by Jay Allan
Cain spun around on his heels and followed Jax without even a word to the stunned officer who stood where he was, staring in disbelief. It was just as well, because if he'd gotten any more words out of Cain, they probably wouldn't have been to his liking. Erik Cain had grown up a gang member in a hellish slum after his family had run afoul of government regulations and been cast out of Manhattan and subsequently murdered. He despised everything to do with the authorities back on Earth, and he was not likely to be patient with a glorified government snitch in a uniform.
"What the hell was that all about?" Erik didn't think it was just coincidence that Jax had been looking for him at this particular moment. Before Jax could answer, Cain turned and shouted back to his orderly, who had been standing next to him when the newcomer appeared. "Anne, tell Major Cantor I'll be with him as soon as I can."
"A new directive from Earth." Jax's voice wasn't quite as corrosive as Cain's, but it was clear he didn't like it much either. "Mine looks like some sort of jacked up cop. Thinks he's hard. Probably piss his armor the first time somebody shoots in his direction." He had a sour look on his face. "We didn't get any warning about this. Not even the general. The first thing he did was send me to find you." He snorted a short laugh. "Guess he figured you were the one to most likely to do something...ah...unfortunate."
Cain laughed, but only for a second. There was nothing funny about this to him. He'd come from Earth's gutter and found a new home for himself in the Corps and on the frontier, and he wasn't about to sit idly by and watch it turn into a copy of that clusterfuck he'd left. "Would it be so unfortunate if there was one less - what the hell did he call himself - political officer running around here?"
Jax laughed. "You see, that's the thing. Everybody would think you were kidding. Except me. And the general. He figured you might just be tempted to use the guy for a live fire exercise."
"We've got a lot of new recruits. They could use the practice. You know what they say...two birds, one stone."
They walked up to a large modular building with two guards flanking the only door. The sentries snapped to attention when the two officers approached. Jax looked up at the facial recognition scanner. "Open."
"Access granted, Major Jax." The security AI's voice was male, not exactly hostile, but definitely businesslike. The plasti-steel door slid open, and Jax and Cain walked into a large room with at least ten workstations, all occupied. There was a large main screen, which currently displayed some sort of numerical statistics on one side and a map of a solar system on the other.
"Major, Colonel. The general is waiting. Please follow me." The general's orderly was an earnest young lieutenant, very low in rank to be an aide to a full general. Lieutenant Raynor had the job because his father had been Holm's friend who had been killed during the disastrous Operation Achilles. The general had been mentoring the son's career ever since.
A second generation Marine was originally a rarity, but it was becoming more common. The Corps did most of its recruiting in the slums of Earth, offering a home to a certain breed of promising misfit. But as more Marines retired and settled on the frontier worlds, the Corps started seeing sons and daughters who wanted to follow in parental footsteps and serve. This was starting to create a subtle shift in loyalties. The oddballs normally inducted into the ranks had no love for Earth, or usually for anything else, and their loyalty tended to focus on the Corps itself. But with second, and even third, generation recruits joining in increasing numbers, there were more Marines thinking of themselves as the military force of the colony worlds. It was a subtle change, but real nonetheless.
Cain and Jax followed the lieutenant down the familiar corridor to the general's office. "Colonel Cain and Major Jax, sir."
Holm was looking at something on an infopad and, without looking up, he said, "Thank you, lieutenant. Dismissed."
Raynor snapped the general a fine salute, then turned and gave one each to Jax and Cain before marching smartly back into the hallway. Cain laughed after the door closed. "That kid's nothing if not a damn fine saluter."
The general was still staring at the 'pad on his desk, so he didn't notice Cain's cursory attempt at a salute, though he'd seen it plenty of times before. "Better than your sorry efforts, Erik. It's a damned good thing you have a few other skills." He finally looked up and they all shared a laugh.
General Elias Holm was one of the true heroes of the Corps. A veteran of the last war, he'd shown himself to be a military genius in this one. Cain and Jax were two of his protégés; the general had been a mentor to both of them since they’d first served under him as sergeants right here on Columbia when the planet had been attacked by a CAC strikeforce.
