Bactine (5 page)

"You too, Daniel. We'll get this done," said Phil, who was assigned to the third group.

Daniel hoped it was the truth. He wondered what the best thing would be now. Go on and probably face disaster, or return to the shuttle and- no... that was not an option. He'd be committing mutiny and that would certainly cost him. He had no option but to follow his orders at this point and just do what he could to make things go as well as possible.

The three in Daniel's group ran over the moon's surface. It was a dull grey surface with very odd shapes protruding from the strange ground. It was not a solid foothold, it was more like running over moist sand, which was a very strange experience. Daniel had run outside the star base during his training weeks, also without external oxygen, but this was different.

They reached their target. Wilson, who was assigned to lead the group, reported to Troy that they were in position.

"Hold until I tell you to go in," Troy ordered them.

The three prepared their weapons. Wilson kept his eye on the miniature display on his wrist, that informed him how the lock-decoder was progressing in opening the door's safety-mechanism. The device only took seconds for that.

The waiting was torment for them. There was no word from Troy on what the other groups were doing, where they were, nothing. Suddenly they saw a flash and felt a tremble beneath their feet. The vacuum of space did not transport sound.

"Troy! What's going on?" Daniel shouted on a private channel, overruling Wilson in role.

"Fuck, the fuck shot me!" was the reply.

"Troy, Phil, Kjella! Report! Do we go in?"

"Daniel, you're out of line," Wilson barked.

The ground beneath them shook again. More flashes of light erupted from several places in the roof of the moon base.

"Then do something," Daniel said. "If you are in command, take it. All hell is breaking loose somewhere and we're here picking our noses."

Wilson yelled at Troy, asking what to do. Daniel did not wait for that. He kicked at the unlocked door, which flew open. He ran inside, staying low. Andred was right behind him, and Wilson followed last. "Troy doesn't respond," the leader said.

Daniel slammed the door and quickly punched in the military override for the airlock. Hissing air was blasted into the small compartment where the three men were waiting.

Once the air pressure was equalised, it took them agonising minutes to reach a smoke-filled corridor. They were getting closer to the battle that had started without them. On the private channel, Daniel kept repeating the names of the people that made up their strike team. As more and more responded, the three proceeded through the corridor. The screaming of phase-pistols and the low sound of more complicated proton weapons grew louder by the second, and suddenly they found themselves in the middle of the fight.

"Deck!" He did not know who yelled, but he was on the floor before the last letter had reached his awareness. Wilson and Andred also were on the floor as bolts flew over their heads.

"Back," Wilson hissed, and he was right. In this situation there was nothing they could do except get hurt.

Once in the small corridor they had come through, Wilson took charge, finally, and located where their own people were. "They're on our left. Bad guys right. Andred, you're with me. Daniel, move around and hit them from behind."

Andred and Daniel nodded. As Wilson and Andred kneeled down and started to fire their weapons around the corner, Daniel checked his own mini-display for the plan of the moon base. There was an easy way through some offices to get behind the attackers, so he retraced his steps and quickly found his way to where he wanted to go. All that time the sound of the battle followed him.

He reached the last door. "Wilson, I'm ready."

"Go, Daniel," was his reply.

Daniel carefully opened the door and glanced through the slit. The corridor seemed empty, most of the folks shooting at the military team were in a side corridor. Checking the entire corridor quickly, he slipped out of the office as once more the floor shook and trembled. Parts of the ceiling rained down on him as he made his way to the action. Just as he reached the turn in the corridor, a heavily armed figure came round it, his armour blackened from impacts of phase-pistols. A sound emerged from the person, who raised a large gun.

Daniel was faster, helped by his Bactine body. The armoured shape fell down, disabled for good. Daniel grabbed the weapon, which was much larger than his own, swung around the corner and took two seconds to evaluate what he saw.

The invaders had grouped at least two dozen scientists from the moon base behind them, to protect their backs. The scientists were standing, the invaders were either small or kneeling, to stay out of sight. How they had managed it so quickly, Daniel did not know, but the scientists were all tied together by the neck, with the chains ends high up in the wall so they could not escape or bend down. Two of the scientists were killed, being held up by the others, so they would not be strangled by the weight of the dead people hanging down.

He raised his hand and put a finger over his lips. Swiftly he moved forward, jumped, and yanked one end of the chain from the wall. Mere seconds later the other end was loose also. The freed people did not need encouragement: they ran off as fast as they could.

Daniel jumped up, almost reaching the ceiling, and buried the fingers of his free hand in the wall. That position gave him an open view on the attackers. He aimed the confiscated gun and fired at the front line of the invading force, taking out three of them in the first blast. As he had expected, several of them turned and started firing. They just aimed too low.

Andred appeared in the corridor also, and soon the invaders had been reduced to smoking bodies. The fight was over all of a sudden. The group that had been terminated turned out to be the whole invading group.

Troops began to locate hostages and freed the ones that had been locked up. The wounded were seen to.

Daniel found Troy, who was limping around and gloating at the success. "Are you satisfied now?" he asked the leader of the subgroup.

"Yeah. I am. The base is liberated. We did a great job."

"Nine civilians dead, five soldiers dead. Sixteen people wounded. Yes. A great job." Daniel wanted to punch Troy in his grinning face.

"Casualties are a risk in operations like this, Daniela," the man said, stabbing Daniel in the chest with a finger. "If you can't take that, find another job."

