Jethro: First to Fight (44 page)

“And therein lies the lesson, one we
didn't anticipate. It's always the unexpected ones that are the best teachers.
If you can't use what you are given, find a work around. Good work Lieutenant,
good work.”

“Thank you sir. We aim to please.”

“I still can't believe you did that. And
you were two light on your squad.”

“I know sir. Any time line on their
replacements?” the bear asked, looking at the Major.

“We're working on it. Hurranna we can
fill easily. But having another noncom is an issue.”

“Sir, a recommendation, Jethro can do
the job. He is currently doing the job sir.”

“But you need him as point. You can't
have a...” the Major shook his head in exasperation. “What am I saying,” he
said, throwing his hands up in the air as all eyes turned to him. “You tend to
do things your own way and come out just fine anyway. You fall into a bucket of
shit and come out smelling like a rose.”

“True,” Pendeckle snorted.

“I've actually been holding Jethro back
in half the engagements sir,” Valenko ventured. “This one, well, he took the
snipers out on his own to secure the first LZ and then the plan evolved from
there.”

“I see.”

“I'd say he can handle it sir. If I
could get another shooter to fill his slot though?”

“I'll see what I can do,” the Major
snorted.

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

After the debrief, the Major shot doctor
Thornby an email about the future of some of his Marines. The doctor read it
and opened a link to the Major. She was surprised when he answered right away.

“I thought you'd call doc,” the Major
said over the link.

“Got a minute?”

“Sure Commander.”

“About your note...”

“I don't want to pry doc, but I do need
to keep an eye on the long view. Besides you yourself mentioned their long term
mental health I believe.”

“F squad?” she asked amused.

“Got it in one.”

“Well as far as prodigy is concerned the
Lieutenant has covered that score. Both of his daughters are Marines.”

Forth nodded. “I know.” Both were
enlisted, unlike their father. Neither had the seasoning or imagination that
their father had. It went against the whole 'blood tells' argument and was a
point in the favor of 'experience tells'.  Valenko was a product of his
experiences as was the Major. It would remain to be seen if the two corporals
ever rose to the occasion. They would have plenty of opportunities to do so.

“As far as the rest... well I believe
Asazi has been in numerous relationships but none of them permanent. I'm not
sure she is the settling down type. None of them seem to be at this point.”

“Restless? It's youth and vigor doc.”

“You mean too young and stupid to know
their own limits. Especially limits to their mortality,” she retorted glancing
left and right at the traffic around her. She was getting used to the odd
stares when people noticed her talking to thin air. As word got around about
the abilities of implants that had slowly started to change perceptions.

“Come on doc, we're all going to live
forever with your tender care.”

“Sure, butter me up,” she laughed
softly. “I believe the Veraxin female has a suitor but that's just rumor. The
male in question wants her out of the Marines and into a safer line of work.”

Forth blew a raspberry of annoyance.
He'd heard that argument a lot lately. “Typical. Threatened by a woman in
uniform.”

“More likely threatened by the rifle she
likes to carry,” the doctor retorted.

“True.”

“Ox... Ox is a problem. He was the last
of his kind in the system.”

The Major winced. He'd forgotten that.
“Ouch.”

“I think there are others out there,
we've got reports, but I don't know where.”

“I'll put some feelers out.”

“A bounty on a Tauren? Preferably
female?”

“Funny.”

“The late Miles never got it on, or so I
heard. Chirby however did have children.”

“The liger doc?”

“He was a special case. Ligers are
problems. I'm not going to get into detail and breach doctor patient privilege.
However he has several tiger females he could potentially breed with if he so
choose.”

“Ah.”

“The other cat Kovu is too young. He has
entered puberty but he is well... not full grown. He was only ten.”

“Ten doc?”

“Neo's age differently than humans
Major. Jethro is twelve.”

“Oh.” The Major blinked. He should be
able to keep that into perspective. The panther was maturing rapidly and
gelling into a solid NCO.

“The medic...”

“Gusterson. I haven't heard anything.
I'll check the grapevine and get back to you on that one. Don't even ask me to
poke into the Gunny's love life. I like living too much.”

“It's... I hate to ask them to back off.
They're hard chargers. I've never seen anyone so good,” the Major finally said.
“They're the new face of the corps and I need them out there, getting
experience and leading by example.”

“I know. A week off would probably kill
them or drive them permanently insane,” she said with a laugh.

