“I’ll be brief, Marines. Second Fleet will soon depart Fuerconese space. We have received orders from FleetCom and from President Harper himself to take the fight straight to the enemy. Delta and Gamma Companies have been recalled and should join us before we reach our destination. However, this is war and you should each understand that we may run into trouble before they do. That means, we have to be prepared at all times for anything that might happen. Our ability to adapt is only one of the things that makes us Devil Dogs.”
“Ooh-Rah!” Alpha Company shouted.
She smiled slightly, giving them a nod of approval.
“The transit to our target will not be spent getting fat and lazy. We are Devil Dogs after all. You will receive your duty assignments in the morning. When you are not on duty, you will be checking your equipment or working out. There will be training missions and sims that will be run. You will also be shadowing the Navy personnel you have been assigned to back up if we find ourselves in a ship-to-ship battle. By the time we reach our target, we will be back in battle trim. Understood?”
“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am!”
“For security reasons, and they will be explained to you later, I am not at liberty to discuss where we are headed. It’s not the first time the Devil Dogs have been sent on a mission and we didn’t know our destination until we were almost there and it won’t be the last. Ours is not to question why -- ”
“Ours is to do or die!”
“Ooh-Rah!”
“Company commanders, we will have a briefing at 0630 tomorrow. Your ships’ commanders have been instructed to have shuttles made available to transport you to the flagship. Be here.” She waited as they acknowledged, one by one, their understanding of her order. “There is one last item you need to be made aware of. Captain Ortega and Master Sergeant Adamson have been transferred to the Warlords. Captain Ortega is being breveted to the rank of Lt. Colonel and will assume command. I know she will do Colonel Pawlak proud. Master Sergeant Adamson becomes the battalion’s senior non-com. Now, before you start thinking that means you won’t have to face any of the good Master Sergeant’s very inventive training exercises, think again. Master Gunnery Sergeant Talbot has spent more than enough time with the Master Sergeant to know how her mind works. More importantly, he and I happen to enjoy the sort of training exercises she put together. I have a feeling that between the two of us, we can make the Master Sergeant proud.”
She didn’t laugh – quite – as more than a few of her Marines groaned.
“Any questions?”
“Ma’am, why all the secrecy?” Hound asked.
For a moment, she didn’t respond. Under most circumstances, she wouldn’t. But this wasn’t most circumstances. Not by a long shot.
“I can’t get into specifics, not yet. However, there has been a security breach dirtside. FleetCom suspected there might be one before our last mission and some of the intel we seized on our last mission confirmed it. Unfortunately, the source of the breach has yet to be identified and confirmed. That means the leak has not yet been plugged. So, until we are well away from the home system, my orders – as well as Admiral Tremayne’s – are to keep the details of our mission secret.”
“Understood, Ma’am.”
“Anything else?” When no one said anything, she nodded to Talbot and he called Alpha Company to attention. One by one, she listened as the other companies followed suit. “Marines, I know I don’t have to tell you how important it is that we do nothing to tip our hand to the enemy. However, let’s be sure we all understand. If I get wind of anyone, and I do mean anyone, breaking security, you will find yourselves before me for discipline before you know what happened. If I do determine you violated orders, you can bet your asses I will kick you out of the Devil Dogs without a backward glance. Then you will be brought up on charges.
“Marines, we are at war, a war unlike any we have faced before – as you will understand once you are fully read into the mission. Until then, think on this. President Harper has made it clear to General Okafor who made it clear to General Shaw who, in turn, has made it abundantly clear to me that we are not only taking the war to the enemy but we will, by God, win the war this time. No more hoping the Callusians start playing by our rules. No more thinking diplomacy will win this fight for us. Our beloved Corps, along with Fleet, has been tasked with finishing what we started in the last war. I told General Okafor she could count of us. What say you, Devil Dogs?”
“Devil Dogs, ooh-rah!”
Ashlyn turned and left the bay, a slight smile on her lips. She had no doubt the cry had sounded from each of her companies. Her only regret was that she had not been able to tell them about their mission and she hoped that didn’t come back to bite them. Not that it could be helped. Like it or not, Okafor had been right. Until they knew all the major players in the conspiracy Fuercon, they did not dare do anything that might tip their hand to the enemy.
Now, as much as she would prefer to stay with the Company, she knew she couldn’t. They needed time to ask their questions of Talbot and the junior officers who, if they knew what was best for all concerned, would refer the questioners back to the Master Gunnery Sergeant. Besides, she had a briefing with Tremayne shortly and, unless she missed her guess, the admiral would want a status report on how the Devil Dogs were settling in and when they would assume their duties, not only on the flagship but on the other ships as well.
Besides, she had a training exercise or two to design and she wanted to make sure the battalion realized M. J. Adamson wasn’t the only one who knew how to put them through their paces.
