by Chris Hechtl
<(>~^~<(>
Eleven hours and fifty-eight minutes from his departure from the spaceport, Jethro and Shanti returned to base. They walked hand in hand, sometimes playing. She rubbed him, flirting with her tail. He put a flower over her ear. She played tag with him.
They got back to the spaceport with a few minutes to spare. She'd watched him pack; he felt her as she wrapped her tail and arms around him one last time. She nuzzled him.
“If I get my choice of assignments I'll request my duty station be here,” he murmured to her. She nodded, looking down and away. “I know I can't take the gal out of the outback so I'm not going to bother trying,” he teased, picking some grass out of her fur.
She snorted. “You'd better not. I may be in the capital, but I'm not city slicker,” she admitted.
“I know,” he murmured, stroking her arm. “But I wanted you to know I understand. I'm not going to try to change you or … anything,” he said. She nodded.
“You can't settle. Not for long. Not with enemies hunting you. Us,” Bast warned him privately.
Jethro closed his eyes in pain. It tore at his heart, to know that. To know he was endangering her every moment he was there. That the assassins could target her to get to him, to hurt him. To use her as bait. Her or any family they had together. He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. If they did he'd find them. He'd find them and make them pay he vowed.
“Stay safe,” she whispered in Jethro's ear, breaking his dark thoughts off. She nuzzled him, then licked his ear and went nose to nose to him to stare into his eyes. “I mean it.”
“Yes, ma'am,” he said. She snorted softly then turned to her brother who was waiting at the shuttle lock. “You too.”
“Oh, now I'm a side note? Oh I get it,” Sabu mock joked. She snorted.
Rah came around the shuttle ramp, eyes wide as she looked at the thing. Shanti saw her, turned to Sabu, flicked her ears then rolled her eyes. He snorted, turning to Rah.
“Stay safe, bro,” Rah said, hugging her brother tightly.
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “You too. You take care of Lisami and the kits,” he said.
“You get back here and do that yourself,” Rah said, voice rough with emotion.
“Gods of space this is harder than I thought,” she said, voice breaking as she walked away, head down.
“Yeah,” Shanti said, watching her go. She hugged her brother too and went forehead to forehead with him briefly. “Take care of each other since I can't be there to keep you out of trouble.”
“We'll do our best. No promises though,” Jethro said. She turned to him. He shrugged. “Hey, you know him, he's always getting into mischief.”
“What was that? Something about pots and kettles and a certain, ahem, color?” Sabu teased, pointing the tip of his tail at Jethro. Jethro looked down at his pelt then chuffed in amusement.
“Safe sailing. Kick their asses,” Shanti said. She stroked her brother, then went over and stroked Jethro's cheeks. “Both of you.”
“We'll come back. One way or another.”
“You'd better,” she said, locking eyes with him. He could see the love there, the love, the support, and yes, the worry. But she wasn't complaining; she wasn't asking him not to go. He nodded, treasuring that trust, that acceptance of who he was.
“You coming or what?” the flight engineer demanded from the hatch as the last cargo shipment was loaded.
“Yeah,” Sabu said, climbing on board.
“Until tomorrow, love,” Jethro said, nuzzling her nose. “May there be many more in our future.”
“Until tomorrow,” she said, gripping him tightly then stepping back. She forced herself to step back, clutching at her arms, ears out to the sides and flat in emotion. He waved then climbed on board. Slowly the ramp lifted until she was out of sight.
He stowed his bag and then settled in his seat. “Armor?” he asked.
Bast pointed up and then indicated Sabrina 99. He nodded.
“Armor? We're getting armor?” Sabu asked, now excited as he took his seat. The shuttle lurched as it began to taxi.
“No, mine. You are a recruit, remember? My suit is the only armor we have,” Jethro said.
“Oh. That sucks.”
“Maybe for you,” Jethro said, resting his head back and closing his eyes. Shanti's scent was all over him. He drank it in, trying to build and lock the memory in to savor later. “But armor only protects the body,” he murmured softly as the shuttle began to roll for takeoff. Not the heart he thought, trying to memorize her every molecule for later. His heart twisted. He knew his training; he had to put her away, put the thought of returning to her aside deep in his mind. Forget about it or he would be distracted and get himself or someone else killed. But it was hard he knew, oh so hard.
<(>~^~<(>
When Jethro boarded Sabrina 99, he was met by Captain White Wolf. She eyed him as he went through the usual ceremony of reporting aboard. The Rangers behind him didn't know what to think of him saluting the colors and the Officer on the Deck. Technically since it was a freighter, they probably could get away with not going through ceremony, but she flicked her ears in approval.
When he dropped his space bag at his feet and saluted, her she returned the salute. “Are you forgetting something, Gunny?” she asked.
“Ma'am?” he asked as she struck the salute. He followed suit.
“A minor bit of paperwork. I've decided to be nice and sign off on it. Retroactively that is,” she said with an ear twitch.
He blinked in confusion. Did he forget something in the movement he wondered? Before he could show much anxiety she flicked her ears and smiled ever so slightly. “I've signed off on your permission to marry,” she said softly.
