CHAPTER NINE.
15, March 2454 aboard shuttlecraft one. 16:40 hours.
The shuttlecraft approached the cruiser.
"Galak Elant, I am Major Rick Castle of
The Commonwealth Fleet Marine Corps. Stand by to be boarded. Be aware that at the moment I am very short of patience or mercy. I would advise you not to push me."
The shuttle extended a boarding tube to the cruiser's airlock. A gunnery Sergeant stepped forward.
"Excuse me, Major but Admiral Petrofsky's orders. You are not to enter first.
I'll go with the scout squad." A minute later, the squad had entered the ship and moved forward. "Clear all the way to the bridge, Sir.
Rick and two lieutenants moved forward to the bridge. Galak Elant met them. He wore the uniform of the naval militia. "Captain Elant, I don't care what uniform you and your men wear, since no state of war exists between the Commonwealth and the Crovanian Union, your activities constitute active piracy."
"We are not pirating; we are acting on orders of our government!"
"Illegal orders, Elant. They are in violation of at least three treaties!"
"We have the right to claim planets in free space!"
"Claim planets? So that's what you're doing. You have no right to claim planets that are already settled by citizens of another polity." An audible alarm activated along with a flashing light. "You will never take my ship, as a prize, it will self- destruct in 12 minutes, it cannot be reversed or stopped."
"Get our men off, Sergeant. The Crovanians can take to their life globes. We'll pick up survivors, if there are any, later." The Marines raced to their shuttle. The airlock had barely closed, behind Rick, when the shuttle boosted away.
Only about 20 life globes cleared the blast zone in time.
The life globes had limited power and supplies but enough for them to reach the Tenacious. Rick reported Elant's comment to Captain Rogers.
"Proceed with your boarding parties to the transports, Major. The San Diego has already been sent to convince the transports to stay where they are."
"You may have an advantage, Major. They appear to be civilian transports. They're probably under charter. I doubt if their captains will be as willing to scuttle them as the military would be."
Aboard shuttlecraft one, 17:30 hours.
"Attention Crovanian transport, this is Major Richard Castle of the Commonwealth Fleet Marine Corps. Prepare to be boarded. Any resistance will be met with lethal force."
"Acknowledged, Major, there will be no resistance. We are civilians."
The shuttle matched velocities with the transport and extended a boarding tube. It locked into place and the airlocks opened. The boarders went directly to the bridge.
The Crovanian captain waited at the command console. "I am Major Castle, Rick said. How many crew and passengers do you have aboard?"
"I am Captain Porro Kulac, Major. Thirty crew, no passengers."
"Why didn't you try to escape?"
"I am not a fool, there is no way we could outrun a warship."
"Tell your crew to assemble. Your ships were caught acting as accessories to piracy or an act of war. Either way, they are legitimate prizes. Your crew, the crew of the other transport and the survivors of the warships will be transported to Alpha Centauri to stand trial."
"We didn't know anything about any piracy, Major. We were just hired to bring out heavy mining machinery and about 100 mining engineers."
"If that's true, your logs will bear that out at your trial. As I said, assemble your crew. A shuttle will be coming alongside. If your crew tries anything at all, outside what they are told to do, they will be shot without further warning. Is that understood?"
"Yes Major."
The crew assembled and their captain addressed them. Most were simply resigned. A few were sullen and a couple, hostile but none of them tried anything under the guns of the marines. They boarded the shuttle and were taken to the Tenacious for interrogation.
18, March 2454, 16:00 hours. In space near the planet Placida.
It had taken three full days to complete interrogation of the Crovanians and prepare the transports to hold them, securely. The two transports now had prize crews on board and were headed back to Alpha Centauri with the light cruiser Ontario as escort. The two Crovanian destroyers could be operated by remote, so they were taken back as prizes as well.
The Crovanian Union was a very authoritarian regime. Once a prisoner came under due authority, they made very little resistance. The Fleet communications intelligence people were able to break the codes easily.
Commander Cristobol was reporting to Admiral Petrofsky.
"Sir, we have been able to develop a fairly comprehensive picture of what is happening on Placida. Placida was attacked for much the same reasons as Nova Terra was. rich deposits of Caladium ore as well as Gold, Silver and heavy metals. Their intelligence was fairly good in recognizing that the colonists were a dedicated pastoral people and not interested in industrial development. They are also quite iconoclastic so there would be infrequent communications.
