by Daniel Gibbs
“That’s quite a contradiction.”
“Isn’t it?” David said, agreeing with her.
“How do you reconcile it all?”
“I trust that God’s got me in the right place. I believe I need to do what I’m good at to protect others. I try in some way to balance the scales, to leave situations better than I found them, take care of my crew, and bring them home alive. The rest is in the hands of God.”
Simone was silent for a while as she stared out at the hills behind the church. “I think I should rejoin the CDF. Colonel Demood told me he’d sponsor me for OCS. He said the Marines needed more people like me that could confidently engage the enemy.”
“Simone, while I can’t disagree that you’d make a fine asset to the TCMC or the CDF… that’s not where you need to be.”
“How can you know that for sure?”
“I guess I can’t be absolutely certain but let me try to explain. There’s plenty of people like Cal and me. We’re ready to do what needs to be done, including kill as many Leaguers as required to keep our nation safe. There’re far too few people like you and your order. You and the rest of the sisters constantly put your own lives on the line in order not to kill others. I was astounded by the level of care you took, even in the face of an enemy doing horrific things to its citizens. I think we could all learn something from the grace you displayed in even trying to save a man that killed one of your own in cold blood. In short, Sister… we need more people like you out there trying to save lives. I’m convinced you’re where you belong and that you’re doing God’s work.”
They stood there in silence for several minutes, Simone staring at a point far away; David quiet while she thought. Finally, she spoke. “Thank you, David. I needed to hear that.”
“Anytime.”
“What about you? What will you do now?”
David shrugged. “Back to the Lion. General MacIntosh ordered us back to Canaan, where I’m sure we’ll receive new orders.”
“Are you going to get in trouble?”
“I don’t know. Also, don’t think I care. My conscience is at peace, and I’m sure we were supposed to help here. If we hadn’t, God only knows how bad the situation would have ended up being for the people on this planet.”
“We did okay,” Simone replied, grinning herself.
“I’d better head to the shuttle before everyone wonders where I ran off to.”
“Take care of yourself out there,” Simone replied.
“You too. As I told the Mother Superior, if you guys ever need something, you’ve got a marker with the Lion of Judah and me as long as I’m in command of her.”
Before turning to go, David stepped closer and gave Simone a hug, which she returned.
“Despite Mother Superior’s dry attitude, she has a great deal of respect for you. I’m sure we’d help someday in the future if we can.”
David inclined his head in thanks before turning to leave. I wonder if I’ll ever meet them again. I hope someday after this bloody war is over, there will be time to visit old friends.
39
After a good night’s sleep, David was rested and ready for morning watch on the Lion’s bridge. He exchanged salutes with the Marines on guard at the entrance to the cavernous bridge and combat information center as he walked in.
Tinetariro announced his presence as soon as he set foot on the deck plate. “Colonel on the bridge!”
The standing enlisted personnel, as well as officers, braced to attention and brought their hands to their brows in sharp salutes. David crisply returned them. “As you were, ladies and gentlemen.”
As everyone returned to what they’d been doing, he strode forward to the CO’s chair. “Lieutenant Jackson, I have the conn.”
“Aye, sir. Colonel Cohen has the conn,” the young lieutenant replied, standing.
David sat down, the change of watch being a ritual he had performed countless times. Still, there’s something special about this ship and having the privilege of commanding her. Turning to Hammond, he asked, “Navigation, status?”
“Standard orbit, sir, engineering has certified the Lawrence drive as ready to jump.”
“Very good. TAO, status?”
“All weapons systems in standby mode sir. We didn’t scratch the paint while you were gone, if that’s what you were wondering,” Ruth said as she cranked her head around, displaying a smile. “If I may, sir, good to have you back.”
“Does that mean you did not like having a Saurian in charge, Lieutenant?” Aibek’s voice boomed from behind them.
Ruth’s face turned red. “Uh, no, sir!”
David chuckled. “It’s nice to be back.”
