by John Bowers
“The rebel artillery was a curious thing,” Danby said. “It seems that nobody knew the rebels had a couple of batteries up in the hills. They had to halt the operation until the gunsleds could neutralize them.”
Nick nodded. Danby was still talking, but Nick’s mind drifted. If only DuBose had listened to him! If only the Prussian hadn’t been so concerned about pissing off the locals! Assaulting those massive buildings without artillery prep was insane.
He should feel angry, but what was the point? It was too late to save those Star Marines who had died in the square. Hopefully the brass had learned something from this—when you mixed politics with battlefield strategy, it never turned out well. Never had, throughout history.
“Private?”
Nick jerked back to the moment and looked at Danby. The chaplain was smiling.
“You okay there?”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I just—I was thinking about the guys who got killed. What were you saying?”
“I was asking how you’re doing. After losing your father.”
“Oh…I’m okay. I will be. It’s going to take time, but I can do my job.”
“Glad to hear it. If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll be okay.”
Chapter 14
After Danby left, Nick retrieved another cup of coffee and returned to the lounge. It was cool here, and relaxing. Outside the window, the city bustled with its normal Saturday routine. Inside the lounge several patients, both military and civilian, milled about. Some of the civilians had visitors, but the military wounded sat alone. Nick visited with a couple of them, but after a few minutes got the feeling that his presence was tiring them out. After a time he returned to his window.
Sometime in the early afternoon, he saw a young woman enter the lounge. She was in uniform, but wasn’t a Star Marine. He recognized her branch of service immediately—she wore fatigue pants, but they were tailored to hug her curves in a seductive manner; her blouse, though easily identified as military, was pink—which almost matched her red hair—and low-cut, revealing far too much mouth-watering cleavage.
Nick watched as she circulated among the other wounded, talking to each one for several minutes. She kissed a couple of them on the forehead before moving on.
Nick hoped she would ignore him, but she didn’t. As if she had saved him for last, she headed in his direction, walking with a seductive swing to her hips. She stopped six feet away and bathed him with a smile. She was a gorgeous girl. Her name tag said RUBY.
“Hi, there, Star Marine. How are you doing?”
Nick didn’t smile. “I’m alive.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Want some company?”
“Not really.”
“No? I can’t sit down?”
He shrugged. “I don’t own the hospital.”
Still smiling, she took the same chair Lt. Danby had recently vacated. She crossed her legs and leaned back, her lush, full breasts thrusting forward against the limits of her blouse.
“My name is Ruby. What’s yours?”
“Nick.”
“Nice to meet you, Nick. Where you from?”
“Like you really care.” He leaned forward. “Look, Ruby, I know what you are and why you’re here, but I’m not interested. I don’t go to bed with women I don’t care about.”
Her smile disappeared. She looked a little shocked.
“Well, I’m sorry if I offended you…Nick. But if I read your message correctly, you should know that I care about every man I go to bed with.”
“Sure you do.”
Ruby also leaned forward, giving him an even more intimate view of her assets.
“Okay, smart-ass, if you don’t want to, then you don’t want to. But don’t insult me or my profession. I serve the Federation just like you do.”
He clamped his lips shut and stared out the window.
“I take it that you already have a girlfriend?”
He nodded and held up his right hand. He flexed his fingers as if milking a cow.
“Sure do. She never gets a headache and she never cheats on me.”
Ruby sat back again.
“I see. Somebody already broke your heart.”
He stared at her without a reply. After a few seconds she got to her feet.
“Okay, then. I hope you get better. Have a nice life, Nick.”
She turned and started to slink away. Nick watched her a moment, then called out.
“Why do you do it?”
She turned back, surprise in her eyes.
“What?”
“Why do you do it? I mean, what inspires a girl to join the military as a paid whore?”
Ruby walked back and sat down again. Red spots appeared on her cheeks.
“Is that what this is about? You’re some kind of religious fanatic?”
“No. But I’ve always wondered. Most of the Pink Ladies I’ve met are pretty hot, so they could easily make their way in civilian life. What makes them do what they do?”
Ruby’s expression softened a little.
“So you want to know my life story?”
“No, just answer my question. Why are you in the Domestic Service?”
“Sorry, but the answer to that requires my life story.”
Nick shrugged. “Okay, forget I asked.”
She didn’t move. She stared at him for ten seconds, debating. She glanced at her watch, then crossed her legs again.
“I’m a preacher’s kid. My daddy is one of those fire and brimstone preachers who thinks the ancient Puritans were much too promiscuous. The human body is ugly and shameful. Sex is sin unless it’s for procreation, and even then should never be enjoyed. Doing anything for pleasure, including drinking, dancing, or playing cards, is an affront to the Almighty. That’s what I grew up in, and when my body started to develop, I had to wear what amounted to a strait jacket so my tits wouldn’t show.”
Nick felt his face begin to burn, but didn’t interrupt her.
