by Chris Hechtl
“What the hell is it?” the corporal asked as he took the tablet and scanned it briefly before sketching out his signature. Everything looked legit. It was from Epsilon Triangula of all places. It might be a shipment of gear they found he thought. Could it be a suit? That would be cool he thought, looking at the display panel and green LEDs along one side.
“It's a problem. Your problem,” the stevedore said with a grin as he tucked the tablet under his arm.
“Very funny. Wanna tell me what I just got my ass in a sling for?” Gleason growled.
The stevedore shrugged. “From the look of it, it's a stasis pod. I've seen a few. It came in on that shipment of recruits from Epsilon Triangula this morning. This one has a tiger inside of all things. My advice, be careful when you open it. He doesn't look happy,” the stevedore said, taking the tablet back.
“A what?” the corporal asked, startled.
“A tiger. Big bastard but old.”
“I'm not …”
“You just did. He's your problem now,” the stevedore said with a grin as he took himself off.
The corporal stared at the upright pod. He went over and wiped at the clear visor where the head was. A tiger was indeed inside; a yellow Neotiger with what looked a perpetual scowl on a face that was a bit of a mess.
“Great, another repair job. Why do they send them to us? At least if this one is a sleeper, he might have implants … could it be a sleeper?” he frowned as he tried to think of what to do. Technically, he was in unknown ground. He could call medical and have them deal with the guy, which was probably what he should do. But then there was recruiting and training … or should he call to have the guy signed in? He wasn't sure.
He stood there staring for a while before his implants pinged. That gave him an idea so he reached out with his Wi-Fi to see if the cat had implants. The signal he got had him go wide-eyed and slack-jawed. “Um, Sarge? Can I get you over to the docks? You're never going to believe this, but we've got a live one,” he said in a message.
<)>^<)>/
“Sir, you know this tiger? He's got you down as a reference. There is a file he attached,” Jersey said. “Apparently you ran into him on ET?”
“Tiger … Wait, are you serious? You've got Nohar? He's there??” the admiral demanded over the ansible.
“Yes. Nohar Rajestan. He's a sleeper. He actually slept his way over; they said he made something of a splash when he showed up in a stasis pod on the docks,” the general said dryly.
“He's damn good. He was a noncom in the 501st. He's been … damn,” the admiral said. “Now I know why he hasn't been mentioned in the ET reports. I'm going to have to get on someone's ass about not mentioning this earlier,” he growled. “Why didn't he email me?”
“I think you can ask him, if you've got time. He's being checked out by medical now. Apparently he had issues with confined spaces?”
“Yes. He has some demons to overcome. That he made it to you is a mark in his favor. Up until he left, he was running planetary security on ET,” the admiral explained. That raised the general's eyebrows and told him good things about the tiger. “He ran the resistance there. He did a damn good job bridging the gap during the Xeno virus plague there too,” the admiral explained.
“I see. And he was never offered a commission?” the general asked, pursing his lips.
“I know. He was medically discharged due to his extensive injuries and psychological issues like his problem with claustrophobia. I think he has some PTSD but I'm not sure. He didn't show many signs when I was with him.”
“That's just what we need, a PTSD tiger,” the general said with a shake of his head. “I'm not even sure what to do with him to be honest. I mean, we can reactivate his rank, but since he's got issues but has been a planetary security admin …,” he grimaced.
“He's die-hard Army through and through. You've been complaining that Captain Yee and Captain Church haven't been able to get a handle on the enlisted. Give him everything he needs, then get the hell out of his way. He's damn good. He'll get the Army turned around fast.”
The general nodded slowly. Yee had the artillery almost buttoned up, but training and all the other departments were sorely lacking since he'd dumped them on Church. “Yes, sir. I'll wait and see what the medics say if you don't mind.”
“Agreed. I've got to go. Antigua out.”
“Agnosta out,” the general said as he disconnected the link to the ansible.