Aibek sat down with a thud in the XO’s chair. “I was getting used to the big chair, Colonel. I’ll have to break this one in again.”
“Conn, TAO!” Ruth interjected, all business. “Detecting a Lawrence drive transit…new contact. Designated Sierra fifty-two, Gladius-class destroyer. IFF is not showing as CDF, sir.”
David exchanged a glance with Aibek. “That’s mighty odd.”
“Conn, communications. Incoming transmission from the new contact, sir. It’s Mother Superior Sarno for you,” Taylor said from his station.
“Put her on my viewer, Lieutenant.”
A moment later, Sarno’s face appeared on the screen above him. Wearing her robes and habit, she seemed to be taciturn as ever. “Greetings, Colonel Cohen.”
“Good day, Mother Superior,” David replied. “I see you’ve upgraded your ride.”
Aibek snickered, as did Ruth and Hammond, and even the ordinarily sour nun cracked a smile. “General MacIntosh kept up his end of the bargain. We have to engage in a complete refit of the ship, as it’s been in mothballs for fifteen years. But, once we’re done, our ability to project power, as the military would say… will be greatly enhanced.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Perhaps this isn’t the last time we’ll get to work together.”
“Perhaps not, Colonel Cohen. While not normally how we operate, I’m impressed by you and your fellows’ dedication. Please pass on my thanks to Colonel Demood, Colonel Amir, and Dr. Tural.”
“Of course, ma’am. Anything you need before we jump out?”
Sarno shook her head. “Be careful out there, Colonel. You have an incredible responsibility to do what’s right with your ship and crew. Be a force for good and an instrument of God’s will.”
“I’ll try to the best of my ability, Mother Superior.”
“Oh, one last thing. Have you seen the last report filed by GNN on our involvement in the Monrovia crisis?”
David shook his head. “No, ma’am, I haven’t had time to watch the news yet, though I did hear about her reporting.”
“Thank Ms. Dinman for me as well. Her appeal has caused us to receive more donations in the last twelve hours than we normally receive in three years.”
“That’s incredible,” David said, shocked.
“God works in mysterious ways at times.”
“Very true, Mother Superior.”
“I will bid you farewell, for now, Colonel. Godspeed and safe travels.”
“You as well, ma’am.”
David saw her reach down to cut off the communication but stop right before she pressed the button. Instead, she brought her hand up to her brow in a traditional CDF salute. Immediately, David’s right hand snapped up, crisply returning the salute. They both exchanged smiles before Sarno finally cut the commlink off. Filled with a sense of pride for a job well done, he turned to Aibek. “We did well here.”
“Yes, we did, sir.”
“Well, I think it’s time to go and face the music back home. Navigation, commence final charge-up sequence for the Lawrence drive.”
“Aye aye, sir!” Hammond said.
“TAO, secure all tactical systems, and confirm that our magnetic cannons are unloaded.”
Ruth looked down at her board, checking one last time for reporting back. “Conn, TAO… all tact
ical systems are powered down, magnetic cannons unloaded, and the energy weapons capacitor is completely discharged.”
“Conn, Navigation. Lawrence drive is fully charged, and we are ready to jump.”
“Navigation, commence jump to Canaan,” David ordered.
The Lion of Judah, in orbit high above Monrovia, turned and engaged her sub-light engines. At the same time, she powered up her massive Lawrence drive, and an artificial wormhole opened directly in front of the ship. It only took a few seconds for the vessel to glide into the construct of dizzying colors and disappear from local space. Shortly after that, the wormhole collapsed in on itself, and there was no trace of the mighty warship to be found.
A few hours after making orbit over Canaan and docking at the primary CDF space station, David and several of the senior officers, as well as Kenneth Lowe, the lead contractor, were in the main conference room. Priority notification had come in, indicating that General MacIntosh wanted to debrief them in person. I’m wagering the general is still very unhappy. This ought to be…interesting. Aibek, Calvin, Amir, Ruth, Kenneth, and Taylor were in attendance, based on the MacIntosh’s specific request.