"I'm just reviewing these final reports on Sherman before I send them up the chain." He motioned toward a table against the wall. "Get something to drink and have a seat. I'll be done in a minute."
Operation Sherman had been a massive campaign intended to liberate systems that had been occupied by the enemy during the early years of the war, when the Alliance had been beaten back. Originally targeting six objectives, the campaign had been scrubbed after three when the attached naval resources were diverted to Gliese 250. Admiral Garret had been the naval commander for Sherman, but Alliance Intel had picked up a lot of chatter about Gliese, and the high command wanted to reinforce the fleet stationed there. Without Garret's battlegroups, Holm's operation was at a standstill, so his battered but victorious forces returned to their staging area on Columbia.
The three battles they had fought had been nasty. Some of the target worlds had been held for eight or nine years, and the enemy had spent that time fortifying them heavily. Garret's ships blasted as much as they could from orbit without wrecking the worlds, but these were friendly populations, so there was only so much indiscriminate bombing they could do. There were still plenty of strongpoints for the Marines to assault.
The invaders had been hard on the occupied populations, and when the Marines got a glimpse of the atrocities that had been committed, they stopped taking prisoners. When Holm got a look, he stopped trying to make them accept surrenders. Two of the battles had gone nuclear, and after years of occupation and nasty fights to liberate them, the colony worlds were in rough shape. Alliance Gov had promised to expedite relief to the worlds, but it was slow in coming. The Marines left the supplies they could spare - mostly extra rations and medicines - but it wasn't nearly enough.
Cain and Jax grabbed bottles of water and sat in the two large chairs facing Holm's desk. Finally the general looked up from the 'pad and managed a smile for his officers, however forced it might have been. "I have better over there than just water if you boys want something a little stronger." Holm was a bit of a drinker, though Cain had never seen him less than 100% sharp.
Cain and Jax both shook their heads. Erik rarely drank, and as far as he'd seen, Jax never did. Besides, Holm had a water sitting on his own desk too, and neither of them would have taken anything if the general didn't.
Holm looked over at Cain. "So I take it that Jax got to you before your new friend? I don't have any reports of a shooting in the quad, so I consider that a good sign."
Erik took a drink from his water. "No, the fool had just introduced himself when Jax came over and interrupted us."
Jax snorted. "Interrupted you from telling him to stick it, I believe." He grinned in Erik's direction. "Where did you intend to tell him to stick it, exactly? Knowing you, there are a number of possibilities."
Holm broke in before Cain could answer. "Look guys, we really need to discuss how we're going to handle this." Erik opened his mouth to say something, but Holm put up his hand. "I'm serious, Erik. I know how you feel about Alliance Gov, but we're stuck with this for now."
He shoved the 'pad across his desk toward his guests. "That's a dispatch from General Samuels about these political officers. I'll let you read the whole thing, but for now let me summarize. We are to accept these liaison officers without causing any problems until he sends me
further instructions. Now Samuels is my boss, and I'm yours, so I guess that's all any of us needs to know." Holm spoke to his officers in a relaxed tone, but no one who knew him thought he invited any debate.
Cain leaned back and sighed. He wasn't going to argue. The general was half hero and half father to him; he'd do anything Holm asked. He just wished it was something easier...like charging an enemy bunker with a kitchen knife. "Sir," Cain finally said, "I understand your orders but, if I may ask, what do you make of this whole thing?"
Holm leaned back in his chair and took a breath. "Honestly, Erik, I'm not sure. We all know how things are run back on Earth. It's easy for us to forget just how little of that we have to put up with out here. I suppose it's possible that Alliance Gov just wants more direct information on the war. This is their fight too, and they bear a lot of the cost."
Cain looked skeptical. "Is that what you really think?"
"I just don't know, Erik." Holm shook his head slowly. "The Corps is a lot bigger than it used to be. What was a frontier defense force is now a pretty big army, not to mention the only Alliance ground force that has combat experience. Maybe they are going to try to change the relationship we've had for the last century. I just don't know."
