by Daniel Gibbs
“I’ll try to believe that, Pastor.”
On her way back to her quarters, Ruth tried praying silently. God, if You’re up there, if You still listen to me, please hear my prayer. Help me, show me the way. Let me find some way back to Your will, and into the light.
David walked into his quarters, and as soon as the hatch closed, pulled off his uniform sweater. In the course of thirty seconds, he stripped down to his skivvies and ended up in his bunk, another eighteen-hour day in the books. I even managed to get evening prayers in, at the shul for once. He reached for the tablet on his nightstand and pulled up the tracker for his commlink credits. The monthly reset had just posted, so he decided to see if Angie was available and online. A few minutes later, her smiling face appeared on the screen.
“Be still, my beating heart,” Angie said with a grin. Her brown hair was unkempt, as if it had been through a windstorm. “It’s the great Colonel Cohen, giving me a few minutes of his time. All I got was an email after the last emergency vidlink you sent, post-shooting.”
“Hey, my credits just reset,” David replied, with just a hint of snark. “I promise you were the first girl I called.”
“I better be the only girl you’re calling,” Angie replied archly.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that information.”
“Who are you kidding? I’m the only girl that’ll give you the time of day.”
“My mother can set me up with an endless stream of eligible Jewish girls from our town,” David said, and his face broke into a wide grin.
“Trying to tell me something?”
“Only that I’ve missed you.”
“You’d think the great hero of Canaan could get some extra commlink credits.”
“I wouldn’t take them if they were offered,” David said pointedly. “I’m not a hero. Just doing my job.”
“You’re a hero to me.”
“Is that why you like me?”
“No, I like you because you took me seriously and treated me with respect. There’s the whole gentleman thing too. Opening the door gets you bonus points.”
David laughed. “How’s it been going?”
“Remind me again why I took this political beat again?”
“Something about wanting a less stressful job after going through combat after combat.”
“Yeah,” Angie said, smirking. “About that. Politics is worse than being on a ship in combat.”
“That’s a pretty bold statement,” David replied. “You can always get another embed slot. Carrier maybe?”
“Nah. I’m not going to be allowed near the military anytime soon. I’m viewed as pro-CDF.”
“What’s so bad about that?”
“We’re supposed to be presenters of facts, remember?”
David snorted. “Right,” he began, then had a change of heart. “On a different note… how have you been outside of work?”
“I’m okay. I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” David admitted.
“Every time I see the Lion of Judah in the news, my heart skips a beat. I wonder if you’ll come home.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I knew what I was in for, and I’m a big girl.”
“If it helps, I make every possible effort to come home,” David said with a grin. “The League keeps swinging and missing.”
“Sports metaphors… so predictable.”
“Blame my dad. He loved baseball.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to get planetside any time soon?”
“I got my orders packet this morning. I think it’s safe to say we can have a date in the next couple of days before we get underway. That is, if you’d like to.”
“That’d better not be a serious question, mister.”
David winked. “Steak again?”
“How about seafood this time?”
“Seafood I can do. Gefilte fish?”
“What’s that?”
“You’ll see,” David replied, unable to keep from grinning. “It’s a traditional Jewish dish. Let’s say it’s an acquired taste.”
“So is going to church.”
“Oh?”
Angie shrugged. “I was going to a small church for a while that one of my co-workers attends. I quit because I was sick of being told I was going to hell because I hadn’t accepted Jesus as my savior yet.”
“No religion has a monopoly on overly sanctimonious people. Trust me.”
“I’m still searching, you know?”
“I forget which rabbi said it, but something to the effect of Judaism being an eternal search for God.”
“I like that,” Angie replied. “How’s your mother?”
“She’d like to know when we’re getting married, having kids, and you’re converting.”
“Yeah, about the same as mine, without the converting part.”
David laughed. “I have to meet these parents of yours someday.”
“Likewise.”
“What’s bugging you at work?”
“Ugh. What’s not? I go around and interview people who want to be the next president of the Terran Coalition.”
“With President Spencer being term-limited, it’s a bit of a free-for-all,” David observed.
“The Liberals have something like twenty-eight first-tier candidates. Dozens of second-tier candidates. Labor has even more.”
“I wish Spencer could run again, personally,” David said. “He seems like the real deal.”
“That’s what they all want you to believe. They’re all slimy when you have to work with them day in and day out.”