* * *
The line of workers moved ever forward. Each step took her one step closer to the security gate. As it did, she glanced around, doing her best not to draw attention to herself. For the last week, security at the spaceport had seemed higher than normal. At first, she had explained it away as a reasonable step, even if one taken too late, to the resumption of hostilities. Non-essential travel had not yet been curtailed but everyone, travelers and those working at the various ports that dotted Fuercon, were having to go through tighter and tighter security checks. So far, it had not impacted her, nor did she expect it to. Even so, the closer she came to the guards, the greater her nerves. So much rested on her simply getting through the gates unmolested.
“ID?”
She handed over her ID and waited. The guard, one she had not seen before, glanced at it and then her. Without a word, he motioned her forward and waited as she pressed her palm against the ‘reader. A soft beep a moment later signaled she could remove her hand. On the inside, she sagged in relief to see the green light confirming the ID she had presented. On the outside, she gave her best impression of a harried worker worried about being late.
“You’ve got a new assignment today, Ms. Vincent. You’re to report to the maintenance chief at Hangar 113B. Know the way?” The guard handed her back her ID.
“Yeah, I know the way,” she grumbled. “Damned bosses could have told me when I went off-shift. At least then I’d have known to go to the other gate.”
He nodded and motioned her to move on. She slid her ID back into her pocket and shifted the strap of her toolbox on her left shoulder. Another line, this one to pass through the security scanners. In some ways, this was more nerve-wracking than the ID check. She trusted her ID. It had been made for her by the best counterfeiter on Fuercon. At least he had been before he finished the work she needed. Then he had simply disappeared. For once, she had not had to take matters into her own hands. Instead, knowing the authorities would soon start cracking down on businesses like his, even more so than they had during the previous war, he had packed up and left the planet. She had no doubts that, by now, he was well away from the System. It wouldn’t surprise her at all to find him on one of the newer settlements well away from the fighting. The frontier planets always had those looking for new IDs, whether to hide their past or to cover their current activities. Part of her even wished him luck. He had done
well by her and there might come a time when she would need his services again.
“You Vincent?” a heavy set man asked as she entered the hangar.
“Yeah.” She handed him her ID and waited for him to scan it. Instead, he shoved it back at her.
“You’re late.”
“Sorry. Didn’t get the new assignment until I got here. You can check with the front gate.”
“I don’t give a damn about excuses, Vincent. You do the work, we’ll forget about today.”
“I’m good with that.”
“Name’s Rounsaville. You can call me Boss, Chief or Mr. Rounsaville. Understood?”
“Sure – Boss.” For his sake, she hoped he was simply posturing with a new team member. Otherwise, she might be hard pressed not to make sure he had an on-the-job accident. It would be very easy to do. Almost too easy, in fact. “Where do you want me?”
“We’ve got a diplomatic shuttle coming in later this morning. Word’s come down that they don’t want to be held up any longer than necessary clearing the regular security checks. Problem is the main scanner’s been acting buggy. You get on the board and figure out what’s wrong. If the dignitaries are held up, it will be your ass on the line, not mine.”
“Point me at it, Boss.”
Without a word, he turned and walked off. She assumed he meant for her to follow. Mid-way across the hangar was the control platform. From there, they could take control of shuttles coming into the hangar, guiding them to the appropriate area within the hangar. Once a shuttle was stationary, security protocols could be then initiated with a simple command.
“You’ve got two hours.”
Before she could respond, he was gone. Not that she minded. The last thing she wanted was someone looking over her shoulder. All she needed was enough time to fix the problem and put her own special bit of code into the system. Then she would know exactly when the Midlothian agent Watchman had dispatched to Fuercon arrived. More importantly, she would know who it was. That information would be enough, she hoped, to let her track the agent and deal with him before he could do the same to her.
They always underestimate you, Evan. That is their fatal flaw – as they will all too soon learn.
* * *
“Tell me, Alexander, what is the situation on Fuercon?”
For a moment, the Intelligence Czar said nothing. For all outward appearances he looked like a man simply trying to form his answer in the most concise way. That was just about the farthest from the truth. In actuality, Alexander Watchman was doing his best not to let the fear bubbling inside him show. He might have the reputation for dealing quickly and effectively with those who crossed him, but the man sitting before him was much, much worse. He was, in short, the only person Watchman feared.
And with good reason. They managed to coexist only because they had found one another to be useful allies. But there was no trust between them and certainly no liking. Watchman knew there were those, both on the Council and who operated behind the scenes, who were doing their best to convince Douglas Honesdale to do away with him in a very permanent fashion.
Just as there were those who kept telling Watchman he should do that exact same thing to Honesdale. How many of them were playing both sides? That was a question he would soon be forced to answer, especially if he hoped to see his plans through to fruition.
“The political situation is unchanged. Harper has proven to be much more effective in carrying out his campaign promises than we expected. He also has shown an ability to get his policies through their Congress despite opposition from the other parties.” There was no sense in denying something Honesdale already knew. “He has managed to clean house on most of the standing committees, as well as in major governmental departments, and has put in place those who are not only loyal to him but how have, at least so far, shown no weaknesses we can exploit.