Survey ships do disappear from time to time, so they didn't expect us to tie the two together. We are fortunate in one thing. They didn't murder the survey crews. They are using them as slave labor. The ships are on the ground, intact. They have about a brigade of combat troops on the ground with about another regiment of security police.
No heavy artillery or armor very little combat air. They aren't trying to control the whole planet, just the star port, the capitol and the mines. Our crews are being held in a labor camp and the planet's leaders in a political prison camp."
"They only communicate with the space force every two weeks. We've broken their codes so we should be able to keep them unaware of the situation as long as necessary."
"Very good. Thank you, Commander. Take the evening off. Be prepared to brief Captain Rogers, my staff, Major Castle and his staff, tomorrow at 10:00 hours.
We will begin operational planning at that time."
19, March 2454 aboard the Tenacious 10:30 hours.
Commander Cristobol had just concluded her briefing. Admiral Petrofsky began to speak.
"As I see it, we have a multi-role mission. First, locate and free the survey crews and recapture their ships. Second, locate and free the planet's leaders and get them to a secure location. Third, destroy as much of the enemy's combat strength as we can and hinder his operations. Fourth, get a full report back to The Commonwealth. Fifth, delay, damage or destroy any Crovanian reinforcements. Sixth, Arm and equip a local resistance until such time as we can get a full relief force here."
"I want each of you to prepare operational plans for your parts in the overall operation.
We will meet back here, in forty-eight hours for full integration of our plans. Dismissed."
19, March 2454 Marine headquarters aboard the Tenacious. 11:00 hours
Major Castle called his staff together.
"Expect to eat at your desks and get little sleep for the next forty-eight. The only positive information we have is our own strength and equipment. Enemy strength, equipment and deployment are all unknowns at this time, as are terrain, weather conditions and primary target locations, other than the star port and the capitol. We will have to fill those in, as we go."
"We do have certain advantages. The enemy doesn't know we're here. We will have initial tactical surprise. We hold the ultimate high ground. Our destroyers and the light cruiser are atmosphere capable so we can destroy their air power. Most of the combat will be ground fighting as we can't risk the civilian populace and infrastructure."
The next two days were intense for all the line officers and staff. Not only projected action plans for planet side operations but details of the landings, supply drops, medical evacuation and myriad other things.
21, March 2454, The battle direction center aboard the Tenacious. 10:00 hours.
"I realize, Ladies and Gentlemen that all of our planning, at this point is rather tenuous.
However, we must have general outlines of a number of courses of action. Most of them will revolve around the actions of the Marine landing force. Therefore, I am going to ask Major Castle present his initial plans, first."
"Thank you, Admiral. I can't emphasize, enough, the necessity of good intelligence, especially reconnaissance. As good as our sensors are, some details require close up inspection, both air and ground.
We'll do our first over flights from near space, using the destroyers. We'll also be using signal intelligence. When we have probable locations for where our people are being held, I'll take one of our recon/fighters for a close in over flight."
"I'd advise you not to do that, Major, you're mission critical."
"With all due respect, Admiral, Captain Kevan can handle the battalion. I'm a pilot with ground combat experience. None of your other pilots have that. And I'm the ground commander, Sir,
The final decision is mine. To continue, our final step is to put scout teams on the ground.
When they report back, I will be able to formulate and issue the operations order.
Here's how I see our initial operations. If the Crovanians are anywhere near the norm
For most sentients, they will probably not have more than a platoon of guards at each location. I will take Alpha and Bravo companies and liberate the survey crews.
Captain Kevan will take Charlie and Delta, liberate the planetary leaders. The battalion will then reform at the shuttles and boost for the task force. If you approve, Sir, at the same time a fleet landing party will take out any guards on the survey ships and get them into space, if they're flyable. If not, destroy them in place. These three actions, taken in rapid succession, should keep the enemy off balance. Over the next month or so, I intend to hit police outposts all over the continent. Hit and run raids. This should disperse the enemy forces enough that we can hit the star port, destroying a large part of their combat forces. That too, will be a raid. I hope to avoid a long term pitched battle.
After we reform, I intend to wait a week, while the enemy consolidates his forces to defend the star port, at that point we will attack and destroy his major mining facility.
We will then reform and return to the task force to await further orders."
