Children of Steel

by John Van Stry

  "How did you get the other wounds then? I heard you had about ten other bullet holes in you." she gave me a quizzical look.

  "They were all shooting at the Captain and basically I was in the way, so all those pistol rounds pretty much tore up my armor and some did get through. The kidney shot must have been one of the ones that hit me when I passed out though. Probably went through the table, I saw it earlier today and I was surprised it was still in one piece."

  "Well just because they let you out of the hospital, don't go thinking you're healed." She lowered her voice, "If you were human, they'd keep you in a week and then send you to physical therapy for another probably. Now with all the wounded they undoubtedly have to make space too, so they probably pushed you out twice as fast. But I know from experience that if you push it too much you'll get real sick.

  "These machines are real wonders," she gestured at the healing machines in the room, both hers and the ones attached to other patients. "But a body takes time to recover also, and they can't speed that up."

  "I have been feeling kind of funny inside," I admitted, "But I thought that was due to all the problems I've been having."

  "I heard about your family, and I'm sorry. But you've had some major surgery, so take it easy. When I get out I'll keep you company so you won't get bored."

  We made some more small talk then and I was chased out by the nursing staff as dinnertime had arrived and visiting hours were over. I walked back to the cafeteria and ran into Katrine there. We ate dinner together and talked about things other than the recent combat and cleanup.

  By the time we had finished dinner I was really exhausted, she helped me back to her room, put me to bed, and then left to finish up her second shift.

  "I thought I was supposed to be sharing with Herza?" I grinned at her sleepily as she helped me undress.

  "You need a little more sleep than that one will give you." Katrine retorted.

  "Oh she's not that bad!" I mumbled.

  "I also wouldn't mind a warm body to sleep with myself," she admitted quietly, "and seeing how yours almost became a cold one, I'd like it to be you. Now go to sleep and I'll be back later."

  "They really got you working, huh?" I yawned and closed my eyes.

  "Everybody's got a lot to do right now. I'll be back at eleven, bye." she turned out the lights and closed the door.

  I fell asleep pretty quickly and slept pretty soundly. I did become vaguely aware of her climbing in bed sometime later on that night. But it wasn't until morning that I woke up.

  "Good morning!" Katrine smiled at me, her face looking up into mine as she lay against my chest.

  "Good morning yourself! How late did you work last night anyway?" I asked curious.

  "Oh, about eleven like I said. You were so far out of it, I didn't want to wake you. But now that you are ..."

  We made love then, rather gently in consideration of my condition, but still in earnest. Later after we had satisfied each other I looked at her while she scratched my ears.

  "Satisfied that I'm still a warm body now?" I said smiling.

  "Very warm indeed, yes." she looked at the wall clock, "Feel like breakfast? I have to go to work soon."

  "I could definitely do with some food, " I replied as my stomach growled.

  "Sounds like it to me!" she laughed. "Let's hit the showers and go."

  We untangled ourselves, and made for the shower.

  "Why is everybody working so hard right now anyway?" I asked her as we started to wash, "Aren't there any reinforcements coming?"

  "Not leaving anything up to chance, is the official reason." she replied, "But unofficially, I suspect it's to help everybody get their minds off of what happened." she added a little more quietly. "War crimes are never pretty, and the Captain doesn't want an anti-human backlash to start up I guess."

  "I don't see that happening, weren't a lot of the humans that work here killed too?"

  "Yes, and not just ones working for the company either. There were a few company retired types living in the forest around here, people who liked the area. Some of those got killed too."

  "You mean the company allows people to settle on its land here?" I asked incredulously.

  "Sure why not? The company has already staked any land with worthwhile mineral rights, so if people want to settle down they don't mind. This is actually a pretty nice planet, from what I've seen so far, and these people had small farms going already."

  "So they got messed with too huh?"

  "The only thing that surprises anybody is that they didn't try to take over any of the operations run by the other companies here. Balizar says that the other operations formed a defensive alliance as soon as they heard what was going on here."

  By now we had finished in the shower and were heading for breakfast.

  "So that's probably why their troops left," I replied, "they didn't have the strength to grab anymore, so move on to the next target."

  "Probably, but the fact that they took everything they could grab with them makes Balizar also wonder if they weren't afraid that the other corporations might have been thinking of attacking."

  "Then why'd they leave anybody here at all?"

  "That's what I say. They did leave enough to pretty much hold off that possibility. Fortunately we showed up with a lot more."

  "Obviously they weren't expecting that!" I laughed.

  "Not so quickly at least," she agreed, "We were lucky. But if they were thinking of reinforcing, we had better be ready for their arrival."

  "I guess you're right about that."

  We sat down and ate breakfast then and I thought about what she had told me. If they were going to send more occupation troops, then a lot of work was going to have to be done fast, or else. Anybody showing up now would be able to figure out immediately who was in charge. If we wanted to stay in charge, the defenses would have to be repaired quickly.

  Of course if the other local operations were worried about what went on here, they'd probably all be willing to form some kind of common defense, even if they were owned by different corporations. I thought this last was pretty possible considering that the vast majority of company workers were all animen and they wouldn't want to face possible surrender to a group of genocidal maniacs.