“Maybe. Still, you can see in his eyes he cares for those who have paid the price. I don’t think all of them do. Especially on the Labor side.”
“I thought military officers couldn’t have political opinions?”
“Not publicly, and you’re not cleared to quote anything I say,” David said, smirking.
“But you’re allowed to privately?”
“Yes. My dad always voted Liberal. I went through a phase when I was a teenager and a young man where I was more of a Labor guy, then I came back to Liberal,” David said while shrugging his shoulders. “At the end of the day, both sides want the same thing… a free and prosperous Terran Coalition. They differ on how to get there.”
“There’s a Labor candidate who’s making a lot of waves. He’s making noise about coming to a peace agreement with the League.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of him. Eduardo Fuentes, right?”
“That’s the one.”
David rolled his eyes. “The man is a blistering idiot. You don’t tell your mortal enemy you’re willing to take the foot off the gas, ever.”
“I can see the logic of what you’re saying… but it would nice to not be at war.”
“I’m all for not being at war, after we defeat the League. You can’t coexist with them. At least, not when the League is powerful and capable of projecting that power into the Terran Coalition.”
“It’s not anymore, since we took over Unity, though, right?”
“Despite what the talking heads on GNN might say, the League can jump a fleet in any time it wants. It’s just a little harder to supply it. Do you want real peace? Plant the Terran Coalition flag on Earth and allow her citizens to decide what kind of government they want.”
“You have strong feelings on the matter,” Angie observed.
“I’ve been fighting these jerks for twenty years. What do you think?” David flippantly replied.
“Okay, different subject?”
“I’m sorry,” David said, letting out a sigh. “I get wound up talking about politics.”
“I noticed.”
David cracked a grin. “I get wound up about other things too.”
“Religion?”
“You know, Mom always taught me not to discuss those two subjects in polite company.”
“So I’m not polite company?”
“I’m just digging this hole deeper.
”
“Yup.”
“Are you okay?”
“Physically?”
“Well, yes, but mentally too,” Angie said, her lips pursed together. “I do worry about you, you know?”
“I’m like a good watch. Take a licking and keep on ticking. I’m okay… my wounds have healed. Thank God for good old Terran Coalition medical science. Take a round to the shoulder and chest… a week later, don’t even know it happened. Mentally,” David shrugged, “I’m still sane, and I still feel. That’s about as good as I think it can get on the frontline.”
“Well, isn’t that a pretty picture,” Angie said with apparent sarcasm.
“I’m okay. Promise.”
“You’d tell me?”
“Yeah, I would..”
Angie laughed. “Getting a bit past your bedtime, isn’t it?”
“Almost out of credits too. See you next week?”
“If you know what’s good for you, you better see me next week.”
“Promise,” David said with a bright grin. “Good night, dear.”
“Stay safe.”
“Always,” David replied and tapped the disconnect button on the screen. It immediately went blank, leaving him alone in the dark of his cabin, looking up at the top of his bunk. Tomorrow is another day, another step on the way to victory. Why does it feel so far away? God, please help us to carry on. Help me to carry on and keep doing what’s right. He finished with the Shema, then rolled over on his side and was asleep within thirty seconds.
Far away from the Lion of Judah, Pavlik took the last bite of his dinner, a piece of chicken that was covered in a type of gravy he’d never had before. “What is this called?” he asked Mary, who had prepared the meal. They all sat at a roughhewn kitchen table that was made from hand-carved wood.
“It’s called sawmill gravy. Cream-based mixed in with the oil from cooking the chicken.”
“Most amazing meal I’ve ever had,” Pavlik gushed.
“We eat well,” Susanna said. Ezekiel just watched; he’d barely said anything all night.
“I see you do. It surprises me, given how simply your people live.”
“How we live,” Ezekiel interjected, emphasizing “we.”
“Of course,” Pavlik said, chastened.
“Don’t forget that you must become one of us. It’s not an easy process, but one you must willingly embrace, accept, and eventually rejoice in to have any hope of long-term fulfillment,” Ezekiel continued.
Seems like a daunting task. “I will do my best,” Pavlik said. “May I be excused?”
“You’re an adult,” Mary said, grinning for the first time that evening. “You may do as you please within our rules. Workday starts at four AM tomorrow. You will assist in milking the livestock.”
