“Which they tried to renig on a few dozen times before we got our own people into office and society's prejudices changed,” Valenko said. “A few humans had changed themselves into animals like our selkie friend over there so that helped as well.” Déjà waved a flippered hand. Apparently he was along to check any seas and waterways they ran into. “They were busy rebuilding the oceans though. A few took on traits like us. Over time that sort of evolved.”
“And since we have a mix of human and animal genes we can cross breed. Well a few of us can. If we want to,” Jethro shrugged. “We have a limited gene pool on the station though so our clan leaders keep close watch of the blood lines. Fortunately some of us have genes that are genetically dominant.”
“So you’re a warrior?”
“Born and bred,” Jethro said, smiling a tight lipped smile and wiggling his ears in amused agreement. “As is our bear friend,” he chuffed then slapped Valenko's side.
“Well, I've got a few human black sheep in my genome a few generations back,” Valenko said with a shrug.
“Who doesn't?” Hurranna asked amused. “I'm not a war genie though. The foxes either. We're some rich guy's idea that got a little out of hand. Not that I'm complaining or anything,” she smiled a toothy smile. Jethro snorted.
“I won’t.” He leaned back. “Just as long as I'm in arms reach,” he teased. She mock growled and took a swipe at him hissing. He rumbled a laughing purr. She settled down though.
“You'll notice no crocs right? That's because they are ambush hunters. Reptiles... at least those on earth are cold blooded. They are hard to motivate. I think there was a story about some group that tried to uplift a croc but it backfired,” Jethro grimaced. “I heard it a long, long time ago so I'm not sure how true it is though.”
“But he's right, most of us or at least our baseline species had been in contact and studied by humans for centuries before they were tinkered with. Well, all but the dogs. Dogs were domesticated for thousands of years before they uplifted them.”
The greyhound medic, alsatian MP, and wolves looked up, snorted and then went back to the more important spades game they were playing. Gunny Schultz flicked an ear their way then went back to watching the recorded null G game on his feed.
“You are different though,” Zebo said, eye stalks moving to look at the panther. “You and the leopard.”
“We are cousins. We were an experiment,” Jethro grimaced. “I'm actually more than just the two species.”
“He's a chimera. Technically we all are, but he's got three species,” Valenko said taking a swig from his cup and then setting it down with a clatter.
“Five.”
“Damn! Over achiever huh?”
“Something like that. Like I had a choice,” Jethro snorted.
“True.”
“I've got chrometophores in my skin. They are from some sort of Terran squid. It lets my skin change color. My hair follicles are translucent, they change color with it, allowing me to blend in to backgrounds.”
“You can also control your thermal output with alarming ability,” Zebo said. His nostril stalks dilated. “You also have not much of a scent even now.”
“More changes. Remember that croc reference a minute ago?” Jethro asked. “I've got some gene grafts there as well. I can alter my thermal profile. As for my scent,” he shrugged. “Don't blame me if I shower regularly and some people don't.”
Hurranna snickered at that.
“So you have animal as well as human traits? Do you go feral?” Ris'ha hissed.
“No idea,” Valenko replied. “I for one am an omnivore, so I don't mind a good rare steak now and then.” He grinned and picked his teeth with a large claw. “I'd imagine without civilized contact, and under the right circumstances it's possible. But then again that's possible of any species right?”
“Not mine. We can exist alone for decades.”
“Must be nice. Lonely though,” Jethro replied. He shook his head.
...*...*...*...*...
They had exited hyper but were still some time out from Agnosta. The teams were still training, but had added inspections and equipment tests to their itinerary.
Valenko rubbed his back. He'd been surprised that his team was easily dominating the other two. Even with his team on foot and the enemy with heavy weapons or vehicles they invariably still won. They'd yet to try two squads against one, and from the Major's muttering he was sure it was coming. In fact from the look on the approaching lieutenant's face it might be now.
“Ensign a word, how the hell are you doing what you're doing? You are trouncing both the Major and I in just about every exercise.” The lieutenant asked exasperated.
