by Chris Hechtl
“Yeah,” Shanti said softly, eyes closed.
“I wonder how long it'll take to get him to propose marriage?” Rah asked, breaking the embrace.
Shanti cocked her head then her eyes glittered. “Not long if I'm the one proposing,” she said simply. Her sister stared at her slack jawed. Shanti flicked her ears at her sister then nonchalantly cleaned her shoulder. “What? The times have changed, haven't you heard? A gal has to do what a gal has to do,” she said. “He's the only eligible guy in the area after all,” she said as Rah chuffed and then tackled her. The two rolled, laughing and giggling as they tickled each other.
<(>~^~<(>
Shanti was nervous when she met up with Jethro Friday night. Jethro could see it when he met her. “I'm off until Sunday at midnight,” he said to her, nuzzling her cheek. “What? What is it?” he asked, backing off to take her by the forearms and look her in the eye.
“Jethro, will you marry me?” Shanti asked in a rush. His eyes went wide in surprise. She stepped back, hurt and suddenly upset. “See, I knew this was a bad idea. Too soon or something ….”
“No no …”
“I'm just your girl in the port,” Shanti snuffled.
“No, but … damn it …”
“Then what?”
“Shock? Surprised? Can I get over that first?” he said, blinking. “Excited?”
She turned to stare at him. He flicked his ears. “It's a big leap. You just tackled me with it,” he said chuffing.
“But you're not saying no?” she asked carefully.
“I'm not saying much, I'm still stunned. Sort of,” he admitted, rubbing his head and tugging on an ear. “To be honest I never thought I'd settle down. Get married. I ….” His mind churned, struggling with the concept. On the one hand he felt intense love and admiration for her. But there was that lingering concern for her welfare, for her safety.
“Hmm … well, as I told Rah, the times have changed,” Shanti said, getting closer.
“What are you doing?” he asked as she played with his shirt.
“Convincing you. Got a problem with it, mister?”
“No, ma'am,” he said, flicking his ears. “Convince away,” he said as her eyes gleamed.
“Good boy,” she said, purring.
<(>~^~<(>
Jethro married Shanti in a quiet ceremony on the steps of the courthouse Sunday afternoon. Sabu, Rah, and Tyler were there as family and witnesses. Rah seemed concerned, but Sabu was amused. Tyler was amused by it all.
Jethro wished his old squad mates could be there, but he knew some would understand. Hurranna would chew his ear, but she'd get over it. Cheetahra too he thought, thoughts whirling and disconnected. It was all happening so fast! He kept thinking that, but every time he looked at Shanti, he just felt the urge to make her happy—to do anything for her. To be there for her, even when he knew he wasn't going to be on the planet long.
Bast had done her homework when she saw how things were trending. She had put in for leave for them both. The request was stuck in limbo since Lieutenant Queen was south inspecting the islands the Marines were supposed to get, and Lieutenant Chaing was in Carlson.
Finally she bucked the request up to Captain White Wolf. The captain was distracted by the civilian side of her job, but she took a moment out of her busy schedule to call him that afternoon.
“You're request for leave is approved, Gunny,” she said after the ceremony concluded. “You've got a week of light duty. Get what you can while you can but don't shirk your duty to the corps or your squad mates,” she told him.
“Aye aye, ma'am. Thank you,” Jethro said in surprise.
“What was that?” Shanti asked, looking up at him curiously. He'd frozen when the call had come in through his implants.
“I've been granted time off. Apparently I put in for it and didn't know it,” he said, eyes looking at Bast. She flicked her ears at him. He mouthed a thank you.
“So, we can have a honeymoon?”
“Of a sorts,” Jethro said. “I can have the nights off she said. Light duty.”
“Oh,” Shanti said. She shrugged after a moment. “I'll take what I can get,” she purred. He chuffed in amusement.
Both of them worked during the day, then visited through the net or in person at night. He found that he enjoyed the rest, if that was what they could call it. It definitely felt good to be with her. Walks were nice. She seemed to open up, to come alive and be playful when they ate together.
