ExtremeCircumstances Read online

  It took a few minutes of studying the map and conferring with his men before Twelve could place the landmarks he was looking for. “Here.” He ran his fingertip over the screen. “This is the path they planned to take.”

  The trail seemed simple enough. “I can’t promise we’ll be able to find it but we’ll try.”

  “And we’ll protect you from the Betas and guide you back to your shuttle.” Twelve held out his hand and Gates took it in a sign of partnership.

  “Then let’s get out of here.”

  “Someone is going to have to stay behind and shut down the computer systems and seal this place up.” Kam gestured to the machinery around them. “Wouldn’t want a native stumbling in here and making it into their home.”

  “No, we wouldn’t.” Gates looked around at the group. He hated splitting them up but there really was no other choice right now. “I’m sure you and Julian would be able to get the job done.”

  “We’ll need your codes to reset the security field.”

  Shit. Why hadn’t he thought of that? If they didn’t reset the field the next group of men would have to waste precious time hacking into the system just as they had. And he might not know what was in those stasis chambers but he knew the government would be back at some point to pick them up. “Okay. Homer, you’re leading the others to the campsite.” He pointed to a spot on Homer’s map. “We’ll meet up with you there.”

  “Yes sir.”

  He watched his men leave and then went through the checklist with Kam and Julian as quickly as possible. Still, it took longer than he thought it would and it was almost midday before they left the compound and reset the code. He didn’t envy the hike they were embarking on. He would be happy when it was all over though.

  They’d only made it two klicks before a loud roaring above their heads turned their attention to the sky.

  “Are those our shuttles?” Kam asked as three vessels flew overhead.

  Gates couldn’t see the insignia from his current location but he couldn’t imagine anyone else being out here. “I would guess so. Not sure what they’re doing here though.”

  “Backup?” Julian asked.

  “They can’t land close enough to help us. Besides, the mission is over.” He’d just paused to consider other scenarios when the deafening roar of destruction filled the jungle ahead of them. The rending noise of trees being knocked into one another was only surpassed by the shouts of animals in pain. He’d never heard anything that came close to the terror and fear emanating from the jungle.

  “What the fuck?”

  As the hordes of panic-stricken animals appeared, the men turned in unison and started running back to the compound. They ran in the midst of the animals for a time. The beasts seemed too afraid of whatever chased them to give the men much thought. Which was something Gates was profoundly thankful for. But when they reached the compound, the animals split into two groups to go around the structure’s security field. That wasn’t an option for them. Their only chance at safety lay inside the building. “Lower the field, Kam.” The order barely made it over the sounds of the jungle coming apart just behind them. “And unless you want these animals following us in, you’d better make it quick.”

  “Oh shit!” Kam immediately started fumbling to type in the new security code as the storm of destruction came closer and closer. As soon as the field came down Kam pulled him and Julian to the other side before bringing it back up again. Now on the other side of the field, Gates allowed himself to take in the horror of the moment.

  Everything seemed to be going slower than it should. He couldn’t make the pieces add up. “Why would they send more shuttles after the mission is done? And what’s chasing the animals and destroying the jungle?”

  Julian’s face paled as he stared out into the jungle. “I don’t know, but I don’t want to be standing outside when it gets here.”

  Following Julian’s gaze, Gates saw several of the trees start to turn black, their large leaves wilting before his eyes. “Agreed.” They raced back to the safety of the compound and then through the corridors. As if by some silent consensus they ran back to the room that housed the stasis chambers. It held their only chance at survival.

  They only had a few more steps left to go when Kam started to cough from somewhere behind him. Gates continued to race to the door as he turned to look back at his tech specialist. He hadn’t realized Kam had fallen so far behind. How had he lost track of one of his men? Guilt swept through him as Kam collapsed on the floor and grabbed at his throat as if he was choking.

  This was his fault. He’d failed one of his men. Hell, he’d failed more than he cared to count on this particular mission. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He could try to race back to grab Kam. But he’d already mentally worked out the futility of the attempt. The man was gone. Kam’s eyes were already bulging and his muscles were convulsing. And if the tickle in the back of Gates’ throat was anything to go by he’d be next if he didn’t keep going. “Gas. Hold your breath.”

  The door whooshed open easily as he slapped his hand against the entry pad. As soon as he and Julian had crossed the threshold he sealed the room once more. Still, he couldn’t be certain the seal would hold the toxin at bay.

  Julian shook his head slowly. “They intended to kill us. We were two hours behind schedule. Had we been two hours out, we wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

  “I know.” He hadn’t allowed the thought to solidify in his head, not yet. But he’d come to that conclusion at some point. It was the only explanation for his easy acceptance of it. “We’ll have to deal with that later. Right now we have to do what we can to survive. We need to get two of these life forms out of their chambers.”

  “But that will kill them.” Julian’s gaze swept the room as if trying to digest the order.

  “It’s either them or us at this point.” A cough rattled through Gates’ body.