Pavlik’s eyes bugged out. “Milking?”
“You don’t think the food we have just magically appears, do you? We make everything. Cows provide milk, which we drink and turn into cheese, butter, and creams. It’s a good place to start learning our ways. Once you’ve mastered those jobs, on to the fields,” Ezekiel said.
“Sounds like I need a good night’s sleep,” Pavlik said. Mary and Susanna chuckled politely while Ezekiel sat impassively. Deciding he’d worn out his welcome for the day, he stood. “Good night, everyone.”
“Good night, Vladislav,” Mary said.
Taking his leave of them, Pavlik went back to the small room he’d been assigned. He hadn’t brought much with him; the uniform he’d worn, a couple of mementos from his career, and a sidearm. Regardless of what the Terran Coalition might say, someone from the League would try to find him one day. He’d be prepared, if nothing else. Staring at the uniform, he considered the course of his life. I wish I could go back and never have made the choice to stay in the League’s Army.
Pavlik picked up the uniform, the realization of what he needed to do with it, a sudden flash of clarity in his mind. He walked through the house to the great room that had a roaring fire, one that burned all day and night during the winter months and was the primary source of heat. Glancing one last time at the pressed black uniform he’d worn for so many years with pride and distinction, he carefully opened the fire screen.
He threw the bundle into the flames, and immediately, the fire consumed the shirt, rendering it unrecognizable. A voice behind him caused Pavlik to nearly jump out of his skin. “A difficult step, I’m sure.”
Pavlik whirled around, seeing Susanna in the back of the room. “I’m sorry, you startled me.”
“I sense you’re not used to being the one that isn’t in charge.”
“No, can’t say I am. This is all new to me.”
“The proud will be humbled.”
“Certainly seems to be the case, at least for me.”
“Ruth told me you killed Colonel Pan.”
“Yes,” Pavlik said, his voice very soft. “I had no choice.”
“A week ago, I would’ve rejected the idea that killing another was ever justified. Now, I don’t.”
“We’ve both changed, then?”
“Yes. I suspect you’ve changed for the better, while I’m not sure I have,” Susanna said, a frown on her face.
“If my opinion carries any weight, I would tell you that from what I understand of your actions, you conducted yourself in a manner consistent with the finest traditions of the Terran Coalition.”
“It’s more God that I worry about, than men.”
“I don’t have that particular worry,” Pavlik said, flashing a smile.
“An interesting way to go through life.”
Pavlik shrugged. “Perhaps. I can still make moral judgments and know right from wrong.”
“It is said that the law of God is written on our hearts and made aware to us through our conscience.”
What an odd concept. “I can’t say either way, Susanna. What I can say is I feel at peace here. I made the right choice back in that office, even if it cost me everything I had.”
“Sometimes you have to lose everything to gain your soul.”
“I’ll take your word on it,” Pavlik answered, unsure how to respond to her religious beliefs. “I’d better get to bed. I don’t think there will be any reprieve for staying up late, even if it was to burn the accursed uniform of the League.”
“There’s hope for you yet,” Susanna joked with a grin. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
Watching her go, Pavlik waited for a few minutes before he walked back to his room, lost in thought. Will I ever see my family again? Was this all worth it? For reasons he couldn’t readily explain, a feeling of peace had descended over him since coming to the house. Perhaps this is where I belong, at least for now. Maybe there is something more than this life.. even a higher power at work. Perhaps in time I will gain clarity into that truth, if it really is one. His head hit the pillow, and deep sleep came quickly. Tomorrow would be the first day of his new life.
THE END
Echoes of War: Book 5 – Keep The Faith: As the League attacks the Terran Coalition from within, only David Cohen and his crew can stop them before it’s too late.
Now available on Amazon!
Tap here to get Book 5: Keep the Faith
FREE BOOK: Read the story of Levi Cohen and his heroic fight at the first battle of Canaan in Echoes of War: Stand Firm.
Available FREE only at www.danielgibbsauthor.com/standfirm.
Acknowledgments
Dave – thank you for all the guidance and mentorship as I continue to write the Echoes of War series.
There are many people (too many to name) that have offered encouragement, support, and help on this novel—you know who you are. Thanks.
As I have with my previous works, I continue to thank God for giving me the ability to write and bring this story to life. I hope everyone enjoys reading it, as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
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