“For all my daddy’s tyrannical passion, he has a very definite blind spot. He admires anybody who can publicly pray in stentorian tones, and we had two or three men in the congregation who were very good at that. One of them, a certain Brother Knox, was a good looking man, forty-two years old, and very ‘righteous’. He was still single, but that never triggered any suspicions in Daddy’s mind. I guess it never occurred to him that pedophiles gravitate to environments where their motives are never questioned. He thought Brother Knox would make a great husband for me, and I was encouraged to date him, even though I was only fifteen.”
Nick’s pulse pounded harder. He felt his chest constrict. He could almost write the rest of her story without hearing it.
Ruby continued.
“I didn’t want to do it. I cried and begged Daddy not to make me, but he stood firm, and I went on my first date with Brother Knox. On that first date, he raped me three times, and when I told Daddy about it, he gave me the beating of my life. It was my fault, he said. Looking like I did, what man could help himself? The only solution was to marry him right away to keep the story quiet.”
Ruby stopped. Tears leaked from her eyes; she took a moment to wipe them and catch her breath. She looked up again.
“Whores aren’t born, Nick, they’re made. I’ve never met a girl yet, in or out of the Domestic Service, whose lifetime ambition was to open her legs for any man with a couple of terros. Every single one I’ve talked to has a backstory, and it’s never a pretty one. In my case, I ran away. I’ve only given you one example of my life as a child, but that was the breaking point. Rather than marry that lascivious pig, I ran as far as I could. I ended up in Atlanta, North America, and with no means of support, I had no option but to sell myself just to survive. In the process I got raped, beaten, drugged, and damn near murdered before a cop arrested me for prostitution.”
“Wait a minute—” Nick frowned. “Prostitution is legal.”
“Not when yo
u’re fifteen. I went into juvenile detention for two years. I got counseling there, which helped, but you never get your innocence back. When I was eighteen I joined the service. I figured if I was good for nothing but fucking, at least I would be fucking men who were doing something worthwhile, something to deserve my attention.
“Any more questions?”
Nick sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I’m sorry. I had no right to judge you.”
“No, you didn’t.” She smiled. “But I forgive you. You at least had the decency to apologize.”
“I don’t know if this means anything,” he told her, “but I’m a preacher’s kid, too. My dad wasn’t anything like yours, but I know all about self-righteous people who watch your every move and whisper behind your back when you turn out to be less than perfect. I imagine it would be a lot worse for a girl.”
Ruby’s smile returned. So did her tears, which brimmed in her eyes. She leaned forward and laid a hand on his knee.
“Yes, it does mean something. It means a lot. Thank you, Nick.”
“No need to thank me. My dad died recently; we had quite a bit of conflict over me quitting church—when I was fifteen, just like you. I’ve been feeling bitter, but after hearing what happened to you, I can see that I was pretty goddamn lucky.”
He leaned forward and kissed her.
“Thanks for taking time to talk to me. I can see that you really do care.”
“You’re welcome. I can do a lot more for you if you want it. If not…”
He shook his head.
“You were right about the broken heart. It’s too soon for me.”
“I understand. But when the time comes, if you’re still on Alpha 2, contact the Pink Ladies. You can ask for me by name. Corporal Ruby Herlofson.”
She stood up and bent over to return his kiss. Then she turned and walked away.
Monday, 21 May, 0435 (CC)
Goshen – Alpha Centauri 2
Upon returning to duty, Nick was surprised to discover that 2nd Battalion was still in Goshen. He found Echo Company living in temporary shelters set up on the south lawn of the high school. When he climbed down from the sled that brought him home, almost the first person he saw was Alvin Kopshevar, who was sitting on a camp chair eating real food from a mess tent tray. Kopshevar saw him at the same time and leaped to his feet.
“Nick! You’re back! We thought you might be dead.”
“Naw, you’re not that lucky.”
Nick accepted a brief hug from his best friend, then turned to see Rudy Aquino trotting toward him. He had to endure another hug.
“What happened, Nick? How come you’re back so soon?”
“I wasn’t wounded. It was just a concussion. A bad one, but that was all it was.”
“You okay now?”
“Near as I can tell. What the hell are you guys still doing here? It’s been five days, you should have conquered half the planet by now.”
“We were waiting for you,” Kopshevar said. “The Prussian wants to pin a medal on you.”
Nick’s eyes widened in alarm.
“You’re shittin’ me, right? Tell me you’re shittin’ me!”
Kopshevar laughed.
“Of course I am. Sergeant DuBose is plenty pissed at you.”
“For what? Being right? How many guys did we lose from the squad?”
“We didn’t lose anyone in the square. Chin and Mateo were killed at the shopping center, and Singh was wounded, but you were the only casualty at the square.”
“Well, thank god for that.”
“WALKER!!”
Nick swiveled to see Sgt. DuBose striding toward him. His face looked like an angry drill sergeant’s. He stomped up to where Nick stood and stopped, glaring at him. Then he thrust a rifle into Nick’s hands.
“You forgot your rifle. How many times have I told you to never leave your rifle behind?”
