Audacity (Warner's World Book 5) (20 page)

Chase managed to make eye contact and nodded. He just stood there quiet for a moment. His silence didn’t help Dave at all. Finally Dave spoke “We need to go back in Chase… for the ground op. “Will you be OK on ops.”

“She’s going to be all right Sir. She’s going to survive.”

“Yes Chase. That’s good.”

“Oh… yes, I’m good for ops. How long have I?”

Dave looked to Ivan who definitely did not appreciate being the one who would have to deliver the deadline. But he delivered it anyway “Thirty minutes.” He expressed it such that it sounded more like a question than a requirement.

“OK I’ll see you then” said Chase. Dave nodded and Chase went back in to be with Kat.

Mary rolled her eyes at Dave and Ivan. Dave ignored it. “Thank you Mary. Look after her.”

“Oh I will” said Mary still annoyed. “You know you both need to improve your bedside manner.”

Ivan felt a little hard done by here given his minor role but before he could respond Dave simply said “Yes we do. Thank you Mary” and he turned and left with Ivan in tow.

Chapter 4. Resolute to Q2 1715, 14 August

It had been a long day already and yet Dave knew there would be little rest for anyone tonight. If they were to secure the spaceport they had to do so now before any ship reinforcements arrived and before any ground forces below redeploy.

The command centre was filled with the low hum of several conversations when Chase walked in. It went dead quiet. He noticed the change in the sound level and looked around to see all eyes on him. He gave a weak smile and headed for his terminal. The conversations started back up.

When he sat down and logged in he could see that the original ground op plan was still in force. Part of his mind was still back in the recovery ward. The other part knew that he needed something to do. “Sir” he said out loud. Everyone stopped talking. Chase looked around and then back to Dave.

“Yes” said Dave.

“We should divert some attention to taking out that ground battery. Don’t you think?”

“Do we have a good enough fix on its location?”

“Yes we do.”

“All right then” said Dave. He cottoned on to Chase’s need. “Can you work up a plan for that and let me know when it is ready for review?”

“Yes Sir” said Chase. His mind was now focussing on concrete tasks. His training did the rest. Chase knew that he could not put his head in the sand about what had happened to Kat but she wouldn’t wake up from her opiates for another six hours or more and this was probably the most productive use of his time. He wouldn’t be able to rest anyway.

Dave had a word in Ivan’s ear and Ivan got up from his chair and went over to Chase. “The boss wants Chen to lead that attack on the battery. One platoon only, Ginty’s.”

Chase nodded and went back to work. This would require a bit of restructuring and reallocating responsibilities. He set to it. As he did so, Jim Bucknell stood behind Chase, leant forward and stared at the screen. He stood back upright and looked furious. He walked straight over to Dave. “Can I have a word Sir?” he asked in a tone which would not brook a negative answer.

“In my office” said Dave and they walked out. Ivan guessed what was coming and he followed behind. He made sure the door to Dave’s office was closed behind him.

Jim stood like a bull about to explode. “Are you out of your mind?” he questioned.

“I don’t think so Jim. I take this is about Chen.”

“Too right it is. I thought we’d agreed he was to be in charge of securing sector 4.” Jim was breathing rather heavily, his barrelled chest expanding and contracting as he did so.

“He was not going to wear it” said Dave. He paused to form his next words, aware that he needed just the right ones. “Look he wants some glory, preferably a light flesh wound, and then we’ll be rid of him. The alternative is that he’s reinstated as XO and put in charge of the whole ground op. Is that what you want?”

Jim looked frustrated. “There is another alternative.”

Dave looked at him warily. “Yes?”

“I take him out into the hanger shoot off a couple of fingers, doctor the head cam of some marine who can actually fight to make it look like he was there. I’ll write up the glowing report and proclaim it to anyone and everyone that Chen’s the hero of Q2.” Jim looked at Dave, his expression proclaiming ‘well what do you think of that?’

“Tempting” said Dave “but it won’t fly.”

“Why won’t it?”

“Because Chen won’t agree to it, will he?”

“Who gives a fuck! These pollies, you never see them till they want their moment of glory. They fuck us over and over again. How many good marines are going to die just so he can look good?”

