Major (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 5) (24 page)

Chapter 41

The huge yellow Caterpillar dissonator collapsed ton after ton of rock, compressing the molecules and shrinking each chunk.  The beam reached in only a meter, but that was enough to eat into the rock at a fairly good pace.  Some rocks fell before being compressed as other rocks gave way, but the big beast, operated remotely, kept going, only stopping to let the buckets clear the way of rubble. 

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ryck was impressed.  The dissonator used such huge amounts of power that it had its own fusion plant.  The crew foreman had proudly told him that they could power 20,000 homes with it.

“Halve the beam!” another worker shouted.  “We’ve got an opening!”

That caught Ryck’s attention.  They had only pushed forward about 40 meters so far, and an opening could mean that the entry chamber had not been completely caved in.

“We’re through!  I’m backing her up,” the dissonator operator said.

Ryck was only there as an observer, but he had to see.  He darted forward, Sams and Sandy on his ass.

“Major!  Wait!  You aren’t authorized!  There could be a rock fall!” a voice shouted from behind him, a voice Ryck ignored.

His ankle still hurt, but it held up as he scooted around the Cat and scrabbled up the rubble to where three-meter opening looked into the darkness.  Ryck peered in, but the light from outside didn’t illuminate much.  He reached up and switched on the powerful boron spotlight on top of the construction helmet he’d been given.

His heart fell.  He’d expected, he’d hoped, for a wide-open chamber.  Instead, it was strewn with boulders and debris.  He climbed through the opening to get a better look.  In some places, the boulders looked to be meters deep.  No one could have survived one of them falling on him.

He slowly swept the beam from right to left, disappointment taking over him.  As he got to the left side of the chamber, the rocks seemed to start to move.  He started to shout out “Rockfall!” to give Sandy and Sams a chance to get out when the rocks materialized into dust-covered, blinking men.  Marines!

Ryck flew down the rubble and ran to them, shouting out his joy.  One of the dusty men stood up, supported by a piece of twisted metal and one hand up to shield his eyes from the bright glare of the spotlight. 

“That you Ryck?” Bert Nidischii’ asked.

“Grubbing hell right it is!” Ryck shouted, reaching his friend and pounding on his back.

“I take it we won?” Bert asked dryly.

“Yeah, but oh, man, the cost, Bert.  It was bad.  But I thought we’d lost you, too.  And Alpha, and Bravo.  This place just went up.”

“Yeah, we were here when it did.  I’ve got 38 here with me.  Nine are in ziplocks.  The rest . . .” he stopped and used his pursed lips to point in the direction of the heaviest rubble.

He shook his head.  “What do you have for me?”

“They had armor.  Nizzies.  We weren’t set up for this.  This was a dog of a mission, and they slaughtered us, Bert.”

“But you completed the mission?”

“Well, yeah.  There are some dogs and cats running around, but their main forces are gone.”

“So you succeeded,” the CO said, a statement, not a question.

“I took over the battalion, uh, I mean with you out of the picture.  Two companies.  Almost 200 Marines.  I’ve got 70 left.  Just like on
Weyerhaeuser.
”

“Where you took over from me, just like now, and led your men to victory.  This is becoming a habit of yours, but I’d really like you to wait your turn at command instead of hijacking mine,” he said with a laugh.

“How can you laugh?” Ryck asked.  “We lost so many!”

“Because it hurts too much not to, Ryck.  You should know that.”

“Major Lysander?  You OK in there?” one of the work crew shouted in the opening.

“We’ve got two more companies in here somewhere.  What say we get the headquarters out of here?  Seeing some sunlight would be welcome, and maybe some hot chow?  Then we let those guys, whoever they are, see what they can find.  Capice?”

“Capice, sir,” Ryck said as his exhaustion suddenly flowed over him.

“We’re going to need some help.  Most of us are pretty banged up, yours truly included.”

For the first time, Ryck looked down at Bert’s leg.  In the light of his spot, the right trouser leg was black with blood.  The foot was a mangled stump.  Yet the man had just been standing there as if nothing was wrong.

“Shit, Bert!  Let’s get you out of here!”

“Get the others, first.  Then let’s find Charlie and Delta.  We’re taking them with us.”

“Sams, Sandy!” Ryck told the two Marines, who had been standing a few meters back while the two men talked.  “Get our able-bodied in here.  We’ve got Marines to get out so the crews can keep digging.”

Marines were already coming through the opening, probably summoned by the work crew.  Even a few of the Acquisition police joined in.  Within fifteen minutes, all the men had been taken out.

“That’s the last one.  You ready?” Ryck asked Bert.  “Let me help you,” he said, putting an arm under his CO’s.

“You done good, Ryck,” Bert said as the two men carefully made their way up the pile of rubble and out of the chamber.  “Real good.”

