The War for Profit Series Omnibus (88 page)

The Ambassador from the Northern Republic was a tall, sturdy woman with fair skin and straight coppery hair parted on the right and cut to a length that let it hang to the top of the collar of her white jacket. Her gray eyes had a hint of blue, a piercing gaze offset by lips that smiled even when her face relaxed. She had high cheekbones and a chin with a soft cleft, almost small enough to be a dimple. Galen liked her, liked walking behind her, and liked her black knee-length skirt as she stepped into the back of her executive skimmer. He sat next to her. The skimmer was a heavy one, an enclosed interior area discreetly protected by armor that allowed the vehicle to look like a fine luxury hovercraft.

She turned to Galen and said, “Have you thought about your role here?”

The convoy began moving toward Batista City. A tactical skimmer was out front, followed by a light tank, then the Ambassador’s skimmer, with a light tank behind. Galen said, “I try not to.”

“You could be the military governor until Batista’s government gets on its feet.”

Galen smiled. “Don’t you have people for that?”

“Hardly.”

“Ambassador—”

“Please, cal me Julia.”

“Julia. You have Colonel Walker. I’m sure he’d be glad to take the job.”

Julia laughed. “He’d exterminate half the royal families!”

Galen looked forward. “My contract clearly states that my obligation ended when I captured Batista City. I’m ready to go home now.”

She said, “You’ve only been here four months. We expected you to be here for at least a year. I’d really like for you to stay longer. Now that the war’s over, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince you.” She placed her hand on Galen’s knee.

He gently lifted her hand away, held it for a moment and released it. “I don’t think my marriage would survive that long, working with you.”

“Your wife isn’t here?”

“She is. She’s the Brigade logistics officer.”

“Oh.” Julia folded her arms across her chest. “Supposing I agree that the terms of your current contract have been met, what would it take to keep your Brigade here for another eight months?”

Galen said, “That’s not entirely up to me. My troops, the Legion soldiers, they fought hard, took on additional risks, to win sooner rather than later. They want to get back home. They aren’t robots, you know. They have full lives when they aren’t deployed, families that love them and want them home. I have twin boys missing their father and mother right now.”

The convoy passed through the main gate of the city. Armored vehicles still lined the boulevard, spaced at fifty meter intervals, but the civilian gawkers were gone. Julia said, “This Boulevard could use a good cleaning.”

“I agree. But that’s none of my concern. Once you secure a peace treaty—”

“You leave. I know. Would you consider moving your unit to the
Northern Republic?”

Galen looked her in the eyes. She was serious. “You mean, make Fairgotten the home world of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade?”

“You could expand. We’ll give you a land grant, a large facility, what ever you need. Imagine: the Jasmine Armored Division, General Raper commanding. The sound of it.” She smiled, looked a bit like a mink, or a fox.

Galen said, “That’s something I’d have to work out with my board of directors and the Bonding Commission on Ostreich. It’s not really up to me.”

“What would you say if it were entirely up to you?”

Galen said, “I’d say no because it would completely disrupt hundreds of lives.”

The convoy stopped at the base of the steps of the capitol building. The Ajax tanks were still there but now faced away from the capitol building. Julia said, “You could leave the Brigade on Mandarin and build a new unit here. In the Northern Republic, I mean.”

“I’ll think about it, about everything you said. I’ll discuss it with my people.”

A guard opened the door and Julia stepped out. Galen dismounted and walked on her left. He noticed she was at least a centimeter taller than him. He looked down at the shiny black pumps on her feet. Tall…

They ascended the stairs and Batistian guards in fancy uniforms opened the doors and they strode in. A wide vestibule led into an even wider hall and the doors to the Senate chamber were at the end. Two more guards opened those doors. They stepped inside and an usher led them immediately to the right and walked around the circular floor arrayed with chairs half-filled with Batistian senators. They kept going and the usher directed them to sit behind the Prime Minister.

He stood addressing the assembled legislators and then introduced the Ambassador, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Ambassador Julia Gillard of the Northern Republic.”

He stepped aside and Julia stepped up to the lectern and opened a folder and spent the next eight minutes reading the peace treaty. She then sat and the Prime Minister stood and called for a voice vote for ratification. A senator from the floor objected and moved to have copies distributed to all senators present, and then asked for a one hour recess to study the document before voting. The Prime Minister asked for a voice vote to approve that motion, and Galen fell asleep in his chair.