“Practice ma'am.”
“No seriously.”
“And I was being serious ma'am. Also training and knowing your team mates. I've gone through boot with my entire team. Gunny Schultz ran us through one hell of a ringer.”
“Ah.” She looked thoughtful as she accessed the relevant records. “F platoon?” she asked surprised. “Shit,” she said, shooting him a look. Valenko tried not to smile. F platoon was getting quite the reputation among the corps.
“Yes ma'am. Thought you knew.”
“I assure you I didn't,” she said dryly.
“You've got two of us in your squad ma'am.”
“The selkie and the Naga you mean? That's because they... oh never mind. So what is your secret?”
“We'll ma'am, I don't micromanage my fire teams for one.”
“Ouch.”
“Sorry. Jethro, Letanga, and Hurranna take the point fire team. I anchor the middle with the shooters Miles and Asazi, and doc,” he nodded to Gusterson. “And gunny has Ox, Sergei, and Chirby as rear guard.”
“With that combination I would think you would evenly distribute your assets.”
“You'd think so ma'am, but that's not a good way to do this. Rear guard is slow for a reason. They are bringing up the rear. I want my heavy fire support where it won't slow me down.”
“Ah. And if they were mixed in with your point?”
“They would slow them down. Jethro and Letanga both took the abbreviated recon class. They are fast and both have stealth ability.”
“I didn't know the leopard did.”
“He's not as good as the panther, but he's close. He leaves a blurry after image. But under the right circumstances it's effective.”
“Ah.”
“They can leapfrog each other as needed, with one in overwatch the entire time the other is in movement. Since they and we all trained together we know each other's moves and can read each other without many hand signs or give away communications,” he explained. She nodded.
“That's about it ma'am. I let them react as needed and coordinate from the middle.”
“I assure you it's a bit more than that. But micromanaging, where did they teach you that? In class?”
“No ma'am. Well they did, but I picked it up a long time ago.”
“Oh?” she asked, eyebrow raised.
“Long version or short?”
“Just the high points please, we may have all day but even I get bored,” she said smiling a little.
“Yes ma'am. I grew up reading a lot of marine stuff as a cub. When I got to the station I gravitated to the guard. An old sergeant took me under his wing and showed me the ropes.”
“Really?”
“Yes ma'am. He'd been on Briev and came to Anvil for regen after his leg got blown off. But he just sort of stayed on. He was good ma'am. He told me not to micromanage, he taught me about the differences in commissioned and enlisted, and taught me to listen.”
“Ah.”
“It just sort of clicked,” he shrugged.
“Huh,” she glanced at the troop.
“I realized a little while ago why Jethro doesn't want to be an officer. It took me a while to put it into perspective.”
“Jethro, you mean the Lance Corporal? The panther?”
“Yes ma
'am.”
“He does well in the exercises,” she admitted.
“Yes ma'am. He's good. Very good. I had hoped for him to get a commission but I now know he's where he belongs.”
“Oh?”
“I had to stop and think about his abilities, and where they best were used. Sitting behind a desk would be a terrible waste of his talent. He's a born operator.”
She glanced at the panther then back to the bear and nodded. “You're right. He's good, I'll give him that, but sitting behind a desk or off the front lines would be a total waste of that cloak.”
“And he knows it. I think when he gets older his view might change, but then again, I'm not sure,” Valenko shrugged. “Honestly I think he's another gunny in the making. In he larval stage though of course.”
“Possibly,” she said nodding.
“Sergei, Chirby, and Miles...”
“Shooters. And hard chargers,” the Lieutenant grunted a laugh.
“Yes ma'am,” he replied. “That they are. Some would call them spear carriers. We need them as much as anything else. That's why I have the gunny riding herd on Chirby and Sergei.”
“There is always a place in the corps for them.”
“Yes ma'am. I hope some of Asazi's maturity will rub off on them in time, but I'm not holding my breath.”
“I wouldn't,” she chuckled.
