by Daniel Gibbs
“Sounds like a good use of our time, though, from what Hayworth was saying, it will take a while.”
“Having to work with Doctor Hayworth for any length of time is a wonderful motivator to finish the task quickly, sir,” Ruth deadpanned with a somber expression.
David couldn’t help but laugh loudly, which in turn affected Ruth and caused her to break out in laughter as well. “Game, set, match, Lieutenant,” he said as he stood, gripping his finished plate. “I’ll see you on the bridge later.”
“Yes, sir! Enjoy the paperwork, sir,” Ruth called after him with a grin on her face.
David strode into the communications room on the Lion and the young enlisted personnel sprang to attention. He smiled in spite of himself, remembering many years ago when he was the wet-behind-the-ears private that would do the same when a senior officer walked in. “As you were,” he intoned. The youngsters relaxed from attention and went back to their work.
“Which communication booth is Ms. Dinman using?” David asked.
“Uh, the third one, sir,” a private said, looking terrified. This was not a space the CO visited regularly.
“Thank you, Private Abun,” David replied again with a smile before he turned and walked into the larger communications area that housed several dozen comms booths, which allowed for private, one-on-one vidlinks. Opening the door to the booth clearly marked with a large “3,” David stuck his head inside. “Hello, Angie.”
Angie looked up at him startled. “Hi.” She furrowed her brow. “How did you know I was here?”
David smirked. “Well, as the commanding officer, all requests from civilians to use our communications system go through me… especially ones that go back to Canaan and are paid by an executive with GNN. I deduced you were being called on the carpet for what we did, and well, here I am.”
Angie shook her head. “You mean what I did.”
“I put you up to it.”
“David… I put out fake news,” Angie replied, her voice tight.
“It wasn’t fake news, it was disinformation.”
“Like that makes it better? Actually, that’s worse. I intentionally helped the military put out propaganda.”
“May I come in?” David asked.
“I suppose,” Angie replied, her voice still tight and curt.
David walked in and sat down next to her. “You helped us gain one of the largest victories ever achieved over the League.”
“At what cost? GNN prides itself on telling the truth and not being a front for the CDF’s public relations office.”
“Which is precisely why your report was taken as fact by the League. I remind you, it’s not a lie to deceive the enemy.”
Angie’s face turned to a frown. “If you’re trying to make me feel better, you’re doing a horrible job.”
David sighed. “Angie, look… I came here to help. I’ll take the heat for what happened. I asked you to do it, and I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I appreciate that. But I made the decision.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you what we were up to…” David mused out loud.
“Seriously? Lie to me too?”
“It would have at least protected you.”
“I’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself,” Angie shot back.
David laughed. “So you keep reminding me.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to think I’m just a pretty civilian you need to protect.”
“You’ve quite disabused me of that notion over the last few months,” David retorted.
Angie softened her facial expression, and a small smile appeared. “I’m sorry. It’s just hard to fit in here.”
“I think you’ve done fine.”
“Thanks. You sure you want to do this with me?”
David nodded. “Very. I don’t allow anyone to take the heat for me.”
Angie rolled her eyes at David. “Try not to get me fired. I actually like this job.”
“No promises.”
Angie chuckled as she pressed the final button on the communications panel to fire off the request for video transmission to her boss, the news director for GNN, Harold Washington. A testament to Terran Coalition ingenuity and technology, a few seconds later, his face appeared on the screen in front of them. David could see the man’s cheeks twitch when he realized David was in the room as well.
“General Cohen, Angie. Good to see you both, though I wasn’t aware that you were joining us, General.”
I tire of people that like to beat up on others but run away when confronted by someone of similar authority. “Mr. Washington, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting before this. I asked Ms. Dinman to allow me to join in at the last second.”
“I see, General. I’ll cut right to the chase, then. I’m not sure about the sequence of events, but GNN believes the military used us to deliver propaganda. We’re not happy about it, nor are we amused.”
Angie cut in, “Harold, they asked us to… to decoy out the League fleet, which was guarding Unity Station.”
“I understand why the request was made. What I don’t understand is why you went along with it, especially without consulting your superiors.”
David cleared his throat. “Mr. Washington, the Lion of Judah, at that time, was under a complete comms blackout. EMCON Alpha. Ms. Dinman was unable to contact you, at my order. Let me be very clear, I ordered her to send the news report. Was it incorrect? To an extent. We did have numerous ships that were battle damaged.”
“You had us put a report on air saying most of your force wasn’t combat ready, right before launching an attack. That’s the very definition of propaganda, General,” Washington shot back, his face turning red as his anger showed.
“God forbid you did something to help us win the war,” David remarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Our job isn’t to win the war, it’s to report on the war, and other aspects that are newsworthy in the universe, General.”
