He’d smelled faintly of something green and woodsy. Later, she’d learn that it was matcha tea and a type of soap from his home country. Katyia learned to know when he was near, just from that elusive scent. In Russia, good trackers could follow bear and wolf from a faint scent. It shocked her to know that the only scent she seemed to register from afar, was Hiro’s.
She didn’t think she was alone in her attraction. It hadn’t escaped her notice that his eyes lingered on her wolf-pelt coat on the bunk, with what seemed a particular intensity. Katyia thought it would be nice to lay on her coat with him. Though, honestly, she had no idea how to get that to happen, and knew it probably wouldn’t, as long as she was still attached to his Guard unit as a medic.
Chapter 9
Unattached
Major Donji hurried towards his Commanding Officer’s ward room. An emergency meeting had been called to discuss an attack on a floating supply platform in deep space. It contained caches of fuel and arms and it seemed that the small guard detachment there had come under repeat assault by the Arachnians.
To top off the concerns, two different ships with separate, blanked-out registries had engaged the Arachnians, then each other. They’d succeeded in driving off the Arachnians, but a slender, heavily armed sloop had managed to destroy the other attacking non-Arachnian vessel. Who they were was a mystery. What they wanted, not so much. Same as the Arachnians. Either the platform, or its stores, and probably both.
The vanquished ship had been a huge, blocky, cumbersome looking hunk of metal. It had had little in the way of design features or speed capabilities. What it did have, were two huge canons on a swivel turret, and enough armor to withstand most barrages. They’d been lucky the much smaller, winning ship, had an extremely sophisticated weapons array, strongly energized shields, and better strategy. From the platform’s point of view, it had looked like a David and Goliath scenario. With the faster, more strategic David, falling the lumbering over-muscled Goliath.
Upon entering Colonel Reinegaard’s office, Hiro slid into a seat alongside Major Torrance. Several other new officers were there as well. He particularly liked the new Major for Tiger Guard, the traitor Major Schlipp’s old command. The new guy was an enormous bear of a man. Donji and Torrance were both slender. Torrance tall and lanky, while Hiro was short and compact. Major Carlo Bergstrom was as tall as Colonel Reinegaard, but where the Colonel was a blonde Adonis with a horribly scarred face, Bergstrom was a dark, shaggy colossus with meaty, paw-like hands and heavy stubble over his face and neck, no matter the time of day.
Major Bergstrom had mauled Hiro’s hand in greeting and boomed out, “Call me Carlo. I’m half Italian and half German-American with Romanian undertones, before you ask,” he laughed. Hiro, of course, had not been going to ask. But he admired getting out in front of any issue of curiosity, and expressed his polite pleasure at the introduction.
“Let’s get down to it, gentlemen,” began the Colonel. “We’ve got a supply platform under a threat of repeat attack and we need to get to the bottom of it. The station has a compliment of only a dozen men, and two automated laser turrets. If hit at the correct time and with enough fire-power, the turrets will not be able to hold out,” he stated. “We need to get a Guard unit out there and to offer back-up and to try to get to the bottom of who these attackers are. Long-term, we need to fortify the station with more personnel and a better security perimeter. Suggestions for fortifications?” he barked.
Major Donji was the first to speak. “Perhaps a mine field of alternating frequency rotations. Vessels entering would need a passcode in order to navigate the field,” Hiro said thoughtfully.
“I like it,” Colonel Reinegaard snapped. “Make it happen.” The Major immediately began tapping out commands for an ordinance unit to convene in an hour’s time for briefing. “In addition, we need a forward team to accompany the ordinance unit while they install the mine field and upgrade the turrets for longer distance targeting,” the Colonel state, looking around the table. “I want a full scan of the area and an investigation into who these other rogue elements are.”
Major Bergstrom spoke up for the first time. “I have an investigative background from working the drug routes for the International Substance Regulatory Agency. It would be my honor to take the investigation and protection team out,” he said with a big grin. “You know, first solo mission in command, and all that,” Bergstrom boomed.
