Fire from Ashes

by Sam Schall

  “Doing the same to a senior officer, Ma’am.”

  Elizabeth pursed her lips and studied her daughter for a moment. She’d seen the younger woman look worse but not by much, at least not short of seeing her after battle. Worse, she saw the anger still lurking in Ashlyn’s eyes and it reminded her of the near stranger Ash had been when she finally returned to Fuercon after those two long years spent in the penal colony on Tarsus.

  “Would you care to explain?”

  “Begging the General’s pardon but no, Ma’am.”

  The look on Ashlyn’s face reminded Elizabeth of when Ash had been younger and didn’t want to answer. Too bad. This wasn’t a mother-daughter moment but a military one, something Ashlyn needed to remember, and sooner rather than later.

  “That wasn’t a request.” She leaned back and crossed her legs, waiting. When Ashlyn continued to stare at a point somewhere above her head, her expression impassive but her eyes aflame with anger, Elizabeth fought the urge to sigh. Instead, climbed to her feet and moved around the desk to stand in front of her daughter. “I am not in the mood to put up with this sort of behavior, Ashlyn. The last thing I need is the CO of my Spec Ops battalion being insubordinate. What you have to understand is the proverbial shit has hit the fan and I need Lt. Colonel Shaw, not my daughter acting like a sulking, teenaged brat. Put whatever is bothering you away and start acting like the Marine I know you are.”

  Ash inhaled sharply. Her mouth thinned in an attempt not to respond. Elizabeth took note, relieved the younger woman hadn’t let her anger take control.

  “Colonel, we have ten minutes before we are to meet with the Commandant. That is why I came looking for you. Imagine my surprise when I discovered you had walked out of a briefing of your company commanders without explanation and hadn’t returned. All Lance Corporal Connery would say when questioned is that you received a comm and you had dismissed her with instructions for Major Laboe to take over the briefing.” She paused and checked the time. “You have exactly two minutes to tell me what upset you so much you abandoned a briefing that could be instrumental to the Devil Dogs returning to the front lines and came here to beat droids to death instead.”

  For a moment, Ashlyn said nothing. Then she reached into the pocket at the left thigh of her MARPATs. A moment later, she handed her datapad to her mother. “Permission to clean up before meeting with the Commandant?”

  “Negative.” Elizabeth checked the last message logged into the datapad and frowned. Recognizing the signature, she had all the confirmation she needed to know why her daughter acted as she had. She also knew how lucky they were Ashlyn had exercised enough restraint that she only destroyed a couple of droids instead of the real target of her anger. She glanced to where her daughter once again stood ramrod straight and sighed softly. “Take that stick out of your ass, daughter mine, and relax. You aren’t in trouble and I will make sure the Commandant understands — assuming she doesn’t already. But, when we meet with her, I have two orders for you. First, you are to let her see this message. I’m assuming Lucinda said something to set you off and, knowing you, it means you know she and the Warlords aren’t getting the support they needed.”

  For a moment, Ash said nothing. Elizabeth watched the internal struggle play out across her daughter’s expression. “Mom, it’s more than that. She thinks they were betrayed, much as my people were on Arterus.”

  Elizabeth inhaled sharply as her own anger built. “All right. Then don’t hedge with the Commandant. Tell her everything. Let her see this and answer her questions, all of them.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “Second, you are to do nothing to clean up except put your blouse on and wipe away as much of the blood as you can with this.” She tossed a mini-first aid kit to Ash, watching as the young woman caught it with one hand. “I want the Commandant to see how this impacted you and, by extension, how it will impact the rest of the Devil Dogs and the Corps.”

  “Understood, Ma’am.” Ash opened the kit and produced a packet not much larger than her thumb. A moment later, she tore it open and pulled out a medicated tissue. “May I ask a question?”

  “If you can do so and get into your blouse in the next minute.”

  “Why do you look as angry as I feel?”

  Elizabeth chuckled softly. Ashlyn always knew when something bothered her. “Because I received a message from Admiral O’Malley relaying much the same information I assume Lucinda sent you.”

