Garret stared at the ruined city before him, his thoughts returning to Gabriel for the umpteenth time. He blamed himself for abandoning him and leaving him in the clutches of the Ardanians.
Yet he would not give up hope of being reunited with his friend.
The rebels knew that there was an Ardanian underground base nearby, and that was probably where they had taken Gabriel. Unfortunately, despite their attempts to track the aliens, they were unable to discover its exact location.
I wonder where you are now, Gabe, the grim-faced mercenary asked himself over and over again as he gazed at the ruins of the abandoned city, over which the first rays of the rising sun had just appeared.
It was dawn, and Garret wondered if their leader was still alive, or if their enemies had executed him for his notorious defiance.
Together with the other survivors of the attack, he tried to find a way to free Gabriel, even though he knew that such a task was almost impossible.
To infiltrate a fully manned alien base, not knowing exactly where it was, how many soldiers were inside, or what equipment they had, was nothing short of suicide.
Still, he continued to monitor his surroundings, hoping for fate's favour. Perhaps an opportunity would present itself.
No alien ship had taken off since yesterday, which was the only good news. If Rag'ell decided to transport Gabriel to his mother ship, all would be lost. As long as they remained on Earth, there was a chance, however slim, that the rebels would rescue their fearless leader.
Everything was quiet, dead quiet. Not a soul, not even a rat running around looking for scraps. And there were thousands of them in the depths of the city. Garret knew this very well, sometimes they would crawl over him in his sleep.
He took one last look around and was about to return. Ardanian patrols would occasionally be seen here during the day and it would be pointless to risk meeting them.
The shards of broken lamps and shattered windows crunched under the soles of his heavy army boots as he passed burned-out houses and the ruins of human dwellings without noticing, until he finally reached the entrance to the underground garage of the former trading centre.
This was where the rebels had found their temporary hideout.
Among other things, the store's storerooms contained food supplies that had miraculously survived the ravages of the marauders before the last of the city's inhabitants had left.
He walked past the parked car wrecks to the back of the underground garage where the maintenance rooms were.
For a moment, he paused at a trio of young men who seemed to be exploring the abandoned department store in search of more food and other useful items.
He wished them good luck before heading straight into one of the larger rooms to see Eric.
The blond programmer barely noticed Garret as he continued to work on deciphering their only remaining Ardanian communicator.
The room contained many screens and a control panel with buttons, apparently it had previously served as a security office, controlling the mall's long deactivated security cameras. It also smelled strongly of mould and mustiness.
"Any news?" The grizzled mercenary asked.
Without looking up, Eric replied, "Alexa showed up with some other survivors."
"Really?" Garret brightened, the news pleased him. She was pretty and brave, so he was genuinely happy that the young woman had survived. "How is she?"
"A bit shaken up, but fine," Eric replied. "And Michael's back too, with the ones who left earlier."
The ones who had cowardly fled because they disagreed with Gabriel's plan of attack, the mercenary added to himself, his good mood ruined once again by this information. He didn't feel like talking to Michael and his bunch of wussies.
"What are they doing here?"
"They heard about Gabe and want to help us find him."
"Sure," Garret grinned, "more like they heard we found an almost untouched food store here."
"You always see the worst in people."
"You, on the other hand, are an eternal idealist. Maybe if they hadn't escaped and had helped us during the attack, Gabriel wouldn't have been captured," the older man ranted, sprawling in a tattered chair and throwing his legs over the malfunctioning control console.
Just then, Alexa entered the room. Garret smiled at the girl and nodded his head in greeting, but his smile turned to a cynical smirk when he noticed the other two new arrivals.
Michael, a tall, dark-skinned boy who had opposed Gabriel from the start, appeared just behind Alexa, followed by a short, frail blond boy with blue-green eyes who darted around nervously. Matthew was his name?
Yes, Matthew it was. Gabe's ex-boyfriend, lover, plaything... or whatever it was between them.
Garret had known Gabriel for a long time, so he was quite sure that his friend wasn't one for serious relationships.
This whiny college kid would be far from the first who didn't understand that he wouldn't find eternal love with their dark-haired leader.
"Why did you come back?" Garret glared at Michael, who gave him a hard, hostile look in return.
But it was little Matt who spoke up, "We want to help Gabriel."
Garret didn't like the boy and didn't understand what Gabe saw in him. The kid could only draw, whine and complain.
"A little late, huh?" He snapped. "You should have..."
"Wait!" Eric interrupted him urgently. "They're transmitting something. Ardanian broadcast on all frequencies."
Everyone in the room reached for their mobile phones, which could pick up the alien transmissions. Which was now the only thing they could pick up. The terrestrial transmitters had long since been disabled by the enemies, making any communication impossible for the humans.
Eric used the Ardanian device on his wrist to activate a large holographic screen that displayed the transmission for everyone in the room. Five pairs of eyes focused intently on the image before them.
"Gabriel," Matthew gasped in shock, and all the others held their breath in surprise and amazement as their leader appeared on the screen alongside the silver-haired Ardanian.
He stood there in enemy uniform, his face frozen, betraying absolutely nothing.
Four armed soldiers emerged beside him.
In the background was a view into space, with the planet Earth in the distance, but that didn't mean they were actually in orbit. The images could be artificial, and probably were.
Garret was sure that Gabriel and Rag'ell had not left the planet. The transmissions must have come from the underground base.