Shanti brought up buying land to build a home, which intrigued Jethro. He'd never considered it. Obviously an apartment was out, though it might be a good idea to get one in the city since they were both there.
The island suddenly loomed in his mind. If he was posted there … it would suck. He winced. They discussed it briefly the following weekend. They tabled the discussion when a butterfly landed on her nose. That got them laughing and playing.
They played hide and seek in the woods near the capital, then tag and other games. He used his training to spook her, getting the drop on her and nearly scaring her silly. But they laughed, enjoying the moment.
On Saturday they had a nice picnic. “Not much of a honeymoon,” he said.
“With you I'll take what I can get. I can't abandon my duty or my post, nor you. I realize that now,” she said softly, laying on the blanket. She picked a flower and played with it. He watched her and thought about how perfect the day was.
<(>~^~<(>
Late Sunday afternoon he got the call to arms. A courier from Protodon had arrived a few hours ago and had transmitted the alert. The courier let them know that TF 22 had taken the Protodon star system. An ansible had been placed in the star system and another was to be sent by the convoys and then transshipped to Kathy's World.
The call wasn't all good news however. It was also a call for Marine reinforcements. Jethro got that and knew his time with Shanti had come to an abrupt end. He knew instinctively that he was about to go to Protodon to help take the planet.
“Something's happening?” Shanti asked, looking at him curiously. “I know that look,” she accused.
He sighed and let her know. She nodded and turned a radio on. The news was apparently spreading like wildfire across the planet.
When Jethro got back to base, he attended a briefing with the officers and Marines. They were told of the losses on Protodon. It was sobering news. Apparently the loss of Captain Gustav had taken the fight out of some of the force before it had begun.
“It's not good. And I can't ask anyone to go in there—not without proper leadership. You'll be going in with little material support, practically no intelligence, and minimal training,” the captain said, shaking her head.
“But ma'am, our orders are to provide support. We have to go,” Lieutenant Chaing stated.
“I've thought about it. I'm going to Protodon,” she stated, rising to her feet. “Lieutenant, you'll be coming with me. Lieutenant Queen, you'll be remaining here to keep the base on track,” she said simply.
Lieutenant Queen seemed ready to protest but she forced herself to nod. “Aye aye, ma'am.”
“Good. Only volunteers and the Marines will come. We'll poll our people in an hour. Sergeant Farsea, you can see to that,” she said, nodding to Tyler. Tyler nodded back.
“I'm afraid I'm going to need you in Protodon, Gunny, you and your ace in the hole,” the captain said, looking directly at the Neocat. He nodded back.
“Let's make this work, folks. I want to be out of here in less than a week. Three days if we can swing it,” she ordered.
“That's a short time to get the movement going, ma'am, without much time to train,” Lieutenant Queen protested.
“We'll train on the ships. The gunny will see to that,” the captain replied. “I'll want a list of things you'll need. We'll sketch out the TOE. I've got the basic outline in my implants. We'll do what we can with what we have. Hopefully we can make up any holes on the other end. If not, well, we'll do without,” the captain said simply but firml
y.
<(>~^~<(>
Before the meeting was concluded, word had gotten out about Moira's plan to lead the charge to Protodon. Every Ranger volunteered to go as well.
There was also a major uptick in volunteers to join the Marines and Navy. Captain White Wolf organized them into sorting the Rangers out. “We're taking the pick of the litter, remember that. But keep an eye on the long view. Anyone you think could use a bit more seasoning or grit we'll send to Agnosta.”
Sabu plus all the Ranger-turned-Marine recruits were among the first selected. Sabu's prior combat experience as well as his time as a Mountie instantly put the Neoleopard up for Protodon instead of being shipped back to Agnosta with the raw recruits.
