Ryck put the steak into his mouth, and there was a mad rush for the line.
Private Çağlar, I’m not sure you now qualify for seconds, seeing as you lost your first serving on the field, so go get yourself another helping,” he said.
Çağlar reddened, probably embarrassed. He’d lost his meal five minutes into the game. He hurried off, though, to get some more.
“Good game, First Sergeant, don’t you think?” he asked.
“As you say, it was ‘grubbing righteous,’” Hecs replied excitedly. “Did you see when me and the sergeant major crushed Oppenheimer?”
“No, but I’m sure he deserved it,” Ryck said with a laugh.
Hecs was glowing. He’d really gotten into the game. He might have been putting on a show of complaining, but a Marine was a Marine, and they wouldn’t, couldn’t back down from combat in any of its forms.
Ryck was relieved that his decision to play had worked out. He’d had fun, and he’d gotten some of his own stress relieved, but more importantly, he thought they’d acquitted themselves well. They’d earned their cred. And he had to admit, the CO joining in had been brilliant. To the average Marine, a battalion CO was some far off, impossibly high personage, beyond mere mortal concerns. He was a concept, not a real person. By getting dirty and mixing it up, he proved that he was a real Marine, one of them. He’d gained his own cred, and one which had elevated his position among the men.
Ryck took his plate and started circulating among the Marines. He noted the CO was doing the same. Marines didn’t seek either of them out, but they knew where the two commanders were at any time, and they seemed genuinely pleased when either of them stopped to talk.
Ryck had to keep in mind what it meant to a Marine when his commander talked with him. In many ways, Ryck was still Recruit Lysander in his mind, and Hecs was Drill Instructor “King Tong” Phantawisangtong. Although he was now a captain, the rank had become the new norm. Colonels and above were the unreachable ones. But when he was a private, or even a sergeant, a company commander was someone important, and a chance comment from a captain could thrill him or send him into the depths of worry. Ryck really had to fight to keep in mind how what he said and what he did would be perceived.
When Second and Third fought for the championship, Ryck joined the CO and watched. He tried not to be biased, but it was impossible not to cheer. He just tried to cheer both sides equally. Second Platoon won, something Ryck would not have foreseen. The CO surprised Ryck when the sergeant major pulled out a trophy from his assault pack and gave it to the CO to present to Lieutenant Chomsky. That was a really good touch, and it was something he should have thought of.
The CO gave a small speech, thanking the company not only for a good time, but for the great job they were doing. The speech was short and sweet, but it received a very loud chorus of “ooh-rahs.”
Ryck felt a warm glow, despite the fact that he knew the company hadn’t done much. Most of the action, what there was of it, had been met by the other three companies. Weapons Company had done more than Charlie, a line company. He’d thought the colonel had arrived perhaps to chew his ass, but the man seemed happy. That brought him to his thoughts of a little while before. He guessed he was no different from his Marines. While they might want Ryck’s approval, Ryck wanted LtCol uKhiwa’s approval.
He was surprised when the CO said, “Come walk with me, Captain,” after the trophy presentation. Was he in trouble after all?
“So, did this field day accomplish what you wanted?” he asked.
Grubbing shit, he thought. Was this a bad idea in a combat situation?
“Yes, sir. I thought the men were getting complacent. I needed to snap them out of it. Complacency kills,” he answered.
“Hmm,” the CO said.
“Hmm?” What the hell does that mean?
“We’ll see. But I wanted to pass you some intel. Nothing concrete yet, but you need to be aware of it. There has been some chatter that you, you and Charlie Company, might be a target.”
That caught Ryck’s attention.
“Due to your position in the public eye,” he began, one of the few times Ryck had heard him refer to Ryck’s status as a so-called “hero,” “it would be a coup for the dissidents to be able to inflict some damage on the company, particularly if they could kill or capture you. Captain Rotigue has been fully integrated into the situation, and as you can imagine, he said this will not happen. Just so you know, there was talk of pulling you back to the ship, to get you out of harm’s way.”
