Warrior Chronicles 4: Warrior's Wrath

by Shawn Jones

  “Honestly? To try and prevent what just happened. Lex has been concerned about it for a while. About Speral’s nudity and Heroc being a bug, etc. Some of the Marines have been showing some prejudice toward aliens. Lex had set up a situation that was supposed to happen a few minutes later. A Marine was going to make a rude comment about Heroc in front of me. Then I was going to make an example of him. But our little drama was upstaged by the real deal.”

  “What if you had not been there, sir? I mean without a witness, it could have gone poorly for us.”

  “Not a chance. For several reasons. The one that matters though, is that there isn’t a single thing that happens on this base that I can’t watch.” To lighten the mood, Cort took a shot at Jeff, saying, “Keep that in mind the next time the two of you get the urge in the wolf park, okay?”

  “What?” Jeff said. His face turned red when he realized what Cort meant. “Oh. Oh, shit.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just keep it in mind. But Jeff, Speral’s lack of attire is a problem. I was going to talk to you about it anyway. It’s one thing when she was a visitor here, but she’s a citizen now. She lives here.”

  “I will talk to her, sir. To be honest, I am tired of other men staring at her anyway. I just do not know what the solution is. Her spines and her skin sensitivity are the issue.”

  “Dale Frame has a solution.”

  “Dale Frame, sir?”

  “He is the head of Weapons and Research at Argyre. When you leave here, go see him. He’s got some sort of a hybrid FALCON for her. It will let the parts of the light spectrum she needs in, but visible light won’t pass through it. After what I saw today, though, I suspect he is going to have to redesign it. I don’t think a FALCON will flex the way she twisted her body. What did she do with her spine? It looked like a corkscrew.”

  “I am not sure, General. Neither is she.”

  “She doesn’t know? Why not?”

  “Remember, her people have been peaceful for thousands of years. Whatever she did was pure instinct. I admit, though, I am curious about it, too. She’s not sore or anything. That kind of thing would paralyze one of us.”

  “If you want the vid, I will send it to you. The people in medical are already dying to talk to her, but I told them to wait.”

  “Thanks,” Jeff said. “General, what happens now? About today, I mean.”

  “For you, Jeff, nothing. For me, it’s more complicated. I have to find a way to screen recruits better. I wish I had few dozen more Attans. I can’t ask Bazal to screen all my Marines, but that’s what I need.”

  --

  Later that night, Kim was reading to Dalek when Cort walked in. She said, “Hey baby. I hear you had a rough day.”

  Cort leaned down to kiss Kim, then tried to pick up his son. Dalek raised one arm to push Cort away. “No, Poppa. Weading time,” the little boy said as he turned another page.

  “We can talk later. I’ve left Bane alone all day. I’ll take the wolves for a run,” Cort said to Kim. Then to Dalek he said, “Can I take the wolves for a run, mister?”

  “Yeah, Poppa.”

  Cort returned later to find his son asleep in Kim’s arms, the book still in both of their hands. “How was the meeting with the senator?” Kim asked.

  “The short version is that he is pissed that I am going to kill his son tomorrow. He thought being a political power in Hawaii would give him some clout. Now he’s threatening to pull Hawaii out of the federation. Not that he has that kind of clout. Especially now. His attempt to bribe me is probably broadcasting all over Earth by now.”

  “It is. Dar commed me. The Hawaiians have already expelled him from their government. I suspect Dar had something to do with that.”

  “Probably.”

  “Let me put him down, and then let’s go to bed, baby.”

  “Good call.”

  --

  “Bazal, what can you tell me about the life form inside the planet?” Cort asked the next morning. They were in his office, and Kim was with them.

  “Is not naturally occurring life, Cortland. I believe it to be some form of artificial intelligence.”

  “Okay. Who made it then?”

  “I believe it was developed by the planet’s previous humanoids.”

  “That was a hundred million years ago, Bazal,” Kim said.

