by John Ringo
"You knew?" Megan snapped.
"Well, she was sort of giving off signals," Herzer admitted. "Just today, though, at lunch. I was going to talk to you about it, later. One of the ensigns I said I needed I was, frankly, going to sic on her. Put him in charge of an escort so she can get out of the house and then let nature take it's course."
"She's not the only one," Megan pointed out.
"Megan, I'm not making eyes at any of them, honest," Herzer said, flipping himself to his feet with one hand and coming over to brush her cheek, lightly. "Ashley...well she's sort of started to notice me lately. But you don't have to worry about me...straying. Honestly, honey. Hell, I spend most of my time around Meredith for God's sake."
"And she's another," Megan said, holding up her hand to forestall protest. "I didn't notice it but Mirta did and she's right. Meredith won't ask, I think...I hope..." she trailed off.
"Christ on a crutch," Herzer muttered, sitting down. "What in the hell are we going to do?"
"Mirta suggested that since I'm not using the local stud that I share him," Megan said.
"No," Herzer replied. "Absolutely not. If we were...if we were having sex and you were more stable about it, it would be possible." He held up his hand this time and fixed her with a glare. "I said possible. But even if you agreed, now, I would say no. You couldn't handle it, not the way that you still are. I'd end up losing you and gaining...nothing worth losing you for."
"So how come you're so knowledgeable?" Megan asked, trying not to cry but smiling at the same time. "Big tough soldier. You're not supposed to be able to think about these things."
"Maybe some of Bast rubbed off on me," Herzer said with a shrug. "She's as tough as they come, but she looks at people's emotions and reads them as well as anyone I've ever known. And, now, you could not handle that. No matter what you told yourself, it would tear you apart. And I'm not willing to lose you for a quick roll in the hay with Shanea."
"Oh, I don't think she was thinking quick," Megan said, shaking her head.
"The one thing I don't know is why this has come up so quickly," Herzer said.
"Well, Mirta understood," Megan said, tartly. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"
"Every morning," Herzer said.
"I mean below the jaw line," Megan snapped.
"Oh."
"You said we hadn't seen you in shape before," Megan said, more softly. "We definitely hadn't seen you getting into shape. Women are not, generally, visual. But there's a bit there and... Anyway. The other thing is that you're...changing. I don't think in a bad way. Actually, I think it was what you were when we met and you'd changed for me. Now you're becoming...you again. And you are quite..." she paused and thought for a moment then shrugged. "Sexy."
"Thanks," Herzer grimaced. "I think." He looked at her and then frowned. "I don't suppose you're starting to think I'm sexy?"
"A bit," Megan admitted, sighing. "Damn me, but not enough. I'm sorry." She got up and started to leave but Herzer quickly darted across and grabbed her arm.
"No," he growled. "You do not get to walk out on that note."
"Let go of me, Herzer," Megan said.
"Sit down," he said, pointing at the chair. "I'm serious."
Megan sat and looked up at him, angrily.
"Okay," Herzer said, sitting back on the weight bench. "I'm sorry that I asked. It was the wrong time. You're all messed up about this other thing. It was the wrong time to press. I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be," Megan said, shaking her head. "This is my fault..."
"Megan," Herzer cut her off. "Don't use the term 'fault' okay? If it's anyone's 'fault' it's Paul's and you dealt with that 'fault' as well as anyone could." He paused and frowned then shook his head. "Can I be selfish and blunt for a minute?"
"Yes," Megan said after a moment's thought.
"What can I do to make you more able to handle the thought of sex?" he said, softly. "I will admit that I want to see your hair spread on a pillow and the soft sweat trickling down your stomach. I want to hear you moan in pleasure, true, real, pleasure. I want to slide my hands between your silken thighs and touch you. I want to kiss your breasts and nuzzle at them like a child. I want to touch you and take you and love you in the hardest possible way. So what can I do to help?" he asked, quietly.
"Oh, God," Megan said, her eyes closed. "I think you just did."
