Chapter Twenty-Five: Just Getting Started

The first thing that struck me when Sennu answered was that 'Vettel's son was the older - not the younger. I'd assumed since her sons had different fathers that she'd been previously married, or coupled up with someone else before that - not that she'd had Valek during her current marriage.

Maybe their form of marriage didn't mean the same as ours did.

"So Valek has a different father, but he's not your husband," I said.

"No."

I nodded, though I wasn't sure I truly understood. "That's interesting. Once you're married in our society, any form of...romantic attachment or copulation with someone who's not your spouse is very frowned upon. Is that more acceptable to Sangheili?"

Sennu shook her head. "Our concept of marriage is very like your own, from what Commander Cooper has explained to me. A lifetime partnership with another, yes? A joining of two houses to form your own. Producing offspring."

"Okay. I'm following so far. I guess I just don't - " I suddenly stopped myself then and shook my head. "I'm sorry. This is probably not my business."

"You wonder if our concepts of marriage remain similar, how it is I have a child with another."

"Well, yes." I quickly held up my hands. "I don't mean to pry. It's just - " I took a deep breath. "I almost broke my wedding vows several months ago. I was punished for it, under military regulations, and rightfully so. It hurt my husband and my family. Deeply. So I don't understand - well, how your husband would agree with - "

"My having a youngling that is not his," she finished.

When I nodded again, she gave me what I interpreted as a side-long glance.

"In Sangheili society, we have a class of warriors who do not marry. However, their bloodline is valuable, and as such, must continue. Since they do not have a partner of their own, they are encouraged to breed with whom they choose. Regardless of marital status. Asàk was one such warrior - a swordsman. And he chose me."

"And 'Vettel was okay with that? Were you?"

She clicked her mandibles. "I do not take your meaning. It is a duty we must perform. All Sangheili know this."

It still didn't sit well with me, but I couldn't make her understand what I meant if that wasn't the way they viewed things. But I found the practice disturbing. I couldn't imagine being forced to create and carry a new life with someone I hadn't chosen, and didn't love.

"Do women in your society have any say in their partnerships? Or are your marriages arranged?"

"Arranged?"

I frowned. "Is your partner...assigned to you."

"Ah. No. I chose Tal to be my husband. Other females may freely choose as well." She titled her head at me. "You chose your partner?"

"Yes. Only small segments of our society do otherwise."

She continued to stare. "Then why did you seek another?"

"That's a good question." I sighed. "It's complicated. I'm not sure that any answer can justify it. But I can assure you my husband was not happy. We almost divorced over it."

"Divorced?"

"A dissolution of marriage. A...split between you and your partner. A big break-up."

Sennu said nothing, still not comprehending.

For my part, I was stumped. I was surprised they didn't have a word for that. "In your society, you have no way of ending a marriage?"

"Death."

She said it with such severity that I couldn't help but chuckle. "Fair enough."

We finally moved on from the area with the younglings then, and Sennu showed me a surprisingly large part of the keep that, simply put, served as an enormous garden for all its inhabitants. I was taken with the sight of so many Elites - whom I'd only ever known as ruthless and relentless fighters - calmly tending to their version of fruits and vegetables. Between that and the children, I was seeing a softer side today that I'd never known existed.

By the end of our walk the air had warmed up, and I'd put on my sunglasses against the brightness.

I stuck out my hand to Sennu, and, though confused at first, she took it lightly and shook it.

"Thank you for your time, ma'am," I said to her. "And thanks for the tour. If you'll excuse me, I should get back to it."

Sennu nodded in return. "We will speak again soon, Colonel."

Once I took my leave, I jogged back to our side of the keep and headed for the makeshift medical tent some of the engineers had put up last night. Several Sangheili guards across the courtyard stared, keeping an eye on me since I was moving faster than we normally did inside the walls, but no one approached or tried to impede me.

"Hey, Doc," I said, nodding to my old friend, Corpsman Michael Reynolds, when I arrived. "I'm here to check on a patient of yours. Lance Corporal Stephen Lowell."

"Lowell," the medic responded, staring down at his datapad. "Came in after the skirmish at the LZ with a bullet in his hip."

"That's the one."

He finished looking over the file and glanced up again, his blue eyes meeting my green. "Recovering in bed ten, Colonel. You did some good work out there to stop the bleeding."

