Duty from Ashes

by Sam Schal

  “While I don’t know for sure how long we have until we ship out, my best guess is that we are looking at two weeks or less. That means you can’t waste any time getting your companies ready. Along those lines, Captain Ortega will be setting up sims for each company. They will be based not only on scenarios from what we’ve known the enemy to do in the past to sims based on what little we know of the attack on Cassius Prime. Scenarios will be both dirtside and boarding parties. Have your people ready for everything from squad-based sims to company vs. company. Some will be scheduled and some will not be.

  “Those who have been with the Devil Dogs and who have seen real combat know that Lt. Colonel Pawlak liked to prepare for any possible scenario. I happen to agree with him on that. So expect the unexpected.” She paused and glanced around the table, her expression serious. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are at war. If you aren’t prepared to take the fight directly to our enemy, put in for a transfer now because, sooner or later, each of us will be shipping out and I only want those in the battalion who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect our homeworld and allies.

  “I doubt we will have long to wait before we learn what ships we are being assigned to. That said, I want everyone ready to bug out at a moment’s notice. So, from now until further notice, all leaves are cancelled. No one is to be more than an hour’s travel from the capital without my authorization. Understood?”

  The same seven who had made notes earlier, responded with a quick “yes, ma’am!” while the others simply nodded. That did not sit well with Ashlyn. The lack of respect, if not for her then for her rank, bothered her.

  “Before you continue, ma’am, I have a question.”

  Ashlyn’s eyes narrowed and she didn’t try to hide her frown. Instead of speaking, she inclined her head.

  “When will the additional training begin?”

  “Immediately after the briefing, lieutenant.” She hadn’t planned on it starting that soon but the lieutenant’s question changed her mind.

  “We just did a full workout, ma’am!” Captain Landry Hotchner protested.

  Without a word, Ashlyn made another note. Then she stood, the palms of her hands resting on the tabletop, her expression hard. “If you think what we went through this morning was a full workout, you’ve forgotten the workouts Lt. Colonel Pawlak put the battalion through. You have also forgotten – or somehow managed to avoid – the workouts I’ve had the sergeant major put the battalion through since I assumed command. If you feel you or any member of your command cannot keep up, then transfer out. That goes for all of you. I hope I’ve made myself clear.”

  “Ma’am, yes, ma’am!”

  “Review your rosters and let Captain Ortega know of any slots you need filled, particularly any specialty slots. Include anyone currently assigned to your companies that you feel will not be assets on the coming mission.”

  Just as she planned to do with regard to those company commanders and their senior noncoms.

  “Captain?” She glanced at Ortega and nodded.

  “Thank you, Major.” The dark haired Ortega punched in a command and the holo changed to show the schedule for the next few days. “Let’s start with today’s exercise. . . .”

  * * *

  Evan Moreau paused and watched two couples enter the restaurant. Doing her best to be as unobtrusive as possible, she studied the restaurant entrance before glancing up and down the street. So far, she had seen nothing to indicate she was about to walk into a trap. Not that she was about to let her guard down. She hadn’t managed to stay alive this long by getting careless.

  Perhaps she was being paranoid – better that than dead. Especially since her employers were getting impatient for results and her pawns were running scared. It was only a matter of time before someone demanded something from her she wasn’t ready to give and, if her luck had finally run out, that time had come.

  Still, she had to wonder about Sorkowski choosing to meet in such a public location. He might not have been especially effective as an admiral but he knew how to save his own skin. His real problem was that his greed had led him to rely on others who weren’t as competent at covering their tracks as was he. Not that it would help him if he tried to turn on her now.

  Moreau blew out a breath. It was time.

  A moment later she stepped inside the restaurant and glanced around. Before the maitre’d could do more than nod in greeting, she waved him off. She’d spotted Sorkowski almost immediately. Maybe she had reason to worry about why he’d chosen such a public place for their meeting. She’d assumed he’d think himself safe there should she decide he presented a danger. But there he was, sitting almost directly across from the door where anyone entering could see him. Then there were the security monitors and the fact the table could be seen from the street. It was either a stroke of genius or the move of a man who didn’t have an ounce of situational awareness to him.

  Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure which and that only put her more on edge.

  Schooling her features so none of her uncertainty or displeasure showed, Moreau crossed to the table. As she neared, he looked up and nodded. Her jaw tightened when he just sat there instead of standing to greet her. The few times before when they’d met, he had been the consummate gentleman. So much so, in fact, that it had grated on her some. So what had brought about this sudden change? More important than that, what did it mean?

  She didn’t like it but she took her cue from him, Evan Moreau reached out and waited until his hand closed around hers. Hopefully, anyone glancing their way would think this was nothing more than a simple business meeting. In some ways, they wouldn’t be wrong. She was there to discuss business with the man. But simple it would never be. Too many lives and too much money depended on what happened in the next few minutes.

  Almost as soon as she sat, a waiter was there to fill her water glass and ask if she wanted anything else to drink. Without a word, she waved him off. Because of the early hour, no one would think it strange she didn’t allow herself even a glass of wine. The truth was, however, that she was already slightly off-balance by her companion’s change in attitude. She wasn’t about to dull her senses with alcohol until she knew what was going on.

