Hard Strike

by Eric Thomson

  He stood, took one last look at his surroundings, and then glanced up at the starlit sky, hoping Talyn would receive the pickup signal on his first try. One hour wasn’t much time to get away from Amali Island, even with the battlesuit’s propulsion system.

  One last obstacle remained, however. A strip of open ground bordering the water’s edge. Only a few dozen meters, but enough for some sharp-eyed guard to notice a curious blur distorting a landscape faintly lit by the resort’s lights.

  Decker reached the final tree line and dropped to the ground. He pushed himself out into the open, eyes and ears alert for any evidence of human or robotic activity nearby. When nothing of note triggered his augmented senses, Decker crawled through the short grass, then down the sandy shore until water lapped at his helmet.

  The battlesuit, while positively buoyant, behaved more like a semi-submersible in salt water. He switched back to canned air, hoping enough remained after his fall through the upper atmosphere to last until Talyn arrived.

  Once in deeper water, Decker turned onto his back and activated the suit’s propulsion module. One tap and he began to move effortlessly through the water at several times the speed of the fastest swimming creature in the known galaxy. But his range was limited; barely enough to leave the bomb’s immediate danger zone. After a suitable interval, he activated the suit’s emergency beacon, conscious anyone scanning in his direction would notice an unusual signal emanating from the water’s surface.

  Forty-five minutes passed in silence. Semi-submerged as he was, Decker quickly lost sight of Amali’s gleaming little kingdom, though the glow of its lights remained above his minuscule horizon, decreasing with each kilometer of distance.

  Finally, a soft whine cut through the monotonous sounds of water passing over his helmet and a black shape blocked out the stars. It came ever closer until stopping to hover within arm’s reach before gently touching down. Decker switched off the MHD drives and swam for the shuttle’s side, where a hatch swung open to welcome him. He half climbed, half slithered on board, dripping water on the craft’s metal deck.

  The hatch closed with a muffled clang, and he felt the craft lift off again.

  “Come here often, Big Boy?” Talyn asked from the cockpit.

  Decker wrenched his helmet off and tucked it under one of the aft compartment’s seats.

  “Only my second visit, ma’am. How about you?”

  “My second visit as well, but I seem to have picked up the same Marine again. Though he looks a lot healthier and happier than last time. It went well?”

  “Outstanding, ma’am, just fucking outstanding.”

  “Oorah!”

  Decker shook off the last droplets and joined Talyn in the cockpit.

  “See, you learned something from me since our last time in these parts, even if it’s only how to pronounce the Marine Corps’ ancient and noble war cry without massacring it.”

  “How long until the premature sunrise?”

  He checked his timepiece.

  “Four minutes. Amali was hosting a party. Many of the worst people were in attendance, folks whose mugshots adorn our assassination wish list.”

  Decker rattled off a few names and approval lit up her face as she nodded.

  “Nice. And ironic. They plotted to blow up the Locarno Conference. Now, we’re doing it to them, with the MHX they stole from us.”

  “Indeed, and on the anniversary of our first meeting too, my dear. I can’t help but think we somehow came full circle.” He glanced at the time again. “Give us a rear view, will you?”

  “Getting philosophical in your old age?” She switched the cockpit’s secondary display to show the tiny speck of light that was Amali Island, now far in the distance. “Or are you regretting your life with me during the intervening years?”

  “Regrets? Perhaps a couple, but you’re not one of them, sweetie.”

  A white bloom soundlessly blotted out the night with enough suddenness to take both operatives by surprise.

  Talyn let out a low whistle.

  “For a reason I can’t fathom that was even more spectacular than the last one we saw while flying away at top speed.”

  “Only innocent trees and animals died in the nature preserve. This time, few, if any true innocents were vaporized. Killing in job lots with the highest of non-nuclear explosives tends to send a shiver up your spine.”

  Something in his voice caught Talyn’s attention. She took her eyes off the rapidly fading mini-nova and glanced at her partner.

  “Let me guess. One of your regrets is becoming inured at causing so much death even though we probably saved countless lives by taking a bunch of power-hungry sociopaths off the board.”

  “Or we could have condemned even more to die because of what we did tonight. That’s the thing with playing God when we’re mere mortals. We can hardly predict first-order effects with relative certainty, especially beyond the immediate future, let along second and third-order effects.” He sighed. “I could be getting too old and too tired for this business.”

  “We are overdue for a long furlough, and tonight should give the Fleet time to breathe while the enemy deals with its losses. The commodore shouldn’t balk at granting us two or three months of rest.” She smiled at him. “How do twelve weeks of intercourse and intoxication sound?”

  “Right now? Heavenly.” He grinned back at her. “And what will you do during that time?”

  Talyn stuck her tongue out at him.

  “I sure you’re not the only explosives expert capable of blowing my mind, honey.”

