by Sam Schall
“All right.” A chair scraped against the floor and, a moment later, Okafor stood next to Ash. The general’s hands were gentle as she turned the younger woman to face her. “Ash, look at me.” She waited until their eyes met. “Was it more than beatings?”
She couldn’t answer. She wasn’t sure she could even breathe. So, she nodded, just once. “Please, don’t tell my parents.” She spoke softly, barely more than a whisper.
“I won’t.” Okafor rested a hand on her arm and then let it slide down until she grasped Ashlyn’s hand. “They’ll pay for it, Ash, for every single thing that happened to you and yours. I swear it.”
“We need more details,” Kingsbury reminded them from where he, along with the others, sat.
“And we will get them, after we bring the rest of our people home.”
Ashlyn looked at the general and mouthed a silent “thank you”.
“Until then, we have more than enough to start with. Rico?”
“We have more than enough, ma’am. I’ll get started on it as soon as I leave here.”
“Ash, thank you. We’ll have to talk some more about this but it will wait until the others are home.” Okafor smiled at her in reassurance. “Now, you’d best report to Major Pawlak before he sends a search party out for you.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Ash.” Tremayne stood and moved around the table in her direction. “Comm me before you leave for the day. If I’m done, we’ll ride home together.”
Ashlyn nodded. She knew why Tremayne said to comm her. The admiral wanted to be sure she was all right before Ash arrived home.
“I will. If you aren’t ready, I can wait.”
Tremayne nodded and gave her a small but reassuring smile. It wasn’t much but it was enough to let her know her mentor would make sure no one tried to do anything else to compromise her or her people.
“Go on, Ash. We have a briefing in the morning at 0730 to discuss the attack on the capital. I want you, as well as Major Pawlak and Captain Ortega here for it.”
“Understood, ma’am.” She gave a quick salute and then turned to the door. As she left, she hoped the time it took her to find Pawlak was enough to get her emotional equilibrium back in place.
« Chapter 10 »
“Come!”
At Pawlak’s call, Ashlyn opened the door. The moment she stepped inside, Pawlak rose and moved around his desk. His expression concerned, he studied the captain. Then, before she could brace to attention, he waved for her to stand easy. Relieved, she did as he said. Hopefully, this meeting would not be as emotionally draining as the last.
“You look like you’ve been through the wringer, kid,” he said. “You okay?”
She nodded. “They had some questions I wasn’t ready to answer.” She didn’t say anything more, knowing she wouldn’t have to. One thing she learned very quickly about Pawlak was that he understood loyalty. Even though she knew he wanted her to explain what happened during the Arterus mission, not to mention during her time on Tarsus, he’d never pushed. He trusted her to tell him when she was ready. Hopefully, that day would come soon.
“But?” He escorted her to one of the chairs before his desk and then sat in the other, turning so he could watch her.
“But I managed to give them at least some information, specifically about the trial, they hadn’t known. In return, SecDef had an explanation, at least a possible one, for what I told them. Santiago is going to look into it.”
“Then we will let them deal with that. We have something more important to concern ourselves with.” He stood and patted her shoulder before moving around the desk. Before sitting, he activated his comm and sent for Lucinda Ortega. Then, as he settled onto his well-worn chair, he looked at Ashlyn in such a way that she fought the urge to squirm. “There is one thing we need to clear up before Luce gets here.”
Her eyes narrowed and she wondered if she had made a mistake coming straight to her CO’s office. “What?”
Pawlak threw back his head and laughed. Then he sobered. “You have have bent a little, Ash, but those bastards didn’t break you. But we will, by God, break each and every one of them. When we do, you will be standing with me as my XO. The position’s yours again if you want it.”
Ashlyn didn’t dare respond. Earlier, when Lucinda Ortega and the others told her they not only wanted her back with the Devil Dogs but that they wanted her back as the XO, she couldn’t believe it. That alone had meant more to her than they would ever know. Even so, she had not seriously considered returning to her role as Pawlak’s XO. Not only was she acutely aware of the impact the last two years had on her, she wouldn’t do that to Ortega. Her friend deserved the role, a role she’d held since Ashlyn had been relieved of duty.
“Major – Hammer, you have an XO.”
“I have an XO who would much rather return to her role as the battalion’s intel officer. Something you’d realize if you thought about it for a moment.”
He smiled to take any sting out of his words. Then, when a knock sounded at the door, he called out for the newcomer to enter. A moment later, Lucinda Ortega took the seat next to Ash and looked from her former roommate to their commanding officer and back.
“Well, what did she say?” Ortega asked as she once again turned her focus to Pawlak.
“She said I have an CO.”
For a moment, Ortega looked at Ashlyn. Then she smiled slightly even as she shook her head. “Ash, I meant what I said earlier. Your boots have been very difficult to fill. Now that you’re back, you are the XO. I will gladly go back to my rule as the intel officer. You know that’s what I love doing and it’s what I’m good at. The Devil Dogs will be better served with us back in our former roles.”
“You’ve got to be sure, both of you.”
No matter how badly she wanted to return to her former role with the battalion, she wouldn’t insist, not if it put the Devil Dogs at a disadvantage.
