by Mark Rounds
"Well, what time period are we going to use?" asked a somewhat subdued Jarl.
"Break Out and Pursuit, August 1944,” said Taol. “We will use German equipment."
"That's great," exclaimed Harm. "That period is hot right now. I bet I can get another two or three kilo credits on the recording contract!"
"You do that Harm," said Jeffy with a smile. "Now we have some serious planning to do in regards to training and equipment. This is going to be a long day."
#
Friday came faster than they thought possible. Taol had naively thought that mercenaries were out there just waiting to be hired. He was rudely awakened on this point. Oh sure, anybody could pick up troopers with one or two battles under their belts in any bar on the planet. Collecting skilled specialists was another matter. With Jeffy’s connections, the new mercenary company was able to come up with just five senior noncommissioned officers in two days of serious recruiting and networking.
Never the less, Jeffy was happy, the five they had hired were old hands he had worked with before, experienced in several different types of combat. The first hire was Sergeant Svoboda, whose specialty was training and hand to hand combat. Sergeant McIntyre, another one of Jeffy's acquisitions, was specialized in light infantry weapons. Sergeants Mason and Tierney were mobility and maintenance specialists. In a pinch these two were also fair heavy weapons techs. Finally, Sergeant Duewekscu was the intelligence NCO.
The first recruiting meeting was being held in the old auditorium at the academy. There were over one hundred and thirty ex-cadets there from the recently surplussed junior class, plus of few more from the sophomore and freshman classes. Because of the slowdown, most of the buildings on campus were vacant. The newly minted mercenary company was able to rent the room for a song.
Taol was feeling very uncomfortable in the field gray uniform that Jeffy had come up with. He had assured the young man that it was an authentic copy of a German officer's Wehrmacht uniform. The colonel's pips on Taol’s shoulders were just for show, but they seemed to be very heavy right about now. Jeffy, Jarl, Harm, and the five mercenaries that Jeffy had recruited were all in similar uniforms. Harm had major's pips and Jarl had lieutenant's insignia. This had caused some irritation, especially because it was at Jeffy's insistence, but when it was explained that Harm, because of his rank, would do little fighting, Jarl seemed more at ease with the situation.
"Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen," said Taol, his voice amplified to carry to the back of the half-filled hall. "The purpose of this meeting is to begin the recruiting a new mercenary company for a game to be fought in two weeks. I am sure you have all heard how this came about."
There were some chuckles from the audience, proving that the gossip had made the rounds.
"I won't fool you,” said Taol, “this could be an exciting, but potentially dangerous adventure. The Krasni we will be fighting are experienced professionals.
“On the other hand, Sergeant Major Jefferson is the best training NCO in the Games. He and his staff will train you in all the skills you need to do well.
“But our budget is limited" continued Taol after a suitable pause. "We won't be able to afford shuttle fees to orbit for all of you. We will have to use capsules to save enough money to outfit the unit."
There was some excited chatter over this point.
"Taol, I mean 'Colonel', what do you mean capsules? Those things aren't safe!" said an anonymous voice. There were sounds of general agreement from the rest of the room. The capsules had been used to boost cargo into low earth orbit for over two hundred years. They had only recently been re-cleared for personnel.
Shortly after they had been cleared, there was a series of accidents. The result was that travel by capsule had never become that popular despite its considerably lower fare. Cadets, for all their bravado, were just as anxious to preserve their own skin as anyone else. This could turn into a riot if not handled properly.
"May I have your attention please," said Taol as he cranked the volume on the PA system loud enough to be heard over the rumble of the crowd. "It's true that some early failures in the capsule delivery system caused several accidents. But safeguards are now in place to keep that from happening. But if we intend to pull this off at all, we will need every penny we save riding the capsules. My staff and I will ride the first capsules going into orbit.
