The division commander authorized block leave for all personnel. Everyone was released for thirty days. This caused Sergeant Ingrid Solbrig a problem. She had been so busy getting the command tank prepared for movement that she had forgotten to make plans. She walked back to the barracks and while everyone else was packing for the pleasure enclave of Cooper or to visit the adrenalin adventure venues on Grissom, Ingrid made last minute arrangements and packed for Earth’s Virgin Islands. She wanted to go somewhere away from all other soldiers and do something she had always wanted to. She signed up for a three-week open water sailing course. She packed several swimsuits, some resort clothes, and caught the shuttle to the spaceport.
A cute guy sat next to her, so shy he wouldn’t look at her, except when he thought she wasn’t looking. When they arrived at the terminal, she turned right inside the terminal and he turned left. Checking in, she dropped her bag on the scale and took her boarding pass. She headed for her gate and saw him in the line she just left. She wondered if he got lost or just turned the wrong way entering the terminal.
She got to her gate early and found a coffee shop. When she went to pay she heard, “I’ll get this.” She turned to find Mr. Cute Guy standing there with his credit chit in hand.
“Let me get this. It’s the least I can do seeing as we’ll be sitting together on the trip to Earth.”
“How do you know we’ll be sitting together?”
“Because I paid extra to switch seats to be next to you.”
The barista broke in and said, “Do you want this coffee or not?”
“My name is Brad Mason,” he said to Ingrid, then told the barista, “I’ll have another of the same. Here’s my chit.”
Brad paid, Ingrid took both coffees, and they moved to the still empty gate area and sat down together.
He smiled and said, “So tell me, where we are going?”
“Where we are going? I don’t know where you are going, but I’m going where there aren’t any soldiers.”
He looked devastated. “No soldiers? Where is this paradise?”
Ingrid was about to answer when she stopped and asked to see inside his backpack.
He smiled sheepishly and showed inside his pack. There were ski goggles, a ski hat, and heavy gloves.
“It’s a place you would be way overdressed for.”
With pleading eyes, he said, “Please, when I saw you on the shuttle, I had to find out who you were. I cancelled my plans and changed my flight to follow you. If I’m overdressed, I’ll buy what I need when I get there. Where are we going?”
Ingrid laughed. “I’m going to the Virgin Islands on Earth to spend three weeks on a sailboat learning to sail, but I have the last berth on the boat, which I booked this morning. Here is their number. Maybe there will be a cancellation.”
Brad picked up his coffee from the small table where Ingrid had set it. He walked off, saying he’d be right back. Twenty minutes later he returned as they were calling the flight for first boarding. He sat down next to her and said, “How many swimsuits do you think I should pick up?”
Ingrid’s eyes got big, “You are joking! You got in on a cancellation?”
“Yes. What make boat shoes do you recommend?”
Ingrid could not believe this guy. He was starting to grow on her, though. Having your own guy onboard a sailboat on the open sea could be quite handy. On the other hand, if she found a better deal, she didn’t owe him anything. She could grow to like this.
* * * * *
Evan completed the run from the T’Kab home world and rendezvoused with the Xerxes and Vice Admiral Conover. The Admiral called for Evan as soon as he could dock and show up, so Evan gathered his briefing material and set out for Flag Country. He was ushered into the Admiral’s holographic tank and saw that every seat was filled. Inserting his data cube, he brought up the image of the T’Kab home world. He pointed out the capitol complex, the main military compound, and the shipyard space stations. A new conquest fleet was forming and one already formed waited on the restored annihilation ship. Three space stations were festooned with Human, K’Rang, and Angaerry ships of every class – missing warships of every navy, even some pirate and marauder ships.
Vice Admiral Conover wondered out loud, “What happened to the crews? I shudder to think. Do you think any of them are still serviceable? Quite a few of them look like hangar queens just used for parts.”
Evan answered, “None of them had an internal heat signature, so they are probably not serviceable, Admiral.”
