Risen From Ashes

by Sam Schall

  “Hear me,” Vreman said. “We played the odds by not taking Watchman in hand long ago. Each of us had our reasons, reasons we must now live with. That was our mistake. His was thinking he and his little cabal could operate behind our backs for their own benefit and against the system’s best interests. Their actions turned our allies against us. We’re lucky Fuercon and the others haven’t already pulled their military presence from the system. Think about where we’d be if that were to happen.

  “Worse, far worse, is that Watchman entered into an agreement with the Callusians to supply material and personnel, not to mention details about what Fuercon and the allies planned. If that isn’t bad enough, they failed to live up to that agreement. Partly because the Fuerconese discovered the presence of certain of our naval officers onboard Callusian warships. Partly because the Callusian demands for more material couldn’t be filled without raising our own suspicions.

  “The result is that we are now squarely on the Callusians’ radar. I shouldn’t have to tell you how they feel about being betrayed. Nor should I have to tell you they will blame us, not Watchman, because we are in power now. All I know for sure is that they will want to make us, and the system, pay for Watchman’s failure.” He paused to give them time to digest what he said.

  “Ask yourselves this: is it worth telling the Fuerconese ambassador we won’t cooperate knowing what the Callusian bioweapon could do to any of our planets if it were used against us?”

  Heads shook and voices murmured in the negative. That might change, but he already had a plan in place to deal with it if it did. If he was lucky, he’d have Watchman’s head on a pike before that happened. That was probably the only thing that would mollify the Fuerconese short of handing the man over to them and that was something he didn’t dare do. That bastard really did know where all the bodies were buried.

  “Take them to Major Rudolph. Tell him he is to do whatever it takes to find out everything they know about Watchman.” He waited as the guards led their prisoners out of the room. When the doors closed behind them, he turned his attention to the remaining members of the council. “Bethany, you are now our acting Secretary of State. When the Fuerconese ambassador arrives, inform him that we have taken a number of people into custody, including certain members of the government. Do not identify them. Tell the ambassador we will happily turn them over to him for transport to Fuercon after he presents the proper documentation and the Federal Court of Justice confirms everything is in order. That should buy Major Rudolph time to do what is necessary to get the information we need.

  “Make no mistake, any of you. I will do whatever it takes to protect our system and its people. If that means cooperating with Fuercon and the others until this crisis is past, we will do so. There will be time later to make the appropriate response to any slight we suffer as a result.” He sat once again and waited as the others did as well. “But for now, we must make sure we have allies who will stand to protect us against the Callusians. We use the time that buys us to build up our own navy into something more than the commercial enterprise it has become.”

  He paused and listened to the message coming in over his earbud.

  “The ambassador will be here in approximately fifteen minutes. When you leave here, touch base with your contacts. Find Watchman for me. I don’t give a fuck if he’s alive or dead.”

  And he’d much prefer dead.

  Vreman glanced around the table, wondering who would be the first to try to sell him out to the former intelligence czar. At least he felt confident Watchman was no longer in the system. Not that he didn’t have his hooks into enough people locally he was still a danger. “Go.” He waved for them to leave.

  Hopefully, he’d bought himself and his home system time to play the odds without signing their death warrants.

  Fuerconese Embassy

  Caspian Bay, Midlothian

  “Well, that certainly wasn’t what I expected.”

  Ambassador Morgan Izaguirre leaned back and crossed his legs. An hour and a half earlier, he’d been shown into the office of Midlothian’s Secretary of State. Or, to be more accurate, the acting-Secretary of State. That had been the first of many surprises—for both of them. Fortunately for him and for Fuercon, he’d been a diplomat for more than ten years. Before that, he served in the Navy as an intelligence officer. That background helped keep his surprise at the sudden change in office holders from showing.

  What he hadn’t known, however, was what to expect from acting-Secretary Bethany Waas. When he first arrived, Izaguirre expected to be put off yet again, just as he had been every other time he met with his counterparts to discuss the situation concerning Watchman. He’d grown as tired as his government with the lip service Midlothian paid every time they promised their aid in finding Watchman. Lip service that had yet to turn into any action.

  When Acting-Secretary Waas informed him members of the government, along with others, had been taken into custody, he had a more difficult time not letting his surprise show. Nor had he reacted when Waas assured him the prisoners would be transferred to his custody after all the legalities were met. Then it was his turn to reveal his own surprises and he once again said a quick prayer of thanks that Derek Harper was president and willing to do whatever was necessary to protect Fuercon and her allies.

  “Which part?” Captain Reece Middleton leaned back and shook his head, his light blue eyes dancing with humor. “The part where you presented them with President Harper’s ultimatum or the part where you had the paperwork ready the moment they asked for it? Or maybe it was the part where you said I had our ships in the system ready to move out and you’d already informed embassy personnel and their families to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice?”