  “All right, Admiral,” she drawled. “I’m here.”

  For a moment, Admiral Alec Sorkowski (ret.) said nothing. He didn’t need to when his expression spoke volumes. He no more liked her lack of respect for his rank, or for himself, than she did his change in attitude. Well too bad. He was risking both their lives with this meeting.

  “I need to know what’s going on.”

  Interesting. His outward attitude might have changed but his demand showed he was still just as worried as ever. Good. She could work with that. His arrogance and failure to cover his tracks in the first place was what led her to him. She’d not hesitated a moment in using him as one of many cogs in her mission. But that same arrogance and carelessness now made him dangerous. So did his demands to be kept in the loop.

  Unfortunately, she couldn’t remove him – yet. But that day was coming and she looked forward to it.

  “What do you want to know?”

  He opened his mouth and then shut it with a snap. She watched as he ground his teeth in frustration. If both of his hands hadn’t been visible, she’d have been reaching for her weapon where she’d carefully secreted it that morning. Instead, she waited, hoping he wasn’t so foolish as to call more attention to them than he already had by demanding this public meeting. He might not have been brought up on charges yet but the whispers were there. People knew that he’d either been behind what happened to Ashlyn Shaw and her people or had been so derelict in his duties that he’d let it happen without stepping in to stop such a “grave miscarriage of justice” as the media was calling it.

  “Damn it, you know what,” he growled.

  “Calm down.” She leaned in and placed her hand over his. To anyone looking on, it would look like she was simply trying to reassure a friend or collea
gue. At least she hoped it did. “And keep your voice down. Or do you want everyone here to know what you and O’Brien did?”

  He hissed in a breath, his hand fisting under hers. “What have you heard?” he demanded, his voice soft enough that no one at the nearby tables could hear.

  “First tell me what has you so worried.” She leaned back and reached for her water.

  For a moment, it looked as if he’d refuse. Then he nodded, as if to himself. “I had another visit from a JAG investigator yesterday.”

  Her heart beat a bit faster and she fought to keep her expression from changing. That fool! If she had known about his latest visit from the JAG, she would never have agreed to meet him in public. She had no doubt the JAG had eyes on him now and that meant they had eyes on her.

  Damn him!

  “What did they want?” She shifted slightly on her chair and casually looked around. Anyone curious enough to be watching would think they were discussing business – or setting up an assignation for that afternoon or evening. At least she hoped so.

  “What do you think?” he demanded.

  “Just tell me what they said.”

  “More questions about Shaw, of course. They didn’t ask about the discrepancy in her copy of her last orders and what was entered at her trial. But they did ask about our patrol patterns and O’Brien’s service record.”

  Interesting. That could mean the JAG was starting to focus on O’Brien as the one behind what happened to Shaw and her people. If that were the case, it would suit Moreau just fine. O’Brien always had been the weak link. Unlike Sorkowski, who would keep his mouth shut unless he saw no other way out, O’Brien would sell either or both of them out at the first sign of real trouble. If JAG had decided on him as the focus of their investigation, it would be easy enough to have an “accident” happen to him, closing the investigation as well as ending a danger to the rest of her mission.

  But, before she thought too much about that, she needed to reassure Sorkowski.

  “Sounds to me like they have decided your former Marine commander is the one responsible for what happened,” she said. “So encourage that belief. Tell them that you had concerns about him but did not have anything concrete to put your finger on. As for your patrol patterns, they were influenced by what O’Brien told you based on his intelligence sources. The discrepancy in the orders, that’s easily explained away as well.”

  “How?”

  She heard the desperation in Sorkowski’s voice and did her best to look and sound reassuring. “You were in command of the entire task force. The Marines onboard your ship were under O’Brien’s command. You gave him the orders and it was up to him to relay them. Even though you had concerns about him, you never expected him to be foolish enough or cocky enough to actually change your orders. Pull out your personal copy of the orders you issued regarding Shaw’s last mission.”

  “But I’ve already turned them over and they were the altered ones.” Sweat now pricked out on his forehead.

  “Again, easily explained. You gave the JAG officers your access codes and they pulled the orders off your command terminal. You didn’t know they were altered until the trial. Since then, you’ve been trying to find out what happened and how. You just now were able to recover the original orders. I can make sure you have the right experts to back up your claim.”

  She waited, watching as he processed what she said. The fear that had been reflected in his eyes slowly disappeared as he visibly relaxed. The fact that he so quickly accepted her explanation and her offer for help proved he was getting desperate. That meant sooner, rather than later, she’d have to deal with him. But not yet. Not until she was sure she had to and especially not if she was about to offer up O’Brien as a sacrifice.

  “But wait until they contact you again. Don’t offer up anything because that will make it look like you are trying to cover something up. Understand?”

  “Yes.” He nodded and then tossed back the glass of wine he’d been toying with since her arrival.

  “Good. Now let’s order lunch and make sure anyone watching thinks we are simply having a nice business meeting. Then go home. Don’t do anything to bring any more attention to you – or me – than you have already.”