<)>^<)>/
Nohar Rajestan grimaced as he laid in bed. He hadn't come to be poked and prodded. He did regret not going through everything on ET with Helen Richards beforehand. She'd tried to get him to get the anti-geriatric treatments there, but he'd been impatient.
Well, more likely afraid, he'd chicken out if he'd hesitated further. That someone would have tried to talk him out of it. Going in the pod seemed impulsive now, but it had worked. He was damn glad of that. And he hadn't killed anyone when they'd decanted him; that was a plus.
He just wished they'd hurry up and give him something to do before he started to climb the walls.
<)>^<)>/
Brigadier Jersey Forth frowned as he read the latest dispatch from Pyrax. Apparently, he was to expect a delegation from there on the next regular transport run in three and a half weeks. The Bek Marine and Nuevo Army officers were coming a calling, as the old saying went. That was fine. He outranked all three of them.
Major Theodore Edward Bear IIXXX, and what a name that was he mused in amusement, was a Neopolar bear Marine. He'd see how the bear sized up once he got in the star system and got his massive boots on the ground. From the sound of his bio, the bear was a hard charger. If he was, he could use that grit.
He'd have to get up to speed though. He'd also have to do it while Jersey threw some duties at him. There was nothing like seeing if an officer was worth the rank tabs they had on by throwing them in the deep end right away, sink or swim. If he did do well, he might indeed have Fifth Division waiting in his future, Jersey thought.
The two militia Army officers from Nuevo were a different story, however. Both were outside his jurisdiction. He wanted to treat them with kid gloves. Lieutenant Colonel Pasha 1010111 was the ranking Nuevo Army militia officer. He wasn't certain of the man's last name. There might be some odd cyber cult thing going on. According to what he'd heard, Nuevo was a mostly agrarian world lacking modern industry. Again, he was going to have to see how much the officers knew and what they could handle. These two seemed to be … weekend warriors he thought wrinkling his nose.
Lieutenant Olivia Lincoln was the second Army militia officer. He had nothing in her file like her boss. He shook his head. No matter. He'd get up to speed with them when they got to the planet.
With any luck, he'd hand the Army mess off to both of them. That would be nice he thought. And what about the new recruit? Rajestan? Nohar Yellow Tiger Rajestan, former Army Ranger sergeant of the legendary 501st. What the hell was he supposed to do with him? John might be tickled pink that the elderly Neocat had not only signed back up but also shipped himself out on his own initiative, but …
He shook his head. Rajestan was still getting sorted out by the medics. He probably should have gone to Pyrax first, gotten his body's geriatric issues sorted out, and then come here. But he'd jumped the gun since he'd gotten a full workup on Epsilon Triangula. Fine. They'd deal with it, or in this case he would sick it on Captain Yee and eventually the new Army colonel. Fine. All the better he thought.
He frowned thoughtfully. He could turn the tiger over to the Army militia right off and see what Captain Yee had to say. He was tempted … and they'd get with him eventually he was sure. But for the moment he had to figure out a different approach.
Technically, he wasn't … shouldn't, he should say, shouldn't be all that concerned about the tiger. The tiger had indicated he wanted Army again. He was, after all, Army bred, not a Marine, so that made sense. He also couldn't handle being on a ship; there was a thing about that in his rec
ord.
He finally nodded slowly, reassigning the tiger in his head. The sergeant was Captain Yee's problem he thought firmly as he made a note to wash the Marine's hands of the tiger. If he was smart, he'd sic the tiger on admin paperwork during his rehabilitation and retraining and see if he could handle it or go nuts. More nuts than he already was the brigadier thought, shaking his head silently. The very idea of shipping oneself across the cosmos …
“Sir, Major Kodiak's Fourth Division is ready for deployment. The First Brigade has begun shuttling up to the transfer station and will be ready to load the moment the ships dock. You said to let you know before he departs for Protodon?” his yeoman asked.
“Yes, I'll go have a chat with him,” the general said, rising to his feet.
“But, sir, um, your schedule …”
“Work around it. Figure it out,” the general said simply as he left.