  After all, it's one thing to surrender to another company, they'll take care of you. Hell, they may even end up hiring you and buying out your contract in the corporate maneuvering. But people who are going to kill you regardless? Fights to the death without surrender? I could see morale being a real problem here.

  I left Katrine then to go visit my sister at the hospital, I was quite surprised to find her sitting up and conscious.

  "Kali!" I gasped, moving to her side, "You're awake!"

  "Hi Raj," she said quietly, a slight smile on her lips. "I came out of it this morning. I really look a mess don't I?"

  "Don't worry about that, you'll look fine in a few months. Just relax and get better, everything's going to be fine now."

  "I hear Lisa's here too."

  "Yeah she is, I'm sure she'll stop by too. How are you feeling anyway?" I asked cautiously.

  "Lousy, even with the pain inhibitors I can still feel a lot of pain in my legs. The doctor said that would disappear in a few days, but as I don't have any legs at the moment there really wasn't a lot they could do about it." She glanced wistfully at where the sheet went flat on the bed.

  "Don't worry about it," I said reading her thoughts, "You’ll have them back in a few months."

  "But what will they look like? How will they feel?" she said nervously.

  "They'll be fine, don't worry. No one will even know unless you tell them."

  "You sound just like the doctor!" She gently chided me.

  "Well you just lay back and relax and let me do all the worrying for now!" I smiled at her, and she settled back down.

  We talked for a while then; or rather I talked mostly as she was pretty weak. I told her most of what happened, leaving out my par
t; I didn't want her to get to upset. I found out that she knew about Nepal. That had happened before she was injured. After about a half an hour, she started to go to sleep, so I said goodbye and left.

  I went and found out what time Mist was going to be released, and then just spent the day doing light exercises until then. I met Mist at the hospital when she was discharged later and we both went and saw Kali again. That pretty much set the pace for the rest of the week, with me and Mist mostly spending our days together recuperating, though I did get to see Fran once during this time.

  It was pretty dull though, there wasn't much to do and we were restricted to the main complex vicinity by a lack of transportation. Everybody was pretty busy, except for those who were recovering like us. Mist and I did keep ourselves occupied however, hiking into the nearby forest, having picnics, and making good use of some of the secluded areas we found.

  After my follow up examination, I was cleared for normal duty but not for any assault flying. The doctor didn't want me to be subjected to any large G forces for at least another week. I was immediately assigned to help rebuild the local defenses, and spent the next two weeks installing weapons and sensor grids.

  The feared enemy reinforcements never showed up, or if they did they left before they were close enough to be detected. Our reinforcements showed up just as I was put to work on the defenses. They dumped some troops and several tons of equipment; we had already stripped the Astra of a lot of her equipment to replace what was either destroyed or missing. Twelve days later another ship showed up with some heavy armament for our ground emplacements.

  By the end of the third week I was cleared for full duty, and felt pretty good, even the bald spots where I had been shaved in the hospital were almost gone. Kali was doing well, and had undergone two operations to repair some of the damage done to her. I was still seeing her twice a day and Lisa was doing the same.

  I finally got to make a trip up to the ship at the end of the third week, I had been summoned to see the Captain. I was pretty nervous but I didn't think I was in any trouble, so I walked to his Day room and knocked on the door.

  "Enter Warrant Rakir." He called from inside, so I walked in and closed the door behind me.

  "Warrant Third Class Rakir reporting as ordered, Sir!" I saluted briskly and stood at attention.

  "At ease Mister Rakir, have a seat." He gestured to the chair across from his desk. I sat down, but didn't relax too much, after all he was the Captain and I'm just a Warrant Third.

  "I want to thank you for doing an outstanding job in protecting me," he continued, "Especially in light of what you went through earlier that day."

  "Thank you sir, I am sorry about the loss of the shuttle sir, but as for the rest, I was just doing my duty and the company did do an outstanding job of designing me. Sir." I was really worried about the shuttle, if it was judged my fault I'd have to pay for it and the lost cargo too.

  "Don't worry about the shuttle son," the Captain said reading my mind. "Those defenses were supposed to be pacified by that time, so it wasn't your fault. As it was, you managed to save most of the cargo and I'm going to recommend you for a bonus."

  "Thank you sir!" That was more than I could have hoped for, and I know my surprise showed.

  "Don't act so surprised, you went above and beyond normal duty on that, and the company likes to see such action rewarded. Especially when the equipment saved is valuable."

  "Yes sir." I didn't think he needed to know that I really didn't have any choice about bailing out.

  "Anyway as I was saying, the Colonel's attempt to assassinate me was totally unexpected. I honestly thought he was going to surrender and save his own skin, or at least that of his troops. Looking back at what has been uncovered now, I can see that we were dealing with fanatics. If I had known that I would have realized that surrender was out of the question for them.

  "I want to thank you Mister Rakir, both personally and as the company representative, for your actions. You most probably saved my life."

  "Sir," I said a little nervously, "I was just doing what I was trained to sir."

