Morning, Colonel!'
'Glad to see you made it,' he replied.
'Likewise, Sir.'
'How is the Deveron?'
'She's been through hell, but she'll be back on the line in no time. Like a lift?'
'Sure.'
He climbed aboard, and as the open topped vehicle got moving, he revelledin the fresh air gushing past.
'So it looks like we have a land battle on our hands?'
'Seems so.'
'Most of the Navy ships are either seaborne or space based. The Deveron is capable of operating effectively inside Earth's atmosphere with a larger payload capacity than almost anything else in the air.'
'I remember.'
'What I'm saying is; my crew don't want to be left out of this fight that is coming, Colonel.'
'I wouldn't be so eager to get your heads blown off.'
'Why, should somebody else take the risks for us? The Deveron is one of the most capable assets the Navy has, and since the death of Reyes, the crew are all to eager to stick it to the enemy.'
'So this wasn't just a courtesy call?'
Ryan turned to see the comical expression on his face.
'It's good to see you alive and all that, Sir, but we want in this fight, and you're the man who can assure it.'
'The enemy have come to Earth in great numbers. We're going to need any and all assets available to us. However, if you’re eager to be attached to Inter-Allied, I can see to making ways for that to happen.'
'Thank you, Sir. It would be much appreciated.'
'You won't be thanking me when you're up to your ears in shit and having to fight them face to face.'
'Been there and got the t-shirt.'
Taylor thought back to their intelligence-gathering mission and remembered he was right.
'The Deveron has been good to us, both under the command of Captain Reyes and yourself. Good luck charms are hard to come by. I'll see to it that we continue to work together.'
They arrived at conference hall of the base to find it guarded by twenty fully armoured marines with armoured vehicles covering all roads.
'Thank God for that. We're actually prepared for a change,' whispered Taylor to Ryan.
The guards waved them through without checking IDs. There was not a marine on base who did not recognise Colonel Taylor.
