Ghost Company

by Richard Turner

  Sheridan nodded as he shoveled in another heaping forkful of spaghetti.

  “So you’re feeling fine?”

  “I guess so,” said Sheridan as he wiped his face clean with a napkin.

  “Good, so you won’t mind if I do this,” said Tarina, standing up with a seductive smile on her face.

  Sheridan smiled. He puckered up and waited for a kiss. Instead, like a trap being sprung, Tarina leaped forward and grabbed Sheridan by his pajama shirt collar and yanked him toward her.

  “Don’t you ever pull a stunt like that ever again, Michael Sheridan,” warned Tarina through clenched teeth. She let go of his collar with her left hand and pointed at Cole. “Do you see that man sitting there?”

  Sheridan nodded. He could see the anger in Tarina’s eyes. It was like a raging fire.

  “You’re not to go anywhere without him by your side, or I’ll kill you. Got it?”

  Sheridan was tongue-tied. He looked over at Cole for help but saw his friend and mentor smiling at his predicament.

  “I asked you a question, Michael. Do you get it?”

  “Yes, I hear you. I was only trying to do the right thing.”

  Tarina let go of Sheridan and stepped back. “All you had to do was wait a little while longer for Master Sergeant Cole to get out of the hospital and you could have followed your lead together. As it was, it took Alan weeks to track you down. If he hadn’t shown up when he did, you’d be dead right now.”

  “I know and I’m forever in his debt for pulling me out of there, but there’s a war on, and finding Harry Williams is my mission right now.”

  “Our mission,” corrected Cole. “Or at least, it was.”

  “What’s that mean? Have we been fired?” Sheridan was confused. Tracking down Harry Williams and the stolen Alpha-Virus had become an obsession with him.

  “No, just reassigned. I’ll tell you more when Captain Pheto is finished with you.”

  “A lot has happened since you’ve been gone, Michael,” said Tarina.

  “Such as?” asked Sheridan.

  “There has been a wholesale reorganization of the armed forces. Your father no longer just commands the Sixth Fleet, he’s now responsible for a much larger force of Fleet, Marine and Army personnel.”

  “The proper title for your father’s new command is the Sixth Combined Task Force,” pointed out Cole. “As such he was forced to transfer his flag from the Colossus to the supercarrier, Intrepid.”

  “I doubt he liked that very much,” said Sheridan, knowing how fond his father was of his old ship.

  “No, I’m sure he had to be dragged over to the Intrepid, but there’s where we’ll find him. Because of the reorganization, his staff has doubled in size. Captain Killam is still our boss, but he now answers to a Marine brigadier general who is your father’s new chief of staff.”

  “The general is a different sort. He’s a bundle of nervous energy,” said Tarina, shaking her head.

  “I take it my dad is as pissed with me as you two are?” queried Sheridan.

  Cole chuckled. “I’m not going to repeat the last words he said to me before we all set out to find you, but I wouldn’t want to be you in about six hours’ time.”

  “Wonderful,” muttered Sheridan under his breath.

  Tarina leaned forward and smiled. “I’m not going to hit you. Give me a kiss, Michael, so I can get on my way. You and Alan have a lot of things to discuss.”

  Sheridan puckered up and kissed his girlfriend. He tried to linger on her warm lips, but she pulled away. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” she said with a wink.

  Cole waited for the door to slide close before he spoke. “Captain, she’s right. You should have waited for me.”

  “I’m sorry, but I had a good lead that I just had to follow.”

  “And?”

  “It actually turned out to be a piece of solid information. Regrettably, it was a month out of date. When I arrived at the settlement, Harry was long gone.”

  “What did he want from those lunatics?”

  “A place to stay for a few days and a new ship. When I asked if anyone knew where he had gone, I was arrested on the spot and thrown in jail.”

  “How come?”

  “Harry, bless his heart, had left them pictures of me. He’d informed the cultists that I was a heretic and their enemy.”

