Tales from the Academy

Chapter 23

"So where're we headed now?" asked Jer Naddel. The shuttle had just lifted off and Anny sat wearily across from her first sergeant.

"Short hop. About fifty klicks to the east. Pretty major breakthrough in that area."

"You mean all that work was for nothing?"

"No, not at all. At least that's what Ramsey tells me. The fire breaks stopped most of it and it only got through at three points. Instead of one really, really big fire we've now got three just moderately big fires. And the other two are off at the western end of the line, not our concern."

"Good. But we were the first ones in. Why can't some of the reinforcements handle the mop-up?"

"Tired?"

"Gettin' that way, yeah. The Dynatrim must be wearin' off. If they're throwing us back in we're gonna hafta take another dose. Really rather'd not do that."

Jer's words were starting to slur. Yeah, they were going to have to take another dose of the drug. That meant sleeping for two days instead of one once they came off it. "Hey, beats 5D math, don't it?" Jer snorted and then smiled.

"Gotta keep remindin' myself that this is the real thing. Not some training sim. Servin' the Empire for real."

Anny nodded. Yeah, they were fighting a real enemy. An enemy that didn't rest or sleep, an enemy that was fearless and had no mercy at all. And right now their enemy was coming down out of the high mountains, down into the hills where people lived.

They had to stop it.

By the time they landed the order had come through to dose up again and Anny was feeling that strange hyper-aware sensation the drug gave. At least this time they landed at a forward base camp and not in the middle of the wilderness. Hot food and coffee was waiting for them, served by some of the local people, and they wolfed it down. The drug burned a huge number of calories and they had to keep their bodies fueled up.

And then it was back on the line. A new line that was being constructed to stop the fire. This area was not as rugged as where the first line had been. It was possible to move in heavy equipment in some spots. And they were better prepared now. Water bombers appeared regularly. They still didn't seem to do all that much, but they'd get a cheer from the grunts on the ground anyway. Anny's research had mentioned fire retardant chemicals dropped from the air but there weren't any factories on Barrayar to turn them out. Still, they all felt that the odds had shifted in their favor.

Unfortunately, the wind started shifting, too.

In the lee of the mountains, the wind did strange things. Things even the most advanced meteorology couldn't manage to predict. And the wind seemed to be conspiring with the fire. It would sidestep their fire lines, jump over them, outflank them and drive them back. So they fell back, regrouped and tried again.

But now every time they failed, people paid. Farms burned and people died. A cadet in 3rd Battalion was killed by a falling limb. Anny didn't know him, but that didn't matter. He was one of their own and they all hurt. Civilians died, too, trying to save their homes. They fought on. Injuries mounted. The company was down to sixty men, even with the six girls added in. They were ordered to dose themselves a third time and then a fourth. Four was the maximum the regs allowed…

Still, bit by bit, they were beating this red monster. Killing parts of it, hemming in the rest. By the fifth day the worst of it appeared to be over and then, almost unbelievably, they were told they were done. Others would take over for them. They were pulled out of the line and sent to the rear.

The remains of C Company, 2nd Battalion, Imperial Service Academy, stumbled down out of the hills toward a rest camp. They could sleep there. Sleep for days and days and days and when they woke up it would all be over and they could go back. Back to the Academy; back to 5D Math. Back to their bunks.

They marched—or tried to. The shuttles and other air vehicles were still needed to attack the monster and its two brothers off to the west. The foot soldiers could use their feet. The constant reshuffling and repositioning had left their company at the far eastern end of the line and the trail they marched along took them away from the rest of the battalion; they would regroup with them later.

Anny watched her tired, sore, filthy troopers shuffle past her. She was so proud of them she didn't have words. They had fought a battle and won. No battle honors would adorn their flag, no medals would be pinned to their chests for this, but they had met the enemy and not been found wanting. She noticed Alby walking side by side with Abigail Vorburn. Alby made some joke and Abigail laughed. Anny was amazed that either one had the strength for it.

"Your girls did a hell of a job, Anny." She turned as Jer came up beside her.

She wasn't exactly sure just when the six had become 'her girls' but there was no doubt that they had. They might not be C Company, but she was just as proud of them. Thrown into this nightmare with hardly any training they had kept up, worked hard, and never complained—or at least no more than anyone else. "They sure did," she replied.