Ivan found the whole situation very unsavoury. He actually agreed with Jim but felt duty bound to support Dave. He was wrestling with his conscience about whether to say something when the door opened and Chen walked in unannounced.

The shock effect of his entrance killed off the conversation.

“I take it then this is about me” said Chen. “Perhaps I can make this easier on us all.” He paused, saw no opposition and continued. “I don’t wish to get anyone killed because of me. But I want my moment of glory. I’d be happy to have whatever officer you want to assign as my deputy to plan the op and I will heed their advice.”

Jim looked to Dave and then Ivan. Ivan didn’t dare move. Dave scanned both of them ending up with Jim. Jim finally nodded. “That works for us” said Dave.

Chen smiled. It surprised them all.

Five minutes later Dave and Jim were down on G deck. They entered the 1
^st
Platoon space and found 1
^st
Lt Ginty Martell tying up her boot lace. She was surprised to see the Captain entering the area. She brought down her muscular right thigh as she transferred her foot from the chair to the floor and hurried to attention. The other marines nearby did likewise.

“As you were” said Jim “Lieutenant can you join us.”

Though the question was rhetorical, Ginty replied “Sure.” They moved to the briefing room and shut the door. Ginty was intrigued. Five minutes later after hearing what they said she was pissed. “Permission to speak frankly Sir?” Dave nodded. “Do you realise that in wet-nursing this...” she struggled for a name that was not a profanity “guy we’re putting our lives at risk?”

Her eyes bored into Dave’s. He held her gaze and then responded in a measured tone. “Yes I do. But let’s be clear. We need to take out this battery with or without Chen. Either way there is risk. With Chen I admit there is a degree more. The alternatives though would impose even more risk to every marine on this op. I’m asking you to bear this burden because I believe you to be best able to bear it. I need someone who will keep their head screwed on the whole time. Who will be strong enough to run the op while letting the good commander appear to be in charge. It will require strength but also tact.”

Ginty scowled. “Yeah, nice words Sir but you’ve just put a turd in my helmet and asked me to wear it so he can come up smelling of roses.”

Dave smiled. “Nice imagery there but you are missing the point. This is not about him. It’s about you and your troops. It’s about taking out this battery so we can get our shuttles in and out while not losing all your troops. He’s just there for the ride. It would be nice not to have him carried out in a body bag but if he wants to get himself killed then so be it. We don’t have a choice here. This comes from the very top…the Chief Minister.” Dave paused to let Ginty take it in. She was mulling it over. Dave continued. “Can I count on you to fulfil this mission?”

“I’ll take out that battery Sir. I’ll do my best not to get him killed but I don’t want any flak over it if he does.”

“Fair enough” said Dave. He’d had enough. He nodded, turned and paced out leaving Jim with his platoon commander. Jim shook his head at Ginty.

“What?” said Ginty defensively. “I don’t know how you went along with it.”

Jim cast a withering gaze at Ginty and blurted out “About the same shitty way you did.” He gave another shake of his head and walked out leaving Ginty fuming and frustrated.

Chapter 5. Lewista 1730, 14 August

“You should have woken me earlier” said an annoyed Felis as he entered the main living space.

“It’s all right. There’s plenty of time” said Evie. She was packing away her things. “All we have to do is hike a kilometre towards the city. It’s not going to take an hour.”

“We need time to recce that area first. This could be a trap” said Felis. “This isn’t a game” he added in earnest. “Come on then, we need to hurry.” He cast an eye across to Madge and Judy and flicked his head towards the outside where the light was fading fast. Madge nodded and moved out.

Before he followed suit Felis turned to Evie “and when do we meet Melnar?”

“He couldn’t meet tonight. Says he needs more time. We are to ring tomorrow.”

“Hmm” said Felis now even more annoyed. “We cannot stay here tonight. It’s too dangerous. You should have woken me earlier.” He stormed out.

Evie was still of two minds about Felis. She wasn’t about to take a backward step with him nor let him dictate the course of events. She took a last look inside, closed the door and jogged to catch up with the others.

