Heritage (Under Revision)

Chapter 48: Ethan

“What do you mean he’s gone, Captain?”

“I mean General, that as of twenty-one thirty-four universal standard time yesterday, your son, Lieutenant Leon Blake went missing in action with the rest of his squad on planet Valdun,”

I stare at my desk for a moment, quiet. I feel the anger swelling inside of me. My heart pounds in my chest. I feel my face flush. I look back at the monitor in front of me.

The Captain’s face stares at me in anticipation.

I breathe deep and run a hand over my face, stifling the building rage.

“What happened?” I ask.

“From what our monitoring of the mission shows, everything was going very smooth. However, at the point of infiltration, Leon’s bodycam shows him yelling something incoherent towards the direction of a gun tower before it exploded. The blast wave ended up knocking out the camera. Comms went silent after that. We can only assume that his team was either captured or killed. I opt to believe the former as I’m relatively sure they know who he is,”

“What were they there to grab in the first place Captain? I’m looking at the schematics of the base right now. This place was fortified like Fort Knox,”

“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that. The boys in suits want to keep this compartmentalized. I barely convinced them to tell me before sending my guys in,”

“Why did you even send them in the first place?!” I yell, coming out my chair. I place my hands on the desk, remaining in a standing position.

I hang my head low, taking a few deep breathes to choke the anger back down. I look back up at the monitor. The Captain stares at me with the face of a disappointed father. He raises one eyebrow at me. It’s the same face I’ve seen from him all too many times before back when he was my Captain.

“Now you listen to me Ethan. General or not, I taught you every single thing you know about leading men. You will not under any circumstances speak to me in that way again son. Even if we had the luxury of saying no to the suits, it wouldn’t make any difference. They’d just move on the to the next group of people and get them to do it. And that runs the risk of it being less experienced individuals doing it. I knew that Leon and his team could handle it,”

“Then how did it go so wrong, McCall?”

“Well, this is the part that you should be actually be pissed off about. It wasn’t until after the mission went south that the suits decided to reveal to me that none other than Warlord Superior himself, Rin’Gal, was in charge of the base,”

I close my eyes and let out a long sigh. So many questions race through my head that it forces me to retake my seat.

I zone out, interlacing my fingers on my desk, rubbing my thumbs together as I think. I decide to let the questions go as they all would do nothing to help the situation.

“What are you doing to have them released?” I ask simply.

“As of right now, nothing. We’ve been trying to make contact with Rin’Gal for hours over every known Sekrid channel we know. Nothing,”

“You should get back to that then Captain. I apologize for my demeanor before. Let me know anything as soon as you can,”

The captain begins to say something but I end the call before he can. I lean back in my chair, trying to allow the waves of stress to fall off of me. I shut my eyes, letting it drift away.

As I start to doze off, I hear a beeping sound. I try to ignore but something gnaws at me to answer it. I sigh quickly and open my eyes to find that it’s a call notification on my computer. I tap the plasma screen and the call answers.

“Long time, no see Ethan,”

I lurch forward in my chair realizing who it is.

“Rin’Gal. How did you get access to this code?”

“It wasn’t so hard since I have your son with me,”

“If you hurt him I sw-”

“Relax Ethan. This call isn’t to threaten you. I can’t be long so I’ll get to the point. After I finish, I’m going to hang up. Your son is going to be transported to Argalia in two days’ time. Half way into this journey, his transport ship will stop on a planet called Zakar. I have arranged for you to have time to see him. Because once his feet touch the soil of Argalia, he is not going to leave until this war is over. This is my way to repay you for what you did for me. After this call ends, you will receive the coordinates and exact time in which the ship will be there. I hope you will take this chance to see your son one more time. And also, to see how much he has grown. Goodbye General Blake,”

“No, no Rin’gal wai--”

The call ends, followed by another window appearing on my screen with the information Rin’Gal promised. I don’t allow myself to think. I simply grab my jacket and leave.

I walk briskly through the hallways of my ship, my eyes darting back and forth as I walk by the various personnel under my command. I found the person I’m looking for just before I reach the bridge. Elena. Without saying a word, I lightly take her by the arm and lead her away to a quiet hallway.

She doesn’t resist, but I sense the confusion in her body language. After I stop and face her she tilts her head at me with her brow furled in bewilderment.

“You know, I was having a very nice talk Lieutenant Shaffer just now. What’s going on?”

“Leon’s been taken,”

The statement causes her to make an expression as if a freezing wind just hit her face.

“What do you mean he’s been taken?”

