Rangers at Roadsend

by Jane Fletcher

  “When I joined the Rangers, I’d been so pleased with myself. I remember putting on the uniform for the first time and grinning all day, and…” Bo’s face contorted; she could not finish the sentence. “And I ended up under Ellis. It was hell until you joined the patrol, and suddenly, I wasn’t the bottom of the pile anymore. It was only when I was out of it that I could see how bad things had been. I had a few months when I kept most of my free time, when I didn’t wake up each morning feeling sick at the thought of the day ahead, a few months when I felt I had a chance...when I felt I could prove I deserved my place in the Rangers.

  “And then there was that skirmish with the cats. That was the best shooting I’d ever seen, and not just me. I was standing with Ellis. Do you know how much it shook her to realize she had a sharpshooter in her patrol? She hadn’t known, so you could bet Dolokov didn’t know, either. I was just starting to think that through when Tina let it drop that you were offered a lieutenancy in the Militia.”

  Bo’s eyes met Katryn’s. “I was never as bad as Ellis made out, but I’m not in your league. There was no way Dolokov was going to leave you to be kicked around by Ellis once she realized what you had to offer the squadron. Tina suggested that you apply to change patrols. I saw it as a safe bet that you’d be moved as soon as Dolokov got back and read the report about the incident. And once you were gone, I’d be the scapegoat again. But I heard you threaten to kill Ellis, and it gave me the idea. I couldn’t go back to being the butt of the patrol—not after seeing how much better life ought to be.” Tears started to trickle down Bo’s face. “I couldn’t go back to years of wading through shit. Can’t you see that, now that you’re free of Ellis as well?”

  Maybe, but I wouldn’t have let someone else hang for it. Katryn swallowed the words and the other things she could have said. Bo obviously did not know that Ellis was not going to be allowed to re-enlist, and there was no point telling her now.

  “Nikki says you were the one who talked everyone else into giving me a beating.” Katryn spoke the accusation without bitterness. Nikki, wearing her new Leading Ranger’s badge, had been the first to volunteer an apology without hiding behind excuses. It had eased the resentment more than Katryn had expected.

  “Sorry. But I thought if everyone had a stake in thinking you were guilty, they wouldn’t be so keen on looking for other suspects. And it wasn’t…” Bo broke off, looking uncomfortable. She twitched her shoulder in a nervous shrug. “I am sorry, and you’re okay now, aren’t you?”

  The insincerity of Bo’s tone brought the first real flash of anger to Katryn. She clenched her jaw shut, unable to answer the question, and made as if to go. Before she reached the door, Bo scrambled off the bunk and grabbed hold of the bars.

  “Katryn!” Bo’s voice was desperate.

  Katryn turned back. “What?”

  “I know I don’t have the right to ask you this, but…” Bo gulped air. “When you leave here, you’re going straight back to Eastford?”

  “Yes.”

  “On the way, you’ll go through this small village, Amberwell. Do you know it?”

  “I think so.”

  “It’s where my family comes from. I’m not bothered about my parents. They never gave a fuck about me. But two of my grandmothers…they run the general stores. They…they were always so proud of me in my Ranger’s uniform. I don’t want them to learn”—Bo was fighting to voice the words—“about all this from a letter. Please call in and see them on the way. Tell them the news. Be kind to them; it will break their hearts anyway. Say something nice about me. Lie if you must…please?”

  Katryn nodded once sharply. Then she turned and left the jail.

  *

  A soft drizzle was falling on Fort Krowe. The nearby mountains were lost in low cloud. However, the air was not cold, and it carried the scent of spring. Chip and Kim stood in a doorway and looked out. Rangers in green and gray scurried between the buildings, their speed inversely related to their rank. Horses grazed on the fields above. A squad of new recruits slogged through the mud, carrying weighted backpacks, while a drill sergeant hurled abuse.

  “Home, sweet home,” Chip remarked.

  “I wonder how long we’ll be here?”

  “Only a few days. We’re being posted to Northcamp for the summer.”

  “Northcamp?” Kim asked in surprise. “How do you know? You haven’t been calling in favors again, have you?”

  Chip laughed. “No. I wouldn’t dare. I want to keep my anatomy as it is.”

  “So how do you know?”

  “I was chatting with a member of staff.”

  Kim shook her head in amusement. “We’ve been back less than a day, and already, you’re up-to-date with the gossip.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say I was up-to-date. Give me a couple more hours.” Chip’s smile faded as her expression became more serious. “But on the subject of gossip, are you hearing anything?”

  “About…?” Kim prompted.

  “Me and Katryn.”

  “Oh, that.…Yes, there’s a bit of speculation, but there’s been that for months.”

  “Months!” Chip exclaimed. “But we’ve only—”

  Grinning, Kim interrupted, “The pair of you have been desperately ogling each other since midwinter. Of course people noticed.”

  “You knew Katryn was interested in me?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “I thought you’d have more fun working it out for yourself. Neither of you was being particularly subtle. It was just that you were too nervous to look at Katryn long enough to notice.”

  Chip groaned and stared desolately at the pattern of rain falling on a puddle. “So we may not have very long.”

