by Korza, Jay
Davies was lying in the prone position with his weapon on safe and all of his magazines empty. He looked up and saw the disappointment and anger in the DI’s face. From their current distance to the target, he couldn’t see the bullet holes so he wasn’t sure where he had hit or even whether he had hit it.
The DI leaned over and started in on Davies. “Holy shit, son! You did not hit the target even once! Are you aware that Recruit Garvis hit his target twenty-three times?! He is so blind that the Marine Corps almost didn’t let him in! His glasses are so thick, we could find never before discovered planets if we pointed him at the sky tonight!”
The DI began pacing a few feet back and forth. “Everyone make your weapons safe!” Once that order was accomplished, he barked, “Everyone, pushup position! A one, two, three...”
And the exercising began. Usually the DIs relaxed with the yelling and punishment on the range but apparently Davies had taken them to their limits.
As the recruits were holding in the up position, the DI started back into Davies. “You had two weeks of weapons training and simulation! And then you come out here and choke! Not a single round hit your target! You were given one simple task, hit the red target! What do you have to say for yourself?!”
“Red target, sir?”
“Yes the red target! Do you not even know your basic colors?!”
“Sir, I believe this recruit made a mistake, sir. This recruit was shooting at the orange target, sir.” Davies cringed at his own admission of once again failing to follow the instructions correctly.
“The orange target?” The DI’s voice came down a few notches. He then tapped his tablet’s screen a couple of times. He waved over a few of the other DIs who just gawked at the screen.
“Recover!” The DI didn’t so much yell the instruction as just making sure he was heard. “Recruit Davies once again failed to follow instructions. However, his failure will be our success.”
The rest of the recruits looked even more puzzled than Davies did. The DI continued, “Recruit Davies shot the orange targets rather than the red. The red targets are at the one hundred meter line. The orange targets are at the one thousand meter line. With open sights, cupcake here hit all twenty-five rounds in a twenty-centimeter circle. Most marines can’t do that with a scoped rifle.”
All eyes turned to Davies. “So while he did not follow instructions, he just became our primary shooter in the pre-graduation company competition. Our company can’t lose with Davies as our ringer.
“From now on, each of you will help Recruit Davies on a daily basis. We cannot let him become ineligible for the competition by receiving discipline chits or not making it through any other course of instruction. Are we clear?” The DI was smiling broadly now.
“Sir, yes sir!” the recruits replied in unison.
“Good, now get back on the line and shoot the red target.” This would be the first time his company beat his longtime rival’s company in the shooting competition. The victory beer was going to be his this time around.
Without even being told, most of the recruits chimed in, “Recruit Davies, red target!”
And that’s how it went for the rest of boot camp. Every time the DI gave an order, the squad or company would repeat it for Davies to make sure he got it. Davies wasn’t dumb by any stretch of the word; he just hadn’t been ready or suited for military life. But with his whole company behind him now, he was finally getting it. Even when it became obvious that his Marine Corps switch had flipped to the On position and he was doing fine on his own, they still did it. It had become their company thing.
Recruit Davies, right, face.
Recruit Davies, lights, out.
Recruit Davies, pushup position.
Recruit Davies...
And so the shooting competition came and Davies won it for his company without any problems. Graduation followed close behind but this time none of his family was in attendance. Davies had lied to them about the date because he didn’t want them attending another ceremony less than a year after Carl’s.
As Davies waded through his friends and now fellow marines, he caught a glimpse of a familiar and friendly face. As he walked towards Mike, he noticed another rocker on his arm. “Gunnery Sergeant O’Connor?” Davies shook his hand and then hugged his friend.
“I just got it last week.” Mike absentmindedly touched his new patch. “I brought someone along with me.” Mike looked over Davies’ shoulder and nodded.
Davies turned to see who Mike was looking at. “Daria! What are you doing here?!” Davies gave her a big hug.
“Mike told me that you hadn’t invited your family so we came to take you to dinner.” Daria moved to Mike’s side.
Davies could tell that the two were now a couple. Not that anything had happened the night they met before boot camp, but Davies had promised himself he would look Daria up after he graduated. His dad always said that the Corps took its toll on relationships the most. Davies was feeling that firsthand.
“Sounds great. I’m ready whenever you guys are.” Davies tried to smile.
“Before we go,” Mike started, “there is someone you have to meet.”
Mike ushered them through the crowd until they found the man Mike was looking for. The colonel turned and all three saluted him.
After the colonel saluted them back, he turned to Davies and extended his hand. “So you must be the shooter Mike was telling me about.”
“Um, yes sir?” Davies wasn’t sure what was going on.
Mike interjected, “Private Davies, this is the colonel. He has done a lot in his career so I’ll just skip to the present. He’s currently the commanding officer of the Coalition Special Forces Training Center.”
“Mike, I don’t think I’m ready for Special Forces. I barely made it out of boot camp.”
The colonel just laughed. “Private, for the last five years I’ve been running a pilot program that recognizes recruits in boot camp with special skills. Electronic warfare, advanced infantry tactics, shooting, etcetera. And when we find these talents, we send them through the corresponding training with our Special Forces instructors.
