“Breach clear!” was reported as the first four Marines entered the ship and formed a mini-security.
Jeff was working like clockwork, getting his men into the ship. It took less than a minute before the entire element of 35 men was inside and moving throughout the ship.
Ryck followed the last man in. He burst through the tube into a well-lit interior. What looked to be real wood panels covered the walls of a master bedroom. It was one of the larger rooms on the ship, which was the reason the breach location had been chosen.
Behind Ryck, the first of the support element was following him, so Ryck moved into the ship’s main corridor. The ship was not that large, and this was a lot of Marines to be on board, but the Ops O had directed a maximum and quick buildup to overwhelm whoever was on the ship.
“Hold your fire! Hold your fire!” filled the net.
“Give me a feed of that Marine,” Ryck subvocalized, telling his AI to give him a view of what was going on.
Immediately, in the lower right side of his face shield, Lance Corporal Thomas’ feed appeared. Four men in what had to be Confederation System Guard uniforms were standing in front of Thomas, hands in the air. They didn’t seem concerned or worried, and that raised yet one more warning flag with Ryck. Another Marine moved forward and started to check the four men for weapons.
Beyond the four guardsmen, Ryck could see three adult males, an adult female, and two children. The children were obviously frightened, but the adults seem to be taking things in stride.
“Jeff, do not stop clearing this ship. Something’s not right, and we don’t need any surprises.”
At least the CO was quiet. He would be monitoring everything, so there was no reason for Ryck to take time to report up.
Marines were lining the corridor as Ryck passed between them and got up to the bridge. The four guardsmen had been isolated on one side, their hands press-tied together, and with two Marines watching them. The four were in grey vac suits, their helmets off.
Doc Adams was kneeling in front of the two children, giving the little girl a quick exam. As with the rest, he was still in his vacsuit, but the caduceus on the sleeve identified him. Jeff, on the other hand, had cracked open his helmet and was talking to one of the civilians. Ryck would have to talk to him later about that.
Ryck moved up as Hecs joined him. The man saw Ryck approach turned to face him hand out.
“Colby Stein,” the man said as Ryck took the proffered hand. With vacsuit gauntlets on, macho tests of hand strength were moot, but Ryck thought he felt a little hand judo going on as he shook.
“Captain Ryck Lysander, Federation Marine Corps,” he said in return. “Is this your entire party?”
“Why didn’t you just come in the shop’s hatch?” the man asked, ignoring Ryck’s question. “We made sure it was unsecured. Do you know how much damage you’ve done?”
Ryck was taken aback. He hadn’t expected to be questioned like that, and certainly not about damage to the ship. The man had been arrested, for Pete’s sake, along with his family and personal staff.
“We didn’t know if the quarterdeck had been boobytrapped,” Ryck said, despite the fact that he knew he owed the man no explanation.
“Well, it wasn’t, was it?” the man said, obviously peeved. “It’s done, but I’m not responsible for that.”
What the grubbing hell? Why is he worried about being responsible? Isn’t it his grubbing ship? Ryck wondered.
“If you are done with your chitchat, Captain, may I remind you that we’ve got incoming ships, and we need to get out of here?” the CO’s voice came over his P2P. “I want the hostages suited up and taken to the rekis. For the System Guardsmen, release them and give them a reki. I’ve got a Navy team inbound now, and they are going to rig the ship to blow. You’ve got 15 minutes to be out of range.”
“Charlie Company, begin to extract now,” Ryck passed on the net, but activating his external speakers as well. “This ship will be destroyed in 15 minutes and we need to be well off by then.”
The guardsmen were startled at that, and the children began to cry.
“That’s not going to happen,” Mr. Stein started before Ryck held out a hand to stop him.
“You’re going to be released and given a reki to get out of here. I’m sure you know that you have Confederation ships inbound. If you have anyone else onboard, you’d better tell us now so they can get off, too,” he told the senior Guardsman.
“There’s no one else—” Stein started, but the look on the four guardsmen’s eyes told Ryck differently.
“Uh, yeah, they’se maybe twos more, sorts of. Likes be hidin’ in the aft head,” the Guardsman said in some sort of local accent.
“First Sergeant, take this man to the aft head so he can get his two companions off the ship,” he ordered before turning to face the excited Stein.
“You can’t destroy this ship,” Stein said. “Do you know how much it cost?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ve got my orders, and it is not in my hands.”
Stein looked back at one of his servants. To Ryck’s surprise, the manservant nodded, as if giving Stein permission or something.
“Then we need to get our luggage. It’ll take us 15 minutes just to get it,” Stein said.
“I don’t think you understand, sir. The ship is going to be blown, and everything on it. Look at your kids. They’re terrified. Don’t you think you need to be concerned with them rather than luggage?”
“Captain, I don’t think you understand,” the manservant said, stepping up. “A certain piece of luggage will be taken,” he said with a degree of certainty.
“I would suggest that these three gentlemen be escorted off the bridge,” he said, indicating the three remaining Guardsmen.
Something about the man’s tone gave him pause, so Ryck told the two Marines to take the men to the ship’s hatch.
“Now, I suggest you call back to your commanding officer and give him these numbers: 55983221.”