  “Actually.” Izaguirre all but rubbed his hands together gleefully. “It was all of that as well as when I named those of Watchman’s co-conspirators we’d already identified. I thought Waas was going to choke right there in front of me. I’m not sure what surprised her more: our knowing who the conspirators are or the fact she realized we have operatives—or they have traitors—placed high enough in the government to keep us informed about what’s going on.”

  “True.” Middleton lifted his mug in a toast. “I happened to like the part when you told her President Harper has authorized ships to translate here at their earliest convenience. You handled that bit masterfully. Waas couldn’t take exception since you already informed her you had orders to withdraw all embassy staff and their dependents if the government continued to impede our investigation. Yet you could see her wondering if this was your way of giving a veiled threat that we were about to invade if they didn’t start playing straight with us.”

  “Which is exactly what I wanted.” The ambassador sipped his tea and then grinned. “I have to ask. Were you trying to make her piss her pants?”

  Middleton chuckled. “I don’t have any idea what you mean.”

  “Of course, you don’t.”

  “Are you suggesting that my speculation that FleetCom might send Col. Shaw and the Devil Dogs with the ships was meant to be anything but what it was?”

  Izaguirre shook his head and he looked at Middleton much as he would his own son when he’d done something unexpected and inspired, if not completely by the books. “She might not have pissed herself but she wanted to. I’ll lay odds whoever was listening in on our conversation did as well.”

  “The government would do well to understand President Harper and FleetCom are done with their excuses and their betrayals. They either act like the allies they claimed to be or watch as we pull out and leave them to the tender mercies of the Callusians.” Middleton’s voice harshened and Izaguirre understood. They both had lost people they cared for since the renewal of hostilities.

  “Reece, we will follow through. President Harper’s made that perfectly clear. I suggest you put your ships on alert. I don’t think the Midlothians are foolish enough to try anything, especially now that they know we have reinforcements
incoming. But then I never thought they would have been working with the Callusians.” He waved the man’s comment off. “I know the main government wasn’t actively involved but only because they wanted plausible deniability. They let Watchman do what he wanted because it was easier than trying to take him down and risk their own secrets coming out.”

  “Agreed and consider it already done.” The younger man checked his datapad before continuing. “Commander Khatri’s last report confirms the increased alert status. She also reported that most of your peoples’ dependents have been transported up.”

  “Good.” The ambassador stood and moved to pour them each more coffee. “I hope the government here sees sense and turns Watchman’s co-conspirators over to us. But the president is right. We have to be prepared for anything. Because of that, I’m going ahead and ordering all but essential personnel to evacuate to the ships until we know how this is going to play out. I’d appreciate it if you’d increase our Marine contingent at the embassy.”

  “Major Hoskins has his people ready. I’ll give the order.”

  “Thank you.” He returned to his seat behind his desk. “I’ll have my report ready for President Harper within the hour.”

  “Then I’d best return to the ship to prepare my report for FleetCom. A courier ship is standing by to carry it home in case the transmission goes astray.”

  Izaguirre thanked him. The last dispatch from Fuercon included instructions to take every possible step to ensure messages between Midlothian and the home system did not go astray. Considering the fluidity of the situation and everything that could go wrong, Izaguirre didn’t object. Hopefully, the precautions wouldn’t be necessary.

  “Hourly updates?” Middleton stood and straightened his uniform jacket.

  “From each of us.”

  The captain nodded grimly. “I’ve ordered your shuttle to remain on standby, ready to cycle up its engines for immediate departure. Your Marine escort knows to get you onboard at the first sign of trouble.”

  He didn’t like it but Middleton was right. Which meant he had to make sure his wife was off-planet before anything happened.

  If it happened.

  8

  “Mom, I don’t want you to go.”

  Ash closed her eyes for a brief moment as she sought the right words to reassure him. In three days, she’d ship out. Despite all that needed to be done to prepare the regiment for the mission, she’d taken the morning off to be with her son. She needed the time as much as he did.

  “I don’t want to go.”

  It was the truth, at least partially. She didn’t want to leave him. She understood his fear. She’d felt it every time one of her parents shipped out when she was growing up. That had been bad enough. She knew it was worse for Jake. Between her time at the penal colony as well as Lucinda’s and Talbot’s deaths, her son had lost a lot. What she couldn’t explain was how she needed to do this to avenge their deaths and what had been done to her.

  “Then don’t.” He and looked up at her, his expression serious.

  Even though she preferred having this discussion at home, Ash knew it couldn’t be put off. She glanced around, spotting a bench under a tree not far away. That would give them a little privacy from the rest of those enjoying the park that morning. At least she hoped so, just as she hoped she somehow managed to ease her son’s concerns.

  “Jake, you’re old enough now to understand that sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do.” When he nodded more than a little sullenly, she fought her smile. She’d said the same thing to him less than a week earlier when he wanted to skip school to go to work with her. He’d looked no happier then than he did now. “My job, just like Grandma’s, is to help protect Fuercon. That means doing everything possible to keep everyone, and especially you and our family and friends, safe. If I stay here, I’m not doing everything I can.”