"I thought that might help," Herzer admitted, grinning. "We fell in love so quick we forgot the whole seduction thing. Remind me to get you some flowers."
"Herzer Herrick," Megan said in a soft voice. "You are a danger to women."
"So I've been told," he admitted. "Can we do something?"
"What?" she asked. "Here? On the weight bench or the floor?"
"No, not here," he said. "After we get rid of Mike and Courtney I want you to throw everyone out with a vengeance. And then we'll spend an evening together, getting to know each other. And then we'll see what happens."
"Okay," Megan said, nodding. "I think I can face that."
"It's not a competition," Herzer said. "If we don't have sex, we don't have sex. That will be up to you. I will admit that I will press, but very gently. Leave it up to me, okay?"
"Okay," Megan said, her face creasing in worry.
"Don't tense up about it," Herzer said. "We're just going to spend some time talking, that's all. What happens after the talk is open. It might just be we get tired and snuggle. Okay?"
"Okay," Megan said, nodding firmly.
"Now we can go," he said, looking at the chronometer on Meredith's desk. "Cruz is going to be here soon and I need to take a shower."
"Yes, you do," Megan said, sniffing the air.
"Happy sweat," Herzer said. "Think happy sweat."
"I will," Megan said, standing up.
He glanced at her and then at the desk and shook his head.
"Meredith?" he asked, plaintively. "Really?"
"Really, really," Megan said, shaking her head. "I think she's going to hold a candle for you for some time, Herzer. Like I said, you're a danger to women."
"Damn," he said. "She's really hot. You don't think..."
"Don't push your luck," Megan said, chuckling as she opened the door.
* * *
"Hey, Cruz," Herzer said, waving at the couch. "Grab a seat."
"Herzer."
Brice Cruz was thin and tall with shoulder length blonde hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He was also dressed in the height of fashion wearing a light-weight tan suit and a cravat with a gold stick-pin.
"Nice duds," Herzer said.
"The most common flunkie in Washan is a congressional flunkie," Cruz said, shrugging and pouring himself a glass of wine. "Fitting in is my job."
Cruz had started out in the Blood Lords but after an unpleasant incident with some bandits he had been asked to leave the service. For a year after that he had tried to find something he was good at besides killing. Unfortunately, no matter what he turned his hand to it never seemed to work out. He'd been close to the bottom rung of the ladder, working as a casual day laborer, when approached by the newly formed UFS intelligence corps. It had offered him an outlet for his skills with the caveat that if he screwed up using them, similarly skillful gentlemen would relieve him of the need to earn a living. Ever. He had performed his duties flawlessly and as a reward they had assigned him to head the security detail for the UFS' newest council member, who also happened to be the boss' daughter.
He and Herzer went back to the apprentice program in Raven's Mill and it had been Herzer that had convinced him that resigning from the Legions was in his best interest. Especially when Herzer, who was at least as "good with his hands" as Cruz, had explained that he had recommended court martial. Cruz couldn't find it in his heart to blame Herzer, who was the paladin's paladin. But he much preferred his current bosses who had a much grayer approach to the value of human life.
"I've got a mission coming up," Herzer said.
"The quest to capture the
fuel ship," Cruz said, nodding.
"I hope all of Washan isn't aware of it?" Herzer asked.
"Not even the horsey boys," Cruz said. "But the legionnaires and Blood Lords are. They don't talk, though. Our sources haven't picked it up in the capitol so far."
"Good," Herzer said, ignoring the point that Cruz was getting intel that he wasn't. "I want you on the mission."
"Why?" Cruz asked, frowning. "I thought you didn't care for my kind."
"Bullshit," Herzer said. "And you know it. This is going to be one hairy fisking mission, Cruz. Damned straight I want you on it. You are one stone bitch killer and that's what it's going to take. Don't give me shit about 'your kind.' That is 'your kind.'"
"Okay," Cruz said. "But you've got your pick of the damned legions and the Lords. Why me?"