  “Does it matter? When they find us—”

  They would cross that bridge when and if they ever got there. “Focus on surviving, Jules. We need to get into the chambers before the gas starts to leak into the room.” His voice was steady and sure despite the fear and anger that ate away at him.

  Julian finally nodded and moved to a stasis chamber. Gates chose the one next to Julian’s and returned the man’s nod. There was no ceremony and he felt no remorse as they pulled the inhabitants out of the chambers and then slid into the beds.

  “Gates?”

  “Yeah, Julian?”

  “When we get back to the base you’re going to take me out.”

  He smiled at the thought. “It’s a date.” As he pulled the lid closed, though, he allowed the profound pain of the day to consume him. He didn’t need to see the bodies to know he’d lost all of his men except one that day. And the reptile people were gone as well. An entire civilization had been eradicated. Just as Twelve had promised, he’d been the bringer of Death to this world.

  Blackness descended on him as the chamber put his body into stasis.

  Their mission was over but he’d failed. There were only two of them left and they should, by all rights, be dead with the rest of the planet.

  Chapter Nine

  Julian woke to a bitter cold that had to be death. He was surprised by how little that upset him. He didn’t really want to be dead but he found he didn’t have the energy to care that he couldn’t feel his body and his mind was fuzzy.

  “If you don’t let me in to see my son this instant I’ll have you scrubbing latrines until you’ve reached retirement. Have I made myself clear?”

  A cold shiver of dread worked through his body as he recognized the voice. Really? He couldn’t escape his father? Not even in death?

  “You can threaten me all you like, but I’m just following regulations, sir. I can’t let you in there until he’s been debriefed.”

  Julian gave the man a mental applause for standing up to his father. It was something Julian had never been able to do.


  “Fuck your goddamn regulations. That’s my son.”

  He was startled for a moment by his dad’s words. He’d never heard so much pain in his father’s voice. Anger, sure. But never pain.

  “And you’ll be able to see him once all traces of H8 have been cleared from his blood and he’s been debriefed.”

  Julian’s stomach seized at the mention of H8. The chemical weapon was commonly used to raid Coalition-controlled planets because it left nothing living in its wake. One flyover and the traitors were burned alive from the inside out. That he’d survived, if he had indeed survived, was a miracle.

  His father growled loudly in what Julian had come to recognize as frustration and then there was silence. He could only assume that his father had left. Not for good, of course, but most likely to get reinforcements.

  Julian drifted in and out of consciousness for some time until a nurse finally pulled him viciously out of the numb state with an injection. “He should be able to talk in just a few minutes.”

  “What the fuck did you just inject in me?” The sensation of pins and needles overwhelmed him as his skin started to regain feeling.

  “There we are.” The nurse disposed of the needle and his gloves before turning back to the other person in the room. “If you don’t need anything else?”

  “You’re dismissed.”

  Julian turned toward the voice but the man’s face was shrouded in shadows. “Who are you? Why are you here? Where’s Gates?” Now that he was fully awake he cared about everything all at once. He couldn’t seem to stop the flow of questions that bombarded him.

  “My name isn’t important. I’m here to talk to you. And Gates is in a room down the hall, recovering remarkably well.”

  With that admission Julian’s body relaxed.

  “Is there anything else or can we get started?”

  “This is the debriefing, then?” It made some sense. If he ignored the fact that the man obviously didn’t want to be recognized, that was.

  “Consider this a prep session for the debriefing.”

  A prep session? He’d never had one of those before. “Okay, let’s get this over with, then.”

  “Tomorrow some government suit is going to meet with you in a nondescript conference room and ask you what you saw on your mission. Your answer to him is going to be, ‘Nothing, sir.’”

  So this was a cover-up, then? “But I did see things on my mission. Several.” He sat up gingerly so he didn’t feel as vulnerable in the man’s presence. “I saw flesh-eating spiders, genetic crossbreeds and an entire civilization that was slaughtered using H8. But that’s probably not what you want me to keep silent about, is it? I’m guessing you’re hoping I don’t remember the stasis chambers and their occupants.” It was the best guess he could come up with. Seeing as that’d been their mission and then the entire team had been wiped out after completing it.

  “Unfortunately the men were attacked by hostile inhabitants of the planet before they got to the stasis chambers.” The man’s voice sounded so sincere Julian would’ve believed him had he not been on the planet. “So you and Commander Gates had to turn around before you reached the compound. You saw nothing.”

  “Funny thing is, we were attacked. A lot. The entire team would be dead if it hadn’t been for Gates. And this little meeting has me wondering if that’s what the original plan was. It would certainly explain why we weren’t given any warning.” So much of the mission was starting to make sense now. It was all about covering up the existence of those stupid stasis chambers. They’d killed an entire planet just so nobody knew they were still there. Pain and anger rolled through him like a storm.

  “You’ve been through a horrific experience. I can understand if it takes you a couple of days to clear your memory.”