Erik shifted his weight in the chair. He wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure he should.
Holm could see Cain was troubled. "You can speak your mind here, Erik. You should know that by now."
Cain looked at Jax, then at the general. "Well, sir, I don't suppose I know any more than you, but I just can't escape the feeling that whatever we think it is, the truth is probably far worse." He looked at Jax again and back at Holm. "I know none of us talk about our pasts; that's all washed away when we make that first assault. But I know what I saw growing up, and I know what Sar...what some other people went through as well." Sarah Linden was Cain's lover, and she'd told Erik about her suffering at the hands of a government official who'd had her kidnapped when she was a teenager.
Erik was trying to stay calm, but his face was contorted with anger as he spoke. "I remember what I saw when I got sent back there to give speeches and pander to our political masters. That whole system is rotten, sir. Rotten to the core." He stopped, thinking maybe he had said too much.
Holm stood up and walked around his desk, sitting down on the front edge. He leaned forward and put his hand on Cain's shoulder. "Erik, you know you're like the son I never had. There's nothing you can't say to me. But I want you to be careful too. Like it or not, we're being watched a lot more closely than we were. Whatever the politicians are up to, we've still got to win this war, and I don't want my key people distracted. I don't know why General Samuels is going along with this, but he may know things I don't. For now, I'm asking you - not ordering you - not to pick a fight with your political officer. Don't let him interfere with combat efficiency, but otherwise humor him a little. It's probably the best way to keep him out of the loop. Make him suspicious of you, and he'll probably just start snooping around more and causing problems." Holm looked over at Jax. "That goes for you too, Darius."
Erik nodded to the general. "Yes sir. You're right, of course." He looked down and rubbed his hands together.
"What is it, Erik? There's something else bothering you."
"Well, sir..." Cain looked up and locked eyes with the general. "I'm just thinking about the colonies. I mean, you don't think it's just us they're going to pull this with, do you? The colonies have grown too. How much wealth do they produce now? How important have they become to the Alliance economy?"
"You're worried they're going to crack down on the colonial governments?" Holm got up and took his water bottle in his hand.
Erik paused for a second before he answered. "I'm worried they're going to try. And if they do, those people aren't going to put up with it. What are we going to do when they order us to start shooting colonists?"
"You really think things are going to go that far, Erik?" Jax had been content to listen up to now. He was more optimistic by nature than Cain, and he hadn't considered things to the extent Erik had."
Erik almost held his tongue, but he figured if he couldn't speak in front of these two, he couldn't speak in front of anyone. "Yes. I do."
General Holm sat back down behind his desk, and rubbed his face with his hand. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that. At least we don't have to worry about it right now. We've still got a war to fight. So let's focus on that right now, and we'll deal with the rest as we go. Whatever Alliance Gov is planning, they aren't going to do it until the war is over."
Cain and Jax both nodded their assent. "Good. So let's talk a little about what comes next. We had to call off the second half of Sherman because we lost our naval support. But we'll eventually get back on track. They can't keep most of the navy at Gliese forever; either they'll be a fight or there won't, but sooner or later they'll send us a couple battlegroups and we'll be able to finish the job."
Cain was relieved to be thinking about something other than the Alliance government. "I suggest we take the time to integrate the replacements we've received into our formations." They had lost about 10,000 troops in the three battles they'd fought, but they'd gotten fresh recruits to bring them back to establishment strength in all units. "We're probably looking at several months at least - just in transit time to and from Gliese - so I'd recommend some war games. Maybe even a couple practice assaults if you can get us the landers and supplies to burn."
Holm smiled broadly. "You're going to have my job someday, Erik. That's exactly what I was thinking." He reached into his desk and pulled out a small box. "First, I need to do some shuffling around of the command staff. You both know General Isaacson was wounded when his lander crashed on Wellington. Sarah's crew managed to keep him alive, but he's got an odd genetic marker, and they've had a hard time regenerating. He's looking at some heavy gene replacement therapy and then multiple regens. Two, maybe three years in hospital."
