Beth stared at her hands again and nodded yes, almost imperceptibly.
“You lost people when you commanded the corvette squadron, entire crews. Sweetheart, everyone knows the risks, and they choose to do it anyway.”
“It's not just that. I treated Rosey badly... and she didn't deserve it. I should have shown her more respect. Now she's gone, and I cannot make amends.” Silent tears ran down Beth's cheeks.
“I knew you had a burr under your saddle about her, but I figured it would work itself out over time.”
“I think I disliked her because of her past, it reminded me too much of my own. Flitting from man to man, morale be damned.”
“Yeah, well yer flitting days are over, lady. Besides, I don't think Rosey held it against you, you givin' her the cold shoulder. She was a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, she expected her officers to be hard-cases.”
“I was still in the wrong.”
“Sweetheart, I watched the video feed from your mission. Rosey chose to do what she did. She could have stayed on the ramp and let the black threads take the girl, but she didn't. She was a Marine, and she did what Marines do. She put herself in harm's way for the sake of others, in this case an innocent young girl.”
“I still don't think I can forgive myself.” Beth leaned against her husband's shoulder. “Just hold me.”
Billy Ray put his arm around her and did just that. Her sobs slowly grew more pronounced until they wracked her body.
Most of the crew thinks you are a stone cold bitch, my love. They don't know how much you care for your people, deep down inside. A good officer has to be strong, can't let emotion cloud their decisions, even if it hurts like hell afterward.
The tears passed. Beth sniffled and looked up at Billy Ray, her eyes red from crying. “I do so wish I could make it up to her, somehow.”
As Billy Ray searched for something to say to ease his wife's pain his comm pip chirped—a priority message for the Captain from the CIC.
Hills Above New Mecca
The flexibot descended the rocky hillside in a controlled tumble. Its sensors registered significant change in the area since it last passed that way. Gone was the Earth vegetation, the flock of sheep, and the colonists. This area now looked much like any other on the surface of the planet; dun-colored and sterile.
Optically scanning the surrounding terrain as it bounced and rolled, the survey robot detected a dark patch ahead. Drawing closer to the anomaly, it resolved into a roughly humanoid form—a large humanoid form. The object's surface looked worn and weathered, like the dark, lava encased figures found in the ruins of Pompeii.
The robot edged closer, intent on taking a sample of the object's material. It detected a signal. A signal that invoked a new set of command protocols, instructions with overriding priority. The signal was an emergency beacon, weak and thready, that said there might be something alive inside the black figure sprawled on the barren hillside.
Rods and cables shifted, extending upward. The flexibot quickly identified the nearest satellite and began retransmitting the emergency signal. High overhead the signal was received, recognized and passed on, broadcast to any Earth ships in the star system. It eventually made its way to the attention of those on duty in the Peggy Sue's CIC, and from them to the ship's captain.
Crew Lounge, Lower Deck, Peggy Sue
The survivors from the Fortune were gathered in the crew lounge adjacent to the enlisted quarters. They had been interviewed by the grizzled old Chief who had extracted them from the escape pods, and several officers. As a result, they all were assigned duties under the supervision of existing crewmembers. This did not sit particularly well with all the survivors.
“Man, what is with these people?” griped Raoul Mendez, the former navigator.
“You really don't know who these people are?” asked Leon. “The Captain, First Officer and Sailing Master were all high ranking Navy officers during the war. Before that they were part of the original crew of the Peggy Sue, the starship we're on.”
“Like I'm supposed to know who all these people are,” Mendez muttered.
“They are some of the most famous explorers in all the Orion Arm. How I wish I had landed a berth on this ship instead of that bucket-of-bolts livestock transport we came here on.”
“Yeah, yeah. They got me working for some Jap broad as a junior navtec.”
Frank Hoenig, the shuttle pilot, was the last man retrieved from space. He just finished talking with the Sailing Master and had drawn some different conclusions than his former shipmates.