  “I don’t need a couple of days. I remember everything just fine.” He practically spit the words at the man. “I’m sorry if it screws up your plans, but I remember the spiders swarming over my brother and making him beg for death. I remember watching a hybrid slice another from his neck to his leg. I remember the species that asked to negotiate with us in good faith. But the thing I remember the best is the rows of stasis chambers that had to be moved to a secure location. And I will testify to that before any court you put me in front of.” He sat up a little straighter as he spoke. “We completed our mission, sir. I saw the damn chambers.”

  “That’s unfortunate.”

  “I’m sure Gates remembers seeing them as well.”

  The man laughed as he stood. “I wouldn’t count on it. Those chambers killed his men. He strikes me as the kind of guy who likes to stay alive.”

  Gates’ comment about knowing too many things to worry about courts-martial surfaced in Julian’s mind. What kind of things did he know? Was this going to be just one more to add to his leverage file?

  As quickly as the idea bloomed, though, he killed it. Gates was a soldier. He’d had to work gray missions in the past. They probably all did at some point. But this mission went darker than gray. Gates would do the right thing. “Those chambers didn’t kill his men and he knows it. I’m not sure who ordered our team to be slaughtered, sir, but I do know they weren’t hiding out in those chambers. I guess the rest is for a court to decide.”

  “You’re making a mistake, son.”

  “It wouldn’t be my first.”

  The man stood and started walking toward the door. “But it may very well be your last.” With the cryptic words still hovering in the air, he left.

  “That was a fun chat.” No one could hear him now but he’d intended the words for himself anyway. It didn’t matter what the man threatened, he couldn’t bring himself to lie. Knowing about those chambers had cost too many good men their lives. They deserved to have their story told. The universe should know why they’d died and who ordered their deaths.

  The door to his room opened again. Slowly this time. At first he was afraid the shadow man planned to kill him before he even had the chance to be debriefed. When he saw Gates, though, he started to relax.

  “I just had an interesting visit.” Julian smiled at Gates as he walked over to stand next to his bed.

  “I’ll bet. I’ve had several of them over the last couple of days.”

  “You’ve been awake for days?”

  “Yeah. You had a reaction to the gasses they use in the stasis chambers. Took them longer to revive you than usual.” He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “Scared the crap out of me.”

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault.” His body went stiff but then he relaxed. “And I’m relieved that you’re okay.”

  “For now.” He laid his hand on top of Gates’. “I just had a visitor who implied I wouldn’t stay in good health if I tell them what actually happened.”

  Gates pulled his hand away and looked down. “Yeah. I had a similar visit.”

  “And you told him that you wouldn’t lie, right?”

  “I told him I would give his proposition the consideration it was due.”

  Julian’s heart froze with pain. “But our team died. Their families deserve to know the truth.”

  “Jules, I told him I would consider it. I didn’t tell him I’d do it. I agree with you.”

  “Then why didn’t you just tell him you wouldn’t lie from the start?”

  Gates laughed dryly and looked up at the ceiling. “Sometimes I forget how simple everything is in youth.” He shook his head and then his gaze found Julian’s again. “I needed time. Time to come up with a plan. And time for you to wake up. These people aren’t used to hearing no. I wasn’t sure I’d live to see the debriefing if I told him where he could stick his little cover-up.”

  Julian’s heart started to beat a normal rhythm again. “And? Have you come up with a plan?”

  “Yes.” He paused for a second. “But you aren’t going to like it.”

  “I have to like yours better than his.”

  Gates was silent for a momen
t. “I’m not the only one who has been worried about your health.”

  “And?” Julian wanted to strangle the man for not giving him a straight answer. “Out with it, Gates.”

  “I know you don’t have the best relationship with your father, but he’s been here every day, raising hell.”

  Julian grimaced as he allowed himself to take a guess at Gates’ plan. “I won’t hide behind my father’s name.”

  “I’m not asking you to hide. But he has connections. Powerful ones. He could level the playing field.”

  Anger heated his blood as he gave the idea serious thought. Gates had told him he wouldn’t like it, but damn. He had no idea he could hate it so much. “I’ve earned everything the hard way. I’m not going to start taking his handouts now.”

  “It’s not a handout.” They both looked up to find Colonel Black standing in the door.

  “How wouldn’t it be a handout, Father?” There was more acid in the word “father” than he intended but he refused to apologize for it. “I’m in trouble and you’d be using your name and connections to get me out of it. How would this be any different than the night you made me sit in a jail cell because I was in a car with someone who’d been drinking?”

  “Because you weren’t irresponsible with your life this time.”

  “I don’t know, trusting the military seems pretty irresponsible from where I’m sitting. Oh wait! That was your idea, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah. It was. And I’ll have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life.”

  “I find it hard to believe you’ve ever felt guilt.”

  “I know I’ve always been hard on you. It was the only way I knew how to be a father.” His dad paused as he swiped a hand over his face. “But when they brought you in you were so pale. And you wouldn’t wake up. For days I’ve sat, thinking about all the time I wasted trying to be the perfect father instead of being your father.” His dad looked up at him and Julian thought he saw the sparkle of unshed tears in the man’s eyes. “Almost losing your child really helps redefine your priorities.”