“We then send them back to regular infantry units but with advanced training in their particular skill set. So infantry units get some soldiers with extremely advanced training to enhance their abilities. And in the process, we hope we are cultivating future special ops guys, after you get some seasoning and field experience.
“I saw your shooting scores and I want to send you through our advanced sniper school. You definitely don’t need the basic and intermediate courses. So I just need to know if you’re in or not?”
“Yes sir. I’m in.” Davies was shaking the colonel’s hand again.
“Great. Glad to have you.” The colonel started to walk away but turned and added, “Your father was a great officer and even better man. He’d be proud of you.” He left without waiting for a response.
Davies wanted to follow the colonel and ask him more about what he had just said, but he thought better of it and just turned to his friends. “Shall we go?”
Chapter 31
Dig Site One – We Have Ways…
Two days after the capture of the alien, the torture tube had just begun its torture cycle. Bloom and Daria had come to the conclusion that the alien’s recent encounter with a newer version of the device made it harder for the older one to find unused and undamaged nerve endings. The screams had begun around two this morning and Daria had to leave.
Daria and Davies were in the communications room a couple hundred meters from sickbay. “I hope he talks.” Daria broke the silence. “It’s not so much that I care that he’s in pain; it’s just that he’s so loud. It’s nerve-racking.”
“Yeah, I agree. The more we learn about his species, I wish that I could be doing it instead of that machine. They really were some bastards. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’ve done to their own quadrant of space.” Davies put a hand on Daria’s shoulder to comfort her. The
screams had taken their toll on everyone.
Daria turned to look up at her friend. She felt a pull from deep inside herself and she began to close the distance towards Davies’ face. Davies felt it also and the two friends locked in a passionate embrace and kissed.
After a moment, the two stopped and Davies turned away, ashamed of himself for what he had allowed to happen. “I’m…I’m so sorry, Daria. I would never want to hurt Mike or his memory.” A tear escaped down his cheek and he felt her hand on his arm as she turned him around.
“You’re not hurting Mike or his memory. I love him with all my heart and always will. We both know that death is always standing near us, just waiting to tap us on the shoulder. Mike is gone and no one will ever replace him or his memory.” She paused as tears ran down her cheeks as well.
“Don’t blame yourself for even minute for what just happened. I know that you’ve always loved me and so did Mike. He told me once that if death tapped on his shoulder first, that he would be OK with you and me. The only thing that stopped you and me from happening was you were in boot camp and unavailable. Mike and I had time to get to know each other. It doesn’t mean that I loved him any less or any more, just different. We’re in some shit now and who knows if we’ll get out of it. Death is closer to both of us than it ever has been before. Hell, it’s closer to the Coalition than ever before. I just—”
Davies silenced her with his lips and the two bodies became one as they gently made their way to the floor.
Almost two hours later, they had just finished getting dressed and started to sift through information that their datapads had gained in that time, when their reliefs walked through the door.
Snake was first to the console. “We’re here to relieve you guys. I’m not sure if I’d go back there just yet, though. He’s screaming worse than ever. Not ready to talk yet, maybe never will, but he sure doesn’t have anything against screaming.”
Patz held his head tightly between his two palms. “Got anything for a headache, Doc? I can’t stand it anymore. We almost came a half-hour ago to relieve you, that’s how bad it got.”
Davies and Daria smiled at each other shyly. A half-hour ago and they all would’ve been just a little more than embarrassed. “Let me get my bag. I got some stuff in there. I think I’ll stick around to go over some intel that we found. I’m in no hurry to go back.”
“I think I’ll head back. There are some things I want to talk to the el-tee about.” Davies walked out the door without looking back.
Daria continued talking to Snake without watching Davies leave. “I’d like you to help me with this set of encrypted messages. The last message I could access talked about some sort of plague and a rising death toll among the new colonies out in this sector. Then without warning, the rest of the log entries and all of the messages are encrypted.”
“You don’t think that a plague virus could have lasted down here for a thousand years without hosts, do you?” Patz was beginning his attempt at decryption from another console.
“I hope not. If it’s like anything that we know, then no. However, the alien’s make-up is very different from our own so they could’ve imported different viruses and bacteria to this sector from their own.” Daria began going through a different database. “While you guys are working on that, I’m going to try to get more information on their physical make-up. That will help me to determine whether or not we could be in danger.”
The three soldiers went to work at their terminals. Daria paused from time to time to think about her encounter with Davies. It was the first time she had been with anyone other than Mike in over a decade. She felt odd but not at all ashamed or guilty of her actions. Mike would be happy for the only two people in the universe who he loved.
~
Emily looked at the alien and signaled Bloom to stop the machine. As the pincers retracted from the exposed nerves and flesh, the screaming subsided. “Who are you and where are you from?” Nothing. Emily signaled Bloom, who increased the intensity and started the process again. Screams echoed through the hallway.
