An Uneasy Alliance: Book 4 of the Sentenced to War Series

by Chaney, J. N.

  “Neesy is really getting bigger. It was a shock for me to see her.” He lowered his voice. “She’s like, you know, wearing a full-size bra.”

  Malaika tilted her head back and laughed. “You are such a boy!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t have to whisper that your sister has a bra. It’s totally normal.”

  “I didn’t whisper,” he started to say, his face turning red.

  But she was right. He’d been a little uncomfortable when his mother told him that. It was just hard for him to accept that his little girl sister was starting to turn into a woman. She was a long way off from that, still, but seeing her after a year had thrown him for a loop. When he finished his tour with the Home Guard, she would be even further along the process. Heck, she would probably already be dating.

  Malaika was right. Growing up was normal. But Rev still felt a little weird about it.

  The waiter came up and poured a cup of coffee for Malaika and told them the cobbler was being heated.

  Malaika took a sip. “Good coffee.”

  And then there was a break in the conversation, and Rev sat there, staring at his coffee cup while Malaika seemed to take an interest in her spoon.

  Why is this so hard?

  They hadn’t seen each other for a long time, so of course, there might be a little awkwardness, but he really didn’t know what to say. Malaika had always been the one who’d been flirty and joking, and without her leading in that direction, Rev was at a loss.

  “How is work?” he finally said, anything to break the silence.

  “Work? It’s fine. GKS is a good company. Nice benefits.”

  Rev wasn’t exactly sure what she did there, and at the moment, he didn’t want to delve into it. Something was off, and he didn’t know if that was just a matter of a year going by. They shouldn’t be shy with each other.

  But he wasn’t going to figure it out by sitting on his ass and not asking.

  “Are you OK?”

  Her mouth turned into the tiniest frown, but she said, “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not . . . you seem pensive.”

  “It’s not that. I’ve just got a lot on my mind. Work, and . . .”

  “And?”

  She raised her head from the spoon and gave Rev a long, hard look.

  That doesn’t look good.

  “I . . .”

  “What? Just say it.”

  “I’ve been seeing someone else,” she said in a rush. She looked up at him, her eyebrows scrunched together in concern, and reached across the table to take his hand.

  He realized he wasn’t surprised. It all fit. Rev looked at her hand for a moment but didn’t reach for it.

  She pulled her hand back. “I didn’t mean to. It just happened, and you were gone so far away, and she was here.” Her voice got a little more strident. “And you said we weren’t serious. You said there were no strings, no attachment.”

  Which was absolutely true. But Malaika hadn’t seemed to accept that, at least at first. And because of that, Rev had slowly fallen into the relationship as a fait accompli.

  “Why didn’t you tell me before?” Rev asked, surprised that his voice was so calm.

  “I . . . I wanted to see you again, first, to see if there was still that spark. I know that wasn’t fair to you, but I was hoping, you know . . .”

  “And there isn’t that spark?”

  She looked anguished, and she started wringing her hands.

  This wasn’t the Malaika Rev wanted to see. He’d been attracted to her strength, not this. He needed to do something.

  “That’s OK, Mala. If it isn’t there, it isn’t there. And I’m gone. I’m not here now, and you need someone who is, not a long-distance relationship.”

  “Really?” she asked, looking hopefully at him. “You’re not mad?”

  “Mala, you’re right. I said no strings attached. And what we had, it was special to me. I hope it was for you.”

  Oh, my gosh. I’m laying it on pretty thick here.

  But he wasn’t actually lying. He liked Malaika. A lot. He just wasn’t in love with her and didn’t see anything long-term. But he’d enjoyed his time with her. What he didn’t want was for her to feel bad about their relationship or ending it. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t considered ending it himself.

  And now, she was making it easy for him. He wasn’t going to be the bad guy. But a little part of his mind wondered why, and then, who was she seeing.

  Leave it alone, Reverent. It doesn’t matter. You’re out of it.

  But it was nagging at his mind, clamping on like a terrier on a rat.

