Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) (32 page)

“
Sure. I just
might do that,” Jethro nodded. The lion grimaced and touched
his blue tooth ear piece. Jethro blinked, just noticing it.

“
Sorry man, I
gotta go,” the lion sighed. “Broken water main in my
sector. I gotta go ream someone a new one.”

“
Ouch,”
the panther said nodding. “Good luck with that. Thanks for
coming though. I'll call you and catch up to you.”

“
Oh yeah,”
Hrris said. The lion turned and held out his tablet. “Um...”

“
Here,”
the panther held up his hand. The address data scrolled across his
HUD and then moved to his address book.

“
What...”
Hrris said startled. “How...” he glanced at the tablet
and then back at Jethro in confusion.

“
Implants,”
the panther said with a smile.

The lion's eyes went
wide and fully dilated. “DUUUDDE!”

“
Tell you
about it later,” Jethro said with a small smile and ear flick.
He was glad he could one up the tech savvy lion.

“
Yeah!
Definitely! That's like soo cool! I've so wanted them forever and...”
The lion walked away. “So jealous...” He glanced back.
Jethro waved and then turned shaking his head and laughing softly to
himself.

He went back to
looking for his aunt and the Matriarch. The crush of bodies though,
the mingling scents, it was maddening. Everyone was happy. It felt
good. Right. He felt at peace with the universe.

“
Hey sailor,
want to invest in a new start up?” a voice said from the
corridor. Jethro turned but Sergei's massive arm draped over his
shoulder and pulled him away.

“
No he
doesn't,” the Liger growled. “And we're marines, not
squids.”

“
Ah, jarheads.
Gotta love them,” a sailor said with a smirk. “They let
you apes wander around unsupervised?”

“
Shouldn't you
be swabbing a deck somewhere?” Sergei growled a laugh. “Lets
go find a bar.”

“
What was that
about?” Jethro asked as they cleared the crowded corridor.

“
Investors.
People are starting all sorts of business ventures. They need
capital. We've got back pay...”

“
Which means
unspent capital. And since we're green, we're easy marks. There are a
ton of scam artists out there so watch your credits,” Valenko
added from Sergei's other side.

“
Oh.”

“
Yeah oh. I
guess you missed mama Matriarch's warning yesterday.”

“
Yeah, I guess
I did,” the panther sighed.

“
Well, she did
also mention to be careful about any hookers we pick up as well. I
hope she was kidding about that one. I'm pretty sure just about
everyone is ready to get laid. Hell I know I am.”

“
Okay then.”
Jethro extracted himself from Sergei's clutches. “I'll just
stay out of arms reach until then.” The others laughed as
Sergei mock growled and batted at the panther.

“
Save that
till we're rip roaring drunk,” Hurranna said. “I vote
Sergei's the designated tea toiler.”

“
Oh hell no,”
Sergei growled. “Why me?”

“
Cause I'm not
going to try to carry you or his sorry ass home drunk or sober. No
one in the universe would pay me enough to even try,” Hurranna
said, jerking her thumb to Ox and then to the bear.

“
Yeah, she's
got a point,” Valenko growled a laugh. Sergei looked a little
mulish.

“
I will
refrain from over intoxicating myself,” Ox said. They turned to
him. “I am not that interested in getting drunk. I do not wish
to be a burden to anyone.”

“
Oh hell.
We'll sort it out later. Stale beer and chips are calling us!”
Sergei said, making hand grasping motions toward the bar.

“
We're wasting
precious drinking time people! Gunny said we've got to be back at
barracks by midnight!” Hurranna said skipping ahead.

“
Last one
there buys the first round?” Jethro grinned a challenge to the
others.

“
Oh hell no,
I'm not racing you,” the bear growled slapping the panther
playfully. Jethro winced and then chuckled.

 ...*...*...*...*...

The next day some of
the crew were hung over. The gunny dropped by and maliciously smiled
as he banged on a pot to wake them up at oh four thirty. Those in the
bay groaned and got up wearily. He had them get dressed in workout
clothes and then took them on a fun run around the station.

“
Damn,”
Sergei panted. He shook his huge head.

“
I tried to
warn you to go easy on the sauce,” Jethro said.

“
Oh shut up,”
the bear growled. “How's your hangover?”

“
Oh the joys
of a migraine,” Jethro growled. “It'll pass. Sometime
within a week or two. Until then I'm putting up with your loud voice
and really bright entirely too sunny nature.”

“
Just be glad
we're not going into combat,” Valenko growled. “I think
the gunny just demonstrated that it's one thing to hear about
something and try to learn from it, it's quite another to experience
it firsthand. A lesson I will try to remember. Just as soon as this
gong stops tolling in my head.”

Passing by the gunny
smiled slightly and then kept going. “Shall we make it another
run around the track?” he asked. They groaned in response but
kept going. “Another lap it is then. Come on slow pokes!”

After that last lap
the gunny took pity on them. He led them back to the bay. When they
entered he left. Exhausted they fell into their racks. “Report
for duty in two hours! Shit, shower and shave people!” they got
over their links. Everyone in the bay sighed at that.

 ...*...*...*...*...

“
It looks good
on you,” Hurranna said, eying the lance corporal stripe Jethro
and a few others had. They had found their new rank in their IFF and
a reminder to wear their rank insignia on their HUD's at reveille the
next morning. For some it was a welcome surprise.

“
Jealous?”
he asked, tweaking the stripe.

