Prologue

 

 

Commander John Henson narrowed his envious eyes up at the quarter moon and cursed the dim crescent for smugly boasting its safety above the mêlée he’d inadvertently triggered. But the spy would remain helpless under its soft glare for only a short while longer. He promised that. For now, though, he clung to his partner as she burrowed deeper into his embrace, desperately trying to weather the laser storm raised by their pursuers.

Henson ducked as a rifle blast ricocheted inches above his head, deflecting with a shriek off their overturned transport. Salome squealed softly when his weight suddenly bore down on her. Collecting his nerve, he quickly got off her and placed a calming hand on the back of her neck.

They had to move soon. Their partial cover was being battered from approximately thirty metres by enemy soldiers that had swarmed out of the base’s main hangar. The pitch-black night and their dark jumpsuits concealed them enough that they hadn’t suffered a direct hit. However, Henson knew it wouldn’t be long before the soldiers surrounded them and ended the chase for good.

Despite years of battle experience, he couldn’t stop his body from flinching as the gunfire increased. The laser fumes produced noxious smog that hung in the still air. The spy spluttered out the sour taste from the back of his throat and buried his face in an exposed clump of Salome’s rich golden hair, sucking in the sweet scent that faintly lingered there. The aroma immediately calmed and cleared his mind. Rational thought under fire was an essential tool in any spy’s armoury and he was grateful to draw it from her. Henson began to focus on the luminosity of the blasts and used them like a torch to highlight the gloomy compound.

It wasn’t long before he spotted another option.

He caught sight of a small building twenty metres away. With the cover of night, Henson liked his chances of getting there unscathed. He held on tight for several more blasts, relishing the feel of Salome. She always fit so neatly into him that even at desperate times like these she seemed just another part of him. Although he yearned to stay attached, he finally broke their embrace and she grunted with disapproval. Her sapphire eyes longed for more of him and met his own indulgent gaze.

“Watch my back?” he asked, teasing her lips with his own. His question could have been an order, but despite his superior rank and formidable reputation, it was a request from one lover to another.

“Always.” She grabbed his neck and bolstered her promise with a hard kiss.

Henson ran with their equaliser slung over his shoulder. His knees ached from the sudden exertion and he cursed the whole situation. They’d almost made it out of the damn base undetected. Their mission to destroy this altogether unimpressive instillation was so nearly complete. In fact, he was a little embarrassed that their presence had been discovered in the first place. Henson took a quick glance at the source of the threat. The emanating beams betrayed the enemy position, allowing him to estimate how many soldiers outnumbered them. Henson guessed for as long as he dared before refocusing on his destination, worried even the burden of a stare would alert them to his current vulnerability.

Over his thundering heart, another sound rudely interrupted his senses. He turned and grinned as a blast from Salome’s weapon incinerated one of the soldiers with either reckless abandon or deadly precision.

Henson dove the final few feet with a smooth forward roll and settled behind a solid-looking outhouse. Drawing in a deep breath reminded him of another reason he detested this area. Not only was it the remaining opposition to his nation’s global dominance and reason for the continuing war, but it was a dry, barren, and empty land. Every day felt as searing and uncomfortable as the last.

It had been a month since his task force infiltrated Area 43 and he still had not witnessed a single drop of rain. He felt clammy inside his dark jumpsuit and squirmed within it, trying to separate the smooth material from his sticky, wet skin. Such a mundane irritation spurred him to refocus. Now safe, his only concern was for Salome and he tried to find her through the laser-lit darkness. Henson shuddered at the sight of the overturned truck. The enemy transport that had gallantly tried to see them clear of the compound was now paying a heavy price for its treason.

Salome’s fleeting lithe image pained him as blast after blast rocked her cover. He hated leaving her alone, but he was in a far more comfortable range to launch the grenades that were housed in the shoulder bag he now forced open.

The gunfire abruptly ceased. Henson stopped what he was doing and checked for new activity at the mouth of the base. Tearing off the sweat-rimmed hat that covered his dark, cropped hair, Henson imagined the moment’s silence foretold a deadlier intent. The not-so-distant figures moved swiftly, voices issued hasty instructions, and there was laughter—never a good sign.

Henson could make out the clatter of metal on metal as the group worked in unison amid the telling noise of construction.

 Suddenly he had to avert his eyes from the piercing glow of a powerful searchlight. Its probing beam came to rest on the smoking wreck Salome still cowered behind. He could clearly see her hiding from detection, her body wedged tightly against the vehicle. Henson traced the beam back to its source and felt his stomach tighten when he saw the searchlight gleamed over the barrel of a newly-assembled cannon.

A frightening calm hung over the brightly lit compound. The artificial light was so bright he glanced up at the star-studded sky to make sure it was still night.

“Intruders, surrender!”

The male voice sounded neither anxious nor concerned whether his order would be obeyed.

Henson could see Salome searching for him and imagined the desperate look on her face, depending on him to deliver them both. A subtle whirr sounded as the cannon’s aim adjusted. He expected no other quarter from his enemies.

The cannon erupted, sending its lethal rays toward the fallen truck; the impact began jerking the sizeable transport backward. Henson watched on painfully as the might of each blast slammed Salome back with it. Keeping her feet, she retreated with the vehicle as the scarlet beams kept coming.

He had to act now.