"I don't think you have to worry about the guys filling that 'big brother' role you were talking about, Anny. After this any one of 'em would take on a whole company of seniors for their Little Sisters."

"After this, I don't think it's going to be a problem," said Anny. "The Academy isn't going to be divided into plebes or upperclassmen or men or women anymore. After this there's only going to be those who were here and those who weren't. Nothing else is gonna matter."

Jer chuckled. "Yeah, you may be right." He paused and looked at her. "You did a hell of a job, too, Anny. A hell of a job." She blushed under a layer of soot.

"We all did. Now come on, let's get to that camp so we can all sleep."

It was late afternoon by the time they reached the little village where they were supposed to stop. She didn't even know what its name was. But they were welcomed warmly by the people there. She only saw children and older men and women. Apparently everyone else was still off fighting the fires. But the youngsters and oldsters pressed mugs of steaming coffee into their hands and offered them sandwiches and fruit.

"We've set up a place for you to sleep," said a white-haired grandmother. "In the grove back over there. We put it away from the trail so nothing will disturb any of you."

Anny thanked her and smiled. Once the Dynatrim wore off a nuclear explosion wouldn't disturb any of them. She checked the time. They had about an hour until they collapsed. She warned her people to get their bedrolls set up and attend to any last personal necessities. When they crashed they were going to crash hard.

They moved back to the sleeping area and painfully unslung their packs and spread out their sleeping bags. The locals had laid down thick pads of straw for them to lie on and no feather bed would have suited them better. A few splashed water from their canteens on their soot-blackened faces and hands, but most didn't bother. She walked slowly among them for a while, patting a shoulder here, making a joke there. Damn, they were good people! Finally she spread out her own bedroll and lay down. She picked a spot closest to the houses and the trail so if anyone was trying to find her they could—not that they'd be able to wake her up, of course. Until the drug fully wore off it wouldn't be possible to actually sleep, but she closed her eyes and waited for blessed oblivion. She started to drift…

"Damn it, General, there's got to be someone you can send!"

An angry voice off toward the houses pierced the fog that was settling on Anny's brain. It sounded oddly familiar…

"No! That will be too late! We need reinforcements and we need them right now!"

Her eyes opened and she looked around in confusion. No, she hadn't been asleep, so that meant that only a few minutes must have passed. Who was that talking…?

"Well if you can't send us somebody a whole village is going to be destroyed! What? All right! All right! We'll try to hold out, but do the best you can, General! Damn!"

There was nothing in the universe that Anny wanted more than to just close her eyes again. But that voice… she knew it. Somehow she levered herself up and then rolled over and got to her feet with a groan. She stumbled toward the voice.

"I'm sorry, Lem, but they can't send us anything right now. We're going to have to do it on our own."

"There aren't enough of us and you know it, M'lord," said another voice.

"I know, I know, but all we can do is try!"

Anny came around a house and stopped. Ten meters away was a short figure in a dirty white shirt. A dusty red lightflyer was sitting behind him in the middle of the trail. He was talking to an older man. And just beyond him another man…

Pym! Lord Vorkosigan! She stood and gawked.

Pym spotted her and his eyebrows shot up. He caught Vorkosigan's attention and the Lord Auditor spun around. "Anny!" he cried, a look of surprise and hope lit up his face. "What are you doing here? Is your company here?" He came toward her.

"They… they're back there," she whispered.

"Anny, we have a real problem here. The main fire line is anchored on the reservoir, you know that, right?" She nodded numbly. "That was the eastern extent of the fire. But two hours ago the wind shifted for a while, almost due east. It's come back around to the south again now but a new fire has side-stepped the reservoir and is coming round the eastern side. There's a town, Silvy Vale, about ten klicks from here, that's right in its path. Most everyone's off along the main fire line and they can't spare anyone. We need help or we're going to lose that whole town! Can you help?"

Anny opened her mouth and then she swayed and had to grab the side of the house to keep from falling. Pym was at her side in an instant.

"Miss Anny! Are you all right?' he asked.

"I… we… my men haven't slept in five days, M'lord," she mumbled.

"Oh crap," said Vorkosigan. "You're the ones they've had on the Dynatrim? The General said he'd pulled a bunch of people out of the line but that they weren't in any shape to go back in. That's the cadets?"

She nodded.

