Mind Games (eBook)

Jeff Tanyard (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2019 | 1. Auflage
407 Seiten
Jeff Tanyard (Verlag)
978-0-00-014473-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Sergeant Jerry Harper recently caused an interstellar incident. As a result, tensions are high, and the Reliants of the Mentarchy have offered to host a conference to settle the matter peacefully. Jerry is ordered by his government to attend the talks and testify. He travels with the rest of the Agrarian diplomatic delegation to the planet Cortex, home of the Mentarch.

Cortex is supposed to be neutral ground, but that changes when an assassin targets the Agrarians. Jerry chases the shooter, but the pursuer quickly becomes the pursued, and he's forced to go on the run. While Jerry's wandering in the wilderness, the Mentarch activates its anti-gravity jammer, blockading space travel. The Agrarian delegates are now stuck on the planet, and Jerry is the only one in a position to do anything about it. He's tasked with disabling the jammer.

Jerry has no idea how he's going to do it, but he sets out anyway. Along the way, he starts to get a strange feeling about Cortex, some weird interaction between the planet and his psychic gift. He's not sure what's going on, but he suspects the Mentarch is up to something. Jerry must find a way to disable the jammer while also dealing with the Mentarch's mind games. And if he wants to get his people off Cortex alive, he must do it before the place turns into a war zone.

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Chapter 2 – Duty Calls

 

Sergeant Jerry Harper was awakened by the beeping of his military-issue wrist comm. He groaned and opened his eyes. He'd been having a good dream, too—a rarity for him. Most of his dreams during the past nine years had been war-related nightmares. He rolled over in bed, fumbled around on his nightstand, and grabbed the comm. “Hello?”

“Harper,” a familiar voice said. “You need to report in today. I'll brief you when you arrive.”

It took Jerry a moment to pin a name to the voice. “General Gardener?”

“Of course. Who did you think it was? Now, did you hear me? You're ordered to report in. Fort Chapman. Rifle Intelligence building. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.” Jerry sat up, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.

“Good.” Gardener ended the call.

Jerry tossed his comm back on the nightstand and scratched his head. During the war, he was accustomed to orders trickling down to him through the chain of command. Generals didn't call sergeants directly except in cases of unusual circumstances, but Jerry couldn't for the life of him figure out what that could be. The situation with Brandon had concluded a few weeks ago. His old friend was now in a safe house on Homestead, and, as far as he knew, diplomatic relations with Skytower had more-or-less settled down. Jerry and Brandon were both still activated, technically, but the Volunteer Rifles should have discharged them by now and allowed them to return to their civilian lives. What was going on, and what could the military want with him?

He got out of bed and staggered towards the bathroom. Whatever they wanted, he was sure he wouldn't like it.

 

* * *

 

Jerry knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

He opened it and entered. “Sergeant Gerald Wayland Harper reporting in, sir, as ordered.”

General Vernon Gardener sat behind his desk. He waved a hand at the empty chair facing him. “Have a seat, Harper.”

Jerry sat and glanced around. It was Colonel Glover's old office. Gardener had apparently taken it over. There were framed photos of him on the wall, most of which showed him on various boats holding large fish. There were a few fish mounted on the walls, too, including an enormous swordfish directly behind him. The man was serious about his hobby. The only pieces of non-fish décor were his diploma from Homestead Military Academy—with gold valedictorian's seal—and his officer's commission certificate.

Gardener leaned back and clasped his hands over his belly. “First, let's get one thing clear. This won't be like your last visit here. No one's been kidnapped. You're not here for any kind of rescue mission. In fact, I don't expect you to be in harm's way at all. So don't worry, and try to relax.”

Jerry exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. “Thank you, sir. That takes a load off my mind.”

“I figured it would. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business. Have you been keeping up with the news?”

“No, sir. When I got back, I wanted to forget about... well, everything. I tried to lose myself in my job and my band. I've been trying to avoid everything 'off-world,' if you take my meaning, sir.”

“Understandable. You had a rough go of it on Skytower. But now you need to catch up, so I'll fill you in. The incident between the Commonwealth and the Hierarchy was serious, and neither side is ready to simply forgive and forget. We're still upset with them for the way they treated Brandon Woods. They tortured a Commonwealth civilian, after all, and our government doesn't take kindly to stuff like that. There's also the matter of their tanks firing on the Warhammer at the spaceport, and then the resulting space battle. Needless to say, the Commonwealth government isn't pleased, and our own Ealdorman Brewer is still steaming over it. He doesn't let his feelings show, of course, but I've known him for a while, and I can tell.