Chapter 6. Resolute to Q2 1830, 14 August

Dave had had enough and pushed his dinner plate forward. He looked around the mess and was struck by one overwhelming observation and that was how tired everyone looked. He knew it wasn’t purely physical. No it was the emotional stress from the earlier battle, Kat, Chase and the whole bloody mess with Chen.

This was not a good state at the best of times. It could prove fatal going into another battle and one that would involve close quarter fighting. ‘No it won’t do at all’ said Dave to himself. He got up and walked over to where Ivan was eating with Jasmin.

“Excuse me Ivan” he said.

Ivan beckoned him to join them but Dave remained standing. Instead he leant forward and said “I want to address everyone involved in the ground op in the G deck briefing room in say 30 minutes. I won’t need long.”

“OK Sir I’ll see to it.”

Half an hour later Dave stood up in the briefing room. It was jammed packed with nearly 200 marines, shuttle crew and fighter squadron personnel. Only half were lucky enough to have a seat. The rest were standing where they could. It was already quite warm within the big room.

With this many bodies to dampen the sound it was as well Dave had a big voice. He took a big breath in and began.

“By now you should all know what we are going to be doing. I’m here to make sure you know why we are doing it.” He pressed the control on the terminal to fire up the holo and activated Chase’s simulation from this morning. He used the laser wand to highlight the display.

“What you see here is the Qwantum system we are in. A couple of weeks ago the Phantom came out of warp here very abruptly because of a gravity anomaly from this big gas giant Q4. That anomaly was caused by this.” He activated the feed from the Konkorda Pod. “That is the IRS Fustus. It has just launched a missile that will penetrate deep into Q4. Now the device carried aboard that missile is activated. It’s what we know as a Pulman Mass Exchanger. It converts energy into mass and that has increased the gravity of Q4. It’s getting worse. Here’s what we believe will happen.”

He switched back to Chase’s simulation and stopped it just after Q3 collides with Q4. He could see that it had a big impact on those watching. “That’s not going to happen for about five years but within one year you won’t be able to warp into this system. There’s 4 billion rogan on Q2. They are going to be hard pressed to evacuate in time assuming they can get access to a spaceport and the biggest transport armada that has ever been seen.”

“The Imperialist have done this to their people because down on Q2 the resistance is winning. The Imperialist still control the spaceport and are conducting operations in earnest against them. Our long term objective is to support the resistance and bring down the Imperialist. We need to show the resistance that we can be relied upon to support them in their hour of need.”

“So that’s why you are going into action tonight.” Dave paused to let it sink in. Then he continued. “When we pull this off we will be sending a powerful signal to all rogan that the days of the Imperialists are numbered. More will join the Resistance and the end of this war will be closer.”

“Earlier today we destroyed their ships. Now we are returning to deliver the body blow. Go in fast, go in hard. Come back alive.”

Someone up the back yelled out “Hoorah!” in a deep voice but it wasn’t taken up by anyone else.

“Oh and one other thing” said Dave. “We won’t be staying here long. We have to go help liberate the sleth home worlds. It seems we’re in demand” said Dave with a smile. That bought a few laughs but most faces were serious. Ivan stood up and began issuing martialling instructions. Dave left the room.

Art caught up with him near the elevator. “Hey buddy” called out Art.

Dave turned. “Oh Hi Art” he said.

“Nice Gee-up there boss!”

“It seemed the thing to do” said Dave. What little adrenalin had fired during his talk was now rapidly waning.

“Are you all right Dave?” asked Art.

“Yeah I’m OK. A little tired. This business with Chen has been a right royal pain in the arse.”

Art nodded. He knew all about it after listening to Jim earlier.

“Ah! He’ll probably get himself killed in the first rush. I wouldn’t worry.”

“You’re right about the odds but if you think it’s bad now with all this political grief well it will get a whole lot worse.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Gee if my kid turned out like him I’d be grateful” said Art with one of his wicked grins.

Dave laughed. “You’re incorrigible Art.”

Art smiled at the compliment and then added “Oh don’t forget, you will let me know as soon as you make contact with any of these resistance fighters?” asked Art.

“Sure Art. Keep safe and nothing stupid right?”

“Don’t worry I’ve got my other boss looking after me” said Art with another grin.