"But if this is going to be a problem, you don't have to join. You can sit in your apartments and watch holo, experiment with drugs, have sex with each other, and wait to die! Because that is the only option the Lords of the Commonality have given us. Does anybody here have a chance to do anything at all productive?"
Taol let the silence drag out until it was all too obvious.
"We took our shot to be something and it was taken away from us mere months before we graduated. The way the world goes these days, maybe one person in this room will doing something that has real value in the next ten years. The rest of us will be either consumers of different forms of entertainment or producers of the same, if we are that lucky.
“If you went to work for any other mercenary company you might live fairly well, but you would never have a chance to get out to the colonies, where things are still happening, until you were too old to want to.
"So I am going to do something no other company has done. You will all be stockholders in this mercenary company. It will be a small share to be sure, but better this than the dole. So who's ready to gamble? Who out there is ready to take a shot and see if we can still be somebody? Harm will take your names. Be ready to lift at 0130 Sunday."
Taol began walking unsteadily back to his seat. He was visibly shaking and his ears were ringing. Perspiration had completely soaked through his uniform in several places. It was only after he sat down that he realized that the ringing in his ears was from the applause.
After the meeting the mercenary company gathered over a hundred and twenty volunteers. Jeffy initially didn't want to take that many, but after Taol’s speech, he and the other ex-cadets felt they had to take anyone who signed up. Jeffy was mollified a little when some of our new recruits offered to buy additional stock in the company for cash. Of course, they let them.
Most of the volunteers also wanted to buy their own weapons. Jeffy said go ahead, but they were only to buy German MP-38 machine pistols in 9mm Parabellum, any German 9mm semi-automatic pistol, or a rifle in 7.92 long cartridge of a type produced before 1945. These two items helped the company’s cash position considerably and also started the long process of welding a team out of a group of individuals.
#
Saturday, Jeffy was scheduled to meet with the aggrieved party. He met them alone, at the appointed hour in the offices of Warlord Montgomery. The term office was a bit grandiose. It was actually the backroom of a Tavern in the Kransi district of Denver.
"Well, Sergeant Major Jefferson, this is a surprise,” said Monty snidely. “I'd thought you had retired."
"Not hardly, Your Excellency," said Jeffy ignoring Monty’s barb. "I don't see any of your pseudo Russian stooges around? They chicken out?"
"Oh, I'll speak for them,” said Monty testily, “They are kind of shy and retiring. What brings you here Sergeant, has young Master Ubner decided to withdraw?"
"Colonel Ubner has selected me as his second,” said Jeffy. “I am here to discuss the matter of the grudge match as proposed by Colonel Sokolov. He is here, isn't he?"
"Oh, Sokolov is here,” said Monty who was beginning to anger, “but I handle the business end of things. You don't really mean to say that Bernard Ubner is allowing this farce to continue?"
"He's not stopping it, if that's what you mean. We will field a force in the GE habitat on the 17th of this month. The habitat has been reserved.
“The Gaming Commission has been notified and has officially declared the battle Class C with a three hundred kilo credit winner's prize and a ten-kilo credit consolation prize. I am surprised you haven’t been informed. If the forces you a
re speaking for do not show up, they will forfeit the one hundred and fifty kilo credit deposit."
"Oh, they will be there, never fear," said Monty. "Interesting turf though, what period?"
"Break Out and Pursuit, time period circa 1944,” said Jeffy. “As we were challenged, Colonel Ubner, the Younger, has selected the German side of the conflict."
"I can see that you had a hand in the choice of turf, Sergeant Jefferson,” said Monty with a bit of a scowl. “Tell me, did you do it in this way just to aggravate me?"
"The decision was Colonel Ubner's, Excellency."
"Well run along then,” said Monty, “I have much to do. By the way, who is your Business Agent? We have much to discuss."
"Major Harm Milne,” said Jeffy with a glint in his eye. “He is from an old gaming family and has already negotiated the ancillary contracts for holocast and live viewing rights. Those contracts are in this pouch."