He changed images to two systems about ten light years from the home world’s system, which Evan described as guard worlds. “Each system has a class M planet with a yellow dwarf star. They are almost Earth clones with open liquid water. They have two home world protection fleets, consisting of one missile defense ship the size of the annihilation ship, eight destroyers, 20 frigates and a handful of resupply and support ships. It’s nothing that our combined fleets can’t handle. I saw no evidence of space defense weaponry, but I was only there a week.
“On my way back, I encountered twelve systems with signs of T’Kab higher civilization. I overtook and killed six pods as I returned.
“Sir, if there are no questions, this concludes my briefing.”
Vice Admiral Conover stood, walked into the middle of the hologram, and addressed his commanders. “I will send this info to Geneva, with a request to hold the Behemoths’ loaded units from invading the fifth planet and instead use them, the Angaerry marines, and the K’Rang unified forces to invade the T’Kab home world. Staff, I want maps prepared from Lieutenant Commander Gardner’s data and circulated to every operations staff, including the K’Rang and Angaerry. I want an analysis of their home world from a military perspective. Get to work, people. I want briefings on these in two weeks, with a draft invasion plan. That is all. Ladies and gentlemen, dismissed. Lieutenant Commander Gardner, come with me.”
Gardner fell in on the admiral’s left as they left the holographic tank and walked down to the admiral’s small conference room. The admiral stepped through the door and waved Evan in. “Come on in and have a seat, Evan.”
The admiral poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Evan.
“Damn good work, Evan. I’m putting your ship in for an E.”
Evan almost dropped his coffee. An E for excellence from Fleet was almost unheard of for Scout Force ships. He only knew of one other scout ship, the Vigilant, which had gotten one. He would feel pretty good landing at Antares Base and showing it off to the other captains.
“Thank you, sir. I owe it all to my crew.”
“Don’t be too modest, Commander. You’d have taken the blame for any misdeeds, so don’t be afraid to take credit where it’s due. Get all your data to my Intel officer and he’ll get it back to whoever needs it.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“Now drink your coffee and tell me about yourself and your fellow captains. They are considering making all scout ship captains’ next assignment as an advisor to Flag staffs on carriers. Let me know what I’d be getting.”
Evan didn’t look favorably on two space assignments in a row. It would play havoc on marriages and he told the admiral so.
“Evan, that has been considered, but you guys are a valuable commodity and too many of you get your walking papers or languish in backwater jobs. At least one or two of you should make the admirals’ list each time it comes out. We are wasting valuable and experienced captains. It can’t hurt to have another two or three-star FitRep in your records. Hasselrode can only do so much for you guys by himself. Get some Fleet Flag Officers reports in your record and some of you guys can have shiny sleeves, too.”
Evan reflected on what the admiral said and then started telling him about the sixteen captains of Scout Force.
Chapter Fourteen
Ingrid was having a blast. There were three men and three women aboard the Adventurer, a 21-meter ketch out of Redhook Bay. In addition, there was Johann, the captain, and Ilsa, th
e cook. The course was laid in for Saint Martin for two days of clubbing and gambling. It was an easy sail, with plenty of breeze to pull them along and make the sailing lively.
It was such a pleasure in a high tech world to experience something so raw and elemental as sailing where the wind controlled your fate. If it blew, you moved. If it didn’t, you didn’t.
At his guests’ insistence, Johann turned off the high tech conveniences that allowed him to sail the Adventurer single-handed, if needed. All they used were sightings, speed, log, depth, wind direction, wind speed and course plot, the minimum for safety and sailing.
Brad turned out to be a gem. He was polite and courteous and knew a bit more about sailing then he initially let on. Johann recognized he was no newbie and had him help teach the rest. He helped Ingrid time the winching to tack the boat without engulfing her in his arms, not that she’d have minded. He had a ton of personality and was the center of evening conversations, keeping the talk going without being domineering.
