A clean sweep, he thought, just as Henderson had hoped.
The enemy shuttle lifted off a few minutes later. Clearly not every enemy soldier had been out on the surface, and the remnant was making a run for the relative safety of space. Captain Martin had to yell at his people to not shoot it as it departed. The last thing they needed was for that thing to explode in their faces. It was greeted with a Lance as it exited the atmosphere.
They had lost five, including Ben Price. The enemy had lost over a hundred. Captain Martin picked three of the least damaged alien bodies to bag and return to Intrepid. One was the 'leader' he had dropped with his first round. Those bodies would be a gold mine for FleetIntel.
PFC Joanie McCarthy, who had laughed about bringing back an enemy pet, was laid next to Ben. The Marines put them carefully in body bags, after first gently moving Natalie aside.
On the other side of Ben was Gunther Hartwig, a tall dark-haired man originally from the German Army. Gunther had been a teacher but decided he'd rather see history made than just talk about it. Harry had known Gunther well and enjoyed their long discussions on historical subjects, especially where they saw the same events from opposite points of view.
But they had taken the field from the enemy and protected the Seekers.
Harry heard the crackle of someone walking the brush behind him and turned quickly, reflexively raising his weapon. He saw three Seekers not ten yards away. How the hell did they get that close? he wondered to himself. There were others further back, walking towards the now silent battlefield. His eyes met those of the taller Seeker in the middle, who pointed to his forehead and said, "Eaagher." Harry lowered her weapon, his eyes still riveted on the Seeker's.
Hearing Eaagher's voice, Natalie turned to face him. She pulled herself up and walked to Eaagher, reaching for his hand.
"Nathelee," Eaagher said, recognizing her. He took her offered hand and let her lead him to Ben. Eaagher knelt beside him and crossed his arms around his abdomen.
"Benh," he said quietly, then placed his right hand on Ben's head. Natalie knelt on the other side, watching, her tears still wet. He looked at her and said something she did not understand. She shook her head, then remembered to raise her right hand. Eaagher raised his left, which Natalie took to mean that he understood that she didn't understand. She wished she could just hear what Eaagher had to say. Ben would have appreciated it, she was sure.
Eaagher rose and walked to the next body on the ground. He looked at Liwanu Harry, then pointed to his head and said, "Eaagher."
Natalie's voice came from behind him. "He's asking who that is, Harry. Just tell him the name."
"Gunther."
"Gunther."
"Yes."
Eaagher looked directly at him and asked his name in the same way.
"Liwanu"
"Lahkwhyooh."
Again, Eaagher knelt next to the fallen warrior and spoke Gunther's name as he touched his head. After a moment, he rose and went to the next in line. Eaagher continued this pattern until all five casualties had been visited. The Marines watched this process in wonder, as this tall and somber looking alien offered a gesture of respect, a benediction of sorts, to those who had fallen. That emotion was something they understood and respected in turn.
As he finished, another Seeker arrived with Cordero's tablet, paper, and marker. Eaagher handed the tablet to Natalie and wrote on the paper. Natalie scanned the writing.
I immediate past say extreme regret conscious end of friend Ben and much sadness in you.
As Natalie read it, Eaagher touched her arm and said, 'Benh.' She lifted her left hand.
Sad five conscious lifes end today. Future always remember sacrifice names.
He wrote more and handed it over to Natalie.
Future always grateful Friends loyal brave fierce.
Natalie just nodded and handed the tablet to Alonzo Bass, who had come to see Ben and try to help Natalie. Nearby, the medics were getting the wounded on their feet and helping them towards the shuttle on the beach. There were six, all with burns from near-misses, none critical. The three enemy bodies were already bagged and on the shuttle.
It was time to go. She knelt down once more and kissed Ben on the forehead, then stood, picked up her weapon and started walking back to the shuttle she'd flown down. She would not dishonor herself, or Ben, by failing to complete her duty.
Second Lieutenant Liwanu Harry watched Hayden leave, then helped close up the bags. He picked up Ben's weapon and followed the body bags back to the shuttle, a grim sadness walking with him.
