After a lengthy inspection by the local fleet, the Warmonger was taken in for bounty and we were flown to the docking bay where Mendez had come out to greet us. "Find anything worthwhile?"
"We did," I replied. "Xurpok found a few log entries that said his people were taken to Rigel."
"You aren't contemplating a trip out there are you? That's downtown Maxan space."
"I'm not committing to that until we've had time to thoroughly evaluate what we might be able to do. Believe me, I have no death wish on this. But I do want Xurpok to have a chance to know the fate of his people. How are the repairs on the Fracker coming?"
"Good. Faulk and Waldorp have her. Said she'll be good as new in two weeks."
"And Collins?"
"What we set was good. Docs went in and added a bonding agent to keep it in place. He and Tanner are out at the bar right now with Diggs and Grimes. I suspect we'll be seeing them slog in within the hour. Tomorrow they'll all be wishing they had held back. I know Marines can throw them back with the best of them, Sarge, but those two are titans in a field of mice when it comes to how much alcohol they can hold. Has to take a toll on their bodies."
I chuckled. "They'll hate me for this, but let me let you in on a little secret. When they first go into a joint, they pay the bartender to water down their drinks. They did it as a joke years ago, but now have a reputation they have to uphold. The reality of it is they only consume about half of what it looks like. So don't be overly impressed by their seeming ability to drink more than is humanly possible."
"Those two are snakes."
"They are, but they're our snakes. So keep that bit of info in the bag. And I have to ask, why aren't you out there with them?"
"Because I lost a bet with them two days ago. Yesterday was a hard day to be alive. My head was pounding and my body ached all over. Swore off alcohol forever this morning. Of course, now that I know the scheme they've been pulling, it might be time for some payback."
"Well, if it's all the same, I'll have to ask that you find another way. The two of them are creatures of habit. They fight best when they are in their routine. So let them have their bit of fun. Besides, they'll gain respect for you if you figure out how to scam them in another way."
"Wasn't really looking for their respect, Sarge."
"No, but you need it. We all need it. It's what makes us a team and makes us willing to put our lives on the line for each other. Take Collins and that collarbone. He did that for you. To save you. If they didn't like or respect you, you'd have already been tagged and splattered."
"Yeah. I want to hate the two of them, they certainly give me reason to, but I just can't make myself do it. And please, Sarge, don't ever tell them that."
"Your secret is safe with me, Mendez."
Xurpok joined them in the hall for the walk to the warehouse. As expected, Tanner, Collins, Diggs, and Grimes came stumbling in. Diggs was complaining about losing the drinking contest as Grimes helped him to a back room and a cot. Moments later he passed out.
A drunk and grinning Collins came over to Mendez. "When you coming back out with us?"
"That I can't say." She glanced over at me. "I have some thinking to do first."
Collins patted her on the shoulder and then stumbled to a bunk of his own.
I chuckled. "You might want to watch out, Mendez. You come back too hard with whatever it is you dream up and he might just get sweet on you."
Mendez's smile slowly turned to a frown. "Had to take the fun out of it, didn't you."
"Just giving you a fair warning. I've been around those two long enough to know what makes them tick. And competitiveness is near the top their list."
The following morning a comm came in from the OMS. All mercs were again being called in. This time it was the outpost at Deneb. It was under attack by the Herzek. But of bigger concern was the new assault by the Maxan. I had to believe the two empires were now coordinating. Being Human was becoming an ever more deadly occupation.
~~~~~
What's Next?
* * *
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THE SQUAD
(Novelette 6)
Deneb or Die
Chapter 6.1
* * *
It was a busy morning spent acquiring supplies while every ship in the Confederation it seemed was stocking up. We still had no word from the Herzek at Deneb or from the renewed assault by the Maxans at Bellatrix. Hundreds of merc ships had already taken flight. And hundreds of the ships of our military fleets were already on the way to Bellatrix. Xurpok had again attempted to contact his brother Bardok, but to no avail. His comm hails had not been accepted.
Mendez carried a crate of food packets in her arms. "Collins, you're blocking me, man. We have to get this stuff aboard."
"Sorry, doc says I need at least another week before doing any heavy lifting, even with the bond."
"Then at least get out of our way. We need to get this done."
"You know, you've been riding me hard the last few days. What gives? I know I can be a pain-in-the-ass, but seriously, your comments haven't been sarcastic or funny, they've just been harsh. What gives?"
"I'm a woman. Haven't you heard? We have bad days."
"Ah. Gotcha. I'll keep my distance from your rage."
Collins turned and walked down a ramp and out into the hall.
Mendez smirked as I came up the ramp. "Can't believe you played the woman card."
"Yeah. It's all part of the plan."
"The plan?"
"To get him to admit in front of the others that he can be a jerk."
I chuckled. "You don't have to have a plan for that. He'll admit that freely. If it's one thing about him and Tanner both it's that they are honest about what they think and feel. Can their comments be abrasive and irritating? Yes. Will you score points with others by forcing that out? No. If anything it will just make you look petty. I know this isn't about their drinking scam, so what's really bugging you?"
Mendez stopped as I set down the crate I was carrying. "Those two pinheads have been going through my personal stuff."
