Tree of Liberty (Book 3 of The Humanity Unlimited Saga) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Terry’s Books

  Copyright Notices

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Terry’s Mailing List And More

  About Terry

  Tree of Liberty

  Book Three of The Humanity Unlimited Saga

  by

  Terry Mixon

  Harry Rogers and his friends found alien tech scattered across the solar system and the government of the United States wants it. Them and everyone else.

  His diabolical family also managed to steal an alien spaceship and flee the system. How long until they bring trouble back?

  As the revelations set the world on fire, Harry must stop shadowy enemies from enslaving humanity. If he can.

  If you love adrenaline-pumping science fiction and grand adventure on a galaxy-spanning scale, grab Tree of Liberty and the rest of The Humanity Unlimited Saga today!

  Terry’s Books

  You can always find the most up to date listing of Terry’s titles on his Amazon Author Page.

  The Empire of Bones Saga

  Empire of Bones

  Veil of Shadows

  Command Decisions

  Ghosts of Empire

  Paying the Price

  Reconnaissance in Force

  Behind Enemy Lines

  Battle for Terra (coming September 2017)

  The Clan Wars (coming December 2017)

  The Humanity Unlimited Saga

  Liberty Station

  Freedom Express

  Tree of Liberty

  The Fractured Republic Saga

  Storm Divers

  The Scorched Earth Saga

  Scorched Earth

  Want Terry to email you when he publishes a new book or when one goes on sale? Go to TerryMixon.com/Mailing-List and sign up. Those are the only times he’ll contact you. No spam.

  Copyright Notices

  Tree of Liberty

  Copyright © 2017 by Terry Mixon

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including information storage and/or retrieval systems, or dissemination of any electronic version, without the prior written consent of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review, and except where permitted by law.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Yowling Cat Press ®

  Edition date: 7/19/2017

  Cover art - image copyrights as follows:

  DepositPhotos/innovari (Luca Oleastri)

  Donna Mixon

  Cover design and composition by Donna Mixon

  Reach her at: [email protected]

  Logo design by Emily Karnes

  Reach her at: [email protected]

  Acknowledgements

  This book would not be possible without the love and support of my beautiful wife. Donna, I love you more than life itself.

  Once again, the people who read my books before you see them have saved me. Thanks to Michael Falkner, Michael Goad, Cain Hopwood, Kristopher Neidecker, John Naiser, Bob Noble, Andrew Olivier, Jon Paul Olivier, Bill Smith, Tom Stoecklein, Dale Thompson, and Jason Young for making me look good.

  I also want to thank my readers for putting up with me. You guys are great.

  Chapter One

  Harry Rogers examined the rolling landscape below his hilltop perch. The only sign of movement was the occasional four-legged scavenger darting between the parked cars. The lack of a police presence told him that—against all odds—the pitched battle fought below hadn’t drawn anyone to the hidden base in the wilds of France.

  Getting into the area without using the decrepit road had taken a few hours, but he hadn’t wanted his team to stumble across any of Nathan’s men or the people they’d been fighting. Or the police.

  To all indications, the place was deserted.

  “It looks clear,” Harry said softly. “Take your people around to the left. I’ll go right. Those birds circling up near the big hill probably lead to the base and the heaviest fighting.”

  Rex Jamison, the lead scout in Harry’s old private military company, lowered his binoculars. “Roger that. IR says none of the vehicles have been running in the recent past. As isolated as this area is, people might not have been able to pinpoint where the shooting came from. If they even heard it.”

  Sandra Dean looked up from the scope of a .338 Lapua Magnum. It was her preferred weapon as a trained and experienced sniper. “The flechette weapons are silent. We know your brother picked some up. If he were ready for the attack, the only noise would’ve come from the attackers. That could’ve been muted inside the base.”

  “We’ll rendezvous there once we’ve secured the area,” Harry said. “Keep an eye out for trouble, Sandra.”

  “On it.”

  He’d brought a dozen of his best men and women with him for this job. Here on Earth, it was their highest priority task. His mother and brother, Kathleen and Nathan Bennett, had used a quantum tunnel in this base to get to the Asharim ship in the outer system.

  They were still untangling the story of who the powerful aliens were, why they’d come to the solar system a thousand years ago, and what had happened to them. All he could say with any certainty was that they were the biggest threat humanity had ever faced.

  The same ship that had used the even bigger quantum tunnel on the abandoned station orbiting the dead world outside Pluto to leave the system entirely. That worried him, but there was nothing he could do about it right now. Best to focus on the problems he could actually influence.