Intrepid
Big Blue
Wednesday, December 7, 2078, 1800 UTC
Natalie Hayden returned to her quarters, a double she shared with FPI Engineer Pope. She angrily ripped off her dirty, blood-stained field colors and stood for a long time under a hot shower, begging it to wash away the pain and tension gripping her body.
It didn't help much.
The knot in her stomach had not lessened even a bit as she redressed and headed for the magazine, and neither had the dull pain in her chest, or the faint headache behind her eyes. Ben or no Ben, she had work to do, duties to perform, the first of which was to write a detailed post-engagement report for Henderson. She walked silently to her small office next to the magazine and closed the door behind her.
Her crew let her be. They saw her arrive, moving almost in slow motion, and knowing what she had lost that day, they kept at their own tasks as quietly as possible so as not to disturb her. They knew what she had to do.
She hung her head in her hands for a few minutes, willing the emotions to subside and the grief to abate. Giving up, she pulled a note pad from a drawer and started writing down, in long-hand, whatever she could recall, in whatever order it happened to come to her. She would organize it later, then dictate or type it into the ship's record. For now, she just needed to get everything in her memory on the page as quickly and accurately as possible.
Struck by her own grief, after the shuttles were back aboard Joanne Henderson spent an hour alone in her cabin, thinking about her friendship with Ben Price, what they had meant to each other, and how it had all ended so suddenly. The Fleet was still new to war, and most commanders did not yet know the feelings that naturally flow from ordering good people to their deaths. Ben had volunteered, no, she reminded herself, he'd demanded to go on this mission. He was prepared for the consequences. The enemy is fighting for their lives, too, and an unlucky break can cost you your life. Today, from what the Marines told her, Ben had done well, but it just hadn't worked out for him.
But it had been her order, her decision, that put him on the surface.
She got moving again and headed for the Intel work area. Ann Cooper looked up at her as she entered, then finally remembered to stand up. Colin Garrett remained seated and looked sullenly in the other direction.
"Yes, Captain?" she asked, the regret clear in her voice.
"Sit down, Ann, please." Garrett turned at the sound of Henderson's quiet voice. "Tell me how you're all doing."
Ann sat up straight, a habit she knew she had when she was about to tell someone something difficult.
"It's hard, Captain, very hard for the techs, especially. They identified with Mr. Price, and they seem to have gotten very close in the time he's been here."
Joanne nodded sadly. "He has that effect on people." She relaxed a little and leaned back in her chair. "Back in Plans, he called me an idiot to my face the day after Inoria. I almost slugged him." The techs looked at her in surprise. "Ben could really stick it to you when you had it coming."
"Did you?"
"Probably. Anyhow, night after that he wanders into The Drive looking all lost and lonely and the next thing I know we're debating the proper way to drink Scotch." She paused for a moment, remembering their evenings in the old bar. "I don't think I ever laughed so hard as I did with Ben and Fiona."
"I'm sorry, Captain, that he's gone," Garrett said.
Joanne t
urned suddenly serious. "No, Garrett, no pity for the Captain. I put him there. In the end, I'm why he's dead."
Ann let the silence go for a few seconds, then moved the conversation elsewhere.
"Was there something you needed, Captain?"
"Yes. Did they transmit at all before we hit them?"
"They did," Garrett replied. "Once right after the first three were hit, a long message. Then another short message just before we hit the last one."
"Same channel?"
"Yes, ma'am. We assess that as the undamaged ship reporting the first strike and then reporting that they were under attack."
"Did they finish the message?"
"Yes, ma'am. But only by a few seconds."
"Very well." She looked around at the four Intel techs, their shoulders sagging as they sat at their positions. "Thank you, all of you. I know you all admired Ben Price. I did, too. We'll all miss him." She looked around at them again, meeting each eye. "Lieutenant Cooper will be in charge for now, at least until we get back home."
Ann followed Joanne out into the passageway, closing the workroom door behind her.