Julia nudged him awake. All the senators were gone. Julia said, “You can go now, sleep in my car if you’d like.”

Galen stood and stretched and mumbled, “Don’t have to tell me twice,” and then he walked outside and got in her car and lay out on the back seat. The chauffer gave him a blanket and a pillow.

***

Julia shook Galen’s shoulder. He sat up and slid over and Julia sat next to him. She smiled and said, “All done, war’s over.”

Galen said, “The pen is truly mightier than the sword. Mind if I take a peek?”

She handed a folder to him. He opened it and read the peace treaty. “What?”

Julia said, “Is something wrong?”

“You gave away the store. You’re paying them for the territories that broke away from them and then later joined your Republic by their own choice. And you are paying a lot, over twelve thousand kilograms of gold. And the three
northern provinces of Batista, your army conquered the better part of all three of them and you’re giving all that territory back, and this!” Galen pointed at a paragraph on the third page.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Your government is assuming the debts owed by the Batistian government to private citizens of the Northern Republic. That’s just crazy.”

Julia frowned. “What’s so crazy about that?”

Galen closed the folder and handed it back. “Your citizens lent money to the enemy, that enemy was defeated and can’t repay the loans, so now you pay the money back yourself, to your own treasonous citizens. That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

Julia smiled, “That’s politics.”

The convoy left the city. Galen said, “Their brand-new government just received a massive infusion of cash.”

“Yes. And as military governor, you will have considerable control over how that money gets spent.”

Galen said, “You’d trust me with that?”

Julia said, “I’ve read the dossier we have on you and your people. You’ve been a planetary governor before; running one little country should be less of a challenge. We think you’d be fair enough, not too partial. You are our best choice right now.”

“Give me a week to think it over.”

She smiled, “So you’re staying a week beyond the obligations of your contract. That’s good.”

“I have the Legion’s concerns to consider, and my own troops, and beyond all that there’s a hard-headed Marine Colonel out there who I’m sure thinks he won the war all by himself and wants to be the military governor real bad. It’s a lot to chew on.”

“I understand.” They reached the S-3 track. “Think about it, take as long as you like.”

Galen dismounted from her skimmer and stood and watched it leave the area. He entered the track extension and Tad asked, “How’d it go, boss?”

“It’s official. This war is over.”

Tad smiled. “Great! I’ll get started on a move order to get us the hell out of here!”

“Not so fast. Schedule command and staff call for tomorrow morning and get the dome set up so we’ll have room for it. Tell them to wear their thinking caps because I have more questions than answers. And put out the word, we’re staying put for one more week at least.”

Tad said nothing out loud but he did think ‘damn it’ so loud inside his head that Galen could see it on his face.

Galen Raper entered the dome and said, “Keep your seats,” and stood at the head of the table and sat. “I hope you all enjoyed breakfast.” Nods all around. “The reason I called you here today is because I have a lot of questions that only you can answer. Keep in mind that it’s not a matter of right and wrong answers, those I can handle with a little help from my staff. These are matters that affect each and every one of you, all our troops and the Legion soldiers, each in a different way. What I’m about to play for you is audio from my personal communicator, excerpts from conversations I had yesterday with the Northern Republic ambassador. Listen, and then we’ll discuss it.” Galen played the recordings, waited for responses.

Lieutenant Colonel Sevin raised his hand, “I’ll do it, sir.”

Galen said, “Which part?”

“I’ll stay behind and be the Governor.”

Tad said, “You’ll need troops.”

Sevin said, “We can ask for volunteers. We’ve met the obligations of our current contract, so we can now negotiate a new one and offer the volunteers who stay behind a share of it.”

Tribula said, “My soldiers can not stay behind. Allowing such a thing exceeds the limits of my authority. I respectfully point out, my Legion needs to head home as soon as is reasonably possible.”

Galen said, “I understand your situation and my duty to facilitate your timely departure. I won’t hold you back.”

Tribula nodded.

Sevin said, “Sir, if I may, can we talk one on one? It won’t take more than a minute.”

Galen looked around. “I’ll be right back. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.” He stood and walked outside with Sevin, fifty meters away from the dome. “What’s this about?”

Sevin reached into his pocket and pulled out a spool of insulated wire and handed it to Galen. “Check it out. That wire is made of gold.”

Galen said, “I’m impressed. Is it for some specialized application?”

