Sacremon (Harmony War Series Book 1) (16 page)

           
“Well apparently no one wants to get above BM so that they don't get put on the harder jobs that might come up on Sacremon. With our shooting, our section isn't going to be BM anymore, so it's more likely we'll be picked for shit jobs,” Tyler said.

           
“I heard people saying that, BM, what is that?” Pablo asked.

           
“Bare Minimum, basically people want to show that they're combat capable, without pulling any extra duties that could get them missions that are more difficult,” Mark said, coming up for air, and going right back to slurping on his strawberry milkshake.

           
“You're going to get a brain freeze,” Alexis warned.

           
Mark winked and grinned, getting a laugh out of Alexis and Tyler.

           
“So everyone's trying to be a bit crappy so they all look the same on paper?” Pablo asked.

           
“Yep.” Mark said.

           
“Makes sense, trying to get to the forty-year mark is near fucking impossible. Not many even get to the thirty-five-year mark.” Tyler said.

           
“Cheap bastards,” Alexis said.

           
“Offer them a retirement package, then five years before their eligible, kick them out so they don't have enough time in to claim it. Brilliant!” Tyler said as if he was making the idea up himself, this got a kick from Alexis under the table.

           
“So you want to check out the observatory?” She asked Mark and Tyler, Pablo seemed like he was stuck along for the ride anyway.

           
“I'm gonna grab some more food and head to the library,” Mark said.

           
Alexis didn't quite roll her eyes but it was a near thing.

           
“I swear there is the biggest nerd I know hiding in there,” she said.

           
Mark shrugged, the corners of his mouth lifting up in silent amusement.

           
“Shall we then?” Tyler asked Alexis and Pablo.

           
“Sure,” Pablo replied, he'd looked excited as soon as Alexis had mentioned the observatory, looking out over a new star-system wasn't something they'd be seeing all that frequently.

           
Maybe just once if Sacremon goes badly.

           
They stood and left, waving to Mark as he went to get more food again.

           
“I think that you're going to eat us out of food stores just by yourself,” a woman with short but curly hair said from behind the food counter.

           
“Man's got to eat.”

           
“That you do, and it looks like most of it is just piling on and up,” she said with the kind of smile that made her eyes crinkle.

           
“Thanks,” Mark laughed.

           
“Anything particular?” She asked, Mark checked what his augments needed and chose rice, chicken and another smoothie. She pulled out the food from their containers, the smoothie pumped itself into a new container and she put it all on a tray handing it to him.

           
“See you around,” she said, her voice kind and gentle.

           
“Thanks, you too,” Mark replied, giving her a nod and pressing his lips into something resembling a smile.

           
He used his implants to bring up his latest reading material on ballistics, this brought a sour look to his face, but he continued to read as he absently ate.

           
It wasn't long before he found he only had the smoothie left, he grabbed it, putting his polished tray on the conveyor and headed to the library.

           
It wasn't like the library he'd read about, filled with books and ladders that were all musty and dusty.

           
It was a series of four interconnected data cores that a person could go to and download straight from. There were also screens that a person could use. There were nooks and crannies around the library where someone could get lost and find some solace.

           
From some of the noises Mark heard, some people were finding solace in one another's company.

           
Coupling in the EMF was only frowned on if it was within your own section. Otherwise it was free game. Contraceptives were easy and convenient to find, plus when you knew you were going to be fighting for life in the not so distant future, finding some companionship was pretty appealing.

           
Mark finally found a corner and started to go through a book on augments, the one under his ribs looked to keeping him alive, but there were others that could pump him full of combat hormones and drugs to keep him in fighting condition for days, or be so absurdly alert that it would be like he had a sixth sense. He wasn't sure about that one, it seemed more like a marketing ploy since the augment was actually called Sixth sense.

           
If he was willing to part with some credits; weapons, kits, and body upgrades were all within reach. The corporations didn’t have to spend any money, instead their troopers paychecks would be circulating over and over again. They would actually be making money off of their troops.

           
He traced the letters of his tattoos absently the M&T over a V with the troopers tattoo, feared and revered by all of the EHC below. It showed the Earth with crossed E-12's with the letters EMF over top.

           
He looked up the ships implant retailer, the medics did the augments and the armorers did the gear.

           
He headed off to the medics and dropped less than he was expecting into a sixth sense implant. They were almost shocked by his want to get an implant.

           
Most people didn't spend their creds on augmentations, but rather the beers in the small messes, basically bars, on the ship.

           
It was close to lights out when he woke up with his Sixth sense and enhanced implant package coming online. The doc had thrown the implant upgrade in for free, it would take a few days to fully integrate but they were simple enough.

           
She, like the Medic back on Earth was more interested with how it would work than money, plus all the money was going to corporations anyway, so screwing them out a few credits was fine to her and her colleagues.

