by Sam Schall
God, she hoped so. That, more than almost anything else, would prove everything she had been promised was true.
“Thanks, Doc. For everything.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” He held up a hand before she could voice the worry that suddenly filled her. “Captain, you have done remarkably well with all the treatments we’ve put you through. A lot of that has to do with your motivation. I know you want nothing more than to go with the Marines being sent to Tarsus.”
When he paused, she nodded. He was working up to something and she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it. “But?” she prompted.
“But I know you have also been doing your best not to let on to anyone just how much you’ve been through and I don’t mean just on Tarsus. Nor have you talked about how it has affected you. So far, you’re managing to cope remarkably well. But that’s not going to be enough, not in the long run and certainly not if you get to Tarsus and find things there are as bad as you fear. Because of that, I can’t, in good conscience, certify you fit for duty. So, I’m going to make you a deal.”
Her eyes narrowed and she looked at him suspiciously. “I’m listening.”
“I will sign off on you returning to very limited duty for the mission to Tarsus. But you will have to continue our treatments with the ship’s CMO. She can help with rehabbing your knee and your shoulder. I’m still not happy with your range of motion where they’re concerned.”
“What do you want in return?”
And what would she do if it was more than she was willing to agree to?
“I want your promise that you’ll return here once you’re back on-planet. I get two weeks with you to finish any treatment I feel needs to be done, including upgrading your implants. It will also include the psych evaluation I know you want to avoid.” He waited, as if expecting her to protest. “Captain, there will be no negotiation where that’s concerned. Trust me on that.”
“Will you activate my implants now if I agree?” That alone would do a great deal to reassure her this was not just another ploy to get her to drop her guard before the trap was sprung.
“I will. In fact, I insist upon it if you are returning to Tarsus.”
His voice turned hard and she looked at him in surprise. She’d known he’d been upset to see the many scars she sported upon her return from the penal colony. But she had never seen this level of anger in him and it shocked her.
“Captain – Ashlyn.” He took a step away and she watched as he struggled for calm. “I may be a Navy doctor now, but I had the extreme honor and privilege of serving as a medic for the Devil Dogs early in my military career. I spent two years with them and those are the years of service I’m most proud of. That makes you one of mine and it’s why I’m not grounding you. I know you need to go to Tarsus. You need to for your people and you need to for yourself. But I will, by God, do everything I can to keep you safe not only now but in the future.”
For a moment, she just looked at him. She heard the emotion in his words and, thinking back on the medics she’d served with, knew he meant what he said. More than that, he was giving her a chance if she would trust him enough to take it.
Besides, what choice did she have?
“All right, Doc. I’ll do as you say.”
Seeing how he relaxed a bit, she shook her head. The memory of a snippet of discussion with the medic who treated her immediately after she and Tremayne had escaped the fighting at the security complex returned. He’d been a medic with the Devil Dogs as well. Now that she thought about it, it couldn’t be a coincidence that the two doctors she’d seen since returning to Fuercon happened to have once belonged to her beloved DDs. Someone, probably the Commandant of the Marine Corps, had issued orders to make sure she didn’t have to deal with anyone who she couldn’t trust completely and that pretty much meant only people who were Marines or who had served with the Devil Dogs.
Not that she was complaining, at least not too much.
“Good.” Another smile, this one the smile of a man who realized how close he’d come to losing the battle. “Lie back and I’ll bring your implants back on line and get them calibrated. We should have enough time to do that before you have to meet with the powers-that-be.”
“Don’t remind me.”
She grimaced. The one thing she had never expected was having to spend so much time not only with Pawlak but with an endless stream of military personnel and politicians. They wanted to know all she could tell them about the events leading up to her conviction as well as her thoughts about the attack on the capitol. The only good thing about it all was that she had, so far, managed to avoid having to face the media.
For now.
“All right, Captain. That’s the best I can do right now.” Ahern stepped back and gave her a reassuring smile. “I will let the brass know that I’ve authorized your return to limited, very limited, duty.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Even limited duty was welcomed if it meant she’d be allowed to finally return to Tarsus for her people. “I promise I’ll be good.”
“No, you promise you’ll be as good as you can,” he corrected with a smile.
Ashlyn grinned in response and nodded. He really did understand what it meant to be a Marine. Fortunately.
“But I meant what I said earlier, Captain,” he continued, this time his voice serious. “As soon as your return from Tarsus, you are to report here for two weeks.”
“Doc—”
“Let me rephrase that, ma’am. I don’t mean you have to come here as soon as you return. I know you will need to debrief and then you’ll need to spend some time with your family. However, as soon as that is done, I expect you here. I’ll be putting that in my report as well.”
“Understood and thanks.”
She slid off the examining table and stretched, wincing slightly as her right shoulder caught. Still, it was better than it had been the day before and none of her hurts were as bad as what she’d lived with on a daily basis back on Tarsus. Hopefully, her emotional wounds would heal as quickly as the physical ones were. Unfortunately, if her nightmares were any indication, that wasn’t going to happen. But she’d lived with them this long. She could a bit longer, at least until the others were home.
