Spoils of War

by Terry Mixon

  Anders considered her suggestion for a few seconds and then nodded. “Helm, adjust our course as much as you can without being obvious about it. I don’t want to seem like we’re taking too great an interest in the gas giant, but any additional reduction in distance that we can achieve is going to help our passive scanners pull in more information about it.

  “Without raising anybody’s suspicions too much, let’s go find out what the hell’s going on.”

  “I think I’d better head back and join the rest of the marines,” Grace said. “I should’ve already told them to stand down. If it turns out that we’re going to need to fight in the next several hours, we need to take a break before that happens.”

  “Good idea,” Anders agreed. “I should’ve thought of that myself. My apologies. Go get your people in order, and let’s find out what the hell we’re dealing with.”

  25

  One Twenty-Four remained in the mess, talking with Kayden Harmon, for almost an hour. Despite his stated dislike of her, the man was chatty, and their talk veered off onto a number of tangents. He seemed just as curious about her as she was about him.

  Honestly, their conversation was less about her new circumstances and more about getting to know one another. As they spoke, she could see him relaxing and becoming more comfortable in her presence. In turn, she became more used to him as well.

  Considering that he was only the third person she’d spoken with at any length outside the crèche, she thought things went very well.

  Even as they spoke, she continued to worry about the issue that had drawn Grace away. In the end, she was forced to put the entire situation out of her mind and focus on her interactions with Kayden. Building that relationship was of great long-term importance and deserved her complete attention.

  When their rambling talk finally drew to a close, the man rose and gestured for her to accompany him. “I think we’ve gotten to know one another as well as we can for the moment. I should take you to Sergeant Na so that she can get on with giving you that lesson you’ve been looking forward to.”

  She cocked her head slightly as she stood. “How do you know that I’ve been looking forward to it?”

  He chuckled. “You’ve been fidgeting. I think that subconsciously you’ve been looking forward to getting back to someone that you know better than me. I fully understand that, and I’m not offended.

  “We’ve made progress, and you should be proud of what we’ve accomplished. Over the next several weeks, we’ll have plenty of time to discuss the Singularity, the ruling caste, and the Empire. Trust me when I say they have their own set of flaws and weaknesses, and that their nobles can be just as arrogant, though they have limits on how much raw power that they wield.”

  She didn’t argue. She’d have the rest of her life to learn about those things.

  Even after speaking with him, she still didn’t know Kayden very well and wasn’t certain about his ultimate intentions. That continued to make things awkward between them, but she expected her feelings toward him would improve with time and exposure.

  The one person she did trust—so far as she trusted anyone—was Fei. She wasn’t sure why, but the woman engendered a sense of safety in her. It was probably illusory, but she wasn’t going to reject that relationship out of hand simply because she thought it was all in her head.

  The two of them walked out of the mess, and he led her to the part of the ship that the marines were using. When they arrived, they found all of them dressed in armor and performing tasks that centered around weapons.

  That certainly wasn’t a good sign.

  It only took a few seconds for Fei to spot them. “Thank you, Kayden. I’ll take care of her now. You should probably go to the bridge. There are a couple of destroyers coming toward us. We don’t know that they’re going to interact with us, but if they do, we should have a fluent speaker of the tongue ready to answer.”

  He shook his head slightly. “They won’t need me, since they have fluent speakers of their own. If someone demands to speak to the captain, and they know who I am, I’ll go up and perform my function.

  “My place right now is in engineering, making sure that I keep an ear on what’s happening and that the ship continues to function as designed.”

  Fei raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were a merchant, not an engineer.”

  The man grinned, showing a lot of white teeth. “I’m a man of many talents. I began my career as an engineer, and I still think that I’m a damned good one. Being able to trade and haggle over cargo has made me a lot of money, but it’s not as enjoyable as fixing something that’s not working the way it should.

  “In any case, I’ll leave you to your business. Good luck, Sergeant. Andrea.”

  Fei watched Kayden walk out of the compartment before turning to One Twenty-Four. “So, what am I going to do with you, Little One? We might be in for a fight before very much longer. Perhaps I should complete your transformation and fit you with armor.

  “Not that I intend to let you fight unless things go very badly, but it might be best to make sure that you’re fully protected. You’re already wearing a skinsuit, and I have your complete measurements, so it’s not going to take very long to get you outfitted.”

  One Twenty-Four felt her heart skip a beat. Even though she wasn’t looking forward to further conflict, the idea of being able to defend herself sounded good. And she had to admit that she was curious about the process of being fitted for armor and how the weapons were used.

  As Fei led her over to some formed containers at the side of the room, she ventured a question. “How likely is a fight?”

  The woman shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s better to be prepared than to be surprised, so let’s assume that we will.”

  “Then it will be good that I’m ready to fight,” One Twenty-Four said, deciding on boldness. “If the Singularity boards this ship, my life is just as forfeit as yours. I will try to stop as many of them as I can.”

  That made the woman smile. “Excellent. Marines run toward a fight, not away from it. It’s best we die in action and not like sheep.”

  “What’s a sheep?” One Twenty-Four asked with a frown. “Never mind. It’s just one more thing that I’ll need to look up later.”

