by Mark Iles
“Really? Okay, agreed. Now get out and find the killer, I’ve work to do.”
***
A new physical training facility had been set up in the outskirts of the city, just inside the walls. It didn’t take Selena long to get there and she opened Staff’s office door and entered without knocking.
He didn’t seem surprised at her appearance and his sky-blue eyes considered her. She noticed his cropped dark hair was starting to turn gray, as he half rose and threw her a haphazard salute
“I understand from the grapevine, that we got the men you asked for,” Staff said. “I hope you don’t mind but I swiped two physical training instructors I know from other units, and they’ll probably create hell. I’ll need these people to help me run this place efficiently. After all, you can’t expect me to do it all on my own.”
“That’s fine,” Selena replied, ignoring the sloppy salute. “But make sure you ask next time. You’re going to need a higher rank due to our rise in numbers, so I’m promoting you to Sergeant with immediate effect.”
He remained silent, not even saying thank you as he watched her.
“You don’t approve?”
“It’s not that. I just don’t want to be here, even with the additional rank.”
“Don’t like it? Tough,” Selena growled. “None of us have a choice where we are sent, perks of you being a bad boy in the past. You’ve a job to do, Sergeant, so make sure you do it well. Because if you don’t, or if you piss me off even more—and that includes by not saluting properly—I’ll bust you right down to private, hang your balls up as an ornament in my office and ensure you’re shipped somewhere nasty. Do we understand one another?”
“Perfectly, Ma’am. I note from Daily Orders that you’ve put me directly under Lieutenant Philips, he’s a good man. But I hope you or he don’t think I play favourites, I can’t be seen to. I’ll treat you both the same way I do all the others. It’s the way I do things.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Selena replied
“Good. Now get your arse outside, Commander. You’re late for training.”
Selena stepped outside the office and into the changing rooms next door. Stripping off she selected running kit and went back outside, joining the five lines of soldiers. No-one said anything, or even acknowledged her. They knew the drill. In physical training, they were all the same. There were troops from various sections, plus her team lining up facing the office. A few moments later Staff came out, accompanied by two much slimmer female physical trainers.
Hands behind his back, he stood at ease and surveyed them, the other two behind him, his lips curled in disdain.
“Most of you know me. For those who don’t, I’m Sergeant Moore; you can call me Staff. Behind me on my left is Corporal Tracy, more commonly known as Dick. On my other side, you’ll see Corporal Al Kharsi. Address him as Kami. If I hear any of you call him Shithouse, you’ll answer to me personally. Do we understand one another?”
“Yes, Sir!” they chorused.
“I didn’t hear you,” he sneered.
“Yes, Sir!” Their reply was much louder this time.
“Good.” Staff radiated contempt. “Each of your lines is a team. Behind all of you there are wheeled trailers full of axes. I want each team to split into two and take one trailer. The first half of each group are to be at the front pulling or behind pushing, with the remainder tabbing and keeping pace. When I say ‘change over’ you do so immediately. Now get to your posts and follow me. Move it!”
Selena found herself in the front of their trailer with three others. It was hard going, even with those pushing from behind. They pushed and pulled their contraption for ten minutes before Staff shouted at them to change, then they jogged in formation behind their replacements.
“Change!” Ten minutes later they switched again, and so it went on.
How long they battled through along a well-worn dirt track into the forest Selena had no idea, but she breathed a sigh of relief when they were finally told to stop.
“Everyone grab an axe,” Staff bellowed. “Each team chop down a tree as selected by one of the instructors. How you do so is up to you. Trim and chop the trunks into logs. When you’ve done that, load everything back aboard the trailers. Those who finish first get a rest. What wrong with you shitheads, are you waiting for a written invite? Move!”
“Staff, these axes are pretty dull. Can we sharpen them?” one of the new troopers asked.
“Aw, dear me… No, you goddam can’t! Get on with it, before I stick my boot so far up your arse it’ll make you choke.”