“I’ve got them,” the CO spoke over the P2P, confirming that the man had been monitoring everything.
That got Ryck slightly angry, but he had to admit that he’d been doing much the same thing within the company.
The children’s sobs turned to snuffles as the adults stood staring at each other as time ticked away.
It seemed longer, but less than a minute had passed when the CO came back with, “They’ll be taking a piece of gear. We will wait until you have it to blow the ship.”
Ryck looked up at the servant, not that Ryck now thought the man was subordinate to anyone on the ship. “You’ve got it.”
The man nodded and then started giving orders. Stein and the other servant snapped to, one clearing an ornate carpet from where it was tacked to the bridge deck, the other reaching under a cabinet to bring out a torch. Without a word, Stein started cutting into the featureless deck.
“Lieutenant de Madre, leave two Marines here, but then get everyone else off the ship. With Mr. Stein’s permission, that includes his wife and two kids,” Ryck said, not looking at Stein but at the servant, who nodded his assent.
“You might want to tell your commander that he doesn’t need to worry about blowing the ship. I’ll take care of that,” the man said.
“Noted. I’m recalling the Navy team,” the CO passed, once again before Ryck relayed anything.
Whatever the bridge deck was made of, it was extremely tough. The torch flared and sputtered as it slowly cut. The three men had to put their vacsuit helmets on as the bridge filled with black smoke.
It took close to 15 minutes before the second servant was able to remove and set aside the cut deck piece and then reach in and pull on something, an action Ryck thought was foolish given that they would soon be doing a spacewalk, and a hot, jagged piece of deckplate could easily puncture a vacsuit.
Servant #1 reached down, and together with servant #2, they pulled out a meter-long black cylinder and dropped it on the deck. Number one punched in a
code, then flipped open an access panel. He pulled out a disc of some sort, put it in his shoulder pocket, then latched the pocket shut.
“Mr. Stein?” the servant asked, still role-playing.
Stein pulled out a key, and both he and the servant went to the nav panel. The servant inserted one key, Stein another. The servant entered something on a touch pad, then both men turned their keys simultaneously.
“Well, Captain, I suggest we get off this ship. We’ve got six minutes and forty seconds.”
Six minutes and forty seconds? Why not six minutes thirty, or seven minutes? Ryck wondered.
With the two Marines leading the way, Ryck followed the three civilians out of the bridge, down the hall, and to the ship’s hatch. Sams, Hecs, and four Marines were waiting for them there.
“The XO’s got the rest standing by a klick off,” the first sergeant said.
“I’d make that ten kilometers, Sergeant,” the servant said.
Ryck knew the man had no military experience when he called Hecs “Sergeant.” That was a big military faux pas.
“Go ahead and tell them to start back. It will take some time for each reki to load, and we’re going to want to get the ship moving quickly,” he told Hecs.
“Now you’re beginning to get it,” the CO passed.
Ryck was really beginning to resent having the CO hovering over him like that.
The ten men cycled out and flew the 40 meters to the lone reki waiting for them. With the Navy coxswain, that was three more than normal, but that wouldn’t matter until they arrived at the Inchon when the extra mass could affect handling.
The three civilians (not military, but Ryck was pretty sure by now that they were not simple tourists) had to use the auxiliary straps to secure themselves. The soles of their vacsuits did not have the lock-down feature. They had barely snapped in the straps when the coxswain took off. Ryck looked back as the Julianna’s Dream quickly receded out of sight. He was watching his display timer which was counting down the time. The Inchon was already in view, and the coxswain was maneuvering for an approach when the display timer hit 6:40. Immediately, a small sun seem to come to life, the brightness of the light penetrating through the back of Ryck’s vacsuit helmet and blinding him for a moment.
Grubbing hell!
He looked at the civilians in front of him as his vision came back. It had been obvious that this had not been an innocent error in navigation, nor a Confederation grab of a ship in neutral space. Any remaining doubts about that had disappeared when the Julianna’s Dream was reduced to its component atoms so spectacularly.
Chapter 7
“Enter!” the CO shouted out.
Ryck took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and stepped into the CO’s stateroom. He’d been in it before, of course, but this was the first time it was just the colonel and him. This couldn’t be good.
The debrief with all the officers had been strange. The ship’s CO had congratulated everyone, the Ops O had gone over a very basic timeline, but it was almost as if the people who were rescued were forgotten. No mention was made other than the “cargo” was recovered. That “cargo” was somewhere on the ship where, if scuttlebutt was true, they would be transferred to a Navy sloop for parts unknown.
After only 15 minutes, they had been dismissed, and the CO had told Ryck to see him in his stateroom. Ryck waited five minutes, his mind racing, then reported.
“Sit down, Captain,” the CO said from behind his small desk.
Ryck sat, ass on the edge of the chair just likes when he was a recruit. The CO leaned back, hands behind his head, elbows splayed out as he looked at Ryck for a few moments. Ryck began to feel more nervous as the CO kept quiet.
Just say something!
Finally, the CO leaned forward, and with his gravelly voice asked, “How do you think the mission went?”
That surprised Ryck.