Vorkosigan looked down at his filthy boots. "Hell," he muttered. "Anny… Anny I don't have any right to ask but…"

"M'lord!" said Pym in a voice as close to angry as she'd ever heard him.

She stood there and looked back toward the grove. Go in again? How could they? Her troopers were used up. Nothing left. Nothing at all. "M'lord," she croaked. Stopped, swallowed. "M'lord, how can I… how can I possible ask them…?" Her stinging eyes were filling with tears.

"You don't have to ask, sir," said a voice. She looked behind her and a small crowed of her troopers had silently gathered. More were coming up from the grove. It was Lieutenant Fallon who had spoken, her 1st Platoon commander. "You don't have to ask," he said again. "We'll go."

"But…"

"Damn straight," said Alby Vorsworth. "What's one more pill? Come on folks! On your feet! We gotta job to do!"

Anny watched in stunned amazement as her people dragged themselves up, shouldered their gear and began to move. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she didn't care. Someone pressed a white tablet into her hand. She put it in her mouth and swallowed it.

[Scene Break]

The next twelve hours were a nightmare. They had reached the limits of what their bodies could do, even with the Dynatrim. Reached and passed it. Anny hurt, every part of her. Her muscles still worked, her feet still moved, but it was like they belonged to someone else and she was just watching. A fog had settled into her brain that muffled sound, misted her sight, dulled her wits. She shambled along with her troops like a zombie. Only the fact that the task was the same one they'd been doing for five days without pause allowed them to accomplish anything. It had become so routine that their hands did the job on their own.

And mercifully the job was modest in comparison to what they'd been doing before. The line to save Silvy Vale needed to be only a little over a kilometer long. The right rested on the reservoir and the left ended on a rockslide that wouldn't burn. Even if the fire managed to outflank them to the east, it wouldn't be able to threaten the town until help arrived.

Or at least that was what Vorkosigan said. The little Lord Auditor seemed to be everywhere; giving directions, giving encouragement, giving hope. Pym said that he'd been on the scene almost from the first alarm, flying the length of his father's district, rallying the locals, fighting to save the land.

Their land.

Her land.

Somehow… somehow it was her land again. She'd tried to turn her back on it, cut her ties to it—but failed. Dendarii Hillsmen. Dumb as their rocks—and twice as tough.

They had marched the ten klicks to Silvy Vale, arriving just after dark. Vorkosigan had shuttled most of their heavy gear in his lightflyer, allowing them to move more quickly. The 'town' was about a hundred log houses of various sizes and shapes. Smaller than Red Rocks, but it still reminded her of it. The people there did, too. Just as in the place where they'd hoped to sleep, most of the able-bodied men and women had gone, volunteered to help elsewhere, not realizing their own homes might be in danger. Only the young and the old and the infirm remained. But they were all out, working to save their town. The village speaker, a man named Lem Csurik, the man she'd first seen Vorkosigan talking with, and his wife Harra led the villagers. They met them as they trudged up the last slope, fed them, but then it was off to the fire line. All of them. They went to work.

Despite their fatigue, the cadets' night-vision equipment and power tools—and experience—proved critical. The line took shape. And for once the cruel winds gave them a break. They died down for a few hours during the night, slowing the fire's approach, giving them more precious time. Word came through that the main fire had hit the lines west of the reservoir. Hit them, but had not broken them—yet.

"If they can keep it contained until morning the General says he can start sending help to us," said Vorkosigan.

"Morning," said Csurik. "That's about when the fire will get here. We've got to be ready."

"We will be," said Vorkosigan.

Anny hoped he was right. But everything seemed to take so long, or was it just her fatigue that made everything seem to be moving in slow motion? No, it wasn't her imagination, everyone was slowing down, running out of fuel. She walked up and down the line cajoling, urging, pleading with her people to move faster. They tried, but that led to accidents. Dom Gerhardt fell off a rock and broke his wrist, Stan Krasner sliced part of his foot off with the sonic cutter he was using. Everyone had cuts bruises and burns. Even Lord Vorkosigan was sporting a blood-stained bandage around his head from where a branch had hit him. Pym seemed nonplussed and never strayed far from him.

Around midnight small groups of civilians began coming through their lines from the south: families from outlying farms who hadn't gotten the word or who waited in the vain hope that their farms might be spared. Stone-faced men and women and weeping children, carrying bundles of possessions. They were led to the village and cared for. Some of them came back after a while and helped man the line. Hillsmen, by God.