  Cole shook his head. “I’ve got to give it to him; Mister Williams is one sneaky bastard. Well, he’s not our problem anymore.”

  “Yeah, why is that?”

  “The hunt for Harry is over. Fleet sent out an order terminating the search for Mister Williams a week after you went missing. The official word is that his ship and its deadly cargo were destroyed sometime after he made his jump from Earth’s orbit.”

  Sheridan raised his eyebrow over his right eye. “And unofficially?”

  “The search is still on. Have you ever heard of Detachment 401?”

  Sheridan shook his head. “No. Who are they?”

  “Beats me. Your father informed me personally of the change, and when I asked him who they were, he shrugged and said he didn’t really know a thing about them. It’s real hush-hush stuff. I wouldn’t ever bring them up in a conversation if I were you. I don’t relish the idea of spending the rest of my natural life in a maximum security prison doing hard labor.”

  “Okay, I’ll erase them from my mind. Do you have any idea what our next assignment might be?”

  “Rest for you and lots of it.”

  3

  “This way please, sir,” said a young female ensign to Sheridan as she met him at one of the Intrepid’s numerous docking ports.

  Michael Sheridan had changed into his dress blue uniform to meet his father, Admiral Robert Sheridan. Although feeling far better than he had ten days ago, Michael walked slowly beside the eager junior officer.

  “Sorry, sir,” said the ensign when she noticed the discomfort on Sheridan’s face.

  “It’s okay. Slow and steady always wins the race. What’s your name?”

  “Ensign Samantha White, sir.”

  “Have you been onboard the Intrepid for very long?”

  “No, sir. I’ve only been on her for three weeks now.”

  An elevator door opened and they stepped inside. White pressed a button and the elevator began to rise.

  “This is some ship,” said Sheridan. “I’ve never seen, let alone been on, a supercarrier before.”

  “There are only four of them in the entire Fleet, sir.”

  “What’s her complement?”

  “She has one hundred fighters and twenty other smaller craft such as surveillance and transport vessels. Her defensive measures are unequaled. There are numerous defensive gun batteries spread across her hull, along with more than four dozen ship-to-ship missile launchers all capable of firing the latest and deadliest armaments in the fleet.”

  “Impressive.”

  “Even though the Intrepid is capable of defending herself from a Kurgan attack, there are four missile cruisers, six destroyers, and four smaller frigates formed in a bubble all around her for added protection.”

  Sheridan smiled. Ensign White had probably been told by someone higher in the chain of command to memorize all she could before coming to meet the commanding admiral’s son. “Ensign, has there been any Kurgan activity in the Sixth Fleet’s area of operations in the past four months?”

  “Sir, it has been relatively quiet in the Task Force’s AOR,” replied White, stressing the new name for Admiral Sheridan’s command. “There have been a few engagements on the outer boundaries but nothing substantial.”

  “Curious,” said Sheridan. He had expected the Kurgans to try something in his father’s area of responsibility by now. It had been quiet in the Illum star system for far too long.

  The elevator came to a stop. The door opened and White stepped out first. They walked down a corridor filled with senior officers and enlisted personnel wearing the varied uniforms of the different branches
of the armed forces. White led them into an empty briefing room. “Sir, if you’ll take a seat, I’ll let Brigadier General Romano know you have arrived.”

  Sheridan had barely sat down when a side door opened and Romano strode into the room. Sheridan stood and saluted. He could see the general was a full head shorter than he was. Romano looked to be in his late thirties with dark brown eyes that seemed to glisten in the light.

  Romano returned the compliment and held out his hand in greeting.

  Sheridan shook the general’s hand. The man had a viselike grip.

  “Welcome onboard the Intrepid, Captain Sheridan,” said Romano, looking Sheridan in the eyes. His words came out fast and sharp, like a chain gun firing. “I hope you’re feeling much better after your long ordeal away from the fleet.”

  “I’m on the mend, sir.”