"Can you locate the signal?" The mercenary barked at Eric, who continued to work on his communicator.
"I'm trying... But it's definitely not coming from space, they're still on Earth... somewhere nearby."
Meanwhile, everyone was watching the screen breathlessly.
"Sabotage and attacks on my soldiers have increased lately," the Supreme said in his cold and distant voice, devoid of any emotion. His words were instantly translated into English, making it almost impossible to tell that he was actually speaking in Ardanese.
"All resistance is futile. Your rebellion will only cost you more lives. Your governments have accepted surrender and placed the rule of this world in my hands. It is the duty of all Earthlings to obey and bow to their new master. To me."
All the while Garret watched Gabriel struggling to remain calm. But with every word Rag'ell spoke, the defiance and anger on his face became more and more obvious.
"Gabriel Cassel, the leader of these self-proclaimed rebels, is in our custody. I could have ordered him executed for his crimes, but I have shown him mercy. In return, I expect humility and a promise of obedience."
"Expect no such thing from me," Gabriel replied defiantly, his hands cuffed in front of him, his blue eyes glittering with undisguised anger.
"I have never bowed to the Ardanians, and I never will," he switched from Ardanese to English, though it was clear from Rag'ell's expression that the communicator was translating Gabriel's words for him, even if it was not audible in the transmission.
The Supreme spoke something in the alien language to his prisoner, but Garret did not understand the words. The dark-haired man responded in the same manner, and though the mercenary didn't understand this time either, the expression and tone of voice suggested that even these sentences were far from humble.
Despite Gabriel's refusal to cooperate, and the fact that their transmission wasn't going as planned, the silver-haired Ardanian was calm as he looked at his rebellious prisoner with a poker face.
"This is your last chance to understand that your approach is misguided and will only lead to more deaths. Starting with yours."
The blue eyes continued to blaze with anger and defiance, not a trace of fear. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again: Kill me, but I will not submit to you."
"Gabriel," Matthew whispered softly, his eyes glued to the screen like everyone else's. "Please do it. Or he'll kill you."
"He's as stubborn as a mule, he won't give in," the mercenary muttered into the deafening silence. Suspecting that this would not end well, he quietly urged his friend: Come on, Gabe, give the bastard what he wants. Save your life.
Rag'ell's purple glowing eyes came into focus as he addressed his unwilling audience, "Each of you must choose for yourselves. Whether you will live under our rule or die for the naive idea of freedom."
He turned to Gabriel, "What will you choose?"
The two adversaries exchanged a long look, the battle of wills as well as the electrifying tension between them palpable to the millions of spectators.
"I'd rather die free."
A brief look of disappointment and frustration flickered across the Supreme's stern face.
Then he turned away from Gabriel and gestured to his soldiers. They quickly took up their weapons.
They aimed.
They fired.
Without hesitation, without mercy.
Blood stained the light blue Ardanian uniform.
The body of the fearless rebel leader fell silently to the ground.
"Nooo!" Matthew shouted.
"No!" Alexa screamed and Garret, who had seen many of his friends die in his long life, could barely contain himself. His stomach clenched, his throat tightened and his hands trembled as he looked down at the bloodied body of the dark-haired young man lying lifeless on the ground.
Then everything went black.
The transmission ended.
Garret gasped at what he had just seen, tears welling up in his eyes. He blinked several times in an attempt to suppress them, but nobody else could hide the tears. Alexa and Matthew were choking back loud sobs, even Michael, who had been constantly arguing with Gabriel, had tears streaming down his cheeks.
Eric was the only one who didn't look up from the communicator on his wrist, continuing to quickly type something into it.
More rebels burst into the room, all in a state of shock. They stared at Garret, perhaps expecting him to console them somehow, to tell them that what they had just seen, what millions of people on this planet had just seen, was not true.
Although, it was Eric, the stocky programmer, who gave them hope.
"It's fake," he said, without looking up from the small, glowing communicator display.
"What?"
The eyes of everyone in the room turned to him, hoping for a miracle.
"That last part just before Gabriel was shot looks fake," Eric continued in the same detached voice as his fingers frantically ran over the small display, "give me a few seconds, I'm still verifying it."
"Could it be possible?" Matthew asked with cautious hope.
"I am sure that at the end, exactly one second before the execution, the live stream was interrupted by another signal. I'm sure that at that moment the transmission was superimposed by another signal, as if it had been replaced by a false recording. And I'm sure the Ardanians have the technology to easily manipulate the footage. What I'm not sure of is why they would do such a thing."
"So Gabriel's still alive?" and Matt looked at him with his teary eyes.
"I hope so," Eric nodded. "All indications are that he is, but I can't think of a single logical reason why the Ardanians would go to such lengths when they could have easily executed him for real."
Garret didn't want to be carried away by false hope, but he couldn't help thinking that Eric was right. After all, it wouldn't be the first time Rag'ell had let Gabriel live despite his open defiance.
But why would the alien leader do this? Why would he create such elaborate constructs just to save the life of one rebellious Earthling?
What made the Supreme of the Ardanians, cold, calculating and rational, behave in such an illogical and incomprehensible manner?
What did you do, Gabe? Garret asked himself, growing more and more confident that his friend was still alive. What is it between you and Rag'ell that even the Silver-Haired Butcher can't sentence you to death?