TARAWA

Epilogue

Major Ryck Lysander, United Federation Marine Corps, Commanding, took the sergeant major’s salute and saluted back.  He took a crisp step back, did an about face, and marched off, leaving the battalion to the SNCOs.

Not that he expected the sergeant major to take very long.  He’d give a safety brief, remind the Marines to get back on time, and then release them for their 96.
[19]
 

After a dozen steps, Ryck stopped and turned.  The size of the battalion still sobered him.  Eighty-four Marines from Charlie, including a hurt but living Cleo Davidson, had been pulled out of the SOG deathtrap, but Delta had been wiped out to the last man.  Of the 505 Marines and sailors who had landed on Acquisition, 193 had made it off the planet alive.

The death toll among the SOG kept climbing as recovery crews kept digging through the rubble.  Over 1,000 children had already been found, but only a hundred or so pirates so far.

“Raiders!” sounded from the combined throats of the Marines as the sergeant major released them.  That brought a lump to Ryck’s throat.  All through the last two weeks of intensive debriefs, he’d railed at the mission given them, but he couldn’t fault the individual Marine’s performance.  They’d been nothing short of amazing. 

But then again, for Marines, “amazing” is par for the course
, he thought.

They’d stayed on Acquisition for only another day.  A New Budapest freighter had entered orbit, debarking a Federation mining crew from Element.  The crew foreman, a taciturn, broad-shouldered man typical of a heavy-worlder, had handed Bert a sealed drive.  Bert had downloaded it into his PA.  It was orders to leave on the same freighter.  Ryck had argued that they should stay until all Marines were recovered, but the orders left no leeway. The foreman assured them that his team would keep at it until every man was rescued or recovered.

He’d been as good as his word, too.  As far as Ryck knew, his team was still digging, still trying to find the 11 Marines whose bodies had not yet been recovered. 

A welcome sight had been Colonel Lipper-Mendoza, waiting for them on the freighter.  The first thing he did was assemble the men in the now-empty cargo hold, even the zipsicles, and swear them back into the Corps.  The cheer that arose from the men, from the Marines, was deafening, and a missing part of Ryck was restored.  He was whole again.

Upon their arrival on Tarawa, they were back into quarantine, but at least this time, they had been given permission to finally contact their families.  A family services rep had told the families that their Marines were inbound, so the calls weren’t out of the blue, but it broke Ryck’s heart to see a very haggard Hannah on the cam, struggling mightily to hold back the tears in front of the kids.

The next two weeks had been debrief after debrief after debrief.  Even the commandant himself attended a group debrief of the entire battalion, and he’d borne the brunt of some very pointed questions.  Ryck had to admit he had handled them well, but that didn’t dissipate the anger that he felt about politics interfering with sound military strategy.  Ryck remained adamant that this should have been an infantry battalion mission, and he let everyone who would listen know that.

During his off-time, Ryck secluded himself in his room, performing the worst mission of any commander’s career.  He wrote the letters to the families of the fallen, trying to put as much in each one as possible.  He knew that the families needed the closure, but he also realized that he did, too.

On the fifth day, Ryck turned in his awards recommendations.  He had 34 of them, to include the XO and his team for Navy Crosses, and Staff Sergeant Albert “X-Ray” Portis for a Federation Nova.  The next day, Bert called him into his office.  Bert needed regen, but there were things to do first.  His entire leg was in a stasis cast, propped on a stool, and he motioned Ryck to sit.

“What’s up?” Ryck asked.

Bert tossed him the awards packet. 

“What, did I screw up?”

“Ryck, these aren’t going anywhere.”

“Why not?  What’s wrong with them?”

“Ryck, Staff Sergeant Albert Porter did not do what you wrote,” Bert said sadly.

“What do you mean?  I was there.  I saw it!” Ryck protested.

“No, you never saw
Staff Sergeant
Portis.  You saw
Mister
Albert Portis, a civilian.”

“What?  That’s bullshit!  We were civilians for legal reasons, so we were not combat troops landing on another government’s territory.  Portis was still a Marine.”

“No, he wasn’t.  Not legally.  And a civilian can’t be nominated for a Nova.  Portis was not eligible.”

“The hell he isn’t!  Come on, Bert!  How can you say that?  What the hell’s wrong with you?” he shouted, standing up.

“Ryck, listen to me—” Bert started.

“No, you listen to me!  If you won’t stand up for your men, I sure the grubbing hell will.  I’ll take this up the chain and make this right!” he screamed, wheeling and leaving the office.

He knew he was not being fair to Bert, who was just passing the information.  He was sure Bert had fought it, too, but he’d just blown up.  He wasn’t actually angry at Bert as he was at the system.  The system that sent them in without the proper weapons, the system that gave them no air or space support, that discharged them from the Corps, that now said they had not been Marines.  If Portis could not be awarded a Nova, what about all those who fell?  Did they fall as Marines or not?