“They were staging an infiltration on a base. Things went sour. And he was taken. It’s okay though,”

“What do you mean it’s okay?!”

I take Elena by the arms “Shh, Shh, Shh. Not so loud,”

She continues in a quieter voice. “What do you mean not so loud.”

“It was Rin’Gal who was running the base. He made sure the other Sekrid didn’t get their grubby little hands on him. The problem is though, is that Sekrid high command wants Leon sent to Argalia,”

“I repeat then. How is this okay?!” Elena yells in a whisper.

“Rin’Gal just contacted me. Through my computer. If Leon trusted him enough to give him my contact code, then he must trust him. Rin’Gal gave me coordinates to a planet where I can meet Leon. I’m going to try and get him out of there Elena. I have to go,”

“This sounds like a huge trap Ethan. Leon could’ve had the code interrogated out of him to get to you,”

“No. I don’t believe it. My son wouldn’t break. Least of all with information about me,”

“Well...at least let me or a couple of men go with you for protection,”

Elena eyes start to well up.

I place a hand on her face. “I would take you if I could Elena. But I need you here. I need you to make it seem like it’s an average, every day defense meeting I’m going to. And the guns are out of the question. For one, they’ll know where I went and most likely tell someone. And two, they’ll be liable to shoot first, ask questions later. I can’t take that risk. Not with Leon,”

“But Captain Lance knows the trajectory for your flight path. He’ll know something is up when your ship heads elsewhere,”

“That’s why you’re here love. Tell him that I took a different path because we have a suspicion that the Sekrid got a hold of our standard flight plan,”

Elena sighs deep and looks me in the eyes. Through me more like. She cradles my face in her hands.

“Don’t die on me Ethan Blake. And bring our son home,”

I smile my promise back at her. She lets go of me, nodding her acceptance for my leave and I waste not a moment of it.

I walk swiftly to the elevator, take it down to the hangar deck and slow down before reaching any eyes that would notice my hurried pace. As I reach my shuttle, I notice a figure step out from behind the ship.

“Heading out for another meeting General?” she asks.

“That’s right Katsumi. You know me, Busy, busy,” I respond, swiping my TAPs device across the access panel.

The door slides open smoothly and I step in. I see the hangar door open and start the shuttle, flying it a little quicker than usual out through the bulkhead doors. After clearance comes through on my shuttle’s display I quickly lock in my coordinates and let the ship do the rest.

It jumps in to light speed with a quick jerk and settles into a smooth ride. Exhaustion begins to set in at this point and I figure that it would be a good time to catch some sleep while I can. I press a button on the side of my chair that lowers me down in a semi-laying position. I close my eyes and the dark envelope me. I’m awoken by the shaking feeling of entering the atmosphere of planet Zarak.

I sit up and stare out of the window as the ship finishes its entry. My eyes are met with neon lights everywhere. Bright pinks, pastel blues and vibrant greens light up the entire landscape. They advertise this and that, all of them begging for your patronage with sheer brightness, blinking, and strobing.

Below I see an underbelly of trash and filth. Homeless and prostitutes of various species origins. I snap out of my studying of the planet and go into the back of the ship. I open up a drawer. Inside is a set of average civilian clothes. I quickly put them on. Before leaving I move to a small compartment on the right side of the door. I place my thumb on the small plasma pad. It scans my print and open to reveal a rack of pistols in a row. I grab one, check to make sure the it’s loaded, and place it into the inside of my jacket pocket.

As I slide open the door, I’m pelted by water as rain spills into the ships cabin. I pull my hood up over my head and exit. While walking, I pull out my TAPs device and turn on the GPS.

Three hundred meters from the meeting point.

I weave my way through a maze of metal buildings, brown and rusted from the constant precipitation that falls on this planet. I feel as if I’ll never make it through the labyrinth when all of a sudden, the land opens up and I see a clearing with a ship set down upon it.

I quickly put my device away and jog over to the ship, stopping fifteen feet from it and begin to stare. The small bay door opens on the back of it and I see feet walking down the ramp.

Two Sekrid come into full view as they step out in to the light and I reach for the pistol in my jacket.

Something odd happens though.

Rather than engaging me immediately, both Sekrid step to one side and two more figures come out of the ship.

One of them is my son, which causes joy to overwhelm me. The other is someone I haven’t seen in a very long time.

I squint my eyes trying to ensure that it’s a real sight. I notice a smile form on one corner of her mouth. I can’t help but stride over to her with haste before wrapping arms around her and hugging her.