  The fact O’Malley contacted her about his suspicions told her how serious things must be for the taskforce. Hearing how Lucinda Ortega had contacted Ashlyn with much the same information, she knew something needed to be done. It might be too late for the members of the taskforce, but they had to try.

  Ashlyn tossed the tissue into the recycler and reached for her blouse. As she slid into it, Elizabeth got to her feet. A moment later, she deactivated the security shield and the door slid open. A small smile touched her lips to see the sergeant major continuing to “educate” the other Marines on what they had failed to do earlier. She had no doubt he could continue for the next half hour without pausing for a breath. However, she felt sure he had made his point and it was time to move on.

  “Sergeant Major Kaplan, on me,” she said as she and Ashlyn moved across the gym toward the outer corridor. “We will see this through, Ash,” she continued softly once they stepped into the lift at the far end of the corridor. “I promise.”

  Ashlyn drew a deep breath and nodded, her expression grim. She wanted to believe her mother but, after the events of the last few years, it was hard. All she knew for certain was she would do everything Lucinda asked, even if it was the last thing she did. Until then, she would make sure those responsible for betraying her friend and the others never had another good night’s sleep.

  The lift came to a stop and Ash winced slightly. For the first time, she felt each ache and pain from her workout. Workout! She almost snorted in a mixture of amusement and disgust. After apologizing to Connery, she owed her mother a thank you. From the way she hurt, she had no doubt if she’d continue trying to destroy sparring droids much longer, she would have wound up on the losing side. As it was, she knew she’d be paying Medical a visit before the end of the day.

  A few minutes later, they were shown into General Helen Okafor’s private office. The sergeant major peeled off at the door. As he did, he pulled his comm and Ash had a feeling he was contacting Lance Corporal Connery. Better Connery, she knew, than Talbot. Not that it would save her from the Master Gunnery Sergeant for long.

  Ash shook herself as she and her mother stopped in front of Okafor’s desk and braced to attention. The Commandant of the Fuerconese Marine Corps took a moment to study them. The only indication she gave of any sort of reaction to Ashlyn’s appearance was the slight narrowing of her dark eyes. Then she put them at their ease and motioned for them to be seated.

  “I don’t have much time,” Okafor began as she leaned back in her chair. “You said it was urgent, Liz.”

  Ashlyn relaxed slightly at the general’s use of her mother’s given name. Something like this was easier done without protocol and rules. Not much but some. Better yet, her mother had the task of being the one to initiate the discussion. That gave Ash a few moments at least to gather her thoughts and try to sound like a seasoned officer and not someone out for blood. Although, just then, she’d gladly resign her commission for a few minutes alone with those responsible for the current situation.

  “Ma’am, I’m afraid both Ash and I had a situation dropped in our laps earlier.”

  Okafor tilted her head to one side and one brow arched in question. “I take it this situation has nothing to do with the Warlords.”

  “That would be correct, Ma’am.” Much as Ashlyn had done earlier, Elizabeth reached into a pocket and produced her datapad. “I had a message waiting for me from Admiral O’Malley when I reported for duty this morning. What he had to say is more than a little disturbing. I later discovered Ash had re
ceived much the same information from Lt. Colonel Ortega.”

  As she spoke, Elizabeth leaned forward and placed her datapad on Okafor’s desk. For a moment, Okafor said nothing. Then she reached for it and played the message Elizabeth had queued up.

  “Liz, I am breaking more rules than I can count right now but I don’t give a damn.”

  Admiral O’Malley’s image appeared on the holo-screen behind Okafor’s desk. The general swiveled in her chair to face the screen. As she did, Ashlyn focused on the image. O’Malley appeared to be seated in his ready room. He looked as tired and worn as Ortega had. More telling were the alerts coming over the ship’s comms system. Requests for damage control teams followed by calls for medics filled the air. Ashlyn had no doubt each one weighed ever more heavily on O’Malley.