Before sundown Moira quickly had two platoons of troops and a TOE sketched out. They would be a tight fit in the colliers. Fortunately they had room, a third of each collier's payload had been shipped groundside for her use. Still it would be rough. Especially since many of the Neos would be in tight quarters for the first time and for weeks. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but it would get done.
The volunteers were a mixed blessing; only the true Marines had full implants. The rest only had ID implants. She knew they were going into combat lacking the basics, but they'd done it before defending their homeworld. They could do it again helping to liberate their neighbor.
Moreta and Cali had insisted on going with her. She was taking them on as officer candidates; they would lead as Rangers not Marine recruits.
She planned to leave Bengali in charge with Blizzard and Hypatia helping out. She left the movement and packing to Jethro, Chaing, and the others as she focused on the bigger picture.
Moira read all the intel they had on Protodon, not just the basics like terrain and history, but everything they had on the Marines, their gear, and the enemy forces.
According to their intel dump, the planet was held by a Brigade General Baroness Busche. From her opening moves, Moira deduced that the human was a very smart, ruthless, vindictive woman. Someone dug in and with little to lose.
The loss of Captain Gustav and the squads on his shuttle had obviously taken the heart out of the Marines right from the beginning. According to the report she was reading, this First Lieutenant Tricia Ebensher was barely hanging on. She was clearly in over her head without enough manpower to take the fight to the enemy. And she was suffering attritional losses every day.
Something would have to be done. According to her check of Chaing and Queen's files, both weren't all that hot in tactical or strategic thinking. That was a problem. She had intended to leave Queen behind despite her recent scores in virtual combat against Lieutenant Chaing. It was obvious that the gunny had been the main reason she'd won her engagements. After checking Chaing's scores, she was tempted to leave him as well but she needed officers. No wonder they'd been sent on a recruiting mission.
According to the intel, the planet's civilization had splintered. One force had formed into a stiff guerrilla force while some of the human population had grouped around the Horathians. Queslings, she thought in disgust.
The intel had much more than the events in Protodon. When she expanded her look into the command structure, she found out more about Rear Admiral Amadeus White. A neochimp, a sleeper, and apparently a survivor of Lemnos.
“Great,” she muttered, reading the full story. Apparently a Xeno virus had compromised Lemnos, the secret research facility. It had come with a changeling and the two had wreaked havoc on the facility and surviving personnel. Admiral Irons had killed the changeling, but the virus had copied itself through the ansible. “Another thing to fracking deal with,” she muttered. After a moment she flicked her ears. Cyber warfare was hardly something she would have to concern herself with.
Chapter 21
The movement was relatively easy to plan for in theory despite the short time frame involved. The noncoms and officers had the TOE and plan template in their implant memory; all they had to do was adapt it to their circumstances, logistics, and personnel. And keep it up-to-date for all personnel. The first few hours were a bit chaotic as they got things moving. Orders went out and then were altered a few minutes later when a fresh update of the plan came in.
The volunteers flooded the space port, which was easy. But figuring out how much each person would need to eat for the trip was tricky. A majority of the volunteers were Neos who ate far more than the normal recommended caloric intake. Or they binge ate for a sitting off of a kill, slept and worked it off for the next few days. That wouldn't do with the threat of constant combat.
When they moved ahead of schedule, Jethro knew they had the plan down. Last minute alterations came in, and additional hunting equipment was donated by concerned citizens. Some of the Rangers had such equipment, most of it hunting gear such as rifles, canteens, or camo. Jethro wasn't sure how much would be needed. If they ended up doing mostly urban combat, the camo and a lot of the hunting gear would be useless.
The night before they had to leave a nearly exhausted Jethro was given a surprise twelve precious hours of leave time to be with Shanti. The movement was done; the final shuttles were going up like clockwork. Bast seemed to be handling his paperwork for him. “Get out of here,” Tyler grudgingly told him when he hesitated. “Go on, get. You'll mope if you don't, and she'll hang around. So go be with her. I wish I could if I had a spectacular lady like that.”
