Jethro: First to Fight (43 page)

The dropships therefore had a mix of
military and civilian grade hardware. It was hoped that in the near future they
could swap out the civilian grade for milspec. It was hoped anyway, right now
something like that was a long way off.

Hurranna looked around the cavernous
bay. San Diego was coming along, but at a much slower pace than before the
admiral's sudden departure. Recently the suggestions Jethro had put forward had
been put into practice allowing the massive battle station to be occupied for
the first time. She still had a long ways to go but at least they could finally
use the base for part of its intended purpose. She made a mental note to visit
the Ssilli habitat if she had time. Scuttlebutt said it was quite the thing to
see.

Up until they had arrived in the station
she'd wondered why they weren't in it. Then she'd seen the thing. From the
outside it was one giant rock ball covered in patches of glittering panels.
There was a door cut in one side. The door was huge, at first it looked like a
normal hatch door up until their transport had gotten close to it, and then
it's dimensions boggled the mind.

Inside it was hollow, incredibly dark
despite the lights and glow paint. The buildings were cut into the inside of
the hull. In fact they had a frigate in the station now, the Maya. She was
using her grasers to cut another plug for the next phase. Once she was finished
she would return for her refit and rest cycle before returning to duty,
replacing a ship on duty at one of the jump points.

Normally the station would use massive
fusion reactors or antimatter to power everything. That had been the plan at
any rate. The antimatter project had been put on indefinite hold after the
admiral's departure. The plasma tap components that had been completed had been
stored. That left fusion reactors, the original plan for the San Diego.
Unfortunately the admiral had left before one could be made and installed.

That was where Jethro had come in. The
panther had suggested to a depressed Commander Shelby Logan that they could use
solar and other means to power the life support and other systems of the
station. That was where the panels on the exterior hull came in. There was also
a solar farm under construction closer in to the system's primary. It would
beam power back to the station and yard.

Jethro's off the cuff suggestion had
sounded crazy but so far it was working out. Oh not as well as he probably had
hoped, but enough to keep the teams marginally busy on the interior of the
station. That was unless the governor got his way and managed to nationalize
the solar projects and the station itself, Hurranna thought with a snarl.

Wasn't it just like a politician to sit
back and watch someone else bust their ass making something only to come in
when they proved it worked and try to steal it under the guise of authority?
That pissed her off. She knew it pissed off others. There were dark mutterings
in the bars and barracks now, mutterings of a wished for coup. The Logan's
would never allow it but more than one soldier and sailor wished they would.
She turned, trying to refocus on the briefing.

...*...*...*...*...

The Major sighed as the medic reported
the next morning. There had been the occasional medical report of psych issues,
all handled, but this was more of a sudden spike in reports, all with one
culprit. The reports of psych problems were troublesome, no one had really been
in combat yet. “In short Major, we're getting a lot of reports of post
traumatic stress in the Marines.”

“F squad?” He asked. He'd been certain F
squad would have some issues. From the medic's expression though he knew it
wasn't the case.

The medic shook his head. “No. Most of
the ones with the problem...”

“Haven't seen combat. Odd.”

“Sims,” Captain Pendeckle said with a
wrinkled nose. “Can't they tell fantasy from reality?”

“I beg to differ sir. The sims were very
real. Apparently
too
real for some. We've had a lot of reports of
nightmares. Four Marines have come in for counseling. I've had to sedate two.
Five others have come in for sleep aids but won't specify a reason.”

“Ouch.” The Major knew that was the tip
of the iceberg. If these numbers were accurate then it was probably ten times
that that were affected. Soldiers were reluctant to get psychological help
after all. They didn't like the image that they couldn't hack it.

“They have a similar complaint. Jethro,”
the medic said wrinkling her nose. “It seems He was the stuff of nightmares.”

“You're telling me He was too good at
his job?”

“I'm afraid so,” the doctor said amused.

“I'll have to give that young man a pat
on the back then. Okay,” the Major sighed. “Reinforce the video game thing.
We'll have to dial down the filters. Perhaps have something that just cuts them
out of the loop when they are about to die?”

“Possible. There's a pain filter to
protect the user.”

“Tag Jethro and any other melee attacks.
If it's inevitable then the user gets booted before the coup de grace and is
spared.”

“Sir I believe we should well...”

“We can't cut him out. That's not right
and it's not very smart. The young man needs training as well...”

“I realize that sir. But Sergeant Jethro
is exhausted. I've looked at his bio scans. That last op had him severely
stressed. He was pushing himself hard in the sims. Sometimes to the detriment
of his health. It may be a coping mechanism to deal with the grief of losing
teammates. I'm surprised he hasn't shown up in sickbay. The medic assigned to
his squad is concerned.”

The Major pursed his lips in thought.
Most likely it wasn't stress induced, or if it was it wasn't a grief reaction.
Jethro, like a lot of F platoon, had been in the gangs. He'd lost friends and
loved ones as he grew up. No, if anything it was the young man's desire to
return to the fold better than ever to protect his other teammates in the
future. A noble goal, laudable, but futile. Sometimes Murphy or the reaper did
things for their own reasons and no one was to blame. “I'll get him some
downtime doc. His squad has earned it. I'll see if we can assign him some light
duty.”

“His whole team needs down time. They
need to form family bonds. All of them are single.”

The Major nodded. “Light duty. Get them
out there for exposure you mean? We're not a dating service doc.” He knew the
rule, a soldier who wouldn't fuck wouldn't fight, but from the look of their
schedule Valenko's team were too busy and strung out to fuck. He'd heard through
the grapevine that the panther had no attachments and no other Neo in the
system was compatible with him. Apparently the lad wasn't redneck enough to get
it on with his own kith and kin. He couldn't blame him. Long term though... for
the good of the service they needed him to well... breed. They could use a lot
more like him the Major mused.