  Don’t, Rev. Just keep it nice and clean.

  But he didn’t always obey his own mind. Make that he often didn’t.

  “Is it . . . is it anyone I know?” he asked, kicking himself as soon as the words left his mouth.

  Her face twisted in a grimace, and she dropped her eyes to look down at her lap.

  Why such a reaction? he wondered, suddenly feeling a little apprehensive.

  “I . . . I don’t know if I can tell you.” Her voice dripped with anguish.

  Now Rev was more than curious. He was apprehensive that something could make her react like this.

  “Mala, really, it doesn’t matter. And I’ll find out eventually. Heck, I bet Ten knows who—”

  He stopped dead in his tracks.

  No! It can’t be.

  “Mala, look at me.”

  As if fighting the weight of the world, Mala looked up, tears in her eyes.

  Fuck.

  Rev felt . . . betrayed? Ten? But as he thought about it, all the signs were there. Bob had been right about that, just not with whom. He knew they had gotten close after he left. Malaika was always over to see Ten, helping her with her therapy. And Ten had gotten Malaika into volleyball. Then there was his last few, sometimes a little awkward, conversations with Ten, and then her not coming to the party. He’d attributed it to her regen when it was now obvious why she hadn’t come.

  He felt a flash of anger, but there was no sustaining it. It was a quick flame that disappeared just as quickly.

  Nothing’s changed. Don’t make a scene.

  But it was hard. Not so much about Malaika, but about Ten. He and she were posse, and for her to jody him, that just wasn’t right.

  “Do the others know?” he asked.

  Yancey, Cricket, Udu, Orpheus, and Fyr had treated him normally. Were they part of this?

  “No. No one knows. You’re the first.”

  Rev let out a deep breath. That was a relief, he had to admit.

  Tears were rolling down Malaika’s cheek. She had to feel miserable about this, and Rev knew that Ten must feel the same way.

  And when you get down to it, how can anyone control their heart?

  Rev felt a swell of compassion sweep away the empty anger. He cared for both of these women. He loved both of these women. And if they could find happiness with each other, then who was he to stand in their way, especially as nothing was being stolen from him? He wanted to be free, and now he was.

  He knew what he had to say. Still, he had to suppress that tiny part of him that wanted to lash out. But he wasn’t going to be “that guy.” He wasn’t going to let petty jealousy over nothing, when he was getting what he wanted in the end, get in the way.

  Rev reached across the table, and she tentatively took his hands. “Does she know you’re here tonight?”

  “No. I didn’t tell her,” she said quietly with even more guilt, if that was possible, washed over her face.

  “No reason to. Why don’t you go on home and see her tonight?”

  “You’re sure that’s OK? I mean, you and I can still spend a little time catching up.”

  Rev was already thinking of Yancey’s invitation to play Knock On with Orpheus and some of their friends. He’d turned them down to meet with Malaika, but there was still time to join them before the first hand.

  “I think it’s probably
for the best, Mala.”

  She hesitated, and Rev watched a myriad of emotions flash across her face. “Well, if you’re OK with it.”

  “I am. And I can say this. Ten’s a lucky girl to have you.”

  Relief took over the warring emotions. “Thank you, Rev. I was so worried how you’d take this.”

  “Hey, we’re friends, right?”

  He stood, and she followed. This time, the hug was more heartfelt.

  “Well, I guess . . . this is it, right? But you’re serious that we’re still friends?”

  “Of course. And when you do decide to tell Ten that I know, make sure you tell her that I’m OK with this, and I wish you two the best.”

  She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then with one last squeeze, she turned and walked out of the place.

  Rev watched her until she was out the door. His overwhelming emotion at the moment was relief. Yes, there was a little bit of pique in that she’d found something lacking in him, and then that it was Ten, of all people, but that was inconsequential. He’d known he was spinning his wheels with the relationship, killing time. And now he didn’t have to worry about making calls back. Suddenly, he thought back to Barclay, and smiling as he thought about it, he wished she had told him before that liberty port.