“There is that.”

“The cat clan has put out a request
about females. I believe the matriarch is searching for mates for them. I think
she is trying to widen the gene pool. Hopefully she succeeds. They've bred very
close and their blood lines are rather tangled.” She didn't mention the kookoo
projects the females had going.

The Major chuckled. “That's... words
escape me.”

“It's going to get even more complicated
if we end up moving out of the system. If that's still in the works.”

“It is doc. Unfortunately Pyrax just
isn't suited for us.”

“Jarheads,” she sniffed. She slowed her
stride. She didn't want to enter the infirmary just yet. No doubt she'd be
swamped with paperwork the moment she entered.

“Not just Marines doc. We meaning the
military. We're getting plenty of recruits but this new governor is a pain in
the ass.”

“True,” she admitted. She didn't know
why the governor was putting so many restrictions on them. It was like he
didn't
want
them to be ready for when the pirates returned.

“We'll figure it out even if we have to
do an end run around the problem,” the Major said with a sigh. “Thanks doc. See
if you can encourage the squad to get more down time. I think I'll let April do
the interview next week or so. I'd prefer to keep Jethro's abilities under
wraps so I'll make sure he knows not to blab.”

The doctor nodded, totally sober. “I
think he'll know. The cloak is or was a secret of his clan for generations.”

“All right. Signing off doc. Thanks.”

“Don't mention it,” the doctor said,
arriving in the infirmary. She nodded to the orderly as he handed her a
clipboard tablet. “I needed the distraction,” she murmured as the connection
terminated. She settling her shoulders and looking down at the tablet. “Now,”
she asked, voice raised. “What am I looking at?”

Jethro was tapped to do an impromptu
class on camouflage and moving through the bush after Valenko's debrief. What
he didn't know was that it was a test of his teaching skills.

Nervous he sketched out a quick lesson
plan and then gathered some teaching materials. He programmed bookmarks for
some slides and movies he would use. He made sure his uniform was crisp and
clean without any fluff or shed hair. He'd learned from Gunny Schultz to make
an impressive positive first impression.

He bounced the plan off Letanga, making
sure he knew his role in it. Letanga seemed amused and agreeable to the game.
He got the time off from his Lieutenant and sent an e-mail to Jethro confirming
he'd be there.

Jethro was a little put out when he
peeked through his implants and spotted a lot of officers in the waiting class
the next morning. Gunny paused nearby. “First class huh?” he asked.

“Yeah,” the panther said. He started
when he recognized the Gunny. “Gunny! It's good to see you here!” he said.

“Want my advice?” The Doberman asked.
Jethro nodded. “Stick to being honest. Blunt if you have to, don't sugarcoat
things unless it's a prick asking that out ranks you.”

“Um...”

“What I'm saying is, don't kiss ass but
don't piss on anyone unless you have to. Let their own stupidity shine.”

“Great.” Jethro grimaced, now aware that
some of the brass in that room read and wrote his performance evaluations. They
could also get him killed in combat.

“Even we screw up. Even I screw up son.
Just take your best shot and go with it. That's what I taught you,” the
Doberman said, patting him on the arm.

“Gunny I'm out of my element here...”
Jethro said, totally at a loss on what to do.

“Nonsense,” Schultz said. “You're one of
our leading experts on camo and stealth. That's your strength. It's time you
imparted some of what you've learned to the rest of the corps.”

“I...”

“Open it with a warning that you're
treating everyone equal. No rank in the mess.”

“Um...” Jethro winced. He didn't know
how some of the brass would take that.

Schultz's ears flicked in humor at the
panther's expression. For a sniper the young man wore his heart on his sleeve a
little too much. “The Major will go for it. Just walk through your lesson plan.
You do have one right?” Gunny asked with a no-nonsense request.

“Yes Gunny,” Jethro replied, shooting
him the file. The Gunny pursed his lips as he quickly scanned it. His ears were
forward, a good sign Jethro thought.

“A bit bland and bare but you've got an
excuse since this is your first time. I bet you'll go off topic fast. Keep it
simple and be honest. Remember that. This is for their survival.”

Jethro nodded, sober and earnest.
“Thanks Gunny.”

The Gunny looked at him and then nodded.
“No problem. Get on it.”

Jethro entered. He started the lecture
by posing with his hands behind his back, waiting for the group to settle down.
There were about thirty people in the class, half noncom and half officer. From
the looks a few of the sergeants were exchanging they were a bit dubious at all
the brass in the room. Normally bass didn't sully itself with the day to day
stuff like noncoms did.

