It was around midmorning that they could finally see the entrance of the caves near the mountain cliffs. They had been moving as fast as they could, but with the wounded and the crippled, they could only go so far. Dominic wanted to seal the escape tunnel leading from the northern citadel but they just didn't have any explosives left. Each one of them was armed, but ammunition was in short supply. The ones that could quickly began to help the ones that couldn't, as they began to traverse the slippery crags and crevices towards what looked to be a series of cave openings in the sandy rock.
As Mandrissa Monika Lee started to climb a boulder the size of a small house to get at the cliff face, her knee soon gave out and she began to slip off. As the official delegate of the Capellan Confederation struggled to grab a handhold on the boulder, she scraped the skin off her palms. Letting out a shriek, Lee thought that she would end up dying from a fall, rather than getting shot.
Her left wrist was instantly gripped by a strong but feminine forearm that hauled her slowly back to the apex of the boulder. After letting out an exhausted sigh, Monika Lee looked up to the stooping form of Jessica Bradshaw.
"Are you alright, Mandrissa?" Jessica asked as she tightened up her shoulder pack.
"Thanks to you, yes." Monika Lee answered in shortened breaths.
"You should rest for another minute," Jessica said as she began to turn around, "I'll go help the others."
Mandrissa Lee stared back at her face as she tugged her arm. "Wait a minute."
Jessica turned her head back to her. "Yes, what is it?"
"You could have let me die."
"And what would that have accomplished?" Jessica answered. "I know what you're thinking, you believe that I will wait for the moment to kill you because I think you are a traitor, am I right?"
"The thought had crossed my mind."
"Frankly, Mandrissa," Jessica said, "it would have mattered very little now anyway; my mission was a failure the moment that ROM agent infiltrated the JumpShip. My orders were to get the datadisk to the Tharkad Conference. So now I guess its just all trivial now."
"So why are you still helping us, then?" Monika Lee said.
"I guess I really have no better things with which to do with my time." Jessica smiled at her. "And I am loyal to the Capellan state. If I die fighting, then so be it."
Monika Lee smiled back. "I admire that. If only we had gotten to know one another in better times."
"We still have a few hours left. Perhaps we can talk about each other for a little while." Jessica said as she offered her hand. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, my dear. Thank you." Monika Lee said as her old, tired body was helped up. The two women soon started to clamber up the low cliff face.
Dominic was standing at the base of the mountainous rock wall as he could see the cave openings above. There were just around two dozen of them left now. The few bodyguards that had survived bore horrific wounds and most were being carried up in stretchers by the very delegates they were supposed to protect. Almost all of the archaeologists of Babylon were now dead as they died fighting to defend their city; the few students that had survived were part of the infirmary crew. Dominic was amazed at the fighting spirit of these people, even though they had no military experience; few broke under fire and most kept resisting on until they were all killed. You could measure accuracy in the shooting range and endurance during physical training but courage was another matter entirely. Was it because of what the Star League had represented to them? That humanity could be united and everyone could live in peace? Dominic wondered as he saw Count Seiji Oshiwara being helped onto the base of a nearby boulder with his sole bodyguard, Tai-i Chifune Kishikawa.
Dominic limped over to the pair as he saw Count Oshiwara hand his assault rifle to Chifune. "Ready to make a short climb, Count Oshiwara?" The SLDF Intelligence Officer said.
"Yes, thank you." Despite the seriousness of it all, Oshiwara made a toothy grin. Dominic was amazed at that man, it was apparent that the wounds on both his right knee and shoulder were giving him a lot of pain yet the Minister of the Draconis Combine never showed the slightest hint of pain or discomfort.
Chifune turned to face Dominic as she slung a second rifle over her shoulder. "Major Durant, this is where I leave you."
"What?" Dominic's eyes widened. "We could use you as sniper cover on the cave entrance."
"I am afraid she is correct," Count Oshiwara said, "Tai-i Kishikawa will be better off if she can cover us from here."