“
Yes. Yes she
is. For that matter so am I. How'd you rate corporal and we're
privates?” Sergei asked.

“
Good looks?”
Jethro laughed.

“
Speak for
yourself. I made PFC,” Hurranna said with a wiggle. “Which
isn't going to stay if I get into flight school.”

“
Going to glut
for punishment and go for OCS training as well?”

“
Mustang? No,
leading men around is fun some of the time but all of the time?”
She shook her head. “Naw, I'll go for pilot. That way I can
pick you up and dump you grunts off and be rid of you whenever I
please.”

“
Gee thanks.
You're all heart,” Sergei said with a laugh.

“
Seems that
way,” she smiled.

“
I heard we're
getting time off now. A whole three day pass if you can believe it,”
someone down the rows said.

“
Yeah. We are.
Tomorrow's Friday,” Hurranna said getting her gear together.
“Tonight we've got to be back by midnight. Tomorrow we get the
family pass though,” she said. She adjusted her uniform. “Which
means I'm going bar hopping just as soon as I can. Anyone want to
escort me?” she asked looking around. She batted her eyelashes
playfully at some of the guys.

“
Sure. I'm
game,” Sergei grinned. He slapped Jethro. “So is Jethro.
Let me get dressed.”

Jethro shook his now
stinging bicep. “Why me. Well, I guess someone's got to keep
you out of trouble,” he shook his head at the futility in that
thought.

“
Oh hell no.
There is no way I'm propping his ass to get him back here,”
Hurranna said shaking her head. “You know the way he drinks. He
falls over and I'm a pancake. You're coming bucko.”

“
Yeah yeah,”
Jethro said. “If you insist.”

“
And I do,”
she said with a sweet smile.

 ...*...*...*...*...

Sergei grinned as he
spotted the tiny Hurranna coming over with a tray. She and Senjix
were both wearing the gold life saving medals. “Moonlighting?”
he asked. She growled at him as she set the tray down. “A
barmaid's uniform would look good on you right about now. I heard
they're hiring if you're interested,” he smirked.

“
Hell no. If
we wait for service around here we'll be waiting forever,” she
said shaking her head. The others each grabbed a stein. She slapped
Sergei's outstretched hand. “What do you say?”

He grimaced and
shook his hand paw looking confused and then chuckled. “Please?”

“
Better. Sure.
Be my guest.” She smiled as she sat down.

He took the stein
and saluted her with it. “To teamwork. Long may it last.”

“
Hear hear,”
the others echoed. They each took a pull.

“
Ah, I don't
mean to bother you, but you're marines right?” Jethro's eye
swiveled to a group of college preppie kids looking nervously around.
Human kids, probably teens. Ballsy teens to approach a group of
Neo's.

“
Yeah kid,
what's it to ya?” Sergei answered, wiping foam from his mouth
with the back of his hand and then licking it off his forearm.

“
Um, it's ah,
just we were wondering, what's it like?”

“
So far it's
no picnic. Going to get harder as we go. Or so they say. As long as
we don't have the meat grinder I'm not sure how that's possible
though,” Jethro answered.

“
So what do
you do? On a ship I mean?” A girl with pigtails and a plaid
mini skirt asked, peeking out from behind the oldest boy. She was
obviously too young to be here. Ten maybe eleven.

“
We shoot
people and break things. It's the marine way,” Sergei said with
a laugh. The others laughed as well.

“
We're
soldiers. Well sort of,” Jethro interpreted as the laughter
died down.

“
Sort of?”

“
Neither fish
nor fowl,” Jethro shrugged as he looked away. “Sorry. Old
saying I got from my granddad’s journal. A marine is a soldier
who's a part of the navy. We serve on ships and sometimes on the
ground. We're the security of a ship. We go over when a ship needs to
be boarded, and we're the first to land on a hostile planet or moon
if it needs to be secured.”

“
The few, the
proud, the marines!” the others around them echoed.

“
Oh,”
the kid looked startled.

“
Sounds hard.
How many are there of you?” the girl asked.

“
Well, two
hundred and ninety eight just graduated kid. I don't know how many
were in the first class,” Hurranna said shrugging.

“
First class?”

“
Yeah, the
major and the people the Admiral recruited as marines. First to serve
on Firefly, then the other ships. I think there were thirty or
forty,” Sergei answered, giving Jethro a look. The panther
shrugged.

“
Cool,”
a large kid nodded. “You need good grades?”

“
Hell kid, I
never went to school. Just learned to read from the Matriarch,”
Sergei growled. “What's it to you?”

“
Just asking,”
the kid said gulping at the subsonic growl and flashing eyes of the
four meter tall Liger. “Damn,” he muttered feeling that
rumble below his belt. He suddenly had an urge to leak. Bad. He shook
his head. “I ah, gotta go.” He made his way through the
crowd straight for the bathroom.

“
Spoil sport,”
Hurranna laughed, shaking her head and slapping the big Liger.
“Meany. Scaring the piss out of the kid.”

Sergei shook his
head. “Serves him right.”

“
What, I mean,
do you get to do all sorts of stuff? Or just stand around?” a
guy in the back asked.

“
If you ask me
you're all a waste of air and space. Space the lot,” a guy
covered in tattoos growled. A few at his table nodded. “Waste
of tax payer money.”

“
Who asked
you?” another guy said, looking up. He turned so he could face
the table. “I wish to god we'd had them when the damn Horathian
scum boarded my ship. Do you have any idea what it’s like to
live as a slave?”