  “Yes, Kimberly, and the being appears to be distrustful of your species. Its ability to communicate with me is limited and I am not able to commune with it in the manner I am accustomed to.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I am not sure, Cortland. I only know that I cannot fully join with it.”

  “Bazal, do you know how we, I mean humans, can communicate with it?” Kim asked.

  “Kimberly, I do not. But proceed carefully. The being may be dangerous. I simply cannot know for certain.”

  “What kind of dangerous, Bazal?” Cort asked.

  “I do not know.”

  “Okay,” Cort said. “We have to figure out how to communicate with it. Will you stay a while and help with that, Bazal?”

  “Yes, but I will not be able to use my shielded tank. I must be able to communicate with it freely.”

  “Okay. Go to the isthmus after this meeting. I will have the security people there stay in CONDORs while on duty.

  “Very well. We also need to address matters regarding Speral, Cortland. Your thought to taunt the Nill with a position in your government is short-sighted and I would like to discuss it with you.”

  “Sure. What’s on your mind about that?” Cort asked.

  “If you force Speral on them, even as a charade, it will be bad for your relationship with them. But more importantly, it will be bad for Speral. For her, there is still shame in her love for Jeffrey Pence. That shame would be increased were you to push her on her people.”

  “I have to show that I won’t tolerate racism from them.”

  “Why?” Bazal asked. “Are you going to stop protecting them if they don’t agree to your human-based morals?”

  “Of course not. But it isn’t right.”

  “To them, your brutality isn’t right. But they still appreciate the alliance you share.”

  “He’s got a point, Cort,” Kim added.

  “And if you push them too hard, Cortland, we could lose the use of the Transition Core.”

  “I hate politics,” Cort sighed. “Wait. So what if we lose the Core. We have the old Cuplan system. We are already using it for communication. Why can’t we use it for transition as well.”

  “No, Cort. It won’t work,” Kim said. “Weapons and Research has nixed it.”

  “Why?”

  “The tachyon shift creates a high-level Cherenkov burst. Something on the order of nude sunbathing on Mercury. Even the comm system has to be shielded.”

  “Okay, so like everything else we find, it’s something we can use in a pinch, but to do so would have repercussions.”

  “Yes.”

  An idea began to form in Cort’s head about ways to take advantage of the H’uuman tech without putting his own people in danger. That would piss the Nill off. And there isn’t a damned thing they could do about it.

  Will you never learn, Cortland?

  Aloud, Cort said, “Bazal, that’s not fair.”

  “What?” Kim asked.

  “He’s picking my brain before I can even form complete thoughts.”

  Bazal raised two tentacles and laughed, “Cortland, if I waited for you to form a complete thought, we would be here a long time.”

  “Shut up.”

  Kim smiled and asked, “Would you like to stay long enough to have lunch with us, Bazal?”

  “Yeah. Stay for lunch, buddy. We are having octopus.” Cort laughed. “Oh. And I need a favor from you.”

  --

  While Cort was meeting with Bazal, a shuttle from an Ares Federation transport arrived at the station. Dar Sike emerged first, followed by the Governor of the Pacific and two other regional leaders. A small
group of aides followed the party to the edge of the landing pad, where Lex Sike met them. “Hello, gentlemen. Welcome back to Bergh Station. The General is meeting with Minister Bazal right now, but will be available to meet with you soon.”

  Dar Sike spoke first, “Thank you, Colonel. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I wish we were here under different circumstances.”

  “As do I, uncle.”

  “Colonel, when is the execution scheduled?” the Pacific governor asked.

  “Twelve hundred hours tomorrow, sir. Noon.”

  “Is he set on carrying it out?”

  “Governor Dole, all of our cadets take an oath when they join the Military. It is the same oath that enlisted personnel and members of the Navy take. Within that oath is a simple phrase that sums up this situation completely. I will defend the Charter of the Ares Federation against all enemies, alien and domestic.”

  “I have taken a similar oath, Colonel,” Dole responded.

