by Jay Allan
"Don't be silly, sir." Cain began a sloppy salute, but Holm waved him off.
"Don't try to salute, son. I'd hate to have you hurt yourself." They all laughed. Cain was a notoriously poor saluter. Despite his exemplary record in the Corps, deep down he had a major resentment of authority, and it came through in his salutes. Fortunately, Holm had been his CO for quite some time, and the general didn't give a rat's ass whether Cain snapped him a sharp salute or not.
"Erik," Holm continued, "I really am sorry to disturb you both tonight, but I need to talk to you privately, and I figured even Captain Warren wasn't stupid enough to try and follow you here."
"I'll give the two of you a few minutes." Sarah smiled and started to walk toward the back room.
Holm put his hand on her shoulder as she moved by. "Stay. Private does not mean without you around." He paused and looked back at Erik. "It means without our minders listening in." She nodded and sat down quietly. "Erik," the general said, "there is something strange going on."
Cain frowned. "What gave you that idea? That we can't go to the head without a spy from WashBalt tagging along?" His voice was sarcastic, of course, but also serious and concerned.
Holm took a seat at the small table and motioned for Cain to sit as well. "It's more than just the political officers. I sent a message to General Samuels several days ago expressing my concern that the political officers have their own communication nets. It's an obvious security risk in an op. You know how tightly scrambled our communications are during a campaign. We have no idea about their networks...how they are secured, to whom they are connected."
Cain nodded. "You know I agree, sir." He looked disgusted. "These guys are a whole world of problems. Just like the cops back in the MPZ. Whatever you're worried about, I guarantee the truth is ten times worse."
Holm rubbed the back of his neck. It had been a long day. "I'm sure you are right, Erik, but that's not what's really bothering me. General Samuel's response was, well...strange. He didn't seem to see my point or have any real concern about the political officers. He dismissed my concerns rather abruptly. It almost felt like a reprimand for even bringing it up."
Cain looked surprised. Elias Holm was the great hero of the Corps, the man who'd commanded in every major victory of the last five years. He couldn't imagine anyone disregarding the general's concerns. "You think there is a problem with General Samuels? Maybe his transmissions are being watched."
"Or maybe someone is controlling him." Holm sounded uncomfortable even discussing such possibilities. "Could someone be exerting some type of influence over him in some way?"
Cain's expression was icy, focused. "I wouldn't put anything past our friends in Alliance Gov, sir." He paused, not sure if he should say what he was thinking. "General, I would not be surprised if the government made some sort of attempt to exert more control over the Corps. It's not like them to be comfortable until they control everything."
Holm looked troubled. He wasn't an overly trusting man, and he certainly wasn't naive, but he lacked Cain's deep cynicism. Erik Cain automatically assumed the worst, while Holm just allowed for it as a possibility. "Erik, the Charter has governed the relationship between the Corps and Alliance Gov for a century. Do you really think they want to destroy that now?"
Cain hesitated again. This was a dangerous conversation. But he was alone with the two people he trusted most in all of human-occupied space. "Yes." He paused to emphasize the definitiveness of his answer. "I think they want us to win the war, certainly. But look around you when you leave here. Do you realize how large and powerful the Corps has become? There were 280 of us on my first assault, from two small ships. The last time there were 45,000 of us. I think we've become too big for their comfort."
"But the Corps has never given reason for concern." Holm was still trying to temper Cain's pessimistic view.
"Sir..." Erik cleared his throat and shifted his weight in the seat. "These politicians...their minds work in a different way. The whole system was set up for them, to keep them in a position of power and privilege. And they see threats to that everywhere. It's not that they think the Corps is a threat; it's that they think it could become one."
"As much as the Corps has grown," Holm replied, "it's not like we're capable of invading Earth and seizing power. We're still dependent on them for support, industry...almost everything."
Cain's eyes narrowed. "An ambitious Marine commandant and a cooperative fleet admiral could set themselves up as rulers on the Rim. That's how the politicians see it. Because that is what they would do if they were able." He paused and looked right into Holm's eyes. "You and Admiral Garret could probably do it. Don't fool yourself...they think of you both as threats."
Holm snorted. "That's crazy. I'm just a Marine, and I do my duty. I'd never do something like that. And neither would Garret."
"I'm saying that's how they think, sir." Never say never, Erik thought as well, but that he kept to himself. "I spent six months alongside these people when you sent me back to Earth. Their sense of entitlement is something we can't even understand. They hate and fear anything that threatens their order." Cain waved his arm, motioning upward. "These colonies...have you ever seen anything on any of them that is even remotely similar to how the Cogs live on Earth? There is a different culture out here, and some of these politicians - the smart ones - are starting to realize they are not going to be able to push the colonists around as easily as they do the folks back Earthside. They're figuring they are going to have to stomp them eventually, and the last thing they want to worry about is which side the Corps is going to choose when that happens."
"When?" Holm looked startled. "Do you really think it's inevitable?"
