of a kinetic energy weapon being fired from somewhere behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see an old airship with Kirrian markings right behind him, thirty meters off the ground. The Kirrian gunner had overshot, hitting just in front of Cobb’s vehicle. Cobb knew the Kirrian would correct his aim very quickly, so he drove off the road into the brush that lined the road. The vehicle bucked wildly, and Cobb was almost thrown out of the seat. He managed to hold on and started weaving around the brush and large rocks that covered the countryside. Unfortunately, the airship did not have to weave. It was also considerably faster than Cobb’s vehicle. For the gunner, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel, and Cobb knew he could only delayed the inevitable by a few minutes. No sooner had he thought this than the heavy slugs from the airship’s weapon tore into the hood of the vehicle and began to stitch it toward Cobb. Cobb threw himself out the side as the vehicle exploded. Shrapnel flew into Cobb’s legs as he hit the ground hard, bouncing once before rolling to a stop. Cobb lay in the dirt and waited for the shot that would kill him. He was in pain, but he actually felt relaxed, knowing that it was finally over.
Then he heard the sound of a laser cannon. He sat up to watch the Kirrian airship take a direct hit from the cannon. It crackled with blue streaks of electricity as its dissipation field spread the energy over its surface to prevent the cannon fire from breaking through to the ship. The pilot of the Kirrian ship knew he was outgunned. He turned hard to the right to get away from the cannon and head back to Kirrian territory. The Alliance ship was the newest model and a good two generations better than the Kirrian ship. Before it could execute its turn, the Kirrian ship was hit again and exploded in a bright ball of orange flame. Cobb was again showered with shrapnel, but this time with minor effect.
Cobb sat and watched the Alliance ship land about fifty meters away. Five Alliance soldiers exited the drop ramp and headed straight for him. They had their weapons level at him and weren’t sure exactly what they’d stumbled onto. Cobb started waving his arms and yelling, “Don’t shoot, I’m an Alliance soldier!” He kept saying it as they approached. When they got close enough to him, one of the black-clad soldiers said “I’ll be damned. He sure looks like one of us.”
Cobb stuttered as he spoke too quickly.
“I AM one of you. I’m Jack Cobb of the 102nd regimental combat team. My unit was wiped out behind enemy lines, and I’ve been working my way back to our lines for over a week.”
One of the soldiers said to his companion, “Hey, I rememba that. The 102nd was wiped out about a week ago in a Kirrian ambush. I had a couple buddies in that group. This guy might be for real.”
A lieutenant who was clearly in charge said, “I’m not taking any chances. Put some restraints on him and carry him back to the ship. We’ll take him back with us and sort it out there. We have to get out of here before those Kirrian bastards zero in on us.”
Two of the soldiers tied Cobb’s hands and carried him back to the ship. Cobb knew they must have believed his story, because they carried him gingerly and deposited him gently into the lander. All the remaining soldiers piled into the ship and slammed the door shut. Cobb shuddered slightly, thinking that this whole nightmare had started in a lander just like this.
As they lifted off, a medic began to treat Cobb’s wounds. The lieutenant started questioning Cobb as the medic worked, and the rest of the men crowded around to hear. Cobb didn’t see any reason not to tell them his story. He had pretty much described his experiences over the past week by the time they arrived at the base. By now, the men were thoroughly convinced that Cobb was an Alliance soldier. Some of the men had heard of him before. He also knew all of the passwords—though by now they were outdated. The only part of the story Cobb left out was that the Alliance had destroyed his unit and not the Kirrians. He wanted to keep that information as a hole card.
Though they acted otherwise, the Alliance high command was not happy to see Cobb return. He was shuttled away to meet with some of the brass, under the pretext of debriefing him on what he’d seen behind enemy lines. Cobb knew they were probing him to see if he knew what had happened to his unit, if he understood that they had ordered the destruction of his regiment. Cobb stuck to his cover story. He said that the unit had been wiped out by the Kirrians. But whenever he said it, he made sure it was said with the minimum amount of conviction. He wanted them to suspect he knew the truth, but not know for sure.
The press got a hold of the story and suddenly Cobb was treated as a hero. He was given a number of medals for bravery and promoted two ranks. He was now a first sergeant. He was offered combat again, but declined it; he was too worried about being killed by friendly fire during a mission. His wounds were slow healing, and he used that and the trauma of the ordeal as excuses to get a desk job.
Cobb managed to serve out the two years left in his hitch without making any waves and received an honorable discharge when it was over. During those two years, a number of rumors spread through the army that the Alliance was killing its own soldiers to prevent the loss of weapons to the Kirrians. None of the rumors could ever be traced back to Cobb, but they had a very destabilizing effect on the army. The Kirrian war went from bad to worse. The conflict turned into a quagmire for the Alliance, draining resources at a rate no longer sustainable. And nothing hurts the Alliance as much as unprofitability. There began to be talk of a peace treaty with the Kirrians.
Cobb took his retirement money and decided to stay on Kirria. He contacted his family on Earth and discussed plans to travel back there for a visit, but the plans never seemed to gel. He tried to contact Dr. Zeffer’s family to express his condolences, but in the end he could not bring himself to make the transmission.
Cobb managed to find a place to live close to both the base and the Kirrian city, and, for the first six months of his retirement, he did as little as possible aside from practicing his drinking. He did odd jobs during the day, mainly security duty with the base and private firms. At night he roamed the bars, talking shop with the soldiers from the base. He gained a reputation for being soft on Kirrians and anti-war, and he found it harder and harder to find drinking companions.
Eventually, Cobb began spending more time in the Kirrian city. He never did learn to speak the language, but he knew enough to make his point. He started working with Kirrian refugee organizations and medical support groups, and as he became more involved, his drinking slowly trailed off. In due course, he found his stride and became known as one of the most energetic leaders of the organization. As a “war hero,” his opinion carried some weight, and he was one of the prime speakers and fundraisers for the refugee funds. In his fifth year of retirement, he was found dead in the street near his home. He had been shot in the back of the head at close range with a hand laser. No one was ever charged with his murder.
The End
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends