Opening Moves (62 page)

Their air car taxi wasn't an automated model but came with a driver, a chatty local female who easily ferried them around the sprawling metropolis. Many private transportation firms used manual operators, even though they technically weren't necessary as the cars' computers were intelligent enough to handle all situations and customers. But a living breathing face often was a great foil, and a driver who could adapt to his or her passenger could and did demand higher fares and statistically still was able to get tips.

The conversation was mostly between Llyr and the driver as the two spoke Komerco. Tarek knew a little of the language but was uncomfortable conversing in it. But he understood enough to make out that there was no love lost between their driver and the Érenni refugees. Apparently there were literally hundreds of thousands of them in Tanash Kutur, and as the government had proven to be either unable or unwilling to deal with the flood, most of these displaced persons had taken up residence in the city's former parks. Tent cities and slums had shot up virtually overnight. Tarek realized those were the colored blotches he had seen earlier from high above. Tanith's local culture had zero problems with immigrants, regardless of their past or race. That was, as long as they followed the rules and made a living for themselves. Squatters weren't welcome to stay in Tanith's highly competitive society which made the Komerco Timocracy look like an egalitarian paradise.

Outside the city's boundaries there supposedly was an even larger camp, but that at least had some government support.

Tarek learned quite a lot during the hours it took them to get from one place to another. Nothing really greatly endeared the situation or the people of Tanith to him. In fact, despite the success Llyr seemed to have time and again in his negotiations, all Tarek wanted at the end of the day was to get home again.

U.V.S. JOHNSTON, North American Union Navy Cruiser

Foldspace, Near Van Halen's Star, North American Union.

Lee and the rest of Alpha Platoon looked up from their bunks when the ship's intercom awoke to life.

Marine Detachment to the Armory. Repeat: Marine Detachment to the Armory
.

“Marines?” Kayser frowned. “We ain't no Marines! How the hell can a bloody computer get that wrong? Every time I get called a Marine I think I lose a bunch of IQ points!”

“
Well, I guess that explains a lot,” Sammy grinned. “Come on then. No sense in keeping the VIPs waiting. You all know the way by now.”

They did. And since it wasn't a combat alert they all contented themselves with a brisk walk.

The Lieutenant and the Sergeant-Major were already waiting for them.

“
Atten-hut!” Sergeant-Major Erment bellowed and Alpha Platoon snapped to order.

Lieutenant Jones, their commander, stepped forward. “Listen up, platoon! We've got new orders right from the top of the chain of command. And when I say
right from the top
,
I mean it!”

That got everybody's attention real quick. Sammy pricked her ears.

“Any minute now we'll be dropping back into normspace to rendezvous with Orion Station where we'll meet up with an Alliance warship and a Euro transport.”

Sammy could feel a stir run through the assembled platoon, and she understood the reasons all too well. A joint mission with EMC and the PRA? She couldn't remember an occasion where that had happened before, at least not during her time in the service!

“You'll get two days of shore leave. Plenty of time to relax and unwind and get in touch with your families. After that I want to see you back aboard JOHNSTON in your best shape, displaying your best manners. Should you come across, ahm, foreign navy personnel during your leave I expect you to be cordial and polite as hell. Have I made myself clear?”

“
SIR, YES, SIR!” the whole platoon shouted in return.

A grin appeared on Lopez' face.

“Now, off the record. I'm not as naïve as some of you might think,” there were one or two barely suppressed guffaws, “and I know that things can get, let's say, a bit edgy where men and women of our profession run into our, ah,
comrades
from other nations. I fully expect none of you to throw the first punch, but I'll have the Sarnt-Major devise the most grueling PT ever if you're not the ones to throw the last punch. Understood, Alpha Platoon?”

“
SIR, YES, SIR!” came the bellowed answer from grinning faces.

“
Good. Now, let's get down to business, people. I hope you've all gotten familiar with JOHNSTON because this iron lady is going to ferry us across half of known space, starting two and a half days from now. Congress has seen to it that we're going to pluck our people – whether they're European, Asian, American doesn't matter – from the line of fire and offer some humanitarian aid to  everybody else. Twelve hundred light-years from here lay the planet Tanith. Tanith has become the first address for refugees fleeing the war between the Dominion and the Tuathaan-Érenni alliance. It's also harboring a substantive human community. Going by the latest news we're well away from any potential hostilities. There's close to a hundred light-years between the frontline and Tanith, and Tanith itself has been a non-belligerent power. That means they've declared support for no side.”

Lopez clasped his hands behind his back and let his gaze stride over the two rows of soldiers.

“Our task is nice and simple. We'll make sure the medical aid and food rations are delivered to some of the refugee camps first. Then we'll head to some of the expat communities with a local consul and provide transportation and security for their evac. Look sharp, Alpha. It's our task to pull these guys out of the line of fire, even if it's just a precaution. No Union citizen will be left behind if we can do something about it, understood?”

“
SIR, YES, SIR!”

A low rumble ran through the ship and
something
in the tone of the engines changed.

Lopez looked up at the bay's ceiling, towards where the bridge was located.

“We're there, people. Get your gear. Settle your affairs.” He checked his watch. “I'll be seeing you again in fifty-six hours. Dismissed.”

Orion Colony

Van Halen's Star, North American Union.

Early September, 2797 C.E.

Sammy walked past the wide panorama gallery showing the blue and green orb of Orion Colony and the diamond-dotted black of space around it. Somewhere out there an Alliance warship and a European transport orbited the planet in a waiting pattern, far outside the station's security perimeter. Their mere presence had the navy personnel aboard McKenna Station pants in a twist, given that 'outside their security perimeter' and 'outside weapons' range' were two very different things.