“Nope. We had a whole case of it, shipped in from the
Northern Republic as regular old wire.” Sevin reached deep into his right side pocket and pulled out a handful of expended rounds, 20 mm machine gun bullets with rifling marks on the sides and mashed tips. “I found these lying around in the target areas of the Republic Marines.”

Galen examined the bullets. Steel jackets. “So?”

Sevin pulled a multi-tool from his gun belt and used the wire cutter to nip off the end of one bullet and handed it to Galen. “The core is gold.”

Galen scratched his head. “Are you sure?”

“I had the chief engineer test it. Pure gold.”

Galen said, “What do you think it means?”

Sevin said, “It means the Northern Republic has so much gold they make bullets out of it. It means that if word gets out, everybody and their brother will want to come here and take that gold, by force. These people need some serious help with their defense.”

Galen took a deep breath, let it out. “Okay. You can stay and be the governor.”

Sevin said, “After that contract is up, I’ll cash out of the Brigade. Then I’ll set up a mercenary division based in the Republic.”

“Sure. Okay, let’s make this happen. How much support are you going to need from me?”

Sevin said, “Leave me…about a battalion and a half worth of troops and equipment. Six companies, one of each type should do. A third of your Brigade, if you can spare it. It’ll be enough to support me as Governor of Batista City, and then form the core of my new Division. I’ll pay you well.”

Galen looked at the golden bullet. “I’m sure you’ll have no problem doing that.”

Sevin said, “What are your plans for the next couple of years?”

“I’ll be getting this Brigade back up to strength. Between our current combat losses and giving you a third of my force now and normal attrition from retirements, it’ll take me a year. Then I’ll start looking at contract bids.”

“One last thing. Those Ajax tanks?”

“Sorry, old friend. You’re not getting my
Ajax.”

“Had to ask.”

They went back into the dome and the commanders and staff spent the rest of the day sorting things out. Before the week was over, the Legion and the bulk of the Brigade was on their way home and Sevin was installed as the Military Governor of Batista City.

***

General Rea walked with a purpose. He was one of the thousands of men walking along, the badges and insignia and decorations removed, cut away or ripped from his shirt. He wore a straw peasant’s hat he found by the road to protect his head from the sun. His gun belt held his rapid-fire 5.7 mm rocket ball side arm in the holster. The other men turned off the main road to the left, went into Batista City to seek refuge and sustenance and employment as private citizens, from private citizens. General Rea had a higher purpose. He took the road to the north. Slept a few meters off the road at night, concealed in the brush. Refilled his canteen from water puddles, found and ate berries and bugs and grubs and stems and shoots, walked for several days. His boots now made flapping sounds, the soles starting to separate.

Finally he arrived. He climbed over the wall concealed with undergrowth and then found the door, hidden in the side of the mountain, made to match the living rock around it. It was screened from view by low, scrubby trees. He tapped the door with the butt of his sidearm and then holstered the weapon and waited. The door opened. General Rea was met by an alert Corporal who said, “He’s been expecting you. Follow me.”

Rea followed, walked down the entrance tunnel and then along the hallway to the right. The Corporal opened the door to a room and Theil was there, sitting behind a desk. His shirt was off, a bandage around his chest, his left arm in a sling. Theil said to the Corporal, “Leave us.” The Corporal left and closed the door on the way out.

Rea tried to speak but only croaked. He took a drink from his canteen and cleared his throat. He hadn’t spoken a word aloud for several days. Maybe a week? Ten Days? He wasn’t sure.

Theil said, “Old friend, your loyalty will be rewarded. We need to get me to a proper hospital, the pain from my wounds are unbearable.”

Rea said, “Sir.” He said that only to see if his voice were working again. He then drew his sidearm as quickly as he could and aimed carefully with both hands at the left center of Theil’s chest and fired one round and it tore a hole twenty centimeters across where his heart had been. Rea holstered his side arm and the Corporal returned.

The Corporal stood in the doorway and said, “General, why did you do that?”

General Rea said, “When he came to Batista five years ago, this country was superior to the
Northern Republic and was stronger and larger than any other country on this planet. Under his brilliant leadership, Batista became less than one third of its original size. My country has been humiliated and defeated in ways I never thought possible. Now our once great country kneels at the feet of the Republic and begs for scraps. All of that because of this man and his stupid ambitions.”

The Corporal said, “What now, General?”

“Bring a sheet of plastic to lay him on; don’t want to make more of a mess. We’ll drag his body outside for the wild animals to eat so that he is not entirely useless.”