  “Our mission has been FUBARed from the beginning. I swear the enemy knows our plans before we do. The taskforce has been hard hit since our arrival in-system. The enemy was waiting for us. Worse, they knew exactly where we’d translate in. If that wasn’t bad enough, they seemed to know where our Marines would land and what their targets were.” He paused and ran a hand over his face. When he looked up again, his eyes were haunted. “Liz, I’ve repeatedly asked for reinforcements and haven’t heard anything back. I know you can’t do anything about the Navy side of things but why, for the love of God, haven’t the Marines sent reinforcements? Ortega’s sent a good half dozen requests and each one has been denied – or ignored.

  “Liz, I’ve lost two ships already. Others are damaged, several badly. There are more dead and wounded than uninjured. Thanks to our Marines, we currently hold the system but for how long? If the enemy manages to regroup or, worse, get reinforcements, we won’t be able to hold out. We need help. I know I’m asking you to pull strings and call in favors. Please, don’t let the bastards win.”

  O’Malley’s message ended, and silence hung heavily in the office. A moment later, Okafor turned away from the holo-screen. When she did, Ash swallowed hard. The general, usually so unflappable, looked ready to go to battle. In possible, she looked angrier than Ashlyn felt.

  “I take it there’s more.” It wasn’t a question so much as an acknowledgement of something she would rather not know.

  “Yes, Ma’am.” Ashlyn leaned forward and handed Okafor her own datapad, Lucinda’s message queued up to play.

  “I assume this is why you look like you just fought a Callusian regiment on your own, Ashlyn,” Okafor said a few minutes later as she handed back the datapad. Ashlyn nodded. “How many droids did you destroy this time?” A faint trace of a smile touched her lips.

  “One. My mother arrived before I could finish off the second.”

  “Not that it won’t need time in maintenance before anyone else uses it,” Elizabeth put in. Then she stood, serious again, and Ashlyn followed suit. “I thought you needed to know, Ma’am.”

  For a moment, Okafor said nothing. Instead, she stared past her visitors. Then she motioned for them to resume their seats. As she did, her eyes flashed with anger. Hoping it wasn’t aimed at either of them as the bearers of bad news, Ash waited for her mother to sit and then she followed suit.

  “Thank you, I did need to know.” Okafor paused long enough to signal her aide, asking for coffee for the three them. Then she stood and moved across her office. For a long moment, she stared out the window. When she turned, her expression was, if possible, more troubled than before. “It is also why I didn’t put you off when you said we needed to meet this morning, Liz. You’re not the only ones to have received messages about the Warlords.” Now she looked at Ash, smiling ruefully, began to rub the knuckles of her left hand. “If you checked my gym, you’d find another droid needing a visit to Maintenance.”

  “And?” Elizabeth prompted. Then she winced, and Ash smiled slightly. It wasn’t often her mother forgot herself, even in a supposedly informal meeting with a senior officer. “Ma’am, isn’t this a discussion you should be having with SecDiv’s CO?”

  “Trust me, I will be.” She waited until her aide placed a tray with a carafe and three mugs on her desk. A moment later the young man left the office, the door sliding closed behind him. “However, my immediate concerns about the Warlords and how best to help them include the two of you.”

  “Ma’am?” Ash frowned, not following Okafor’s train of thought.

  Okafor moved to pour coffee for each of them. As she did, Ashlyn could almost see the general’s mental wheels turning. What that meant for First Division, and specifically for the Devil Dogs, she didn’t know but she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach she wasn’t going to like it.

  Okafor leaned a hip against the edge of her desk and blew out a breath. Whatever mental battle she’d been waging with herself, she had come to a conclusion.

  “For the moment, we’re off the record.” She waited until they both nodded. “Liz, has O’Malley voiced any of these concerns before now?”

  “No. That’s why I was so surprised to receive his message this morning. I hadn’t heard from him in almost a year, not since he shipped out the last time.” She sipped her coffee and then glanced at Ashlyn. “O’Malley and I were in the Academy together. We’ve kept in touch over the years. If he felt it necessary to reach out to me about what’s happening, I guarantee it is worse than he’s letting on.”

  “Just as it is with Luce.” Ashlyn fought against the anger once again burning deep inside her at the thought of what might be happening to her friend and the Marines under Ortega’s command.

