The War for Profit Series Omnibus (45 page)

All eyes in the control center were on the screen. Three seconds before TTF, the technician flipped a switch then laid his right index finger on the fire control button. The lights in the control center dimmed. At zero, he pressed down hard. The firing sequence took two minutes to complete, the lasers firing in ripple, one after the other, three seconds between each shot.

“Rounds complete.” The technician flipped a couple of switches and the lights in the command center came back up to full. The clock in the display changed to TOT followed by a countdown of just under nine minutes. A countdown clock for Time on Target.

Galen’s personal communicator buzzed. It was Sevin. “Nice shot, Smaj.”

“Thank you. Are you watching this from up there?”

“Yes. Very entertaining.”

“Well we’ll try to keep you amused. Have you given any thought to that commission?”

Seven took a deep breath. “Yes. I hate it but I’ll do it. Out.”

Galen heard the snap of the communicator at the other end closing hard to end the transmission. “Hey Tad, Sevin’s going to stay on.”

Tad said, “He’s a danger to the universe now. Imagine him with Major rank.”

“That’s funny.” Galen said that because he knew he was supposed to laugh but didn’t feel like it. Six minutes to TOT. Galen stood and stretched. “I need a drink.”

Galen went inside Tad’s office and returned with a plastic screw-top bottle of iced tea and sat to Tad’s right and sipped at the drink and stared at the display while the countdown went to zero. Nothing happened. “What the hell?”

Tad said, “It takes eleven minutes for the visual to come back. It’s light. It takes that long to travel that far.”

The technician already had a countdown clock showing ten minutes and change counting down TDA, or Time to Battle Damage Assessment.

Galen said, “Good job Guns, no matter what the outcome.”

The technician said, “Even if I missed them, you can play it off like it was a warning shot and tell them you spared their lives. Either way, it’s a win.”

Galen looked at the technician. Nah, the technician was not officer material at all. Too smart, too much common sense. “Guns, you stay focused on your world of true and false, right and wrong, possible and not possible. Leave the BS to me, that’s my job.”

“Roger, Sergeant Major.”

Tad got up and returned with an iced tea. The BDA finally came. During the two minutes of target engagement, seven probable hits were counted, the area recognized as distortions turning black for a moment for each suspected hit. After the first thirty seconds, no more indications of hits came.

Galen said, “Guns, what do you think happened?”

A different technician was at the control terminal, there to relieve the other one for lunch break. The technician said, “The hits quit coming because the targets were destroyed. There was nothing left to hit.”

Tad said, “I concur.”

“What’s that?” Galen walked up to the screen and pointed at a tiny black speck moving away from the sun.

Tad zoomed in on it. “A third ship, cruiser size.”

Galen faced Tad. “Can you make it clearer?”

“It’ll get clearer as it moves farther from the sun. Less distortion.”

“Well it’s lunch time. Guns, keep an eye on that. Tad, let’s go eat.”

***

Back in the command center after lunch, Tad sat in the command chair. On the screen was a discernable view of the third ship, turned toward Juventud now. A corporate cruiser, lightly armed, its hull scorched in places. The transparent armor on the left side of the cockpit was discolored, the hull around it blackened. It reminded Galen of how a person’s eye might look after it had been punched with a fist.

Tad said, “We’ve received a data burst, a message from that third ship. Audio only.”

“Play it, Tad.”

“I am Marshall Tolbert, Esquire. I represent the resolution trust and the debtors in possession in the case of the bankruptcy filing of EugeneX Corporation. I am here to seize any and all assets due to the debt holders of said corporation. Failure to cooperate can result in--”

Galen extended the fingers of his left hand and ran them palm-down across his throat sharply.

Tad killed the message. “Screw that.”

“I agree,” said Galen. “Play the rest of the message.”

“—can result in liability on your part for the value of any assets lost to your actions or inactions. You have destroyed two full battle cruisers on hire from the Fleetwood Armed Escort Fleet and they will be informed of your actions and we will represent their plea for restitution. Any more resistance will be looked upon unfavorably by the resolution trust. In the matter of settlement, time is of the essence. I pray you will reconsider your position, upon pain of being held personally responsible for any and all losses to the trust. And may God have mercy on your soul.”

Galen laughed out loud. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

The troops in the command center laughed for a full minute, and Tad began coughing, his eyes watering.