"As an initial plan, it sounds good, Major." You may be seated. Captain Wayne what do you have planned for medical support?"
"Sir, we have four Forward Trauma centers ready to go. Two will land and stay with the reserve. Two more will remain with the task force until they are needed.
"What, exactly, is a forward trauma center?" Rick asked. "That was not covered in our tactical briefing."
"They are large assault shuttles converted to mobile operating rooms and burn centers. Each one can handle up to eight patients at a time."
"Who decides on their deployment?"
"After I order them down, Commander Beckett will operate from an armored command post vehicle. She will decide on planetary medical operations."
The planning meeting continued until late evening.
"All right, Ladies and Gentlemen, that is all we can do until we have more detailed intelligence, Dismissed."
Kate came up to Rick, touched him lightly on the arm, smiled and said;
"Would you care to join me for a late supper?"
As it always did, Kate 's sweet smile touched something in him. It was hard to deny this lovely woman anything.
"Yes, thank you, I would like that a lot. It's been a long day."
"It certainly has, and I don't want to eat gunk out of a replicator in my quarters."
They walked to the officer's mess, chatting quietly. They picked up their food and carried it to a table. Rick had Kate sit first, and then he sat.
After eating a few bites, Kate said;
"Do you really think it's wise for you to fly a reconnaissance mission?"
"Wise or not, it's necessary. None of the other pilots have any experience relating to ground operations. Every battle has a flow, a pulse to it. It can be affected by many things. Terrain is one of them. Photographs and holograms are good but they don't give you the same feeling as boots on the ground."
"If you're going to land and scout personally, will you please be careful?"
"I will be." Kate frowned. She felt that his reply lacked sincerity somehow Rick noticed and laid his hand on hers.
"I have to do my job, I'm Force Recon, remember? I came here to relax with a beautiful woman. Can we do that, please?"
"Yes, we can. I'm sorry. I'm just worried."
"Thank you but you have no cause to worry. I'm a professional. I did think this out."
"Okay then. Can I ask about Green Shores?"
"All you want. It's a lovely place."
"I didn't get to see anything but the house and immediate grounds."
"I haven't had a chance to go over it, thoroughly but I've had a rough once over. There's a lot of shoreline and I love the water. There's a lot of greenery too. We have three good- size watercraft and a very large boat house. I may even have my own jet boat built."
Kate was smart enough not to comment on that. "What about the people?"
"They seem to be very nice and very welcoming. I don't quite understand why. I'm not Centauran."
Kate smiled at his expression.
"I was there at both ceremonies. You are Centauran, now. They accept you as such, all the way to the Imperial family."
"I don't quite understand that, either. I believe it, but I don't understand it."
"You don't have to understand it, just accept it and live that life."
"I don't intend to quit being a Marine." Rick 's eyes were intense. Kate cocked her head to the side and gazed at him thoughtfully. After a moment, she took a breath.
"No one said you had to."
"Julia would sure like it if I did."
Kate laughed. "That's true, but she told me that she never wanted you to be one in the first place. You have to admit that she's accepted it, though."
"You two got close almost immediately. It surprised me."
"It surprised me, too. It's never happened before. I don't usually make friends that fast. But Julia and I seem to be kindred spirits."
They finished their meal, indulging in small talk, then Kate said,
"I wish they had something better than synthol or those cheap red wines."
"I've got some good Scots whiskey and some Drambuie in my quarters I could make a Rusty Nail for you, that is if you wouldn't feel uncomfortable."
"I'd love a Rusty Nail, and why would I feel uncomfortable? You've always been a gentleman with me." As they stood up, Rick hid the rueful smile from her. Ironically, the fact that being with her made him feel things far from gentlemanly made him far more of a gentleman than he figured she wanted him to be.
They went to his quarters, chatting quietly. As their talk turned to music they liked, Rick said, "I've even got a copy of the Dawn Symphony if you would like to listen."
"That would be wonderful." They reached his quarters, and entered. After he called on the lights, he turned back to Kate.
"Okay, I'll just be a minute."
Rick asked the computer to run his new playlist and made the drinks.
Kate sat on the small couch. Rick set her drink beside her and settled on his desk chair. Kate picked up her drink and took a sip. "That's delicious," she said, as the smooth but fiery liquid slid down her throat." She slid off her boots and tucked her legs under her and closed her eyes, letting the music soothe her.