Jethro knew that most of the officers in
the room had been in yesterday's exercise. In fact most of the noncoms as well
he realized. Minachelli was sitting near first Lieutenant Myers, both were near
the front of the class. It appeared that everyone had some sort of interest in
what he had to say. Good.

“All right, let's get started,” he said
firmly, nodding. The class settled down and stared at him expectantly. He felt
like squirming, staring like that was a dominance challenge. He sat on those
feelings firmly. “As the instructor I am declaring this a no rank zone. We'll
keep it informal, but as the instructor I'm in charge.”

That got an amused look from some of the
officers. Jethro ignored it, sticking to his script. Captain Pendeckle shot the
Major a look over his shoulder. The Major shrugged and gave a miniscule nod. He
made a mental note though, so far the panther was off on the right foot.
Hopefully he'd stay that way.

Encouraged Jethro worked through the
basics of camo from what he learned from his father and from the Gunny, then
from the advanced sniper course. Most of what he had to say was old news for
many of them, boring a few. A few however took notes on tablets in front of
them. He used the holographic projector and props in the room to demonstrate
points. Then he did a critique of their last op.

“Anyone know some of the Major mistakes
you made?” he asked, standing at parade ground attention. “I'm talking about
tactical stealth, not strategic,” he amended, hands behind his back as he stood
at ease.

“Um...”

“Rushing in?” Lieutenant Myers asked.

“Correct,” Jethro wrote that on the
hologram behind him. Then he turned. “Next?”

“Um... noise?”

“Correct. That's two fold.” He pointed
out the animals reacted to them and went quiet, which was a warning. The Major
pursed his lips and nodded. It showed how long he'd been out of the field to
have forgotten that.

“Also I'm afraid you folks need some
brushing up in moving through the brush,“ he picked up a prop he had brought
along. It was a branch he'd snapped off while passing through the park.
“Leaves,” he swished the branch so they could hear it. “And of course...” he
snapped the branch in his hands. The crack made one officer wince.

“Then of course there was verbal
discipline which well... sucked.” He played back the op on the holo-projector.
He enhanced the audio so they could hear first the animals suddenly quiet, then
the crackle and rustling... and then the soft cursing.

“A whisper can be heard further then a
soft voice. If you're upwind of a target or near water sound carries.”

The Major nodded. Jethro took the look
and nod as further encouragement. “Senses play a lot in survival. F platoon has
a bit of an advantage in that most of us are aliens or Neos. Can anyone tell me
another sense?”

“Not sight, we were using camo...”
Sergeant Yelt said.

“To a degree. No stealth is perfect,”
Jethro replied with a nod. “Come on folks, there are seven known senses, eight
if you include implant tech. Humans can use five of them. You were smart enough
to stay on passive sensors but what about the other senses? Passive ones?” he
asked.

“Not taste...” someone on the right
mused. “Smell?” he asked looking up.

“Correct. Like oh, the Major's
aftershave. Or Captain Pendeckle's deodorant. That sort of thing we can pick up
on. You can too if you turn your implants up high enough. It's a form of
passive sensory perception after all.”

The Major and Captain each sniffed their
own armpit. The Major ran a hand over his neck and nodded again.

“You were upwind, we could smell you
about two clicks out. If you give yourself away you not only endanger yourself
you endanger your team and your mission. Watch it,” Jethro stated. He pulled a
chair out and then spun it to sit astride it. He rested his hands across the back.
His tail flipped back and forth for a few seconds as each of them digested
that.

He floundered mentally until he
remembered something his father had used to train him when he was a kit. He
decided to go with it.

“I want you to close your eyes. Close
them, slowly tune out the sound around you and then open up with your other
senses. Build a map of the room with what you can pick out and then when you
are finished send it to me. Call it a mental exercise.”

Each of them practiced that exercise and
then a few others. He ended the four hour session with an injunction to go to
the Anvil park and try some of the techniques he had tried to pass on. “After
all, it's one thing to learn it in the class room, quite something else to
learn it in the field and practice it.”

“Is that how you learned it?” Sergeant
Yelt asked.

“I learned first from my father, then
from Gunny Schultz, then the advanced sniper course, and finally in the bush on
Agnosta.”

“Oh.”

