Chapter Four: Back to Work
I could hear Willis's soft snores in the background as I spent the remaining time aboard ship typing up my report in our quarters. Twice I stopped writing and pushed my hands through my shoulder-length hair, let down for the moment and still damp from the fast shower I'd taken. I'd already included more clips of the initial encounter with our new enemy from my helmet cam feed as we'd approached the ruins in my missive, as well as the picture Lieutenant Lloyd had taken of the weapon we'd found in the dirt after one of the Promethean Knights was killed...or disintegrated or whatever it was they did. I knew the spook had already turned in the actual weapon to Captain Rhodes, to be sent back to some ONI facility for testing and study. But after a certain point, I realized with growing frustration that I just couldn't find the words to convey what I'd seen.
Thankfully, by that time I was almost done. I knew things wouldn't take much longer to wrap up despite my sudden lapse, so I decided to take a quick break and got up to go over to Willis. He looked peaceful sleeping on his back in our bed, and I couldn't help the small smile that came to my face. I hated that I had to wake him up so he could get ready to take us back groundside...but if I needed to do it, I was glad we were in a private space so I could do it like this.
I leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips, sliding a hand up to cup the side of his cheek. He had just a day's worth of stubble beginning to grow there, and the small hairs scraped lightly against my skin.
"Will, honey, wake up," I whispered.
Finally he stirred. I envied him that he'd had time to catch some zees after we'd finished, but I also realized that it was much harder to wake from a deep sleep than it was to just keep going and stay awake, like I had. My husband blinked up at me with his hazel eyes for a moment, looking beyond drowsy with his short hair mussed. Still, he looked so good I leaned in to kiss him again, a little harder this time.
That finally elicited a response as he kissed me back.
"What time is it?" he mumbled.
"Late evening planetside," I replied after checking my watch. "We should get back down soon. I'm almost done with my report. Sorry I had to wake you."
Willis just grinned, still sleepy. "As long as you wake me up like that, I have no problem with it." He pulled my face in closer this time and pressed his lips against mine. "I love you, Cooper."
"I love you, too, Will," I said with a smile. "But you should hurry if you want to shower before we go. I'll only be another few minutes here and then I'm gearing up."
"All right."
I watched as he slowly got up, swung his legs off the side of the bunk, and ran both hands across his face to try to come to full alertness. He hadn't been wearing anything while he'd slept beneath the sheets, so I stood there a moment to take in the sight, leaning back against the edge of the desk.
Willis glanced up and smirked as he caught me. "What?"
"Nothing," I answered slyly. "Like I said, getting back to my report now."
"Uh-huh." He paused to kiss the side of my neck as I turned. "Don't think I didn't notice you looking."
After pulling on a pair of boxers and his T-shirt, my husband stopped to grab a towel and then opened the hatch and left. I expected him back in about five minutes, so I hurried to sit back down at the desk and complete the report.
Downing the last dregs of my coffee, now cold, and stuffing the last bite of bar in my mouth, I returned to the task at hand. I finished describing the fight as best I could, made sure to mention the comments Lloyd had made about the portals inside the ruins, and tied it in with what I thought was happening with the Storm on the mainland, too - that they'd been getting their extra troops in through the portals, and that they'd eventually left the island not only because they had a vested interest in the rest of the planet like I'd initially thought, but also because they were being driven out by the Prometheans on Qamar. I ended the message with the skirmish that we'd been through earlier this afternoon, and then I was finally done.
And just in time, too. I heard the hatch open behind me again as soon as I hit "send" and Willis appeared, dressed in a fresh shirt and underclothes and sporting wet hair, which he vigorously toweled dry while he searched the room for his flight suit.
"Coop, have you seen my - "
"Over in the corner," I replied. Various articles of clothing had landed all over the room in our haste earlier. As it was, I searched for a few missing items myself now, since I had both my combat boots in hand, but no socks. Luckily though, all my important gear had been set aside sooner and was all in one place by the desk. I pulled out a fresh pair of socks from the closet and the two of us finished dressing in a hurry.
