by Dennis Young
“One more thing. Gorg will be assisting with your training lectures regarding the mission.”
At this point, Talice was beyond surprise. She shrugged. “No problem, we’ve worked together before and not killed each other. Welcome aboard, Mr. Evans.”
He nearly smiled, then nodded.
“What else?” Mac sipped as Fawkes sat back in his chair, a bit less on edge.
“Are the workers getting the training facility cleaned up? By the way, we’ll be sharing maintenance and security with your team. Since it’s still Marine Corps property…”
“We understand. Again, thanks for allowing us to use it.” Talice tipped her cup to him.
“The Marine duty personnel will be housed in a separate facility across the tarmac. You’ll still have your team privacy.”
Talice nodded again.
Fawkes pursed his lips, thinking. “Can you be ready to go in thirty days? Gorg will join you for a few days before you leave, to bring the team up to speed on intel.”
“And I assume we’ll have updates during our training, right? Is the area we’re going to habitable?”
“Temperate,” said Evans. “But definitely a wild frontier. Do some study on the local flora and fauna. There are some pretty dangerous creatures on Crius.”
“Lions and tigers and bears,” recited Mac. Talice stared. Mac laughed.
“And poisonous plants,” added Evans.
“Get your team ready, Talice,” said Fawkes. “It’s time to go back to work.”
“Fine with us. We’ll talk again when you have an update, right?” Talice rose and Mac turned her hoverchair slightly toward the door.
Fawkes nodded. “In the meantime, Mac, make sure you don’t hurt them too much during training.”
“Yes, Colonel.” Mac looked at Talice. “But I’m gonna whip their butts if they don’t shape up pretty quick.”
* * *
They paused in the outer office, and Talice drew Mac to a corner. “I need to talk to Fawkes privately for a minute.”
“Setting up another date?” Mac gave her the eye.
“Serious stuff. I’ll tell you about it when we’re on the way back. Right now, I need his advice.”
Mac met Talice’s eyes. “You’re worried about something?”
“Hell, Mac, I’m worried about this whole thing. We’ve gotta get our mojo back.”
Mac shrugged. “We’re human. Two years of heavy duty merc stuff and getting our asses shot at takes a toll. Then sitting around doing nothing for half a year didn’t help.”
“Give me a few minutes, then we’ll head home. One more day and we’re back to work.”
Talice turned and spoke with the orderly who typed a message quickly on her keyboard, then rose. “This way, Ms. Wyloh.”
Again, Talice entered Fawkes’s office. Evans was nowhere to be seen, and Talice was certain he hadn’t left the way they came in. Back door. Wherever it is. She shrugged, not really caring.
“Forget something?” Fawkes offered a chair again.
Talice continued standing. “Are we secure here, Colonel?”
Fawkes eyed her carefully. “As secure as we can make it, after our little situation with the comm breach a few years ago. Is there a problem?”
“I got a commtext from Jance last night.”
The colonel shook his head. “How can that happen? Our new wristcoms were supposed to be secure.”
“Yes, sir, that’s what I thought. So either she’s got someone who is a lot better than we thought, or…”
“Or what, Talice? We’ve been compromised from the inside?”
“Colonel, I don’t have another explanation. I was hoping you might.”
Fawkes considered, paced away and refilled his coffee cup from the sideboard, then returned to his desk. “I’ll get intel on this immediately. We may have to collect all the wristcoms and have them scanned.”
Talice nodded. “I can arrange that. In the meantime, how do we communicate securely?”
Fawkes drank again. “We need to go old-tech. The way it was done centuries ago.”
Talice shook her head, not understanding.
“I’ll set up a courier service. We can hide it using the regular maintenance and security details that change every four or five days. I can send a hardcopy packet and you can make your reports the same way.”
“All that takes is trusted sources,” replied Talice. “And if Jance is watching carefully, she might detect a pattern.”
