The humans stepped through the hatch, taking the greatest care not to launch themselves into any more unmovable objects. The unperturbable Tortoid followed closely with his two charges carefully stowed on his shell.
“I’m headed to sickbay,” Daksha said, swimming toward the airlock, where maintenance personnel stood ready to assist. BJ meowed back at his siblings, before talking with them over the mindlink, as ‘cats were wont to do.
Ellie needed to talk with Garinst about the ladder, and Cain wanted to talk with the captain about putting the dead Marines into cryo-chambers.
The Dilemma
Captain Rand planned for a two-week long trip through the heliosphere and then two more weeks banking dark matter before their next hop. They had two choices: run back to Cygnus or go to earth. Both needed to be made aware of the bot threat, but who needed to know the soonest?
Commander Daksha floated over his hot sand as BJ lounged, half in the sand and half out.
Captain Rand and Major Cain stood in their usual places, facing the Tortoid.
“How is the Hawkoid?” the commander asked.
“Recovering,” Rand replied cautiously. “The printed wing will take some time for him to get used to. We can’t be sure that the synthetic feathers will work as well as the originals. Ascenti may never fly again.”
“And how is he taking that?” Daksha pressed.
“Could be taking it better,” Rand ventured.
“I guess he is just going to have to figure out how to make that printed wing work, or what needs to change so we can print another one that will work. Those are his two choices. Not flying is not the third choice. It’s not any choice, do you understand?” Cain insisted fervently
Daksha raised his Tortoid head and fixed his unblinking gaze on Rand.
“It took me a while,” Rand said softly, absently scratching the artificial skin of his printed arm.
“And that’s where I made a mistake. You thought you had all the time in the world to get better. Look where we are, Captain!” Daksha’s vocalization device amplified the Tortoid’s thoughts as he picked up where Cain left off, and added to it. “If we don’t do it, there is no one else. We need Ascenti. We already lost six members of the crew on this trip. I have no intention of losing another. When we’re done here, send him to me. I will talk with him personally.”
“But he’s not quite mobile, Commander,” the captain said tentatively.
“So what?” The commander was in no mood for pleasantries. He could see the pain and confusion in the captain’s face. Cain looked on, his face set. “We are two thousand light years from home. Every alien planet we’ve visited has been hostile to us. I was wrong, completely wrong, about what first contact would look like. I thought the others would be just like us, curious, explorers who sought to learn.”
The Tortoid looked away, as if ashamed of being wrong.
“Cain was right. We need to negotiate from a position of strength. We go in heavy no matter what. We talk to them only when we’re sure that they aren’t hostile. That’s not what I wanted, not even close, but it is what has to happen. And to do that, we need every member of this crew. We need every Marine you can muster, with weapons charged and ready to fight.” Daksha hesitated a long time before finishing his thought. “Ready to kill.”
“Killing is our last option, Master Daksha,” Cain replied through a clenched jaw. He didn’t want to be known as a killer.
“That it is, Major Cain, and you’ve stayed the hand of your Marines well. You are ready to seize the offensive and that’s what we need, always that you are ready. When we relaxed, that’s when they’ve come for us,” Daksha said glumly.
“You are sounding like a crazy man, Commander!” Rand exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “We need you to be as you always are. We need Cain to have his Marines ready, to advise caution. And I need to keep this ship ready to act, ready to do what we need it to do. We each have a far different job. When we do them right, we are better together. If we all call for the heads of our enemies, where will the voice of reason come from?”
Daksha swam slowly backwards and dropped closer to the sand where it was hottest. He closed his eyes as he let the heat warm his lower shell. The humans waited impatiently. Finally, Captain Rand excused himself to get Ascenti and bring him to the commander.
The Tortoid didn’t acknowledge that he knew Rand had gone.
‘Cain,’ the Tortoid said over the mindlink, ‘are we doing the right thing?’
‘Adventure is in our soul. Had we not come out here, we wouldn’t know of the bot threat. We wouldn’t know that humans have peppered habitable worlds in this small part of the galaxy, that we’re not alone in our problems, in our successes, and in our humanity. And yes, I command the Cygnus Marines. We’ve killed too many of our fellow humans, Androids, and alien bots. But we did it so others could live free, and we’ll do it again if we have to for that same reason.’
‘Duty first, eh, Major?’ Daksha replied.
“Duty first.” Cain stood tall, still learning to temper his steps so he didn’t look like he was jumping when he walked. “We need you to always look for the peaceful solution, as will I, as will Rand. But I’ll have my finger on the trigger and Rand will have his hand on the EM drive. Together, we balance each other, because it is what we must do, just like Ascenti. He must learn to fly again, because he has no other choice.”
‘Concur, Major Cain, and thank you. When the captain returns with the Hawkoid, send them in.’ Daksha floated close to BJ, who looked like a snake that had swallowed a rabbit.
“How much did you eat, buddy?” Cain asked, but the ‘cat wasn’t answering.
Cain left the commander’s quarters and almost ran into the captain carrying Ascenti. “Hey, Private! How are you doing?” Cain asked
“I’ve been better,” he grumbled.