Galen stood, a smile on his face so tight he could feel his face muscles starting to cramp. His voice was a little high-pitched. “I gotta go change into my dress uniform and send a video response.” Galen looked back at a dozen smiling faces as he left the command center. As he went down the stairs he heard Tad’s voice, then another peal of laughter. He felt bad about the crews of the destroyed battle cruisers, but at least it wasn’t anyone he knew. He also knew that if the battle cruisers had been allowed to arrive, they would have bombarded the crap out of the planet, they would have beat all the money they could get out of the Brigade and GasAir corporation, and that would have been very bad for the Brigade’s reputation.

Galen went to his suite and changed into his dress uniform and returned to the Command Center. When he entered, a female technician whistled at him. He winked back and went into Tad’s office. Tad followed him in and said, “Are you ready?”

“Yes. But one thing to discuss first. Those three landing boats at the spaceport, the ones that used to belong to EugeneX. Do we have pilots for them, and can they be armed?”

Tad sat at his desk and used the terminal. “We have pilots for two of them, and it’s possible to mount the same sort of rail guns as we have in the IFVs. Not great, and installing aerospace targeting components might be a pain.”

“How long would it take to convert them into something that could take on that corporate cruiser up there?”

Tad pecked away at the terminal’s keys. “Maybe three or four days. Why?”

“That corporate cruiser is lightly armed, but still, it could sit on the other side of the planet from our space lasers and cause trouble. We can’t allow that to happen, it would make us look weak as hell in the eyes of the good people of this world.”

“I understand. We’ll get something rolling. Should I put Sevin in charge?”

“No, not this time. We depend on him too much. Put Spike on it, he’s a qualified combat pilot.”

Tad pushed a few keys then sent a message off to Spike. Then he pointed his terminal’s sensor at Galen and looked at its screen. “Okay Commandant, stand just a little more to your left. Now rotate yourself a bit clockwise. No, the other way. A little more. Perfect. Recording now.”

“Squire Marshall, I am Galen Raper, the Lord Master Governor General of Fuente de la Juventud. I am so pleased you have come to take responsibility for the liabilities of EugeneX Corporation. They still owe me for the final quarterly payment of the contract that brought me here, and Myung Jin construction has a substantial claim as well. Before his untimely demise, the EugeneX Director made a down payment in kind, as a good faith gesture, by transferring ownership of this planet with clear title deed to the Jasmine Panzer Brigade, of which I am the Commandant. At the time of title transfer, this planet had a tangible value of zero because, at the time, it was infested with a zombie outbreak, and that outbreak was caused by the ineptitude of EugeneX researchers.

“If you would like to make restitution to the victims of the zombie outbreak, unpaid balances due for contract work performed by Myung Jin, balances due to the Jasmine Panzer Brigade for services rendered in cleaning up the zombie outbreak, and any other debts you feel a moral obligation to pay, contact the Jasmine Panzer Brigade corporate headquarters on Mandarin and I’m sure you can work something out with them. But do not remain here. You are trespassing. As Governor, I have the authority to blast you out of my skies. Your ship is armed and presents an unwelcome threat to my citizens. Good day and good bye.”

Galen and Tad reviewed the vid. Satisfied, Galen said “Send it.”

Tad transmitted it to the corporate cruiser as a data packet, aimed on a narrow beam. “Now we wait.”

Galen took a bottle of iced tea from the refrigerator and sat on the couch. “They’ll call back with something stupid to say. Maybe we should get word out to fleet we need a battle cruiser here to control that jump point.”

Tad said, “That will take a while. Not much help right now.”

“Yes. But it’s something to think about, after this incident is settled.”

They waited an hour. No response came, but the corporate cruiser did change course toward the gas-giant planet farther out in the system.

A week had passed. Galen wore his dress uniform and stood in the front of the dining room of the Governor’s Mansion restaurant and looked out at the tables filled with the constitutional delegates. They picked at their dinners and sipped their drinks as servers brought out desert. Galen said, “May I have your attention please.” He waited half a minute, most of the delegates looking his way. “You’ve done a fine job. I’ve spent the day looking over your Constitution and I’m impressed. It goes into effect officially at midnight. I now cede the floor to your interim prime minister.”

Jake, the GasAir president, chairman and chief executive officer, stood and took Galen’s place at the lectern. Galen didn’t stick around; he left through a side door, out through the kitchen, to the laundry room and up the service elevator back to his suite. He changed into coveralls, packed up all his stuff and went back down using the service elevator and carried his bags to the command center, entered the liaison office and stowed his gear in the nap room behind the desk. He then called the Governor’s Mansion major domo and informed him he no longer resided there. He sat at the desk of the liaison office and changed the network connections and codes and access information, then went back through to ensure the terminal in his old suite was taken out of his access loop.