Once I put up my hair again with an elastic band, per regulations while in uniform, I started in on the heavier equipment, strapping on my torso armor over my battledress jacket and then picking up my helmet and DMR. Willis zipped his suit up to his neck and grabbed his helmet as well.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Yup." He leaned over to give me one last kiss, which I reciprocated. "I'll head down to the hangar bay and get the pre-flight checks started. You can go find the spook."
"Okay. I should be down in ten."
It was as we split off to go in opposite directions down the corridor that I wondered if this was what my new rank had in store for me now: more mission-planning, directing, and report-writing than actual groundside combat. I figured that was probably what was expected of me, but I'd never shied away from a fight before. I'd do what I had to to keep myself safe to be there for my family and my Marines, but I'd be in the thick of it just as often, always doing my part. I wasn't going to leave everything to my men and women while I sat back. That'd never been my style before, and an upgrade in rank wasn't going to change that.
Lieutenant Caleb Lloyd was hiding out in the officers' rec room on the ship when I found him. He wasn't holding a drink as he had the last time I'd run into him here a couple nights ago, but rather it looked like he was playing a round of solitaire with himself with a deck of real cards. I was faintly curious as to why he wasn't just using the program in his datapad, but as we both had more pressing duties to attend to, I didn't stop to ask.
"Lloyd, let's go," I said to him without preamble. "Pelican's waiting on us."
The spook, still dressed in his black ONI fatigues like before, got up right away and shoved the cards in his pocket. "Yes, ma'am. I'm ready."
"Any news from your sister?"
He nodded, looking much more relieved than he had been on the flight up. "Yeah. Got a letchip from her about an hour ago. Said they've been pretty busy so she couldn't send me anything sooner, but she's doing good."
"That's great. Ready to get back at it?"
He nodded. "Affirmative, Major."
I flashed my lapel at him then from beneath my chestplate. "Sounds like you've got some outdated info there, Lieutenant."
"Oh, wow. I'm sorry, ma'am. I meant Colonel. When did that happen? If I may ask."
"Just after you left. The admiral and Captain Rhodes thought we could use a revamp of the senior command after all the fighting that's happened. Fill holes in the roster and whatnot."
"I see. Well, congratulations, ma'am."
"Thanks," I said with a small grin. "Now come on. We've got to get moving."
The flight back to the planet's surface was a brief one, just as it had been going up. Despite the news that an additional UNSC vessel was going to be making its way to Khan in a few more days, there hadn't been any Storm activity out in orbit so far - none the entire time we'd been here, in fact. Although the Suave Affair had encountered an enemy ship when we'd still been four days out, it had quickly been destroyed. Before today that conspicuous absence hadn't made much sense to me, as I figured a place so prized by the Remnant would have been attended to by more vessels. Now, though, I knew it was because the ex-Covies had something far better and more convenient up their sleeve - the use of the portals we'd found inside the ruins on Qamar.
And now, it was my job to make sure they couldn't return through that back door.
But first things first. As soon as I landed, I knew my first task was to get together with what was now my senior staff and make sure everyone was aware of their new positions, as well as our current situation.
When we hit dirt, I said my goodbyes to Willis and watched him take off into the air again, almost as fast as he'd touched down to let Lloyd and I disembark. I was left feeling disappointed that our brief interlude was over, but I knew there was plenty of business we both needed to attend to now on our own. So, shivering slightly in the cooler late evening breeze, I pulled on my helmet and opened up a COM channel to my aide.
"Porter? This is Cooper. I need you to gather at my coordinates now. We're back dirtside. Bring your squad along, too."
"Yes, ma'am," the staff sergeant replied. "We'll be there in three minutes."
True to his word, Staff Sergeant Porter arrived shortly, the rest of his team following behind. In the meantime, I'd sent messages to Captain Cole Warfield, in charge of the 904th, and my XO Captain Shawn Harris, who'd now become CO of the 8th Engineers in my place, to meet with us, too. I frowned as I knew the island landscape was nearly void of any adequate cover for the briefing, but I hoped that our presence beside our Scorpion tank and with the squad of Marines acting as security around us, we'd be okay.