"Because this thing is going to be...weird," Herzer pointed out. "I'll take the Lords and even the legionnaires if it was just a stand up fight in a field. No problem. This is going to be shit coming out of corridor walls and in every direction. Maybe external on the ship. You can handle that, I take it?"
"I'm not afraid of heights or close spaces if that's what you mean," Cruz said, still frowning.
"You're not going to panic if we get hit from behind by whatever monster Celine has dreamed up this time," Herzer said. "You're just going to do the job. I know that. That's why. So I want you in."
"What do I get?" Cruz asked.
"Besides killing people and breaking things?" Herzer asked. "What do you want?"
"A commission," Cruz said. "My record expunged. I want back in. I want in on the invasion. I swear to you, Herzer, I won't fisk up again. I want to be in the battles. I want to die or drop, damnit," he finished, his mask finally cracking.
Herzer looked at him for a long time then nodded.
"I'll try," he said. "I'll have to get the Duke to agree. And that incident with the bandits really pissed him off. But I'll talk him around. No 'deal' to it. You do the mission as an ensign..."
"Lieutenant, for God's sake," Cruz said.
"Okay, lieutenant," Herzer said, his face unreadable. "Or you don't do it at all. But if you fisk me, now or in the future, run far and fast."
"Got it," Cruz said. "What's my job?"
"When I figure that out, I'll tell you," Herzer said, sourly. "This thing is a cluster fisk if I've ever seen one. I don't actually see a good way to win. That's why I want you to be there, because we're going to have to change plans on the fly and I know you can keep up. You'll have a team, that much I know. Beyond that, I'm still working on it."
"Got it."
"In the meantime, just keep Megan alive," Herzer added. "You heard about the things that took down the Icarus team?"
"That's why we were brought in on it," Cruz said. "Nasty. But at least one of them got taken down by the team itself, the colonel killed one with a bedpost, if you'll believe it."
"I can," Herzer said, sadly. "He was very good."
"The braincase is right behind the mandibles. They're not the solfugids that your lady was talking about, by the way. They're more or less straightforward giant scorpions. Stinger and all, very nasty toxin, and dual metallic composite claws. Metallic mandibles as well. The carapace isn't chitin, some sort of polycarbonate, very tough. But they're vulnerable right at the brain case. Hit them between the eyes and they go down. Weak at the joints as well. Fighting them will be a bugger if you don't have a shield, but you or I could take one down with a longsword. Shortsword would be iffy. Long mace or halberd would be optimum. I've been retraining some of the Lords with both."
Herzer nodded, filing that away.
"That is exactly why I want you," Herzer said, finally smiling.
"Your servant, major," Cruz said, cracking a smile as well.
"That's it for now," Herzer said, standing up. "Keep on the Detail until we move up to the training facility and then you move over to the teams."
"Works," Cruz said, standing up as well. "Thank you."
"Joel's going to scream about losing you, you know," Herzer said.
"Well, I'll still be around," Cruz said, shrugging. "Somehow, I don't think I'll end up as a legion commander. But...I want the damned rank on my shoulders. I want to be able to say I'm somebody besides an accountant or an aide, you know?"
"I know," Herzer admitted. "Welcome back. I hope."
"Yeah," Cruz said, shaking his hand. "I'll tell you something, but you've got to promise that you won't fisk me."
"Okay," Herzer said, frowning.
"I'll do the mission even if you can't get me back in," Cruz said. "It sounds like fun. As long as I get a team command. Not just Joe Sword Fodder. But try, damnit."
"I will," Herzer said.
Chapter Eight
"Mike, Courtney," Herzer said, gesturing them into the foyer. He shook Mike's hand and gave Courtney a hug as Megan came in. "Good to see you."
"What's so damned important we had to wait until this evening?" Mike said, half angrily. "We were going to leave on the evening stage."
"It had to wait until this evening because I've been running my ass off," Herzer said. "And it was urgent because it's urgent. Mike, I'm about to piss you off. Ready?"