It was his own fault, his own mistake. He had written the part of the constitution that ensured the military would be subordinate to civil authority, and in so doing, had left himself with no place to live. There would be no military personnel residing in the Governor’s Mansion. Even the guards were civilian police. Galen’s people moved out today, civil officials would move in tomorrow, and Galen’s people would live in troop barracks. He stretched out on the cot in the tiny nap room and drifted off to sleep.

***

“Jumpship inbound.” The technician at the comms terminal made the announcement.

“Who is it?” asked Spike.

The technician said, “Not sure, but it’s big. Looks like four heavy cruisers and six destroyers and about thirty drop boats.”

Galen heard the commotion in the command center from his desk. He stood and walked out and sat in the chair to the right of Spike, who sat in the command chair. “Most excitement the night shift has had in a long time.”

Spike said, “This could get ugly.”

The technician said, “Another jump ship. About fifty boats attached.”

Galen rolled his shoulders and groaned.

“A data burst, labeled sensitive.” The technician looked over his shoulder at Galen.

“Show it.” Galen pointed at the main screen.

A man wearing combat coveralls glared, his face taking up half the screen. His blonde hair was trimmed into a crew cut, his yellow eyebrows a flat line above each blue eye, a square face with a cleft chin. His bright white upper teeth showed when he spoke, “I am Major Edward Tushar of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade, Commander of Relief. I am here to relieve Command Sergeant Major Galen Raper and all Panzer Brigade forces currently on Juventud. You will leave Juventud in no less than two days and proceed to Mandarin. That is all.” The screen went black.

Galen stood. “That prick is a Major?”

Spike said, “The Brigade is flushed with cash right now. They’ve been handing out commissions like crazy.”

Galen said, “I know. But him? He’s a total dick.”

The technician said, “I’d hate to badmouth an officer, but you may be right. Watch this.”

The technician put the fleet up on the screen. The two heavy cruisers and four destroyers moved at supra-luminal speed to the gas giant, around it to the side not visible from Juventud, bright flashes, and then the technician tracked the carcass of a ship flipping end over end. The Corporate Cruiser from the resolution trust. Two destroyers got in front of it and blasted the damaged ship, causing it to change direction by force, then the destroyers stood idle as the hulk of the Corporate ship fell into the atmosphere of the gas giant to become a tiny orange splotch marring the otherwise perfectly face of the planet. The cruisers and destroyers then returned to escort the troop ships moving toward Juventud.

Tushar’s face appeared on the screen again. “You’re welcome. I need to speak to Sergeant Major Raper.”

Galen stood. “Right here.”

“Right here,
sir
.”

“Yesir.” Galen put his balled fists on his hips.

“I will land in one hour. You and your staff and your battalion commanders and above will be standing by in the spaceport terminal to greet me. No exceptions, that means Master Sergeant Sevin is included. And Sergeant Major Raper, stand at attention the next time you address an officer. Major Tushar out.” The screen went black again.

Galen said, “Well I’ll be damned. Spike, rouse the troops.”

“Roger.” He started poking the keys of the control panel built into the arm rest of the command chair.

Galen went back into his room and shaved and straightened out his uniform, snipped off loose threads and wiped off his boots.

***

All the senior NCOs filling field-grade officer slots waited in the spaceport’s incoming passenger welcoming area. One after another, landing boats came in at ten second intervals and taxied to the end of the tarmac and parked. The last boat to land taxied to the terminal itself and parked at the terminal’s nearest gate. Major Tushar strode into the welcoming area, a Lieutenant carrying a clipboard on his left. It was an actual clipboard, with a three centimeter thick stack of actual paper on it.

Major Tushar stopped and stared at Galen. “Real professional, NCOs. Just sit there and eyeball me.”

Galen stood up straight. “Group, attention!”

The NCOs snapped to attention. Major Tushar walked over to Galen and stared into his face, then stood on his left, then moved around behind him.

The Lieutenant looked at his clipboard and pointed at a spot on the floor and said, “Okay. Stone, stand here.”

He read off more names and lined each NCO up, dressed off the first one.

Galen felt a slight tug from behind and a snap, Major Tushar pulling a loose thread from Galen’s coveralls. Tushar then stood on Galen’s right, facing him, looking him up and down.

The Lieutenant didn’t call Galen’s name.

Tushar said, “Did you shave this morning, Sergeant Major?”

“Yessir.”

“Missed a spot.”

Galen felt a gentle poke just below his earlobe.

Tushar whispered, “Eyes left, Sergeant Major.”

Galen turned his head and saw Ross approaching. He wore a business suit and a young man walked beside him, wearing a similar suit, and a one-ear headset with a receiver, looking at the screen of a personal communicator in his left hand and carrying a noteputer briefcase in his right hand.

