“Yessir.” That business about the personnel on the page-two orders. Very curious. He’d have to check with Sergeant Major Periz to be positive, but he was certain that Lance Corporal Dwan had an Ultra Secret clearance. “But, sir, while the main mission is a routine enough mission for Force Recon, that second mission—it’s an assassination, and that is nowhere near a routine assignment.” Obannion paused in thought for a moment, then said, “Offhand, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of an assassination mission being given to Force Recon.”
Indrus looked at Obannion for a long moment, considering what he should say. He decided and abruptly leaned forward. “Walt, we both have Ultra Secret clearances. You have one, I have one. There are things we are both cleared to know, things known to almost nobody else in the entire Confederation of Human Worlds. But neither of us knows everything Ultra Secret; most of that knowledge is restricted to those few who need to know it. A general, especially at my level, has a need-to-know that a commander doesn’t.
“You don’t know what I’m about to tell you, you don’t have the official need-to-know. But I’m a Confederation Marine Corps Lieutenant General, and I think you need to know more than you do.
“I happen to know of four assassinations carried out by Force Recon—and I’m morally certain there have been many more.”
Stunned, Obannion simply stared at his commanding general. The Force Recon community was tight-lipped; it had to be, most of what Force Recon Marines did was classified. Nonetheless, word of out-of-the-ordinary missions, particularly difficult missions, extremely hazardous missions—in short, anything truly unusual—got around regardless of their level of classification. Force Recon Marines believed they all had to know about the particularly unexpected or unusual, that such knowledge might save Force Recon lives and increase the odds of mission success. How did it happen that a Force Recon company commander didn’t know about assassination missions?
That was the real reason for Indrus meeting Obannion in the G3’s office rather than his own; if the commander of the Force Recon company had been called to the office of the CG, Fourth Fleet Marines, it would be unusual enough to attract attention, and people who didn’t have the need-to-know might try to find out what the mission was. Obannion almost wished he didn’t know about it himself. It was as though Indrus read Obannion’s mind. “Those missions were Ultra Secret, need-to-know, with a Darkside penalty, the same as this one,” he said. “The only people who will know about this mission are the two of us, the sniper team that gets the assignment, and the platoon commander and platoon sergeant who will give the final go-ahead if Objective Two proves necessary. Now do you understand why you’ve never heard about these missions?”
Again, Obannion felt as though Indrus was reading his mind. “Yessir, I guess I do.”
“You’ve got the people who can pull this mission off—including Objective Two. Now, do you have a problem with it?”
“A problem? Let’s say rather, I have a discomfort with it.” Obannion leaned forward. “But you checked this out with Minister of War Berentus, and he said this is what the President wants?”
“Yes, I did. And he said she wants it.”
“We’re Force Recon, sir. The merely difficult, we do immediately. The impossible may take a little longer.”
“Good. Lar will develop a cover story for the primary operation; nobody not directly involved in the planning and running of the op has the need to know about it. I’m talking about the page one mission now. Understand?”
“Yessir.”
“Don’t draw plans for the page two mission, that’s already been done. It came directly from the Office of the Chairman of the Combined Chiefs.” An expression of disgust flickered across his face. “I’m afraid I can’t show it to you yet, not until your platoon is ready to embark on the Admiral Nelson . Then you’ll have to brief the platoon commander and platoon sergeant. You’ll have a little time after that to brief your sniper team and get them on their way. You’ll have noticed that page two of the orders I showed you is missing its Annex Two. The specific personnel details of that mission are in that annex.”
“When you’ve got your main operation plans drawn up,” the general said as he stood, Obannion jumped to his feet as well. “Lar will pass them on for my approval. You’ve got three days. Lar should have your cover story ready by then as well. You will tell no one about page two. Understood?”
“Yessir.”
“Good day, Walt.” Indrus turned and left the office via a rear exit. Nobody in Operations knew he’d been there, except for Colonel Szilk—and probably Commander Ronzo.