“Good point, and obviously she’s been watching for a while.” Fawkes sat, and motioned Talice to a chair again. This time, she took it. “Look… we’ve had our differences over the last couple of years, and for that I can only say there was nothing personal. We need our social time back again. To build back some of that personal trust we had.”
Talice looked away. “Hard to do with me five or six hundred kilometers away.”
“I could make a trip every ten or fifteen days, and you could do the same.”
“Put it in the budget? Both ways?” Talice grinned.
“Yes, I’m sure we could do that. But the courier is the way to go for now. I’ll find someone we both know and trust. We’ll get this going immediately.” He paused and found her gaze. “Thanks for trusting me with this information. I don’t know why Jance has it in for you, but it’s obvious she’s deranged. Be careful.”
“She killed Konee in cold blood. Teammate to both of us. I owe her for that.”
“Duty first, Talice. Always.”
“Yeah… business as usual.” She rose. “Thanks. I’ll be waiting for your love letters.” Fawkes’s laugh echoed in the hallway as she left.
* * *
Talice and Mac headed for the sentry post and the waiting groundcar. They rode in silence to the metrolink station, as Talice had passed Mac a note to keep their conversation minimal. Mac’s eyes carried questions and concern. Talice simply shook her head and put a finger to her lips.
At the station, they entered the business center and rented a small conference room to await their train. Talice poured tea for both of them, and they sat at the table for a few minutes.
“Here’s the deal. Jance is back.”
“You told me that.” Mac grinned. “I thought I was the one getting older.”
“She sent me a commtext.”
Mac’s smirk disappeared. “Our new wristcoms were supposed to be untraceable.”
Talice nodded. “That’s what I was talking to Fawkes about. He’ll get Marine intel on it quickly. In the meantime, we have a comm problem of the worst sort… again.”
“We’ll have to alert the team when we get back.”
“And go back to face-to-face meetings and using the wristcoms for distraction and disinformation.” Talice sipped tea. “Fawkes and I are going to use couriers for important stuff. And meeting again every few days otherwise.”
“You sure it’s all just business?”
“Dammit, Mac, yes. I’ve got to trust him, otherwise we’re out of a job.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Talice shrugged. “We set aside our differences and went back to work. Personally, I don’t know if a relationship with him is possible. Or even if I want one.”
“Never say never, Princess.”
“Mac… if they can’t cure me… but still keep me alive… these bugs could end up in any kids I have. I won’t chance that. I won’t put another life in danger like this.”
“… I guess I hadn’t considered that. Have you talked to Babs?”
“Babs hasn’t been heard from since her commtext a couple of days ago saying she was extending her leave. And that’s another thing…”
Mac drank, waiting for Talice to continue.
“Babs was going to resign her commission. She wanted to go into private practice. Fawkes talked her out of it.”
“That’s part of his job, isn’t it?”
Talice shook her head. “Babs isn’t a typical Marine, or even a typical doctor. She’s
all for what they used to call holistic medicine, natural-grown stuff, herbs and potions, and an even more ancient word… alchemy. But at the same time, she’s a genius with the new, experimental stuff. That’s what’s keeping me alive. And I’m worried about her.”
“How so? Surely she’s not listed as Unauthorized Absence.”
Talice didn’t reply for a long moment. “No, but she might be on some island, sitting on a rock, thinking about her decision. Reconsidering. Did you know she’s been in nearly twenty years and is still a Captain?”
Mac nodded. “And was up for promotion before her reenlistment date and refused it. I read it in the Base netlink.”
“So did I. She didn’t want to transfer to the infirmary at the new training facility. They tried to entice her with running the place as the hospital head. She wanted to stay at Northland Base where she’s really needed by people like… well, me.”
“And you had nothing to do with this?”
“This what? Her running off to reconsider her life? Come on, Mac, give it a rest. I’m telling you this because I’m worried about her.”
“And because you’re worried about yourself if she resigns?”
Talice shook her head again. “I’m her patient, regardless. We’ve had that discussion.”
Mac sat back, thinking. “And now, with our wristcoms compromised, you don’t want to contact her, right?”