Selena and her team surrounded a tree pointed out to them by Dick. One after the other, they began to swing the heavy blades. At first her axe hardly made a mark but as they continued they gradually worked their way through the trunk. Selena shouted a warning as their tree fell with a crash into the undergrowth, and then they began to hack away at the branches.
“Leave the bark on the bole,” Dick growled.
Selena had recognised her earlier. She was the pirouetting model on the colonel’s desk.
“Something funny, Ma’am?” Dick growled, eying her, jaw jutting forward.
Selena was struck by a faint smell of perfume. “Not in the slightest.”
“Good. Now cut those trees into logs and load them into the trailer. Come on, we haven’t all day.”
Her arms aching, Selena chopped in turn with the others, before carrying the heavy logs and dumping them into the trailer. She had no idea how much longer it was before the trailer was finally fully loaded, but she could see the utter exhaustion on her teammates faces. The first to finish, they sank to the ground, leaning their backs against the trailer. It seemed like only a short while later that the last team finished and the PT staff were shouting at them to get back onto their feet.
“Don’t we get that rest Staff mentioned?” Singh asked.
“You just had it, think yourselves lucky. You don’t get another rest until we get back. Get a move on, before I have a sense of humour failure,” Dick replied.
When they were finished, they dragged the contraptions back to where they’d started.
The gasps of relief from the troopers at the sight of Capulet City was a collective sigh. As they approached the city gates. Staff’s shout tore through their hopes, like a scythe through corn.
“Who told you to go into Capulet? Run parallel to the city walls. Call yourselves Commandos? I’ve seen children with more guts than you! Hey, Commander,” he sneered at Selena, “if you evade that man who’s collapsed in front of you I’ll kick you in the crotch so hard you’ll think you’ve been gangbanged by the entire regiment. Pick that man up and chuck him in the trailer. Pain, people, is character building—it’s just weakness leaving the body!”
Eventually they made it into the city and back to the training base. At Staff’s command, they left the trolleys and lined up, hardly able to stand, their hands bleeding, torn and blistered.
Staff stood in front of them, hands clasped behind his back, complete distain on his face. “How you people even passed basic training is beyond me. Get the hell out of my sight.” He turned and strode back into his office, slamming the door loudly behind him.
Once Dick had dismissed them, Selena staggered to her team’s dorm. She eyed herself in a mirror, shocked at the vision in front of her. Her face was stained with sweat and dirt. Blood dripped from her hands, and there was a small cut on her forehead that she didn’t recall getting. Her limbs were leaden and she could hardly stand. Here the accommodation and amenities were mixed. Stripping off, Selena staggered into the showers. Her muted gasps of agony joined the chorus from the others.
As they soaked their aching bodies, Staff strode into the showers and stood there fully clothed in the tumbling water, watching them. “Aw, hurts, does it?” he sneered. “You bunch of pussies. Lieutenant Lacey, if you look at me like that again you’ll be very sorry, Sir. Thirty push-ups, now! Yeah, right there in the water. Ahh dear, sorely
hands have we?” He looked at one of the females. “Problem, Private? You need to sort yourself out, before I shove my arm so far up your gash you’ll be using sheep as tampons. Commander Dillon, with respect, my office if you will when you’ve finished.” With a final sneer he turned and walked out.
Selena struggled to hold her hands overhead, as she passed through the wall dryers. Satisfied, she dressed— watching those who’d joined the line waiting for medical treatment, almost wincing herself as the medics dressed torn hands, feet and other wounds. When she was ready. Selena jogged briskly to Staff’s office. She knocked hard and heard the command to enter. Doing so, she went in and stood at attention in front of the sergeant, who rose fully this time and saluted her smartly.
“Please relax Ma’am, take a seat.”
Selena did so. “A little hard, weren’t you? These are seasoned troops.”
“We’ve talked about this, I don’t make exceptions and I’m not here to make friends. What I care about is getting them fit, mentally and physically, so they stand more chance of survival in the field. That’s why I’m here, remember? You did well today, as you usually do—not that I’d normally say anything. Sorry if I riled you, but by not rising to the bait you showed good leadership and that’s what’s needed.