The rest of their crew consisted of Mary, a real estate agent from Tampa, Don, a lawyer from Seville, and Doris and Temple, a married couple from Atlantic City. They were a fairly harmonious group, with no tensions or quirks that irritated anyone else. Sounds from Johann’s cabin late one night suggested that the real estate agent might have taken him up on his quiet hint of availability.
The men tended to sit in the cockpit in the bimini’s shade. The women occupied the foredeck and sunned in minimal to no attire. The men were solicitous enough to come forward and offer to apply suntan lotion. Brad was the favorite for this, as he kept his hands away from the jiggly bits unless given permission. Ingrid liked the feel of his warm hands on her and gradually gave him more and more freedom. He took his time and did not rush her, but it was obvious that he was only attracted to her, even though others liked his hands. Ilsa made a big play for his attention, dancing topless in his lap after dinner one evening, but she slept alone that night. The next night, Ingrid invited him into her cabin.
They were a couple from then on. They hit the clubs and casinos in Saint Martin and made it through the two nights with more money than they started with. Ingrid put a fifty-credit chip on the roulette table and won a bundle. They spent the rest of the night dancing and buying drinks for the rest of the crew, then retired to the Adventurer and partied until the marina manager finally broke it up at 0400.
Late that afternoon, after Ilsa’s hangover special breakfast, they loosed their lines and sailed for Virgin Gorda, leaving so late that an overnight passage was required. Johann divided the crew into watches and Brad and Ingrid took the midnight to four watch.
It was a beautiful night, with a bright moon shining down on the rippling water. Ingrid lay back in Brad’s arms and they talked. “Brad, I know we promised not to talk shop, but will there be time for us when we’re deployed?”
Brad kept silent for almost a moment too long, then said, “I don’t know. What unit are you with?”
She told him and he said, “We’ll have to make time. You’re in 1st Brigade. I’m in the Aviation Brigade. We’ll have to seize any time available. I don’t know how long we’ll be campaigning. If it’s short, we meet when we get back. If it’s long, we see if we can get R&R time together. I don’t want this to be just a shipboard romance. I want to see a lot of you.”
Ingrid snuggled deeper into his arms and said, “I want the same.”
The watch passed uneventfully, with the autopilot holding them on course and the radar alerting them to any danger, the two modern conveniences a sop to their earlier hungover state. The Adventurer arrived at Virgin Gorda early in the morning and found a mooring off the famous Baths.
Over the next few days, they swam and explored the large and small islands as they slowly worked their way back to Redhook Bay, and Ingrid and Brad fell deeper in love.
The Adventurer finally pulled into Redhook Bay and tied up at her slip, setting fenders to hold her back from the pier. Ingrid and Brad helped Johann and Ilsa clean the boat, then took a taxi to a downtown hotel for their last night in the Virgin Islands. They visited the jewelry shops normally focusing on the luxury liner trade and Brad directed Ingrid to the rings. He asked her hypothetically what type of ring she would like to be presented with. She kissed him, said yes, and pointed to a plain gold band set with a small inset diamond on the wider of the two bands. He had it sized for her finger and dropped to his knee in the store to make it official, applauded by the staff and customers.
The next morning, they boarded their transport for Miami and back to Gagarin. It was a three-hour flight to the spaceport in Georgia and a one-hour flight to Gagarin through the gates. At lunch, Ingrid learned her future husband was a flight officer flying a GA-122 ground attack ship, capable of dropping from space to the ground and hitting over a dozen targets with its precision munitions. The GA-122 was also a tank-killer with a kinetic rail gun.
Ingrid told Brad she was a sergeant commanding a company command tank. They were both impressed with each other. After lunch, Brad reported back into his unit and Ingrid reported into hers only to find that their deployment was being reconsidered. She asked if anyone knew when they might deploy and was told that was being discussed by individuals of much higher rank, but her commander didn’t think it would be long because they hadn’t called the Behemoth’s lighters back to offload their equipment.