Rick leaned back in his chair and sipped his drink, simply enjoying the music and the beauty of the woman. After a while, she picked up her drink and finished it, then sat back again. He noticed that she was relaxing completely into the cushions, a sure sign that she was on the verge of sleep. "Kate?"
"Hmmmm?"
"I think we'd better get you back to your quarters, before you fall asleep."
She groaned. She was really quite comfortable.
"Would that be so bad?"
"Yes, it would, you'd wake up stiff and sore. That couch wasn't meant for sleeping."
Kate sighed and slipped her boots back on.
"Come on, I'll escort you back." As they walked back, Kate began humming a tune.
"What's that?" Rick asked. The music was familiar, but he couldn't place it.
"A very old tune. I don't remember the name."
They stopped outside her door, and Rick turned to face Kate, taking her hands in his. "Good night, Kate. Thank you for the evening."
"Good night, Rick. It was lovely." She again raised her face for his kiss. He complied. but again, it was gentle, less than she was hoping for.
Kate went into her quarters and sat on her bunk. She still wasn't ready to use the word love for her feelings for Rick. She knew that she enjoyed his company and no one had ever made her feel as safe as he did or made her want him physically as much. She could also sense a deep passion in the man but it was held back, controlled. Despite the alcohol, it took her a long time to fall asleep.
24, March 2454 in orbit over Placida. 13:00 hours.
"Major Castle is here to see you, Sir," Admiral Petrofsky's aide said."
"Send him in, Commander."
Rick already in a flight suit stopped in front of the admiral's desk and came to attention.
"Major Castle reporting, Sir."
"stand at ease Major, what have you got?"
"Sir, I have the reports from the destroyers and from signal intelligence. I can scarcely believe the laxity of the Crovanians. They're either completely arrogant or incompetent, the survey ships are in the open at a secondary star port and we've pinpointed four probable locations for prisoner compounds."
"As I outlined, earlier, Sir, I intend to take a fighter in, in stealth mode for a low altitude scout."
"How soon, Major?"
"Within the hour, Sir."
"How long do you expect this to take?"
"I'm not sure Sir but no more than 36 hours. I have ration packs and a filtration device."
"Very well, Major, carry on."
24, March 2454, Launch bay 2 of the U.S.S Tenacious, 14:00 hours.
Major Rick Castle St in the cockpit of the sleek, deadly Hornet Mark 20.
The aerospace fighter could operate in atmosphere or space. Although it was configured, at the moment, as a recon bird it still carried a brace of missiles and integral hyper-velocity cannon. "Aerie, this is Falcon, all systems at nominal, ready for launch."
"Roger, Falcon. Ten seconds to launch….5,4,3,2,1 launch!"
The fighter was no sooner clear of the bay, when Rick applied maximum military power and dove for the surface of the planet. Anyone watching that particular segment of the sky would have thought he was seeing a meteor. As soon as he felt the wings taking hold,
He applied speed brakes and engaged the cloaking device.
Reaching the approximate position of his first target, Rick put the aircraft into a hover and extended a sensor pod, He was in luck. His first attempt had located the camp where the survey crews were being held. He found a clearing in the woods, about two kilometers from the camp and landed the Hornet.
Climbing out, he put on his combat helmet, hooked a pistol and combat knife to his webbing. His Chameleon battle dress of sensitized fabric had a tiny power pack that caused the fabric to mimic the surroundings. He took a pair of electronic binoculars and holographic camera with him. He was able to get within 150 meters of the camp without being detected. The camp was surprisingly well built with two prisoner's barracks, a guard's barracks a mess hall and a concertina wire fence with four guard towers. There were guards in the towers and a five-man roving patrol but very little activity in the camp.
Rick guessed that the prisoners were working. He circled the camp, getting holographs from all angles. He pulled back about 300 meters into the woods, pulled out a ration pack and settled down to wait for nightfall, he wanted to observe the evening routine.
24, March 2454 Near the prison camp on Placida, 22:00 Hours.
Rick had eaten a second ration pack then returned to his observation point. He now had a fairly accurate count of the prisoners and the guards. He also had a good idea of their routine. They weren't nearly as alert as his Marines would be in a similar situation.
He was about to return to the ship, when he heard voices. "I swear I saw a flicker on the infra-red scanner, Gil."