Dominic realized that they were right. If Chifune would stay with them in the caves, she would not have a chance to relocate after every shot; therefore she would just be another target. If she were allowed to operate along the jagged rocks and boulders at the base of the mountain on the other hand, then she would be able to harass anyone who would try to make their way to the caves. The one problem was that she would have to fight alone and they would ultimately pinpoint her. It was a suicide mission.
Count Oshiwara and Chifune spoke for a short while in Japanese and then the Otomo bodyguard bowed down. Oshiwara nodded in assent and turned away to start climbing the boulder as one of the secretaries began to help him up. Chifune stayed kneeling on the ground for a few minutes before getting up. As Dominic glanced at her face, he noticed a single tear roll down her left eye.
"I realize now what you will do." Dominic said to her as he tired his best to smile but only a slight smirk revealed itself. "I won't forget about you."
Chifune looked away when he said those words. "My master realizes that as a bodyguard, I can do my duty better if I fight alone now. How I would wish to gladly die by his side but he knows I can do more down here. It is painful in not knowing what will happen to him because I had sworn an oath to the Dragon to protect him with my life." She said wistfully.
"You have done your duty many times over, Tai-i Kishikawa." Dominic said. "Good luck to you and may we meet again someday."
"Thank you, Major." For a brief instant, Chifune cast her infectious, teenage smile over to Dominic and he was pleasantly startled by it. "I too hope to meet you again someday as well, in better circumstances of course."
Dominic watched her walk down amongst the boulders until she was out of sight. So many people were already dead and he never got to know most of them. A part of him thought about surrendering to the Blakists; after all, what was the point of continuing the struggle if they were going to die anyway? But the thought had quickly passed as he saw that despite the hopelessness, despite the despair, not a single one of the survivors had asked about giving up. Their bodies were battered and full of horrific wounds and yet, they kept up the struggle. Is this what the true symbol of what the Star League stood for? He thought. That despite all their differences, they were all ready to give up their lives so that the Star League would continue. Dominic gritted his teeth as he started to climb the first boulder. If one were given a choice, to live under tyranny and war or to die so that everyone else could have peace, what would one choose? For them, the path was already chosen. If the price of peace for all mankind was their lives, so be it.
As he made it to the lip of the cave, he was instantly helped up by Baroness Mishai Singh, the Delegate of the Federated Suns. "Thank you, Baroness." Dominic said as he caught his breath. The last part of the short climb was somewhat steep and he nearly slipped.
"You're welcome, Major." Mishai Singh said. "This desert moon is incredible; first the lost city, now this."
"Have you been inside?" Dominic said as he peered into the twilit interiors.
"Yes, it seems this place might shed light on what happened to the builders of Babylon."
"Oh, how so?"
"Follow me." With that, Baroness Singh led the SLDF Intelligence officer inside.
Karen Udeze slumped on the rock wall beside the cave entrance. She was worn-out from helping everyone up into the cave and let out a groan of exhaustion as she closed her tired eyes and tried to rest for just one minute. Her stewardess' uniform was no longer covered with crimson stains of blood but had now become a khaki jumpsuit from the desert sands.
"Karen." A greeting nearby instantly made her active again as Karen Udeze opened her eyes.
Jessica Bradshaw stood over her and smiled as she handed a container of warm, tepid water to her former colleague.
"Thank you." Karen said as she gulped down half the liquid and passed it back to her.
"Look, Karen," Jessica said as she put the bottle back in her pack and sat down beside her, "we haven't talked that much since everyone found out."
"No, we haven't." Karen Udeze acknowledged. They had been working together in the DropShip Amerigo for years, knowing and trusting one another to the point that they were practically like sisters. The revelation that Jessica Bradshaw was an intelligence operative working for the Maskirovka was a complete shock. For a short time after, Karen could not bear the presence of her former colleague, she felt that she had been used; Karen Udeze had always told Jessica her most intimate personal secrets and the thought that she was a completely different woman sent a lightning bolt of shock coursing through her body. Could Karen ever trust her best friend now that everything she knew prior to that was a lie? That was the question that plagued her since the revelation and she still couldn't make up her mind. But now, Karen Udeze had to make a decision.