“Unfortunately.” He shook his head. “I believe Hurranna is looking at a pilot's slot if she can do it. I honestly don't see her as an officer. She isn't a follower, but she's not really interested in being a leader either.”
“Ah,” the Lieutenant nodded looking thoughtful as she digested that. “You were all in F, all in the same squad?”
“Gusterson wasn't ma'am. Squid ma'am.”
“Oh yes, that's right,” she realized and nodded.
“He's all right for a swabbie I guess,” the bear rumbled. She snorted.
“And that is why you still socialize with them?”
“Everyone needs a break ma'am. A good beer, steak, and a bullshit story.”
She chuckled softly. “Okay, I'll buy that. But don't get to chummy.”
“Wouldn't dream of it ma'am.”
“That panther though, he's... damn. Care to swap?”
“Not on your life ma'am,” the bear laughed. “I'm trying to get him to take the noncom promotions board when we get back.”
“Oh?” She nodded looking thoughtful again. “He is good. I will give him that. You've got quite the team.”
“Yes ma'am. If you want to see how good I can always sit out the next exercise with the gunny and see how the rest of the team performs,” he said. “Since we've emerged from hyper we're still a day out from Agnosta III. Plenty of time to get one more exercise in before hitting the dirt.”
“Oh hell. What a challenge,” she smirked a little. She tapped her chin with a finger tip.
“Up for it?” he asked, smiling.
“I'm thinking, I'm thinking.”
“Take your time ma'am,” his smile broadened a little. Her eyes narrowed.
“You're on,” she said finally. “If only to finally get some payback.”
“We'll see,” he said, smile growing into a grin.
“Oh hell,” she said shaking her head as she caught the grin and it's implications.
...*...*...*...*...
“So this looks good?” Valenko asked, pointing to a boxed in valley. It was bordered on all sides by steep mountain cliffs. Snow melt trickled down the mountains to join together at the low end of the valley to fall off a cliff into a torrent below. It fed into the rivers downstream.
Off to one side of the river were a couple thousand acres of swamp. Most likely created when the river overflowed during spring time. From the looks of the shots the mountains were heavily wooded. Perfect for training purposes. Zebo and his kin would feel right at home there. Hell they'd probably have a hell of a time getting the Gashg out.
“It looks good. It's got just about all of the things we need. Plains, forest, swamp. We can always create a desert and jungle zones in other areas,” Schultz said using his hand to scroll through the holo map. “I like it. Defensible, the only way in is either on foot or by air.”
“Getting supplies in and out will be tricky. Pilots wont like flying in with the mountains in front of them,” Valenko rumbled, rubbing his chin.
“Sucks to be them,” the gunny said with a shrug. “There is another reason to check it out. We've gotten a request to check the area out. It seems something's been scaring the locals.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. They thought it was a predator, but now they aren't so sure. The attacks have escalated to isolated farms.”
“Hmmm. Livestock?”
“At first. But last week they hit a farm.” An above shot of a smoldering building was shown briefly.
“They?” Valenko asked. He was pretty sure now what the answer would be.
“Two or more at least. I'm pretty sure it's not a predator. At least not a... well, I saw the report. A predator doesn't open locked doors to rape and stab people and then leave the knife sticking out of their chest.”
“Ah. A monster of another sort,” the bear growled deep and ugly. “I've had familiar experience with this. It will be nice to be on the side of the angels for this one,” he rumbled.
“Good,” the captain nodded. “Second squad is going to be field testing the LAV's we brought along and providing back up for both you and third squad. I don't expect a problem but I'd like everyone to be as prepared as possible.”
“Yes sir.”
“Report every two hours. Climb a tree if you have to punch a signal out.”
“Hurranna can. Tree won't take my weight sir.”
“True.”
“You'll meet the locals in the area. Be on your best behavior. Try not to step on any toes.”
“I'll try not to sir.”
“See that you don't.”
“Yes sir.”
“A piece of good news, Destiny made it this far. The Admiral was ground side and helped the people get back on their feet. They even have some mom and pop vendors and small businesses so try to spread the credits to help them get off to a solid start. They had a rough winter so it'll help, believe me.”
