Free Battle Earth III by Nick S. Thomas Page B

to ask the Captain questions. So many questions he had rolled over in his mind. Now he didn’t have the heart to ask them. His exhausted and beleaguered friend lay back in his seat next to Walker’s body. Taylor no doubt realised that the two men must have forged a bond as strong as his and Charlie during their captivity, perhaps even more so.
    Charlie Jones had been missing for just a matter of weeks, but he looked like a man who had spent years in the worst of conditions. His uniform was ripped and pierced. Taylor could make out slashes from bladed instruments and fresh scars beneath. He did nothing to hide the needle marks on his arms. The Captain was a proud man. He was a man who considered his image and steadfastness to be paramount in being a leader.
    All of that was gone now. It had been replaced by a cold bitterness and a fear of what was awaiting him. He slouched back as if he was waiting for his own death and had come to accept it. Mitch wondered if he would ever get his friend back, or just a shell of a man who resembled him. When the copters finally touched down at the base they had left the previous evening, it was still in the pitch black of the night.
    There was little relief at having returned to safety and having accomplished what they set out to do. When the door opened, and the ramp lowered, Taylor could make out a line of German military police. General Dupont was stood among them. It was a sight that made him sick. There was no welcoming party. No celebration of missing soldiers having been saved from a horrifying death.
    The Major stepped out to face his fate with his shoulders slung low. He knew in his heart that he did the right thing, but the outcome was a long way from what he would consider ideal. Taylor knew from the moment they left the base, he would be placed on a charge even if the mission went exactly to plan.
    Dupont rushed forward with his MPs as Taylor’s boots hit the ground. He was disgusted by the fact they had no respect for the fallen and those that had been saved. They encircled the ramp as the marines disembarked. Rains climbed out to stop in shock at the sight.
    “What is this shit?” he exclaimed.
    “Major Taylor, you are hereby placed under arrest and to be transferred to the on base detention facility, pending an investigation and judgement by General Schulz.”
    “What the fuck!” shouted Rains.
    He leapt from the copter and blocked the path between Taylor and the MPs.
    “Just because Taylor, here, was the only one with the balls to get this done. You can’t arrest an American officer, anyway!”
    “Major Taylor was placed under the joint European command and will therefore comply with any ruling we make.”
    Rains tried to bellow out another argument, but Taylor interrupted him.
    “Stop, Eddie.”
    The pilot turned in shock.
    “You can’t let this fly? This bullshit cannot stand!”
    “I knew the price I would have to pay for this, and I have already accepted it.”
    “That’s god damn bullshit!”
    “We have a chain of command for a reason, Lieutenant. To challenge it, is to bring discipline crumbling down around us. Whatever price I pay, it will be little compared to what they have been through.”
    He nodded in the direction of Jones and the other POWs. The weak Captain was hauling Walker’s body off the copter with the last of his strength. Dupont’s face changed to a look of utter shock as he stared at the gaunt figures.
    “What the hell happened to them?” he asked.
    He turned to Taylor for answers. The Major looked less than eager to explain. Dupont turned back to the MPs.
    “Strip him of his weapons and armour, and take him away!”
    He snapped back around and glared at the marines who looked on at him with a look of utter disgust and pointed at Silva.
    “Sergeant, get these troops formed up!”
    Parker stepped up to join them and wanted nothing more than to strike the General across the face. But she looked to Taylor and realised it was not the