The yeoman bit his lip and then muttered about finding someone sane to work for as he tried to sort the sudden departure into the schedule without causing a chain of chaos in his neat and orderly world.
<)>^<)>/
“General on deck!” a marine called out. Everyone snapped to.
“As you were,” General Forth ordered as he walked over to a rather large and imposing grizzly bear. “I thought I'd stop by and check in before you check out,” he said.
“And you wanted an excuse to get out from under the paperwork and meetings you've been buried under, sir? I won't tell if you won't,” Valenko replied with a grin and ear flick.
Jersey snorted. “Something like that,” he said.
“I think your division is going to be feeling sorry for itself, being left home to tend the fires and train the noobs,” Valenko said as the general approached him.
“I know. I'm glad you and Dana had your people tidy up before you left. I suppose you took pictures too?” he asked. Valenko put on an innocent expression. “Right,” the general drawled. “We're supposed to be standing up a new division soon. I think I'll stick them in Third Division's base for the time being,” he said.
“Gee, thank you, sir,” Valenko said. “I hate it when someone paws through my stuff when I'm gone,” he growled.
“Well, I do try to please sometimes,” Jersey said. He liked the light banter. “And I suppose I can't have my people feeling sorry for themselves, so I decided earlier to schedule a distraction,” the general said, rubbing his hands together gleefully. The major eyed him warily. “Oh, it's nothing much,” Jersey said with a canary-eating smile. “We've got dignitaries coming as well, remember?” The bear nodded slowly. “So, we're going to have to do a full cleaning to look spiffy,” the general said cheerfully. The bear groaned and hung his head. The general grinned. “Grumbling about that should keep everyone's mind occupied.” He looked around. “This place needs the occasional airing out anyway,” he said, looking around the spaceport.
“Great, just what we need, a full court colonoscopy, not a divisional one,” the bear replied with a shake of his head. “Well, at least I won't have to be around to endure it. Once is quite enough,” he said.
“Yup. So, go let the bag loose on that little thing so the sergeants will try to get a jump on it or try to find a way out of it,” the general said maliciously.
“Aye aye, sir,” the bear said warily. They both knew there were some marines judiciously listening to their conversation. Word would get out immediately.
“Maybe we can also throw in …,” the general paused for a pregnant moment, considering telling the bear he had put in for his early promotion before he discarded the idea. When he didn't say anything further, the bear cleared his throat. “Oh, nothing,” he said sweetly. “We'll save it for another time I suppose,” he said. He made a note to check with BuPers and Admiral Irons if necessary to get the final paperwork expedited. He would like to be the one to pin the bear's new rank insignia on if at all possible.
“Yes, sir,” the bear said warily again. “If there is anything else?”
“Nope. Get on that. We'll talk more later,” the general said by way of dismissal.
<)>^<)>/
Major Valenko was fortunate to be spared some of the preparations for the arrival of the new Marine and Army officers. Sometime after they arrived, an Admiral Sienkov and a party of delegates were supposed to pass by as well. General Forth had decided to treat the entire affair like an IG inspection, which his Fourth Division had already recently gone through in preparation for their movement. It did play into First's scheduled inspection though.
He strolled through central admin to check in with the paper pushers once more. Sometimes it took his imposing presence to get them to wake-up and push their paperwork faster. His people were almost finished loading. He didn't want or need any headaches. He especially didn't want any embarrassing delays.
The enlisted troops naturally grumbled about the extra work and hoopla, but they were out doing KP, pressure washing buildings and vehicles, painting, and doing other chores just the same.
“Sir?” Corporal Zipes said as he came up behind the grizzly. He popped to attention, but Valenko waved him off. “You were supposed to be in a meeting ten minutes ago.”
“I … damn it,” Valenko said as he checked the time. “I apparently didn't set my schedule reminder correctly, Zipes,” he admitted as he caught sight of a group loading armored suits and moving them to the spaceport.