“As for the Paragons, well, we destroyed a pair of their frigates and basically started a civil war among the Seagate coalitions. They feel like their coalition war is our fault, and they want payback. They're only partially right—their coalitions do this sort of thing all on their own anyway, and they hardly need us to provide a spark—but they have enough of a point for it to matter on the political scene. Personally, I think the Hierarchy had all this coming, and more, for torturing a man like they did. That's not just my opinion, either. Ealdorman Brewer feels the same way, and so does the Commonwealth government. President Farmer hasn't officially spoken out yet—he's not convinced this issue is bigger than Homestead, so he's reluctant to get the entire Commonwealth involved—but he's more or less in agreement with us.

“So we're basically in a stalemate. Our diplomats are frustrated, and I'm sure their counterparts in the Hierarchy feel the same way. Neither side wants to bend, and that makes talking kind of pointless. But there are more than just two Breeds in the Wheel of Fire, and the Mentarchy has been paying attention. The Reliants have volunteered to step in as mediators. They've invited representatives from both sides to meet on neutral ground. Their idea is for the peace talks to happen in Locus on Cortex. Their hope is that we can work out this incident in a way that doesn't involve starting a new war. The Claim War wasn't that long ago, and no one wants to jump back into conflict if it can be prevented.”

Jerry nodded. “Sounds reasonable, I guess, sir.”

“Brewer thought so, too. He's personally going to Cortex, along with Auxiliary-General Mary Coldstone. We're sending some firepower, too. A Navy battle group. President Farmer hasn't officially thrown the Commonwealth into this thing, like I said, but he was gracious enough to loan us A.C.S. Sunfire and its associated ships.”

Jerry gave a low whistle. “The Sunfire, sir? That's, uh, a bold choice to send to a Reliant planet, given its namesake's history.”

“That's the point, Harper. We're not screwing around here. We don't expect trouble from the Reliants, but we want them to understand we mean business, too. Their Mentarch can't possibly miss the hint.”

“How do you think they'll react, sir?”

Gardener waved a hand dismissively. “They might get their backs up a little, but they won't do anything to start a war. That's the whole purpose of this meeting, after all—to prevent any further violence. But we want to make it clear that we're not just going to roll over for whatever the Paragons demand. That's why we're sending a battlecruiser. And not just any battlecruiser, but the one named for an Agrarian planet where the Reliants committed some of their worst atrocities. It's also why we're sending heavy hitters like the Ealdorman and the Auxiliary-General to make our case. And it's why we're sending you and Corporal Woods, too.”

Jerry blinked. “Sir?”

“You heard me, Sergeant. You're going to Cortex.”

“Sir, I'll do my duty, of course, and I'll go wherever the Rifles send me. But I don't understand. I'm not a diplomat. I'm just a Rifleman. Not even that anymore, really, since my activation was only for the rescue mission. Other than that, I've been out for nine years, and now I'm just a landscaper and a banjo picker. How could I possibly be of any use on Cortex?”

“You're going to testify.”

Jerry's brows shot up. “Testify, sir?”

“That's right.” Gardener leaned forward and put his forearms on the desk. “You're going to go into that room, in front of representatives from all four Breeds, and you're going to provide eyewitness testimony to back up our government's accusations against the Hierarchy. Woods will do the same. He's the central character in this whole business, after all. He'll tell the whole galaxy about how he was kidnapped and tortured. And you will confirm that he was in rough shape when you broke him out of that cell in Bay Point Redoubt.”

“Yes, sir.” Jerry swallowed. “Breeder help me.”

Gardener chuckled. “Relax, Sergeant. It won't be that bad. Just answer the questions truthfully.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And don't reveal any classified information.”

“Yes, sir.” He started sorting through everything, trying to figure out what he could say and what he couldn't. It all quickly became a jumbled mess in his brain.

“And don't start any fights or break any laws or otherwise get yourself in trouble while you're there.”

Jerry nodded. His head was spinning.

“So there's nothing to it. You'll be fine.”

“Yes, sir.” He felt anything but fine.

Gardener frowned. “You seem worried, so let me ease your mind a little. I know you're eager to put all this behind you and get back to your civilian life. The Ealdorman knows this, too, and he's willing to give you what you want. Once these peace talks are concluded, you'll be deactivated permanently. You'll be free to go back to your life of mowing lawns and playing music in bars.”

“Really, sir? That would be great.”

“That's right. No strings attached. Do this job, and we'll let you out. That's the deal. Now, unless you have any questions...”

Jerry shook his head. “No, sir.”

“Good. Then you'll receive your official deployment orders soon. Dismissed.”

 

* * *

 

Jerry spent the night before his deployment packing and getting his affairs in order. His landlady, Miss Carpenter, had agreed to hold his place for him, so he'd still have a home when he returned. The government hired a landscaping outfit to pick...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 26.1.2019
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction
• ISBN-10: 0-00-014473-8 / 0000144738
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-014473-7 / 9780000144737