Cain and Jax both winced. Isaacson had been their division commander and a good officer, popular throughout the ranks.
"So," Holm continued, "I've got to replace him. I don't want to look outside the I Corps for senior officers if I can help it. So, I'm bumping Gilson to command 1st Division. Erik, I want you to take over 1st Brigade, effective immediately." He smiled at Cain's stunned look. "There's no one I trust more."
He looked over at Jax. "Darius, you'll take over the regiment." He tossed him the box he was holding. "Here are your eagles. Congratulations, Colonel Jax. You earned them."
Erik turned to face Jax and put his hand out. "There's no one who deserves it more, Jax," he said as they shook hands.
Holm stood up and walked around the desk again, putting his hand out to Jax as well. He glanced over at Cain. "I'll get you your star too, Erik. But I can't approve a promotion to general rank without an OK from General Samuels. I sent the request this morning." He gave Cain a quick grin. "Another reason I don't want you picking fights with that political officer right now."
After shaking hands with both of them and exchanging congratulatory salutes, he continued. "I want to bump up one of Jax's captains to major and give him the battalion. I'll expect a recommendation from the two of you by 1800 tonight. Try to agree and just give me one pick. I'll approve whatever you guys send up."
"Yessir." Cain and Jax spoke almost in unison.
Holm looked down and poked at his 'pad for a few seconds. "I'm sending you both some operational notes. I want 1st Brigade to plan and execute an assault on Columbia. You'll be taking on 2nd Brigade, which will be defending. We'll do a simulated bombardment, and then you'll hit the ground, Erik. Review the notes, and we'll discuss again tomorrow, say 1300 hours." He glanced back down at his desk. "Dismissed."
The newly promoted officers stood up and snapped salutes to the general, Jax's sharp and crisp, Erik's a little ragged. They turned and walked toward the door.
"Oh, and gentlemen?"
They turned to face the general. "You have both
seen a force assault Columbia. See if you can do better than they did, ok?"
Chapter 3
Western Alliance Intelligence Directorate HQ
Wash-Balt Metroplex, Earth
The conference room was large and extremely plush; the polished walnut table alone cost enough to feed a hundred starving Cogs for a year. The soft leather chairs surrounding it were no less expensive, and in these comfortable seats there were a number of well-dressed men and women. To the side of the table was a large credenza covered with platters of food. This was a lunch meeting, and the group assembled here quietly picked at their plates and fiddled with their 'pads while the waiters finished serving everyone. Finally, the last of the staff departed wordlessly, and the heavy glass doors slid shut, the clear panes turning opaque as they closed.
The room had an old look to it, with its real raised panel wainscoting and antique oil paintings on the walls. The paneling alone was noteworthy - wood of any kind was an expensive commodity, and walnut of this quality was almost priceless. There were few forests remaining in 23rd century America, and almost none with the old-growth trees needed for this type of craftsmanship. The illusion of some ancient manor home's drawing room ended abruptly, however, at the single wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, which offered a kilometer-high panoramic view of the southern Washbalt skyline.
"We have a number of items to discuss, and time is short. I have to brief our British friends on the status of our operations; my transport leaves in three hours, so let's not waste any time." The speaker was a tall man, perhaps sixty years of age, his black hair sprinkled lightly with gray. His name was Gavin Stark, but only a few people in the room knew that. To most of them he was simply Number One, the head of Western Alliance intelligence and one of the most feared men on the planet. "Let's start with the Epsilon Eridani initiative. How does the excavation proceed?"
A woman seated at the opposite end of the table responded. She was tall and trim, perhaps a few years younger than Stark, though there was more gray in her hair. "Operations are almost back on schedule. As you are all aware, thirteen years ago, just before the war, CAC intelligence discovered what we found on EE-4. They launched a surprise attack and took control of the planet. We were able to divert a detachment from 1st Marine division to retake the world before they could dig in or reinforce. Or, of course, get any heavy intel from the excavation site. The battle was small - neither side was heavily mobilized at the time. In the aftermath we were able to substantially upgrade the system's defenses, and a naval battlegroup has been posted there since."