Ryck’s heart dropped. The Inchons’ CO was in overall command, and if he wanted Ryck relieved of command, it was his call.
“Marines don’t run from threats, though, so you still have the company for now. But I assured the CO that we would take precautions. I’m sending the Three over tomorrow to go over how you set up your security here, and as more detailed intel is released to us, we’ll be working on a course of action. For now, keep your patrols running. And I don’t want you coming in for each day’s briefing. I want you and Captain Knickerson to attend via conference call from now on unless otherwise specified. If you do need to come in, try and frag a bird first, but if you are taking ground transport, I want you with more than just your driver for security. I am not sure the dissidents can mount any real action against your position here, but a snatch and grab against you is within the realm of possibilities.”
Ryck tried to take all of that in. Mostly, he focused on “you still have your company” and “for now.” Losing the company scared him more than facing any number of dissidents. And while the CO hadn’t said it, there was no doubt in his military mind that he was the one who had fought CAPT Rotigue. Ryck knew that it wasn’t because the CO thought so highly of him but rather that the Marines could not be seen to back down to threats. Still, he was grateful.
“You can brief your staff, but for now, until we know something more, I want you to keep this from the ranks. Keep doing what you’re doing now, but get your mind working on the camp’s defense. Make good use of Lieutenant Peltier-Aswad. He’s got a good tactical mind.”
Sandy? The XO was a good Marine, a good manager, but the CO thought more of him than that? Ryck wondered why, but then put that out of his head to focus on the issue.
“That’s all I wanted to pass to you at the moment. There may be nothing to this, but I wanted to bring you up to speed,” the CO said, looking at his watch. “The Stork’s coming back in 15, but I think there’s enough time for one more of those excellent steaks. I’m not sure how Gunny Samuelson managed to beg them from Piss Interstellar, but I intend to enjoy one more.”
“Piss Interstellar?” Ryck wondered.
The CO had shown several sides to him that Ryck hadn’t seen before: during the game, bringing out a trophy, fighting to keep Ryck in command.
But “Piss Interstellar?”
Ryck couldn’t help but laugh out loud as he followed the CO back to the chow line for another helping of food.
Chapter 16
Ryck shook his head and inwardly sighed as the battalion operations officer Major Kjartan Snæbjörnsson (the “Viking”), Mr. Tanaka, a company rep, and Captain Herod Bey from the FCDC argued. After two days, it was obvious to Ryck that he didn’t have much say in anything.
It hadn’t started well from the beginning the day before. Mr. Tanaka had immediately objected to the “Camp Joshua Hope-of-Life” sign at the gate. He stressed that this was Propitious Interstellar—Ryck couldn’t help but to keep hearing “Piss Interstellar” in his mind—property and the Marines were only guests. He then proceeded to object to most of the improvements made to the camp to bolster its defense. In particular, anything near the river and the banks of algae tubes was a non-starter as far as he was concerned.
Captain Bey was another matter. He obviously had a mongoose up his ass about the Corps. Fair enough; very few Marines gave the FCDC any credence, with “Gestapo” being perhaps the most civil nickname Marines had for the service. “Fuck-di
cks, (FuCkDiCks) was a more common term. But Bey seemed particularly antagonistic.
As far as Ryck was concerned, this entire operation should have been an FCDC mission. Civil control was their bread-and-butter despite the “Development” in their name. But it wasn’t the Marines’ fault that the Federation authorities wanted the more recognizable—and probably more positive—image the Corps had in order to quell the situation on the planet.
Bey kept clashing with the Three, despite the Viking being a rank higher than him. He seemed to be under the impression that only the FCDC knew how to handle unruly civilians, and everything the Marines had done so far was worthless.
Ryck didn’t know much about riot control, but he did know how to defend a camp, and that was what he’d done. He’d tried to point that out the day before, but he was completely marginalized as the Three took over. So for two days, he and the gunny followed the joint team around, ready to answer specific questions, but offering no ideas of their own.
Captain Bey was off again on one of his pet ideas of luring any possible dissidents in by leaving the gates open and having no presence along the river and algae banks. To him, identifying the dissidents seemed to be the top priority. Mr. Tanaka was having none of it. He wanted the entire refinery walled off with no possible unauthorized egress.