  Nathan obviously knew how to use the gates. He probably had codes for the ones in this base. Harry meant to see them locked down tight to prevent anyone from sending waves of troops back through to Earth. He had to prevent that at all costs.

  As he led his group around the area on his side, he considered how others might have thought he needed to be in New Zealand. The US had tried to kidnap his father in a wilderness area that, according to one of his people on the scene, was even more remote than this place.

  He had no idea if the kidnapping had worked. Clayton Rogers and two local associates had disappeared before someone had managed to call for help. The New Zealanders had gotten searchers into the area, but found no sign of them or their attackers.

  They’d sent ships to confront the US Navy destro
yer that probably launched the raid, but it had made it back into international waters. Even as badly as the US military had fallen, they were still far more advanced than pastoral New Zealand, so the destroyer had gotten away.

  Either the US had his father or he’d escaped into the base he’d been searching for. One way or the other, nothing Harry could do would change that situation right now. Besides, his father was a douche and deserved some trouble for being an asshat.

  He’d head for New Zealand as soon as the France situation was under control. If nothing else, the people who’d vanished with his father deserved rescue.

  Taking their time, it took an hour to clear the surrounding area. No people or signs of conflict, though he smelled death and decay coming from the hill. This was going to be ugly.

  He and his people had dealt with stuff like this far too many times in the Middle East. Mainly Iraq and Afghanistan. They knew what to do.

  Harry slipped his nose plugs in. In the old days, people had put ointment on their upper lip. This was much better. It completely blocked the odor. That wouldn’t do anything for his eyes, but he’d seen death before.

  That’s what they found in a cave up on the hill, too. Both outside and inside the well-concealed doorway. The attackers had left it open when they rushed inside. Parts of bodies littered the ground and corridor inside. Blood and other less savory bits painted the walls in a ghastly mural.

  “It looks as if your brother made some new friends,” Rex said as he moved inside, shooing the carrion birds away. “Looks as if they headed for the elevator.”

  “Search every floor,” Harry said. “Start at the top. I’ll hit the bottom.”

  He stepped back out to get radio reception. “Sandra, we’re going in. I’ll leave someone out here to relay any warnings. We’re going to move as much of the gore inside as possible. The birds will eventually draw official attention.”

  “Copy that. I’ve sent the drone out toward the main road. If anyone seems interested, I’ll let you know.”

  Harry pointed to three of his men. “You guys draw the short straw. Get as much of these people inside as possible. Collect all the weapons and any other intelligence. If you find car keys, set them aside. We’ll be relocating the used car lot tonight, if no one finds us first.”

  Once he’d let Rex go down to the next floor, Harry rode the elevator down to the lowest floor. The people that had built these places liked to bury their power centers and the gates to the quantum tunnels deep.

  There were a number of bodies and even more blood inside the elevator car. Nathan had fought for every inch of this place.

  Harry didn’t find the power room, but he did find a hangar even larger than the one on Freedom Express. Dozens of military-looking vessels sat there waiting for someone to come along and use them. Black Jack McCarthy would be pleased.

  The fighting down here had been brutal. Bodies littered the area around the elevator and extended most of the way to the quantum tunnels. A particularly unlucky man lay in one of the arches, cut neatly in half from head to crotch.

  That had to be the man Harry had watched die from the Asharim warship when Nathan had blown up the first gate.

  “We’re in the right place,” he said, examining the arch. It didn’t seem damaged on this side, but they’d take no chances.

  They’d probably used one of these vehicles to activate the quantum tunnel. The one with a raised canopy looked like the best candidate.

  Harry looked inside while his men searched the hangar and watched the elevator closely. If there were any hostiles left alive in this base, they wouldn’t be springing any ambushes on his people.

  The screen came alive with a swipe of his hand. There was the gate controller. He tapped the button and brought up the code. That particular sequence wouldn’t work with the gate destroyed, but so he wouldn’t try it.

  If by some chance it did work, he had no intention of letting Nathan know they were coming before they were ready to pour through in force.

  He started to pull back, but something on the floor caught his eye. An envelope.

  Harry picked it up and looked inside. Then he smiled. His French was lousy, but this looked like a deed and a bill of sale. Probably to the very property they were standing under.

  Nathan’s name wasn’t on anything, so he’d bought it under an alias. The bill of sale had his signature on it, though. Harry had seen the bastard’s handwriting too many times to be fooled.

  Of course Nathan and their mother would want clear title to the find. Luckily, Harry knew people that could forge someone’s handwriting so well even the wronged party couldn’t be sure they hadn’t written the fake.