Corporal Zipes followed his gaze. He cleared his throat meaningfully. Most likely, the major had shut off his implant reminders to get a little peace and quiet while he went for his stroll. That would explain why no one had been able to reach him. Fortunately, the captain had known where the major was off to … and his mission to scare the bejeezers out of some poor paper pusher.
“Well then, I suppose I can't play hooky anymore since you found me,” Valenko rumbled, clapping his hands together. Heads looked up around him. He waved them off. “Carry on, folks,” he said. “I'll be with them in a bit, Zipes, just let me tidy things up here since I'm here. Won't be more than a minute or two,” he growled.
“Yes, sir. I'll let them know,” the corporal said. He eyed the major's back, then sent a text file to the general.
<)>^<)>/
“Late for your own funeral, Valenko?” General Forth said as the bear came into the lobby of his division's HQ building.
“I should hope so. Terminally late if you catch my drift, sir.” He sized the general up in his full uniform. “Something going on I don't know about, sir?”
“Go change,” the general said, pointing to Asazi. She came out from behind the general to hold up the bear's formal uniform in a plastic bag.
“This is …?”
“Don't ask stupid questions. I could be an ass and make you wait, but I'm not. Go,” the general ordered.
“Right,” the major said. He took the garment bag and then went off to a bathroom to change.
In the bathroom, he noted his rank insignia were missing. That was the final piece of the puzzle to tell him all he needed to know about what was going on.
When he was finished, he found the lobby packed with the officers and noncoms of his division as well as a few friends from First Division. Everyone was in their formal uniform. He nodded slightly to Captain M'mbeki and Gunny Schultz. The general cleared his throat before he could acknowledge anyone else.
“Attention to orders!” Sergeant Bok rasped out. Everyone stiffened and then came to attention with a stomp.
“Major Kodiak, front and center,” the general ordered.
Valenko fought to keep his face impassive as he moved forward crisply and properly as his training dictated. When he got to where the general was standing, he noted the planetary flag and Federation flag had been set up behind the general in his absence, as had a holo projector. His eyebrows rose at the image of President Irons standing there at attention, along with a few other familiar faces.
“Raise your right hand and repeat the oath of office,” the general stated.
/>
“Yes, sir. I, Valenko Kodiak, do solemnly swear that I will support and uphold the Constitution of the Federation against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office I am about to enter.”
“I, Brigadier General Forth, under direction of President and Fleet Admiral John Henry Irons, do promote you to the rank of lieutenant colonel,” the general stated. Sergeant Bok stepped up and held up a blue jeweler's case. The general opened it to expose the rank insignia glittering within.
Ages ago when the Space Marines had been founded prior to the Federation's birth, someone had made some changes to their rank and insignia. One of them was swapping the gold and silver seven pointed leaf. A major had a silver leaf; a lieutenant colonel had a gold leaf.
Within the box was the gold leaf. The general took one out, attached it to the bear's collar, and then did the same for the other pin.
Valenko felt data flowing into his implants. He allowed the transaction. Keys and other information came in and were filed. He knew when he went to bed his firmware would do a flash upgrade to his new rank status.
The general took a step back and then they exchanged salutes.
“Congratulations, Colonel,” Admiral Irons said with a nod. The room broke out into applause.
When the applause died down, the general smiled. “You've earned it.”
“And then some,” Ted murmured.
“I've seen a lot of people rise through the ranks, but if anyone deserved it, then it is you, Valenko Kodiak. Your sheer tenacity, strategic, and tactical sense has made everyone stand on their toes. It's also given quite a few people nightmares when it came time to facing you in combat,” the general said with a smile.
“I do my best to try, sir,” Valenko said. “Better they fear me than the enemy.”
“Yes, getting tore up by you does let us see what real combat will be like … if it doesn't cause a bit of PTSD during the training, which I understand it does in some cases,” the general said eying the bear. “But you do kick ass. Keep doing that, Lieutenant Colonel,” he said with a nod to the bear.