“However,” he continued Honesdale or either of the others also present could interrupt. “My sources that are still in place have confirmed that Fuercon is continuing do as we anticipated regarding the Callusians. They do not suspect that anyone might be helping the enemy. Because they have not realized there is more to the change in the Callusian tactics, they are continuing to fight the Callusians as they did in the previous war. That leaves them open to the next phase of our plan.”
“Good,” Honesdale commented in apparent satisfaction. “My only concern is whether they managed to secure any intelligence when they retook the Cassius System. Also, do we know who they took prisoner in the operation?”
“There should have been nothing in the data they seized when they retook the system that could lead them to us. Commander Hughes is too good of an officer to have downloaded anything into the system servers and we all know the Callusians will not admit they are getting help from anyone. It would be a loss of face in their warped way of looking at things to admit they couldn’t get the job done on their own.” At least he hoped his operative and the Callusians felt that way. His life and the entire plan depended on it.
“As for your question about prisoners, the Fuerconese have yet to release a list of those taken into custody. Part of that is because they have always played such things close to the vest. For another, they are leaving a lot of that sort of thing to the interim government.” He shook his head when one of the others started to say something. “However, it is my understanding that the Callusians had pulled most of their forces out of the system before the Fuerconese arrived. Anyone left behind would not be in a position to know of our involvement.”
“How confident of this are you?” Honesdale asked.
“I admit I would feel better if our Callusian allies had made sure no one from the Tarrant had survived. The possibility is slight they would have garnered any information during the short time they observed the invasion of the system before the ship was fired upon. However, survivors are a loose end and I have never liked loose ends.”
“What does your operative on Fuercon have to say?”
Watchman looked at Honesdale, wondering how much the man actually knew. “As I said, I dislike loose ends and she has become one.”
“You assured us she was the best for the job.” Honesdale spoke softly, almost casually. Not that it fooled Watchman. He knew the man believed it was almost time to make his move.
The fool!
“She was, or so I thought. Up until this mission, she has been the most reliable and most successful of my operatives. For whatever reason, she let this mission become personal. Her focus on Shaw distracted her from the big picture and she got careless. Just as she has been dealing with her own loose ends, I have taken steps to do so where she is concerned. Martyn Baudin has been dispatched to Fuercon with orders to make sure she does not become a problem for us.”
“Good,” Honesdale commented and others nodded in agreement. “Let’s move on to Commander Hughes’ latest report. If I remember correctly, he voiced some concerns over the situation onboard Anubis.”
“He does and I’m afraid his concerns are being repeated almost across the board by our other advisors on Callusian ships,” Watchman confirmed. “Callusian commanders have never been known for their military discipline. They are used to being able to do what they want, when they want as long as it doesn’t go against the general battle plan drawn up by their superiors. Hughes has hinted that Dorescu, the commander of the Anubis, has killed the other advisors. If so, then we have to face the very real possibility that Hughes’ life is in danger and his mission is in jeopardy.
“The only real concern I have is that the Callusian commanders will revert to the tactics they employed in the last war. If they do, the Fuerconese and their allies will, sooner or later, capture a ship and figure out what we have been up to.”
“What steps are you taking to make sure that doesn’t happen?” Salina Hatcher, the Assistant Secretary of War, asked.
For a moment, Watchman said nothing. If there was one person more of a danger to him than Honesdale it was Hatcher. T
he woman’s ambition was well known. She was not afraid to do whatever was necessary in her quest for power. Watchman knew she did not trust him. From the first time they met, she made it clear she would like nothing more than for him to disappear, along with his files. Not that it surprised Watchman, considering he had done just that to her father.
“I have sent orders to Hughes and the other advisors to make sure their ships do not fall into Fuerconese hands. Each of them were given – and should have installed – a failsafe code. If they have followed orders, they downloaded the code. Unless the Callusians know what to look for, they will never know it is there. The code is tied to that ship’s advisor. As long as the advisor lives, the code remains dormant. However, if the advisor dies, or if the advisor initiates the command sequence, the code will activate and the ship will self-destruct.”
“You are positive this is the best way to deal with the situation?” Honesdale asked.
“I am. We cannot run the risk that a few Callusian commanders might put our mission in jeopardy simply because they aren’t allowed to rape and pillage the way they want.”
“Very well.” Honesdale paused and pinned Watchman with a firm, penetrating look. “See to it that the advisors understand what they’re to do. I know I speak for the others when I say I want to know the moment Baudin arrives on Fuercon and then again when he completes his mission. When we next meet, we need to be prepared to discuss what their chances would be should we decide to go forward with Operation Kill Zone.”
“Agreed.” Watchman stood. “I would remind each of you that we had best be prepared to follow through with what we discuss here. We have committed treason by taking the steps we have so far. Any betrayal, any sign of weakness, will be met with swift – and fatal – consequences.”
With that, he left the room. As the door slid shut behind him, he swallowed hard. Once again, he had managed to keep Honesdale on his side. All he had to do was maintain the status quo until time to institute Operation Kill Zone. Then Honesdale and the others would learn why he had been so successful in a role that usually meant an early grave.
Honor from Ashes (Honor and Duty Book 3) Page 13