“Oh, of course. It just so happens that any time the CDF takes a beating, that’s front-page news. We win? You push it to the back of the line. I’m not here to debate your news practices, Mr. Washington. I’m here to tell you that your reporter did her job, and while she may have delivered a report with inaccuracies in it, from the CDF’s point of view, her report was one of the key reasons we won. Surely this carries some weight with your organization?”
Angie looked at David, her face showing a frown. “Hello…I’m still here, guys. I did what I did. Harold, if you need to punish me for it, so be it. Just get it over with.”
David whipped his head around, staring at her, his eyebrow raised. Harold was the first to speak. “I’m not entirely unsympathetic to what happened here. Why don’t you take a three-month leave of absence, and then we can discuss a new position?”
Before Angie could respond, David interjected, “Not no, but heck no. If you force her out over this, I’ll go around and give interviews on every holonews channel that’ll have me and drag you through the mud personally for demeaning a true hero of the Terran Coalition.”
For the first time, Washington sputtered. “Excuse me, General… you can’t do that. It’s against the law for a military officer to engage in political activity.”
David smiled thinly. “Oh, there won’t be anything political about it. You news people love a good story… I’ll get one started and give it a good push. Your choice.”
David felt Angie’s eyes boring into him and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Her face was red, and her eyes were flashing anger.
“No leave of absence, but it's off the table for her to continue covering your ship. If nothing else, your full-throated defense of her gives me serious questions about her impartiality going forward.”
“Done,” Angie said loudly.
David turned to stare at her.
“Harold’s right. I’ve grown attached to this ship and the people who serve on her. I’ve become part
of the story. It’s the worst thing a reporter can do.”
David nodded, in spite of his feelings, turning back toward the screen. “She gets her pick of assignments. Are we clear on that, Mr. Washington?”
“I believe you military types like to hear ‘crystal’ back, is that right?”
David smiled broadly. “Yes, we do.”
“She’ll get her choice of good assignments. You have my word.”
“Good. I think we’re done here,” David said, eager to get the man off the comms.
“Yes, we are. Good day, General, Angie.”
“Good day, Harold. Godspeed.”
As the display blinked off, David stared at Angie openly. “Since when do you say ‘Godspeed’?”
“I don’t know... I just picked it up. Hanging out around you theists all the time,” Angie commented, pausing a moment before continuing. “What the heck was that? I told you I could handle myself.”
“I’ve no doubt you can. But I take care of those under my command.”
“I’m not under your command.”
“You were when you made that report.”
“Ugh. You know, so many things were so clear to me before I was assigned to this ship.”
“And now?” David asked.
“I’m much less sure about them after experiencing what life is like out here, for three months.”
“It’s easy to be an idealist in a vacuum. It's far harder to be one when the rubber meets the road, and it’s a matter of life and death.”
“How do you manage not to compromise your beliefs? I mean, in that battle, you could’ve resorted to many tactics that would’ve won it, at a lower cost to us.”
“You mean like nuking the base with enough warheads to reduce it to atoms?”
“For one.”
David shook his head. “If we adopt the tactics of the League, we become the League. It's easy to cut corners, defend your actions as the end justifying the means, and to say it’s just war. It’s hard to do what’s right. It’s even harder to do what’s right when you know the cost will be higher. But if we don’t… we’ll become exactly what we say we’re fighting against.”
“I’m glad I don’t have to make those decisions.”
“I look forward to the day none of us have to anymore. I hope to live to see the day when we beat our swords into plowshares, and our children no longer know war.”
“Do you think we’ll ever get there?”
David shook his head. “I don’t know. But I have to have hope we will. Otherwise, getting up every day and continuing to kill my fellow humans… I don’t think I could handle it.” David smiled. “Enough about that. Where are you going to go?”
“I think I’m going to try to get a spot covering the upcoming election.”
“Politics?” David said the word like it had a bad taste.
“Why not? You don’t think I can handle politicians?”
“I’d rather fight the League than deal with politicians,” David deadpanned.
“You seem to like President Spencer well enough.”
“He’s not a politician, though. At least, I don’t view him as a used helicar salesman.”
Angie laughed. “I’ve never met him.”
“I have a couple of times. Decent man… he wore the uniform for ten years. He knows what sacrifice means, and he saw combat. A lot of it. When he asks me to put my life on the line, and my crew’s life on the line, I believe he knows what he’s asking.”
“Does that mean you don’t think someone who hasn’t served should be in politics?”
David shrugged. “Not many people that haven’t served at this point, but no. I don’t think you should be able to be the commander-in-chief of the Terran Coalition without at least having put on the uniform, gone through boot camp, and spent some time serving something greater than yourself.”
Angie nodded thoughtfully. “I’m not sure I agree, but I do see your point.”
“Politics it is, then. Any idea where you will be posted?”
“Probably Canaan. That’s the seat of the government, after all.”
David grinned. “I suppose I’ll run into you from time to time, then.”
Angie cocked her head to one side. “Are you trying to suggest something, General?”