"That is only just within the law,” said Monty darkly. “It would have been a simple courtesy to let me accompany him on the negotiations."
"He is young, your Excellency,” said Jeffy, “but the contracts are binding. If you wish to fight this battle, these are the agreements you will fight by."
"Wait just a minute Sergeant," Monty said as he scanned the documents. "He has traded almost all the long-term rights for cash up front. Surely, this can be renegotiated."
"No sir," replied Jeffy who was now grinning hugely. "Our company was a little short of cash. These are the terms that most suit our needs. If you wish to withdraw, please feel free to do so."
"And lose one hundred and fifty kilo credits in deposit?” said an angry Monty, “Very well, you have won this one. I trust that our company’s share of the cash is also included in this pouch."
"Actually, it has already been transferred into your firm's account," said Jeffy. “Major Milne thought it would be more efficient that way.”
"What?!" roared Monty. "Do you realize what liberties this young man has taken?"
"Sir, if you did not want your Krasnian allies to know of the deal,” said Jeffy rather blandly, “perhaps you should have let us know."
"Get out of my sight Sergeant!” said Monty raging. “We will meet you and your child major in the GE habitat. I will enjoy that meeting a great deal more than this one."
Chapter V
When Jeffy returned he was his old self again, laughing and thinking he was the baddest thing on wheels.
"Well Sar Major, how did it go?" asked Taol with trepidation.
"Just the way we thought it would,” said Jeffy with a cavalier grin. “He was a little angry over the choices in turf and hardware, but he was absolutely livid about how the contracts were negotiated. The finishing touch was when he found out that Harm had already transferred the cash to the company account."
"Why did that anger him?" asked Harm innocently.
"Because,” said Jeffy with a knowing wink, “he didn't have a chance to skim part of the cash before the Krasni knew about it. All he is going to get out of this deal is his agent's commission, if they win. That is not how he normally does business."
"Harm," said Jeffy somewhat more seriously. "Your business deals deprived Monty of a great deal of money by taking all those advances and up-front payments. You have real potential in this business, if you live long enough to develop it. But he is extremely angry over this."
He seemed to think this terribly funny. Taol hoped that they would find out that Monty thought it was humorous also when they all met up at the GE habitat. Somehow, he doubted that would be the case.
#
0130 comes very early but Taol wasn't worried. Sleeping through an alarm isn’t an option if you don’t sleep. Taol spent most of the evening worrying about what had happened. He wondered how much his being insulted mattered when it came to getting his friends killed. But the alternative of a life on his father’s charity didn’t appeal to him either.
After fighting insomnia until 2230 Taol decided to go in early. Jeffy was already at the pad, checking cargo loads. The company wasn't taking a great deal into Earth orbit, as Harm had been able to make a deal with an orbital weapons merchant. The cost of his weapons was higher than earth side, but when shipping was considered, the price was considerably better.
"Couldn't sleep either, eh Sar Major?" said Taol as he tried to keep it light. It didn't work. he just sounded more scared.
"Can't see how anybody can,” said Jeffy matter factly, “what with all the details to be taken care of. That Harm, he's going places. I wouldn't have been ready for boost without him."
"Jeffy, are we doing the right thing?" said Taol suddenly.
"Well, morally the decision to fight for money has always been considered wrong,” said Jeffy after a pause. “Not that there haven't been a lot willing to do it anyway. But, if the pay is only an incidental, if issues other than money cause the battle, then those issues must be judged. I suppose it matters how much you believed that speech you made night before last."
"Oh, I believed all of that," said Taol. "But I wonder about going into battle and maybe losing good friends over an incident in a bar?"
"I suspect that the incident you are speaking of was just the catalyst” said Jeffy, He had set down his data pad and was considering his next words with care. “You would have made an effort, sooner or later, to realize your dreams. This might actually be better, since you didn't have to work your way up through the ranks. Maybe you might just reach those stars you talked about."
