Days of Burning, Days of Wrath

by Tom Kratman

  Maniple

  Company.

  Majlis

  Assembly, or a combination of that and cocktail hour, sans cocktails.

  Makkah al Jedidah

  Arabic: New Mecca.

  Mañana sera major

  Spanish, Balboan politico-military song:Tomorrow will be better.

  MB

  Money Bomb.

  MRL

  Multiple-Rocket Launcher.

  Mujahadin

  Arabic: Holy Warriors (singular: mujahad).

  Mukhabarat

  Arabic: Secret Police.

  Mullah

  Holy man, sometimes holy, sometimes not.

  Na’ib ’Dabit

  Arabic: Sergeant Major.

  Naik

  Corporal.

  Naquib

  Arabic: Captain.

  NGO

  Nongovernmental Organization.

  Noahs

  Aliens that seeded Terra Nova with life, some from Old Earth, some possibly from other planets, some possibly genetically engineered, in the dim mists of prehistory. No definitive trace has ever been found of them.

  Ocelot

  Volgan-built light armored vehicle mounting a 100mm gun and capable of carrying a squad of infantry in the back.

  Meg

  Coastal Defense Submarine employed by the l egion, also the shark, Carcharodon Megalodon, from which the submarine class draws its name.

  M-26

  A heavy barreled version of the F-26, serving as the legion’s standard light machine gun.

  PMC

  Precious metal certificate. High denomination legionary investment vehicle.

  Progressivine

  A fruit-bearing vine found on Terra Nova. Believed to have been genengineered by the Noahs. The fruit is intensely poisonous to intelligent life.

  Puma

  A much-improved Balboan tank, built in Volga and modified in Zion and Balboa.

  Push

  As in “tactical push.” Radio frequency or frequency-hopping sequence, so called from the action of pushing the button that activates the transmitter.

  PZ

  Pickup Zone. A place where helicopters pick up troops, equipment, and supplies to move them somewhere else.

  RGL

  Rocket Grenade Launcher.

  Roland

  A Gallic main battle tank, or MBT.

  RTO

  Radio-Telephone Operator.

  Satan Triumphant

  A hot pepper of Terra Nova, generally unfit for human consumption, though sometimes used in food preservation and refinable into a blister agent for chemical warfare.

  Sayidi

  Arabic form of respectful address, “Sir.”

  SCIB

  Shaped Charge Incendiary Bomb.

  Sergeyevich-83 or Serg-83

  A Volgan-designed, Zhong-built naval fighter bomber, capable of vertical takeoff and landing, and of carrying an ordnance load of about two tons.

  SHEBSA

  Servicio Helicoptores Balboenses, S.A. Balboan Helicopter Service, part of the hidden reserve.

  Sochaux S4

  A Gallic four-wheel-drive light truck.

  SPATHA

  Self-Propelled Anti-Tank Heavy Armor. A legionary tank destroyer, under development.

  SPLAD

  Self-Propelled Laser Air Defense. A developed legionary antiaircraft system.

  Subadar

  In ordinary use, amajor or tribune III equivalent.

  Sura

  A chapter in the Koran, of which there are 114.

  Tercio

  Spanish: Regiment.

  Tranzitree

  A fruit-bearing tree, believed to have been genengineered by the Noahs. The fruit is intensely poisonous to intelligent life.

  Trixie

  A species of archaeopteryx brought to Terra Nova by the Noahs.

  TUSF-B

  Tauran Union Security Force-Balboa.

  UEPF

  United Earth Peace Fleet, the military arm of the Consensus in space.

  Volcano

  A very large thermobaric bomb, set off primarily by a seismic fuse.

  Yakamov

  A type of helicopter produced in Volga. It has no tail rotor.

  APPENDIX B

  LEGIONARY RANK EQUIVALENTS

  Dux, Duque: indefinite rank, depending on position it can indicate anything from a Major General to a Field Marshall. Duque usually indicates the senior commander on the field.

  Legate III: Brigadier General or Major General. Per the contract between the Legion del Cid and the Federated States of Columbia, a Legate III, when his unit is in service to the Federated States, is entitled to the standing and courtesies of a Lieutenant General. Typically commands a deployed legion, when a separate legion is deployed, the air ala or the naval classis, or serves as an executive for a deployed corps.

  Legate II: Colonel, typically commands a tercio in the rear or serves on staff if deployed.

  Legate I: Lieutenant Colonel, typically commands a cohort or serves on staff.

  Tribune III: Major, serves on staff or sometimes, if permitted to continue in command, commands a maniple.

  Tribune II: Captain, typically commands a maniple.

  Tribune I: First Lieutenant, typically serves as second in command of a maniple, commands a specialty platoon within the cohort’s combat support maniple, or serves on staff.