Fourth Force Recon Company, Fourth Fleet Marines, Camp Howard, MCB Camp Basilone, Halfway
“What kind of clearance does Bella Dwan have?” Obannion asked Sergeant Major Periz as soon as he returned to his office.
“Ultra Secret.” Periz didn’t have to check, he knew these things. “So does Sergeant Gossner.” If the skipper wanted to know about Lance Corporal Dwan’s clearance, Periz reasoned, he’d also need to know her team leader’s clearance.
“Thanks, Sergeant Major. I don’t want to be disturbed for a few minutes.” Obannion went into his office, closed the door behind him, and sat down to read the orders again—especially the second page, the one he couldn’t show any of his people. FROM: The President of the Confederation of Human Worlds TO: Commanding General, Fourth Fleet Marines RE: Special Orders
CLASSIFICATION: Ultra Secret, Eyes Only, Darkside penalty 1. Personnel: One sniper team to consist of: one male and one female. 2. The mission to Atlas has a second element (Objective Two), to be conducted by one Force Recon sniper team from the Force Recon platoon assigned to the primary mission. 3. Objective Two is contingent on the findings of the primary mission. a) Should the primary mission determine that the Spondu facility known as the “Cabbage Patch” is a civilian research facility or manufactory, the snipers will take no action, instead they will return to Headquarters, Fourth Fleet Marines as per instructions in Annex 1. b) Should the primary mission determine that the Spondu facility known as the “Cabbage Patch” is a weapons research facility or manufactory, or is developing a crop-killing fungus, they are to neutralize President Jorge Liberec Lavager of the Union of Margelan at a place and time they will determine. (See Annex 2)
4. The Marines involved in Objective Two will: a) Make planetfall via civilian starship transport (see Annex 1); b) Wear civilian clothing throughout the entire deployment; c) Do their utmost to appear as civilian visitors on holiday (see Annex 2). 5. The Marines participating in Objective Two will, upon completion of their objective, whether or not that completion necessitates neutralization of President Jorge Liberec Lavager, depart Atlas as scheduled on civilian transportation (see Annex 1). Annex 1
a) The Marines involved in Objective Two will transit from Halfway to New Genesee via civilian cargo freighter, where they will meet and embark on the SpaceFun Lines tour ship Crimson Seas for transport to Atlas. Tickets will be provided, as well as a stipend for housing, food, and necessary cover travel and entertainment while on Atlas. (See Annex 2) b) The Marines involved in Objective Two will return from Atlas to New Genesee via SpaceFun Lines tour ship Blue Ocean and transfer to the next available civilian freighter heading for Halfway. by Special Order,
Madam Cynthia Chang-Sturdevant,
President,
Confederation of Human Worlds
Obannion sighed; the orders read exactly the same as when he first read them. Particularly that “one male and one female” on the second page. Lance Corporal Bella Dwan was the only female sniper in Fourth Fleet Marines, the Office of the Chairman of the Combined Chiefs had to know that. And if it didn’t, the Commandant’s office should have told them. He had an idea of what the cover story in Annex 2 said, and feared Bella Dwan would rebel at it. He wouldn’t find fault with Ivo Gossner if he rebelled at it as well.
Then he finally faced a facet of the assignment he’d been avoiding. Bella Dwan was the only female sniper in
Fourth Force Recon Company—there wasn’t another woman sniper available to pair her up with as her team leader. Obannion wasn’t positive, but he was pretty sure there wasn’t another mixed-gender sniper team in the entire Corps; women snipers were normally paired with women team leaders. That was because of the normal hormonal response to the aftermath of violence and death—people who’d just come out of violence and death had to somehow reaffirm life, and there’s nothing more reaffirming of life than sex. It could be very bad for the morale of others in the platoon if a sniper team leader and sniper fucked right after a kill, even if they held off until they got safely away; those two got some, what about the rest of us? Moreover, what would happen to discipline once a sniper team did have sex? What if one wanted to continue a sexual relationship and the other didn’t? What if one took advantage of such a relationship to get out of duties, or to get other favors? That would be bad for overall morale and unit effectiveness. This was directly linked to the reason that no branch of the military allowed married couples to serve in the same unit; if both were in the Marines, or the army or the navy, they weren’t always assigned to the same stations, and when they were they were assigned to different battalions or equivalent. Obannion almost felt safe having Bella Dwan paired with Ivo Gossner. Nobody in the company would dare try anything sexual with the Queen of Killers, and Gossner was one of the steadiest Marines in the company.