           
Mark found his bunk area easily with his implants, his chip let him into the room, and the light chatter died as he walked through and made his way to the two empty cots.

           
He didn't pay them any attention as he continued his reading, staring up at the back of the empty bunk above him until he passed out.

           
Mark heard Tyler come in and climb up to his bunk.

           
“MMMMM,
” Mark groaned, basically asking
him how long he'd been out.

           
“Urggh nnn,”
Tyler replied, the grunting equivalent of,
I don't know but I want to sleep
.

           
Mark settled back down and was asleep in moments, you learned to sleep when you could in the slums.

           
That wasn't to say that they slept lightly in the slums, everyone was trying to steal your shit or kill you to steal it. A life wasn't worth nearly as much as a coat and boots when the cold winds hit.

           
“Ready?” Mark heard someone that had been creeping up on his bunk, he was laying on his side, his back facing whoever was behind him.

           
Without a prompt battle hormones started to pump through his body, he was more awake than ever, with boundless energy.

           
“You grab the one on the top, we'll grab the one on the bottom. Show them why someone doesn't try to be a...”

           
Mark had figured out where the six attackers were, three were to the left, close to his head, the other near his chest and the other near the foot of his bed.

           
The other three were on the other side of the bunk in the same positions.

           
Mark twitched his smart cloth, his blades easing down his arm.

           
“...goddamn brown nosing twat,” Dolche finished.

           
Mark did two things, he rolled forward, out of his bunk and towards the three attackers that hadn’t been talking and whistled an alarm out.

           
He slammed his foot into the attacker at the bottom of his bed's knee. His hand came out like a round from a E-12, pressing the second attacker into the ground. Apparently they were a woman, but they doubled over anyway.

           
He pushed off of the bed, to get himself vertical, he rushed the third attacker.

           
Tyler was awake and already jumping off of the top bunk, to deal with the three on the other side.

           
It sounded like he'd landed foot first on someone's head.

           
The third person grabbed Mark's arm as if to restrain him. This served to only make Mark angrier because now he had to get rid of this clinger.

           
He delivered heavy blows to their stomach, making them double over, but still they held on. A light of madness entered Mark's eyes as he slammed his fist into their face, they released but now Mark held onto them, his free arm grabbed their shirt, the other grabbed his leg and he turned in the tight area between bunks and launched a screaming person into another bunk.

           
They landed in a mess off whimpering.

           
The woman Mark had punched was slowly rising recovering from the initial assault. A savage blow put her down. Knee boy was apparently broken knee boy.

           
Tyler grunted, taking a nasty blow to the ribs. Mark turned, using the bunk as a bar to swing himself into the stomach of one of the attackers, next to Tyler.

           
Mark's hand whipped out to the side, his blade tapping Dolche's jugular. Dolche froze as Tyler snapped a kick out at the man who Mark had delivered the stomach blow previously.

           
Tyler's arms snapped to his sides, blades identical to Mark's in his hands as he looked for more threats.

            “
Mark,” Tyler's voice was warning as the door to the barracks opened, Pullo stormed in, his angered face turning thunderous as he took in the scene.

           
His eyes found Mark as two MP's appeared behind him.

           
“Come with me now,” Pullo's voice brooked no argument.

           
Mark dialed his battle hormone pump down, he looked to Dolche.

           
“Next time I won't stop,” Mark promised, pulling his blade from Dolche's neck.

           
In the Slums you needed to show your dominance, and you needed to show people you were willing to go the extra mile to make them pay.

           
But the biggest reason Mark planted his boot in Dolche's chest was because he wasn't going to let him get away with only a little nick on his neck.

           
Dolche’s head clipped the bunk bed behind him. He let out a yell, moaning on the ground while clutching his head.

           
Mark flicked his sleeve up with practised efficiency. Tyler did the same.

           
So much for working with my squad and getting to know them better than I know myself.
Mark thought, sending a silent sorry to Quentin.

           
“Get out here now!” Pullo barked, looking like he wanted to give Mark and Tyler a few belts.

           
“We'll take them to the duty officer. We've called a medic for your lot,” the MP said, his voice reproving.

           
Mark and Tyler passed Pullo and marched out into the corridor, waiting for whatever came next. They had slept in their clothes out of habit.

           
“It looks to me like your people were trying to re-educate your two newbies. Thankfully your newbies weren't slacking,” the MP continued. Pullo looked like he was going to erupt but instead nodded.

           
“It looks that way,” Pullo said, his eyes flicking to the six men and women sprawled on the floor. That look did not bode well for them.

           
“Gupta! Get everyone up and in the fucking hall, right fucking now! And drag these pieces of shit out too,” Pullo snarled, jutting his chin out at those on the floor.