“Skipper, we’ve got an incident,” Hecs said after hurrying up and pulling Ryck aside. “We’ve got two Marines hit at the park. Ling and LCpl Smith.”
“Sir, I’ve got an issue to take care of,” Ryck told the major, his heart racing.
Ling!
As a commander, Ryck knew that all Marines were equal to each other. Ordering Joshua to his death taught him that horribly difficult lesson. But Ling was one of “his” boys, his posse. Ling had saved his life on the Marie’s Best, and he was one of the Marines Ryck had been slowly gathering around him.
“How bad is it?” he asked, not sure he wanted to know.
“They blew down half of a mountain on them. Smith’s buried in the rubble, but he’s fine, but Ling’s fucked up. His PICS shut him down, and he’s probably in for a long regen. Doc Kitomo will give us an update as soon as he gets on the scene.”
“Get the reaction—“
“Already done. The XO ordered it out immediately, and Lieutenant de Madre has secured the area.”
“Who did it?” Ryck asked as the two rushed into the company CP.
“No clue yet, sir. Kashmala and Tuarez were right on the scene and reported chasing two individuals down some sort of access tunnel, one too big for them in their PICS, and with the situation uncertain, he didn’t think it would be a good idea to molt and chase them.”
“No, he was right. And this could still be a diversion. I want everyone on 100% alert now, and recall all patrols until we figure this out. Have we notified battalion?”
“Yes, sir. We did that immediately. They want the Three to take over, but I wanted to tell you first,” the first sergeant said.
“Thanks, I appreciate that, but better send a runner to fetch the Viking now,” Ryck told him.
Ryck pulled out his handheld, a screen that was slaved to his PICS command center. With it, he could observe and message anyone just as if he was in his PICS instead of back at the CP in safety.
Every ounce of Ryck wanted to rush out, to join the QRF, the Quick Reaction Force. He wanted to make sure Ling was going to make it. He wanted to track down whoever had the bright idea to hit at two of his Marines. But he was no longer a sergeant. He was not even a lieutenant. Ryck was the company commander, and his place of duty was back at the CP, where he could best exert command and control.
The Three rushed in the CP, pale face flushed red. Ryck nodded at the XO, indicating that he should brief the major. The XO took the hint, and rushed forward to intercept the Three as Ryck immersed himself in the various feeds, bouncing from one to the other, as his Marines rushed to the aid of their fallen brother.
Chapter 17
Ryck watched the camcording for the third time. He had to give her grudging credit. She might look like a cosplay queen, but there was a sense of earnestness about her that Ryck knew would resonate with the public.
The recording flickered, then smoothed out with Miss MacCailín standing tall over Ling, prone in his PICS, one foot on his chest like an old-time big game hunter. She slightly nodded at whomever was doing the recording, then began.
“My name is Michiko MacCailín. Some of you know me as The Red Athena. I was born and raised here on Kakurega, and this is my home, a home under siege. Propitious Interstellar has not only broken the charter, but they have murdered our citizens, not the least being my fiancé, Franz Galipoli. When we resisted, they called in the Federation to rescue them with the Marines. Make no doubt about it, we have been invaded, and we must fight back. The Marines are not invincible, as you can see. We can win. All sons and daughters of Kakurega, rise up and throw the invaders off our home!”
Just as she was saying “home,” a brief noise became noticeable. That would be Sgt Kashmala and PFC Tuarez arriving at the scene. The recording cut out.
“Run it again,” Ryck ordered.
Michiko MacCailín was a First Family woman, descended from the Scottish and Japanese who settled Kakurega before the company arrived and received the charter. From previous briefs, the First Families were vested in the status quo, so it seemed odd that this child of privilege was the face of the dissidents, first as the “Red Athena,” and now under her own name. But the FCDC report forwarded to the company only 20 minutes after the camcording was aired on the undernet confirmed Miss MacCailín’s statement about her fiancé, a major player in the workers’ rights movement being killed, gunned down at a rally. The assailant was still unknown, but the FCDC put the probability at 87% the assailant was a company operative.