“You got any idea why the shiny brass wants to see us, Colonel?” Calvin asked in a sarcastic tone. “Maybe the general wants me to spit shine his boots Marine Corps style.”
“I’m sure he’s learned more about what we collectively did on Monrovia and is less than pleased,” David said. “We did, after all, disobey direct orders.”
“They ought to give us a medal for disobeying those orders,” Ruth insisted.
As the officers talked, David noticed that Kenneth looked extremely uncomfortable.
“Orders are orders,” David said, his voice clear and direct. “If we start deciding which ones we choose to obey, the chain of command breaks down. This is the military, after all.”
“I’m glad someone still understands that, Colonel Cohen,” MacIntosh said in his loud, booming Scottish brogue as he walked into the conference room. Led by David, everyone jumped out of their chairs and came to attention. MacIntosh shut the hatch and turned around.
“I am singularly disappointed in the actions of the people in this room over the last five days,” MacIntosh began. “Lieutenant Goldberg, you encouraged superior officers to disobey direct orders… and worse than that, Colonel Aibek, you went along with her! What Colonel Cohen said is absolutely correct. This is the military. We don’t get to pick and choose. You do what you’re told, when you’re told, with a sharp salute and a clear, crisp ‘Aye aye, sir!’ Do you get me?” The last sentence was said at practically a shout.
“We get you, sir!” David replied, his voice loud.
“I don’t think you do, Colonel,” MacIntosh said, his face turning red. “If you did, you wouldn’t have disobeyed direct orders from me. Nor would you have kept from me just how far your crew went to intervene in the conflict!”
“With respect, sir…” David tried to interject.
“I’m not finished, Colonel!” MacIntosh barked. “Mr. Lowe, did you or did you not clandestinely provide information to the sisters against direct orders?”
Kenneth gulped before responding, “Uh, well, yes, sir.”
MacIntosh moved on to his next target, looking in Aibek’s direction. “Colonel Aibek, why did you order the Lion of Judah to engage targets on the ground of a neutral planet?”
Aibek looked between David and MacIntosh before speaking. “The targets in question were League of Sol military hardware, recently delivered to the Monrovians, sir. We used pin-point strikes to neutralize them. Without that action, it is my professional opinion that the enemy would have prevailed.”
“And what if your attacks had struck other targets? Caused collateral damage?”
“You mean killed civilians, sir?” David replied, causing MacIntosh to again turn to him. “Even if that had happened, it would have been better than allowing the Monrovian government to continue its religious cleansing! It was the right thing to do, sir.”
“The right thing to do… is that the standard these days?” MacIntosh replied, looking at Aibek. “I ought to have you removed from the exchange program for this stunt. You, of all people, Colonel Aibek, should understand the chain of command and how important it is to our objectives and structure,” he practically shouted.
“General MacIntosh,” David attempted to say.
“I said I’m not done, Colonel!”
“With respect, sir!” David shouted. “I will not stand here and allow the men and women who serve under me to be maligned further. If you’re mad at me for what I did, take it out on me alone. They did nothing wrong. Colonel Aibek’s actions are consistent with the finest traditions of the Coalition Defense Force. I’ll concede that the discussions on the bridge, as I’ve been briefed on them, were outside of normal protocol. I’ll address it later with my crew, sir,” he said with a hard edge. “You will respect that same chain of command, sir, and allow me to handle it in my way unless I’m being relieved of duty.”
Quiet descended over the room, and David held his breath as MacIntosh stared at him. “Everyone but Colonel Cohen is dismissed,” MacIntosh finally said. When the others didn’t move, he barked, “Now!”
Aibek, Calvin, Ruth, Amir, Kenneth, and Taylor made a beeline for the hatch, keeping eyes front. Aibek reached it first. He opened it up, and they exited. Taylor was the last one out, and he triggered the closing mechanism, leaving the room silent once more.