  The stories some of the troopers had about their escapades . . .

  The waiter approached, holding a tray with the two cobblers. “Things didn’t go so well?”

  “No, they went just fine.”

  “If you say so, sir.” He didn’t look like he believed Rev as he glanced down at the tray. “Do you want me to take these back to the kitchen?”

  Rev looked at the two dishes. The ice cream was starting to melt over the deep purple cobbler. “You said it was good, right?”

  “My favorite dessert we make.”

  Rev sat back in his seat. “Well, that’s good enough for me.”

  The waiter smiled and put one of the cobblers in front of him. As he started to leave, Rev grabbed his arm.

  “Sir?”

  “I ordered both of them.”

  “Both? Now that’s what I like to hear.” He placed the second one down by the first. “Enjoy, sir.”

  Rev sent Yancey a message saying he’d be joining them after all, then picked up the spoon and dug into the cobbler, making sure to get a chunk of ice cream with it.

  The waiter hadn’t been lying. It was heaven, the warm, slightly tart berries dueling with the cold, sweet vanilla ice cream.

  Tonight was going to turn out much better than he’d thought it would.

  26

  “Ah, the prodigal son returns,” Ting-a-ling/Bob said from over the back of the dilapidated couch in the commons where he and Rice were lounging.

  Rev opened his cell and threw in his valpack. He vaulted over the back of the couch and landed in a sitting position between the two of them, his body bouncing both of them in the air.

  “Hell, Rev, you’re too damn big to be doing that,” Rice said as she clutched at the armrest to steady herself.

  Rev grabbed them around their necks and pulled them in, giving each a kiss on the top of the head.

  “You know, I hate to say this, but it’s good to get back,” he said.

  “What, storm clouds on the home front?” Bob asked, carefully taking Rev’s social arm off from around his neck.

  “No, not at all. Things went very well, in fact.”

  Bob gave him a piercing look, but Rev shook it off. He’d give him the lowdown on Malaika later.

  “So, what did you two do during the break?”

  “Lots of duty SNCO,” Rice said. “With all you gone, there wasn’t much of a pool from which to draw, you know.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be standing enough duty when you guys go after we get off alert status.”

  Rice frowned, and Rev immediately regretted his statement. Bob hadn’t gone home, choosing to wait until the leave period after they got off alert status. But Rice was stuck here for the duration. Paxus didn’t pay for their soldiers assigned to the Home Guard to come home on leave. She’d been with Fox Company for two years now, so it would be another year before she saw her family again.

  There was an awkward silence, not broken until Bob rescued him and said, “We got over to Titan for two days. Played tourist and everything.”

  Rice added, “The Hall of Humanity is all it’s cracked up to be, too. Very impressive.

  “I’ll have to make sure I see it. It’d be a shame to spend three years in the home system and not really see the capital.”

  Titan was not officially the capital of anything. Titan and Enceladus were both parts of a CoH enclave with no local government. But in common usage, Titan was usually referred to as the capital, with the Hall of Humanity, as seat of the COA bureaucracy, being the capitol.

  “You did miss a big something while you were gone, though,” Rice said.

  “What?”

  “Veang’s gone.”

  “What? They sent him back to Angkor? For the accident? Now?”

  “Not to Angkor. He got bumped up to Brigade Ops,” Bob said.

  Which in military parlance meant he’d been shit-canned but not bad enough to get sent home. No one, particularly an officer, wanted a staff job on such a prestigious posting.

  Rev never liked the lieutenant, and he didn’t think the lieutenant liked him. But he didn’t deserve to get fired.

  “And guess who came to replace him?” Bob asked.

  “Crap. From the look on your face, it’s a Mad Dog.”

  “Far from it. It’s a Union Marine.”

  That caught Rev’s attention. He sat straight and asked, “No shit? Where’re they from? Regular or provincial Marine?”

  “Ah, all you yootie jarheads are the same to me,” Bob said. “I don’t remember where he’s from. But he said to make sure you reported in to him when you got back.”

