Sorry guys – better late than never


“You Harris?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell your driver to follow us. We’ve got a problem we’re hoping you can deal with.” The officer commanded.

“Righto, sir.”

Simpson communicated with the crew, and when the other APC drew ahead and turned left, they followed. The officer’s APC turned up the next street to the left, which ran at a bit of an angle, and then they crossed the main road and followed the APC up a narrow one-way alley the wrong way before reaching another main road, where they turned right. They took the next left, and then they reached a narrow lane opposite the large ornate building with classical columns, where they turned left again. This laneway looked to be a service way for the businesses that backed onto it, possibly.

Chapter 17

Failure

Toshiro Osawa had woken up in what he decided was the back of a native truck or utility vehicle. He was one of at least a dozen other men piled in the back tray compartment who showed signs of having been wounded. A couple of civilian medics were leaning against the back of the cab, watching the scenery go by as they raced up the fairly straight road.

“Where am I, and what’s going on?” He demanded, sitting up.

This proved not to be a good idea as his head started to throb and he saw stars, but he held himself together for a few moments, closing his eyes, and at least the stars went away.

“We’re on the road from Torquay to Gilong, sir.” One of the medics replied, studying him. Given the speed at which the vehicle was traveling, it was probably too much to expect for the man to come over and give him a once-over. “When it was discovered you were still alive, sir, we were ordered to get you back to headquarters as quickly as possible.”

In his groggy mental state, that statement made no sense. He needed to be at the front, shoring up the defenses before they crumbled completely.

“Why?” he demanded.

“I don’t know, sir. We’ve heard all sorts of rumors. What is clear is that the northern front is collapsing.”

“What? Even worse than down south where I was in command?”

“By all accounts, much worse, sir. It’s only hearsay, of course, and hopefully, they’ll be able to tell you more when we get to the headquarters building.”

Toshiro was finding it hard to keep his eyes open, so he nodded and settled back down against one of the other wounded soldiers, who seemed to be totally unconscious. When he awoke next, they were pulling up outside what you presumed was the headquarters building. He hadn’t been in Gilong since the start of the invasion, so although he had talked to people on the radio who were at headquarters, he didn’t actually know where it was.

Half a dozen armored cyborgs were standing around outside the main entrance, and a civilian with a medical armband was obviously waiting for him because he rushed over once the truck pulled over and the two medics on board started to help Toshiro out. Once that task was accomplished, the truck took off, leaving him to be led inside the building by the medical person.