  Kim leaned her shoulder against the frame of the door and examined her friend. “You think you’ll be separated?”

  Chip shrugged by way of an answer.

  “It has to be serious before they do that,” Kim said.

  “It’s serious.”

  “Really?”

  Chip looked up at her friend. “I’m utterly crazy about her, and it’s getting worse, not better. Suddenly, I’m rescheduling my whole life. Even if we do get separated, I find myself thinking that I’ve only got three more years left of my enlistment term, Katryn has just under four to serve, and then we’d both be out with our demob payments.”

  “You’re thinking of leaving the Rangers?”

  “Yes.”

  “Children?”

  “Oh, children, grandchildren. A little cottage. Flowers around the door. You name it.”

  “And what is Katryn thinking?”

  Chip shook her head. “She refuses to think about the future. When I talked about leaving the Rangers, she said four years is a long time and anything might happen before then.”

  “She might get tired of you?” Kim said, half teasing.

  “No. She’s promised that’s the one thing that won’t happen.” Chip’s grin returned. “Oh, this is getting ridiculous. I keep fluctuating between panic and euphoria.”

  “As I’ve said before—what a state for a Ranger to get into.”

  Chip reached out to poke a finger into Kim’s shoulder. “Don’t be so smug. It will catch you one of these days, mark my words.”

  Kim opened her mouth to reply, but she was forestalled by a shout. “Sergeant Coppelli!”

  Chip twisted her neck to look back out the doorway. A Ranger was hurrying toward them. “What is it?”

  “Sergeant Coppelli, ma’am. Captain LeCoup wants to see you in her office.”

  “Right.” Chip tapped Kim’s shoulder one more time and headed off through the rain.

  LeCoup was standing staring out the window when Chip arrived, an unusually pensive occupation for the captain. She glanced around at Chip’s entrance and then paced slowly across the office, picking something off her desk. When she spoke, her voice held the hint of a searching undertone. “Nagata’s certification as a sharpshooter has been appr
oved, and she’s got her promotion to Leading Ranger. They didn’t bother sending the confirmation on to Eastford; it’s been waiting for us back here. Tell her not to worry; she’ll get her pay backdated.” Whether or not it had been the intention of divisional staff, there was no doubt LeCoup would ensure that the members of her squadron were never sold short.

  Now Chip could recognize the items in LeCoup’s hands as a new set of shoulder badges. She waited for the captain to hand them over, but LeCoup continued to study the embroidered cloth patches as though there was something unusual about them. “You and Private Nagata seem to be getting on very well together.” She did not look up, but there was no mistaking the implied question in her tone.

  Chip’s stomach turned to ice. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “The safety and effectiveness of the squadron are very serious concerns of mine. I will not take risks with either.”

  Chip could not bring herself to say anything.

  LeCoup’s gaze shifted to stare out through the window again. “I’ve been giving some thought to the squadron’s effectiveness. It might be a good idea if Leading Ranger Nagata were transferred to A Patrol. You already have some women who are useful with a bow. O’Neil could use a sharpshooter. I think the squadron would be better…balanced that way. What do you think?”

  Chip’s pulse leaped with the shock, both at what LeCoup was saying and at what she clearly meant. Chip fought to find words. “I…er…I think it might um…work well.”

  LeCoup nodded solemnly. “Yes. That’s what I thought. I’ll leave you to explain it to Nagata. I’ll talk to O’Neil and see who would be best to swap from her patrol.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

  LeCoup met Chip’s eyes in a shrewd, appraising inspection. “The Ranger Command has very strict guidelines on maintaining squadron discipline. But as I read the rules, there’s no requirement for me to probe into the private lives of my subordinates if I don’t think there’s a problem.” The captain paused significantly. “I’m not likely to come across anything in the line of duty to make me think there’s a problem, am I?”

  “I would hope not, ma’am.”

  “I hope not as well.” LeCoup’s lips twitched in a smile, and she tossed the badges across to Chip. “Dismissed.”

  *

  The horse flicked its ears and gave several of the short huffs that Katryn had learned to interpret as pleasure. Katryn smiled and moved around to brush its other flank. She was working alone in the stables, but then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of someone standing in the doorway. Chip was leaning against the jamb, watching her. Katryn felt the smile on her face broaden.

  “How long have you been there?”

  “Just a few minutes.”

  “You enjoy watching people work?”

  “Oh, yes. It’s part of the job description for a sergeant,” Chip said cheerfully. She strolled over, holding out the new badges. “I’ve just been talking to LeCoup. Congratulations; you’re now a Leading Ranger.”

  Katryn put down the brush and took the offered embroidered shields. She looked back at Chip. Something else had happened. Chip was trying to act nonchalant, but the excitement was showing in her eyes. “What’s up?”

  “LeCoup made it clear that she knows we’re lovers and not merely bedfellows.”

  Katryn’s face fell, but she took reassurance from Chip’s lack of concern. “She isn’t going to transfer me?”

  “Only as far as A Patrol.”

  “A Patrol?” Katryn frowned as she thought it through.

