Chapter 20

Dropship Warhorse

Inbound to Terra

20 September 3076

The speaker on the wall crackled to life.

"Attention on board. We will be hitting the atmosphere in ten minutes and landing within the hour. All hand secure and prepare for landing. Major Cain Report to the bridge at your leisure. Finnel Out."

Cain always laughed when he heard that phrase. There could only be one Captain onboard a ship and so any ground force Captain was given an honorary promotion to Major, while any spacer captain was referred to as Commodore. This was a hold over from the old earth wet-navy and Cain was not one to break that kind of tradition.

As his cabin was only one level under the bridge he chose to take a ladder rather than wait for the lift that may or may not be working. The Warhorse was almost two hundred years old and was beginning to show her age.

Cain stepped through the door and was awed by the site laid out before him. The ship's protective screens were lowered and he could see the whole Pacific Ocean below him. They would be landing at Alice Springs on the continent of Australia where the Cavalier's offices were, but Cain had purchased a vast tract of land on the Hawaiian island of Oahu that had once been a Star League Army base and a United States Army base before that. He had his infantry training there now and would be moving his mech force there soon.

"Well Boss, I guess we made it." Finnel said, "I thought you'd like to see the Earth."

"An awesome view, Captain. Thank you." Cain replied. He stood and watched until the ship hit the upper level of atmosphere, then excused himself from the bridge making his way to the galley.

"We're almost home Gentlemen." Cain said to his officers that had gathered for a light lunch before touchdown. They had been in space for two months and were ready to get away from the cramped confines of the dropship. The long journey was good in that the techs were able to repair almost all the damaged that the Cavalier's equipment had sustained and Cain had more than enough time to recover, though his lungs would still be susceptible to infection for some time to come.

"Penny and Lieutenant Menlo will be meeting us at the port and everyone will be released for thirty days leave. Then it's back to training and getting ready for our next contract. We've got to work the Battle Armor and the Infantry into our battle rhythm" Cain said.

"Have you had a chance to go over any of the contracts that Penny sent?" Matsumoto asked.

"I like the Precision Weaponry contract." Baxter said.

"The one on Solaris sounds fun." Alex chimed in. "I've always wanted to go to the Game world."

"The El Giza one looks good to me." Said Stout.

The ship bucked a bit as they entered the atmosphere interrupting the conversation. When the flight smoothed out a few minutes later, Cain told them all, "I haven't really looked at them yet. We have a lot to do before we're ready to go out again and I want us to be one hundred percent ready for anything."

An hour later Cain walked down the Warhorse's ramp at the head of his Cavaliers. Although they weren't in formation, they still carried themselves proudly. Unlike their landing on Kokpekly, they disembarked on foot. When Cain reached the Customs gate the agent looked at him and asked for his papers. Cain stared at the man for a second and finally handed over the slim packet that had the shipping invoices for all his equipment and the manifest of the passengers and crew.

The man briefly scanned each list and looked at the name tags of the waiting Cavaliers. "Everything looks to be in order Sir. Welcome to Terra. Oh and Captain Cain, there is a message for you." The agent told him, "You are to report to the DMM offices for a debriefing as soon as possible."

Cain grunted, gathered his papers and pushed though the door. Standing nearby was his wife. He gathered her up in a huge bear hug and kissed her soundly. Then he looked her in the eyes,

"I brought them home." He said with a smile.