Nick grabbed the weapon and held it upright in both hands. Lifting his chin like a boot, he began to recite the Rifleman’s Creed:
“This is my rifle! There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless…”
“That’s right, goddammit! The operative word is ‘useless’! And don’t you ever forget it.”
DuBose grinned. He gripped Nick’s arm and led him away from the others.
“Before you take the opportunity to say ‘I told you so’, let me put you straight.” DuBose gazed into his eyes with total sincerity. “You were right. Crossing that park would have been suicide, and I think Col. Dietrich knows it now. Without making excuses for him, this is his first combat command, so he’s learning along with the rest of us.”
Nick nodded, but bit his lip. Didn’t the colonel go to command school? What the hell did they teach him there?
But he didn’t ask the question.
“Okay,” he said.
DuBose nodded.
“Now, what the hell am I supposed to do with you?”
“What?”
“You disobeyed my direct order and went into that park alone. I should bust you for that.”
“Go right ahead, Sergeant, bust me. What’s lower than a private?”
“That’s the problem. I’m supposed to chew you out, but there isn’t much I can do to punish you.”
Nick shrugged. “If it helps any, I don’t apologize. I figured the only way to make my point stick was to show you what would happen if we went out there. Risking one man was a lot better than risking the whole platoon.”
DuBose ground his teeth and drew a deep breath.
“The truth is, you probably saved twenty or more lives, but nobody is going to thank you for that, at least not officially.”
“I’m not looking for thanks. Just seeing those guys still standing is enough.”
“Okay.” DuBose clapped him on the shoulder. “You need to check in with Cap’m Seals. Let him know you’re back.”
“Will do. Where is he?”
DuBose pointed to a shelter twenty yards away.
“That’s his habitat. I think he’s in there. After you’re done, go get some chow. We have hot food for a change.”
Nick nodded again. He started to leave, then turned back.
“Hey, Sergeant…how many rebels did we kill?”
“Over six hundred. Most of them stood and fought, but a few dozen got away. Foxtrot blocked their escape to the plain, so they ran into the hills. India Company sent a platoon up there to hunt them down. Gunsleds, too. I don’t think they’re gonna get far.”
“Good. Thanks.”
Nick turned for Capt. Seals’ shelter. Seals must have seen him coming, as he stepped out to meet him.
“Private Walker, welcome back.”
“Thank you, sir.” Nick didn’t salute.
“You disappoint me, Walker.”
“I’m good at that, sir. What did I do this time?”
“You think you can get yourself a concussion without permission? Who the hell do you think you are?”
Seals grinned and pointed to his shelter.
“Come inside, take a load off.”
Nick followed him inside, then settled into a camp chair in front of a narrow folding table that served as a desk. Seals took a seat on the other side.
“Did you bring me something?”
“Sir?”
“Your medical release.”
Nick fished in a pocket and pulled out a data chip. He handed it to Seals.
“Okay, good. Got to keep the data work up to date.”
He laid the chip on the table, then leaned back in a conversational style.
“So how was your vacation? Get any pussy?”
“No, sir, but I came close. Met a Pink Lady on Saturday, but she got away. Said I was too ugly.”
Seals grinned.
“Well, we’re gonna be here a while, so there’s still time.”
>
“How come we’re still in Goshen, Captain? I figured you guys would be halfway across the plain by now.”
“Truthfully, I’m not sure what the holdup is. Colonel Dietrich is in Camarrel right now meeting with the brass. Something about coordinating with the Infantry, though for the life of me I don’t understand why. They had their chance, and now it’s our turn. Anyway, we’re here for a couple more days, then we’ll probably move out again. I think they’re moving our artillery up to cover our advance, so that might be part of it.
“Anyway, enjoy your downtime. Get some sleep, some hot chow, and make sure your gear is ready when the order comes.”
“Aye-aye, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
*
Nick met with other squad members, all of whom welcomed him back. Two or three thanked him for his part in keeping them out of the park during the assault on the square.
After he had a bite to eat, Nick slung his rifle and walked across the street to the town square with Rudy and Kopshevar. As he stepped through the partially ruined clothing store where his squad had waited for attack orders, he stared in grim surprise at what remained of the square. The park had been obliterated by rebel artillery; only a single tree still stood, all four fountains were smashed, and huge craters pocked the green grass.
To his right, the city office building had been gutted by fire. The library next door was still standing, but two of the marble pillars had shattered and the heavy roof hung over the steps at a dangerous angle. The police station at the end of the block was nothing but a mound of rubble. The buildings to his left were in similar condition. One wall of the fire station still stood, but fire had ravaged the interior. The commercial shops on the west end were riddled with bullet and shrapnel holes, and the city hall, though still standing, looked as if it might topple over if anyone sneezed near it.
“Holy shit!” Nick whispered. “Why didn’t we just do this to begin with, before the assault?”
“I think maybe we will, next time,” Kopshevar said.
“Wait till you see the courthouse,” Rudy told him. “You ain’t gonna believe what we found down there!”