“Your implants should all be fully operational now, Captain,” Ahern continued. “I’ll update them when you return. I promise.”
“Doctor, that sounds a bit like blackmail to me.” She grinned again. It didn’t surprise her one bit that he would use the promise of new implants to make sure she returned for further treatment.
“Why, Captain, I’d never stoop to blackmailing a Marine, much less a Devil Dog, with the possibility of new combat implants just to get her to return for some much-needed medical treatment.”
Damn, butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. She bet he was a great poker player.
“You’re an evil man, Doc, but I take your point. I promise I’ll be back for treatment just as soon as I’ve done what I need to.”
“I know you will, Captain. You are a woman of your word, even when you don’t like it,” he said confidently. “Now get out of here. I have patients waiting who actually want the treatment I can give them.”
With a grin, she finished dressing and did as he said. As she stepped into the corridor outside the examining room, Gunnery Sergeant Talbot fell into step behind her. He had been waiting for her that morning when she left Tremayne’s house where she, as well as her parents and her son, had been staying since the attack on the capital. Without a word, he’d handed over his datapad with a copy of his orders displayed. Ashlyn had quickly scanned them, fighting the urge to sigh as she did. FleetCom was taking no chances. It had assigned Talbot as her escort, aide and guard -- of course, she didn’t know whether he was guarding against someone trying to hurt her or her going after those responsible for sending her and her people to the penal colony. Not that it mattered. He would be with her until she received her orders, orders that would hopefully send her back to Tarsus for her people.
“All right, Gunny. Where to next?” she asked as they emerged from the hospital a few minutes later.
“Your presence is requested at a meeting with General Okafor, ma’am,” Talbot replied as he signaled the driver that had been assigned to them. “It’s my understanding that after meeting with her, you are to report to Major Pawlak.”
“All right, Gunny. Thank you.” She waited as the aircar pulled up next to them. Talbot opened the door and checked inside, making sure no untoward surprises awaited them. Then he stepped back and motioned her inside.
“FleetCom HQ, Corporal,” he told the driver as he climbed into the back with Ashlyn. As soon as the driver confirmed their destination, Talbot activated the privacy shield.
“Ma’am, before we get there, I’ve been hearing rumblings that FleetCom is about to send a ship to Tarsus for our people. Word has it that the Devil Dogs, at least a good sized contingent of them, are to be assigned to the mission.”
“I see.” She looked out the window and thought hard. Over the last few days, she and Talbot had played this game several times. He would pass on information he’d “heard” and she would act as if she didn’t know he was using every resource he had to ferret out the information for her. “And have you, by any chance, heard what ship and what members of the DDs might be going?”
“Sorry, ma’am, but no. I heard the rumor just before you were done with the doctor.” He frowned and she knew he wished he had more to tell her. Well, truth to tell, so did she.
“And did your sources suggest that this meeting we’re going to is about what you’ve just learned?”
“I believe so, ma’am, but that’s just my gut feeling.”
She nodded and once more turned to look out the window. God, could FleetCom finally be ready to send a ship after her people? She understood why a ship hadn’t been sent before now. No one wanted to leave a hole in planetary defense. The attack had badly shaken everyone, most especially the military. As it should have, at least as far as Ashlyn was concerned. They had gotten too comfortable in the safety of Fuerconese space. Just because the Callusians hadn’t launched an attack against the home system during the last war didn’t mean they wouldn’t.
And that lesson had been driven home all too well.
“Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
But would the news be what she wanted to hear?
“I understand you’re somewhat of a stubborn patient, Captain,” General Helen Okafor, Commandant of the Fuerconese Marine Corps, said with a smile as she motioned for Ashlyn to take a seat in front of her desk
“Not really, ma’am. It’s just that the good doctor has a different set of priorities than I do right now.”
“I understand and I happen to agree with you. I’d be telling him exactly the same thing you did if our positions were reversed.” The general moved around her desk and took the seat next to Ashlyn’s. “However, you will report to him after your assignment and you will submit to any testing and treatment he prescribes. At least you will if you wish to return to active duty.”
“Understood, ma’am.”
At least she thought she did. This was the first time anyone had directly mentioned the possibility of her actually returning to active duty. She wanted to hope it meant she’d not only be allowed to go free her fellow Marines from Tarsus but that she would then be able to return to the Devil Dogs. But after so many months and years of not being able to trust anyone but herself, she didn’t dare let herself do so. Not yet, at any rate.
“Gunny, why don’t you go check in with Major Pawlak and let him know that your captain and I will be busy for the next several hours. Return here at 1300 hours to escort her to the major.”
“Aye, ma’am.” Talbot braced to attention for a moment and then left, the door sliding closed behind him.