"You're always seeing things, Wan. We haven't found anything, yet."
"So what? We're being well paid and if we do find someone, they'll let us have that little
slant-eyed girl, for the night! She ought to squirm and scream pretty good before we're done with her!"
A cold rage flooded through Rick. Human renegades working for the Crovanians and talking about raping a girl!
He silently drew his combat knife and crawled behind a large, thorny bush.
The one called Wan; a heavy, slow moving man lagged about ten paces behind his companion. As he passed the bush, Rick surged from behind it and clamping his hand over the man's mouth and drove the knife into his spine, just at the base of his skull.
Gil heard his friend fall and turned around. "Wan, you clumsy fool, did you trip, again?"
I swear…" Oh God," was all he got out before Rick 's boot slammed into his testicles.
The pain was so intense, that he couldn't even scream.
"You came looking for me, Gil. Unfortunately, for you, you found me. That was your worst and last mistake. Good bye, Gil. I hope that you enjoy Hell! Rick drove the knife through Gil's heart. Rick dragged the corpses over to a brackish pond, loaded their packs with rocks and dumped them in.
Crovanian Prison Camp, 02:00 hours.
"Damn those humans, they are two hours overdue." The camp commander said.
"I wouldn't worry, too much," The guard commander replied. "Those humans are unreliable. They probably wandered off and got drunk, again."
"I'm not worried about them; they have one of our scanners. If they sold that to buy alcohol, I'll have them flayed, alive!"
25, March 2454, Aboard the Tenacious 03:30 hours.
Kate Beckett was beginning to really worry. Although she hadn't said anything more to him, she was unhappy with Rick 's recon mission and she felt that he shouldn't have been gone this long. He'd implied that it was a quick "Swoop and Snoop" She couldn't sleep.
She finally gave up and went to get a cup of coffee from the doctor's lounge. The mud that the replicator put out, sometimes, wasn't worth drinking.
She poured herself a cup and sat down. A few minutes later, Captain Wayne came in.
"What are you doing here Commander?"
"I couldn't sleep, Captain and since I couldn't sleep, anyway, I decided to have some coffee."
"Is something bothering you?"
"Yes, Ma'am but I can't quite put my finger on it."
Kate knew very well what was bothering her but didn't want to admit it.
Captain Wayne hid a smile. She knew what was wrong but she also knew that these things had a way of working themselves out.
"Well missing a little sleep won't hurt you, especially since you're off duty, tomorrow.
However, if it continues, tomorrow night, you will take something. Understood?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Good morning Commander." Kate finished her coffee and returned to her quarters.
25, March 2454 Aboard the Tenacious 06:30 hours.
Kate had just taken a shower, dressed and was headed for an early breakfast, when she saw Del Kevan walking with a tired looking Rick. Rick was still in his flight suit.
Del smiled when he saw her.
"Good Morning Kate."
Rick looked up.
Good Morning Kate."
"Good Morning, Gentlemen." Her tone was icy.
"By the Gods, Rick, what did you do to her?
"Nothing that I know of, why?"
"That is, one pissed off woman, at the moment."
"Well don't blame me, I haven't done a damn thing. I've been on Placida the last 25 hours."
"What about the day before?"
"I haven't seen her in a few days. She seemed happy then."
"Well, women are moody. It will probably pass."
"True. I'm hungry. Let's get some chow, then I'm going to sleep for a few hours,
Then we'll hold officer's call at 15:00."
Kate sat a few tables away from the men. Lanie joined her.
"What are they up to?" "Planning more mayhem, I assume." She gave the men a withering look.
"You're sure the grump this morning, what got into you?" Lanie placed a hand on Kate 's shoulder.
"Sorry, Lanie, I didn't sleep well last night, not at all in fact."
"Why?"
Kate looked away. "That's not important."
"Yes, it is. You work too hard not to get your rest, when you need it."
"Okay, I was worrying. Don't you remember how it was off Tantalus? Our Marines suffered terrible casualties there. It could happen again."
"Are you worried about all the Marines Kate or one Marine officer in particular?"
Kate glared at her "All of them, of course!"
"Somehow, Kate, I don't believe you."
"Just drop it, Lanie!"
25, March 2454 Marine operations center aboard the Tenacious 15:10 hours
Rick was meeting with his staff and three of the Fleet pilots.