Colonel Reinegaard smiled back, though as always, it looked like more of a grimace. Bergstrom looked uncertain for a moment. Then the Colonel said, “You’re assigned then Major. You’ll need a med team as well. Since we’re also deploying a Guard unit to go after any Arachnians that escaped the fight at the platform, you’ll be assigned Lieutenant Rustalov’s Corpsmen as your med unit.”
“Aren’t they the girls, sir?” Bergstrom said uncertainly.
“They’re not girls if you want to keep your nuts, Major!” the Colonel said grimly. “Lieutenant Rustalov is an excellent medic and her team very efficient. Her Commanding Officer, Captain Chloe Sedgewick, will be accompanying you as the Corpsmen’s lead. Captain Sedgewick is also my fiancé, so I suggest you keep the proper respect!” Colonel Reinegaard gritted out with a fierce glare at the new Major.
“I meant no disrespect, Sir,” Major Bergstrom said, putting his hands up in a surrendering motion. “I’ve only heard good things,” he continued. “And that they’re very pretty, too,” he said with a grin.
Another grim silence met this statement. “I normally have Lieutenant Rustalov’s med unit attached to my Guard squad, so you are having the privilege of her experience at my disposal,” snapped Major Donji, his ears beginning to tint with a smidgeon of pink. Colonel Reinegaard met Hiro’s eyes with his own, nodded slightly, and turned back to the new Major.
“You’ll find that the Corpsmen have earned quite a lot of respect. They are fierce fighters and calm under fire. They’re as good as any male unit at any time. They’ve also earned the protection of the units and the Commanders they usually serve under. It would be a good idea to stay within regulations for all interactions with them. Is that understood?” the Colonel asked with steel in his voice.
Major Bergstrom looked over at Major Donji, winked at him, and said, “Completely understood, sir. The ladies are spoken for. I get it.”
“I doubt that!” the Colonel snapped exasperatedly. “Just use the utmost respect and you’ll get the best from them. Dismissed! Major Donji, please stay for a moment.”
The Colonel sighed deeply once the others had left the room. “I think you should probably go brief Lieutenant Rustalov about this new assignment before the official one. The new Major means well, but hasn’t really gotten in to the correct mindset to deal with the Corpsmen. A warning might be in order,” Leo said.
“I believe Lieutenant Rustalov is quite capable of handling Major Bergstrom,” Hiro said with a slight smile. “She’ll probably bring him back on a stretcher. But I can’t say that if he mistreats her in any way, that I won’t support her actions in that, sir!” he stated, looking his commanding officer in the eyes.
“I hear you, Major. I hear you!” the Colonel replied with a twisted smirk of agreement. “Our women are tough cookies!”
As Major Donji turned to leave, he couldn’t help the satisfaction that coursed through him at hearing the term, ‘our women’ from the Colonel.
Chapter 10
Platform
Captain Chloe Sedgewick, Corpsman Johanna Van Heusen, and Lieutenant Katyia Rustalov sat close together in the web slings that comprised the seating in the jump ship they rode toward the supply platform. It hadn’t take long for them to find out that the slings gave excellent support when one was completely exhausted. At first, they’d hated the seats, now they were as comfortable to them as their own beds.
They’d all agreed that the new Major, Carlo Bergstrom, meant well. That said, the guy just did not ‘get’ women in the Guard. It had become clear that they all were going to h
ave to set hard boundaries of command and respect with him. None of them looked forward to the task. The Major’s booming voice, infectious grin and outgoing personality made him hard to dislike. It might be a hard mission this time. He seemed a good guy, but his ‘old-think’ mindset wasn’t going to be easy to breach.
The Colonel had decided that they’d do a drop from altitude onto the platform. A wide scan of the immediate area had shown it clear of intruders. And, while the drop was risky, it was definitely a strong move. They didn’t want whomever these rogue factions might be, seeing them on entry. They’d drop equipment for the ordinance upgrades, Tiger Guard, and the medical crew, all under cover of the dark of the moon that circled far away on one side of the asteroid belt. They were also going in with only reflective shielding raised, so they were basically sitting ducks if spotted. The three friends were looking forward to the drop, and had to admit that they’d actually become something of adrenaline junkies.