  “But I’m the only one who knows your triggers.” He sat back and stared at the rear view display. “That was one hell of a detonation, though. If ever the Master Gunner School invites me as a guest speaker, I’ll be able to tell a classroom of attentive senior noncoms what creating a big bang is like.”

  “It’ll remain one of your many fantasies. HQ will give this business a security classification that will forbid us from even remembering it, let alone telling anyone.”

  “Sadly. When future historians write my biography, they’ll find my service record pretty damn flimsy thanks to all the redactions.”

  “They might not find mine, period,” Talyn replied, “so don’t feel too sorry for yourself.”

  Decker let out a disconsolate grunt. After a long pause, he asked, “Do you think the commodore will chew us each a new asshole for stretching the spirit of our orders beyond the breaking point?”

  “Yep. If not him, then Admiral Kruczek.”

  “Maybe Sandor can drop us off somewhere nice on the way home so we can start our furlough a bit earlier and without that messy business of reporting back after blowing a hole into the crust of a sovereign Commonwealth planet.”

  “And spend the rest of our lives on the run from Commodore Ulrich’s wrath? Pass. We’ll take our lumps like the professionals we are.”

  “That’s what I thought you’d say. But we’re still on for that twelve weeks of I&I, right?”

  “Of course. After we do our penance.”

  — Forty-Eight —

  “Enter.”

  Commander Hera Talyn and Lieutenant Colonel Zack Decker, she in naval blue service dress, he wearing Marine Corps black, stepped into Commodore Kos Ulrich’s office and stomped to attention a regulation three paces in front of his desk. They saluted as one and held their hands to their brows while Ulrich studied them with hard eyes before returning the compliment.

  “At ease.” When they complied, he said, “Congratulations on your promotion, Zack. The new rank suits you.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “If we’d known what you two commissioned lunatics were planning before the orders were cut, I might have suggested the Commandant reconsider signing them.”

  “Yes, sir,” Decker replied.

  “Is that all you can say for yourselves? Yes, sir?” The chill in Ulrich’s tone dropped the ambient temperature by another degree. “Admiral Kruczek is furious, not just at wh
at you did without authorization but at having to lie to the Grand Admiral. We are in the business of surgical strikes and targeted assassinations, not terrorist-style bombings. The remaining MHX-19 should have come home with you.”

  “Sir, you saw my recording of Amali Island. We—”

  Ulrich raised his hand, palm facing outward.

  “I’m not done yet, Colonel. Admiral Kruczek has ordered that I formally reprimand both of you for grossly overstepping your orders and for terminating Coalition members without authorization. I won’t even mention the collateral damage, which we will never establish with any degree of certainty. I’ll note the reprimands in your service records, without specifics, since your jaunt to Pacifica never happened. So far, the Grand Admiral has successfully refuted any accusations from Earth that we’re responsible because he believes Admiral Kruczek’s assertion Naval Intelligence never authorized the attack. Officially, we think a faction of the Coalition opposed to Sadoc Amali’s handling of the Rim Sector business was responsible. At least you had the grace to avoid involving your comrades from the 1st Special Forces Regiment. Do you understand how your decision to play avenging angels almost caused fatal damage to our freedom of action?”

  “Yes, sir,” Decker and Talyn replied in unison.

  “Ass chewing over. Sit.” Ulrich pointed at the chairs facing him. “Unofficially, and I’ll deny I ever said this, Admiral Kruczek wishes, and I quote, Naval Intelligence had more officers able and willing to take the fight deep into enemy territory, no matter the consequences to their careers. Well done.”

  Decker and Talyn glanced at each other. “Told you,” the former murmured.

  “We can argue about acceptable and unacceptable methods until the end of time,” Ulrich continued, “but no one can argue about the results. The Coalition lost three-quarters of its most senior leadership that night, effectively ending it as a political and economic threat for the near future. Initial reports coming from our various field offices show half the zaibatsus in the Commonwealth struggling with succession issues while the Sécurité Spéciale’s upper ranks are in a death match to decide who becomes the next director general. I’m sure you caught wind of the Senate’s bitter debates on the replacement of the Home World senators who died that night on this morning’s newscast.”

  “Why do I hear a ‘but’ coming?” Talyn asked.

  “Because you’re one heck of a sharp agent, Hera. This was your last mission as field operatives. Your luck is bound to run out some day and the Fleet needs your services in other capacities.”

  Decker cursed under his breath.

  “I fucking knew it.”

  Ulrich gave him a sharp look.

  “Sorry, sir.”

  “Late last night, Admiral Kruczek signed your promotion orders, Hera. Congratulations. You get to put up a fourth stripe. Once we’re done here, I’ll call everyone together in the main conference room, and announce it formally. With the promotion comes a permanent assignment as chief of staff of the Special Operations Division.”