  “I might not have had a message from O’Malley, but I have had a message from Ortega and several other Marines attached to the taskforce.” Okafor held up a hand, stopping Ashlyn from interrupting. “None of the Marines serving with her had anything but good to say about Ortega. They also said they needed reinforcements and feel like they’ve been hung out to dry by SecDiv.” Okafor’s eyes flashed, the only indication about how angry she happened to be. “Ortega included copies of her requests back to SecDiv asking for reinforcements. Requests, I have confirmed, that were either not answered or were denied without explanation – and without passing them on to me.”

  “General,” Ashlyn growled, her hands fisting around her mug so tightly one corner of her mind wondered at the fact the mug hadn’t shattered.

  “Exactly.” Okafor gave a single nod. “Under most circumstances, I would have concerns about an officer jumping the chain of command the way Ortega did. But I know her, and I know the kind of Marine she is. I also know she isn’t the sort to try to stab a CO in the back. The very fact she came to me with her concerns tells me all I need to know there is bad trouble with SecDiv. It is trouble I will deal with, you can rest assured on that.” She pinned Ashlyn with a firm glance, waiting until the younger woman nodded. Once Ashlyn had, Okafor sent for her aide.

  “Ma’am?” the lieutenant asked as he entered the office a moment later.

  “Matias, locate Brigadier General Javier Hale,” Okafor said as she returned to her desk.

  “Yes, Ma’am. Am I to tell him you wish to speak with him?”

  “Not yet, Matias. In fact, I would prefer it if the general didn’t know I was looking for him, at least not yet.”

  “Understood, Ma’am.”

  “That will be all, Matias. Make sure we aren’t interrupted.”

  As he left the office, Okafor leaned back and sighed. Watching her, Ash almost felt sorry for Hale. There could be no mistaking Okafor’s frustration and, whether she’d admit it or not, anger over the situation in the Tenasic System. If Hale didn’t have answers, and good ones, for why the requested reinforcements had been withheld, Ash knew his career as a Marine would suffer – if not come to an abrupt end. That assumed he didn’t wind up being court martialed. From the look on Okafor’s face, Ashlyn had no doubt the commandant wanted blood.

  That made two of them.

  “Now, before either of you say I should be discussing this with Hale, I will. Believe me, we are going to have a very long discussio
n.” She sat up and Ash felt a brief flash of pity for Hale. Okafor’s expression left no doubt she wasn’t in the mood for excuses. “However, what I have to say to the two of you comes first.”

  Ashlyn’s eyes narrowed, and she fought the urge to lean forward. She’d heard that tone of voice from Okafor before. The general meant business and Ash had a feeling she was going to play a role in whatever the woman had up her sleeve.

  “I don’t care what it takes, we are sending reinforcements to help Colonel Ortega and her Marines. I don’t care if we have to hijack a ship to do it. We don’t leave our people behind and we sure as hell don’t hang them out to dry.” Okafor might have been discussing a walk in the park. The only things giving her away was the anger flashing in her eyes and the taut set of her shoulders.

  “I mean it, Ashlyn. If I have to pull strings and get you a ship, I will. You’ve already proven you can command one in battle. I swear to God, I’ll put you on the bridge of one if necessary to get to Ortega and the rest of the taskforce in time.”

  Even as her stomach pitched, Ashlyn nodded. She’d had no choice on her last mission but to take command after the ship’s CO had been injured. Fortunately, the rest of the taskforce – including its CO – had been nearby and she’d been able to hand off command within a matter of hours. Of course, those hours had seen more battle than she cared to remember. So much could have gone so badly wrong. She knew how lucky they had all been. Not that she would argue too much if Okafor carried out her threat. Nothing mattered as much as getting Marines in place to support the Warlords.

  “I assume that means the Devil Dogs are to be prepared to deploy.”

  “Two companies. The rest of the battalion is to remain behind. We still have to make sure the home system is protected. I know your LAC numbers are still down, but you are to take those ready for battle with you as well.”

  “Understood, Ma’am.”

  “We will meet in the morning to discuss the mission. It will take that long to get everything in place for your deployment.”