A white-haired man trudged the lines carrying coffee for the workers. Pouring deftly despite a missing hand. He paused when he got to Anny and looked at the remains of her uniform. "Things have sure changed since my day!" he exclaimed. "But you're welcome all the same, Missy. Karal's m'name, Serg Karal."

Anny started. Yeah, she could see the resemblance. "I think I know your grandson, sir."

"Eh? What's that? Young Zac?"

"Met him on the bus on his way to Basic."

"I'll be damned. Got a message from him the other day. His training battalion's off to the west fightin' the fire, too. Wish t'hell he was here."

"Yes sir, me, too." The man moved on. Anny gulped down her coffee and went back to work.

The dawn was coming, but so was the fire. By the time the eastern sky was brightening the southern sky was that same awful, hated, red that it had been for days. The wind was freshening, too, damn it.

But Anny's troopers, the people of Silvy Vale, the Dendarii Hillsmen, looked around and realized they were done. The line was finished. Or at least it seemed that way. Anny and Lord Vorkosigan and Lem Csurik and Pym walked the line from the rockslide to the water. She could barely feel her feet anymore.

"Will it hold?" demanded Vorkosigan.

"I've seen weaker lines hold," said Anny. She looked south. "We've got less than an hour. I don't know what else we can do in that time. Maybe get the townsfolk to fill anything they've got that will hold water and stand by to douse embers." Csurik went off to see to it. It was hard to think. Had she forgotten anything? Were they done? Done was a very good word. They'd been told they were done before. A thousand years ago yesterday. It hadn't been true then, had it? But done was still a very good word withal… A thick drowsiness was filling her up.

"What?" said Pym suddenly. She turned and saw the armsman talking on his wristcom. "You're sure it's this sector? You've pinpointed them? Bloody hell! All right, we'll take care of it."

"What is it?" asked Vorkosigan.

"M'lord, the emergency monitors picked up a message from some people trying to escape the fire. Ten or twelve of them. They say they've located them about a klick beyond our lines here, bearing two-eight-four from where we are." He pointed almost due south—towards the fire.

"Can they make it here?"

"Don't know, M'lord. They've got children and some injured and are asking for help."

Vorkosigan frowned. "No way I can get my lightflyer to them through those trees…

"We'll go get them, M'lord," said Anny suddenly. He looked at her.

"You're exhausted, maybe I should send someone else…

"M'lord…"

"For God's sake will you call me 'Miles'?"

"M'lord, my troopers are trained, organized and our IR gear will let us find them quicker than anyone else."

It only took him an instant to decide. "Go."

"Jer! Round up a detail! Rescue mission!" she shouted. Her first sergeant froze for an instant in confusion and then began grabbing people. In short order he had about twenty troopers. She was glad to see Patric Mederov there, if any heavy carrying was needed he'd be the one to have along. She stood before them. "Okay, there are some folks out there who need help. We're going to go out and bring them back. Let's move."

"I'll take the detail, Captain." She jerked to a halt. Lieutenant Fallon was standing there.

"What?"

"I said I'll lead this detail, sir."

"But…"

"God damn it, Anny!" exploded Fallon. "You can't do everything! Your place is here with your company! I'll lead this detail… sir."

Jer was grinning widely, his white teeth bright against his blackened face. "He's right, Cap'n. We can do it."

She stood there a moment longer and then jerked her head convulsively. "Go." She watched woodenly as they moved out. She almost stopped them when she saw Alby and Abigail Vorburn and Jenna Lempic following the others, but she held her tongue. They're soldiers, too. Just like all the rest. She twitched when Lord Vorkosigan touched her arm.

"It's hard, isn't it? Sending others into danger while you stay behind?" The little man was staring into the woods with an odd expression on his face. She didn't know what he was seeing just then, but she knew it wasn't the trees.

"Yes sir. Harder'n I expected."

"They'll be fine, Anny. They're good men. And women."

"Yes sir. The best. God don't make 'em any better."

The minutes ticked by and Anny tried to inspect the line, but her eyes kept looking off to the south. The fire was definitely closer now. The wind was picking up even more. If they're caught out there they won't have a chance. Fifteen, twenty minutes went by and then Fallon checked in.

"Got 'em, Skipper! Two men, four women and six kids. We're bringing them in!"