Oh, snap. I let that go a little too far. “Uh, well, no, just that we could catch up on events from time to time.” His face turned blood red.
Angie raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’re telling me everything. Especially considering how red your face is now.”
Might as well go for it… “Well… maybe you’d like to have dinner sometime?” David replied with a lame smile.
“See…wasn’t too hard now, was it?”
David smirked. “I suppose not.”
“Only took you two months.”
David’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. “You knew?”
“You’re kind of easy to read… at least when you’re not in combat.”
David chuckled. “I guess so. Well, it would have been highly improper for me to ask you out while you were serving on my ship…”
“I respect you for drawing that line,” Angie replied as she stood. “Give me a yell after you finish up all your after-action reports. I like steaks.”
David laughed. “It’s not quite that simple.”
“What do you mean it’s not quite that simple?”
“I’m an Orthodox Jew.”
“So?” Angie asked.
“On the ship, I am excused from some of the dietary rules simply because we’re at war, I have no other choice of what to eat, and I must have food to live. Planetside, there’s plenty of places to obtain kosher food. I cannot eat anywhere that doesn’t follow Jewish dietary rules.”
“What about halal?”
David shook his head. “Halal and kosher aren’t the same. Similar, yes, but not the same. I’m afraid we’ll be limited to kosher restaurants.”
“Wow, that takes some commitment.”
“Not even the half of it… there are six hundred and thirteen Mitzvot,” David explained. Seeing her puzzled look, he explained further. “Mitzvot means commandments. There’s a lot of them.”
“Okay, fine. You pick a place and I’ll give kosher a try.”
David grinned. “Deal,” he said as he stood up.
Walking out of the small booth first, Angie followed behind.
“Good day, General Cohen,” Angie said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Good day, Ms. Dinman,” David replied, watching her turn and walk off. Oh my, what have I gotten myself into now? He walked out of the communications area and headed back up to the bridge, a bright smile creasing his face.
39
A few days later, the Lion was drydocked in one of the orbital shipyards over Canaan, her superstructure crawling with workers, fixing hull breaches, scorch marks, and damage evident throughout the ship. The somber ritual of removing the dead had been accomplished, and life had returned to normal for the crew. David found himself walking through the labyrinth of offices on the central CDF space station, heading to General MacIntosh’s office. His mind wandered as he wandered down endless passageways and rooms filled with cubicles. The emotional toll from the war kept threatening to catch up to him yet again, as it had after Sheila died. While the crisis of faith he’d experienced between the two recent battles had retreated, his soul remained troubled. Pausing for a moment before entering the office cluster marked “General Andrew MacIntosh, Program Executive Office, CDF Space Fleet Innovation,” he collected his thoughts and forced his face into a neutral expression.
Stepping through the open hatch, MacIntosh’s longtime aide, Major Roberts, smiled at him. “Greetings, Colonel. The general is waiting for you,” she said as she gestured to the inner door. David thought it odd that two men in suits, who were security forces of some sort judging by the bulges under their outfits and the earpieces they wore, were standing in the waiting area.
“Thank yo
u, Major. Good to see you again,” David replied with a grin of his own as he passed through the small room and the doors to MacIntosh’s office opened automatically. He walked into the office and froze as he took in the sight of President Spencer as well as General MacIntosh. He brought himself to attention immediately while crisply saying, “General David Cohen reports as ordered, sir.”
“At ease, General,” Spencer said as the doors slid shut. There was only one other person in the room, one of the president’s bodyguards.
David relaxed to a parade rest stance. “I apologize, sir. I didn’t realize you would be here, or I would have worn a different uniform,” he said with a wry smile. He wore a khaki uniform with a navy blue space sweater. If I’d known the president was going to be here, I would’ve worn my class As, at least.
“We both wanted to congratulate you in private, David,” MacIntosh began as he snapped open a small cloth-covered case to reveal a medal within. “In recognition of your bravery, heroism, and leadership during both battles for Unity Station, you’re being awarded the Coalition Defense Force Cross, with the V device for extraordinary valor.”
Spencer reached out his hand toward MacIntosh. “Allow me, General.”
David stood silently while the president attached the medal to his uniform in the proper position, then braced to attention once more. “Thank you, sir. I must say, sir, those who deserve the credit for our victory are the crew of the Lion of Judah, and the crews of all the ships who fought, and especially our Marines. Without the capture of Unity Station by the Marine and Space Special Warfare Operators, we wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.”
“Modest to a fault, General,” Spencer replied with a smile. “Have a seat, son. Andrew and I want to have a few words with you and get your thoughts on the war before the planners get ahold of the next phase.”
David waited for the two other men to sit first. He then joined them and placed his hands in his lap. “I’ll help any way I can, sirs.”
“First things first. Have you given any thought to your position after this battle?” Spencer asked.
“Well, sir, I assumed I’d stay in command of the Lion of Judah.”