He blinked at her then his ears went flat. “Sorry, ma'am,” he mumbled. Just when he'd resigned himself to their separation he was dragged back into misery by her reminder.
“The military is used to being run a certain way. Discipline, Jethro,” she teased. “Even when you keep me up at night with your caterwauling,” she said maliciously.
He winced.
“There,” She uploaded the amended file to the net to be sent to Agnosta and naval administration. “You have to get all your I's dotted and your T's crossed, Gunny; you of all people should know that. Some people get snotty about it if you don't. And if you don't get permission …,” she shook her head and tisked tisked.
“Will there be a problem, ma'am?” he asked, eying her with a trace of worry in his tone and mind.
“They might get snippy about benefits. But as your superior officer I'm signing off on it, so they don't have anything to complain about.”
He felt a sense of enormous relief. She was on his side, he could tell. “Thank you, ma'am.”
“Oh don't thank me, Gunny. You're going to work your tail off now. And being married comes with all sorts of headaches, especially for active duty personnel. You may not think I gave you a helping hand with my blessing down the road.”
He flicked her ears at her and then held up a hand. “We'll have to wait and see what the future brings right, ma'am? And like you said, we need to live in the present. In the moment.”
“That we do,” she said softly. “That we do. Dismissed.”
<(>~^~<(>
Once they were underway Jethro made certain the troops were settled in. They only had so many bunks and berths, as well as only so many VR headsets. Enough to sleep a third of the troops and train a third. So he set it up so a third was in PT or eating while the other third were sleeping and the final third was training.
It took a day for the routine to settle in. He had a few teething issues to work out. Fortunately nothing major that worked its way up to the notice of the officers. Everyone was excited, but not everyone was ready mentally for the confined quarters and stinks of being on a ship. He had to counsel a few of the noobs on how to find relief.
VR was a big help, but it did little for the aromatics. And getting them potty trained
turned into a major hassle in itself. Some of the Rangers got on his nerves.
A day out before they jumped, he ran into Sabu. Sabu had been doing his best to handle the other shifts, but he hadn't seen much of Jethro. Sabu gave him an ear flick.
Jethro stopped and turned “Wipe that stupid grin off your face,” Jethro growled. Sabu blinked at him in shock. Jethro turned instantly into an evil DI. “I want ten pushups,” Jethro stated when he noticed they were being watched. When Sabu hesitated he got right up to him. “Make that twenty and a lap around the ship,” he growled.
“Yes, Gunnery Sergeant!” Sabu replied as his training kicked in. He dropped to the deck and did his penance. When he popped up, he glanced at Jethro. Jethro had his arms tucked behind him. He turned to the side and nodded. “Get going, Marine,” he intoned.
“What was that about?” a voice asked from the open bay. Jethro turned. “Get back to work. If you can't find something to do, I will. The head always needs to be cleaned out. You can do it on your knees with a toothbrush if you want,” he growled. Instantly the troops got busy or disappeared. He nodded curtly and moved on.
When he ran into Sabu again, he pulled him aside. The Leopard had a sullen look on his face. “Look Sabu, I can't play favorites,” Jethro said quietly. He looked into his brother-in-law's green eyes to communicate his intent. “I'm not doing you favors if I did. It could get you killed. You need to keep your head in the game so you can stay alive. Got it?”
“Yes, Gunny,” Sabu said nodding.
“Good,” Jethro said. He was fairly certain Sabu didn't fully understand, but he had nodded dutifully. He figured if Sabu had a free moment to think about it he'd slowly catch on. “I know you'd do the same with Rah and Shanti. Any problems?”
“No, Gunny. All good.”
“Good. Get back to work then,” Jethro said with an ear flick. Sabu gave him a curt nod and took off at a trot. Jethro watched him go.
“Am I doing him any favors by letting him come at all? Is his being here going to distract him? Or me?” he asked Bast softly. She flicked her ears at him but made no comment.
“Yeah, that's what I thought,” Jethro said, going back to work.
ACT III
Chapter 22
Once everyone was settled in, they initiated a harried training schedule of the forces through VR and PT. Jethro found that most of the Rangers were just good enough to be dangerous, not good enough to be fully trusted to do what was right, at least not by Marine training standards. Getting some of the bad habits out of them was difficult, there was only so much you could do in VR. Training them to cover the corners and not to take things for granted was a start.
Some of the Rangers had a know-it-all attitude despite everything he, Tyler, and the other Marines had tried to do to rub it out of them on Kathy's World. That attitude continued to last until Jethro decided to take a more or less hands-off approach with them in the sims and then truly got evil when he started to help Captain White Wolf run the opposition forces. When they started to get their heads handed to them on a consistent basis, then they were suddenly ready to listen and learn in self-defense.
They had to deal with discipline issues enroute, fortunately most were minor. Everyone was eager to fight and very much aware that the enemy was the Horathians. They knew the people that were with them and getting on their nerves were the same people that they would be fighting side by side with in a few weeks.
Jethro kept them all busy. The constant schedule turned many of the recruits and even a few of the Marines into tired marionettes with short tempers. The captain had him slack off to a half day off each week to rest and get sorted out.