How did the mission go? We recovered the passengers, and that was the objective, right?
But the CO had been on his ass the entire time, continually on the P2P, and he’d threatened to send in Bravo. That had pissed Ryck off. He wondered if he should say something about that, but decided to answer with the obvious and then see where the colonel was going with it.
“We accomplished the mission without loss of life, sir. I would say that was a success.”
A look of, what, disgust? fleetingly flashed across the CO’s face. Ryck knew the colonel had expected another response.
“You do know that I came that close . . .” he said, holding his thumb and forefinger four or five centimeters apart, “. . . to relieving you on the spot?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Well, that’s one good thing, I guess. And do you know why I came to that decision?”
“Because you were not happy with the tempo,” Ryck said.
“Exactly! And if I was not happy, then why the hell didn’t you do anything about it?” the CO asked.
“Sir, the safety of my men came first. I was not going to risk them with irrational actions.”
The CO stared and Ryck, his thoughts obviously warring on what to say next. He came to a decision.
“Captain, the elephant in the room is that you are one of the Corp’s heroes. You are well-known, and you have friends in high places. But I am the commanding officer of this battalion, and I will not let anyone, even a Federation Nova holder, endanger my men.”
Endanger? What grubbing bullshit are you saying? I was keeping my men safe! he thought, even if he was smart enough to say nothing.
“I’ve gone over your operations, from where you won your silver star as a PFC to your operation on GenAg13. All your successes were because you acted and acted decisively. Your performance reports all noted this tendency.
“I’ve also gone over your psych reports. After losing most of your men on G.K. Nutrition 6, including your brother-in-law, you retreated within yourself and almost resigned your commission.”
Ryck wanted to protest, but he knew it was true.
After you were awarded the Nova, the powers that be hoped you had gotten past that, and your assignment here is your proving ground. The Corps wants their heroes, and you fit the bill. They want you to succeed.”
“Uh, sir, how do you know all of this?” Ryck asked.
“Please, Captain. Do you think I wasn’t briefed about the great Captain Ryck Lysander? That I wasn’t briefed to make sure you succeed and get past any remaining demons?”
Ryck said nothing and simply digested what the CO had just told him. So the top brass had their eyes on him?
“But let me make one thing perfectly clear. I don’t give a rat’s ass for what the general staff wants with you. You are one of my company commanders, and I expect you to perform. And if you don’t, I will run you out of the battalion.”
At that, Ryck started to protest, but the CO held up his hand.
“And yes, I know that could cause me to be relieved, too. But if you screw up in a fight, I need to do what is best for the Marines.
“I was trying to do what was best for the Marines,” Ryck said sullenly.
“You were dawdling, Captain, afraid to take decisive action. You knew that two Confederation capital ships were inbound, but you delayed, giving a potential enemy time to prepare and putting the entire task force at risk, all because you were trying to protect a few Marines. There might be times that you will have to send a man to his death, Captain, all for the greater good.”
Ryck winced, thinking of Joshua, his own brother-in-law, whom he had ordered to his death, along with three other Marines.
“And frankly, I don’t know if you have it in you,” the CO went on.
“I called you here for two reasons, and no, I don’t have a hard-on for you. I want you to succeed. I want you to be the very best Marine you can be. The first is to give you fair warning. You need to step up your game, Captain. You need to find the Ryck Lysander who went fearlessly into battle and made immediate, effective decisions. You have no
t shown that to me yet, so consider yourself on probation. The second thing is that I want you to know your medals won’t help you. I don’t care about them, and I don’t care if you have godfathers looking out for you. I will do what I think is best.”
You grubbing pogue, Ryck thought, keeping his face expressionless. Of course you care about my medals because you’ve never seen combat, and you’re jealous. You don’t ride Preston like you ride me, right? Because Preston doesn’t have a Nova and a Navy Cross.
“Do we have an understanding?” the CO asked.
“Yes, sir,” he said, his voice calm and even.
“OK, Captain. I know you have it in you, and I expect to see it. Go see to your men, now. Dismissed.”
And that was that. Ryck had been dismissed like a recruit who’d just screwed up. In the back of his mind, a tendril of thought kept trying to surface, that the CO had been right, that Ryck had been endangering the entire battalion and the Inchon by playing it too cautiously. But Ryck successfully pushed that tendril back into the recesses of his mind.
The CO was out to get him, pure and simple. And Ryck was not going to give him any excuse to relieve him and take away his company—both by his performance and, if he had to, by calling in one of his purported godfathers. What was the use of having a godfather if he didn’t use one of them?
SIERRA DORADO
Chapter 8
“Come on, Ryck. We’re going to miss the command shuttle, and I don’t want to hang around at the quarterdeck,” Preston implored from Ryck’s open hatch.
“We’ll just leave his ass,” Frank said sourly from the passage beyond Preston.
For a man of God, the chaplain had somewhat of a gutter mouth, Ryck thought. He was a great guy, but not many chaplains used the word “ass,” at least not in Ryck’s experience.
“OK, OK, I’m coming,” Ryck said, trying one more time to get his medal bar straight. “Or you could help me with this thing.”
Captain (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 4) Page 5