  Signifer: Second Lieutenant or Ensign, leads a platoon. Signifer is a temporary rank, and signifers are not considered part of the officer corps of the legions except as a matter of courtesy.

  Sergeant Major: Sergeant Major with no necessary indication of level.

  First Centurion: Senior noncommissioned officer of a maniple.

  Senior Centurion: Master Sergeant but almost always the senior man within a platoon.

  Centurion, J.G.: Sergeant First Class, sometimes commands a platoon but is usually the second in command.

  Optio: Staff Sergeant, typically the second in command of a platoon.

  Sergeant: Sergeant, typically leads a squad.

  Corporal: Corporal, typically leads a team or crew or serves as second in command of a squad.

  Legionario, or Legionary, or Legionnaire: private through specialist.

  ***

  Note that, in addition, under legion regulations adopted in the Anno Condita 471, a soldier may elect to take what is called “Triarius Status.” This locks the soldier into whatever rank he may be, but allows pay raises for longevity to continue. It is one way the legion has used to flatten the rank pyramid in the interests of reducing careerism. Thus, one may sometimes hear or read of a “Triarius Tribune III,” typically a major-equivalent who has decided, with legion accord, that his highest and best use is in a particular staff slot or commanding a particular maniple. Given that the legion—with fewer than three percent officers, including signifers—has the smallest officer corps of any significant military formation on Terra Nova, and a very flat promotion pyramid, the Triarius system seems, perhaps, overkill. Since adoption, regulations permit but do not require Triarius status legionaries to be promoted one rank upon retirement.

  APPENDIX C

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  Aleman, Guillermo, Crewman on the Coastal Defense Submarine, Megalodon.

  Alena the Witch, Governess and worshipper of Hamilcar, first to recognize him as the avatar of Iskandr. Selectrix, supervisor and trainer of Ham’s dozen Pashtun wives. Wife of Tribune Cano, of the legions and of the Pashtun Scouts. Alena, herself, doesn’t know if she’s a witch or just very observant and very bright. She only knows that she sees and knows things others miss.

  Antonio Auletti, Sonarman, Coastal Defense Submarine, Megalodon.

  Arbeit, Lucretia, Ex-marchioness of Amnesty Interplanetary and former Inspector General, UEPF.

  Ayres, Regimental sergeant major, 57th Anglian Regiment of Foot.

  Battaglia, Captain, UEPF Spirit of Brotherhood.

  Braiden, Jim, Trooper, attached to Ma
jor Jan Campbell at the Tauran Defense Agency Headquarters.

  Campos, Tribune, officer aboard Bdl ALTA.

  Cano, David, Tribune, assigned to BdL ALTA. Husband of Alena the Witch.

  Carrasco, Condor pilot and Cazador. Also flamethrower operator.

  Carrera, Hamilcar, AKA “Iskandr.” Cadet, son of Patricio Carrera and his second wife, Lourdes. Believed to be the reincarnation of Alexander the Great by the people of Alena the Witch and a god in his own right.

  Carrera, Lourdes Nuñez de, Carrera’s second wife. Tall, slender, huge eyed, multilingual. An independent thinker and brave; she is a she-bear in defense of her family. She, personally, foiled a coup against her husband and Parilla, for which service, along with her diplomatic service, a bill is pending in the Senate to make her a citizen of the Republic.

  Carrera, Patricio, Dux Bellorum, or Duque, or Duce. Born Patrick Hennessey. Former officer in the Federated States Army, retired, moved to his late wife’s—Linda Carrera de Hennessey’s—native country of Balboa, raised an army to avenge the death of her and their children at the hands of Salafi terrorists. Currently commander of the Legion del Cid, a former private military corporation, now the armed forces of the Timocratic Republic of Balboa.

  Carvajal, Cristóbal de, Legate, commanding BdL Tadeo Kurita.

  Castro-Nyere, Claudia, Former UEPF ambassador to Santa Josefina, now quietly ranching her latifundiaon Atlantis Island.

  Cherensa, Tribune, Cazador officer, older and very experienced.

  Chu, Conrad, Warrant officer, captain of the Coastal Defense Submarine, Megalodon.

  Cleric, David, Corporal, 57th Anglian Regiment of Foot.

  Collea, Stefano del, Aide de camp to Marciano.

  Cruz, Ricardo, Sergeant major, Second Cohort Second Tercio.

  Dawes, Junior noncom, attached to Major Jan Campbell at the Tauran Defense Agency Headquarters.

  Debayle, Cordoban customs inspector.

  Emperor, No name given. Official ruler of Xing Zhong Guo.

  Fernandez, Omar, Chief of intelligence for Balboa.

  Fosa, Roderigo, Legate and admiral, commanding the classis, or fleet, of the legion, recently released from internment in Santa Josefina, by virtue of Santa Josefina rejecting its neutral status and becoming an open ally of Balboa and co-belligerent in the current war. Nobody apparently saw this coming.