“Yeah… I may have already put her in danger.”
“Then first things first, Talice. Get back to the training complex, pass the word discretely about our wristcoms, and then put our heads together about it. The members still living in the city will have to be brought in for a briefing.”
“Talice grinned. We’re doing that tomorrow, remember? Now who’s getting old?”
* * *
Training Day, and Then Some…
Gen-Six HCS (Heavy Combat Suit)
The Generation-Six Heavy Combat Suit (HCS) is multi-purpose armor, used previously by the Theian Colonial Marines. Currently, this armor is available to civilians through authorized after-market distributors.
Basic construction is of multi-layer Graphene covering a thick core of Poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide (PPT, similar to the ancient material known as “Kevlar” and other trademarked names). Graphene layers total a thickness of three mm in joints and up to ten mm over core body areas. Extremities are five to seven mm thickness, and helmets are twenty mm minimum. Each individual section of the armor is attached to a substrate of Graphene with special fixtures and proprietary adhesives.
The full suit, including helmet, gauntlets, and equipment pack, weighs eight kilos and is considered flexible enough for ground operations over an extended period of time and terrain.
Storage for ammunition and other equipment is on an auxiliary belt with tassets (hip protection) and weighs an additional two kilos, plus the weight of ammo/equipment.
Standard issue helmets have full Head-up displays on a clear or tinted visor, NightSight, 10X mag, and IR scan capabilities, as well as multi-channel comm and GPS.
The HCS has interior water and/or energy gel reservoirs, as well as facilities for liquid and solid waste storage for a 24- hour period. The HCS is provided with heating/cooling attachments as necessary for specific duty requirement, fit into the rear-mounted equipment pack.
The HCS is designed to protect the wearer against most hand-wielded weapons firing up to 10mm High Explosive rounds. Armor Piercing rounds can be deflected with some success, but the suits cannot withstand a direct hit by AP ordnance. While this liability, in part, led to the Gen-Seven suits, it was determined in tests that it is unlikely the wearer could survive a direct hit by an AP round, even if stopped. The velocity of AP rounds, and the subsequent impact, would prove to be debilitating, if not fatal.
The Gen-Six HCS is still considered excellent protection, if somewhat clumsy to wear, and highly sought on the military surplus market.
* * *
The first day on the line went no worse than Talice had expected. The team was rusty and slow. Mistakes were made, from the command side and the execution side. Mac only lost half her voice, shouting over the All-Channel circuit. Talice returned to colorful language she hadn’t used in… well, since the last Eos mission.
On the other hand, no one died. Weapons accuracy was better than she had hoped for. Of course, with Ollie and his bionic eyes, the only way he could miss was to face backwards and fire blind.
No one sustained a debilitating injury, though bumps, bruises, cuts, scrapes, and foul language was spread about the team pretty evenly. Even Bělinka uttered a discouraging word or two. Nikolay still flatly refused to participate in the cursing.
Once again, Junior stood out among the mishaps as a shining light. Talice gave him a quick hug after everyone had showered, dressed, and met for the evening meal.
Mac wasn’t happy, but Mac was seldom happy in training. Too much DI still in her blood. That was okay. Talice let her do most of the low-key dressing down for stupid stuff. After the table was cleared and the team sat in quiet, waiting — and dreamed of beer, Scotch, or a nice cocktail — Talice took the figurative podium.
“One down, about a million to go. Well done. You didn’t die, and I’m proud of you. So let’s go over details. Briggs?”
In Briggs’s hand, a coffee mug looked like an espresso cup. He sat it down carefully and shrugged. “Do it again tomorrow. And the next day, and the next, until we get it right. I really don’t have any details to report. We all saw the problems. Now it’s up to us to fix them. It’s called training for a reason.”
“Would it be worth shaking up the teams?” asked Rory. “We’re all out there trying to remember what we did as part of the two-person elements, so we’re basically back to square one. Why not see if different parings work better?”