I release the hug from and maintain my hands on her arms as she stands there remaining proud...as she always did in these situations.

I move over to Leon. “Son...how in the hell did you manage to get acquainted with Tal’Vira?”

Leon becomes confused. “That’s her name? Tal’Vira? It’s about time I learned something about her. All she’s done is sit there brooding or bark orders at me,”

“Wait...what? You mean...” I look back at her

“You know Rin’Gal?”

“A story for another time Brother of Red Blood. Focus on your child,” She responds.

I nod in acceptance and turn back to Leon. Only this time, I finally notice the large scar that nearly halves his face. I stare at him horrified.

Leon puts a hand up “Don’t worry. It wasn’t Rin’Gal’s choice to have this done to me. My interrogator had a little too much fun,”

Anger washes over me “Who is he?” I ask him.

Tal’Vira answers. “Hall’s brother,”

“That metal armed piece of shit? I swear to God I’m to tear his throat out when I get my hands on him,”

“It’s okay dad. Really. It needed to be done. Rin’Gal needed to look strong in front of his people. Someone just slapping me around wouldn’t do,”

“Well, at least they let you shower and wear some decent clothes,” I say, looking Leon up and down.

My eyes however, stop at the empty space where his left hand should be. My eyes grow wide and I stare up at him.

I point down “Who...the hell...did that...?”

“Technically...I did,”

“How do you ‘technically’ cut off your own hand?” I say making air quotes.

“Rin’Gal did it b--”

“Rin’Gal?! That son of a bitch!” I step away and begin angrily pacing.

“Dad...dad! I need you to listen to me okay? I let Rin’Gal do this so that he can stay in power,”

“What do you mean stay in power? Doesn’t he have enough power? Why the hell would you let him stay in power anyway?! At this point in time he’s an enemy!”

“Dad! That’s what I’m trying to tell you! He’s not!”

I stop my pacing and return to where Leon is standing.

“What are you talking about?”

“There are things going on dad. Things I don’t have time to tell you all the details about. But me, Rin’Gal, Tal’Vira, and even these two soldiers standing behind us. We’re all trying to bring an end to this war. Not so that Earth can win. That’s not the point. But so that justice can win. Neither side is the good guy in this dad,”

“I know that already son. I did some digging. Earth has some sort of Sekrid super weapon. The World Eater. Your mom and I are working on it. We’re trying to get it brought to the forefront. But we have to be careful. Suits are all over us right now,”

“Then you know what’s at stake here,”

“Then come with me and we’ll deal with it together,”

Leon stares at me with an expression that says he needs to tell me something. I look back and forth from Leon to Tal’Vira.

“What? You mean...you aren’t going to let him go Tal?”

“He may leave whenever he wishes Ethan,”

“Only I don’t want to...” He says quietly

. “Leon...do you know what you’re saying? You’re agreeing to go to the Sekrid home world. A place where I can’t even save you from, short of staging a full-scale planetary siege. And even then, I’d have to go through their defense fleets just to reach you. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of lives just to save you,”

“That’s why I don’t expect you to,” Leon responds with a piercing stare.

Leon closes his eyes and sighs. “Look. I don’t expect you to understand. I’m just asking you to trust me Dad. This is how we’re going to bring an end to all of this. The war, the corrupt governments, even the after effects of the infection...all of it. I just need you to trust me with this. Please...,”

I study the sincerity in his face. I breathe a sigh of acceptance. “Alright...I trust you son. But don’t get mad when your mother kicks your ass for not coming home to her,” I say with a smile.

Leon chuckles and gives me a hug. “I love you Dad. And don’t worry, I’m in good hands,” He says glancing at Tal’Vira.

I shuffle over to her and place a hand on her shoulder “Don’t I know it. Although...I do have one request Tal,”

Tal’Vira smiles “Name it my friend,”

“Fix my son’s god damn hand,”

Her smile grows wide “Of course,”

Leon and Tal return to their ship and I watch them lift off into the cloud-filled sky. After it disappears beyond the cloud sheet I return to my own ship. When all is quiet and I’m drifting through the various colors of the light speed tube I contemplate everything said.

I realize it only leaves more questions than answers and decide instead that it’s best if I simply trust in Leon and continue to follow my plan of action against the UEDF. Meanwhile, Leon, Tal, and apparently Rin’Gal can go to work against the Sekrid empire on their end. I make a few taps on the panel in front of me, typing in a code.

There’s a few short beeps “Hello?” Elena says.

“Girly...you aren’t going to believe what just happened...”