Chapter Twenty-Five: Tying Up Loose Ends

It wasn't too long after our conversation that I made a solid attempt of getting out of bed and trying to act like a normal human being again. While Travis waited outside, I pulled on my uniform pants, socks, and boots, then grabbed a fresh battledress jacket from my pack to don over my T-shirt. After that I pulled my hair up in a tight bun and started in on the body armor. That's when I heard the damn knock again.

"Natalie!"

"Hang on," I muttered loudly. "I'm almost done."

"Setting a bad example..." I heard my brother say from the other side of the door. I snorted.

"To use your words, Trav, that ship has sailed. Gimme a minute and I'll be out."

The only thing I was missing now was my weapon holster and my rifle. I buckled my sidearm to my hip and slung my DMR diagonally behind my back before picking up my helmet off the desk. Then I walked out.

"See, all finished," I said as I stepped into the bright sunlight. Immediately I reached for my sunglasses in one of the tactical pockets on my chest and put them on against the harsh rays. The jabbing light wasn't doing any wonders for my hangover headache.

Behind his own dark glasses, Travis grinned. "Too bright for you this morning, Colonel?"

"Shut up."

He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am. So where to now? You heading back out?"

"We're heading back out," I corrected as I took a look around at the rest of the barracks. "I'm going to need your demo team out on Qamar, Travis. In case things go sideways...even more than they already have."

My younger brother turned back at me, confused. "How do you mean?"

"I'm in charge of a lot of people - not just my Marines but the residents of this largely ungrateful planet as well. I need to know that if circumstances get bad enough, I've got a way to protect everyone from harm."

"You're planning on blowing the ruins," Travis surmised.

I nodded solemnly. "Only if we have to, of course, but it's an option we need to have ready. When I go check in on the ruins once we get back, I want your team with me to survey the underground chamber we found. Map things out, dial in all the nooks and crannies where you guys'd place charges if we needed you to." I sighed. "That way if things get hot, we could save a lot of lives with the press of a button."

"Isn't that place important to us though?"

"Only in the sense that it's important to the Storm, so it's important for us to keep it from them," I replied. That's also where we believe the Prometheans might be coming from. Something else we need to investigate, I added to myself. But I figured lives outweighed the intel in this case.

As we walked, I kept my gaze roving across the remainder of the hasty barracks that had been set up here on the mainland and frowned. My quarters hadn't looked anything like what I was seeing for the rest of the Marines.

"They built me a command quarters," I said aloud.

"What?"

"The room I stayed in last night. I didn't just have a cot and some thin partitions like everyone else out here. It's totally private and I have a full bed, a desk, a chair and everything."

"And that's...bad?"

I chuckled lightly. "In the state I was in last night not at all, but...I hate that I've developed this distance between myself and my men now. I'm separated out."

"It's not your fault, Nat. It comes with the rank."

"I know. I just...sometimes I wish things were simple again."

Being wistful wasn't going to change anything, however, so after a moment I mentally moved on. "Anyway. Where's Matt? I need to talk to him before we leave, and he's catching a ride back with us."

Travis pointed several meters ahead. "Kid found himself a cot in the rest of the barracks. Should be this way if I remember right."

"Where did you sleep?"

"On a cot too, near my teammates. Come on."

Travis left my company as soon as we saw Matthew still asleep on one of the cots; my brother said he needed to go gear up himself and get his demo team ready for the move. He'd meet me back at our Pelican later, which was fine by me. I wanted to have a quick chat with my brother-in-law, then check in on Willis this morning before we left. I prayed things had improved on the latter front.

In the meantime, I found the younger Hawk snoring away lightly without a care in the world. In a way I was glad he'd gotten some restful sleep after helping me out the night before, but right now it was time for all of us to get back into the swing of things. There was a lot I needed to get done before we left the mainland, and we all needed to be back on Qamar as soon as we could.

Balancing on a foot with my arms crossed over my chest, I nudged at Willis's baby brother with my right boot. "Hey, kiddo. Time to get up. We're going to be leaving in less than an hour, and I'm sure you want to come with me to go check in on your brother before we take off. If you want in, now's the time."