  “LeCoup is juggling the personnel. It means that you’re no longer my direct subordinate, which makes it easier for my patrol. You realize that if you stayed in C, I’d have to give you all the worst assignments so no one could accuse me of favoritism.” Chip’s voice was getting more exuberant. She was almost laughing as she spoke. “And Ash is senior sergeant in the squadron. I trust her judgment more than I trust my own. If I see you standing sentry duty at the gates, I’ll know that you damn well deserve it.”

  Katryn was still slightly unsure. “And that’s it? LeCoup isn’t going to split us any more than that?”

  “Not as long as we behave ourselves. She made it clear that she isn’t going to start asking questions about what we do off duty, as long as we don’t let it affect the way we perform in the squadron.”

  Katryn closed her eyes and let her head fall back as a smile swept across her face.

  Chip went on talking. “It means we’ve got three or four years to work out what we want to do.”

  “Things change.”

  “You think you might stop loving me?”

  Katryn opened her eyes and looked back at Chip. “No. Never that.”

  Chip’s arms slipped around Katryn, pulling her into a kiss.

  Katryn resisted briefly. “Hey, didn’t you just say we’re supposed to behave ourselves while we’re on duty?”

  Chip’s mouth twitched into a lopsided grin. “Just this once. Then we’ll start using our discretion a bit more.”

  Appendix

  Three Steps Forward

  by

  Jane Fletcher

  15 November 47

  An ankle-deep layer of mud covered the building site, while the rain fell in sheets. People working on the council hall were liberally coated in the wet clay—as was everything else. The horses, small trucks and electric hoists plowed through the morass. Workers hauling on ropes slithered in a battle to find firm footing.

  From the control-room window in the labs across the street, Dr. Himoti stared at the scene in disgust. After seven decades as a biologist, the need for hygiene had become ingrained in her. She detested mud. The cold rain was unpleasant but avoidable; the mud would follow her indoors. The labs were, of course, clinically clean, but ugly brown streaks marked the halls of the domestic quarters. Dr. Himoti’s face twisted in a grimace. At times like these, she virtually lived in her labs. Yet the building workers seemed unaware of the filth around them.

  The sound of the door opening made Himoti glance over her shoulder. Su Li Hoy, head of security and her closest ally, entered the control room. Rain plastered the security chief’s black hair against her head and dripped from her clothes. She shivered as she peeled off her wet jacket. Himoti was relieved to see that she had already removed her boots. The control room did not have the same need for absolute cleanliness as the rest of the labs, and some people were lax about the rules. However, Su Li Hoy had worked with Himoti long enough to know her attitude toward mud.

  Himoti returned to the view outside. “I was just thinking that the children seem to be more resilient to the weather than you or I and wondering whether it is due to their upbringing or a side effect of the broad base of their genetic makeup.”

  “A sort of hybrid vigor?” Su Li Hoy joined her at the window.

  “Umm…something like that. Then I got to wondering whether I’ll ever stop thinking of them as ‘the children.’ Some are over forty.”

  “It’s understandable. They’re your children. You created them all here in the labs.”

  “I had help.” Himoti shrugged modestly. “Anyway, it’s just as well that they don’t mind working in the mud. Soon, you’ll have a nice new council hall for your meetings.”

  “But it won’t change the rubbish they talk in them.”

  “Have you just come from a meeting?” Himoti sympathized with the irritation in the security chief’s voice. Attending council meetings was a job that she was very happy to delegate.

  “Yes.”

  “What wonderful scheme have they hatched now?”

  Su Li Hoy hesitated while her lips went through a series of pouts. “They refused to endorse one of my motions.”

  “What was it?”

  “I wanted…I wanted them to name the town after you.”

  Himoti laughed. “I can imagine that wouldn’t have gone down well with some.”

  “But they can’t call the town Landfall. It’s not a proper name. It
’s how you talk about landing a shuttle.”

  “People have been calling it that for forty-seven years. It would be hard to change it now.”

  “That’s what was argued. But it didn’t hold in the other case.”

  “Which?”

  “I said that if they wouldn’t name the town, they could name the country after you, since we still haven’t agreed on one.”

  “And?”

  “And then Dan Ockan started wittering on about how things only get personal names when there’s a need to distinguish between them. He said that the Earth’s moon is the moon rather than named Moon, since it was called that before anyone knew there were others. It was only when people discovered other moons that they started giving them names. Ockan reckoned it was senseless naming countries here until there was more than one on the planet.”

  “He may have a point. We named the planet Celaenia, because we know of other planets, but you rarely hear the children call it that. Mostly, they call it ‘the world.’ I’ve even heard some call it ‘the Earth.’”

  “That was another stupid idea—naming it after the spaceship.”

  “There’s a tradition of naming inhabitable planets after their discoverer,” Himoti reminded her overzealous supporter.

  “In that case, it should have been called Emergencynavigationa, since it was emergency override that found the planet, after the Celaeno’s main navigation computer hit meltdown and dumped us on the far side of the galaxy.”

  “You sound angry.”

  “I am. There wouldn’t be a viable colony on this planet if it weren’t for you, but some people want to deny you the credit.”

  “I’ve trod on too many toes over the years.”