"Good work! Better hurry."

"Damn right! The fire's right on our tails!"

Anny breathed a little easier, but the following minutes were as tense as any she'd ever known. The eastern sky was much brighter now and a gray, smoky half-light surrounded her. She almost shouted for joy when the first trooper emerged from the woods. He had one of the sonic cutters to help clear a trail, but then came the rescued and their rescuers. Fallon had a woman half-draped over him and Patric was carrying another woman who was obviously very pregnant. Other troopers were carrying children pig-a-back. Jenna Lempic had a little girl clutching her and sobbing in fear. One by one they emerged and were met by some of the locals who guided them back toward the town. Jer spotted Anny and stepped out of the column and came over to her, grinning. "Piece of cake," he said.

"Well done," she sighed. "All our people accounted for?"

Jer suddenly looked uncertain. "I… uh… I think so."

"Better do a head count."

"I'm… I'm not sure who all went out with us."

"Well then call the roll for the whole company. Good time to do that anyway. Better be sure."

"Right. C Company! Attention to roll call!" Jer said into his com. He started calling names and people started answering. But he wasn't halfway through when a sudden shout came over Anny's earphone.

"Captain! Captain Payne! Answer please!"

"Payne here, who's this?"

"Abigail Vorburn! Captain, Alby's hurt! I can't… I can't move him myself!"

Oh Good Lord! "Where are you?"

"Maybe halfway back. Alby hurt his leg. Please! We need help! The fire is very close!"

Anny looked from side to side, but there wasn't anyone within a hundred meters. They'd all gone back to the town with the folks they'd rescued. "Jer! Come on!" They plunged into the woods along the new-cut trail. Anny heard someone shout her name from behind. It sounded like Vorkosigan, but she didn't look back.

They ran. The path wasn't smooth, but they ran. Anny tripped and fell several times, but she got up and kept running. The drug and her last drops of Adrenalin gave her the strength. It was still dark under the trees, but a hideous red glow was growing stronger and stronger in front of her. The roar of the fire could be clearly heard. Smoke and glowing embers whipped past her on the wind. It seemed like they must have come five hundred meters at least, but they'd found no one. Where the hell were they? She skidded to a halt…

The fire was in front of them. Right there.

"God, no!" she groaned.

"It's okay!" cried Jer. "The path makes a hard right just ahead! We can make it!" He dashed past her and she followed. As he'd said, only a few strides further on the path turned right and the fire was off to the left. Another hundred meters and Jer tripped right over Alby and Abigail.

"Captain! Help us!" cried Vorburn.

"What happened?" said Jer, struggling to his feet. Alby was on the ground but didn't look badly hurt.

"It was my fault!" said Vorburn. "We were bringing up the rear and I slipped and Alby grabbed for me and fell down a ravine."

"It wasn't your fault, I was just clumsy," protested Alby.

"Well, if you'd just let me call for help sooner! But no, you had to try and be the tough guy!"

"I did not!"

"Shut up both of you!" screamed Jer. "We gotta get outta here!"

"Can you walk at all?" demanded Anny.

"Don't think so," he grimaced. "Might be broken… I can't put any weight on it."

"Then we'll carry you," said Jer. He tried lifting Alby up on his back but only took a few steps before falling. "Can't…" he gasped. Five days ago he probably could have. But now… now, it was impossible.

"We'll both take him," said Anny. She and Jer each took an arm over their shoulder and pulled Alby to his feet. Abigail tried to help, but Anny was half a head taller and much stronger and she waved her off. "Let's go."

They made it halfway back to the bend in the trail before the fire cut them off. A wall of searing flames had covered the path back. "That way!" cried Jer indicating off to their left with a jerk of his head. "Due north! We'll hit that big meadow and our line is just beyond."

They turned and hobbled into the woods. The fire was howling behind them now, the monster was nipping at their heels, but somehow they stayed ahead of it. Vorkosigan called for them on the com, but they couldn't stop to answer, there wasn't anything he could do anyway. Step by step, meter by meter they moved. She could feel the hot breath of the monster just behind.

"There's the meadow!" gasped Jer. "We can do this!" Just ahead the trees ended and a long slope covered in tall yellow grass stretched up to a small hilltop, strangely peaceful in the growing dawn. The fire lines lay just on the other side of that hill, maybe three hundred meters away. Anny looked back. The fire was a hundred meters behind them and coming fast. "We can do this!" cried Jer again.