“I'd be careful with that mouth of yours, Mendez. That Japanese lady is Dr. Mizuki Ogawa.”
“Huh? So what?”
“She is one of the most respected astrophysicists of our time, and she was also on this ship's second voyage—the second voyage to the stars ever made by Earthlings. She has seen more strange worlds and fought more aliens than you have ever dreamed of. That's so what.”
“Hey, I've heard of her,” Leon exclaimed. “She's like a samurai warrior physics chick. If she had a rock band she'd be a female Buckaroo Bonsai.”
“I would keep a civil tongue in my head if I were you, Raoul. She could kick your sorry ass without breaking a sweat,” Frank added. Raoul scowled.
“I'm looking at this as a net positive,” Leon said, ignoring the disgruntled navigator. “I'm alive and I've already found new employment.”
“Well my friend, play your cards right and you just might work your way into a permanent position.” In an almost conspiratorial tone, Frank added, “The crew gets a piece of the action from any discoveries made during the voyage.”
“I don't care, I just want to go home,” Ethan Jones opined.
“Hey,” said Leon, “what happened to those two settler boys?”
Mendez snorted. “Who gives a shit? I hate to say it but I'm with Jones, I just want to go home.”
“You guys got no imagination,” countered Leon. “This could be the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“I'll give yous the opportunity of a lifetime,” said a gruff voice from the aft doorway. “Hoenig, Delaney, haul your asses aft to the armory and get fitted for some armor. Yer gonna make one last visit to Paradise.”
“Aye, aye, Chief,” the two men responded as they hurried aft.
“The rest of yous scupper turds, grab yer data pads. I ain't done orientating yous yet.”
Shuttle One, Descending
Bobby was once again at the controls of the heavy armored shuttle, making a return trip he never thought he'd make. Next to him was Fred, the new shuttle pilot from the Fortune. The Captain wanted him to get a little on the job training, and to see how he handled himself under stress.
Sitting in the port side jump-seat, Beth seemed on edge. Bobby and Beth had been friends from the time she started dating Billy Ray—he knew she had taken the Gunny's loss hard, he just hoped she didn't have her expectations too high. Just because a survey drone found an emergency beacon didn't mean there was somebody alive down there.
In the other jump seat was Doc White, just in case there was a survivor. She seldom left the ship and was excited to see the dead planet up close.
“This is the area that the holotank displayed earlier? The little town in the middle of green prairie land?”
“Yes, Betty,” Bobby answered. “The area just ahead had been seeded and was expanding rapidly before the contagion took it out.”
“And we're sure it's gone, right? The contagion I mean.”
“That's what Mizuki and the science dweebs said. As long as we are all encased in space armor we shouldn't reawaken the stuff.”
“Look! Down there.” Beth pointed excitedly to something on the surface off the port side.
“Yeah, the locator shows that as the drone location. We'll swing around and land pointed uphill. Frank, you bring her around.”
“Roger.”
“Just remember, she flies like a brick, an overpowered brick, but still a brick.”
* * * *
*
Frank managed to set the shuttle down ten meters beyond the flexibot. The robot drone stood like a beacon tower next to the prostrate figure on the rocky hillside. Betty and Beth headed for the rear of the craft, Beth in the lead.
“OK. I'm going to the back to keep an eye on things,” Bobby said to Frank. “If I start yelling get us into the air quickly.”
“Roger that. I've been through that drill once already.”
“There might be hope for you yet, Frank.” Bobby clapped his co-pilot on the shoulder and followed after the women.
The scene at the rear ramp was crowded, with the three Marines, Beth, and Dr. White all trying to get a look at the dark object laying next to the rod and wire tower formed by the flexibot. Behind them Kashi and the new crewman, Leon, stood by with a portable medical capsule, an emergency stretcher on repulsors with full medical sensors. The capsule could be sealed, providing air and oxygen to a wounded patient even in vacuum.
“Let's see what we have, people,” Beth said.