<(>~^~<(>
Jethro took a moment to take stock once the captain dictated that the Ranger squad leaders start to step up into leadership roles more. The gunny was at ends on what to do at first, so Bast took a hand. After running a third round of inventory on their equipment and supplies, he was directed by Bast to service his armor. Since he hadn't had time with the armor since he'd landed on Kathy's World, he decided to humor her. Besides, they might need it again.
Bast oversaw his work, carefully watching his every move much to his amusement. “It's not like I haven't done this before you know. Were you watching then?” he asked. When she didn't respond, just cocked her head and pointed to the open interior, he sighed and climbed in.
“I don't remember that time well,” she said once he was inside.
“Can't you link to the armor remotely?”
“I can, but it can be detected. And it's not as efficient,” she replied, sending tendrils of nanites out to the processors and nanites on board. She ran a rapid fire test on the various subsystems then began the ignition sequence on the reactor.
“We're going to have the only powered armor, you know that, right? Unless the admiral sent in more from Antigua, which I doubt. He's been so into building up the Navy side, he's been neglecting the corps,” Jethro said.
Bast eyed him for a long moment. “Resentful? The Marines are used to getting the short end of the stick. They are traditionally at the tail end of the logistics pipeline.”
“I know that but I don't get it. I know we get secondhand equipment sometimes but …,” Jethro shrugged.
“In some ways it is better to let others test it. And to get it secondhand means you get it cheap,” Bast replied, flicking her ears.
“But it's not normally suited for our threat environment. And yes, I know, we make it our own,” he said, holding up a hand.
“Is this going to be a problem?”
“Well, here it will be. I don't like sending these boys and girls into the furnace halfcocked. It's not right.”
“True,” Bast replied. “But it seems the admiral's plans have been accelerated. I assumed he'd had plans but had been thrown off of his original timetable when he was forced to abandon Pyrax and then again in Antigua. But things are back on track or soon will be.”
“True. But this invasion of Protodon is ill conceived.”
“You can talk to me about this, but the others …,” Bast warned.
Jethro snorted. “I know better, Bast. Trust me.”
“I do. And I know you need a sounding board. So, we're it for the armor? It seems you are going to be spending a lot of time in the armor.”
“I don't know honestly,” Jethro stated. He shook his head when she cocked her virtual head at him. “Seriously. You're the one that pointed out classified. I don't know if it is wise to be in armor in front of civilians.”
“True,” Bast replied. “But you should be in the armor at all times. It is for your safety.”
“Bast, I have to share the risks that the troops share. I have to. And there are limits on how long I can be in a suit.”
“Not as limited as you might think,” she said stubbornly.
“Bast …,” he sighed heavily.
“What about Shanti? And your unit? You have a duty to them to survive. To survive and lead,” Bast replied.
“Which I can't do effectively if I'm armored and therefore sent into the hottest parts of the furnace over and over again,” he countered.
She paused, seemingly thinking about that point but actually completing the diagnostics on the sensors and ignition sequence.
“There is a two nanometer obstruction in the fuel line. It must be repaired,” she reported.
Jethro watched as she directed his hands to take apart part of the armor on his right side. His body twisted to get at it. He could see it with his augmented senses, but it would have been easier to do the repair out of the suit.
She pulled off a panel, then rooted around the tight nest of cables and hoses until she found the fitting she needed to access. Then she sent in a tendril of nanites from the tip of his finger to the blockage.
“What are you …?”
“Shh, trying to concentrate here,” Bast warned, sending the nanites in and then making changes. “The fuel we have is good but not as refined as I'd like. When we hit di
rt, we're most likely going to run into more fuel purity problems in the field. That means I need to make changes to the fuel intake system. I need to add additional filtration. It will alter the mass and your center of gravity slightly.”
“Great …,” Jethro drawled.
“Only slightly. Less than four grams on your left side. Two on the right. I will need materials,” she stated.
“You're just going to fabricate it?”
“Yes.”
“Just like that?”
“The longer I take to explain, the longer it takes to do the job. I could be finished by now.”
“Fine fine. What do you need?”
“The spare parts bin. Find me a filtration unit I can modify,” Bast stated, checking the inventory. “That one,” she said, putting a karat up on a small container on a shelf nearby.
“Gotcha,” he said, getting to work finding what she needed. “You know this would be easier with me out of the suit,” he stated.
“But I can't talk to you as easily then. And I need all my processing power for this job,” Bast said, not quite whining, but not thrilled about his debarking the suit so soon.
“Fine,” Jethro muttered, letting her twist his body about to do the job. “Now I know what a pretzel feels like,” he grumbled.
As he watched her make the changes, he grunted. “What?”
“I was wondering about the changes to the power supply. This suit originally ran on antimatter, but it was altered. It looks like a field alteration. Did you do that?” He asked.
Bast took a long moment before she replied. “I don't remember much of that time period. I … my previous copy, my original didn't back some files up. Some were lost.”
“Oh.”
“I did indeed note someone had changed the power supply from antimatter to fusion,” Bast replied. “That has constricted suit time and energy reserves for shields or cloak.”
“Another reason not to be in the suit all the time,” Jethro pointed out.