  “Please let me introduce myself. My name is Brigadier General Carlo Romano. I am the Sixth Combined Strike Force’s chief of staff.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  “Please take a seat, Captain. Admiral Sheridan and Captain Killam will be here shortly.”

  Sheridan nodded and resumed sitting. He was about to ask Romano a question but before he could open his mouth, the general turned away, took a small tablet from his pocket, and began typing. Sheridan was starting to see what Tarina had alluded to. It was obvious the man had to keep busy or he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

  White walked back in the room, came to attention, and announced, “Gentlemen, Admiral Sheridan.”

  Sheridan and Romano stood.

  The instant Robert Sheridan saw his son, he smiled and ran over to embrace him. Taken back by his father’s open display of affection, Michael patted his dad on his back.

  “Let me look at you, Michael,” said the admiral as he let go of his son. In superb shape for a man his age, he liked to run every day. Like his son, he had black hair, but he had patches of white at the temples.

  Sheridan was surprised to see tears of joy in his father’s green eyes. He felt a pang of guilt for making his father worry about him. “I’m all right, sir.”

  “It’s good to see you in one piece, Captain,” said Killam, shaking Sheridan’s hand. As Admiral Sheridan’s operations officer, he managed Michael and Master Sergeant Cole’s assignments.

  Sheridan was surprised to see that Killam had shaved off what little was left of his red hair. “I’m glad to be home, sir.”

  “Sir, I have the latest fuel figures for you to review,” said Romano, holding up his tablet for the admiral to read.

  “Later, General. Can’t it wait a few minutes? I haven’t seen my son in months.”

  “Sir, Fleet Headquarters wants these figures as soon as possible,” protested Romano.

  “Do the numbers look acceptable to you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then send them back to Earth with my compliments to Admiral Oshiro.”

  Romano nodded and sat down to compose the message.

  The elder Sheridan winked at his son. “I spoke to Master Sergeant Cole before coming in here. He told me Tarina threatened to punch your lights out if you ever took off on your own again. Is that true?”

  “Yes, that she did.”

  “Smart girl . . . you should marry her before someone else does.”

  Michael blushed. “Sir, this isn’t the time nor the place to discuss such personal matters.”

  “You’re right. Join me for dinner in my quarters at twenty-one hundred hours tonight and we can talk then. I’ve asked your friends to join us.”

  Michael had to suppress a grin. Almost every time his father asked Tarina to join them for dinner, he would find an excuse to leave them alone for a few hours. After months of separation, Michael hungered to touch Tarina’s warm brown skin.

  “Sir, what of the evening brief?” asked Romano.

  “Have Vice Admiral Noskov take it on my behalf. I’m sure she’ll pay more attention to the briefing than I would tonight.”

  “Yes, sir.” Romano shot Michael a disapproving glance before turning and walking out of the room.

  “I don’t think that man likes me,” said Michael.

  “Don’t take it too personally,” said Killam. “I don’t think he likes anyone who isn’t as driven as he is.”

  “He’s a real pain the neck,” added the admiral. “But he’s efficient and never passes a fault. He’s the ultimate staff officer, and we’re lucky to have him with us. I just pity the Marine division which gets him as their commanding general.”

  “Sir, without sounding too much like your chief of staff, you have a video conference in five minutes,” said Killam.

  Admiral Sheridan checked his watch and let out a resigned sigh. “Duty calls. Okay then, until later.”

  “Until later, Dad,” said Michael. He watched as his father and Killam left the room. Almost right away, he missed his father. They had never been close while Michael was growing up, but now with the war on, their bond had become unbreakable. Michael looked over at the door Romano had left through and decided he didn’t want to be in the room when the aggrieved general returned.

  4

  “Sir, we’re coming out of our jump in five seconds,” said Captain Andrea Eskola.

  “Thanks,” replied Colonel Wright as he watched the timer on his screen count down to zero. Right on time, the darkness that came with jumping through space disappeared. The cockpit window filled with an inestimable number of stars.