“Bosco, Vinny, lead off,” ordered Kato. “I'm right behind you.”
The Marines were armed as they had been in the ship's hold when the escape pods were recovered, with UV lasers. The plan was for the Marines to be the only personnel to dismount from the shuttle. If the black contagion did make an appearance the hope was that the lasers could hold it off long enough for them to get back on board and get the shuttle into the air.
As the Marines neared the figure, the flexibot shrank downward and tumbled away from the site. Bosco reached the dark figure first.
“It looks like one of our armor suits all right.”
“Is it intact?” asked Beth.
Kneeling down, Bosco ran a gauntleted hand along the side of the battered suit. The outer layers of armor flaked and crumbled under his touch.
“The armor is badly degraded, but the suit seems intact.”
Vinny called out, “I'm getting telemetry readings that show an internal atmosphere. The power levels are low but there's still active life support.”
“What do you want us to do, Commander?” asked Kato, scanning the area for any movement, any indication of a threat.
“Try to stand the suit up.”
Bosco and Vinny obeyed, gently lifting the top of the suit, levering it into an upright position. The suit arms stayed frozen in the same positions they had on the ground: the left arm bent, hand next to the helmet; the right arm out stretched, reaching for the sky.
“What now, Ma'am?”
“Bring the suit onto the ramp.” As the Marines complied with Beth's orders, she turned to Bobby. “When they are all standing on the ramp I want it raised until it's level with the cargo floor. Then liftoff into a hover so nothing can get to us.”
“Right. Frank, did you copy that?”
“Roger, standing by.”
Moving the massive, damaged suit was no problem for the augmented musculature of the Marines' armor. The figure was soon standing on the cargo ramp and the shuttle hovering a hundred meters above the ground.
“OK, Kashi and Leon, hose it down with distilled water, just in case.” Though Beth was dying to open the battered suit of armor, she forced herself to methodically follow the plan drawn up with the science section on the trip down. Water and crud sluiced off the end of the ramp, falling to the dead world below.
During the wash down the supporting Marines rotated the suit until it was facing out the open cargo hatch. This put the suit's back to those inside. Entry to a suit of heavy armor was from the back, where the back mounted equipment and ammunition storage opened like a clam-shell. The sailors secured the water hose and stood back, expectantly.
Beth nodded to Kato. “Crack it open, Sergeant Kwan.”
Equipment and chunks of armor fell off as Kato pried the back of the suit open. Inside was a body, in a skintight pressure suit. Doc White and Kashi rushed forward to pull the limp form from its armor shell. The head lolled back and the face could be clearly seen—it was Rosey Acuna.
Thank God! Beth started toward the Gunny's slack body but stopped herself.
Working quickly Doc White and Kashi stripped the sergeant's body and, with Leon's help, got her into the medical capsule. Betty moved purposefully about the fallen Marine, palpating extremities and attaching IV lines. Finally she slid the clear cover shut, providing an oxygen enriched atmosphere for her patient to breath.
“Doc?” Beth asked, a hint of anxiety in her voice.
“She's alive. Pulse is week and she's a bit dehydrated, but she should be OK.”
It was as though a great weight was lifted from Beth's shoulders. There were smiles all around among the crew. The Marines' expressions were not visible within their armored helmets but the change in body language indicated their elation.
“Ma'am, what do we do with the suit?” asked Kato.
“There might still be some contamination on it, throw it off the ramp.”
“Aye, aye, Ma'am.” Kato motioned to the Marines still supporting the empty suit. They took a step and heaved the ruined husk out of the shuttle. It fell to the surface, out of sight of those in the cargo bay.
“Frank, close the ramp and let's get underway for orbit. I'll be forward in a minute.”
“Roger that, Commander Danner.”
Inside the clear covering of the medical capsule Rosey stirred. Given hydration fluids and oxygen, her medical nanites kicked into overdrive. With effort she managed to focused and look around at her assembled rescuers.