“We’re going to stop the spin of the ship so you can practice flying on the garden deck and up the stairwell,” Cain said happily.
“I’m pretty sure I’m not ready for that,” the Hawkoid moaned.
“I don’t think I asked, Private. I think I gave you an order. Don’t make me chase after you with a Wolfoid spear to motivate you not to hit the ground. Do you get me, Private?” Cain growled.
“Yes, sir!” the Hawkoid answered, feigning motivation. Cain knew he didn’t buy into it, but if they ingrained on the Hawkoid that he would fly again, that it was inevitable, then maybe Ascenti would start believing it.
Cain stormed off, also an act, but he had plenty of practice to make it look convincing. Stinky was waiting in the corridor, probably for Daksha to return to the bridge, where the Wolfoid would continue his duties as an aide de camp. His kitten, Penelope, rubbed against his leg and purred loudly.
“Thanks, Cain,” Stinky said.
Cain shook his head, unsure of what he was being thanked for. “For the commander. The planet was hard on him and he lost his way. He needed someone to get him back on the right path. You and the captain are the only ones he lets inside that shell of his.”
Cain slapped his friend on the shoulder and nodded, taking care not to step on the kitten who held up a paw with claws unsheathed.
“Really?” he asked the ‘cat.
He checked the time on his neural implant. Maybe I could sneak down for some private time with Miss Ellie before the ceremony, he thought.
‘You will not.’ Brutus’s intruded into Cain’s mind.
‘Watch me,’ Cain said defiantly, marching to the stairs and flying downward, taking the steps three at a time on his way to the engineering deck.
The hatch slid open and Cain stepped inside. Ellie brightened when their eyes met.
“OH NO YOU DON’T!” Briz howled, his voice magnified tenfold somehow. The Rabbit waddle-hopped to block Cain’s way, his ears still showing pink despite the time that had passed. Cain had misjudged the dye’s durability.
“We have engineering to do. Ellie’s too busy to deal with your hormone
s,” Briz argued, huffing and putting his hands on his hips. Ellie stood behind the Rabbit, shaking her head and making signs with her hands that suggested she could take a break and what she wanted to do on that break.
“Anti-Cain device zero zero seven, report to maintenance immediately,” Briz said imperially.
“Anti-Cain device? What the heck are you talking about, Briz?” Cain asked.
A maintenance bot appeared and it was carrying an insulbrick sprayer.
“There’s no way you’re going to do that!” Cain challenged.
“Execute,” Briz said calmly. The maintenance bot raised the sprayer with surprising speed. Cain started to run, but it was too late. The insulbrick foam hit his legs and instantly started hardening. He crashed to the deck plate.
Ellie waved at him and smiled as he found himself immobilized. She apologized that there was nothing she could do.
Cain had a ceremony that he needed to prepare for.
‘You should have taken my advice and not gone down there at all,’ Brutus told him.
‘It wasn’t advice, you vagrant! It sounded like an order,’ Cain retaliated.
‘A damn fine order it was, too. You probably should have listened,’ Brutus said.
‘Yes, yes, I should have listened, but look at her. How could I say no to her?’ Cain caught himself staring at her curves and shook his head.
‘No. See how easily that word rolls off my mental tongue. No. No. No. It’s almost like a magic word,’ Brutus replied. ‘Now what are you going to do?’
Cain activated his neural implant. ‘Jolly, send a message to Stinky that I’m in engineering and could use his assistance as soon as possible.’
In three minutes, Stinky strolled through the hatch, saw Cain, started laughing, and left.
The major started to flail to the point that Ellie thought he’d hurt himself. She walked over to the Rabbit and beat on his pink back until he called the maintenance bot back to take care of it.
“You two!” he said accusingly.
The bot sprayed reagent on Cain, and the insulbrick melted away.
Cain tried to straighten his camouflaged uniform, but it refused to comply.
Briz tried to block him, but Cain lifted the Rabbit out of his way. He marched straight up to Ellie and pulled her into a fierce hug and long kiss. Cain twirled her hair with a finger before turning and striding purposefully from engineering.
“You two!” Briz repeated.
“Don’t you have work to do so we don’t jump into the middle of Earth’s solar system? I think the captain will birth an Aurochs if that happens again,” she suggested.
Briz knew she was right, but he was avoiding the problem because he hadn’t figured out how it had happened and he couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t happen again.
***
The platoon was formed and ready when Cain walked onto the mess deck.
Pickles called the platoon to attention, and Cain took his place at the front, squeezing between the tables and the Marines.
“At ease!” he called right away. The Hillcats in attendance made themselves comfortable on the dining tables, lounging fully and stretching.
Cain had thought about drill and discipline and finally understood what the ancients had meant when they talked about the difference between a good barracks Marine and a good field Marine. Cain liked putting his Marines on display at all times and wanted them to be models of integrity and good behavior. But if they played too hard and sounded a little crass, he didn’t care.
He cared about what mattered most. He wanted the Marines to be the deadliest force in the universe, not because they had the best weapons, but because they had the best warriors, the best people. He wanted their enemies to know fear.