“Your team, plus Alpha and Bravo are released to do as you see fit. Charlie and Delta will stay here—they need a bit of work but they’ll have it easier over the next few days, now I’ve made my mark. I’ll slowly ramp it back up again before long—but nothing overly strenuous. I’ve checked and that’s in line with your calendar. I trust that’s agreeable?”
“I’ll double check to make sure, but it should be fine. I want everyone coming through here on a rotational basis, but I don’t want them so burnt out when they get back that they can’t work. Do we understand one another?”
Staff nodded. “Perfectly.” He stood and poured two cups of coffee from the silver-coloured urn behind him. The pungent aroma made Selena salivate. He offered her one of the cups and she took it gingerly. The strong brew burnt her mouth; she pursed her lips and blew gently.
“You and I are both aware,” Staff began softly, “that when our troops come out of basic training they’re top of the line. Trouble is, there’s often little follow up. It’s all left to individual commanders. They get soft, and we really can’t afford that. Our troops need to be fit to fight, and I don’t want the deaths of these soldiers on my conscience because I didn’t do my job well, and that they weren’t prepared to the best of their ability.”
Selena nodded. “My thoughts exactly. Keep up the good work, Sergeant, and thanks for the coffee.”
Chapter Four
The wall screen chimed, waking Selena. Jas remained asleep on the brown leather-like sofa a white throw covering her, warm and comfortable for the first in a long time. She tossed and turned, muttering unintelligibly, her voice rising and falling. Selena donned a robe and activated the screen. Jenks, more dishevelled than usual, looked back at her.
“Sorry to disturb you at this hour, Commander, but I’ve bad news, I’m afraid.”
He looks flustered, Selena thought, surprised.
“There was an electronic pulse a few moments ago, just like the one before the destruction of Ephesus. Something big’s going down. I’m in the control room, best you get here quick. I’ve informed Colonel Delmar and she’s on her way too. All units are at action stations.”
“I’ll be there shortly. Did you track where the signal came from?” She sent a silent alarm to her troops, warning them of impending action.
“Yes. It’s about eighty miles south of Rousillon, our city at the North Pole. We’ve sent them a red alert, letting them know of an imminent attack. They’re at action stations and are evacuating non-essential personnel, just in case. The ships in orbit have blasted the area the signal originated from right down to the bedrock, but knowing the ForeRunners, anything is possible and it certainly doesn’t mean we got them.”
“Good, well done, Lieutenant. One moment, I need to speak to my troops.” She switched screens. Singh, Jessica and Kes looked back at her anxiously, alerted by her silent alarm.
“What’s up, Commander?” Kes asked.
She updated them quickly, and then said, “Jessica, I want all search teams that can be spared out there, now! Kes, you go with her, I want that city locked up tight. Singh, you remain here with me. Any questions?” When they shook their heads, she dismissed them and brought Jenkins back online. “Sorry for the delay. Extra search teams are being despatched as we speak. Better safe than sorry.”
“Thank you,” Jenks said. He looked relieved and ran his fingers through his greasy-looking hair. Like her, he’d obviously been sleeping when the emergency came through, judging by the bags under his eyes. He continued, “We need to nail these guys and soon, before they can get away. I’m hoping the ships got them with their strike but they’re slippery bastards, and God knows what technology they have to protect themselves.”
Selena dressed, left the building and was at the control room within ten minutes. “News?” she demanded as she entered, then saw the colonel sitting in the command and control chair, a position she herself had once held. “Excuse me, Colonel. I didn’t see you there.”
“I gathered that, Commander,” Delmar replied tartly. “As to your question, there’s nothing further as yet. Your teams are about forty minutes from the—”
One of the many wall screens flashed, glared whitely, and then went completely blank.
“What the hell?” Delmar demanded.