So long as the Storm or Prometheans didn't appear out of thin air and drop a cannon round on us.
Knowing how dangerous gatherings of all the senior officers were on the battlefield, I kept it quick. We formed a circle amongst ourselves while Porter's squad kept up a loose perimeter around us, trying not to draw too much attention to the meeting, and crouched.
Captain Harris stooped next to me, while Warfield was on the other side.
"Congratulations on your promotion, ma'am," the dark-haired, dark-skinned Marine said.
"Thanks, Shawn," I responded. "But I wasn't the only one to get the rank up. The brass decided that you and Cole are due for promotions as well." I presented them both with the boxes of their new insignias, yet didn't dare show them off here in the open. "Congratulations. You two are now majors, and each CO of your respective battalions. Do us proud."
Harris seemed just as surprised as Willis and I had been aboard the Affair. At least outwardly, Warfield looked indifferent.
"Thank you, ma'am. This means a lot," Harris said.
The other captain replied gruffly, "Yeah. Thank you, Colonel."
Holding my DMR diagonally across my middle, barrel pointed low, I said, "Those weren't the only new developments. We finally got a name on what we're fighting now, too. They're called Prometheans. Everything else you need to know are in the data packets I've sent you. Do not share those with anyone other than your XOs. Use what you learn to direct your battalion, but try to gloss over the rest for now. We've still got our spook investigating things for us at the moment, so details are forthcoming."
Major Harris nodded, while Major Warfield remained silent, his own expression neutral.
"Anything happen that I need to know about while I was away?" I asked then.
"No, ma'am. Ever since the last few fighters, uh, teleported out, there's been nothing," my former XO replied.
"Cole?"
"Same at the designated fallback point, Colonel."
"Okay. That's good. But don't get too complacent. Those ruins aren't just for show, so make sure you keep your heads on a swivel at all times and watch for movement. It's not guaranteed that the Storm won't come back, either."
"What are your orders, ma'am?" Warfield questioned.
"Maintain your positions for now," I answered. "I know everybody's tired from the assault today. You all did well. Make sure your troops get some rest, grab a bite to eat, and remember to rotate the companies you've got out on perimeter watch and patrol duty. Harris, you're near the ruins, so stay extra sharp."
"Yes, ma'am."
"When do we make our next move?"
"You'll learn in your data packet that we've got a friendly ship due to arrive in orbit soon. Should be just another couple days out now. If things look quiet, we sit tight till they get here and try to coordinate with the civilian scientists to give them access to the ruins, see what intel they can gather for us. If things are hot, we clear the area and make sure everything's secure before they fly in." I shifted my weight then as just the thought of what I was about to say next brought on the beginnings of a headache. "And tomorrow I'll be heading back to the mainland to talk to Mayor Laraza in Redwood Falls."
Major Cole Warfield immediately scoffed. "That asshat? Why?"
It didn't escape my notice that again, the newly-minted major didn't include the honorific.
"Because I believe the local population deserves to know what's at their doorstep, Major," I said with a slight edge in my voice. "Regardless of whom they've elected to lead them. Any more questions?"
"No, ma'am," Harris replied.
Warfield just shook his head.
"All right. Get back to your battalions then. Go through those packets tonight and brief your men in the morning. Remember to give them the short version only - just info on the types of new enemies they can expect to see. The rest is need-to-know."
Harris nodded curtly and left, heading back to the 8th Engineers up the hill. Warfield, on the other hand, remained.
"Something else, Cole?" I asked him.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, turning to face me directly now. "I just wanted to say I respected my CO Major Hayden a great deal, and I hope to follow in his footsteps."
"He was a good man," I said quietly. "A great friend, and an even better field officer. You'd do well to follow his example."
Warfield acknowledged my words with a slight nod - and a faint sneer that I didn't catch until he'd finished speaking. "That's true, Colonel," he said as he turned to leave. "The person I can't say I respect yet is you."