“Integrity. Duty. Honor. So many words to describe the commitment of the Cygnus Marines to all of humanity. Today, we pay tribute to those who fell in battle, and we honor those injured who continued to fight.” Cain nodded to Lieutenant Peekaless, who turned to face the platoon.
“Attention to orders!” he called.
Cain took a sheet of paper from the table and made like he was reading it, but he wasn’t. He knew what he wanted to say. “Shooting Stars of the highest order are given to Corporal Aurochs Ring, Private Lightning Flash, Private Ogden, Private Razor Fang, Private Silas, and the Hillcat Aniston. They were Marines in combat, and forever will they be Cygnus Marines.”
Some of the Marines shifted as they fought with their emotions. Cain waited.
The hatch opened and the captain, commander, Ellie, and a few others entered, including more ‘cats.
Cain tipped his head toward them and let them find open space to get situated in, which there was plenty of because of five fewer Marines. The major fought off the revelation.
“Shooting Stars are awarded to the following personnel, injured in the line of duty: Lieutenant Black Leaper, Corporal Spence, Private Trilok, Private Silent Tracker, Private Zisk, Private Ascenti, and Billy Joe Jim Bob.”
‘Me?’ the kitten announced to all over the mindlink.
‘Yes, you, now shush,’ the commander replied.
One by one, the Marines worked their way to the front and had the Shooting Star pinned to their uniform or harness. BJ was last as the Tortoid swam overhead, taking the shortest route to the front of the room. Cain pinned the star to the outside of the riding rig attached to the Tortoid’s shell in which the kitten rode.
Cain rustled the ‘cat’s head and scratched behind his ears before nodding to Daksha, who turned and swam away. The kitten stood tall, his tail high, the Marines smiling at him as he passed.
“The awards for duty to the space service are limited to the Space Stars and with Commander Daksha’s approval, the following have been awarded,” Cain said, looking at his sheet of paper. “Space Star Third Class to Privates Abhaya, Dark Forest, Ascenti, and Trilok. Congratulations to these fine Marines who remained stalwart in battle despite seemingly insurmountable odds. Space Stars Second Class to Sergeant Night Stalker, Private Silent Tracker, and Private Zisk for exposing themselves to the enemy to draw fire from their comrades. Their actions undoubtedly saved lives.”
Cain pinned the awards as the individuals came to the front. He shook their hands and slapped them on their shoulders.
“And finally, Space Stars First Class, the highest award that the Space Exploration Service can give, to Lieutenant Black Leaper and Corporal Spence for continuing the fight despite suffering horrendous injuries. After all of it, they were still standing when the bot army lie in ruins; to Ensign Ellie for her engineering expertise that delivered the weapons to help us win the battle. Without her, we wouldn’t be here. And finally, I have recommended a Space Star First Class for Commander Daksha for his fearlessness in carrying a wounded Marine through the battlefield, including his personal combat with two enemies early in the fight.”
Commander Daksha faced Cain, blinking slowly, then nodded in gratitude. Cain wouldn’t be able to transmit the award for approval until they returned to Cygnus VII, putting it on the farthest of the back burners.
“What about you, sir?” Stinky asked.
“I got five of my people killed,” Cain replied coldly, looking quickly away from his friend.
“That’s crap!” Spence blurted. “We volunteered to go down there. You didn’t make the bots what they were. Seventeen of us took on a hundred and fifty enemy security bots. We won because we trained to fight in one point five gees. We hammered them on their turf. You made that possible, sir.”
Spence clamped his jaw shut. Pickles casually stepped in front of Cain. He lashed out, hitting the major in the chest with his clawed hand, almost knocking him down. Pickles executed an about face.
“First Class to Major Cain. Oorah!” he shouted through his vocalization device. The platoon cheered in response and started pounding on the tables.
The ‘cats ran for the hatch. Rand opened it for them. Thor wore a bracelet around his neck, but none of the others would. The others
, including Brutus, simply harangued any passing crew to let them in wherever they wanted to go.
“Food fight!” someone called in a muffled voice. A small sandwich flew across the mess deck and hit Stinky the back of the head.
“Who threw that?” he yelled as he picked up a pepper slice and whipped it into the mass of Marines.
The Wolfoid called Shadow dove across a table and body-slammed Stinky.
Spence’s leg had healed and he’d been released to full duty within two days after their return to the ship. The med bots were masters at fixing bone breaks, thanks to millennia of humanity needing to be fixed.
He jumped to the top of the table, showing his usual agility, and dove on top of Corporal Jo, taking her down along with the next two in her squad.
“You bit me!” someone howled.
Ellie was horrified. Cain started laughing, throwing bodies out of his way as he headed for her, intending to sweep her off her feet and to safety. Rand pulled her backwards through the hatch and off the mess deck before Cain got there. Someone flew over a table and tackled him, dragging him back in as he reached helplessly for her.
Daksha floated above the fray, swimming to a neutral corner to watch, completely at a loss as to what was happening but fascinated by it nonetheless.
Cygnus Arrives: Humanity Returns Home (Cygnus Space Opera Book 3) Page 18