It's funny how much trouble I can get into in a relatively short amount of time. Not "ha-ha" funny. More like a "look at that dead thing in the road" kind of funny.
About ten days ago, we landed in the capital city of Cyprus. Aardwolf proved to be the genius that I thought he was, because he had three effective weapons pieced together by the time we landed. That was fortunate as Ensign Du-tse and I were involved in a prolonged firefight on the steps of Cyprus’s Capital Building within three hours of landing.
Marie turned out to be such an incredible fighter that I promoted her to Sergeant. That's a Marine title that belongs in the realm of Department Chiefs. Essentially, as Aardwolf is a genius engineer thus Chief of Engineering, Du-tse is a warrior and thus "Chief of Killing People," i.e., a Marine Sergeant. This is part of the central leadership model that exists along side the Ten Fleet’s hierarchal system.
By the end of that day, I had offended the Coalition interests on Cyprus by pointing out the plethora of infractions of fair trade practices in which they engaged. Somewhere in the middle of the day after that, I lectured the leaders of the official government for wanting the money brought in by the Coalition companies, but not wanting the inevitable problems that come along with the cash.
Eight days ago, the "High Archangel" (or some crap like that) visited me. The self-professed savior of humanity was a techno-centric cyborg. The disgusting religion he preached held that human flesh and blood was imperfect, and that only by getting rid of the organic parts of the body can one become closer to God. The followers were not only butchering their own children by replacing parts of them with plastic and metal, but they were also buying slaves and forcing them to go through the same process. I strongly suggested to the High Arch-hole that he and his group of followers not bother me again or I would order a nuclear strike on their compound.
I didn't create the incident that happened a week ago. Sergeant Du-tse had worked her innate diplomatic magic and brought the Coalition companies and the local government to the table for peaceful talks. However, my Chief of Engineering decided to steal back some of the drones he claimed the Coalition had stolen from him. To make matters worse, a group of colonist extremists decided to attack the Grinder as is sat in on a launch pad. Aardwolf managed to reconcile the Grinder's combat synchronization ability with those of the combat drones. Under his guidance, the colonists were massacred.
So, that brings everything up to date to about a week ago. I'm still on this damn planet, even with my messages to Rovsky pleading that I be released from this assignment.
The Sergeant's Pretty Face
Both the Coalition and the Cyprus government wanted to get their hands on Aardwolf. The Coals charged him with theft, tampering with security, sabotage, and interference with official Coalition goals. The Cyprians charged him with 9 counts of murder, 4 counts of felony assault, and destruction of private property. I spent the greater part of two days unraveling the mess.
With the Coals, all I had to do was prove that the drones, three in all, were legally Aardwolf's property. It wasn't hard to do, as he had binding contracts and manifests issued by the Cyprus government proving that he owned the drones, and not the Manibraus Corporation. Therefore, he legally repossessed his own property. The Coals backed down as soon as I threatened legal action to have all of the SAMD's returned.
Surveillance tapes of the landing pad also proved that Aardwolf acted to protect the Grinder from an unprovoked assault. It turns out the attack was by some extremist group. They called themselves the Cyprus Liberation Organization, or some nonsense like that. They were terrorists.
The next day was a very busy day for the 6th Fleet. Marie had help from Fleet Intelligence to hack into the Cyprus Colony computers. She dug around for proof that the official government was sanctioning terrorist activity against the Coalition forces, specifically against Manibraus. The proof was surprisingly easy to find.
I had Aardwolf working on ship maintenance. I wanted to be able to blast off this planet at a moment's notice, and didn't want a glitch in the ship's system to get in the way. He also spent time undoing some modifications the Coals did to the SAMD's.
I put together a report that I hoped would stop the violence on the planet. Local extremist groups and Coalition military strikes were killing hundreds of people daily. And the techno-religious freaks seemed to be thriving.
During our hard work, Sgt. Marie Du-tse shocked both Aardwolf and myself. I was doing work in the ancillary stations in the cockpit of the Grinder and Aardwolf was tinkering with the co-pilot's station below me. Marie was working diligently beside me in the second ancillary station, when she suddenly stretched, yawned, and took off her visor and hood. It was the first time I had ever seen her face, and she was…
…nice looking.
I have to admit, I was afraid that she'd either be ugly or gorgeous. Both were equally bad. The chauvinist in me didn't relish the thought of working with a dog, and my higher thoughts knew I'd be distracted if my second-in-command was a goddess. She was pretty, for sure. She had a strong nose and chin, full lips, and big green eyes. A smattering of delicate freckles peppered her nose and cheeks. Her light-brown hair looked as if it was just a few weeks out of crew cut. I let out a sigh of relief.
"You were afraid I’d be ugly," she said, smiling shyly. Yeah, I admitted it. Aardwolf, on the other hand, said, "I knew she was cute. 'Could tell from her smile." I rolled my eyes, and ordered my crew to get back to work.
Old Troubles and a Day at the Beach
I knew I'd get nailed sooner or later. Rovsky was pissed off enough to contact me through protospace networks. This real-time method of faster than light communication is hideously expensive and unsecured.
It seems the High Admiral had Rovsky's fine young ass (I'm assuming about her ass, having only seen her from the neck up) because of several liberties I've taken with the Fleet's good name and recruiting practices. You know the story about the free repairs and armor for the Grinder courtesy of Schiavone-Tonlee Parts Company. It seems STPC is going full guns and advertising their status as the official supplier of 6th Fleet. Good for them, I say!
"You're going to get us both court-martialed!" Rovsky would say.
Then there was Sgt. Marie Du-tse's sudden promotion from ensign. Since "sergeant" is a Marine classification that has to be earned through years of specialized training, my decision to promote her ended up sending ripples through all ten Fleets (such as they are). I stood by my decision, and challenged Rovsky to let me explain it to the High Admiral personally.
She angrily declined, saying I would only make matters worse.
Of course, I knew that Thomas Aardwolf worked for Coalition companies for years. Before that he worked closely with the Earth Defense Fleet and the Ten Fleets. He is responsible for all kinds of advances in military hardware, with emphasis on automated drones. To me, it made perfect sense to bring him back over to our side. Fleet Intelligence was having seizures over Aardwolf's recruitment. Again, I asked Rovsky to put me in contact with the Chief of Intelligence; again she gave me an emphatic "No!"
So, what to do now? Go to the beach, that's what! My reports are all done, thanks to Marie's hard work and a lot of help from 10th Fleet's diplomacy squad. Not to mention some inside contacts I had with EDF (Earth Defense Fleet). I deserved some real R & R, and my crew wholeheartedly agreed.
Of course, I had a hidden agenda. See, I had to get the Coalition, Cyprus Colony, and technocrats together for an intimate meeting. I figure, after an afternoon in the sun on one of Cyprus's fine beaches, a sunset dinner would be just perfect.
Next Chapter >> 16: Resolution of Cyprus Colony
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