  He’d accumulated a lot of his brother’s papers over the years, so there were samples aplenty for the forger to use. By close of business tomorrow, he’d have a fresh bill of sale transferring the property to Humanity Unlimited. Or at least the name of someone untraceable.

  In a way, they’d already paid Nathan and his mother for it. The two had stolen the spaceship Harry had found under the Mayan pyramid. He’d make sure the bill of sale indicated the base changed hands for the “Guatemalan ship.” The irony was exquisite.

  First, though, he needed to clear the place of bad guys. No time for gloating until the abandoned base was safe from discovery. He only hoped his brother and mother didn’t bring the wrath of God down on their heads while he secured all the pieces they’d left scattered around the globe.

  The elevator doors slid open and one of his men hurried over to him. “We have a problem. Sandra just spotted a couple of cars heading up the road. We’re about to have company.”

  * * * * *

  “You’re asking us to take a lot on faith,” General Jim Wayland said. “This all sounds like some kind of drug induced fantasy. You haven’t been smoking the wacky weed, have you, Mister Secretary?”

  Secretary of State Josh Queen glared at the man in Army green. “No, but I came prepared to demonstrate this in a way that even you can understand, General.”

  He rose from the table where he’d just finished briefing the president, vice president, national security advisor, director of homeland security, and the rest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  “The scientists tore the wrecked ship apart and found a stash. It had this inside, among other things.”

  The pistol he pulled from his case was sleek and dangerous looking. The Secret Service had thrown a kicking, screaming hissy fit when he’d forced them to allow it into the meeting. Only the president’s stern insistence had let that happen.

  Queen laid it in front of the general. “I suppose I could blow a hole in something to demonstrate it, but that seems likely to get me shot. I’m sending it off with you to test for yourself. I have no idea how many shots it has left, so be sparing.”

  He cued the video of the weapon blowing a nice chunk out of a concrete wall. Everyone looked suitably impressed.

  President George Blankenship shook his head. “Based on everything you’ve shown me, I’m inclined to believe this is as bad as you think it is. Until I say differently, we treat this as the most serious issue on the table. Everything we’ve seen is now classified top secret/SCI under the code word ‘Prometheus.’

  “It seems fitting, since we’re stealing the knowledge of fire from the gods. Icarus was a close second, for obvious reasons. I want every effort expended to find the people who are spying on us and locate their little hidey-hole. Every bit of tech we can find and examine gets sent to Area 51 for secure testing.”

  The general cleared his throat. “Sir, you do realize we don’t actually have aliens there, right?”

  The president smiled. “I’m not that far around the bend, thanks. It’s a secure area with the brightest minds we have. That has to be where we keep this secret.”

  He looked at each of them for a moment. “Gentlemen, I want every angle examined. We have to get ahead of this or you’d best start learning Chinese. Call Homeland with any breaks. Secretary of State Queen
is in overall command. Dismissed.”

  Once everyone was gone, the president gestured for Queen to join him on the couch off to the side. He poured them both a stiff drink.

  “Is it really as bad as all that?” the president finally asked.

  “It’s potentially much worse,” Queen said grimly. “Former FBI Agent Cabot said this could be an extinction level event. I’m inclined to think she was understating things. Rogers and the rest could very well bring an alien invasion down on our heads. One that we’d be powerless to stop.”

  “War of the Worlds bad? That’s frightening. I want to know what you think of the main players. What kind of people are they? Who’s in the driver’s seat?”

  Queen didn’t need to look at his notes. “That would be Jessica Cook. I looked her up before the meeting. An engineer with specialties in space construction. From what she said, she’s also the number two in their company. She has a bigger stake than Harry Rogers does, in any case. I’m not sure why.”

  “What do you think of her?”

  “She’s bright and resourceful. She seemed like a straight arrow, but I’m disinclined to trust loose cannons not to roll over me. The same with Harry Rogers. He’s not a twisty bastard like his father.”

  Blankenship sipped his drink. “What about Clayton Rogers?”

  “I thought he was in it for the money. Now? Who knows? He’s a bad one, though not as bad as his ex-wife and other son. They’re lunatics.”

  “I thought you were going to pick him up. Where are we on that?”

  Queen grimaced. “Nowhere. We weren’t able to find him or the team we sent after him. It’s as if they vanished off the face of the Earth. And, with this technology, that’s a very real possibility.

  “Someone called in the local government to do a search and rescue mission, so we had to break off our examination of the area. Maybe once the New Zealanders give up we can find the gate they used.”