Wilks stepped forward. “Look pal, we know that you’ll talk soon enough. The records we uncovered says that you will. What’s the harm in talking now instead of later? We’re going to kill you when it’s over anyway and we both know that, too. So talk now, less pain, and death comes earlier.”
“Fuck…you!” he managed through his own screams.
“Turn up the intensity but don’t kill him. We need him to break soon.” Emily motioned Wilks to the hallway. “How long do you think we should give him before we give up?”
“If we get nothing by tomorrow morning, I say we kill him and head for the launch bay.”
“I’m not sure about killing him. Why don’t you want to take him along? Aside for the obvious reasons of Snyder and Martinez.”
“If he’s stoic enough to hold out through that shit,” Wilks pointed at the torture tube, “you really think that he won’t try to escape? He’s stronger than three Shirkas and just as fast. I don’t want to take the chance of him getting loose and taking more of us out. He’s too big for us to drug and carry.”
Emily thought and then said, “What if we drug him and leave him in the torture tube on a lower setting so that he’s trapped until another team can come for him?”
“I don’t like the idea of leaving a formidable enemy to our rear and unguarded. He may know of a way to get out of that thing and also where some weapons are stashed around here. No, we can’t leave him behind. Besides, even if we could get him out, there’s no way we could make him talk back home. We don’t have anything that comes close to this torture device. If that doesn’t break him, nothing will. There’s no reason to bring him.”
“All right, we kill him. Oh-six hundred tomorrow morning we pack out.” As an afterthought Emily asked, “Who’s supposed to do it?”
“Well, ma’am, you can order me to do it—we both know I will without a problem—but you’re the ranking officer. You’re the one who’s supposed to carry out execution orders.”
“I figured as much.” Emily walked back to Bloom to see whether any progress had been made.
“Hey el-tee, I was just about to get you. I think I found his Achilles’ heel.” Bloom walked from around his console. He took out a laser pointer and marked a spot inside the alien’s open chest. “That large nerve bundle attached to their spinal cord has a very specific purpose.
“The machine is going to single out a nerve branch that once severed, should reduce him to a quivering bowl of Jell-O. The nerve controls his bravery.”
Emily looked at Bloom with disbelief. “What are you trying to pass over on me?”
“Really, el-tee”, Bloom defended himself. “That’s the translation that the computer gave me. It seems as though these aliens are to a great extent bio-engineered, either by themselves or someone else entirely. The info on this nerve was buried deep in the computer and even then it was encrypted. That’s why it took me so long to get it. But when that nerve is cut it makes them talk like they were on the Jerry Springer Show.”
Emily looked at Bloom with disgust. “That show was shit four hundred years ago and it still is. I can’t believe you watch it.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault the guy was cryo-reserved for ever and then put back on the air. It’s better than that Geraldo guy that they play reruns of.”
Bloom continued with the information he had found. “These guys were the soldiers for their empire. Just like every other species, they had a specialty. Whoever the rulers were, they seem to have been extremely paranoid. Even though the warriors were genetically engineered to be absolutely loyal to the rulers of the empire, they still weren’t trusted. This nerve was engineered so that warriors who were assigned as personal guards to high-ranking officials could be questioned concerning their master and what they did or said.”
The machine had delicately singled out the nerve and the laser cut it in two. Bloom shut down the torturing device. “He should be r
eady to talk.”
Emily took a step closer. “What is your name? Why are you here?”
“I am captain of my vessel. You would not be able to pronounce my name or even comprehend the sounds my language makes. My vessel was sent here to observe you.”
“You’ve done more than observe”, Wilks cut in. “Why have you attacked us?”
“I initiated the attack on my own without orders. I was removed from command and punished severely for it before I escaped to hunt you down. I have attacked you because you stand on my ancestors’ ground and are in places you should not be.”
“Why didn’t your government contact us and let us know that we were digging on your ancestor’s world? Why wasn’t a peaceful arrangement made?” Emily stepped closer.
“Whoa, el-tee,” Bloom said. “That nerve just makes them talk, not become docile. I’d feel better if you’d step back.”
The alien continued, “Government, we have no formal government as you know it. Our war tribunal meets to decide which system we will take over and which inhabitants will be useful and therefore spared. All others are removed. I do not understand ‘peaceful’ so I cannot answer that question.”
“What were your ancestors doing in this sector? Why did they leave?” Wilks asked.
The alien looked at him with puzzlement before he answered, “To conquer, why else?”
“I think I can answer that last question.” Daria came in. “They didn’t leave, they died. A plague destroyed all of their colonies in this sector. The rest of their empire was ordered to remain in their own space and never to come here or else the whole empire would be doomed.”
Bloom looked at the alien. “Is that true? And if so, then why did you disobey those orders and come here now?”
“Yes, it is true. We are here now because we received a distress signal that told us the plague was a hoax. It was never true and that we were lied to. We came to find our masters and our emperor.”
Emily reflected, “That must have been the signal our archeologists accidentally tripped all those years ago.” She looked back at her prisoner. “How long did the message take to get to you and how long does it take to get from your sector to ours?”