Just as the announcement, “Readying for jump in 3 minutes,” came over their comms, Major Bergstrom strode along the narrow aisle towards them. The women shared looks. “How do you girls want to do this jump?” he asked. “Do you want to alternate between Guardsmen or go together? What would your preference be?”
Chloe Sedgewick pushed herself up out of the web seat, put her helmet in the net behind her, and turned to face the sweetly clueless, behemoth in front of her.
“First of all, Major Bergstrom, you will address me as Captain Sedgewick. This is Lieutenant Rustalov, and this is Corpsman Van Heusen. They will be addressed as such. If you give an order in which any of us are addressed as ‘girls, ladies, etc. etc.’ you will end up talking to air.” Chloe turned her back on him and gathered up her equipment, snapping her helmet atop her tousled honey-blonde head.
She motioned for Katyia and Johanna to join her. They stood and each began snapping their gear into place. Turning once more to face him and snapping on an external comm, she continued, “Furthermore, our preference is that we just do our jobs,” Captain Sedgewick said matter-of-factly. As the green light began to swirl overhead, and the first few Guardsman began dropping into the dark, the three of them walked past Major Bergstrom and one by one, leapt into space without looking back.
Major Bergstrom snapped his own helmet on, shrugged his giant shoulders, and with a grin, followed them out. Damn sassy women, he thought with a chuckle, as he slid into darkness. Good for them!
Katyia settled onto the platform with a gracefully executed thud, and after checking to make sure her medical crew were safely down and falling in behind her, began the trudge towards the station behind Captain Sedgewick. The black void of space winked around them, and she couldn’t suppress the grin she always got after having been heaved out into the cold dark. It was a rush she’d come to love. She supposed if she ever just went ‘splat’ it would stop being so much fun. Hopefully, if that happened, she’d be dead and wouldn’t have to worry about it.
Entering the pressure lock and making sure the last of her crew were behind her, Katyia gave the ‘thumbs up’ to Captain Sedgewick. Chloe gave the red button a solid thwack to start pressurizing the lock. When the panel pinged and showed green, they all began stripping their gear off, helmets first, and entered in to the larger hanger ahead of them. As the doors swished shut on the lock behind them, she could see Guardsmen scurrying everywhere unloading padded crates of equipment and gear that had been dropped from the jump ship ahead of them.
Ignoring the swoosh of the next set of depressurized-crew stepping through the lock doors, the multitude of Corpsmen clapped each other on the back. Then Johanna, the engineering assistant shouted, “Salute Corpsmen, may we die doing that one day!” There were raucous cheers from all the women and many of the Guardsmen called back ‘here, here’, as well, and joined in the good-natured ribbing.
Major Bergstrom watching this from just inside the pressure bay doors, barged towards Captain Sedgewick and blocked her path. “I apologize Captain,” he boomed. “You and your Corpsmen are some damn fine psychopaths!” He said with a giant grin. “I’ll make sure and work with you if you keep that class-act up!” He winked at Johanna Van Heusen and thumped off, bellowing orders.
Katyia turned to Johanna and smiled. “Did he just wink at you?”
“I believe he did,” Johanna said with a grimace. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to be terrified or flattered,” she sighed, and shrugged, making her unbound dark curls bounce wildly. Johanna started towards the Chief Engineer across the hangar. “See you later,” she called back, attention already returning to the job she loved.
Several hours and a lot of sweat later, Katyia had organized her medical team in the infirmary, and returned to her temporary quarters. They were tiny, though private. She’d showered in the blue chemical cubicle that passed for bathing in space and lay stretched on her narrow bunk. All she could think about over the roar of her aching bones, was that she missed her wolf coat. And, maybe, a little bit, Hiro Donji.
Chapter 11
Respect
It had taken the ordinance team a week to get the mine field laid out around the platform at a safe distance. Most of the mines on the lighter side of the platform had been activated, but they still had several days to go before the full ring of mines would be online. They’d upgraded one of the laser turrets and were in the process of upgrading the other one.