Jenks paled. “That was Elsinore, the city on the opposite side of the planet. It’s gone, we’ve been had. The enemy must have placed the pulse close to the North Pole, so we’d think the target was Rousillon. Instead…”
“Jennings!” The colonel snapped rising to her feet, her face white with fury. “You should have foreseen this. We’ve lost another city because you God-damned assumed! Call the extra search teams back, there’s no point in wasting their time now. And get me some satellite images of this … disaster.”
Jenks made the call and pulled up images onto the main screen of where it was estimated that the bomb, or whatever it was, had detonated. The city itself had vanished. All that remained were clouds of dust and debris drifting on the wind over an exceptionally large crater. The forest around it had been flattened for miles all around. They zoomed in to various parts of what once had been a city and its surrounds. There was nothing left at all.
Jenks pushed back the hair from his brow and looked guiltily at his senior officer. “Ma’am, I—”
“Not another word,” Delmar grated. “You and I will talk later. After I’ve had a tongue lashing from the queen, no doubt. Take it from me, Jennings, you’ll be lucky to still be here in the morning.”
There was another brilliant flash on a screen, and then that one too died.
“No…” someone gasped.
“Rousillon,” Jenks replied, his voice suddenly husky. “It’s gone,” he glanced at Selena. “Along with all inhabitants and your teams that were there. I’m sorry, Commander.”
Selena went cold. “What about the backup teams? We just recalled them.”
He looked to his screens and tapped at his keyboard. “Lieutenant Philip’s team has been downed. Robert’s skimmer is okay and reports they’ve turned back to search the area for the others. Luckily, Roberts and her crew had taken off a little later than Lieutenant Philips, and so were further away from the city when it blew.”
Selena patched herself through to Jessica. “Roberts, report!”
Over the speakers her voice sounded harassed. “Sorry Ma’am, busy! I’ll call in when possible.”
“Carry on, Lieutenant. Take the time you need, just find them.”
“Will do, Ma’am. Out.”
“Commander, cancel that. I need those troops of yours back here, right now!” the colonel snarled.
“Then you’re going to be disappointed, Colonel. They’ll be back
once they’ve found my people. You can court martial me later.”
Was that a glimmer of respect in the Colonel’s eyes?
“Very well. Keep me updated.”
“Indeed, Colonel. In the meantime, I’m bringing our training wing back here to fill in where they can.”
Delmar nodded. “Good. I’ll be in my cabin, if I’m needed.”
Selena came to attention and saluted as the colonel left. Damn the woman, despite her flaunting the rules with her personalised top. Selena was actually starting to like her. She turned to face Jenks, who looked as if someone had run over his cat. “Okay Jennings, what the hell happened? You dropped the ball, and you certainly had enough warning. How long between the first signal and the explosion?”
“Seventeen minutes, Ma’am.”
Selena considered. “Okay, clever of the enemy to distract us like that. But the time delay from the first pulse suggests they deliberately delayed the explosion to try and get the teams we sent out in response. They know we’re a threat to them. Jenks, I need your thoughts— now.”
Jenks stared at her. She could almost smell the stench of his grubby, unwashed clothes and the sweat stains under his arms. He looked thoughtful, paused for a moment, and then said, “In my opinion, I don’t think we got them. They’ll have known we could track the signal to its origins and would take the appropriate action. If I were in their place, I’d have put the transmitter somewhere well away from us and controlled it by remote or delayed action.”
Selena nodded. “I agree, so find and eliminate them. If you don’t, I’ve no doubt the Queen will consider shooting you personally and, knowing her, sending your family the bill for the bullet—if she could find them.”
That said, Selena turned and left the command centre, returning to her room where Jas was still asleep. She knew that she had to be rested and fully competent for when things really kicked off, so ensuring that the line to Jessica remained free she laid on her bed, fully dressed, and closed her eyes. She wasn’t going to disturb Roberts as she searched for the man she cared for. Selena knew how it felt to lose someone you loved. Besides, Kes was one of her closest friends and as far as she was concerned Jessica could have all the time and resources she needed. Screw the Queen and her demands.