The Lieutenant said, “You are hereby cashed out of the Brigade, your enlistments terminated effective immediately.”

The NCOs relaxed their postures and looked around, some mumbling.

Major Tushar said, “Get back at attention! You’re not released yet!”

The Lieutenant read from his clipboard, “All who hear these presents, greetings. Reposing special trust and confidence in the fidelity, honor and integrity of Albert Sevin, Birgit Frazier, George Harris, Angela Meade, Janet Polar, Tolbert DeLoney, Eric Koa, Ronald Mortinson and Robert Brink, you are hereby commissioned with the rank of Major by the Board of Directors of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade, endorsed by the Professional Mercenary Licensing and Bonding Commission, Ostwind City, Planet of Ostreich.”

Ross went down the line and shook the hand of each promoted troop and handed them proper rank insignia. The Lieutenant followed and handed them hard copy of he promotion orders. The Majors fell out of line and stood behind the group.

The Lieutenant read from his clip board again. “All who hear these presents, greetings. Reposing special trust and confidence in the fidelity, honor and integrity of Karen Mitchell, Marion Spike, Tad Miller, Maynard Stone, and Penny Shields, you are hereby commissioned with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by the Board of Directors of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade, endorsed by the Professional Mercenary Licensing and Bonding Commission, Ostwind City, Planet of Ostreich.”

Ross went down the row shaking hands, handing out rank insignia. The Lieutenant handed out more hard copies of promotion orders.

Major Tushar said, “Fall in.”

The group just stood there.

Ross stood next to Galen and said, “Gather around, ladies and gentlemen.” He took the clipboard from the Lieutenant and read. “Reposing special trust, confidence, etcetera, Galen Raper is hereby commissioned as Colonel and assigned as Commander, Jasmine Panzer Brigade.”

Ross shook Galen’s hand and handed rank insignia to Major Tushar, who ripped the Command Sergeant Major patch off Galen’s collar with one firm yank, then pinned the Colonel rank where the patch had been. Tushar then took one step back and gave a proper hand salute, which Galen returned.

Major Tushar then said, “You’re welcome, sir.”

Galen said, “Thank you, Major. Dismissed.”

Tushar executed an about face and set about his duties of taking charge of the crater.

Galen relaxed his posture and said to Ross, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m the Governor, appointed by the Brigade’s board of directors.” Governor Ross smiled. “I’m giving you until sunset tomorrow to get your people the hell off my planet.”

Galen heard a roar outside and looked through the high transparent armor windows that went floor to ceiling all along the wall facing the tarmac. A dozen Interceptors flew in low across the length of the tarmac and then turned back to land together as a single group, in prefect formation.

Governor Ross winked. “I brought them from Alamo; we no longer have an obligation there.”

Spike came up to Galen and said, “You need to see your mother and tell her about this in person. It’s a big deal, every mother’s dream on Ostreich. You can take the command jump ship directly from here right now and catch up to us on Mandarin later.”

Ross said, “Your brief to the board is not until next week. You have eight days.”

Galen said, “The command tank.”

Spike said, “Don’t worry; I’ll see it gets shipped.”

“And my stuff in my office?”

“I’ll get it. Hardly enough to fill a foot locker.”

Galen said, “Thanks, thank you all.” He called the pilot of the command jump ship; he said he could leave within the hour.

Galen stood while all the new Majors and Lieutenant Colonels came to shake his hand and wish him luck. After the crowd dissipated he made his way around the terminal to the side exit nearest his jump ship and strolled along the grassy area alongside the tarmac. He stood behind the spacecraft and waited for the pilot to arrive. Soft footfalls approached. He turned and saw Karen walking his way, magnificent in the pre-dawn light, the coveralls incapable of hiding her sensuality.

She stood right in front of him and gave a proper hand salute. Galen returned the gesture.

“Leaving without me?” Her face was blank.

“I thought, I thought it was over. Between us, I mean.”

Karen said, “The Juventud contract is over. Your time to think about it is up.”

Galen said, “I, I thought about you. Have you been…?”

“No. My last time was with you. Almost ten months. I still love you.” She stepped closer to him.

Galen gazed into her eyes. Thick lashes, he noticed. Her mouth was open half way. He said, “Me too.”

She put her arms around him and pressed her face into his chest.

He said, “Come with me now, to Ostreich. Come meet my mother.”

“Yes.” She looked up with a smile impossible to fake, her eyes swollen with tears, joyous tears. Galen tilted his head down and kissed her full on the lips, held the kiss, broke away after a minute and took a deep breath and kissed her again.