"Least I could do. He's part of my security detail; him and the rest put their lives on the line for me every day."

Reynolds smirked. "Not an easy task as I recall, ma'am."

I smiled a bit, too. "No."

The medic sobered then. "Well, he'll need some time to heal, of course, but other that, he's going to be just fine."

"Thanks, Michael." It was a huge relief knowing Lowell was okay. "Take good care of him."

"Will do, ma'am."

After grabbing a quick cup of coffee and some grub - just some powder mix and an MRE, since we had no mess of our own set up yet - I spent the rest of the morning conferring with our guards and patrol leaders. Fresh Marines had rotated in by now, from Murphy's battalion, although I didn't see the major around. I guessed he was probably out with the latest patrol, but I wasn't about to ask. So long as he was back in time for the briefing Mark and I had planned for this afternoon, it wasn't a problem to me.

By noon I'd done all the checking in and issuing of orders I could, so I decided to get together with Cal and my brother ahead of the meeting. After that, it was finally time.

I'd enlisted the help of some of the 8th Engineers not currently on watch to get a basic command tent up; it wasn't much more than a large holotable with some fold-out chairs around it, but it would do the job for now. It always took some time to get truly running in the beginning, and this time, we were operating on someone else's turf. A very important someone we did not want to piss off by taking over all their available space. It was something I'd have to talk to Sennu about later.

Following the two spooks and I, my XO entered the tent first, then Willis. I hadn't seen him since I'd left our quarters early this morning, and he gave me a slight nod, which I returned. Murphy came in next, though both of us avoided eye contact. Lastly, Major Mullen - commanding my late best friend Oliver Hayden's infantry battalion - walked in.

In the moment, I thought how crazy it would've been to have Hayden here. I missed him.

"Good afternoon, everyone," I began. "As you may have guessed, our hot landing yesterday was not anticipated. We knew there were rebels on the ground - that's a given. But it's not so typical of them to be that bold around the keep. It's clear the rebs were tipped off that we were coming. Commander Cooper?"

Mark nodded to me. "Colonel." He faced the others then. "During the skirmish I went out on a solo mission to find out what prompted the attack. Since the destruction of a Sangheili temple ten klicks from here, the rebels have been on the defensive. They were few in number to begin with, so while there's been sustained fighting between the Swords and Insurgents in the area, it's never been up close. It would be suicide for them to do so."

"Until now," Lloyd finished. "From our reports, and from evidence Commander Cooper managed to procure last night, we learned a new unit of rebels has arrived - the command group, if you will. The Insurgents' leader, General Javier Laraza, appears to be among them - as does his daughter Sofía."

Standing directly across from me, Major Mullen frowned. "How did they get here?"

"Through Puget. Same portal as before," I answered, leaning forward slightly. "That's going to be our first order of business - I want a recon of the temple area, so we can get a lay of the land and confirmation on enemy strength, and who exactly might be involved. Then, we use all our resources on hand to shut that gateway down for good - before we deal with anything else.

"It won't be simple. There are Prometheans on-planet that have not been accounted for yet. And although it may not seem like it from here, many Sangheili outside these walls are at each other's throats and busy fighting their own fight. Not entirely our problem, but it could get overwhelming quickly if we encounter all these factions at once. So we do this cautiously, and we go in to see what's happening before we make our move. Questions?"

"Who'll be leading the recon, ma'am?" Major Delaney asked.

"That'll fall to your battalion. I'll need the Eighth Engineers here to coordinate with 'Vettel's wife to complete set-up for our side of the camp, and Wayne, I want your batt to take over security." I finally met my XO's gaze. "I'm going with you, Justin."

"Got it, Colonel."

"Major Hawk?" I said.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Your air wing will be in reserve for now as well. I'd like to get an aerial recon at some point, but right now, I don't want to tip our hand too soon. We know they're dirtside and they know we are; I don't want to give away exact positions, or that we know theirs. Your pilots will be placed on standby."

"Acknowledged, Colonel."

"Lloyd, you'll be coming with the 213th and Delaney and I. It'd be good to have a spook on hand."

"Yes, ma'am."

I paused then for anymore inquiries, but there were none.

"All right. If you're coming out on recon, gear up. Mullen and Murphy, stay behind a moment so we can chat about how to approach the lady of the keep. The rest of you, dismissed."