“Now, Ash, before we get started, let’s get a couple of things out of the way.” Okafor leaned back and smiled. Gone was the imposing commandant. Now she was the concerned senior officer, not quite a friend but someone who understood what Ashlyn was feeling.
“All right.”
“You and I are going to talk, just talk, for a few minutes. Then we’ll be joined by some other folks who need to hear what you can tell us about Tarsus and about what happened on your last mission.”
“Ma’am.” She swallowed hard and then licked her lips. Didn’t any of them understand that she couldn’t say anything until her people were freed?
“Ashlyn.” Okafor waited until she blew out a breath and nodded for her to proceed. “Nothing you say will leave this office. I promise you. Nor will anyone present say anything until I give them the okay to do so. But, if that’s not enough to convince you, think about this. Every one of the four who will be joining us worked tirelessly to prove your innocence and to bring you home. You and the others have a number of champions. Some gave up their commissions. Others were beached and others, like myself and Major Santiago, managed to work behind the scenes while staying on active duty.
“We have built very solid cases against some of those involved in bringing you and the others up on charges. However, we need to know what you can tell us to help put the final nails in their proverbial coffins. It isn’t enough that we’ve managed to clean house under the new Administration. We need to bring those responsible to justice, a justice they denied you and those who served with you.
“But it is more than that.” Now the general got to her feet. Worried, Ashlyn watched as Okafor crossed the office. She stopped at the window and looked outside. Even with her back to her, Ashlyn could see the anger and worry in her former CO’s posture. “I won’t get into all of it right now. It can wait until everyone is here. But know that this is necessary, not only to protect you and your people but also everyone you were each willing to lay your lives down for.” She turned back and there could be no mistaking just how serious she was.
“As long as you understand that, right now, my loyalty has to lie with those who were sent to that hellhole with me, ma’am.”
Okafor nodded and returned to her seat. “Since they are at the center of everything right now, let’s get this out of the way.” She leaned forward and reached for a leather folder resting on her desktop. Without opening it, she placed it in her lap and folded her hands on top of it. “I’ve spoken with Dr. Ahern and it’s my understanding that he’s agreed to release you to limited – in his words, very limited – duty.”
Ashlyn nodded. As she did, her heart beat a bit faster and she hoped her nerves didn’t show.
“And I assume you still wish to return to Tarsus with the Marines we’re sending to bring your people home.”
Another nod because she didn’t trust her herself to be able to speak just then.
“Then be prepared to report to the Magellan day after tomorrow as part of the Marine contingent assigned to secure our people on Tarsus and transport them back home. Hopefully, it will be a quick turn-around. However, while there, the records for the prison are to be secured and examined by members of the JAG who will be accompanying you on the mission. The senior JAG will make the determination of whether or not any members of the prison staff should be returned here to face charges, military or civilian.
“And that brings us to part of why you need to tell us what you can about Tarsus. If there are any you know who should be brought back, help us start building the case now. That will let the JAG issue sealed warrants to take with them.”
Ashlyn sat back in her chair, not sure whether to be relieved or not. She couldn’t deny that she’d had her doubts since Tremayne first raised the possibility of her people being pardoned. After all that had happened, it was all too easy to believe her people were being used as pawns to get her to agree to help fight the Callusians. After all, they’d used against her before. She would have fought harder to prove her innocence if they hadn’t been involved – and if the JAGs prosecuting her hadn’t threatened to try for the death penalty against her people if she didn’t basica
lly let them convict her. Now she was being asked to trust the same system that had done its best to betray and then forget about her and her people.
But it was more than that. After the attack on the capital, she’d tried to believe that FleetCom would keep its promise to return to Tarsus for the others. But part of her had known how easy it would be to use the attack as a reason not to send a ship. Her people could have been written off as acceptable losses. Hell, that’s what the previous administration had done. But now, hearing how the Magellan would be heading out in two short days – and that she would be on it – she could almost allow herself to finally accept everything her parents, Tremayne, Pawlak and even Talbot had been telling her.
But the presence of the JAG officers bothered her. She couldn’t deny it. The JAG rarely sent officers into space. Ships’ commanders could hold disciplinary boards or could confine anyone under their command until the accused could be returned to a spaceport to stand trial. That not just one but several JAGs would be accompanying them on this mission was worrisome.
“Ash, look at me.”
Until Okafor spoke, Ashlyn hadn’t realized she’d turned away from the woman. Now she turned back, not trying to hide her thoughts from the woman she’d once served under. Next to her mother and Tremayne, there were few in the Corps she trusted as much as she did Okafor.
“I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now. I’ve been a POW. I’ve had to live through that hell. But I’ve never been betrayed by my own like you and the others were. You have to believe that those responsible will pay for what they did. You have my word on it, not only as Commandant of the Corps but also as your friend and as a fellow Marine. I promise the only reason the JAGs are going on the mission is so all the legal ins and outs are followed.”
“Ma’am, I do trust you. I just don’t have a hell of a lot of trust for the system right now.”
