Recon Marines II: Marine's Heiress, The (21 page)

She laughed. “Are Moe and Vannie
getting their plan rolling?”

Vin didn’t think anything was rolling
either but he understood her intention. “They’ve explained the
wealth to the people and are setting guards.”

“
What’s your plan for the
day?” She put down her knife and turned into his arms.

He answered her after a long kiss. Only
a second of guilt touched him as he realized he no longer
remembered what Yalo’s kisses had been like. They couldn’t have
been better or were his heart and body so capricious? “I’m on guard
duty.”

She laughed again, the sound stroking
his nerves in the same way her hand ran through his hair.
“Everything is safe in here, soldier.”

He smiled, knowing she joked. Seeing
her happy after the many stresses and concerns since he’d met her
lightened his heart. “Save me some dinner.”

She squeezed, her thin arms strong for
her size. “Dinner and desert later.”

Vin left through the back door, the
muted conversations telling him Vannie and Moe still worked on the
guard rosters. He climbed the fence and hopped down into the
greenery of the jungle.

His hover craft waited only a few steps
from the wall where he’d parked it when he brought the medicine
back for Julie. After gaining altitude a few yards above the
highest trees, Vin did a quick patrol of the entire perimeter. He
set his scanners to pick up any life forms bigger than a small
child. A pack of the small hairless carnivores that hunted during
the daylight hours loped on the jungle floor to the west. A small
moose cropped on the tender grass shoots sprouting along the north
bound road. He saw no sign of human incursion.

Vin made three complete circuits of
Hovel Port in ever widening circles. No humans moved outside the
town for as far as the scanners could see, meaning he could safely
take a trip to his interstellar ship. He flew the short distance to
where he parked it in stealth mode. Only top grade military
scanning equipment could detect his cruiser, a concern if the
admiral came after Emma. That was the main reason Vin had hidden
his ship, not because he expected the miners to find it.

He stowed his hover craft in the cargo
area and went to the bridge. The ship woke on his coded command. It
took only a moment to connect the ship’s sensors to the AI’s data
stream. He flew the cruiser to a clearing only two miles from Hovel
Port. With the surrounding jungle teaming with hostile fauna and
flora, it was unlikely anyone would stumble upon it. But now it was
close enough to Hovel Port that he could use its sensors to provide
a wider net of security. After resetting the stealth mode, Vin went
to his weapons locker. The ship itself wasn’t a warship, only a
fast transport.

Over the course of the past six months,
Vin had hunted his enemy using many methods other than shooting.
Quieter methods. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t prepared to face a
regiment. He doubted the civilians of Hovel Port could handle the
more sophisticated weapons but he had a few the guards could share
without shooting each other rather than intruders. He also gathered
more of his clothing. He changed into the chameleon style as it
would work equally well in the town and the jungle. Another set he
took was night-black for working in the shadows.

He freed the hover from the cargo bay
and continued his patrols. The AI unit fit into a designed slot in
front of him. With a touch to the screen he brought up a view of
the surrounding five miles around the cruiser’s sensors. No one
could sneak up on Hovel Port now.

* * * *

Emma fell into the same routine as the
guards over the course of the next ten days. They patrolled during
the day and until a few hours after dark. Vin slept from after
dinner until the middle of the night when he would take over. She
prepared meals and dealt with small medical issues during the day.
After a late dinner with Vin, she joined him in his bed. Each night
he would leave her during the darkest hours. She vowed to wake when
he did and kiss him for good luck and safety, but somehow he always
rose without waking her. By the time the gray light of dawn roused
her, his side of the narrow cot had cooled with no remembrance of
his presence other than the way he’d tucked the covers so carefully
around her.

None of them knew where Vin went during
the day. He scaled the walls and disappeared into the jungle. Today
was no different. She’d held back his serving of baked wild hens.
Moe and Vannie waited with her, the four of them usually discussed
the day before turning in for the night. Well, Vin didn’t really
discuss anything, but he did add relevant details when
needed.

“
I’m hungry enough to eat
my share and Vin’s tonight,” Vannie grumbled. “Don’t think I
haven’t noticed, lass, that you’ve been giving bigger portions to
him than to either of us.”

Moe rubbed his belly. “And I helped to
prepare it only to be fed child size bites.”

Emma laughed with her friends, but she
watched the door. No matter how confident she was in Vin’s skill,
she worried every time he was out. Another quarter of an hour
passed before the door opened and Vin walked in out of the night.
His steely gaze found her immediately.

“
Finally,” Moe said,
pushing himself to his feet to help Emma get the food from the
warmer in the kitchen.

Relief spread through Emma as she and
Moe served up the food. Vin was safe for another day. They sat and
ate, almost like a family. Except for the AI unit Vin sat in the
middle of the table. Curious lines and squiggles danced across it.
The topics discussed weren’t exactly normal family sharing
either.

“
After all the attacks
came one right after the other, I expected them to hit us with
something before now,” Moe said between bites.

“
I’m thinking we should
attack them, let them know we’re not going to be pushed out so
easily.” Vannie waited but when Vin didn’t respond he made it
clearer. He and Moe were learning to communicate better with a
Recon Marine. “Don’t you think we should go upriver and pay them
back for what they’ve done to us?”

Vin shook his head. “They have at least
two hundred miners and another dozen guardsmen who look like former
military. They could have armaments that we’re unaware of. The men
of Hovel Port are not soldiers.”

“
I don’t like being a
sitting target, waiting for them to come and get us.” Vannie
stabbed at his roast fowl.

“
They won’t know we’re
ready for them.” Vin had improved in his sharing of strategies.
“The rain will be here later tonight. Hopefully, that will keep
them at home and everyone can get some rest.”

“
Maybe we can get some
lawgivers in here,” Emma said. “They would have to leave us alone
once the officials arrive. We need to start mining our
iridium.”