  Eskola checked her navigational computer and smiled. “Sir, we’ve come out of our jump precisely one hundred kilometers from Kurgan space.”

  “Well done, Andrea. Any sign of our friends?”

  “No, sir, my scope is empty. There are no enemy ships or satellites in our area.”

  Wright leaned forward and pressed a button on his control panel, bringing the deep space satellite they had brought with them online. He waited a couple of seconds to allow the satellite’s computer to link up with another one a couple of hundred light-years back before detaching it from underneath his ship. The ongoing tit for tat destruction of both sides’ satellites, deep space telescopes, and sensor arrays was becoming almost farcical. It seemed every week Colonel Wright’s people were jumping to the border to replace something they had recently placed there. He was growing tired of his squadron’s mundane assignment and intended to ask for a new one as soon as he got back to Illum Prime. Wright had heard there was going to be a major reorganization of Special Forces’ assets in the Task Force, and he wanted his people to do something more important than delivering satellites to the border so they could be used as target practice by his Kurgan counterparts.

  All of a sudden, every warning indicator inside the cockpit sounded, startling Wright and Eskola.

  “Sir, something just came out of its jump less than one kilometer away from us,” said Eskola, trying to mask the fear in her voice.

  Wright craned his head and looked out the cockpit. “I can’t see a thing. Where is it?”

  “Sir, it’s directly beneath us, and it’s Kurgan!”

  “Get the jump engine online. Don’t worry about getting us home, just get us the hell out of here.” Wright’s heart jackhammered in his chest. If they were detected by the enemy ship, they were doomed. He placed a hand over the button controlling the vessel’s countermeasures and waited for the warning indicator to tell him the Kurgans had locked their weapons systems onto them.

  “Sir, the engine is warming up. We can jump in ten seconds’ time.”

  Wright looked at over at his computer screen. He was puzzled. The instant their engine switched on, the Kurgans should have detected them. Instead, the two-hundred-meter-long enemy ship hung in space below them doing absolutely nothing to stop them from leaving.

  “Captain, can you identify the enemy vessel?” asked Wright.

  “Yes, sir. It’s a troop transport.”

  Wright knew that even Kurgan transport ships carried some weapons for self-defense. He moved h
is hand away from the control panel. “What’s it doing?”

  “Sir?”

  “Andrea, what is that Kurgan ship doing?”

  Eskola checked her scanner. “Sir, it’s just floating there in space.”

  “Any indication they have scanned us and are bringing their weapons to bear?”

  “Sir, they have scanned us but have not armed any of their defensive weapons’ systems.”

  Wright bit his lip. Something didn’t add up. Why was there a troop transporter on the Terran side of the border without an armed escort? Also, if they had been detected, surely the Kurgans would have tried to destroy them. He wouldn’t have hesitated had he been in their place.

  “Colonel, the engine is ready. We can jump at your command.”

  Wright’s gut told him to wait a few seconds longer. “Andrea, can you see if there’s anything on the comms channels?”

  “Wait one, sir,” replied Eskola as she checked their ship’s comms computer for any transmissions. A couple of seconds later, she lifted her head. “Sir, there’s something on the short-range, ship-to-ship channel in Kurgan.”

  Wright read the translation on his computer screen. His eyes widened. He had to re-read the transmission twice before the words sank home. Wright turned and looked over his shoulder at an equally stunned Eskola. He shook his head and mouthed, “Holy crap.”

  5

  The evening meal in Admiral Sheridan’s quarters was more like a family get-together than a high-ranking officer dining with some junior subordinates. Cole and Tarina were used to being included in the admiral’s tight social group. For Wendy, however, it was her first time there, yet she seemed quite at ease around Admiral Sheridan. The way Wendy kept smiling at his father, Michael would have to ask Tarina after the meal if her friend had a thing for older men.

  Admiral Sheridan raised his glass of alcohol-free wine and smiled at the people sitting around the table. “There are no words I could possibly say which would properly convey my gratitude to you for finding and bringing my son back to me alive.”