“I didn't mean that.”

“Like a recruiting drive? You're liable
to scare the pants off anyone who wants to join Major,” Captain Pendeckle said
with an amused sniff.

The Major smiled. That would be
interesting. He could just imagine some yokel's face when the Corporal cloaked.
“Only if they see him in action. In uniform he should make them stand up and
take notice.”

“Um... He was um... had some issues. Are
you sure it's a good idea to make him so publicly available?” Pendeckle asked
tentatively.

The Major sat back and thought about it,
rocking his chair from side to side as he played with a stylus in his hands.
“Perhaps we can have him do some work ups with the squads. How are his teaching
skills?” he asked, looking at the record.

“He was a student. I don't think we've
had him as a teacher,” Pendeckle mused checking the record to be sure.

“Well, there's a first time for
everything. Flag his file for the next teaching assignment. Assistant at first.
Something to give him a feel for the project without throwing him to the
wolves. No pun intended. And find something else for him to do.”

“April O'Neill has been after us to
interview Valenko's squad,” Captain Pendeckle said with a grimace.

The Major tapped his lips for a moment,
leaning back in his chair and swiveling back and forth. “About that thing with
the pirates on Agnosta? That was what two months ago? Three?” he finally asked.

Pendeckle shrugged. “She wants deep
background interviews. Something about heroes and putting the best light on
them. We need the positive PR sir.”

Major Forth winced. He didn't need the
reminder, there was still a stir over the station incident. “I'll think about
it. For now see what else you can think of.”

Pendeckle nodded. “Roger sir. Jethro
could do it sir.”

“Having him off the squad for a short
time should make Valenko nervous,” the Major said with a smile. Perhaps that
would be a good thing? Valenko was leaning on the Corporal a little too much.
Jethro was a good troop, definitely noncom or officer material but his unique
abilities were geared for melee combat. Melee combat was normally reserved for
the lower enlisted.

“Yes sir. I'm curious about what he'll
come up with. When the panther isn't in an op the squad still wins, but not as
easily. Valenko resorts to shock and awe tactics.” He grimaced. “Or he gets
even sneakier and makes you think he's going that route.”

The Major chuckled. “Good. It'll be good
for them to learn to adapt. They can't become too reliant on one person. See if
the Corporal is amiable to a few more classes and a TA job. Sniper or shooter
quals. Maybe an assistant DI position. And we'll see about the interview
request. Send him a note reminding him his cloak is a secret. Tell him he snuck
around to flank the position while the others provided covering fire.”

“Yes sir.”

“I'll see if we can feel out April and
get an idea on what direction she's going with the interviews and what side
she's on.”

“Her relationship with the admiral...”
the doctor said and spread her hands. “She sounds pro military.”

“Yes but she can't sound too far our way
or she loses her facade of objectivity. Knox news is right to cultivate that at
least.”

“True.” The doctor grimaced. “They've
certainly hammered us on a few issues, including the stations and our housing.”

The Captain grimaced. “We need to do
something about the boots situation sir. It's getting out of hand.”

“We don't have the facilities yet. Navy
is still...” The Major sighed and shook his head giving the doctor a look. She
just spread her hands. “No offense ma'am.”

“I know. We need to get off the stick.
Right now we're hoping something can be worked out with San Diego but that's
looking increasingly unlikely. We'll work it out Major.”

...*...*...*...*...

Valenko participated in the debrief the
next afternoon. It was attended by the Major and most of the senior Marine
staff. He was a bit surprised and put out that almost all of them had
participated in yesterday's little op as the opposition force. He tried to keep
his part of the debrief dispassionate, knowing they had enough egg on their
face. It would never due to gloat to a superior officer after all.

Pendeckle however called him on the
change in the op. “Did you forget the mission orders Lieutenant?”

“No sir.”

“Then why did you go off mission?”

Lieutenant Myers looked to object but
then sat down as Valenko shook his head slightly his way.

“Sir, do you know why I did that?” the
bear rumbled, looking relaxed.

“I'm curious about it, that's why I
asked Lieutenant,” the Captain said, sounding dry but curious.

Valenko tugged on an ear. “Simple. The
op orders were
too
easy. Too cut and dry. When it's that easy, I get
nervous, that's the prefect method to lull someone into dropping their guard
before they get handed their heads.” The officers smiled slightly at that
tease. “Which made me wonder why it was so easy, despite my natural trusting
nature,” he said smirking ever so slightly.

Major Forth and the Captain snorted,
glancing at each other. Lieutenant Halsey chuckled. They glanced her way and
she sobered, shrugging.

“Go on,” the Major said, sitting back.
He drummed his fingers on the desk, knowing now where this was going.

“I knew the opposition force would
anticipate an extract. My orders were written simply, secure the LZ and cover
the extract. We did that. I just changed the location.”

“You made another LZ. That wasn't in the
mission profile.”

The bear shrugged. “Improvise, adapt,
overcome. If the LZ is too hot, make another. You obviously didn't anticipate
it, after all, it worked. I'm betting you had self resetting soldiers, a
covering force on the one LZ, and accurate maps of the area. Possibly a cheat
code to let you pop forces in to cover any of the backup LZ sites.”

“Why Lieutenant, I dare say you sound a
little cynical,” Lieutenant Halsey quipped. “So much for your vaunted trusting
nature,” she teased, showing teeth.

The bear laughed with the others. He
shook his head as Major Forth motioned for them to settle down. “As I said, if
you aren't cheating, you aren't trying. I realized you'd pull something like
that.”