He groaned irritably in much the same way I had at having been woken up, then rolled over in his cot to face me. "How are you...even standing yet?"

"I can thank my own brother for that," I replied. "Travis knocked on my door with some hangover-cure essentials and got me mobile. If I can do it with a monster of a headache, so can you."

Matthew groaned again and muttered something unintelligible. A few seconds later though he was sitting up, legs over the side of the cot in a shirt and shorts, rubbing at his eyes. Then he ran a hand through his light brown hair to wake himself up. I smiled a little, but it was sad.

"Gabriel looks just like you and Will, you know."

"Huh?"

I pointed to his head. "The hair. Your oldest nephew has the same golden brown going on. He's got my eyes though."

Willis's little brother swallowed. "Sounds nice. Can't wait to meet him."

"Soon. Hopefully. He'll be turning eight this year, not such a little guy anymore." Finally I released a sigh, trying to keep my emotions under wraps. I missed Gabe and his siblings a lot. "But we've got a lot of work ahead of us before then."

"Yep. I know."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to it. But just so you know, Matt, I'm sorry for yesterday. I know you were there to have my six, but I'm sure you weren't expecting it to be under those circumstances. It was wrong of me to put you in that position. I should have known better."

He waved a dismissive hand, still a little sleepy. "It's okay, Nat. You're part of the family as much as Will, so of course I'll have your back." Then Matthew looked up at me, once again seeming older than his nineteen years. "And I did it because my big brother really loves you. He'd be devastated if something happened to you, just like you've been since his crash. So I'll keep an eye out for you while he's out of commission."

The smile returned, but faintly. "Thanks, kiddo." I wanted to repeat that I could take care of myself, but suddenly stopped short and snorted. "Given the situation last night, I can't really argue that. Guess I was in dire need of a babysitter for once. I appreciate you handling it discreetly by the way, and calling Travis to help rather than someone else. I feel better knowing that this has a small chance of getting out."

"Yeah, no problem."

I nodded to him then as I turned to go. "All right. Now get a move on, kid. Let's go see how your brother's doing this morning and then we'll catch our flight."

Checking in on Willis didn't take too long, and it left me feeling empty and hurt again, much like I had the night before - prior to my excessive intake of booze. When I spoke to Doctor Kiev, it sounded like things hadn't changed a bit from the previous day.

The rational part of me had expected that based on the odds, but the hopeful part had been sure he'd awaken just as I left for the mainland, to give me a boost in mood before I returned to battle, and give me something to look forward to on my next trip out. Sadly, I was unlucky on both counts; Matthew and I said our goodbyes to my unresponsive husband, and then we walked out, feeling a lot more dejected than we had earlier.

Next on the list was meeting with one of Laraza's men to complete the load-up on fuel and ordnance for our birds over Qamar. Thankfully that didn't take long, either, and shortly thereafter, with Matthew, Lieutenant Lloyd, myself, and Travis and his team on board, we departed.

The trip was quiet and solitary despite the full troop bay, and although I knew I'd done a good thing for my Marines on the island by securing us the supplies we needed, at least for the interim, I still couldn't help but feel like I'd failed. Willis continued to lie in a coma in the field hospital, I'd made a fool of myself at the nightclub in grief, and now I had a raging headache only barely dulled by the aspirin because of it.

Did I mention I also had three battalions of Marines and an air wing to command?

I was mentally rebuking myself to stop with the negative - and ultimately unhelpful - thoughts when the spook, sitting beside me, gave me a small nudge with his boot.

"Excuse me, ma'am. No disrespect, but...are you okay?"

A little startled, I glanced over at him sharply. "What?"

The Navy lieutenant pointed down to my hands, where I held one of my two pictures between them. "You've been staring at that same photo for twenty minutes now, Colonel. Just doesn't really seem like you to be so distracted."

I looked down and focused on it this time: it was a picture of Willis, our three kids, and myself, taken just before my husband and I had left for Mars to drop the kids off for our mission here. Suddenly feeling weary, I let out a heavy sigh.