“Ash, we are,” Pawlak said. “Before you think of any other reasons why you shouldn’t be my XO, hear us out. First of all, the Devil Dogs want you as their XO. If you refuse, you are going to have to explain it to them because Lucinda and I sure as hell aren’t going to.”
She couldn’t help it. She chuckled softly. Then she motioned for him to continue.
“Hammer’s right, Ash,” Ortega took up. “We also know you will worry about being out of the loop when it comes to everything that’s happened since your court-martial. So, to help you start catching up, I’ve pulled together some briefing materials. It’s pretty extensive but it should bring you up-to-date with not only what’s been happening with regard to the so-called truce but also with regard to the investigation into what happened to you and the others. Look it over and let me know if you have any questions.” As she spoke, she handed Ash several data chips.
“Any other objections, Captain?” Pawlak arched one brow and grinned.
“All sorts of them, sir, and they all come down to one basic thing. How can you trust me to do what needs to be done when I’m not sure I can trust myself?”
“Ash!” Ortega looked at her in concern. “What do you mean?”
“Luce, I worry that what happened on Arterus will act as a distraction. You know how dangerous that is.” She ran a hand over her face. “Then there’s the fact it’s taken every ounce of self-control since the attack not to slip away to pay a visit to Sorkowski or O’Brien. They owe me and the others for what they did.”
Neither Ortega nor Pawlak said anything. Worried, Ashlyn glanced from one to the other. Instead of seeing condemnation or, worse in so many ways, pity, she saw understanding. More than that, she saw the same need in them that she felt. They understood. More than that, they agreed and quite possibly approved. That should have made her feel better but it didn’t. One of the last things she wanted was for either of them to get into trouble because of her.
“Ashlyn, don’t.” Ortega all but glared at her before standing. She paced the length of Pawlak’s office se
veral times before turning her attention back to her friend. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“Don’t get what?”
“Hammer?” Ortega looked to their CO and, when he inclined his head, continued. “Ash, we never once believed the charges against you or the others. None of us, officers, NCOs and enlisted, thought you guilty. We know you too well. We also knew someone behind the scenes was manipulating things to make it look like you had done everything those bastards Sorkowski and O’Brien said. Believe me, once they were grounded here on Fuercon, it was all Hammer could do to keep some of us from paying them a visit and having a little chat with them.”
“Luce!”
“So, when you say you’ve wanted to slip away and do the same, we understand. Hell, Ash, we’d go with you and hold them down while you got some of your own back if that’s what you wanted or needed.” Ortega dropped onto her chair and leaned forward, elbows on knees. “But we aren’t going to let you do that because we aren’t going to risk you ever being taken from us again. Yes, we feel that strongly about it and about you. I swear, if you don’t agree to be the CO again, I’ll march myself over to Major Santiago’s office and ask to join his staff. I am not going to have the other Devil Dogs thinking for one moment that I wanted to stay in the role.”
“Angel.” Pawlak’s use of her call sign had her looking at him in concern. “You are one of us and I thought you understood that.”
“I do.” She shook her head and then blew out a breath. “I’m damaged, Hammer. How badly damaged, I don’t know. Hell, I don’t know if I will ever be back to the Marine you knew.”
“Bullshit!” He frowned and she swallowed hard. In all the years she had known the man, she could count on two hands the number of times she’d heard him curse and never, not once, had it been aimed at her. “You’re hurt and hurting. I’d be lying if I didn’t say anyone could see that. Damn it, you may as well have been a POW these last two years. So yes, it will take you time to recover from that. But that doesn’t make you any less of a Marine, or a Devil Dog. In my book, it makes you a better one.” He waved off her objections before she could make them.
“Angel, I’ve seen your psych evals as well as your medical records. Both Sorceress and I have.” Now he nodded to Ortega. “I wish half the battalion was as well-adjusted as you are. What you’re feeling is natural and the best way to deal with it is to go get our people from Tarsus and then to take the fight straight to the Callusians. What say you?”
She wasn’t going to win this argument, so why fight it?
“I say that sounds very good, Hammer.” She even managed a slight smile. “So, yes, I will officially accept the role of XO.”
“Good!” He reached across his desk to shake her hand. As he sat, he grinned as Ortega gave Ashlyn’s shoulder a light punch. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get to work.”
By the time she left Pawlak’s office three hours later, Ashlyn felt more like the Marine she remembered than she had since her return to Fuercon. The major’s briefings hadn’t changed much since her court-martial. He’d gone over the major points, often anticipating her questions. Between the two of them, he and Ortega brought her up to speed on the battalion as well as what they knew about the attack on the capital. She’d been given full access to battalion records and Ortega promised to be moved out of the XO’s office by morning, giving her a place to work.
What surprised Ash the most had been learning the Devil Dogs had been kept in the home system since the election. When she asked about it, Pawlak explained FleetCom wasn’t as trusting as the previous administration had been. With the Callusians playing fast and loose with the terms of the truce, there were those in FleetCom who expected the enemy to strike, if not at the home system, at one of their close allies. As a result, the Devil Dogs had been kept close so they could respond without delay.
Fortunately for everyone, that meant they had been on hand when the capital was attacked.