Jessica briefly looked away before turning to face her again. Karen could see that they were both changed women.
"I know we once said to each other that there would be no secrets between us." Jessica said wistfully.
"Yes, I remember."
"Karen, I just want you to know." Jessica bit her lip. "I still think of us as soul sisters and I would have never done anything to willingly put you or the Amerigo in harm's way. I hope you think that I am telling the truth."
"Is that what your handlers told you?"
"They never told me anything other than to deliver the datadisk to another courier the moment we'd have landed in Tharkad." Jessica Bradshaw said as she looked the other way again; she could see the hurt in Karen's eyes. "My training had always been to protect the packages I was transporting with my life if it came down to it."
Tears welled in Karen's eyes. She remembered Captain De Llandes and the rest of the crew; they were all dead now, except the two of them. "And if the situation warranted it, would you have sacrificed everyone on the Amerigo as well if they ordered you to do so?"
"I-I can't answer that." Jessica said as she started sobbing. "I'm sorry. If you hate me, I understand." As the tears flowed, the Maskirovka operative got up and began to walk away.
"Jessica, wait!" Karen Udeze too stood up and hugged her colleague as they both cried in each other's arms. "I forgive you. Whatever happens, we will always be soul sisters."
"Oh God, thank you." Jessica said as she wiped the tears from her eyes with a dusty, bloodstained cloth. "I just wish I had a chance to ask Captain De Llandes and the others to forgive me as well."
"We are all that's left now." Karen said as she made a little smile as the tears on her cheeks began to dry. "Our Captain was a believer in the Star League and she died defending it. I've made my mind up that I'm going to fight for it too, I just hope I could be as heroic as she was."
"Just stay close to me, we'll make it." Jessica Bradshaw smiled back at her best friend. She knew it was a lie but it didn't matter now.
"Here." Karen handed her a fully loaded Imperator sub-machinegun. "I never used one of these things, maybe you'll have better use for it."
"Keep it." Jessica Bradshaw smiled as she handed it back to Karen. "I'll teach you how to use it. Anyway, Major Durant gave me this." With those words, she pulled out a small auto-pistol from her jacket.
If it weren't for his exhaustion, Dominic would have marveled at the cave complex that they were in. The tunnels looked like they were dug by hand into the solid rock face as he walked deeper into the extensive passageways that were large enough for a horse to stride through. It looked like one main tunnel and a number of smaller, intersecting side tunnels were carved into the cliff. Although it looked to be good as a defensive position, he knew they just didn't have the manpower nor did they have the ammunition; most of the surviving defenders had no more than two or three magazines or powerpacks for their small collection of hand weapons; they had a few grenades left and some homemade Napalm but that would only last in the first few minutes of the engagement. Two surviving bodyguards were lying down in stretchers; they asked to be posted near the entrance where they would offer a fanatical resistance to anyone who tried to rush the cave lip. The rest of the defenders were merely clerks and secretaries as well as a few surviving students of the Smythe-Dayan Expedition; these people had no military experience and would be of very limited use in a fight; a military analyst would have declared the situation hopeless at this point. But even with those long odds, everyone still wanted to keep fighting, it was just a marvel to him that they still wouldn't break.
"Do you see that?" Mishai Singh pointed to a carved niche in a side passage.
"Yes, looks like a hollowed out, lozenge-shaped hole on the side of the tunnel." Dominic answered.
"Correct. This looks like the intended final resting place of whoever built that city below us."
"Tombs?" Dominic gasped. He had thought that these cave complexes were perhaps used as shelters for outlying inhabitants aside from the ancient city. He was wrong.
"Yes, tombs." Baroness Mishai Singh said with finality. "Our tombs."