"I've already scouted the first camp location. It holds our survey crews.
I need the other three scouted. Two are unimportant, one holds the planetary leaders."
Rick gave each of them a hard look.
"I don't want any heroics down there; I especially don't want you to do anything to alert the enemy.
Whoever finds that camp send an immediate report then get out of there. The other two abort and return to the ship. The next step will be to put scout teams on the ground for a thorough survey. Are there any questions? No? Okay suit up and prepare your birds.
You fly in one hour."
25, March 2454 Marine operations center 17:30 hours.
"Sir, I have a report from scout three."
"What is it?" "Leader's camp at following coordinates."
Rick read the coordinates. "Very well, recall the scouts and get Gunnery Sergeants Mac Andrew and Quinn in here."
The two sergeants, both experienced Force Recon Marines, reported.
"We have the locations of our two primary targets. Sergeant Mac Andrew, your team will take location Sierra Tango. Sergeant Quinn, yours will take location Papa Lima.
"I want a full report on both locations. Strength, routines, you know the details. I already know the layout of Sierra Tango. I'll want you back aboard as soon as you're confident of the details but in any case, not later than forty-eight hours from 18:00. Got it?"
"Yes Sir."
"Okay, move out."
27, March 2454 tactical Operations Center on the Tenacious 14:30 hours.
Rick reported to the Admiral.
"Sir, my scout teams are back aboard with all the needed intelligence. I propose to commence operations as planned at 03:30 tomorrow. That should put us in position to attack at 0:500. Their rotation is a little longer than Earth normal so dawn doesn't break here until around 05:30."
"Very well, Major, you are authorized to proceed as planned. I will issue the operations order to Commander Levine for the retrieval operation."
"Thank you, Sir, my orders are already issued, all I need to do is give the start time."
"Carry on, Major."
27, March 2454 Officer's Mess on the Tenacious 18:15 hours.
Kate and Lanie entered the mess and immediately spotted Del and Rick eating a very hearty meal. Kate said," May we join you, Gentlemen?" Rick rose.
"We'd be delighted, Ladies. Please do join us. The women sat and gave their orders to a steward.
"Rick, I'm sorry that I was so rude to you the other morning, I hadn't slept well and I was in a bad mood. Please forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive, Kate. We all have a lot on our minds."
"You're eating pretty heavy meals," Lanie said. Will you be able to sleep tonight?"
"Who intends to sleep?" Del quipped. "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die."
At the stricken look on Kate 's face, Del said;
"Hey, don't take me seriously, I was just joking, macabre humor."
"Well it wasn't' funny, Del." Lanie snapped.
"I am sorry. I really am. I didn't think you'd take it to heart." Kate had covered her mouth to keep from sobbing. In her mind she was reliving the desperate race to save Rick 's life."
It took Kate a few moments to regain her composure. Rick said,
"Ladies after we finish supper may I offer you a small libation, by way of apology? I have some good stuff in my quarters.
I'll bring it out to you."
"A small libation won't do it." Lanie said. "After that, we need a good stiff drink. We'll come to your quarters."
As they walked to Rick 's quarters, Lanie dropped back and pulled Del with her.
"Del, that was really stupid. Don't you realize that she's in love with him?"
"She doesn't even realize it or can't admit it to herself, but it's obvious to everyone but her, you and him! That's why she was so rude the other morning. She was awake all night worrying about him."
"Now that you bring it up, I can see it too. That joke was in bad taste, but it's my way of dealing with it. I worry too. Rick has been like a brother to me for a long time and now he officially is. He just won't take care. He's a field grade officer. He's supposed to let his captains and lieutenants lead. But he still leads. He yells follow me and away he goes."
"If you're aware of it and she isn't, why haven't you talked to her about it?"
"If I go straight at it, she might deny the whole thing and avoid him altogether. I've tried hinting at it but that doesn't work. I think that in a way, she's afraid that he'll turn her down.
Or maybe she's just so old fashioned that she wants him to tell her that he loves her first.
"What are you two conspiring about, back there?" Rick asked.
"How to make sure that we get our fair share of the booze," Lanie said. Rick laughed
. "There's no way Del would pass up drinking his share of my whiskey!"
They reached Rick 's quarters. Please sit down, Ladies. What would you like? I have some Drambuie, Some Glen Fiddich, John Jamison, Vodka, rum and a good white wine." I even have some Brie and crackers."