* * * * *
Kelly was called to Duke G’Rof’s suite of offices just before G’Durin’s star went down. He had been pointed to a seat and asked to wait. He had been waiting over six hours now and no one so much as looked his way. Finally, a slim sleek female with shiny dark brown fur came up to him.
“Captain Blake, I am Shadow Leader T’Jana. We apologize for making you wait and thank you for being so patient. If you will come with me, all will become apparent.”
She led Kelly through the office into the secure area beyond. They walked down a dimly lit hallway to a sliding metal door. The door slid open as they approached and Kelly entered into the former high value target, which had previously been a liquor distillery disguising a Shadow Force research facility.
Kelly entered the secret underground command bunker. The K’Rang led him down corridor after corridor, until they came to a guarded steel door. The shadow leader presented her credentials and the guards came to attention and held the doors for them.
The circular room was massive. A round table sat in the middle of the room and five older K’Rang sat there. Arrayed in five tiers behind and above them in theater seating with consoles were five rows of younger K’Rang. Kelly asked, “What is this place?”
The shadow leader replied, “It is the Imperial General Staff Special Studies Group. The K’Rang below us at the round table are three former unified force commanders with extensive combat experience and two former armada commanders. They have been analyzing the data sent to us from the Vengeful. They have determined…wait, let me have them brief you.”
She escorted Kelly over and introduced him to M’Juna, B’Tan, and G’Kac, the former unified force commanders. She introduced him to K’Rel and S’Tec, former Armada commanders. The group was not comfortable with Kelly in the room. The K’Rang in the theater seating had gone silent when Kelly entered the room. M’Juna stood and said, “Captain Blake, we’ve heard much about you. You commanded the Orion at the battle of G’Durin, did you not?”
“Yes, I did.”
M’Juna turned to the other four and said, “The Orion damaged or destroyed one-third of the Home Defense Armada as it rushed to the defense of G’Durin. A regiment of their heavy attack ships destroyed the rest. The Orion also destroyed the system fleet of the six planets liberated from the Angaerry. Captain Blake was a very busy Human during the events leading up to the battle of G’Durin.”
S’Tec came over. “I commanded the Home Defense Armada. Your tactics working with the heavy attack ships were impeccable. You took out our missile defense craft and moved aside while the ships came in on u
s. Your movement around our flank was a classic maneuver. If I hadn’t been getting pounded to pieces, I might have been impressed more. I bear you no ill will, Captain Blake, but it will be a while before I can accept any Human as an ally.”
T’Jana got their attention and asked that they brief Captain Kelly on the results of their analysis, but not before Kelly informed them he watched shipmates die at G’Durin also. A flicker of understanding formed and the five put their paws on Kelly’s shoulder and growled in the K’Rang sign of acceptance of a fellow warrior.
M’Juna started the briefing.
“The T’Kab in the colonies and the T’Kab on the home and guard worlds are totally different. The home and guard world populations live almost exclusively above ground. We can see no evidence of burrows among the population centers. The sentient T’Kab don’t care to live in the dirt, it seems. The T’Kab home world is not that different from Earth or the Angaerry home world. It has cities with mass transit, personal transportation, high rises, stores, markets, and suburbs. It is when we leave the cities that it gets very disturbing.
“This picture is of an agricultural endeavor. Notice the open air pens here.”
Kelly saw some sort of feeding operation going on.
“Now, let me zoom in two power, four power, eight power…”
Kelly jumped out of his seat to look more closely at the holograph. “My God, those are bipeds. Zoom closer.”
M’Juna zoomed to 20 power and it was very clearly humans, K’Rang, and Angaerry in those pens.
Kelly asked, “How many more places like this are there?”
M’Juna answered, “There are hundreds, maybe thousands, and slaughterhouses and retail shops. We followed their transports from the farm to the feedlots, to the slaughterhouses, and into the stores.”
“Okay, gentlemen, you gave me the why, now give me the how.”
All Enemies Foreign and Domestic (Kelly Blake series) Page 17