"What?" Mike said warily.
"I have to talk to Courtney, alone," Herzer said. "I've got to ask her to do something, something for...well the nation I suppose. And it's something I can't discuss with you and she won't be able to either. And it's hazardous."
"What in the hell are you talking about?" Mike asked, angrily. "Are you crazy?"
"No, he's not," Megan interjected. "Herzer, and I, have a mission. We need Courtney. And some other people. We can't, won't, tell you what the mission is. And it's not just going for a walk in the park, it's going to be bad. But we need her. We can't even tell you why because...well because New Destiny will find out. The other people that we're talking to, we're going to be asking to volunteer just like Courtney. If they don't, they're not going anywhere until the mission is over."
"And I can't ask what it is?" Mike said. "Damn." He sighed and shook his head. "Okay, I can understand that. I don't like it, though."
"Big surprise," Herzer said, finally smiling.
"Why don't we go talk farming," Megan said, taking his arm. "And let Herzer go recruit your wife."
"If he can," Courtney said, tartly. "Lead on, hunkaroo."
Herzer frowned but led her to Meredith's office.
"Have a seat," Herzer said, gesturing at the sole chair. He perched on the weight bench.
"Been working out?" Courtney asked, sniffing the air.
"Yes," Herzer said. "Courtney, you know there was a mission planned to try to capture the refueling ship?"
"I'd heard something about it," Courtney replied, warily.
"The team that was supposed to do the job got wiped out," Herzer said, brutally. "By an attack on their training camp. You listed a background in old fashion computers as a pre-Fall skill when you came to Raven's Mill."
"Oh, my God, you can't be serious!" Courtney shouted.
"Thanks," Herzer growled. "Mike needed to hear that."
"Don't tell me that's what you're talking about," Courtney hissed. "That's a mission for... God damned heroes like you, Herzer! I'm a farm-wife! I cook food all day and raise my brats!"
"And you know what a..." he paused and frowned, "a router is, right?"
"Well, yes," Courtney replied. "It's a device for directing electronic packets, but..."
"Courtney, I have four potential computer techs, including you, that aren't absolutely decrepit," Herzer said, his face hard. "I can barely do this mission with four. That ship is a mass of old fashion computers, most of them you can't control from a remote terminal. I don't even know what a remote terminal is but it says you can't control them remotely so I trust the briefing notes. We're going to be in trouble if we lose one tech and the more I look at this mission the more I'm worried we'll lose all of them. Including one of my oldest and closest friends," he added, sadly.
"This is a bit much to take in," Courtney said, shaking her head.
Herzer just stayed silent, letting her work it out.
"I don't know if I want to go into space," she said after a bit.
"With any luck, you'll be in corridors the whole time," Herzer said. "Pressurized corridors with gravity. It will be like being in a big building. The shuttle ride is supposed to be very smooth. And the view should be spectacular."
"Just before I die?" Courtney asked.
"I'll tell you this," Herzer said. "I'm not planning on letting you, or Megan, out of my sight. I suppose as the commander, I shouldn't think that way, but the rest of the team is expendable. You two aren't."
"Thanks so much," Courtney said. "I will be sure not to repeat that."
Herzer just waited, aware that she'd just admitted she was mostly in agreement.
"I'm afraid of heights," she said after another long pause. "I get scared if I stand on a step-stool. I want to throw myself off into the abyss. I can't go into space."
"Don't look outside," Herzer said. "Interior only. There aren't any computers on the skin of the ship."
Courtney shook her head and worked her hands on her lap. After a moment she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
"There's nobody else," Herzer said, softly. "I need you, Courtney."
"I know," Courtney replied. "Damn you. How do you talk me into things like this?"
"I'm a terror," Herzer admitted, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice and acting a tad jovial instead. "That's a yes, isn't it?"
"Yes," Courtney snapped out. "God. Who's going to take care of the kids?"
Herzer knew she meant while she was gone, but he hoped it wasn't a reference to if she didn't come back.