“It takes time and practice. It also
requires the occasional refresher to remind yourself of the various practices.
Which is why we have mandatory PT and fitness tests.”

“We're still at a disadvantage,” Yelt
mused. “Us humans I mean.”

“Turn it around then. Turn a
disadvantage into an advantage. Use your weaknesses as ploys if you can. Or
learn new ways to compensate. Hopefully what I've passed on here will keep some
of you alive.”

“I'm all for that,” Captain Pendeckle
muttered.

Jethro turned and put their plotted maps
up on the board. “I would like to point out one thing,” he said overlaying
them. When he was finished he turned back to the class. “You all overlooked
someone,” he said looking back at the map and then to them once more. “Actually
two someone's.”

“Oh?” Captain Pendeckle asked.

“Yes. For one me,” Jethro tapped his
chest. They all grunted. “And second,” he turned to the corner near the door.
“Corporal?” he asked.

The class turned in surprise and all
eyes fell on Letanga as he pulled the camo hoody up and uncrouched. “About
time,” the leopard grumbled good naturedly.

“He was here the whole time?” a
Lieutenant Jethro didn't recognize asked in stunned disbelief.

“Actually since before you all arrived,”
Letanga said stretching and pulling the cloak off. It depolarized to a Marine
flat green with hexagonal lines. “You almost stepped on me twice,” he said
cheerfully. The Neo leopard stretched, clearly enjoying his role in fooling the
class. His ears flicked forward and his tail danced.

“Damn,” the Major muttered. Even he had
been caught out by that. The idea that anyone could get past his implant
sensors shook him.

Jethro indicated the Corporal with a
hand and ear flick as he turned to first Letanga and then to the class. “None
of you localized the Corporal here. I could, I heard his heart beat and I could
smell the void where he was. I could hear the occasional crinkle as he moved
slightly to avoid getting a cramp. If you looked closely at where he was you
may have seen a slight shimmer as well as an outline of his shape since the
cloaking material doesn't quite work perfectly.”

“Worked well enough to get past all of
us,” Pendeckle said ruefully, nodding to the Corporal. “Good job Corporal.”

“Thank you sir. If you learned something
from it I did my job,” Letanga said, putting his gear away in a duffel.

“Oh I think I did. I think we all did.
Sneaky,” he said turning to Jethro with narrowed eyes. Jethro shrugged.

“If you're not cheating you're not
trying. By the way if you're wondering no  this isn't my trick. They pulled
this on me my first day in advanced sniper school. It's an important one to
learn however.” Letanga nodded as he shouldered his duffel and quietly withdrew
from the room.

“How much of this can we use on a
station or ship?”

“You'd be surprised,” Jethro replied.
“On a station you can still pick up sounds. The click of a bolt or whine of a
charging capacitor?” he asked. They nodded. “The footfall of an opponent? The
heartbeat and breathing of someone near? Stale breath? Alcohol? Garlic?
Sometimes the simplest senses are the easiest to overlook. Nothing beats the
mark one eyeball unless you are fooled into seeing what someone else
wants
you to see. That's why you have other senses, to build a mental picture. Use
what you've got, your brain, it's your best weapon after all. Don't ignore the
other senses. In a suit it's harder but it's still possible. Never forget this
or you're going to end up in a body bag.”

“The pirates are long gone,” a young
Ensign said.

Jethro turned to him. “For now. Only now
sir. And we're going to Agnosta in a couple of weeks. We may have gotten all
the pirates on the planet but I'm for one not taking that for granted. Not
after my last visit. There may be others tucked away in the hills. I'd rather
make sure you're able to find them, trap them and not come home in a body bag
if it's all the same to you,” he growled. Slowly the class nodded, suddenly
sobered.

“And that's also where the future lies.
We don't know what missions we will pull and where. Which is why we train as we
do and why realism is important. One of the things we learned in F platoon is
to train hard. To train full combat. There are no gimmes in combat, no stress
cards, no time outs to tie a shoe lace or dress a formation. It's better to
train against an opponent you are most likely never to fight then to get caught
fat dumb and happy and see your people come home in bodybags.”

“Very true,” Captain Pendeckle grunted.
He still smarted over the losses Valenko's team had taken. He knew if he
smarted about it the team did as well.

“Very good Sergeant,” the Major said
getting to his feet. He clapped slowly. The class joined in. Jethro's ears
flicked in embarrassment and then he nodded, coming to attention.