Cain let out a sigh. "I don't know what I think, sir. But I know it is possible, probably likely." That was a lie. Erik knew in his heart he was right. "The last few years I've thought a lot about the day we get an order to start killing our own people."
"He's right, sir." Sarah had been sitting quietly, just listening. Now her voice wavered with emotion. "My family was destroyed because of the whim of a politician's son. They will take whatever they want, and they will destroy anyone who gets in their way. It may have been opportunistic when the system was initially created, but now these people believe they are entitled to behave this way. If the worlds out here resist any directives from Earth, Alliance Gov will try to crush them. No other response would even occur to them."
Cain and the general both turned to look over at Sarah. She sat in the edge of the chair, her eyes moist with memories of old pain. Erik knew just what she had gone through before she'd found her way to the Corps, and he rose from his seat and walked over to stand next to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Holm looked down at the floor, thinking about everything they had discussed. Finally he took a deep breath and stood up. "I don't know what is going on, and I certainly don't know what is going to happen. If General Samuels is being blackmailed or coerced in some way, we have a major problem...one I don't know how to address."
Erik and Sarah listened quietly, the side of her faced pressed against his arm as he stood next to her. He looks very sad, Erik thought to himself. He wants to believe better of things; he wants to be positive, but he's realizing the truth. Cain was sympathetic, though he did not share the general's emotions. He had never believed in anything except the Corps and generally expected the worst from people outside that sphere.
"We're not going to solve this problem today, but I think we need to be careful moving forward." Holm spoke slowly, deliberatively, as if he didn't want to say what he knew he had to. "We need to be able to communicate with each other without the political officers being aware of it. Erik, I want you to help me put together a list together of officers you think should be part of this discussion. If something crazy happens, I want more than one or two of us in the loop."
Erik thought for a minute. "Jax, of course. And Anne Delacorte." He paused briefly again then rattled off several
additional suggestions. Finally, he added, "How about the division commanders? They've been with you a long while."
"Yes, I will have to speak with them. Honestly, if someone is coercing General Samuels, they could target another senior officer as well." He paused, clearly uncomfortable with the entire conversation. "I need to know if anything out of the ordinary is going on in I Corps."
Cain rubbed his face with his hand. "General..." He paused until Holm looked over at him. "You know I'm very concerned about Alliance Gov and the future. But not about I Corps. Every man and woman in this outfit is 100% on the team. I am sure of that." He made a face. "Except these damned political officers. How are we going to communicate with them following us around everywhere? There's no way we're going to get two or three senior commanders together without at least one of their babysitters coming along."
Holm twisted his lips into a troubled expression and looked over at Sarah. "We need a go between. Someone the officers can speak with who can relay messages. Sarah? I hate to involve you in this, but you would be perfect. You'll need to consult with them all regarding medical staffing for their units anyway, and that's just the kind of insignificant thing the political officers will ignore. And they don't seem to have assigned political officers to medical staff. You can transmit messages back and forth."
Cain opened his mouth to speak, but Sarah motioned for him to wait. "General, I'm already involved in it. I'm a Marine, and the only people in the universe I care about are in it too. Whatever I can do, I will."
Erik looked down, into her eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Erik, love, if those people have their way and turn these colonies into replicas of Earth, what place is there for you and me? For any of us? You more than anyone should know I would do anything to stop that."
"Thank you, Sarah." Holm's voice was warm and genuinely appreciative. "It's just about secure communications...a precaution until we can figure out what is going on." He looked over at Cain. "Erik, before I get the hell out of here and give you two some privacy, I wanted to ask you about Carson's World. Privately. You fought there, didn't you?"
Cain turned to face the general. "Yes, general. It was my first assault. I'm afraid I was paying more attention to not tripping over my own feet than checking the place out. What do you want to know?"
Holm exhaled loudly. "Can you think of any reason the place is worth all this effort? It's one transit off a dead end, and it's not even populated anymore."
"Not really, sir." His brow was furrowed as he tried to remember his first assault. It seemed so long ago. "The locals fought like hell; they really impressed me. It's a shame what ended up happening there." He paused again. "The place was a pretty successful mining operation, but nothing all that irreplaceable."
"That's what I figured." There was definite concern on Holm's face. "Someone has a reason to send a force as large as I Corps to a seeming backwater. I keep thinking abo..."
"There was one thing!" Cain had spoken with startled recollection then realized he'd interrupted the general. "Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to interrupt."
"C'mon, Erik." Holm flashed a grin. "You've got to know me better than that by now. If you have something useful to say just tell me the shut the hell up and say it!"
Cain nodded. "Well, sir, I don't know what it means, but the CAC troops were using gas to hunt down the militia. Back then the locals really didn't have much protective gear, and the nerve gas was pretty effective. Remember this was before the war was even official, and way before it went nuclear." Cain closed his eyes and paused for a few seconds, thinking. "I remember how surprised the experienced guys were. There were some unwritten rules in those prewar skirmishes, and not using gas was one of them. When the battle was over and some of the CAC troopers tried to surrender, we just shot them down. I remember how odd it seemed that they would use that kind of weapon on a backwater raid. They had to know it meant no quarter if things went bad." He looked quizzically at the general. "Why were they so desperate to finish off the militia? It's not like the locals could have held out that much longer anyway. What was so urgent?"
