“So let us do real fighting, boring in and gouging, biting.
Let's take a chance now that we have the ball.
Let's forget those fine firm bases in the dreary shell raked spaces,
Let's shoot the works and win! Yes, win it all!”
-Gen. George S. Patton
“As the valiant Conglomeration Marines rally the encircled CEC Security Forces, the formerly tenuous and desperate situation here has evolved from one of rout and pocket, to push and progress. The Orbital Infantry under Command of Captain Marcus Compton the Third have cleared the peninsula of all rebel forces and, despite the loss of the U.C.S. Righteous to treachery and treason, are poised for a breakout from their beachhead and an almost ordained victory. I have been Marie Montgomery of the Conglomeration Press Corps. Goodnight, and God bless the Conglomeration.” As the segment came to an end, Marcus looked up at her from across his desk.
“It was a good report Marie. Factual, exciting, patriotic, just like the last three. So, do you want to delete this one, or shall I?” She sighed. It chapped her ass that she had come all this way for nothing. She hadn’t written so many useless presentations since the academy, but since she wasn’t a line soldier, she really didn’t have shit else to do.
“Go ahead. No point in letting it linger. Frees up space for the next batch anyway.” Marie watched as Marcus hit the delete and “Are you sure” buttons on his display. Just like that, an entire evenings worth of work vanished. They were sitting in his field tent approximately twenty miles behind the front line. Technically they were still in range of any guns the local insurgents might possess, but they had been reluctant to use anything beyond some light mortars when in direct contact. Despite the lack of big guns on the table, Marcus was sticking to Conglomeration protocol. The tent was as dark as all others were on the forward operating base. Only a few red or blue tinted lights allowed the men to read their tablets, going over the plans for the next day. Marcus tried to give Marie a cheerful smile, the lighting just made his bony face look a little necrotic.
“I really am sorry about this Marie. It really is good work. Considering how bad things started off, you’re making us, and by us I mean me, look competent and almost heroic. You were definitely the right person for this job. Unfortunately, until we know what the official line is, we can’t tow it.” Marie nodded. She knew that song. She heard it a lot being a state journalist.
“Complete blackout. I know. I knew there would be some kind of oversight on this one with Antaria in full rebellion, but with half the Righteous slowly burning away in the upper atmosphere and the other half working on settling into its new position as Antaria’s second moon, Fuck all, amirite?” Marcus summoned a polite chuckle.
“You, are not wrong.” He drifted back to his monitor. They let a silence form and congeal. She saw his eyes glaze over as he began to fidget. He had shut down. Even though they hadn’t been close since their senior year, she still remembered that look. She didn’t need her base telepathy to know what it meant. He only ever used to be quiet when he wanted to say something was bothering him. He never would.
“I spent the first six months of our sophomore year breaking you, don’t wall up, people are dying.” He didn’t look up. She kept staring at him. “Is it the Righteous? Is it Antaria? Focus your mouth hole.” He started to open his mouth, closed it, opened it again.
“It’s not Antaria.” He took a pregnant pause, continued. “These people, I know they’re traitors. I know what to expect. What happened to the ship, its personal, it hurts. It feels almost like when Karl stole you away from me, when you cheated…”
“It’s nothing like that you asshole, people are dead.” She blurted. She felt a tinge of guilt that she had deviated from her mission, but he took the tangent first. “What is happening and keep the broken heart in a separate basket from the bodies”.
“Sorry, he said. “Just, a similar feeling, never mind. Why do you care?” He made eye contact. She had him.
“Because left to your own devices, you might over think this. Something went horribly wrong and we need to get it right. Besides, I can’t do my job right now, so I may as well play shrink.” She did her best to say “So get on with it” with just her face.
“Betrayal is the point. Think about all the things that would have been required to invert the polarity of the main magnetic drive so that in would push against itself when it was switched to shield mode. An entire crew would have been required to bypass all the safety measures so that no one, including the main computer would notice. It would have had to operate normally until such time as the override was needed. Finally, it would have required either the craftsmanship to remain hidden from inspection, or the high level authorization to keep a blind eye turned.” He waited to see if she could fit the next part of the story together.
“You’re thinking the chief Engineer then?” She asked. He nodded. “Who was he?”
“Xavier Cawdor. Nothing too exceptional. Nothing to raise any immediate red flags.” He punched a few keys on his monitor, brought up an image on the monitor of a small, ginger haired man of questionable grooming with a slightly charming snaggletoothed grin. “Born on New Pittsburg, son of the CEO of General Defense Contracting. Just another child of the gentry sent off to academy to kill time until they get their turn at the family company. Just like you and me and all our friends. He was on Antaria with us the last go around is the only thing that I figure connects it. Engineering Corps, spent time preparing infrastructure during the occupation. Thats it.”
“Maybe thats it? If he spent a lot of time with the locals, maybe he became sympathetic? Saw too much, something snapped?” She shrugged. She might be able to read a few minds, but it didn’t make her a shrink.
“I’m not sure.” Marcus continued. “It still doesn’t seem right. Something is missing. The assignment, the timing? Its too much to do alone. He still would have had to coordinate with someone on the ground here, and someone else far out in the ether to have the codes and access to know about this mission and what was coming. There is an intense amount of coordination here. I just, feel something is still off. Something that will bite us in the ass if we don’t find it.”
“Has he been accounted for?” Marie asked.
“Nope, as much as I’m love to interrogate the bastard. But seeing as more than half the crew is in the same predicament, I don’t expect he will be. Marcus stopped and rubbed his eyes. The clock read 0427, D+4. They had done a lot of work since they hit the ground. She hadn’t seen Marcus sleep since they’d landed, but she had been busy too. They could use some sack time. But the fires kept popping up.
“Ugh.” He bemoaned. “That tears it, I’m rack bound. Fuck off for awhile will you? I’m going to get back up in a couple hours to get ready for the push tomorrow afternoon. If you want, you can bug Zed, I’m sure he’s up. You two can brief we when I’m up on everything up the road, k?” She nodded, pulled stingy out of her back pocket and turned to leave.
“You run this Cawdor thing by Zed yet?” She asked?
“Not yet, its just been zipping around my head. Put it in his ear. Maybe he’ll think of something I missed. Goodnight. He shut off his terminal and headed to his bunk. She stepped out, plopped the old green hat on her head and started toward Zed’s tent. She could see a faint light under his flap. She put on a fresh smile. Zed usually had bourbon.
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