“If nothing else,” added Junior, “it gives us an option, in case someone is wounded.”
“Chemistry is essential,” said Bělinka. “If we do this, it will take more time in training overall.”
Briggs nodded. “Which may not be a bad thing. Right now, we couldn’t take on the Junior Rangers.”
Talice looked around the table. Martin, Ollie, and Niky had said nothing, but she saw nods of agreement and no negative body language. “Alright, that’s a good proposal. Very positive. What else?”
“Cross-training on weapons,” said Rory. “Same thing, just in case. SmartGuns and Bělinka’s FunGun especially. We’re all trained in pulse rifles and other personal arms.”
“Intel and comm,” said Nikolay. “Two would work best, separate in the field.”
Talice gave Mac a look. They nodded to each other. “Mac and I can both handle TacOps. Another backup, in case? Volunteers?”
Nikolay raised his hand timidly. “Truly, Captain, I am not good at blowing things up. And we have had this conversation, yes?”
“Niky, I…” Talice paused, catching a look from Mac in the corner of her eye. “I’ll take it under consideration. We’ll talk. Anyone else?”
The team passed looks to each other. No one spoke.
“Alright, we’ve had a long day. Lights out a 2300 Hours, morning meal at 0700. Then it’s back on the trail. Questions?”
“How long before we know anything about the mission, Captain?” asked Briggs. As the nominal assault leader, he took his charges seriously.
“Thirty days. And by then, we’d better be sharp. I can tell you this; it’s off-planet. The word says Crius. Again.”
“Good, because I think I left some blood there I’d like to reclaim.” Rory. A gentle laugh made its way around the table.
Talice glanced at the chrono on the wall. “You’ve got a couple of hours to yourselves. You know where I am if you need to talk.”
“Hua!” The team rose nearly as one and made their way out of the mess hall.
Talice nudged Mac. “Well? Do we sound sort of like Marines?”
“Gonna take some time, Talice, you know that. Thirty days may not be
enough.”
“Has to be, Mac. Besides, if we say longer, they won’t press as hard to get ready. We all know the drill. It’s just getting back in the swing.”
Mac nodded slowly and sipped tea, grimacing at the taste. “This is terrible, by the way.”
“Yeah, it’s amazing how we forget all about military mess, isn’t it? We could send out for special deliver maybe? Earl Grey? Darjeeling? Japanese Green? Your wish is my command.”
“Eighteen-year-old single malt Scotch, please.”
Talice grinned. “Now you’re talking.”
* * *
They did it again. And again. And again. Ten days straight, then a couple off to heal and rest and study. Security and maintenance staff from Northland Base arrived and left, with courier packages hidden in with the cleaning equipment. Talice and Mac spent hours sequestered in an office, pouring over data, maps, and holos taken from Crius orbit showing details of the compounds scattered near encampments, villages, and towns. Names. Faces. People who disappeared not only from Theia, but Eos as well.
“Fawkes was right,” said Talice late one night as she and Mac sat in the quiet office. “This has been going on for a long time.”
“Then why hasn’t the government stepped in?”
Talice shrugged. “Theian government has no jurisdiction on Crius. Marines are official, and even what little government is on Crius, if the Marines interfered, they’d complain to the Laberos System Court. Probably claim Theia was trying to take over the planet.”
Mac shook her head. “Over a hundred people disappeared in the last year alone. A few accounted for, but most just… gone. This is gonna get dirty, Princess. You realize there may be people who don’t want to be rescued?”
Talice stared at the holos and hardcopy reports littering the desk. “I guess… hell, I don’t know, Mac. Then what do we do? Is it their choice, or our job to bring them out? This is supposed to be a Clean Sweep operation. No prisoners. No survivors. How do we justify that?”
They’d taken steps to shield the room, set up hardwired comm and computer systems, nearly impossible to hack. The training facility was slowly becoming a covert-ops cell of its own. Whatever they did, they knew they had to stay secured. Jance Sukano was always in the back of their minds. Always.