Tipping the bag open, Henson grasped the first grenade and set the detonator switch. The charge would give him about seven seconds before it exploded, more than adequate from this distance. Leaping into clear view, he launched the cylinder. His powerful throw carried it easily into the midst of his enemies. Not even waiting to hear it land, he quickly dived back into cover and awaited the imminent chaos.

The ongoing roar of the cannon muffled any cries of alarm, but it too was silenced as the charge detonated, releasing a satisfying resonant of carnage that finally replaced the pounding of his heart.

 

At first, Salome thought the explosion meant her certain death. But when she lifted her head out of her hands, she realised it had been theirs. Like a vision of relief itself, Henson ran back to her, still crouching in case the odd survivor sought revenge. She admired his smooth, handsome features and his body as he sprinted. Within moments, they met in a quick, tender squeeze and she felt the bliss of his embrace.

“We’re leaving,” he whispered. “We need fifty yards. Let’s go!”

Nodding obediently, she held out a black-gloved hand for him to raise her to her feet. Their stealthy garments covered the now-useless enemy uniforms they wore to gain entry to the base and had lent them limited success. Her body was matted with sweat underneath the double layer and the common heat of the area did not make her any more comfortable. No matter, the charges were set. They had infiltrated as deep into the base as was necessary. The whole structure would soon erupt, bringing Stage One of their mission to an end. Then she would be free, for a while at least, to work up a more satisfying sweat with Henson.

Despite the bedlam around her, Salome was still moved by their last kiss. The excitement and danger added to her passion for the man she raced after. However, at times like these, she wondered just how close they would one day come to disaster.

It wasn’t the first time they’d blasted their way out of trouble, but it certainly wasn’t a regular occurrence. Their missions were usually so precise and painstakingly planned, they regularly slipped in and out of installations more formidable and heavily guarded than this one without arousing suspicion.

As they hurried through the neat holes in the perimeter fence that the cannon had conveniently tore for them, Salome wondered what had set off the damn alarm. Maybe they’d wandered into a restricted area and set off an automatic siren. Henson could hardly have predicted that.

He was just ahead of her and she was struggling a little with her heavy boots, scuffing the dust of the desolate landscape before them. To her right were the beginnings of a jungle that seemed so out of place in this parched setting. They’d agreed it would serve as a hiding place should they need one.

Henson was slowing; she was glad to do likewise. It was time! Salome panted only a little as he pulled out the receiver wire from the watchstrap attached to his left wrist.

“Ready?” he asked. She moved in close, feeling Henson’s arms wrap around her, his hands still busy with the detonator. Salome’s eager lips once again collided with his in a savage fervour, her rapier tongue flicked in his mouth, paying only small focus on the looming devastation.

Henson broke from her again. She stared up at him a little hurt as his arms retracted from her waist. Then she realised . . . no explosion.

“What’s the problem?” she asked, trying not to sound as concerned as she was.

“I don’t know,” he muttered.

Salome peered over his arm as he tapped the detonator button impatiently. “John, come on. Stop fooling around.”

“Shut up a minute!” His edginess only made her worries increase and she fell silent.

“Must be some interference,” he concluded. “We’re definitely not out of range.”

She did not question him. Salome knew, as he did, the hard choice they now faced. He looked sombrely, not at her, but past her towards the jungle. His hazel eyes flashed in the moonlight

“Go hide,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you.”

She felt nauseous at the thought and did nothing to mask her fear. “John, no! You are not going back there. There’s too many!” Even as she pleaded, the determined roar of enemy reinforcements sounded behind them.

Henson stared at the source of the disturbance, then back at her. “You know we haven’t got time to argue.”

“Then I’m coming!”

He smiled warmly at her defiance. “That’s an order, agent.”

Through mounting tears, Salome watched the only man she could ever love stoop down to retrieve another grenade from his bag. “I’m gonna lose you.”

She started sobbing and placed a hand on her mouth to try to suppress it.

After stuffing a couple of charges in his pockets, Henson grabbed her forcefully by her arms and pulled her close.

“Just find somewhere safe. I’ll find you. I promise.”

Salome couldn’t bear to let him leave, but nothing she could say would ever stop him. The enemy had to be swarming the compound by now. The moment she had dreaded for the last three years seemed to be finally upon her.

She sniffed and tried to sound a little more confident for him. “You better be back real soon, honey.”

But she couldn’t shake the feeling his eyes were giving her, the cold hard feeling of goodbye.

Even as he gave her a final kiss, Salome had already started grieving for him.

 

A Human Reaction, by Peter Ashley

ISBN: 9781905091164 print  9781905091416 ebook

 

Earth is gripped in a devastating, post-apocalyptic final war that only one nation will be allowed to survive…

 

In his quest to bring a proud nation to its knees, Commander John Henson fails to destroy a seemingly insignificant enemy base, and in doing so is captured.

 

Lost

 

Commander John Henson, wanted for his lethal ability to obliterate the enemy compound of Fort Millawa, missing in action along with fellow soldier and lover, Salome.

 

Found

 

“Prisoner X” awakes to find himself a captive of Captain Rachel Dahan. He must now face what he has inadvertently found—a new perspective on the destructive conflict that has torn civilisation apart, and its impact on his very soul.

 

A Human Reaction finds a man suddenly no longer dedicated to his old life but struggling for a place in a new world.