"What? As in how?"
"Shampoo bottles have the lids undone, things are just out of place. I know they are just doing it to drive me insane. And they hit Danielle's locker up yesterday as well."
I sighed and shook my head. "It's not them."
"Then who?"
"Xurpok. He's just being curious about Humans and our habits. We tend to use a lot of scented products on ourselves. For the Corbo that was taboo, apparently. He's just trying to figure out why."
"Then he needs to stay out of my stuff and just ask. I have nightmares about my shampoo bottle getting filled with blue dye by those two oafs, or something worse."
"I'll have a word with him."
A comm hail buzzed on my bracelet. "This is Balls."
"This is Herman Faulk. The Fracker will be ready for flight test within the hour. I thought you would want to know."
"All back to normal?"
"It is. With the exception of the generator room. Because of the armor failures you had during your last outing, we've made the effort to reinforce that section. Without extensive testing I can't say how much better the protection surrounding those generators should be, but it should be improved."
"We'll have to negotiate a price for that once we return. And thanks for getting that done."
"You are welcome and there will be
no need for compensation. You still have a substantial credit with us from that Warstalker hull. We're hoping by next year to have a full frigate design to try to sell to the CDF. And I believe our design will not only be superior, but we may be able to cut as much as a third off their current cost."
"Trying to go legit on us, are you?"
"At least partially so."
The comm closed with a smile.
"She ready?" Mendez asked.
"Within the hour."
The last of our supplies were loaded, and the container was moved to the main dock. The Fracker was collected and the supply container dropped aboard by a series of giant cranes. Most ships our size or larger had an externally loadable cargo hold. With the deed done, we performed our final checks.
Sammy said, "I'm showing eight bios aboard."
Collins came hustling up the ramp carrying a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers.
Mendez's expression turned into one of curiosity. "Who are those for? You bringing a date?"
"Just for a friend who's having a bad day. Now, excuse me I need to get these in some water."
Mendez turned to face me with a concerned look. "That thing you said before about them getting sweet on me, you were just kidding, right?"
I chuckled. "You've been messing around with people who love to mess around. Be careful how you tread."
The hatch was closed and sealed. As we backed away from the dock, Collins returned from the back with a makeshift vase. The flowers had been placed inside in a nice arrangement. Mendez drew in a worried breath and began to mumble as Collins walked our way. I had to again chuckle when he turned and handed them to Xurpok.
"Flowers. There you go."
Xurpok looked over the dozen stems before reaching down with his teeth and biting off about half the buds.
Collins returned a look of amused horror. "Dude? What are you doing? Those aren't for eating. They're for smelling. I thought we went over this?"
Xurpok set the vase to the side. "They aren't very good anyway. The flowers on my world are much more succulent."
Collins shook his head as he turned away. "You're a trip, Xurpok. You keep doing stuff like that and we're gonna have to change your name from tornado to weed-eater or something."
Tanner picked up the vase and handed it to Mendez. "Here, you might find these more appetizing."
Mendez shoved them back. "And you might want to be careful those don't wind up poking out of your—"
I put myself between the two. "Let's de-escalate this now. It's a three-week run to Deneb and we don't need the extra tension. Bad enough that we again don't have any intel as to what has actually taken place. So how about you kids play nice for the ride out?"
Tanner handed the half-eaten bouquet back to Xurpok. "You can finish these if you want. She's not hungry."
At the halfway point of the journey we were passed a message by a merc ship that was heading the other way.
It read: Outpost was overrun. Four enormous ships are in orbit. A battleship and two cruisers were utterly defeated while only inflicting moderate pain on one of the four ships. Proceed with caution. A new staging area is in the vicinity of the outpost at Gamma Cygni. End.
Sammy frowned. "If they've pulled all the way back to the Gamma outpost they must be worried. That's at least a hundred jumps from there."
I said, "It's also likely a mistake. If a single ship jumps in from that direction they'll lead those ships right to that outpost. With four of those Herzek warships out there we might lose the entire Cygni sector."
"How many outposts are we talking?"
I pulled up a starmap. "Thirty-two. Probably two hundred thousand lives. There are five habitable planets in that region. It has been talked about for expansion for some time, if we could ever finish up with the Maxans. That war has been a resource drain for a hundred twelve years now."
~~~~~
Once again, this Human is asking for your help! If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on the site where it was purchased. And by all means, please tell your friends! Any help with spreading the word is highly appreciated!
Join my email list! By joining, find out when the next exciting release is available or when a special might be being offered. Join at [email protected]. Visit the author’s website at www.arsenex.com for links to this series and other works!
Thank you for reading my work! I hope you have a great day!
Stephen
Books by Stephen Arseneault
* * *
SODIUM-AMP-OMEGA Trilogy Series
SODIUM:
Butchered, abandoned.
Dissected like lab rats.
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This six-book saga takes Man from his first encounter with aliens back in 1957, all the way to a fight for our all-out survival in the future. If you love tales written in the style of the science fiction masters, prepare yourself for full immersion in this fantastic adventure! Get it here!
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The Squad Novelettes 1-5 Page 16