"Yes?" Henderson asked.
"Natalie?"
"I talked to her briefly when she got back, but not since. I'll catch up with her later tonight, maybe. They were going to get married."
"Oh, no!"
"Came to me about a day out of Beta Hydri." Joanne shook her head. "I made a joke about how I couldn't marry them."
"And you? How are you doing?"
Joanne smiled grimly. "I meant what I said, Ann. No pity for the Captain. I'm fine."
"But, Captain —"
"Really, Ann, I know you mean well, I do, but this is a warship in a combat area, not Fleet HQ. People can die here, and for every one that does there's someone aboard who wishes it hadn't happened."
"Yes, I see."
"I need to go." She pointed to the Intel door. "Let them work through it tonight, but tomorrow they need to be back on their 'A' game. If you need to push or kick a little to make that happen, I understand."
"Well, I'm more of the mothering type, but we'll be ready."
"Good."
Joanne walked the few dozen meters quickly to the Bridge. Alonzo Bass looked at her as she stood outside the Command position where he sat.
"Well?"
"They got off two messages."
Alonzo nodded grimly in response. "You know what that means, Captain, right?"
"Yes. They'll probably be back. In force. And soon."
Joanne climbed the three steps and sat in her command chair, silently staring out at the cold light of the stars, wondering which one spawned this curse, which one sheltered those she so completely despised. The stars weren't telling, and their willful silence angered her for a moment; a feeling that passed as she recognized the irrationality of it. There will be more Bens, she thought to herself. Maybe many more. If not here, then somewhere.
Damn it.
After two hours, Natalie was almost done with her first 'brain dump' draft when there was a knock at the office door. She thought about telling whoever it was to get lost, but instead decided to accept the interruption. She set down her pen and turned the pad over.
"Come in."
The door opened slowly to reveal the young Marine Lieutenant who had been standing over Ben when she found him.
"Lieutenant Hayden?" he asked, tentatively.
"Yes. Liwanu, right?"
"Yes, ma'am. I need to tell you, Lieutenant, about, well, about Mr. Price, ma'am."
Natalie felt suddenly vulnerable, suddenly even more alone. What could this young Marine possibly know about Ben? She swallowed hard before responding.
"OK. Care to sit down?"
"Yes, thank you, ma'am."
Liwanu stepped forward nervously and sat in the hard steel seat across from Natalie. It was the same seat where Ben had said 'I am your man!' just a few days before. And, indeed, he was. Could it possibly be only that long ago? It already felt like a lifetime. In a way, it was. There was her life before Ben, her time with him, and now she was in the first day of her life without him.
There was a long pause, as if he was unsure how to say what he needed to say.
"What did you need to tell me, Liwanu?"
"Mr. Price, ma'am. After he was hit, he only had a few seconds, and I think he knew that, but he wanted me to tell you how much he loved you."
Natalie looked down at her desk, then back up, the image of him on the ground raging back to the front of her mind, the smell of his burnt flesh, the quiet sounds of Marines trying to not be where they were, trying very hard not be in the middle of the worst moment of her life. She hadn't missed that, and someday she'd be able to tell them she noticed, and appreciated, what they were trying to do. But, no, not today.
Liwanu saw the renewed pain on Natalie's face.
"I'm sorry, ma'am if this is hurtful for you right now, but I swore to him I'd deliver his message and I couldn't live with myself if I didn't."
"I see. Thank you."
For Liwanu, there wasn't much more to say. He was ready to move on and leave Hayden with her pain.
"I'll just go now, ma'am."
"Thanks, Liwanu, for keeping your promise. Mr. Price would appreciate that."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Anything else?"
"No, ma'am, just that I'm very sorry for your loss, Lieutenant. He was brave, ma'am, and I think what he did today mattered."
Liwanu rose and left the office, closing the door softly behind himself. He walked to the Bridge, directly to the command position.
"Captain Henderson, ma'am, might I have a word with you?"
Henderson looked at him, saw the seriousness of his expression, and walked down off her position.