  “And O’Brien?”

  She almost missed his look of expectation. No, excitement. He wanted her to deal with the Marine. Could it be that O’Brien had been pushing Sorkowski the way the admiral had been her? That was something else she needed to find out.

  “Let me see what I can find out about the JAG investigation. If he is their target, good. If not, we will re-evaluate what needs to be done. But, for the moment, let me worry about him.”

  Just as I’ll worry about you.

  * * *

  Ashlyn watched as most of the others left the conference room. Once the doors slid shut behind the last of them, she shook her head, her expression troubled. But she stayed silent, making sure no one returned for something they might have left behind. The last thing she needed was the wrong person overhearing what she was about to say.

  “You’re not looking any happier than I feel right now, Ash,” Ortega commented as she reached for the carafe across from her. She gave it a quick shake and then sighed. “We need to remember to have more coffee on hand for these meetings.”

  “I’m not happy and that’s putting it mildly,” Ashlyn said. “But, before I explain why, I want to know what’s bothering you, all of you.” She motioned to include Adamson and Talbot who had been preparing to leave.

  “You mean other than wanting to take a two particular officers who have more attitude than common sense outside to teach them a lesson or two?” Adamson’s disgust roughened her voice and Ash fought the urge to smile.

  “Not to mention a certain sergeant who ought to know better,” Talbot added.

  “Luce?” Now she looked at her XO.

  “I’ll admit that Sergeant Tutola surprised me. He’s been with the battalion for the last eighteen months. I’ve not served directly with him, but I haven’t heard anything to raise any red flags where he’s concerned. But I promise I will be taking a very close look at his record before the day is out.” As she spoke, her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, typing in a series of commands.

  “He’s a paper pusher and pretty damned good at it,” Talbot said. “But that’s about it. I’m not sure he knows the butt from the barrel of his weapon.”

  Ashlyn ducked her head to hide her smile. It was clear Talbot approved of the sergeant’s organizational skills but it was just as clear he had little use for the sergeant as a Devil Dog. That, in and of itself, spoke volumes.

  “Recommendation?”

  “I wouldn’t want him on the front line, ma’am, but he’d be good as part of the HQ Company.”

  The hint of humor in Talbot’s eyes didn’t fool Ashlyn one bit. She could read in his expression what he really meant. His unspoken recommendation was to transfer the sergeant out of the battalion, if not the division. But Talbot wasn’t above teasing her a little by suggesting the man be assigned to her staff. Well, two could play that game.

  “Very well, Loco.” She let a slow smile touch her lips as his eyes narrowed at her use of his call sign. “I’ll leave it to you to explain to both our division CO as well as General Okafor why I’m on the front lines and you are in command of HQ Company.”

  Both Ortega and Adamson burst out laughing as the master gunnery sergeant paled and held his hands up in surrender.

  “Not a chance, ma’am.”

  “Then, Luce, it looks like you need to find a reason to transfer the good sergeant out of the battalion. Talk to my mother’s aide to see if the transfer should be out of the division as well. I don’t want to put a black mark on the man’s record if we don’t need to. But I will not have our people endangered by having him on the line. Of course, that means you’ll need to find us a replacement and quickly.”

  “I should have it done by morning,” she promised.

  “Goo
d. Now, what can you tell me about the two officers in question?”

  “Both are new to the battalion. They were transferred in not long before you returned to us. I know Pawlak had at least vague concerns about them. But, as long as we weren’t having to go in force into battle, he didn’t have reason to transfer them out,” Ortega replied.

  Ashlyn frowned, wishing she’d had more time to discuss battalion personnel with Pawlak before he’d shipped out to his new assignment.

  “All right. Here’s what we’re going to do. Put Gamma and Delta Companies through their paces this afternoon, Luce. I have no doubt that you’ll get objections, especially after what we heard in the briefing. I don’t care. I want you to push them, especially the COs and XOs. Put them through advanced boarding and ground assault sims. Add in that sim we worked on last week. Let’s see how they respond when the ship’s CO and senior officers are taken out of the mix and the ship is still in the middle of a battle. Then I want their companies, led by the officers and non-coms, to do the O-Course at the Academy. Let’s see what their individual and group scores are. I want you supervising it all. Brief me on the results in the morning over breakfast.”

  “I understand, Ash, but that’s not going to give me much time to deal with the other personnel matters.”

  Ashlyn nodded and thought for a moment before speaking. “MJ, you’re with her on this assignment. In fact, I want you to be one of the onsite referees. I need to know if there is any breach in protocol or any attempt to bypass the rules. You know what I’m looking for.”

  “I do.”

  A devilish gleam lit Adamson’s eyes and Ash smiled slightly. The master sergeant would miss nothing as the sims progressed and then she’d probably run the O-Course herself, beating all of them in the process.

  “Kevin, you get to deal with getting the sergeant transferred out. Write up your recommendation and reasoning. I’ll approve it. Then you can take it to Personnel Command. If needed, I’ll tag my mother’s aide to expedite it all. I’ll let him know while I’m there for the briefing she’s called.”