“Yes sir,” Valenko nodded.
“Full brief is in your in box. That is all. Dismissed.”
“Yes sir. Semper Fi.”
Chapter 23
“Hot dogs, get your all you can eat hot dogs! Five creds or a gram of gold or two grams of silver per person!” The vendor waved as Miles stepped down the boarding ramp. “Hey soldier boy want a taste of real food? I've got some good hot dogs here, freshly cooked!”
Miles turned as Asazi followed him down the stairs. He smiled and then turned back to the vendor. “You sure about that offer?” he asked.
“Uh... Yeah, I stick to my word sonny, so what'll it be? One with mustard?” he grinned. His eyes went up to the ramp, mentally counting the money he was about to rake in then stopped as Sergei filled the shuttle hatch.
“Holy crap,” he muttered, eyes wide as the white Liger sniffed the air, stretched against the hatch frame, and then roared. He felt something wet on his thighs. Miles snorted, stepping aside as Asazi walked by shaking her head and not quite hiding a smirk.
“Out of the way you big lummox!” Hurranna growled, ducking in between the ligers legs to get out. “Ah! Freedom!” She leapt down the stairs and then off to the nearest patch of grass.
“Look out, coming through,” Jethro said, elbowing the Liger to one side. The tongs the vendor had in his hand fell to the ground. He bent over and picked them up and wiped them on his apron absently.
The cats made it to the ground just as first a leopard and then a grizzly came out the hatch.
“Ah, you know what, never mind. Keeping my word is so overrated these days,” the vendor mumbled, towing his cart away as fast as he could.
Miles watched, laughing. “What's with
him?” Valenko asked.
“Oh, just finding out you need to watch what you say. It could come back to haunt you,” Miles replied with a grin.
...*...*...*...*...
Jethro took a deep sniff, eyes closed, feeling the wind ruffle his sun lit fur. Damn it felt right. Better then VR. Much better. Real. Really real. He could feel the grit in the air, the concrete under his boots. He moved out, away from the boarding ramp and stopped at the nearest patch of dirt. He knelt and picked up a handful and let it run through his hands.
“Nice huh,” Hurranna said softly. “Seems big. A lot bigger than I expected. You play games, walk around in sims, the park decks, but hell, none of it can hold a candle to the real thing.” She luxuriated in the feel of the wind and sun in her fur. The smells it brought were incredible. Everywhere they turned there was something new to experience. It was glorious.
“Yeah,” Jethro said softly. “Yeah.”
“I want to find a beach. A nice one with some wicked sun. Spend a week there. Maybe catch some fish. Or sleep. Party all night, sleep all day,” she said wistfully.
“Fat chance. Missions come first,” Ox said shaking his head. She stuck her tongue out at him.
“So why do we have recon duty while second and third sit on their asses?” she asked, turning back to Jethro.
“You are asking me?” he retorted standing up and brushing his hands.
“Why not?”
“Okay. Best guess? Team mix. We're the most balanced. Also second and third have the highest number of people who look pretty in a uniform but don't know squat.”
“Oh.” She blinked and then grinned. “Is that all.”
“Well, we're first right? We proved it in the sims right?” he grinned back, ears forward. She purred a chuckle nodding.
“And the fact that we're the most combat experienced squad, and you and Letanga have both had recon training might have something to do with it as well,” the lynx said shaking her head.
“If you had to point it out, why'd you ask in the first place?” Jethro snorted.
“Some people are so full of themselves they like to hear themselves talk,” she replied over her shoulder. He shook his head.
“I think the females were here!” Sergei said excitedly over by a big tree. “They made it this far!” he grinned, ears forward. His ruck was at his feet. The squad was stretching or checking their gear. Letanga was racked out in the tree, limbs and tail hanging off the branch. His ruck was leaning against the base of the tree. His rifle was across his back however. Both eyes were slitted. Hurranna wasn't the only one to enjoy the sun and breeze.
Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) Page 37