Taol chewed on this for a while and hoped it justified all they were about to do. Just before they were scheduled to board, Jeffy held an inspection of the troops as they straggled in. Many of them were hungover or still intoxicated from one form of chemical or another.
He had to take the weapons from a couple of students who were told that H&K G3 assault rifles were used at the end of World War II, but for the most part, the former cadets showed up with MP-38 submachine guns, Lugers, P-38's, and a dozen different kinds of fighting knives.
They had all agreed to leave Harm and Sergeant Svoboda, the hand to hand combat instructor, behind to organize any last minute arrivals. Taol and the rest of the staff would arrive at the front of the capsule stream and be in position to settle in the troops.
As Taol boarded the first capsule, all the accidents that happened decades ago when capsules were first opened to passenger travel came rushing back into his mind. Tales of acceleration injuries and cracked capsules were in the news almost weekly. Taol wore no space suit which was a surprise. This was explained by the staff as a cost saving measure.
It was also very patiently explained that the capsules were self-sealing and didn't crack anymore. The capsule itself had been reinforced and its aerodynamic cross section reduced. The computers used to control the lasers had been updated and their software refined. All this meant nothing as the attendant closed the hatch.
Taol felt a slight acceleration as the magnetic field of the launch pad lifted his capsule to the aiming point. There was no window, another cost saving measure, so he had to visualize what would happen next. As the capsule came to rest Taol began to feel his insides tighten. After what seemed an eternity, he perceived what felt like a tremendous kick in the backside.
A very carefully controlled laser had just hit the heat shield causing the air in the parabolic chamber surrounding it to expand rapidly. Another laser pulse hit less than a second later followed by another and another. The pulses were timed so that some ambient air could reenter the chamber through forward facing air ducts before the next pulse hit.
After two minutes, or a lifetime, depending on your perspective, his capsule had all the velocity needed to achieve a low earth orbit. The beams were then directed at the next sucker's capsule.
Suddenly, Taol was in free fall. His stomach began a series of acrobatics that would have brought anything he had eaten up instantly. Luckily, he had been too nervous to eat anything so all he had to contend with was the dry heaves for the
next fifteen minutes. As sick as he was, Taol hardly noticed when the tug netted his capsule, but the odd series of accelerations that followed while it netted the next four capsules were worse than free fall.
At last the tug stopped moving and the capsule was unloaded. He learned later that all the capsules were transshipped mechanically, so the tug could be off to get the next batch. All Taol felt was the return of just a little weight. It helped settle his stomach so he wasn't completely green when the hatch was opened.
He found himself in a large cargo bay with the four other capsules. A couple of crewmen in nondescript coveralls were hustling passengers out of their capsules so the next load could arrive.
They seemed to have some trouble with Jeffy, as they didn't think he could get out on his own. But with his tremendous upper body strength in this low gravity, he was better than a cargo hoist. All they had to do was get him something sturdy to grab onto and then stand back.
Then they were ushered into a receiving area where some refreshments were available. There was coffee and juice and an assortment of pastries. It was all manufactured food stuffs made from soy and seaweed and just looking at them made Taol’s stomach roil.
"Excuse me Colonel." said Jeffy diffidently.
Taol looked around and saw Jeffy.
"Yes Sar Major. What is it?" he managed to croak out.
"Eat something," said Jeffy. "If you fall over it will be a bad example for the troops."
Taol looked dubious but selected a berry scone where the berries were at least the right shade of blue. Surprisingly, eating it did calm his stomach and got the blood moving in a more familiar direction. Taol followed it with a cup of coffee or rather a dark liquid that resembled coffee.
As he ate, Taol watched Jeffy work. First, he gathered his NCO's and selected Sergeant McIntyre, the weapons specialist, as unloading boss. As the new capsule loads came in, they were quickly sorted out. Those troopers in need of medical attention were moved to one side. Several of those who were intoxicated at launch were now so sick they couldn't stand, even in this low gravity.