He touched the intercom and said, “Sergeant Major, get Captains Qindall and Wainwright for me, please. You come in with them.”
The company’s executive officer and operations officer arrived in two or three minutes. Periz ushered them in.
“Come on in, gentlemen, have a seat.” Obannion gestured for someone to close the door behind them.
“What’s up, boss?” Qindall asked as he sat. Wordlessly, Obannion handed him the single-page orders. Wainwright and Periz leaned forward to read it over the XO’s shoulders.
“I believe everyone in the company has high enough clearance.” He looked at Periz for confirmation. Periz nodded. “So the first question is, who gets the call?”
Wainwright didn’t hesitate. “First platoon still has three months to go on Carhart’s World. Half of third platoon is on missions and won’t be intact for at least two months. Second platoon only has one squad deployed, and it should be back within the next two weeks, standard. That leaves second platoon as the only one immediately deployable.”
“Do you think Tevedes is up to it?”
“He ran a couple of successful detached platoon missions when he was with a FIST,” Qindall said.
“Also, he’s itching to run a platoon-size FR op,” Wainwright added. Obannion looked at Periz, but the sergeant major had nothing to add. Obannion considered for a moment. What his top officers said was true. He added in the fact that Tevedes had been an outstanding squad leader during his first Force Recon tour, and probably would have been moved into the next available section leader slot if he hadn’t opted for officer training and gone to a FIST after getting his commission. He’d acquitted himself well since his return to Force Recon. Obannion couldn’t think of a reason to deny him this opportunity.
“Second platoon it is then,” he decided. “Get started on some plans, we’ll bring Tevedes and Gunny Lytle into it tomorrow.”
Obannion and his primary staff began studying up on Atlas. Company Commander’s Office, Fourth Force Recon Company Commander Obannion finished outlining the operation to second platoon’s commander and platoon sergeant, then added, “Don’t tell your Marines—don’t tell anybody —about this. We’ll give you a cover story to tell them for now. Your Marines don’t get told the real mission until you’re in Beamspace on your last jump before Atlas. Understand?”
“Yessir,” Tevedes replied. He was giddy about taking his platoon on a mission, but not so giddy he didn’t understand what his company commander said, or the need for secrecy. Gunny Lytle also said, “Yessir,” but his reply was far more restrained. He wondered why this relatively routine mission was being kept so secret within the platoon. Second platoon squadbay, Fourth Force Recon Company Preparations for mounting out on a mission were always the same whether one squad or an entire platoon deployed, only the details changed. The Marines double-and triple-checked their weapons to make sure they were in proper working condition, and replaced any parts they even suspected might fail. They did the same with their uniforms and gear. Then they checked their weapons again. They studied the operation plan and rehearsed whatever actions they were going to perform. And checked their weapons yet again. They read up on their objective area and studied maps of the area of operation and the surrounding territory. And rechecked their weapons. Lance Corporal Wazzen noticed a glaring discrepancy: The operations plan didn’t quite match the maps, and the maps and area studies had obviously false names on them. He pointed that out to Sergeant Daly.
“No kidding,” Daly said. “Did you happen to notice the classification level of this operation?”
“Ultra Secret. So?”
“Ultra Secret. That means this operation plan is probably a dummy, just in case somebody who doesn’t need to know what we’re doing gets hold of it.”
Wazzen looked at him blankly. “Then what are we really going to do?” This was his first Ultra Secret, need-to-know mission.