He rushed to his office and got on his PA, calling General Ukiah, first, then every other flag he knew.  All gently told him the same thing.  No medals could be awarded.  The legal basis of the mission had to be maintained.

Ryck finally threw his PA against the wall and gave up.  It just wasn’t right.  The next morning at the CO’s meeting, he acted like nothing had happened between the two friends.  Bert never mentioned it, for which Ryck was grateful.

“So, congratulations, sir,” Sandy said, breaking his reverie.

“Huh?” he asked stupidly.

“The battalion, sir, the command.”

That morning, the formal debriefs over, Bert had gone into regen.  He’d be in an induced coma for two weeks, then he’d have six months to re-grow the foot that had been amputated.  Initially, another lieutenant colonel had been slated to take over, but that had suddenly changed, and Ryck was given the battalion.  He knew it was only a temporary command, but there was a lot to do to bring the Raiders back to full operational status.

“Oh, yeah.  Thanks, but this isn’t how I wanted to get a command.  I feel like I’m just holding it for Lieutenant Colonel Nidischii’.”

“Well, if it wasn’t him, it had to be you.  That’s why everyone signed the petition.”

“Petition?”

“Geeze, Skipper.  Oh, I guess it’s CO now,” Sams said.  “You are so naïve sometimes.  How do you think you got to keep the battalion?”

“I don’t know.”

“Because every swinging dick signed the petition saying that iffen you didn’t get it, we were all going to resign, this time for real.”

Ryck looked at the two Marines, stunned and speechless.

“Look at him, Captain.  He really didn’t have a clue,” Sams said to Sandy.

“You would have resigned?” he asked.

“No, ‘cause there was no way they could say no.  We know too much, right?  Things that shouldn’t be made public.”

“The crazies running the asylum, sir,” Sandy said with a laugh.

“I, uh, I don’t know what to say.  I am bombasted.”

“Nothing to say.  We just didn’t want anyone else.  So forget it.  Anyways, don’t you have a wife and family to get to?” Sams asked.  “I don’t want your wife after me for keeping you.”

“And I’m guessing your ex is waiting for you back in your room?” Ryck asked.

“I’d be lying if I’d be denying, sir, and so, if you’ll excuse me, I’m growing one heck of a woody here, and it needs attending to.”

He gave a drill field salute, and Ryck came to attention and gave just as sharp of a salute back.

“Fucking Sams,” Ryck said.

Sandy didn’t say anything.  Ryck had pretty much summed it up with that short statement.

“Well, you too, Sandy.  I guess you’ve got things to do?”

“I’m going to head back to the Q, sir.”

“Nothing special?”

“Not really, sir.  You know, my family’s all back on St. Gaudens.”

Ryck knew that Sandy’s family was not really supportive of his service as a Marine.  He felt a moment of concern for his young protégé. 

“Hey, how about you coming over for dinner tomorrow night.  I’ll fire up the grill, and I’ll see if I can’t get Hannah to make some of the watermelon salad that you like.”

Sandy seemed to brighten up.  “Really, sir?  You don’t want to be just family?”

“I insist.  In fact, I’m making it an order, and you can’t be the first one to disobey me as a battalion commander, right?”

“OK, sir.  I’ll be there.”

The two Marines exchanged salutes, and Ryck watched Sandy walk off, a bounce to his step.  He smiled and made his way off the parade deck and to parking.  His Hyundai was still there where he’d parked it, was it only three weeks ago?  It seemed like a year.

Twenty minutes later, he was pulling into his driveway.  He sat in the hover for a few moments, gathering himself.  He didn’t know why he was nervous.  Taking a deep breath, he got out and started for the door.  He’s only made it half-way before the door burst open, and a rocket burst out, hitting him in the chest.

“Daddy!” Esther screamed as Ryck pulled her in tight.

Tears started rolling down his face and onto her hair.

“Daddy!” Ben said, his three-year-old legs pumping to get him down the walk. 

Behind him, Noah was walking more sedately, trying not to look excited before breaking into a run.  Within a moment, he was enveloped by his three children.  Esther was crying now, too, and Ben was chattering excitedly, trying to tell him something about the neighbor’s dog, while Noah just clung to him.

Standing on the porch, Hannah stood watching them.  She looked horrible.  And wonderful.

She was haggard, and her eyes were sunken.  One arm was crossed under her breasts, the other was at her side, the hand clenching and unclenching.

With big exaggerated strides, Ryck moved his ball of children up the step until he was in front of Hannah.  With one arm, he reached out, and Hannah hesitantly leaned into his embrace.

“Was it bad?  I, no, I’m not going to ask,” she said quietly.

“It doesn’t matter now.  I’m home.”