"Sure, come with me." They walked a few meters aft to the Captain's duty cabin. Inside, Joanne offered him a seat, which he accepted with relief.
"So, Marine, what's on your mind?"
"Mr. Price, ma'am."
"Oh?"
"Yes, Captain, before he died, he gave me two messages to deliver."
"OK."
"The first was to Lieutenant Hayden. You can guess what that was."
"Yes, I suppose I can."
"I think he loved her very much. But to you, ma'am, he wanted me to say 'thanks.' He didn't say exactly what for —"
"I know what for," Joanne responded, cutting him off, then regretting having done that.
"Sorry, Lieutenant Harry, I should not have interrupted you. Price and I had a conversation before we left on this mission. He talked about it then. I know what he meant."
"OK, well, that's good, Captain, I guess. That's all I had, ma'am."
Liwanu was ready to be dismissed, but Henderson had more questions.
"What was the fight like?"
"Hard, ma'am, hard, and fast, I mean, we had them dead-on, but they just kept coming and shooting that hot shit at us. Price put himself on the line after Joanie and Gunther went down. I was surprised that he'd do that, ma'am, he was just an Intel guy, you know?"
"Yes, I know. I specifically told him not to get shot."
"It was pretty fluid, Captain, they were pushing us pretty hard, and I think Mr. Price thought he needed to pitch in or we'd be in real trouble."
"That sounds like him."
"Yes, ma'am. Just for me, Captain? I heard you were friends with Mr. Price, and it's none of my business, really, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am."
"Thanks, Harry. And thanks for telling me how it played out. You can go."
"Yes, ma'am."
He slipped out of the Captain's duty cabin, worked his way aft then down the ladder to the Marines' barracks area. The Marines were listening to music as they talked and cleaned their weapons. Normally the music would be loud and occasionally drowned out by shouted banter or laughter. Tonight, the music was quiet and the talk subdued as they restocked their packs and made sure if another call came, they were ready. Harry took a
short walk around the room, talking to most and encouraging a couple that seemed more sullen than the rest.
He left and headed back to the cabin he shared with Captain Martin.
"So, how did it go?"
"OK, I guess, sir. I've never had to deliver messages like those, you know?"
"I do. But you did it, Liwanu, you did what someone in a desperate, really hopeless, condition asked you to do. Good work, if you ask me."
"Yes, sir, thanks."
After they switched off the light, Liwanu replayed his first day of combat command. He hadn't frozen, he hadn't even hesitated. He felt on the verge of a well-earned tear or two afterward, what with both Gunther and Joanie lost, but he hadn't cried or vomited as some did. He'd killed several times that day, but after seeing the Seeker leader and his people, his conscience was clear. He thought about Price, what he had said, and what that said about the kind of man he was. If there was a regret to take away from this day, he decided, it was that he had not known this man better before he was gone.
Intrepid
Big Blue
Wednesday, December 7, 2078, 2030 UTC
Joanne spent two hours preparing her report to Fleet. SLIP's limited bandwidth meant she had to keep the text to a minimum. But there was an awful lot to say, so if she was going to send a message, she'd thought she'd best make it count.
FLASH 207811242030UTC
TO: CINCFLEET, FLEETOPS, FLEETINTEL
CC: EAGLE, FRIENDSHIP
FROM: INTREPID
REPORT OF 207811240915 ENEMY ENGAGEMENT
1) ENEMY MOVEMENTS EARLY AM THIS DATE INDICATED PROBABLE
KNOWLEDGE OF SEEKERS.
2) AT 0915 UTC INTREPID STRUCK LITTLE GRAY AND THREE OF
FOUR ENEMY SHIPS.
3) CONCURRENT WITH THIS STRIKE INTREPID LANDED MARINES TO
COUNTER ENEMY FORCES IN PASTURE NEAR SEEKERS.
4) ENSUING GROUND ENGAGEMENT REMOVED IMMEDIATE THREAT.
5) AT 1020 UTC INTREPID STRUCK THREE ENEMY SHUTTLES IN THE
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