"Operations," Daniel fumed. "This was not an operation, you idiot. This was a simple hostage situation. You should have listened to me, then no-"

"Shut up!" Troy went from gloat to furious in an instant. "You couldn't even protect a load of weapons against a handful of Qurgon pirates. Don't you tell me about operations!" He pushed Daniel aside and limped off.

Daniel's rage roared, then dropped away. Pain wrung his gut; pain of the memory, pain of the lives lost on this base. He bit away a few tears. This was not the place nor the time.

They held the moon base until local authorities had come to take over. Then the soldiers were loaded into the shuttles again and the journey home started. Daniel felt horrible; Phil and Kjella had been killed in the final blasts of the battle. Wilson had lost a hand. And Troy faked a limp.

-=-=-

"I did what I could, Daniel." Burt sat down on the chair in the conference room. "I won't make things pretty: I doubt it will make a difference. General Rudyer is very strict on protocol and following orders, and his word will make the verdict. Sorry."

Daniel nodded.

On their return to the star base, Troy had filed a serious complaint against Daniel, for insubordination, leaving his designated station before notice and even endangering the lives of military personnel and civilians.

"I guess I should count on being thrown out, right?"

"Yes. Which is better than..." The trainer did not finish his words.

Wilma came in, bringing coffee. "Here. How was it?"

Burt filled her in. Wilma's face grew dark. "That sucks. Troy made mistakes and Daniel has to take the fall because Troy hates his guts."

"That sums it up. And he got Rudyer."

"Damn it." Wilma put a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Daniel shook his head. "You can't help it. No one can. It can happen and it happened." There were no people left alive that would stand up against Troy for him. That made things even more sour.

Two days later, Daniel and Troy were present in the office of General Rudyer. An official read out the verdict. Daniel was found guilty of endangering the mission on Hargha 9 and disobeying orders of the assigned leader. Troy had tried to make him responsible also for the death of some of the scientists, but that accusation had been rejected for of lack of proof. Daniel's counters that Troy had failed to listen to Daniel's experience as assault marshal had been brushed aside, which was hard to swallow. He had to, though, or suffocate on it.

"Daniel Zacharias, as this mission was called upon in haste, and you had not completed your training as an enhanced person yet, there are some mitigating circumstances. Therefore this is not an official court martial, although the rule will be binding. The ruling is that you will be taken from the R1 group and no longer will follow the training. You will be detained in your cabin until a new designation for your person is found. You are allowed to eat in the mess, provided you are accompanied by two people. You are free to mention two people, General Rudyer will decide if these are appropriate. Otherwise we will assign two people to you."

Troy beamed. He had won. Pulling the string that was his uncle, who was married to the General's sister, had helped.

"Daniel Zacharias, do you have any questions?"

Daniel looked at the woman next to him, who was supposed to be his legal representative. She stared at the floor, not paying attention to Daniel. He sighed. This was not going to get him more than this, he knew. At least he wasn't kicked off base, or worse. "No, sir."

"Thank you. That's all. This session is dismissed."

That was it. Simple, clean and fixed.

Troy got up and sauntered over to Daniel. His limp had miraculously disappeared. "I'm really sorry to witness this, Daniela," he whispered as he leaned on the table. "This takes away most opportunities to have fun. But you see, justice was served. I get commended for doing a good job and you barely missed the brig."

Daniel's lawyer got up and walked away after picking up her things. She did not say a word.

"I hope you will have learnt something from this, Troy," Daniel said. "I really do. But knowing you, that hope is in vain. Please, try not to kill too many people with your decisions."

"Don't worry, Zacharias. You seem to forget your place." Troy stared Daniel in the eye, then walked off. Ludo was near, looking apologetically at Daniel for the last time. Then he walked off, following Troy.

-=-=-

"I heard they may have found something for you, Daniel." Rhonda watched him eat. She was the one who had been agreed upon to accompany him. Burt was unacceptable, they had told him, as 'trainer O'Shaughnessy has better things to do'. They just wanted to keep Daniel away from all things Rebuilt, he was convinced of that. The other person with them was Chin-Ho, a regular human who worked in the kitchen and deemed not dangerous.

"Oh?" Daniel was curious enough. He had been detained for a few weeks already and life was becoming so boring that he would have gladly gone out to rake the bare planetoid ground for a few hours a day. Rhonda had sources everywhere, he had noticed lately.

"Nothing definitive yet. But rumour has it that there is something like active duty in the works for you." Rhonda spoke quietly so no one around would hear her. Using the built-in military band was prohibited when not on assignment, and also monitored when on base. "Less glamorous than star cruisers and stuff, also you'll be mostly on your own."

That sounded intriguing to Daniel. Not so much to Chin-Ho, who was trying very hard to finish his game of electro-go. "When did you hear that?" Daniel asked.

"This morning. I am-"

"Daniel Zacharias?" A soldier in full uniform stopped at the table.

"Yes," Daniel admitted.

"Come with me."

"Why? I haven't finished eating yet."

"I just have orders to bring you to Captain Chambers, sir. Now." The soldier looked at Daniel. "I'm sorry about your food."

Daniel shrugged. "Okay, I'll come with you. Are you sure that you alone are capable of getting me there?" He winked at Rhonda who grinned.

"Yes, sir." The soldier did not catch the joke.

Daniel got up and followed the soldier to the office of Captain Chambers.

"Zacharias. Sit down, please." The captain was a friendly man, who came right to the point. "We have looked at your case, and decided that it is not possible to maintain your person here on base. Too much has happened. As you are well aware of?"