“Ready,” Dave Czajka said. He and Jesse were also going to UNEF HQ first and then, who knew? He couldn’t imagine going back to farming and chicken ranching in the tiny village of Fort Rakovsky. The Ruhar had offered Dave, Jesse and Shauna positions working with the Ruhar military; they would be acting as security while the Ruhar finished activating the remaining projectors. That project was scheduled to last a full year, and after that, the three of them would be training more humans. It was, Dave thought, a great way to see the entire planet. “Cornpone,” Dave asked to his friend seated across the cabin, “are you excited about seeing Fort Rakovsky again? We should at least stop by the place.”
“Uh,” Jesse hesitated, risking a quick glance over at Shauna sitting next to him. After a budding close relationship while they were being held by the Ruhar, Shauna had been all business while they were flying around, digging up projectors. They had both been exhausted pretty much all the time, and there had been zero time for privacy. Whatever hopes Jesse had for a future relationship with Shauna, he needed to give her space and let her take the lead. With almost five men for every woman on Paradise, women had many options if a guy was a jerk. “I, uh, what do y’all think?” He asked the question to Dave, but was watching Shauna’s reaction.
“I thought you guys were worried about your hooch?” Shauna asked. “Come on, Jesse, you have to go back and check it out.”
“Oh, yeah,” Jesse’s expression brightened. “Hey, you should come with us,” he said, and instantly regretted the joke.
“Why not?” Shanua laughed.
“Are you sure?” Jesse’s heart leapt in his chest, not daring to hope.
“Sure,” Shauna said quietly, while gently touching the back of Jesse’s hand with a fingernail. “I have to see this famous couch you guys are always talking about.”
Flying Dutchman
When we left Paradise behind, I was ready to break out the champagne. The Ruhar government had announced that negotiations were officially off. The Ruhar were keeping Paradise. UNEF HQ had offered to declare loyalty to the Ruhar, and the Ruhar government was willing to discuss the possibility. The ‘Keepers’ among UNEF were upset, but in my opinion, those idiots could go screw themselves. Maybe I was being too harsh; the Keepers didn’t know what I knew. They didn’t know what the lizards had done to Earth. They didn’t know anything about Earth, because we can cut off access to our home world. To the Keepers, I guess they saw continued loyalty to the Kristang as their only possibility of ever going home.
They were going to be disappointed.
When we left Paradise behind, I was ready to break out the champagne to celebrate our successful effort to create a secure future for UNEF. Publically, I was elated, triumphant. Privately, leaving Paradise was bittersweet for me; for everyone who had been stationed there. It was bitter for Chang, and for Simms and for Giraud. It was doubly bitter for me, for Adams and Desai, because while Chang, Simms and Giraud had remained aboard the Dutchman, the three of us had gone down to Paradise. Desai and I had gone down there twice. We had breathed the air of Paradise, we had experienced the scent of its jungles and forests, we had flown low over its well-tended fields.
And we were, hopefully, never going back. More than hopefully, we were planning never to go back. We were leaving behind friends and comrades who would never know we had even been back there, who would never get a chance to leave the alien world. At the end of our mission, we would be going back home to friends and family on Earth. UNEF’s mission was truly over, but they were never going home. I hoped the people of UNEF worked out their differences, accepted that Paradise was their home now, and created a good life for themselves. For themselves, and for their children. Humanity had a chance to create a second home now. I very much hoped that they didn’t screw it up.
“I have to admit, Sir,” I told Chotek without regret, “that I was wrong. If we had not gone to Paradise, we would not have rescued UNEF. I thought it was unwise for us to investigate the situation on Paradise, and I was wrong about that.”
“Colonel Bishop,” Chotek said with a smile, “your reasons for objecting at the time were valid; you almost had me convinced. You were correct that learning the situation on Paradise would not have done us any good, if we were not able to do anything to assist UNEF. What you were not correct about was your lack of faith in the ability of your team, and yourself, to create a solution. You have my sincere congratulations, Colonel.”
I have to admit, it felt good to hear Chotek say that I did a good job. Hopefully his report to UNEF Command on Earth would say something nice about me.
When I suggested that we break out the champagne to Chotek, he frowned, and reminded me that our primary mission was not yet complete. “Sir,” I tried to keep the irritation from my voice, “we have successfully completed an important mission. People need to blow off steam, celebrate a little.”
“Colonel, I am concerned that if we get back to the relay and hear bad news, the memory of a party now will be bitter.”
“Sir, respectfully, I disagree. If we hear bad news at the relay, it is all the more important that morale be strong, for whatever we have to do in the future. A celebration now would be a great boost to morale. I’m a soldier, I know how soldiers think. People need to celebrate victories along the way.”
My argument was persuasive, or Chotek also was eager for a taste of champagne, because Major Simms received approval for a big party. Instead of one team doing all the cooking, I ordered that each team provide one dish; Simms coordinated that so we didn’t end up with all desserts and no pizza. We did have pizza, provided by the French team, and it was delicious.
The next day was downtime for everyone; a lot of people had hangovers, not that I know that that is like. Although I’ve heard about it. Skippy appreciated a break from our jump, recharge, jump cycle so he could have his robots perform some heavy-duty maintenance. After a well-deserved day off, it was back to routine, and we proceeded back to our personal relay station at our best speed.
We followed our set procedure for approaching the relay station; jump in far away and send a coded signal. When the submind pinged us back, we jumped in close. According to the submind, it would be four days until the next ship passed by, so Chotek approved allowing people to go aboard the station in small groups, just to get a change of scenery. I planned to ask Skippy if there was an uninhabited planet somewhere along our route back to Earth; the Merry Band of Pirates needed to get off the ship once in a while. Other than a couple of us going to Paradise, and the raid on Jumbo, the crew had not set foot on land since we left Earth.
At the relay station, Skippy had a conversation with his submind.
“Oooooh,” Skippy mumbled. “Interesting.”
“What?” I asked hopefully. “You have good news for us, right? The Thuranin are not sending another ship to Earth?”
“Huh? Oh, no, they are most certainly not. That is good news. The Kristang inquired about a second mission, and the Thuranin responded with a price the Fire Dragon clan cannot possibly afford to pay. Nor can any other clan. That issue is dead, Joe, the Thuranin will not be sending a ship to Earth, that is for sure.”
Whatever I was going to say next was drowned out by thunderous cheers from the Merry Band of Pirates. Most of the crew was crammed into the bridge, the CIC or the corridor outside. The news was so welcome that Chotek pumped a fist in the air, and then offered me a high five. I slapped him back.
“People, we are going home!” Hans Chotek exulted. “Mission accomplished!”
“Uh,” Skippy said quietly, and I motioned for people to calm down for a moment.
“What is it, Skippy? The Thuranin will not send a ship to Earth, and the Kristang can’t do that, right? So, Earth is safe now.”
“I can give you a resounding ‘yes’ to the first question,” Skippy announced. “About the other, well, um-” he paused.
“Not so much.”
Contact the author at [email protected]
Craig Alanson, Paradise (Expeditionary Force Book 3)
Paradise (Expeditionary Force Book 3) Page 52