  “But you could get hurt.”

  Or worse.

  She heard it even though he didn’t say it.

  “I could.” She wouldn’t lie to him. That was a lesson she’d learned from her parents. Each time one of them shipped out all those years ago, they promised they would do everything they could to come home to her and her siblings. Not once did they promise they would. When she asked about it once she was older, her father explained they didn’t want her to remember the last thing they told her was a lie. It was a lesson she’d taken to heart. “And I have. But I promise to do everything I can not to get hurt.”

  “Why do you have to go?”

  She slid an arm around his shoulders and drew him close. For a moment, she cradled him against her side. Then she bent her head and lightly brushed her lips against his hair. If she could promise him she’d always return, she would. But she couldn’t. All she could do was try to reassure him and hope he understood—if not now, then later, when he was older.

  “Jake, are you scared something’s going to happen to me like it did to Aunt Lucinda and Uncle Kevin?”

  He nodded his head against her side.

  “Oh, baby.” She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him onto her lap. The fact he didn’t immediately squirm to get down told her how upset he was. “Can you look at me?”

  He nodded again but it seemed to take forever for him to finally look up at her. Once he had, she lightly caressed his cheek with her left hand.

  “Jake, I can’t promise something won’t happen to me or to your grandmother. We’re Marines. More than that, we’re Devil Dogs. That means we get sent where Fuercon needs us the most. But it also means we are the best at making sure we carry out our missions and come home safe. Unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen.” She paused and considered just how much she should tell him. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t do everything we can to make sure we stay safe.”

  “But Aunt Lucinda and Uncle Kevin didn’t come home.” He sniffled once and ran a hand under his nose.

  Ash gave him a quick hug and nodded. “Your Aunt Lucinda died trying to secure information that would save a lot of lives. Not only those under her command but many others. Your Uncle Kevin and the Marines with him died saving people too, me included. They died heroes. Just like you, I miss them a lot. But you know what?”

  He shook his head.

  “As long as we remember them and we tell others about them, they aren’t completely gone. They live on in us.” She reached up and fished the dog tags out from where they hung under her shirt. He watched as her fingers found Lucinda’s tag by touch, separating it from the others on the chain around her neck. “I wear Aunt Lucinda’s dog tag, just like you wear Uncle Kevin’s, to honor them and their sacrifice. But I want you to remember something.”

  Several somethings, actually.

  “What?”

  “They both loved you. I know they were here for you as much as they could be while I was on Tarsus.” She fought to keep the anger from her voice as she remembered the two years spent at the penal colony. She’d missed so much of her son’s early years as a result. “I know they would give anything to be with you now. But they would tell you exactly what I am. They’d tell you they did their duty as Marines and would do it again, even knowing what would happen.”

  For a long time, they sat in silence. When Jake finally wiggled off her lap and onto the bench at her side, she waited. She wanted to reassure him some more but she knew the next move had to be his. All she hoped was she was ready for it, whatever it might be.

  “Promise to be careful?” He looked up at her and she fought the urge to laugh. He wore the same expression her mother did when asking her the same thing.

  “I promise.” Inspiration hit and she reached under her shirt for the dog tags hanging on the chain around her neck. Jake watched as she carefully removed two of the tags. “Jake, I’m making you a promise right now that I will do everything I can to return home safely from this mission. To prove it, I want you to hold onto these for me. This one.” She held up the newer of the two dog tags. “This was your Aunt Lucind
a’s dog tag. Her parents asked me to wear it after she died. It is one way I honor her.”

  She closed his hand over the tag, waiting until he nodded.

  “This dog tag.” She held up the second one. “This one belonged to your great-grandfather. Grandma’s father. He died not too long before you were born. I want you to hold onto both of these, wear them with Uncle Kevin’s dog tag, until I get home. Can you do that for me?”

  He slid off the bench and stood before her. One corner of her mouth twitched as he did a credible imitation of bracing to attention. Then he pulled the chain with Talbot’s dog tag out from under his shirt. With Ashlyn’s help, he secured the two tags on it before closing his hand around the three tags.

  “I will.” He stood there, his small hand wrapped around the dog tags. Then he looked at her and grinned. “This means you have to come home.”

  She smiled and nodded, praying this wasn’t the mission to break his trust in her and in the Corps.

  “Can I go to your ship with you tomorrow?”

  Ash laughed and reached out to ruffle his hair. Then she glanced at her watch and stood. Like it or not, it was time to get him home and for her to get back to work.

  “Maybe not tomorrow, but you can come visit me there before I ship out.” She’d make the time, somehow. The taskforce was shipping out in three days. Her orders were for her to transition onboard the next morning. Until they shipped out, she knew there wouldn’t be enough hours in the day to get everything done. But she wouldn’t disappoint her son. Not if she could help it.

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.” That was one promise she would keep, no matter what. “I’ll ask Grandma or Grandpa to bring you, son. We’ll also talk every day until I leave.”