  “Yes, sir, but military personnel who take the oath do so according to standards set forth by the Ares Federation Military Code of Conduct. Within the AFMCC, there are several disciplinary tenets. The tenet in question is number four: No person engaged in the defense of the Ares Federation or its allies may commit an act of assault or violence against a citizen of the Ares Federation or its allies unless that citizen is actively engaged in activities designed to undermine the security of the Ares Federation, its citizens, or its allies.”

  “Can we assume the penalties for violation of those tenets are spelled out in the code of conduct as well?” This time it was the Governor of Southern Asia who spoke.

  “Yes, sir. And unlike the civilian arm of the federation, there are only three penalties for military personnel. For any first non-violent offense, the guilty officer or enlisted person is demoted to the lowest possible rank in their service branch. For the second non-violent offense, the offender is expelled from the military. For all violent offenses, the penalty is death. It is also worth nothing that attempted rape is a capital offense in both military and civilian law. For military personnel, a summary judgement is made by the highest ranking officer present and is reviewed and ratified by either General Addison or Admiral Jones.”

  “Colonel,” Governor Dole said, “I don’t want you to think that I am being critical of how this situation is being handled. I just want to be sure that the cadets knew what they were doing was wrong.”

  Lex stopped and turned to face the men. “Have you seen the vid of the incident, sir?”

  “No. I have only seen the attempted bribery by former senator Royce.”

  “That will be rectified today. I will make the imagery of the assault available to you. I believe you will understand more completely then, sir,” Lex said as he turned and resumed the walk to Cort’s office.

  “I see.”

  --

  When he was finished meeting with Dar and the governors, Cort led the small group to the base parade ground. Across the expanse, nearly five thousand Marine recruits and officer candidates stood ready to take their oath. After introducing the VIPs from Earth, he stepped to the side of the dais and looked out over the men and women before him.

  After nearly a minute of silence, he spoke. “You have all exceeded the expectations I have for my Marines. Well, nearly all of you have. You have met the standards set forth by your drill instructors. You have met the mental and physical demands that have been expected of Marines since October 28th, 1664, when the Honourable Artillery Company was formed by the British government. My original Marine Corps traces its history to November 10th, 1775 when the Continental Congress of the United States first established two battalions of Marines to fight for their own fledgling nation’s freedom from tyranny.” Cort looked over the audience for a moment.

  “Now you men and women from around the globe of Earth, as well as Mars, stand before me, ready to defend not only the freedom of our own fledgling federation, but also that of our allies across the galaxy. Today you will become my brothers and sisters. You will no longer be men and women that I protect, but rather you will become warriors who stand beside me to protect others. This is also a somber day, for today I must weed out those who would stand at our sides falsely. You have heard the rumors, and today I am going to put them to rest. Four men sought to twist the ideals and standards we are held to. I am here to tell you one thing about their actions. Not in my Marines.”

  Cort turned to the side of the stage and commanded, “Bring out the prisoner.”

  Two CONDOR-clad Marines brought out Mike Royce. He was in a simple orange tunic, his hands and legs shackled, and he was visibly terrified. “Yesterday, four officer canditates, companions of this one, assaulted two of the people you are about to swear to protect. Then the prisoner lied to me about the assault. Two of them died at the scene, and I unplugged a third from life support this morning.”

  Cort let his statement sink in for a moment, then drew his weapon and without hesitation fired into the prisoner’s chest. As Royce’s body fell to the ground between the two Marines, Cort turned back to the gathered crowd. He said, “You all know that was the only punishment for assaulting a civilian. I have no doubt that none of the rest of you will make the mistake he and his friends did, but if you do, you will meet the same fate. I don’t care if you are a senator’s son, a governor’s daughter, or even one of my own blood descendents. I will kill you. Now because I am not sure that you all realized that when you signed on, I am giving you this one opportunity to walk away now, before you take your oath. If you are here because you thought this was your chance to rise above the law, walk away right now. There is a shuttle waiting to take you back to Earth.”