  Francisco, Stakhanovite slave at Finca Mixcoatl.

  Fritz, No other name given. Balboan agent in Sachsen.

  Greene, Senior noncom, attached to Major Jan Campbell at the Tauran Defense Agency Headquarters.

  Haukelid, Hordalander medical officer attached to Task Force Jesuit.

  Hendryksen, Kris, Sergeant major, Army of Cimbria, captured in the first Tauran invasion.

  Huerta, Jose, Warrant officer, XO of the Coastal Defense Submarine, Megalodon.

  Johnson, Terry, Legate commanding the expedition built around the ALTA.

  Khalid, Fernandez’s premier agent for direct action and, on occasion, more subtle missions.

  Khan, the husband, Commander aboard the UEPF Spirit of Peace, fleet intelligence officer.

  Khan, Iris, AKA Khan, the wife, commander, Sociology Officer for the UEPF.

  Kubier-Schmidt, Olaf, Sachsen finance minister.

  Leon, Manuel, Condor pilot and Cazador.

  Li An Ming, Assistant and couturier to Xingzhen, the Zhong empress.

  Liu, Captain, Zhong destroyer Changsha, and commander of the two-ship flotilla of which it is a part.

  Ma Chu, Lieutenant colonel, Zhong Marine Corps, AdC to Admiral Wanyan Liang.

  Macera, Ignacio, Commander, Second Cohort, Tercio la Negrita.

  Marciano, Claudio, General, Tuscan, called out of retirement to command Task Force Santa Josefina, better known as Task Force Jesuit.

  Maybach, Ann-Marie, Young mistress of Olaf Kubier-Schmidt.

  Mendes, Cadet in Vicente’s platoon.

  Mendoza, Jorge, Warrant officer and instructor in history and moral philosophy. Mendoza, a former tanker, was rendered legless and for a long time blinded by the destruction of his tank in Sumer.

  Mendoza, Marqueli, Wife of Warrant Officer Jorge Mendoza. Ph.D. Author and philosopher in her own right, and, with her husband, one of the two main intellectual architects of the Timocratic Republic. Seconded to the propaganda ministry for some educational work in support of the war effort. The essence of pure feminine charm in a very compact package.

  Miranda, Esmeralda, Ensign, former peasant girl of TransIsthmia, on old Earth, later enslaved. Saved by, first, the substitution of her sister, who was sacrificed and cannibalized by the neo-Azteca Nanauatli and then by the intervention of High Admiral Wallenstein. She has risen from slave to cabin girl to commissioned officer. As the latter, she has become an informant and spy for Fernandez, via her handler, Cass Aragon. Very young and the spitting image of Carrera’s murdered first wife.

  Morgan, Henry, Junior tribune, Santa Josefinan, commands a maniple of Second Cohort, Tercio la Negrita.

  Moya, Cazador.

  Negrón, Cadet in Vicente’s platoon.

  Pablo, Stakhanovite slave at Finca Mixcoatl.

  Parilla, Raul, President of the Timocratic Republic of Balboa.

  Proctor, Nat, Trooper, attached to Major Jan Campbell at the Tauran Defense Agency Headquarters.

  Qabaash, Achmed, Brigadier, Army of Sumer. Legate, Pro Tem, Legion del Cid. Qabaash commands a brigade in the Presidential Guard of the Republic of Sumer, which brigade, sent to help Sumer’s ally, Balboa, is appointed Forty-third Tercio, Legion del Cid.

  Rall, Friedrich, Oberst, or colonel, executive officer for Task Force Jesuit.

  Ramirez, Senior noncom of the classis (fleet), brother to the tribune commanding the artillery battery.

  Ramirez, Alfonso, Tribune, battery commander of a light, eighty-five-millimeter artillery battery.

  Robin, Christopher, Petty officer aboard Spirit of Peace, dragooned into going down to defend Atlantis Base.

  Robinson, Martin, High admiral, UEPF, previously captured.

  Rodrigues, Jorge, Cadet platoon sergeant, old friend and comrade of Ham’s.

  Salas, Legate, commanding the Tercio la Negrita, in Santa Josefina.

  Shazli, Esther, Latifundia owner, Atlantis Island.

  Sitnikov, Cadet in Vicente’s platoon.

  Speidel, Alix, Member of Sachsen Reichstag, lesbian, patriot.

  Soult, Jamey, Warrant officer, Carrera’s driver, confidante, and friend.

  Temujin, Arpad, Son of Irene Temujin, condemned slave, lover of Miriamne, Finca Mixcoatl.

  Temujin, Irene, Indentured servant, Atlantis Base. Former high functionary in Amnesty Interplanetary.

  Tim, No other name given. Balboan agent in Sachsen.