“We’ll find out when we really need to know.”
“When will that be?”
Daly gave a nonchalant shrug. “Before we get where we’re going.”
Wazzen looked like he was trying to come up with another question to ask, but Daly had another piece of information for him first.
“Something else it means is, you’re confined to the company area until we mount out, and can only go to chow with someone from the squad.”
“What!” Wazzen squawked. “Why?”
“To guarantee you don’t say anything about a dummy plan where someone who doesn’t need to know can overhear you.”
They checked their weapons and gear again. Office of the Company Commander, Fourth Force Recon Company Commander Walt Obannion didn’t bother looking at page two of the orders again before he sent for Lieutenant Tevedes and Gunnery Sergeant Lytle. As much as he might wish it otherwise. Unlike data stored on crystals, which could be changed, he knew the page would say the same thing it did the last time he looked at it—once words were on paper they tended to say the same thing until the paper was destroyed.
He stood when he heard Tevedes and Lytle enter the outer office and met them at the door of his inner sanctum. He gave Sergeant Major Periz an apologetic shake of the head when he closed the door, shutting his top enlisted man out of the loop. Neither Tevedes nor Lytle missed the significance of the absence of the company’s top dog. Wondering what was about to come down, they both stood a little more erect.
“You both better sit down for this one,” Obannion said as he brushed past them to his desk. The two paused just long enough for their commander to sit before they followed suit. Obannion looked at the two leaders of the Atlas mission levelly, then shook himself as though breaking out of a paralytic grip. “I think you better take a look at this,” he said, handing Tevedes the two-page order.
Lytle leaned over to read along with the lieutenant. When each finished reading page one, they looked up. Tevedes said what he was thinking:
“What’s so important? We’ve seen this before.”
Lytle knew the important business was on page two. “Turn the page,” he said. Tevedes did, and the two read.
Tevedes stopped reading before he got to the details and raised his eyes. “Assassinate the President of a nation-state on a Confederation member world? Is that really what this says?”
Obannion nodded solemnly. “General Indrus verified the orders, that’s what it says.”
“And the Darkside penalty for everyone who knows?”
Obannion nodded again. “They’re very serious about the secrecy of this mission.”
Tevedes sucked in a breath and blew it out. H
e looked Obannion in the eye and said, “I know about this mission. So even if I turn it down, I can be sentenced to Darkside if anybody divulges information about it.”
“Me too.” Obannion looked at Lytle. Lytle had read the entire page. “Where’s Annex Two?” he asked. Obannion shook his head. “I haven’t seen it yet.”
“How are we supposed to communicate with the sniper team?” Lytle asked.
“I believe there will be encoded instructions for you to open before you make planetfall on Atlas. I’ll know for certain later today.”
“With the Lieutenant’s permission,” Lytle said, looking at his platoon commander, “I think we better accept this mission, if for no other reason than to limit how many people know about it—and so we can have some control over those who know.”
“I think that’s wise,” Tevedes agreed. Obannion didn’t show the relief he felt as he nodded.
“Thank you for your confidence in us, I guess,” Tevedes said.
“I know second platoon can execute the primary mission, Gott. And I trust your judgment, both of you, on the secondary objective—and I know that you’ve got a sniper team that can execute that mission and keep their mouths shut about it.”
Tevedes flinched at the second “execute,” because that’s what it was, an execution. “Which team?” he asked, then shook his head. “You mean Gossner and Dwan, don’t you?” It couldn’t be anybody else.
“Can you think of anyone better?”
Tevedes slowly shook his head. “Nossir, I don’t think I can.” He paused a beat, then continued, “If Dwan’s willing to do it. I know she talks and acts tough, and she’s an outstanding sniper. But assassinating a civilian leader isn’t the same as sniping at an enemy soldier. I strongly suspect that somewhere deep inside she’s got scruples. She could draw a line at the assassination of a civilian.”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
“Yessir, I guess there is. Do we have a cover story for where they’re going?”
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