“If this is heaven I'm real disappointed,” she mumbled. “And if it's hell, it looks just like the place I came from.”
Beth leaned over the stretcher beaming.
“Welcome back, Gunny.”
Chapter 30
Sick Bay, Peggy Sue
The Gunny had a steady stream of visitors, to the point where Dr. White was becoming annoyed. She made a comment to that effect to Rosey, who was an old friend and shipmate.
“Yeah, you'd think I owed them all money or something,” the Marine said from her hospital bed. “Doc, how long are you going to keep me on my backside?”
“Until I'm sure I'm not missing something,” Betty shot back. “After all the uproar, I'll be damned if I'm gonna take the blame for you dropping dead because some microbe was overlooked.”
“Well, when you put it that way.”
A new set of visitors entered the ward—the two rescued girls and the First Officer. The sisters stood shyly at the foot of the bed, with Beth standing behind them, smiling. The First Officer was doing a lot of smiling since they brought Rosey back from the surface.
“Gunny,” Beth began, “meet Dorri and Shadi, the two young ladies we retrieved from the last settlement.”
Rosey smiled and moved the bed to a more upright position. “Hello, ladies. It's good to see you.”
“It is wonderful to see you, Gunnery Sergeant Rosy Acuna,” said Dorri. “If not for you I would no longer have a sister.”
“Yes, you saved my life,” added Shadi, “and for a time we were all afraid that your kindness had cost you yours.”
Rosey actually blushed. “Just call me Gunny. Like I said, it's good to see you both alive and kicking. All my friends should have known, it takes more than a deadly planet wide contagion to take out a Marine.”
“And the Gunny is a true Marine,” Beth said. “The best on the ship and an example for Marines everywhere.”
The Gunny's eyes got a bit wider at the First Officer's effusive praise. “Thank you, Ma'am. Just doing the job.”
“Can I ask you a question, Gunny?” asked Shadi.
“Certainly.”
“Dr. Ogawa said she would teach us kendo, but she said that you were the best person to learn self defense from. Would you teach my sister and me how to fight?”
A smile spread slowly across the Gunny's face. “I would be happy to have you join the Marines' daily class. But you will need to participate in the daily run and PT—physical training—each morning before hand-
to-hand combat instruction. Is that OK?”
Both girls nodded yes enthusiastically.
“We start at 0500 in the cargo hold. Though it will take me another day or two to get out of this hospital bed.”
“We'll be there, Gunny. Thank you!”
“Thanks, Gunny,” added the First Officer. “Let me know when you are ready to return to duty.”
“Yes, Ma'am.”
With that, Beth herded her young charges out of the room, thanking Betty on the way out. Betty returned to Rosey's bedside.
“They seem like a couple of nice kids, and Beth was being awfully nice herself. If she's not careful she'll damage her reputation.”
“Don't be snarky, Doc. The First Officer has a tough job, this being a new crew and all.”
“Yeah, well she took your accident hard, Rosey. Enjoy her shift in attitude while you can. By the way, I think I have two other new recruits for you.”
“Oh? Not some of those lava creatures.”
“No, a couple of farm boys from the Fortune. I think they were followers of that Brother Abraham guy.”
“That is just what I need.”
“According to Hank Zackly, when he informed them that you survived your unexpected stay on the surface they started babbling all sorts of stuff about you being 'the chosen of God' and having 'defeated the angel of death'.”
“Great, now I'm Joan of Arc. I always wanted my own cult.” Rosey shook her head. “If I recall, things didn't work out so well for Saint Joan.”
“Well they're big and beefy and not overly bright. I'd think they're perfect for the Marines.” Betty smiled a wicked smile to show Rosey she was just giving her a hard time. At one time Betty had been a Navy Medical Corpsman attached to the Marines.
“Well, we'll see. If I can't turn 'em into Marines by the time we make home port we can always leave 'em on the shore. Besides, it will give me something challenging to do.”
T'aafhal Legacy 1: Ghosts of Orion Page 31