They stood there silently for a few seconds. "Whatever it was," Holm finally said, "I suspect it is the same thing at work here. I wasn't in the chain of command for the op you were in back then, but I remember the reports that the CAC had raided Epsilon Eridani IV." He snorted. "I guess 'raid' was what we called an attack before the politicians made the war official. I fought in half a dozen of those 'raids,' and the responses to them, and when my troops got shot they were just as dead. I wonder if they felt better or worse in their last minutes because we weren't really at war." He looked down at the table, lost for a moment in old thoughts, then he shook his head. "I'm getting off subject. As I was saying, I remember being surprised that the CAC went after EE-4, especially before hostilities had widened. It's not really strategic to them at all. It seemed very random, just like it does now." Another pause. "There's something about all of this we just don't know. But someone does. Is that General Samuels, I wonder? Or someone who is pulling his strings?"
Cain sighed. "I don't know, sir. But I guess we're going to find out."
General Holm put his hands on the arms of the chair and slowly rose. "I guess you're right, Erik. We can overthink this right now. Let's take things a step at a time." He walked toward the door. "But I think the war just got a lot more complicated."
"Yes, sir. I think so too.”
Holm walked up to the door and motioned for the AI to open it. He turned back and smiled. "Well, I've intruded here far too long. You two have better things to do than discuss government plots with me." And with that he slipped out into the night.
Chapter 11
Marine Earthside HQ
Camp Puller
Near New Houston, Texas
General Raphael Samuels walked down the long corridor to his office, his polished boots clicking loudly on the bare steel floor. The spotless white walls were sleek and utilitarian, the framed oil paintings of past Commandants the only concession to decoration. He wore a crisply-pressed gray duty uniform, with silver braid around the collar and four platinum stars on each shoulder. Samuels was a full general, second in command of the Marine Corps, and he was usually surrounded by a cluster of orderlies and assistants. But now he was alone, and the outer office was deserted, the staff very deliberately sent away on various errands.
He barked at the AI to open his private office, and he walked in quickly, the door sliding shut behind him. His office was large and luxurious, as would be expected for the workspace of so lofty and celebrated an officer. The furniture was all antique, which was mildly anachronistic alongside the sleek walls and banks of computer equipment. He walked around the expensive, carved wood desk and dropped hard into the massive black leather chair. The seat creaked slightly under his great bulk - Samuels was a big man, tall and broad shouldered, and in the years since he'd last donned armor and crawled into a landing craft he'd put on considerable weight. Leaning back in the chair, he sighed and ran his hand through his mop of hair, mostly gray now, with just a few strands of black remaining.
He glanced at the chronometer. Ten more minutes, he thought, as he turned his chair and looked out the large window at the massive Marine reservation sprawling out before him. The modern Corps - the spaceborne Corps - had been a huge experiment. In the early days, battles were small and strike forces operated independently, far from any reinforcements or support. It took a certain type of individual to excel in those types of campaigns.
The system created was unorthodox, but it actually worked. Recruiting misfits, square pegs who weren't able to find their round hole in terrestrial society, produced a breed of rugged, independent, and resourceful soldiers. But the real surprise was the psychological effect of providing a place in the world for this cadre of troublemakers, which forged a tremendous loyalty and esprit de corps. Where one might have expected indiscipline and rebelliousness, there was excellence and morale. Because their officers were all plu
cked from the same gutters, and had all donned powered armor and made their first assault as privates, there was a strong connection between the enlisted men and their commanders. Any private could rise all the way to a general's stars based solely on merit. This was virtually the opposite of normal Alliance society, where birth or patronage was required for any advancement. Marines have traditionally been rabidly loyal to the Corps, which was the only home, the only parent, many of them had ever known.
Times were changing, though. In the First Frontier War there were operations were a single platoon was dispatched on a mission, and the lieutenant in command was the only officer deployed...the only officer within light years. There were battles where senior privates ended up in command, yet in virtually all cases the units were still able to function. The tooth to tail ratio in these early conflicts was astonishingly low for a high tech fighting force.
But man's presence in space had expanded massively, and the wars he fought to preserve and expand that foothold had grown as well. Today's campaigns had become substantial affairs, with taskforces of warships and combined arms on the ground. Samuels had lived these changes. He'd been a private once, a lifetime ago. He'd come up in the years just after the First Frontier War, and despite the formal peace there was still plenty of fighting to do back then. He still remembered his first assault, the fear, the anticipation, the determination to become a real part of the unit. Oddly, what he recalled most vividly was how cold the launch bay was when he was squeezing his naked body into his armor. There were about 100 troops in that assault, and they were transported to the target world on a single unescorted ship.
