Atlantis Reprise by James Axler

Author:James Axler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2013-04-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

By daybreak, the attack was planned. To take a large force would be to risk two things: a mass wipe-out by the Nightcrawlers and the risk of a traitor sabotaging the assault. A better option was to take a small force, led by Mark and augmented by the companions. Focused, with their game plan to infiltrate hard and fast, heading for the main temple, Ryan figured they had a chance. A small, highly mobile force could dodge patrols, could keep track of one another with much more clarity in the confusion of a firefight, and left a greater force back in the defense of the home ville.

Memphis was smaller than Atlantis, and its fighters, man for man, no match for Atlantis sec. However, Ryan reasoned that it wouldn’t take a complete overthrow to plunge Atlantis into confusion. The ville was so tightly run, the people so oppressed, and the rule so absolute that only one clear strike was necessary: take out Odyssey. With him removed from the game, then Atlantis would be at the mercy of any opposing factions that may wish to assume command, and the uprising of those who hadn’t previously thought it possible to self-determine. In this kind of confusion, it would be easier for them to rescue Krysty and Doc—Ryan’s prime objective, if not that of Lemur—and effect an escape. As attack was so near, Ryan had recalled Jak and Mildred for the final stages of planning, reasoning that any spies making a break for Atlantis wouldn’t have time to deliver a message before the Memphis attack had commenced. Things were running as smoothly as he could hope for in the circumstances.

There was only one obstruction: the insistence of Lemur in joining them.

‘Sir, with the best will in the world, you aren’t a fighter. Nor have you ever been,’ Mark pleaded with him.

‘I know,’ the ville leader agreed, choosing his words carefully. ‘This is true. I realize it is a great risk to myself, and more importantly that it means you are carrying someone who is not supreme in combat. But this is about more than merely fighting. How can I lead my people if I stay skulking in the shadows while I send others to their doom? Surely I cannot claim to love freedom, and to wisely lead those who also seek it, if I’m not prepared to lay myself on the line for the sake of my beliefs. If I go with you, then Memphis will be united in this cause. But if I do not, many will ask themselves about the wisdom of this decision.’

‘You realize that I cannot guarantee your safety, any more than I can guarantee the safety of any of us,’ Mark said.

‘I would not have it any other way. Although I am nominally leader as someone has to head the chain of administration, yet this is a democratic ville. I wouldn’t expect preference.’

‘It’s not only you,’ Cyran said, coming forward. ‘I will join you. I cannot let you go alone, my husband.

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