  Cort waited a full minute, standing next to the lifeless body of the prisoner. He was about to speak again when, in the middle of the gathered men and women, a man broke ranks. As he began to walk toward the landing pad, two more recruits joined him. In the end fourteen men and women left the for the shuttle pad. Once the group was off of the parade ground, but still within earshot, Cort turned back to the remaining men and women and said, “Raise your right hand and repeat after me.”

  --

  “That was a bit melodramatic, was it not?” Dar asked when the ceremony was over. The governors were on their own shuttle headed back to Earth, and Dar had decided to spend the night at Bergh Station with the family. He and Bane were on either side of Cort as the trio walked back to Cort’s office.

  “Yep. It sure was,” Cort said, “ And there are probably twenty more of those people who stayed that should have left. But at least now they can’t say I didn’t warn them.”

  “There are always bad seeds, Cort. That doesn’t mean you have to execute them. Not to mention the fact that the senator is still a powerful man. He won’t let this go unanswered.”

  “A bad seed is one thing, Dar. But anyway you look at it, that kid threatened to rape Speral. That’s a death sentence for Marines or civilians. When the senator tries to fight me over this, he will lose.”

  “I know that, but how will we know what he’s going to do?”

  “I already do. Bazal is keeping track of the senator for me.”

  Dar laughed. “You always have it figured out, don’t you?”

  “How do you think I got to be three hundred and fifty years old?” Cort asked.

  When they arrived at Cort’s office, Dar helped himself to Cort’s bar and poured them both a drink. He said, “I have some good news. During the ceremony I was messaged by the R&D people at one of the Addison Trust corporations, an energy group that had relocated to Asia when things became tense with Atlantica. They have found a way to improve our comm time.”

  “Okay, how?” Cort asked.

  “I already sent you and H’uum the details, but basically our plasma coils are more compatible with the tachyon waves the H’uuman comms use than H’uuman energy is. They use a power source that was more crystal-friendly.”

  “What is the improvement?”

&nb
sp; “We get nearly perfect energy transfer. Something like ninety-ninety point six-seven-nine-two-eight percent transfer to the tachyon wave.”

  “So what does a whatever-the-fuck-percent energy transfer mean for me, Dar?”

  “Near instantaneous communications across the distances we deal with. In fact, the voice delay to Earth from here is virtually zero. From Earth to Government World, the voice delay is less than half a second. Data is even faster.”

  “And the science is good?”

  “Yes. They would not have brought it to me unless they were sure.”

  “Okay, start deploying it to our Marines, but make sure they have backup systems. If it works out, put them in our armor. And expedite it, Dar.”

  “Okay. Enough business. What is for dinner, Cort?”

  “It’s my night to cook, so probably dinosaur. You should have been here last night. Kim made bladefish. It’s a bitch to clean, but the meat is incredible.”

  Dar laughed. After taking a drink from his glass, he said, “Every time I read the word dinosaur in one of your messages, I am a little overwhelmed. When I was a boy, we did not have a Mars colony, There were no three-meter tall insects like Lap running galactic governments. Hell, faster-than-light was still a dream. Now my tenth great-grandfather is going to grill me a dinosaur steak.”

  Cort smiled. “Look at it from my perspective, old man. And I’m not grilling the dinosaur. I’m deep frying it. There’s an herbivore on the planet that tastes similar to beef. I wrap a slice of bacon around it and make a deep fried dino-Wellington. You’ll be amazed at how good it is.”

  Unknown Planet

  “Are our assets in place, Che?”

  “Yes, sir. There are teams on all three perspective planets. And the extraction team is waiting for an opportunity to act.”

  “Have we determined their method of cloaking their ships yet?”

  “No, we have not. We have tested to ensure they cannot detect us, though.”

  “Except in transition.”

  “Yes, sir. But they will not be able to give chase.”

  “And we are certain the Ares Federation is not able to use H’uuman technology to do so?”