Captain Sedgewick, Katyia and all the Corpsmen had pitched in where ever they could be of help. Some of Katyia’s team were cooking in the mess, which had raised morale considerably. Lest, Major Bergstrom think that they belonged there permanently, they’d all taken to sparring and training with the Guardsmen every day.
Captain Sedgewick had surprised Major Bergstrom by challenging him to a hand to hand combat bout on the 2nd day aboard the platform. He’d tried to refuse, but Chloe had backed him in to a corner.
Once the match began, he’d tried to pull his punches, but Captain Sedgewick’s speed had caught him by surprise. Before he could do much of anything except take a couple of steps backwards, she’d launched herself at his head, and punched him with all her might in the face. It was probably the last thing he’d thought she’d do.
She’d split his lip open and blood streamed down his face. Rather than apologize she’d gestured for him to ‘bring it’. Bergstrom had grinned and gotten his hands up in front of his face. “Learned my lesson, little lady,” he chuckled. “Won’t let you do that again! Though it’d probably take two of you to take me down.”
Chloe narrowed her eyes at the term ‘little lady’, then looked over at Katyia and waggled her eyebrows. Katyia smirked back and stood, sliding to the side of the mat. “Two of us, huh sir?” Chloe sighed out, looking as though she was going to step back and disengage from the bout. With little warning, Captain Sedgewick somersaulted between Major Bergstrom’s legs, and punched straight out with her foot in a jab to the back of his knee. The Major fell forward, straight into Lieutenant Rustalov’s right hook. He hit the mat face down, sprawling like a beached whale. He didn’t move.
“Oh, holy shit! Do you think we’ve knocked him out,” Chloe asked, watching the bulk in dismay. “Crap, I hope we haven’t hurt him,” she said with hesitation in her voice.
Katyia began to move towards the Major, intending to check his pulse, but stopped short after a few steps.
“What?” the Captain asked. “What is it?”
“He’s fine!” Katyia said. “Look at that shaking. He’s laughing! I think,” she said uncertainly.
The giant mass rolled over and sat up. His laughter boomed out across the gym. “You two are a couple of cards alright,” he said. “That hurt! But, if I may say so, Captain Sedgewick; Lieutenant Rustalov, I deserved that,” he acknowledged with a shudder. “Two of you put me down. Well done, Corpsmen. That was impressive. Remind me to never challenge the two of you to another bout.”
Putting his open palm out to Chloe, he lumbered to his feet and said, “That put me in my place, Cap
tain. Lesson learned.” Turning to the large audience gathered around them, he said, “Guardsmen! Corpsmen! Give the Captain and Lieutenant a round of applause.” With that he turned, lay down on a weight bench and started lifting a set of weights that weighed more than both women combined.
Down, but not out, and still superior in his own way. Both women grinned at him, bowed at the applause, and then directed it towards him. Major Bergstrom let the weights thunder back into their racks, and grinned in return. Respect earned. Both ways.
Chapter 12
Mine Field
Katyia flipped her Commanding Officer, Captain Chloe Sedgewick, over her shoulder and tried to follow through with a left kick. It found only empty space, as Chloe had already rolled away to the side and jumped to her feet laughing.
“Gonna have to do better than that Reliever!” Chloe grinned, taunting her. They’d been practicing against each other for months and Chloe, having less experience, was rapidly gaining a reputation for hand-to-hand combat alongside Katyia. Chloe was always surprising and it kept Katyia on her toes. Jogging back a step, Katyia considered what to do next.
Before she could decide anything, they were called to a halt by Major Bergstrom’s voice. The loudspeaker belched out, “Corpsmen, sorry to interrupt your training, but we need your help with the mine field project! On the double, we’ve had a detonation in the outer corridor. Meet me in Bay 3 prepared to assist in three minutes,” he rumbled on, then abruptly cut the feed.
“Mine field project, ooooh that could be fun!” Captain Sedgewick exclaimed, grabbing her towel. “Get a move on Lieutenant. I want to find out what this is all about!” she called over her should as she bounded towards the door.
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