  Technically, Rev was still on leave until morning, and so he wasn’t “back.” But he was curious, to say the least.

  Probably some stick-in-the-ass regular Marine.

  Still, any Marine was a good thing.

  “We’re heading for the Ramshead in a few minutes after Toshi gets back from the mini-exchange. We’ll wait if you want to go check out the new platoon commander now.”

  It was a cardinal rule that if someone was on liberty, much less leave, and they were around the flagpole, they should not pop their heads up out of hiding. That was a good way to get snagged for a work detail. And the new lieutenant would still be there in the morning when Rev’s leave officially ended. But Rev’s curiosity was overwhelming.

  Screw it. If I steer clear of Gamay or Barber, I should be in the clear.

  “Give me a moment to get into a clean uniform, OK?”

  Rice made an effort of taking his right arm off from around her shoulder, then held her nose. “You might want to consider a shower, too.”

  He took a sniff and had to agree. “OK, give me twenty or thirty minutes, and I’ll head out with you.”

  He jumped over the back of the couch, grabbed a clean uniform from his cell, and ran to the shower. With the sonic blast on high, he was clean enough for military work after a single sixty-second cycle, even if he felt rubbed raw in a few spots.

  “I’ll be back in a few,” he told his two friends. “Don’t leave without me.”

  He headed down to the company offices. Knowing officers as he did, he’d bet that the new lieutenant would be there studying up on his platoon despite the late hour. He managed to avoid the senior SNCOs and slipped into the office. Corporal White was behind his desk, a sure sign that at least one of the officers was there.

  “You don’t have to check back in until tomorrow,” the corporal said.

  “I know. I just heard that our new platoon commander is a Marine, and I wanted to welcome him aboard. Is he here?”

  “That’s why I’m here, Staff Sergeant.” Rev nodded and started to head over to the platoon commanders’ office when he add
ed, “And if you can get him to leave, then I can get out of here, too.”

  Rev laughed. “I’ll do my best, White.”

  He stepped up to the door, rapped on it, and announced, “Staff Sergeant Pelletier, sir. May I come in?”

  The Marine inside was facing away from the door. He turned around and said, “Enter, Staff Sergeant.”

  Rev froze, his mouth open. Standing in front of him was Second Lieutenant Aristotle Bundy, Perseus Union Marine Corps, and now evidently assigned to the Home Guard.

  * * *

  “This just can’t be a coincidence . . . sir,” Rev said, sitting across from his friend. After a shocked moment, the two had jumped into a back-pounding exhibition. It took a minute for it to sink in and for Rev to take the seat.

  Bundy gave a guilty look, then sheepishly said, “No, no coincidence, and it was a surprise to me. I knew I couldn’t stay in tanks, what with them all being mothballed, but I envisioned a nice, comfy support billet as befitting my decrepit age. But when the brass decided to send me here, I had to take a crash course in all things infantry. Me, a grunt. Can you imagine?”

  “But why? I mean, why here?”

  Bundy grimaced. “It’s because I know you.”

  “And, that means . . . ?”

  “Rev, you’ve got to realize that you’re unique. You’re one of only a handful of IBHUs in the galaxy.”

  “I’m rather aware of that, sir.”

  “I’ve got the impression that there was a lot of debate about sending you guys here to the Home Guard.”

  “Except for Pierson.”

  “Yeah, him. He might be a hero, but no one in the Union hierarchy was going to send him here. But forget about him. I think that if it wasn’t for what happened on Earth with you, and then when the Mad Dogs sent their karnans here, without those two things, you’d all have been kept back in the Union, far from the madding crowd, and most important, out of sight.”

  It wasn’t as if Rev hadn’t come to that conclusion on his own. He nodded at Bundy to continue.

  “But . . .” He hesitated a moment as if to figure out how to phrase what he wanted to say. “Look, we’ve got Genesians embedded in our brain.”

  “But, I’m not—”