“
No!” Moe and Vannie said
together. Even Vin shook his head. Moe spoke for all of them. “The
only way we’d get a lawgiver this far out within half a year would
be to use your real name. Then your stepfather would know where to
find you.”

“
I have to face him sooner
or later.” Emma wished she’d confessed her breach of security
before now. Her stepfather might already know her whereabouts. As
soon as they were alone, she would explain to Vin how she’d exposed
her position by contacting her accounts. Would he think she’d set
up the meeting to take advantage of his presence to protect her
from the admiral? Vin’s honor ran deep as did his honesty. Probably
the most dishonest thing he’d done was lie about his name and try
to fit in as a regular person, and he’d been terrible at it. Why
hadn’t she told him sooner?

“
You’ve never told me why
you’re hiding from him.” Vin ate his meal in his usual slow manner,
treating each bite as the best thing he’d ever tasted. He always
finished last.

Vannie and Moe shook their heads. They
still didn’t trust Vin but they only needed to get to know him
better. But she would wait to explain her stepfather’s motives
until later also. Vin might have trouble understanding
them.

After Vin finished, Moe and Emma
carried the dishes to the kitchen. It only took a few minutes to
clean up and turn the lights off. Emma heard the soft strikes of
rain against the back of the building. Soon it would turn into a
driving downpour.

When Emma and Moe rejoined the other
two, they found Vannie and Vin leaning over the AI. Vin explained
the weak spots he would attack if he led the Underboss’s men. It
made little sense to Emma, but Vannie nodded his
agreement.

“
I’m for bed,” Moe said
around a yawn.

Before Emma could add her agreement the
AI screen flashed and lit up with a new picture.

“
What the hell is that?”
Vannie asked.

Vin stood up, his posture suddenly
different. Every line of his body, the look on his face, marked him
as soldier. “They’re coming.”

Chapter Thirteen

The AI functioned in any kind of
weather and extreme temperatures. It would see the coming threat
even if the rain hid it from Vin. He was still dressed in his
fighting gear, ready to go.

“
Vannie get everyone into
position. Moe, get the women and children into the café along with
Russ. Emma, you stay in your surgery.” Everyone’s roles had been
previously decided. The women without children would stay in the
surgery to help Emma with any wounded. Moe would guard both the
café and surgery. The rest of the men would be divided between
Vannie’s and Dillon’s leadership. Vin would be outside the
fence.

Emma touched Vin’s arm as he started
for the door. “Please be careful. You don’t have to do this
yourself. We’re all here to help.”

Vin looked at Moe and Vannie shrugging
into their overcoats. Two middle-aged overweight men and probably
the best fighters he had. Dillon would act as one of their leaders,
and he had little more than a strong desire to defend his home. But
all that desire wouldn’t defeat this enemy. “It’s what I do, Emma.
I’m better at being a soldier that I’ve been at being a
civilian.”

She wrapped her hands around his neck
and pulled his head down for a quick kiss. Too quick and then she
walked out the door, leaving her warm scent of fresh baked bread
behind. Vin knew he should have said something, something more
personal. And he should have extended that kiss.

“
How many are coming and
from where?” Vannie asked.

Vin looked at the AI. “They’re coming
from the north in three vehicles. I can’t distinguish how many men
until they get closer. Vannie, put double the men on the north gate
and keep your radio at hand. They have some military men so they
might be experienced enough to plan a feint.”

The rain soaked them as soon as they
stepped outside the door. It sluiced off Vin’s gear, but the other
two men wouldn’t fare so well. Vin slipped through the alley
separating his shop and the surgery. Holding the AI in one hand, he
hopped up and grasped the top of the wall. He vaulted over and
jogged to his hover.

The enemy had moved closer to Hovel
Port and therefore closer to Vin’s cruiser. The ship’s sensor
showed the three vehicles less than two miles from the town. One
ship had moved pretty far away from the other two either because
they had no experience traveling in formation, or the weather
interfered with their instruments. The reason didn’t matter, but it
gave Vin an advantage.

He flew near the treetops, trusting his
vision and the auto evade system of the hover. If Joe was here,
Vin’s former commanding officer, he would have a great plan. Though
Vin didn’t think he needed any great strategy. The sensors
distinguished separate life sources now that he was closer, showing
nearly a dozen men on each ship. The majority would be miners,
selected or volunteered for the raid.

Vin slowed as he neared them, letting
the sensors do their work as it scanned the intruders for armament.
Conventional projectile guns, bigger caliber than what had been on
the drones. The ships were simple transport sleds that left the men
exposed to the torrential rain. They used no tech themselves to
scan their surroundings leaving them completely blind to his
presence as he landed on the edge of the lane a few hundred yards
in front of the first ship.

The dark and rain insured they wouldn’t
spot him with human eyesight and his hover blended into the
overhanging vegetation.

They rode on an unfamiliar model of
transport craft but he heard the low tones of a battery engine.
Unlike the men on the machines, Vin did have high tech weapons to
disable their propulsion systems. He waited until lightning flashed
to fire a concentrated laser shot at the battery cells of the first
ship. Fortunately for the men on the ship, the batteries weren’t
explosive but their ride dropped into the mud with a bang heard
over the rain. It skidded forward, digging a crooked grove into the
road. They slid past Vin, not even looking for an attacker. They
probably thought the engine had failed. Keeping machinery running
in a rainforest required constant attention.

The other transports stopped as they
caught up to the wreckage of the first one. Men crawled from the
downed craft, many with minor injuries. They split into two groups
and boarded the other two rides. Someone shouted orders, but Vin
couldn’t hear the words as he worked his way behind the last ship.
Then he used the deeper darkness along the edges of the road to
work his way up beside the downed transport.