“Yes, sergeant major, but first, can I ask you something, if I can get personal?”
That seemed to take the sergeant major back, but after a moment, he replied, “Sure, son. What is it?”
“Well, and please accept it if I’m getting too personal, but you never married. Why?”
Ryck half expected a blast with a “None of your fucking business!”
Instead, the sergeant major looked down at his fingers as if checking the nails for dirt, then said “I was married to the Corps, son. It wouldn’t be fair for some young honey to be waiting for me, to wonder what was happening, to sit with me while I was going through regen. Hardly seems fair to me.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Oh, I like women, you can be sure of that. And I’ve had my fun. Maybe I’ve had some regrets, but I made my choice.”
“Was it worth it, though?” Ryck asked.
“Yes. Absolutely. You know I’m retiring next month. But if I could I would switch places with you in a heartbeat. To be a corporal in the Marines again. Things are happening now, things are heating up. If the shit hits the fan, I would want to be at the tip of the spear, son, the tip of the spear.
“But I’m just an old fart now, regened three times, and ready to be put out to pasture. Maybe I’ll hook up with some honeywa and see what all those civvies think is so great about marriage. Maybe I’ll just whore around until they bury me. But my time has passed. Now it’s your time. So it is up to you. What is your decision?”
“You know I went to my home planet two months ago, right? I saw my sister, her kids. I got a great job offer. I’d make more money in a year than I would in an entire career in the Corps. I could find a wife. I could have a family.”
“And so . . . ?”
“But that was not my home. My home is here. My family is here. In the Corps. I want to re-enlist.”
Thank you for reading . If you liked it, please feel free to leave a review of the book in Amazon.
Other Books by Jonathan Brazee
Fiction
The Return of the Marines Trilogy
The Few
The Proud
The Marines
The Al Anbar Chronicles: First Marine Expeditionary Force--Iraq
Prisoner of Fallujah
Combat Corpsman
Sniper
To The Shores of Tripoli
Werewolf of Marines: Semper Lycanus
Wererat
Darwin’s Quest: The Search for the Ultimate Survivor
Non-Fiction
Exercise for a Longer Life
Author Website
GLOSSARY
3/1: Marine shorthand for Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment. 3/4 would be Third Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment. (Back)
Case’s World: A Class 2 planet in Sector 14. Two corporate proxies started a war for control of the entire planet, causing the Federation to send in the Marines to quell the fighting before turning the mission over to the FCDC (Back)
DOR: Drop on Request. This is the formal term for a recruit quitting recruit training. (Back)
ECR: Effective Casualty Radius. This is the radius at which a projected 50% of those within the radius would suffer from the round’s impact and detonation. (Back)
EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse. A type of weapon designed to scramble or destroy electronics by emitting a pulse electromagnetic energy. (Back)
EVA: Extra-vehicular Activity (Back)
Federation Civil Development Corps: The FCDC is the federation’s answer to a land Army. Heavily armed and outfitted, it is not technically a military which gives the Federation more leeway in its deployment. (Back)
Geedunk: Snack bar. (Back)
IUT: Infantry Unit Training (Back)
KIA: Killed in Action (Back)
LZ: Landing Zone (Back)
M99: The basic personal weapon of the Marines. It is a lightweight carbine that fires hypervelocity 4 mm darts via a magnetic charges that pull the darts down the barrel. (Back)
NVD: Night vision device. (back)
Per Terra et Mare: “By Land and Sea.” The motto of the Spanish Infantería de Marina, the oldest extant Marine Corps at the time of the formation of the Federation Marine Corps. (Back)
PT: Physical Training (Back)
REIN: Reinforced with additional personnel and capabilities. (back)
SNCO: Staff Non-commissioned Officer (Back)
Tarawa: Originally named Hollison, the planet was renamed when it became the prime training base and headquarters for the Federation Marines. (Back)
TDI: Training Drill Instructor. (Back)
UCMJ: The Uniform Code of Military Justice. These are the rules and regulations governing servicemen and women in the Federation armed forces. (Back)
VSEB: Veterans Service Educational Benefits—payments made to approved schools for veterans who were received Honorable Discharges. (Back)
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