"How thoughtful, Rick. I would like a rusty nail followed by an Irish coffee."
"I can do that but I'm afraid that the Irish coffee won't be very good."
"I can solve that problem," Lanie said. "We have some very good coffee in the doctor's lounge. I'll go get a carafe. Make a Vodka spritzer for me, please."
As Lanie headed for the doctor's lounge, she encountered Cheryl Cristobol coming toward her. "Good evening Commander," she said, with an obviously phony sweetness.
"If you are going to see Major Castle, I wouldn't bother, if I were you. He already has some very enchanting company."
"What business is it of yours, where I am going?"
Cristobol snapped.
"Why none at all, Commander, I just wanted to save you some time."
Fuming, Cheryl Cristobol kept going until she saw Del step out of Rick 's door.
"Keep the couch warm, you two, I 'll be back shortly. Good Evening Commander.
I'm afraid that Major Castle is occupied this evening. I wouldn't disturb him, if I were you." Frustrated, Cristobol turned around and went back to her quarters.
Rick handed Kate her drink and sat down with his own. Kate sipped her drink,
a sad look on her face.
"What's the matter, Kate? You've been quiet all evening."
She reached out and touched his face, her voice low and soft.
"What do you think is the matter? You are going into action tomorrow.
I was at Tantalus, too. I saw the aftermath of what you do."
He took her hand, smiled and said, reassuringly,
"Kate, you're worrying about nothing. At Tantalus, we were up against Gorrock regular troops. These clowns are nothing but cops. They won't even know we're there till we open fire."
"I've heard Uncle Alex Say that no plan survives contact with the enemy."
"That's often true but in this case, we're not facing troops. After all, we're elite troops. We'll go through them like a laser through butter. I'm not worried, so you shouldn't be."
She pulled her hand back, crossing her arms as if she were cold.
"You wouldn't admit it, if you were!" Kate was barely keeping her tears in check. Lanie 's timing was perfect. She got back just in time. "I've got the coffee and some real cream!"
Kate stood up. "I'll make the Irish coffee. Del should be back any minute." Seconds later, Del walked in with his whiskey and a few rounds of spicy cheese.
Kate finished making the Irish coffee and set out the cups.
"Sit down and relax Kate," Rick said. "Del and I will make some cheese and crackers." The two men quickly cut up the spicy rounds and opened the Brie. Kate sat but was still tense.
Lanie picked up on it, immediately. "Kate, do you want to go back to our quarters?"
"No, Lanie, I don't. I just want these two to admit what they're doing is dangerous and agree to be careful."
"I'm always careful, Kate, I'm responsible for a battalion. I don't want to lose any of my men."
"And I'll watch out for him." Del said.
Somewhat reassured, Kate sat back, sipping her Irish coffee and nibbling on Brie smeared cracker.
"I know that it's still early, Ladies, but we've got an early call, so may we escort you back to your quarters?" Rick said.
"That's quite alright, we're safe enough you need your rest." Kate said,
Walking back, they stopped in one of the lounges and have a cup of soother, an herbal tea that had a mild soporific effect. They overheard a group of Marine NCO's sitting around talking.
A young Centauran Corporal leaned forward,
"Yeah, I'm a little nervous, Sergeant Major. This will be my first real action."
The Sergeant Major put his hand on the Corporal's shoulder.
"Relax Corporal, I've been with the Major since he was a junior lieutenant on the Belleau Woods. He doesn't make foolish mistakes. Something like eight or ten separate actions in three campaigns. The Major doesn't send his men in. No way. You watch. Tomorrow, he'll be right out front, just like he always is. He told me that himself, this morning."
Del and Rick 's careful reassurances went up in smoke. An angry and dismayed Kate didn't even pick up her drink. Lanie almost had to run to keep up with her as she went to her quarters. "Kate slow down, what's wrong?" This time there were tears in Kate 's eyes, a terrible blend of fear, sadness and anger. "What's wrong? It's those two sneaky, lying, Bastards! Rick promised that he'd be careful, Del said that he'd watch out for Rick!"
"Yes, I heard them, so what?"
"Didn't you hear the Sergeant Major? I quote: "You watch. Tomorrow he'll be out front, just like he always is." And I just remembered the briefing. Del won't even be with him. He's leading the second element!"