No we can't.

A million years ago on the Imperial Attack Transport Stalwart, Anny had read a horrible story about a band of firefighters on Old Earth who'd been caught in a situation just like this: fire behind and a meadow sloping above them. It had seemed like a quick way out. But the fire, when it reached the meadow had exploded into a firestorm that moved ten times faster than a man could run. They'd all died.

All but one…

They reached the edge of the meadow. Jer tried to surge forward, but Anny held back. "Wait!"

"What? Why? We gotta move, Anny!"

"No! We can't make it through here!"

"It's the only way!"

But it wasn't. Not like this. She let go of Alby and he and Jer fell to the ground. She reached to her belt where that useless, heavy plasma arc had hung all these days. She drew it, set it to maximum power, aimed and fired.

"Anny! What are you doing?" screamed Jer.

The beam, hot as the sun, hotter even than the monster, blasted into the standing grass and it exploded. She held down the trigger and swept the beam back and forth, back and forth. The near side of the meadow erupted into flames, leaping skyward. She kept at it until the power cell died.

"Well… well this isn't good," gasped Alby, looking at the wall of fire in front of them and then back at the wall of fire behind.

"Are you out of your mind?" moaned Jer. "We're trapped!"

"Not quite… not quite." She dropped the weapon and stooped to grab Alby up again. Vorburn just looked on with a stunned expression. "Come on."

"Where?" said Jer. "There's nowhere to go!"

"Yes there is. Come on." She dragged them forward—right toward the blazing meadow.

Blazing, but it was just grass. Just grass. Not big tree trunks, not thick branches, just grass. As she watched, it shriveled, blackened and crumbled to ash. The wall of fire to their front faltered, wavered, died. The wind drove the flames northward across the meadow, but in its wake was just black, smoldering ash. There was still some fire, trying to burn back toward them, against the wind, but it was hardly anything. "Let's go!" They surged forward, through the thin curtain of flame and out into the field of ash.

The main fire was right behind. Right behind.

Jer was shouting something, but it was lost in the roar of the monster. The wind was hot as an open furnace, swirling around them. They staggered forward another dozen steps and then Anny pushed Jer and Alby to the ground, threw Abigail down next to them, and then she flung herself on top of the pile.

The inferno roared past them, around them, over them, a hurricane of fire. The heat on Anny's back grew to a bright pain, but she just clutched her friends and waited for it to pass. The air seemed too hot to breathe. Had she made a terrible mistake? But slowly, slowly the roaring subsided, the heat lessened, puffs of cooler air touched her face and she greedily sucked them in to famished lungs. The pain, though…

Jer pulled himself out from under her. "God! Anny, you're on fire!" He started beating on her back with his hands. Ow. Abigail scrambled up and poured out her canteen on her. Damn, I was really on fire…

"Are you all right?"

"Still… still breathing." Now it was starting to really hurt. She tried to look around, but she was flat on her face in the hot ash. "How… how we doing?"

"I think we're good." He turned her on her side. "Fire all around but nothing coming this way now. Sure hope the line held."

"Well call 'em and find out!" snapped Alby. "Cripes, do I hafta think of everything? Sending a little help would be good, too!"

But before Jer could do so, Vorkosigan was calling them. "Captain Payne! Anny! Answer me dammit!"

"Take that will you, Jer?" mumbled Anny. "I'm busy."

"Lord Vorkosigan, this is Sergeant Naddel. We're okay."

"Thank God!"

"How are you guys doing?"

"The line's holding. I think we've got this beat. But where the hell are you? How'd you survive that?"

"Anny had a little trick up her sleeve. We're in the middle of that meadow."

"Really? But how…? Well, never mind, you can tell me about it later. Can you get back? I mean when the fire dies down."

"Maybe. We're kinda beat up."

"I'll try to put together a party. All your troopers are here and there won't be any lack of volunteers! But it may be a while."

Alby suddenly gave a snarl of exasperation and activated his own com. "Lord Vorkosigan? Alby Vorsworth here. Would you please call my father at HQ and tell those lazy bastards to—if it's not too much trouble—to send us…a …friggin'…shuttle!"

There was a moment's silence and then a chuckle.

"Can do, Cadet. Can do."