  When he noticed the disappointment in her eyes, he said, in a gentler tone, “I need to prepare my successor, Hera. The boss recently told me I’m next in line as Deputy Chief of Naval Intelligence for Operations, which leaves two years at most to make sure you’re ready for this job and your first star. I don’t know anyone better suited than you.”

  Talyn nodded her acceptance of the news.

  “I exist to serve the Commonwealth. What about the Marine here?”

  She jerked her thumb at Decker.

  “He finally gets to go home. As much as it pains me to lose you, Zack, the experience you gained working with Hera will be invaluable when you take up your new duties as the commanding officer of A Squadron, 1st Special Forces Regiment.”

  Decker’s face lit up with surprise.

  “No shit, sir?”

  “Not even a whiff. In the next few days, A Squadron will be re-designated as SOCOM’s principal black ops unit, and you’re the best placed to make it happen. Colonel Martinson asked for you by name when SOCOM laid the new task on his regiment. He figures you’re the only Marine officer with the right combination of qualifications, experience, and professional standing in the Pathfinder and Special Forces community. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Ulrich waved his thanks away.

  “You earned it fair and square, Colonel. Now, why don’t we turn Hera into a Commonwealth Navy captain and then you can be off on your furlough. Martinson doesn’t expect your smiling face at Fort Arnhem for at least eight weeks. It will take them that long to shift things around and prepare A Squadron for its transformation, and I’ve lasted without a permanent chief of staff since Manfred’s death anyhow.”

  As they stood, Decker turned to his now ex-partner.

  “It’s been one hell of a ride, darling. And I’m sorry it has to end.”

  “You know there’s regular air service between Carrick and Sanctum, right? You can be home in under an hour every Friday afternoon.” When he stared at her without replying, she chuckled. “You didn’t think I’d let you slip away that easily. Once I replace the commodore, I want what every chief of intelligence black ops needs — her own contingent of door kickers. Besides, my life would be dull without you.”

  Decker blew her a kiss.

  “I love you too, Hera.”

  **

  Later, as they were returning to their quarters via one of the underground corridors connecting the Fleet HQ complex’s various buildings, Decker nudged Talyn and murmured, “Watch this.”

  He nodded toward a middle-aged, tired looking Marine officer coming from the other direction, head down, preoccupied with something on the tablet in his left hand.

  When the officer neared them, Decker barked out, “Good morning, Captain Sarratt. And how are you?”

  He looked up and at first, noticed only a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and a Navy captain. His right hand snapped up out of reflex to salute.

  A fraction of a second later, his brain processed what his eyes saw, and he recognized the man wearing 1st Special Forces Regiment badges.

  Sarratt’s mouth opened in astonishment while his eyes bugged out of their sockets. “You—”

  It came out as a strangled sound. Then he appeared to lose his ability to speak.

  “I’m doing fine as you might have noticed, Captain, thanks for asking. If you ever need a recommendation from a former Pathfinder comrade, look me up in Fort Arnhem. I’m taking command of A Squadron, 1st SFR in a few weeks. In the meantime, have a blessed day.”

  They left him standing in the corridor, struck mute and staring at their receding backs.

  “You thoroughly enjoyed that, didn’t you?” Talyn asked once they turned a corner and lost sight of Sarratt.

  “More than you could ever imagine, my dear.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Life is good and getting better.”

  About the Author

  Eric Thomson is the pen name of a retired Canadian soldier with thirty-one years of service, both in the Regular Army and the Army Reserve. He spent his Regular Army career in the Infantry and his Reserve service in the Armoured Corps.

  Eric has been a voracious reader of science fiction, military fiction, and history all his life. Several years ago, he put fingers to keyboard and started writing his own military sci-fi, with a definite space opera slant, using many of his own experiences as a soldier for inspiration.

  When he’s not writing fiction, Eric indulges in his other passions: photography, hiking, and scuba diving, all of which he shares with his wife.

  Join Eric Thomson at http://www.thomsonfiction.ca/

  where you’ll find news about upcoming books and more information about the universe in which his heroes fight for humanity’s survival.

  Read his blog at https://ericthomsonblog.wordpress.com

  If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Goodreads or with your favorite online retailer to he
lp others discover it.

  Also by Eric Thomson

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  Victory’s Bright Dawn (Siobhan Dunmoore Book 4)

  Without Mercy (Siobhan Dunmoore Book 5)

  Decker’s War

  Death Comes But Once (Decker’s War Book 1)

  Cold Comfort (Decker’s War Book 2)

  Fatal Blade (Decker’s War Book 3)

  Howling Stars (Decker’s War Book 4)

  Black Sword (Decker’s War Book 5)

  No Remorse (Decker’s War Book 6)

  Hard Strike (Decker’s War Book 7)

  Quis Custodiet

  The Warrior’s Knife (Quis Custodiet No 1)

  Ashes of Empire

  Imperial Sunset (Ashes of Empire #1)

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