  Fei laughed and started pulling pieces of armor out of one of the containers. It didn’t take long to get her ready. Having One Twenty-Four’s measurements must’ve made the process easier.

  When they were done, One Twenty-Four stood there with a helmet tucked under her arm and outfitted with armor just like Fei.

  The marine nodded approvingly. “Now, let’s look at weapons. It won’t do you much good to give you a stunner, because any boarders are going to be armored as well. That means I need to outfit you with flechette weapons. I think you’ll need both a pistol and a rifle.

  “You’re not to use either one of them unless I explicitly order you to do so or someone is shooting at you. Is that understood?”

  One Twenty-Four nodded. “Only use the weapons you give me if I have no choice. Understood.”

  Fei walked her over to another container and pulled out a pistol. “This weapon is deceptively simple to use. This small lever on the side is the safety. Whenever it’s in the upward position, the weapon cannot fire. When you flick it down, it can.

  “Once we put it into your holster, you are not to remove it unless you intend to shoot someone or I tell you to. Don’t even put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to fire the weapon. Clear?”

  One Twenty-Four nodded. “Yes.”

  Fei gripped the weapon and rubbed her thumb on a button where it sat on the grip. “This release is how you drop an empty magazine. The flechettes inside are not infinite. When you squeeze the trigger, you will fire one flechette. When the weapon sounds a tone, you’ll know that it’s empty, and you must eject the magazine and replace it with a full one.”

  She pressed the button, and a part of the weapon at the base of the grip fell away. Fei exten
ded the magazine toward One Twenty-Four. The interior of it was filled with flechettes similar to the one that she’d seen pulled from Grace’s back. Only these were sharp and lethal looking but embedded in some kind of clear gel.

  “What is this stuff the flechettes are in?” One Twenty-Four asked. “What purpose does it serve?”

  “That’s called a discarding sabot. It stabilizes the flechette as it is fired but comes off before it strikes its target.

  “Just leave any empty magazines where they fall. As one would expect, the sharp part of the flechettes goes toward the front of the weapon. The magazine won’t fit if you try to put it in backward, but that will waste time when you’ll probably have none to spare.

  “Slide it in and push it up until you hear a click. That’s how you know that the magazine is completely seated. The weapon will know that it can fire again as soon as you’ve completed that action, and you can once more begin shooting at the enemy.

  “Do you have any questions about the pistol?”

  When One Twenty-Four shook her head, Fei gave her the weapon and made her eject the magazine several times and reinsert it so that she could become used to the process.

  The pistol felt strangely heavy and more than a bit awkward in her hands. It was made for someone larger than she was, and it was difficult to grip. She needed two hands to be certain that she didn’t drop it.

  It felt a bit frightening to hold something that she could use to end someone else’s life. If she’d had a pistol like this when Thirty-One had attacked her, she could’ve ended the girl with almost a thought. That was a lot of power to hold over others. It was sobering.

  Once Fei was satisfied that One Twenty-Four understood how the pistol worked, she took it from her and slid it into the holster on One Twenty-Four’s upper leg.

  “I want you to slowly pull the pistol out of the holster and extend it toward that bulkhead over there. Keep your finger off the trigger and move both slowly and carefully. I want you to get used to the idea of extending the weapon before you’re ready to fire. Watch me.”

  Fei dropped her hand to her own pistol and slowly drew it. She brought her other hand up to wrap around the one she had gripping the weapon, raised the weapon to her chest with the barrel pointing toward the bulkhead she’d indicated, and then extended both of her arms.

  “Pay close attention to how I have my feet positioned. Your stance is important for your stability even though the weapon has almost no recoil. You’re the aiming platform, after all.

  “Now, see how I never let the barrel point at anything that I’m not willing to shoot? You need to do the same. Accidents happen, even in training, and if you make certain that your weapon is never pointed at another person, you can’t accidentally shoot them.”

  Under Fei’s close direction, One Twenty-Four drew her pistol and extended it just like she’d been shown. The woman had her do it several times and corrected how she was holding it, the position of her hands, and how she was standing.

  When the woman was satisfied, she grinned. “If we make it through this, we’ll set up a firing range and have you get in some practice with a live weapon. That’s the only way to really get comfortable with one.”

  That done, Fei had One Twenty-Four holster her pistol while she retrieved a rifle like the one that hung from around her own neck and laid it on the table. She explained all the features of the weapon as if she’d done it many times before.

  The rifle was similar in function to the pistol. Other than its size, the major difference was that it had a setting to fire multiple flechettes with one pull of the trigger. Thankfully, its magazine was also significantly larger to support that kind of output.

  Fei demonstrated how the weapon was held with the stock pressed against her shoulder and the end of the barrel aimed at where the enemy would be. Like the pistol, there was a sighting mechanism that had a red dot. So long as one looked down the barrel, it was visible. If the weapon was turned slightly, the dot vanished.