The attack still bothered Ashlyn. It helped to know her CO, as well as her best friend, worried about it as well. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that there had been a two-fold reason for the attack. The first had been to test their response. It wouldn’t surprise her at all to learn the enemy had left sensors in-system to monitor what happened. When she said as much, Pawlak agreed and said he had already suggested FleetCom order a full sweep of the system to be sure. The last thing they needed was the enemy watching everything they did.
When she asked if they had learned anything from the enemy soldier she’d shot, she knew before they said anything what the answer would be. Both Pawlak and Ortega turned grim and she saw the quick flash of anger in her former roommate’s eyes. She understood both when Pawlak said the man had died, not as a result of his injuries but because the security team and medics missed the suicide capsule implanted in his cheek. Once the man regained consciousness after the medics treated him, he bit down and released the poison. He was dead before anyone could react.
Worse, no others from the attacking force had been captured alive. Not that it surprised Ash. The Callusians long ago proved they would not allow themselves to be captured. She had seen ships that could have surrendered activate their self-destruct codes instead. The Fuerconese Navy, as well as its allies, had learned not to come too close to the enemy for that very reason. They’d lost several ships that way and weren’t going to lose any others, not if they could help it.
There had been more and she knew there was much more for her to review in the briefing materials Ortega had prepared for her. But they could wait. All she cared about just then was getting home to her family, especially to her son. In little more than twenty-four hours, she had to report to the Magellan. Soon she would return to Tarsus, this time to free her people instead of to become a prisoner. She could hardly wait to see the look on the faces of those who had taken such sadistic pleasure in tormenting her and the others, especially if she had the chance to give them even the smallest taste of what they had done to her.
“Another story, Mommy,” Jake said as she finished reading him the third story of the night.
“Not tonight, baby. It’s your bedtime.”
She bent and kissed his cheek, pulling the sheet about his shoulders. As she did, she swallowed against the lump in her throat. How she’d missed being able to do something so simple and so wonderful as reading her son a bedtime story. Tears pricked at her eyes and she blinked them back. He had grown so much in the time she’d been imprisoned, time she’d never be able to get back. That was one more thing to add to her list of reasons to get revenge on those behind her conviction.
“But you’re going away.”
Tears welled up in his eyes. It broke Ashlyn’s heart to see them roll down his cheeks. She wanted to stay with him and make up for all the time she’d been gone. But she had to return for those sent to the penal colony with her. He would understand, she hoped, when he was older. But right now, he was still so young. All he knew was that she had finally come home only to leave again.
“I won’t be gone long, sweetie. I promise.” She bent and kissed his cheek again. As she did, a thought came to her and she quickly produced her datapad from her thigh pocket. A moment later, the calendar appeared on the screen. She shifted, drawing her legs onto the mattress and holding the datapad so Jake could see it. “Grandma tells me you know how to use one of these. Right?”
He nodded his head, one small hand reaching for the datapad.
“Then you know that this–” She pointed to the entry for the next day –“is tomorrow. I leave then. And this–” She tapped the entry for three days later –“is when I will reach my destination. I’ll be there for a couple of days probably. Then I’ll come home.”
Now he looked up and grinned, his finger pointing to a date a little more than three weeks away. “Will you be home then?”
“I’ll be home then. I promise. I won’t miss your birthday.”
Even if I have to hijack a ship to be here
.
“Can we have a party?” Excitement lit his face as he looked up at her.
“Sure, sweetie. I’ll talk to your grandma and grandpa about it before I leave.”
He grinned and snuggled up against her side. “Mommy, can I see your ship?”
“You’ll have to get up real early.”
“I can do that.” He nodded vigorously.
“Okay. I’ll talk with Grandma and Grandpa about it.” She held him close and hugged him tightly, her heart soaring as his arms went about her and squeezed back. “But that means you have to go to sleep now.”
He planted a wet kiss on her cheek and snuggled down in bed. Ashlyn brushed his cheek with the fingers of her right hand and stood. He watched, his brown eyes, so much like her own, following her as she backed toward the door to his room. Then, just before she switched off the light, he blew her a kiss. Her right hand flashed out, as if to catch it. She winked at him, reminding him that if he didn’t get to sleep, he wouldn’t wake up in time to go see her ship. Then she switched off the light and left the room.
“Is he asleep?” Elizabeth asked, handing her a beer.
“If not, he will be soon.” Ashlyn smiled her thanks and took a sip. “He wants to see my ship before I leave.”
“I’ll take him when I go in in the morning,” her mother said.
“Thanks.”
She settled on the sofa, pulling her feet up under her. As she did, she realized she’d positioned herself so her back was to the wall and she could see all entrances into the room. Damn it, how long would it take for her to be able to let her guard down in her own home?
“How long will you be gone?” Abe asked.
Ashlyn glanced at her father where he sat at the opposite end of the sofa and shrugged. “This shouldn’t take more than a week, but it wouldn’t surprise me to be delayed there a few days longer. However, I will be home in time for Jake’s birthday. Nothing will keep me from that.” Not when she remembered the joy reflected on her son’s face when she promised she’d be there. “By the way, he wants a party.”