  "I saw how quick you responded there Mister, and I saw you getting shot by those bullets meant for me. You didn't have to do that, your quick reactions and quick thinking got me out of there before the enemy's forces could grab me."

  "I think the other two who were there deserve a lot of the credit for getting you out sir." I said honestly, "I really wasn't capable of much more at that point sir."

  "Don't worry; they've been rewarded for their part, which I admit was also outstanding. But your actions were the most important and they were both very quick to point that out. I would like to know one thing however." He looked at me closely.

  "What sir?" I was very nervous now; I think I knew what was coming.

  "How did you manage to draw your pistol so quickly? The Colonel's was barely out when you shot him."

  "Well sir," I answered carefully and nervously too, if the truth came out I'd be in definite trouble. "I could see he was getting more and more edgy as you were talking, so I put my hand on the hilt of my gun. Then, when he jumped, I just pulled and fired before I stood up. It was his taking time to jump up that gave me the chance, sir."

  "How did you know he was going to pull his gun?" he asked suspiciously.

  "I saw his shoulder moving down on that side sir as he started to jump up," I lied, "I figured it could only mean one thing." I waited a second while he thought about that.

  "Yes, I guess that would have been the obvious thing. Next time I'll watch out for that. Though I hope there never is a next time."

  I nodded and breathed an inner sigh of relief as he bought it, and continued on.

  "Now as to your reward," he reached over and picked up a small box on his desk and handed it to me. "You are hereby promoted to Warrant Second Class, with the appropriate raise in pay. I am also going to recommend you for the company's outstanding performance award, one for each of your actions of the day." He stood up and I quickly did the same.

  "Congratulations Warrant Second Class!" He finished and saluted.

  I returned the salute and then shook his offered hand.

  "Thank you very much sir!" I was a bit dazed by the whole thing.

  "You earned it Mister Rakir," he sat back down behind his desk. "Dismissed!"

  I saluted again, and left the room. I opened the box and looked inside. There was a new set of rank insignia, and I changed mine right there in the hallway.

  I went and found Terease next. She was still on board working on the ship's drive repairs. I ran into Shooma as soon as I crossed into engineering territory.

  "Hi Raj," he noticed my rank tabs, "hey, congratulations on the promotion."

  "Thanks, you seen Terease around?"

  "Sure, have a seat I'll go get her." He indicated a seat over in the engineering office.

  I went over and sat down, I could see a lot of blueprints and drawings were scattered all over the tables in the office. They were obviously still pretty busy, but I really couldn't make heads or tails of the whole affair.

  "Raj!" I heard a minute later and turned to see Terease entering the room. "I heard you were going to be around today!"

  I gave her a hug and she looked me over.

  "You look okay, I heard about your getting hurt."

  "That was a few weeks ago, I've pretty much recovered since then. How's everything going up here?" I asked.

  "Pretty busy as far as work goes. The drive is finished, but we're still testing our repairs." she gave me another hug. "It's also real lonely up here too. I've only seen Banner once in the last month, and the only company I've had are Sharazad and Kate."

  "Yeah, I guess it is pretty lonely with most everybody on the planet."

  "They won't let me go down until the drive is finished either!" she pouted. "Both Kate and Sharazad get to go down once a week."

  "I'll chase after Banner when I get back down I promise." I couldn't wait anymore, "Notice anything
different on my uniform?"

  "Umm let me see," she looked me all over, "I don't think so." she teased.

  "My rank!" I said exasperated, "I've been promoted!"

  "Oh, That!" she grinned, "Yes I noticed, congratulations Raj!" and she gave me a kiss. "How long are you up for anyway?"

  "Until tomorrow, I have to do a couple of practice sims so I can be cleared to fly again." I looked at my watch. "I'm supposed to do that after lunch. Want to join me?"

  "Sure, I need a break. Just a sec." She went over to the intercom, picked it up and called somebody. After talking about some engineering thing for a minute she told them she was taking lunch, and we left.

  We sat and talked about what had been going on, while eating our lunch. Terease told me just how much had been removed and taken down to the surface. She also told me that we'd be ready to leave in a couple of days.

  "Any idea when we're actually going?" I asked.

  "Not really, but I'd guess it'll be soon. There's a Tri-star ship just a few days away, they broke out yesterday. They're supposed to have the remaining support personnel on board. I think we'll be leaving a few days after they make orbit."

  We finished our lunches then and went our separate ways. As I headed down to the Shuttle area, I couldn't help but notice how empty the ship seemed. About eighty percent of the crew was still planet side working on getting the complex back in order. The defenses had been completed about a week ago, now everybody was trying to get the rest of the place fixed up before we left. They had restarted the mines only a couple of days ago, but with the extra security people that were going to be stationed around there was talk about increasing production to help cover the extra costs.

  The sims went off with out a hitch. Mostly it was just a rehash of the crash I had been through during the attack, but they did go over some of the basics just to make sure I hadn't gotten rusty during my recovery. When I got back to my cabin, I checked my messages and found that I was expected at Sharazad's cabin that evening. Kate and Terease would be there as well.