  “Think of your weapon like the ultimate point-and-click interface,” Fei said. “The sight is smart enough to be able to determine the range and adjust for the flight characteristics of the ammunition, so all you have to do is put the dot where you want to hit and squeeze the trigger. These weapons don’t have any recoil to speak of, so don’t yank it, or you’re going to jerk your weapon off the target.”

  Just as Fei was hanging the weapon around One Twenty-Four’s neck, Grace walked into the compartment. She took one look at them and grinned. “Don’t you look like a proper little marine?”

  “I thought it best for her to be ready to fight if that’s what it came down to,” Fei said.

  “You’ll get no argument from me. Luckily, it looks like we’re not going to need to right now. The destroyers passed us by, and we’re safely into the next system. We’re not quite free and clear just yet, but we’ve got some breathing room. Stand everyone down.”

  Fei nodded and began giving orders to the marines, who started stripping off their weapons and armor.

  Grace took One Twenty-Four by the elbow and guided her back toward where Fei had gotten the weapons. She gave One Twenty-Four virtually the same set of instructions on how to treat the weapons as she took them away, separated the ammunition from the weapons themselves, and stored everything away.

  One Twenty-Four thought that was amusing, but it never hurt to hear safety instructions more than once. Getting another chance to do things correctly the first time was worthwhile.

  Once the weapons were put away, Grace helped her strip out of her armor until she stood in her skinsuit. By that time, Fei had finished giving instructions to the marines, shucked her own armor, and rejoined them.

  “What would you have done if it had come to fighting?” Grace asked One Twenty-Four seriously.

  “My life is forfeit in the Singularity, so I would’ve done whatever was required to survive. It benefits me to make certain that the marines survive as well, since they’re protecting me.”

  “That’s very well thought out,” Grace said approvingly. “Now that we’ve got a little bit of time, I think we should show you the helmet footage of Anne Marie’s death. It will be difficult to watch, but it’s important that you know what it means to be an Imperial Marine.”

  One Twenty-Four nodded and followed the two of them as they left the room. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to see someone dying, but everyone attached such importance to the act that the woman had performed that she felt as if she had no choice.

  Both Grace and Fei were prominent in her new life, and they were Imperial Marines. If she wanted to understand them and perhaps even begin to think about the universe in the same way that they did, she needed to see this recording, no matter how ugly it was.

  26

  Grace’s plan fell apart five seconds after they exited the compartment where the marines had just finished divesting themselves of weapons and armor. She’d just made it into the corridor when the overhead speakers came to life again.

  “Grace and Kayden, I need you both in the wardroom,” Anders said. “Grace, there’s no need to stand your marines back up. I think we know what we’re dealing with, and I want to get everyone briefed.”

  It annoyed her that, once again, duty had pulled her away from Andrea when she’d tried to connect with her. If things kept on at this rate, maybe Fei would make a better guardian than her.

  No, that was just her frustration talking. This had been a busy couple of days, and she just needed to remember that they had the rest of their lives to figure this out. Once they got out of the Singularity, things would calm down. For a little while, anyway.

  “I’d best go see what this is all about,” she said with a growl. “Fei, take Andrea somewhere quiet and show her the vid. If you’d explain what it means to us, I’d appreciate it.”

  She squatted so that her eyes were closer to Andrea’s. “I wanted to be there for you, and I’m sorry that I can’t be.”

  “I understand that thes
e circumstances aren’t of your making,” the girl said earnestly. “It’s your job to keep everyone safe. We can talk about the vid later.”

  Grace found herself smiling slightly at the girl’s word choices. They made her sound older than she was.

  While Grace could understand the tongue well enough, she knew that her pronunciation made her sound like an imbecile. Sadly, she was going to have to spend years getting better at speaking the girl’s native language to better bond with her. It was going to be far easier teaching Andrea how to speak Standard, she suspected.

  “I’m still sorry,” Grace said seriously. “You deserve my full attention. Hopefully, whatever this is isn’t too serious, and I’ll be back down shortly. If not, I’ll find you when I can.”

  Grace rose and headed toward the wardroom without waiting for a response.

  She ran into Kayden right outside the wardroom hatch, but before she could say anything to him, the hatch opened, and Anders gestured for them both to come in.

  The cramped table already held Kyle and the man who’d been operating the scanners on the bridge earlier. Once Anders had resumed his seat at the head of the table, Grace sat down beside Kayden and focused her attention on the captain.

  “Evan here believes he knows what we’re dealing with,” Anders said, gesturing at the young officer.

  The earnest young man looked odd with blond hair falling down to his shoulders. She thought he’d look a lot better with a standard Fleet haircut. Despite his civilian appearance, his voice was professional.

  “To bring Mister Harmon up to speed, we’ve detected an active military-grade scanner signature around the innermost gas giant in the Lyteara system. The source is trailing just behind the commercial hydrogen collection orbital.

  “We’ve only been able to use passive scanners, so the data is more nebulous than I’d prefer, but it’s not a Singularity warship. Also, the frequencies used don’t precisely match Fleet either, though they’re close.”

  The man tapped his slate, and the small screen set into the wall came to life. It displayed an image of a ship. Grace wasn’t familiar with many of the vessels used by Fleet, so she didn’t immediately grasp what she was looking at.