Jethro gave Shanti a sidelong look then returned her gaze to Tyler. “Go, I can handle the rest. If we've got a problem, I'll call, but don't count on it,” he said gruffly.
“Thanks,” Jethro said over his shoulder as he trotted to the gate. He met Shanti and followed her lead.
He was amused when she silently led him to Old Rusty's again. They ate in companionable silence then turned in time to see a shuttle launch. “Not much longer,” she murmured, eyes locked onto the departing shuttle.
“No,” Jethro said, wincing at the countdown Bast had ever so helpfully put up on his HUD.
“Wish you were up there? Getting them ready?”
“I've got weeks to do that. I wish I could have worked with them more in the field. I slacked off when I thought they were going to be shipped to Agnosta for proper training. Apparently that was a mistake.”
She eyed him for a long moment then nodded slowly. “Worried?”
“A little. You always worry about losing someone in ….” He cut himself off, then chuffed. His ears flicked a few times. “You know.”
“Yeah. I worry about you, about Sabu,” she said, eyes lost. “But I know you both made your choices, and you both know what you are doing. You can take care of yourself and each other.”
“I'll try, Shanti; you know that. But I can't be everywhere at once. Since we're related we may be assigned different postings so ….” He was cut off when she put two fingers to his mouth.
“Enough talk. Come on,” she said, flirting with her tail. He rose, and then paid the tab. She seemed to be more alive, to lighten up as they moved out. When he slowed to get around a pair of domestic cats, she slowed up and caught his hand, then nodded her head for him to take her lead. He flicked his ears and followed.
<(>~^~<(>
Shanti was amused that Jethro was ready to follow her lead so willingly. He even let her take the lead in their lovemaking, a rarity among some Neos. He seemed, content. The entire experience was magical she thought. She sat next to him, basking in his gaze as she groomed herself.
When he reached up to touch her she playfully pushed him back down and then went back to grooming herself. She kept sneaking a gaze at him, playful, teasing. When he opened his mouth to say something she put her hand over it, closing it with a soft clop. She shook her finger under his nose. He looked at it cross eyed, making her chir sound of amusement. When he flexed to get up anyway, she pressed down with her hand on his chest, shook her head. When he tried anyway she slowly flexed her claws, letting him know she meant business. He settled back, resigned to her game. She studied him for a long moment t
hen she went back to grooming her shoulder and neck. She was teasing him and enjoying every moment of it.
Jethro watched, basking in content of the moment. It was great he thought; nothing could be better. She was playful, loving, and the day was nice. The sun was great. He luxuriated in the sun's warm glow and the sight of his mate grooming herself. But his inattention got to her, so she turned on her errant lover and pinned him to start grooming him.
He chuffed in amusement, then when she nipped playfully at his ear his fingers drifted down her sides. She squealed in laughter and then retaliated. They rolled in the grass, laughing and playing. It was perfect.
<(>~^~<(>
Bast also luxuriated in their physical pleasure but for her own reasons. She turned her attention to the nanites and growths she had created and carefully programmed within Shanti. Since she wouldn't be around with Jethro to oversee the pregnancy, she had to be certain everything went just right. The nanites and artificial constructs grown within the Neocat's womb and hips would insert the strands of royal jelly into each of the fetuses. She'd already identified two of them, the best of the lot. She was tempted to abort the other two but decided against it. Nature may do that on its own, or they would grow and mature with recessive traits that could be engineered back into the bloodline at a future date.
She calculated that a proper medical scan would expose the growths but that the odds of Shanti having one done on the planet were vanishingly small at the moment. Still, she took some precautions to artfully arrange the cell constructs to be as hidden as possible.
During each stage of the fetus development, the constructs would activate and take in nutrients and materials from the mother and then construct the artificial DNA sequences in the fetuses. It would take time to get it right; she wasn't certain of her preparations. The Shanti female would definitely have some odd cravings during her pregnancy.
Her work was brief; she could only do so much during their brief couplings. She got more done during their cuddle time but their tendency to horseplay ended that window abruptly.