"You ever feel like your world's been turned upside down, Cal?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah," he answered without hesitation. "I've felt that way a couple times, actually. First was when I found out what had happened to my mom, when I was old enough to know. How she died. Second was reading through my parents' declassified files once I was a spook and finding out what had happened to my dad as a POW. The Innies and the Covies did a number on everyone but my sister back in the day."

I snorted lightly. "I suppose you're the last person I should be complaining to, huh?"

"No, ma'am. We've both been through a lot of rough shit, in different ways. And we both value family. I know this mission hasn't been a walk in the park for you from the start - and now with the invasion and your husband in a coma..." He shook his head. "I can imagine you miss your kids a lot, too."

"Every fucking minute of every day, Lieutenant." I gave him a sideways glance and a weak smile. "It's been a very long three months, Cal. And not just because my best friend died, or because I was nearly assassinated, or the outpost got overrun, or Major Hawk's coma, or even the invasion. Sometimes, I really just miss home. My sons and my daughter." I paused for a moment, then added softly, "Even more so now that their father's fate is uncertain."

"I understand, ma'am. For now, though, I feel like you've done all you can. You got us the supplies we needed, and the news that Captain Rhodes is still alive on the Ex is promising. I hope our trip to the ruins will give us a little more to work with, too."

"Yeah. So do I."

I spent another minute staring at the picture before I flipped my helmet over and shoved it back into the padding. Dwelling on what I'd left behind on Mars wasn't going to wrap things up here on Khan any faster, or get us home any sooner. Staying on top of what the rebels, the Storm, and the Prometheans were up to would.

As I stepped off the Pelican once it touched down on Qamar Island, I was about to key the COM to Major Collins with the good news on the ordnance and fuel when my aide approached fast instead, followed closely by his squad.

He came to a kind of attention as I stepped out of the troop bay with Travis, giving us both a nod of acknowledgment.

"Colonel Cooper, ma'am. Captain Cooper, sir. If your team's all ready to disembark, I can escort you to the ruins."

I turned back to the ONI operative as he came out the hatch behind us. "Cal? You ready to roll?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Travis?"

"My boys and girls are ready, ma'am," my brother replied.

"All right." Glancing over at Staff Sergeant Porter then, I said, "Give me a minute to link up with Major Collins in the skies, Staff, and then we'll go."

"Of course, Colonel."

The air wing commander wasn't too hard to hail now that the fighting seemed to have died down a bit since we'd left. It wasn't something I'd been expecting, but I certainly wasn't about to question a good thing. Collins answered quickly and I got right to the point.

"Major, this is Lieutenant Colonel Cooper," I said to her. "We've just returned from the mainland. How are things going in the air?"

"Quiet, ma'am. There's been little activity recently, although we're going to be in the same boat soon if the Ex doesn't show up shortly with those supplies."

"I can do you one better, Collins. I managed to wrangle some fuel and ordnance canisters for our aircraft while I was gone. It's not much and it won't allow your pilots to hold out for weeks, but it'll get the job done for the next several days or so while we wait for the Excalibur to come back." I glanced down at the dirt. "If nothing else, it buys us a little more time."

There was surprise in her voice when she responded. "Wow, Colonel. That's great news. How did you - ? If I may ask, ma'am."

"I leaned pretty hard on our alliance with the locals. Thankfully their esteemed leader was able to get this done for me." Not without a lot of convincing, though, I added to myself. "The supplies are waiting for you dirtside at our LZ when you're ready."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll be sure to start rotating my pilots in for refuel and rearmament. This'll be a huge help to us."

"And in turn to us here on the ground, Major. Cooper out."

With that important order of business complete, I turned back to my aide's squad, the spook, and my brother and his demo team surrounding us.

"Okay. We're all geared up and ready to move out," I said as I pulled my DMR off my back. "Josh?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I want a sitrep on our situation here on Qamar as we go. I was gone less than twenty-four hours, but I know a lot can happen in that time." And I also wanted to find out how the 213th was integrating itself into the fight, especially now that the remainder of the infantry battalion - minus one company which remained posted at our staging area on the mainland - had been brought over to the island as well. That, however, I'd have to get from Major Brewer later.

For now, with the combat more or less stalled at the moment, our top priority was making sure all was well in the ruins.