“You’ve got a brass set, Colonel,” MacIntosh said without preamble.
“Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Granted.”
“Taking out your frustration with me on my crew is unwarranted. If you want to relieve me or you want me to step down, say so,” David replied, his voice tight. He stared directly into MacIntosh’s eyes, refusing to break eye contact.
“I don’t want to relieve you… I want you to follow orders and do your damned job.”
“I do that, sir. My ship was where it needed to be, and I was able to help the situation on Monrovia.”
“So all’s well that ends well?”
David considered mentally what he was about to say. The truth is, General MacIntosh is right. I did disobey orders; I might have put a cute bow on it, but I broke at least the spirit of what he told me, if not the letter. I need to concede the point to him, because he won’t be satisfied until I do. I know him well enough now. “General, you’re right. I didn’t do what you told me to do. I had my reasons, and I believe it was the right thing to do. I apologize for the situation this put you into, and I apologize for not being honest in a direct manner. I should’ve vidlinked you and explained what I was doing.”
“That’s a start,” MacIntosh replied, his face softening just a tad. “You’ve used up your one and only grace card with me, Colonel. You ever pull another stunt like this, and I’ll cashier you out of the service. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal, sir.”
“David… you’re the best ship driver I’ve seen in my career. Get your feces congealed, execute your orders, and finish off the League. That’s what counts, period.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You don’t seem convinced of that.”
“It’s not enough to defeat the League, sir. We have to prevent the spread of its ideology. The idea that the state is the end all, be all of society is what led to this predicament on Monrovia.”
“That’s not your job, son. The politicians decide what policy is, and they decide what we’re going to do or not do. Not the military.”
“I understand, sir.”
“You just don’t like it and think you know better, right?”
David couldn’t help but smile. “Perhaps sometimes I do, sir.”
“Yeah, I was that officer once, maybe years ago when I was younger and still had hair. You grow out of it. I need you to grow out of it right now. Clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll be inserting an official
letter of reprimand into your personnel file. If you keep your nose clean for the next year, it will be discarded,” MacIntosh stated.
“I understand, sir,” David replied, looking straight ahead.
“You’ll be at Canaan for a few days. Whatever repairs are needed will be made, and full stocks of supplies taken on. Then you’ll be joining back up with Admiral Kartal.”
“Yes, sir. More action against the League?”
“Correct. Our campaign objective is to remove the threat of offensive League battlegroups from our local area of space. While many of them have been destroyed, there are a few fleets in being that remain dangerous. We’re not going to worry about planets held by the League right now. Our focus is exclusively on space-based forces. Ground troops will come in and mop up resistance once we’ve starved them from space.”
“In other words, we’re using blitzkrieg-style tactics,” David said.
“Blitzkrieg?”
“German term for early tank warfare. It means ‘lightning war.’ They left strongpoints of defense behind for infantry to destroy while the tanks pressed on and took more ground. That’s what you’re proposing, effectively.”
“Admiral Kartal is the one who came up with the strategy, son. I build new ships and oversee our special projects.”
“And handle me?”
For the first time, MacIntosh cracked a smile. “That too. I hope you understand that I’m hard on you because I see the potential in you.”
“I’ll try to remember that, sir.”
“You do that. I’ll see myself out. You’re dismissed.”
40
Later that day, after MacIntosh was off the ship and everything had settled down, David took an early dinner in his quarters; he planned to go to sleep early and get a head start on the next day. His mind raced at a hundred miles an hour about the events of the last week, however, and sleep escaped him. He kept coming back to the risk and sacrifice that Aibek had made on his and the sisters’ behalf. Resolving to have a conversation about it, he tossed his uniform back on and left his quarters. A few minutes later, he found himself pressing the buzzer to the XO’s quarters, which were on the other side of officers’ country. A continuity of operations precaution, CDF ship designers always put the CO and XO on opposite ends so that a single lucky shot wouldn’t kill both of them at the same time.