“Ling’s never going to live this down,” the first sergeant said as they watched the recording again.
“I won’t let him,” Sams said with a chuckle.
Ryck didn’t laugh.
Sgt Ling was going to be fine. The lower half of his PICS had suffered severe damage, and the suit had gone into emergency mode, shutting Joab’s body down. Anytime a Marine was shut down required regen to repair the damage the shut down itself caused above and beyond any injuries. Ling had soft-tissue damage to his legs, and his pelvis had been broken, so he was going to be in regen for six to eight weeks, but there would be no lasting issues. It could have been much worse, though. Ling could have died, and that sobered Ryck. He’d sworn he’d bring back every Marine, and he’d come close to failing to uphold that oath.
He knew Ling would be the butt of jokes for some time to come. As a PICS Marine, the ultimate fighting man the Federation possessed, he’d been taken out by some graphic novel heroine. It had also been reported that Miss MacCailín was most likely the woman who’d been earlier spotted at the scene in the romantic company of a man. So not only had Ling been taken out by a cosplay queen, but by one who had been getting it on. Marines being Marines, they were not going to let the sergeant forget that.
Aside from Ling’s embarrassment, the mere fact that the two Marines had been taken out of action with a primitive home-made explosive device was sobering as well. If Miss MacCailín or her partner had thrown the explosive device at the two Marines, there would have been no damage or injury. The on-scene analysis confirmed the chemical make-up of the explosive, would have caused an explosion much too slow to damage a PICS. However, slow, powerful explosives were perfect for moving large amounts of dirt or rock, and the sheer weight of the rocks had buried Smith and crushed Ling’s legs. Someone out there understood how to make use of his or her resources. And that made him or her dangerous. This was no longer a simple mob—this was a group that had the resources to threaten his Marines.
Chapter 18
Ryck was the Charlie Company commander in name only, at least in his opinion. The Three had pretty much taken up residence at Camp Joshua, and both Propitious Interstellar and the FC
DC had teams there. Between them the three groups were determining Charlie’s fate, Ryck’s wishes be damned.
Immediately after Miss MacCailín’s little manifesto, protests had broken out, protests that spilled into violence as a crowd tried to attack Alpha Company in Dundee. At least 80 people had been killed as Preston led his company in defending itself. That stark reminder of the Marines’ capabilities put a damper on violent protest, but non-violent protests had cropped up in both Dundee and Tay Station.
When Alpha was attacked, the CO had led the QRC himself to support Preston, but by the time he’d arrived, the attack was over, smashed. Word was that CAPT Rotigue had had a piece of the CO’s ass for leaving Tay Station, and that was probably the only reason he wasn’t at Camp Joshua himself. Having the Three there was bad enough, but if the CO had been there, too, Ryck would have been totally instead of merely 90% marginalized.
At least the Three was a Marine. Ryck resented his presence because it took away from his own ability to command, not because of the major’s personality, but he detested both Capt Bey and Mr. Hortense, the assistant-vice-chief-spy-whatever jimmylegs. Ryck wanted to wipe that smug look off his face, the look that seemed to be permanently cemented on the man. Hortense loved to brag about his spy network, the network that had brought to light the coming assault on Camp Joshua. On Charlie Company. More specifically, on one Captain Ryck Lysander, UFMC.
Ryck had felt guilty that his presence had targeted Charlie. But when he found out that Piss Interstellar and the grubbing FCDC had actually orchestrated the attack, using him as bait, he’d about lost it and had to be restrained by the XO and first sergeant from performing his own assault on his “allies.”
Yes, those worthy organizations thought Ryck was the perfect catalyst to bring the dissidents out into the open where they could be crushed. Their people on the inside—people supposedly high up in the dissident command, particularly in the National Independence Party, the most activist dissident organization on the planet—brought the idea forward and pushed for it. In other words, the coming attack did not originate with the dissidents but rather with the FCDC and Piss Interstellar.
Captain (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 4) Page 11