But Sammy really didn't have nerves for any of this. She had been lucky to get scheduled a ten minute slot with the station's TDE-booster relay. Deployment had prevented her from talking to her wife and son during the past two and a half weeks and she felt a knot in her belly every time she thought about that. She hated being away from them, hated not being able to see or touch them sometimes for months, hated coming back to a family that had ever so slightly changed during her absence without her witnessing it. And what she hated the most was the fact that, despite all this, she still went back to the barracks and deployed without a murmur. She knew that one day she would have to make a stand and decide, one way or the other. Because if she didn't some day Natasha would make the decision
for
her.

The TDE-booster cabins reminded her a bit of a mix of old fashioned strip club booths and pictures of ancient phone booths she had once seen in a history book about the 20
th
and 21
st
century. There was a comfortable chair and a small table in each of them. The air smelled sharply of disinfectants and aromatizers. There were dozens of these booths for personal use where you paid by the minute. Commercial operators usually bought bandwidth quotas from the state-run carrier agency and operated their terminals from within their own premises. Service members didn't have to pay to use the system, but they were allotted time slots they could use – usually ten minutes at a time – when the rest of the system was statistically underused.

Sammy swiped her ID card over the terminal and entered the fourteen digit code that'd connect her with the booster system on Mars. The holding pattern image appeared on screen, the emblem of the North American Union. White laurels on a field of red framed a deep blue orb in which seven small stars surrounded one large, central seven-sided star. The smaller stars seemed to glow with the audio pulses that signaled the connection was being established. She hadn't talked to Nati and their boy in weeks and both anticipated and dreaded making this call. Sammy was still trying to make up a speech to soothe the troubled waters her announcement would leave behind when the carrier signal image was replaced by a drowsy faced Natasha blinking at her from a half-lit room.

“Sammy, that you?” she yawned. “Why are you calling in the middle of the night?” Natasha stretched herself She wore a white satin negligee and her hair was all over the place. Samantha wanted nothing so much as to hold her and kiss her at that moment, to tell her how much she loved her.

Instead she stared sheepishly at the screen and muttered an apology.

“Sorry hon, I kinda forgot it's night where you guys are. This was the only time slot I got to give you a call.”

“
Hmmmm, 's okay,” Nati yawned again and flexed her hands. “Good to see you again. Is everything all right?”

“
Just came from an anti-piracy patrol. We didn't run into any trouble, though. And I got to do a spacewalk in foldspace!” she still had to grin at the experience. It had been one of the things she had always wanted to do, and the majestic and alien environment of the pocket dimension, including the Gates of Hades, had been the icing on the cake. The smile faded. “I wish you could've been there.”

“
And ruined the moment by puking into my suit?” Natasha said with a strange mix of snort and giggle. “You know how I handle zero gee, Sammy.” Her voice mellowed. “But I'd still have liked to do the walk with you. I miss you. The boy misses you, too.”

Samantha bit her lip. “How's he doing?”

“As good as can be, I guess. His grades are okay, but he's not overly enthusiastic, not that there's ever been a boy of that age who
has
,” she rolled her eyes. “They did an excursion to the foot of Olympus Mons last week. He talks a lot about his mom kicking pirate butt.” She looked over her shoulder to where Sammy knew their son's room was located. “He's waiting for you to be home by Christmas.”

“
I know,” Samantha said meekly and looked away.

Natasha's eyes hardened. “I know
that
look. You're not going to make it after all!”

“
I'm sorry, Nati, okay? I really am! We
just
got orders to deploy to the Pact as part of an international relief mission. Us, the Euros, even the Allies are sending ships. I'll be on the ground, helping to evacuate humans from a planet a good deal away from the front, so don't worry!” she blurted out the words.

“
You promised, Sammy!” Natasha gave her that hard, unforgiving stare she so dreaded. “You've been gone nearly three months already. How far away is this place, huh? A thousand light-years? You'll be gone another three months just to get there and back again. It'll be almost next March by then!”

“
I know, okay? It's not like I chose to be part of this relief effort. At least I'll get double pay for the weeks spent abroad,” she offered a weak smile.

Natasha ran right over it. “Whole lotta good that's going to do, Sammy! Damn it, it's Christmas. You promised to be home again, promised we'd celebrate together.”

Samantha threw her hands up in frustration. “What do you want me to do about that, Nati? I'm five hundred light-years away from Earth, I'm a soldier
and
I've got orders. Don't you believe I'd like it more to be with you and the boy than to share a beefy dormitory with twenty other guys and girls inside a tin can in space? I've got no say in the matter!”

“
You promised to be home by Christmas. You broke that promise. You promised you'd be doing a safe stint at McKenna Station. Now you'll be off to God knows where right next to the most vicious war in modern history, if the newsfeeds are to be believed. You broke that promise, too. Are there any other promises you've made I should be aware of?” Natasha asked acerbically.

“
Please, Nati, what do you want me to say? I'm a soldier. Orders are part of the deal. You think I like not being at home for Christmas? You think I like not seeing you for almost half a year?” Samantha asked pleadingly.

Natasha's face remained unmoved. “If you really don't like it maybe you should start to draw some conclusions from that. It's one thing having you be gone for two or three weeks on some kind of war game or training exercise, as long as you're back on Mars for the rest of the time. Being gone for half a year in peacetime, maybe even longer, that's something
entirely
different.” She shook her head. “You have a son at home, a son who needs both his parents. He doesn't need just me here and you somewhere at the edge of Orion, doing spacewalks,” Natasha snapped. “You've got a
family
, Sam. That is your responsibility, first and foremost. You've got no idea how much this is pissing me off,” she sighed wearily. “But you've gotta come to grips with what you really want, Sammy. Because if it's roaming the universe with a bunch of armed guys and girls you might come home one day and find there's no home anymore.”