Shadow Ops 3: Breach Zone (43 page)

SUPPRESSION LANCE – A US Marine Corps unit that employs a Suppressing officer to block the magical abilities of the riflemen in the unit.

TAR BABY – SOC Slang for elemental automatons. See Elementalist definition above.

TOC – Tactical Operations Center.

T-WALL – A modular, portable section of rebar-reinforced concrete barricade. Shaped like an upside-down T. Usually six feet wide and twelve feet tall.

UCMJ – Uniform Code of Military Justice.

USTRANSCOM – United States Transportation Command is one of ten unified commands of the United States Department of Defense. The mission of USTRANSCOM is to provide air, land, and sea transportation for the Department of Defense, both in time of peace and time of war.

VTC – Video Teleconference.

WHISPERING – Terramantic magic used to control the actions of animals. This is prohibited by the US Code. SOC Terramancers are not permitted to Whisper.

WIA – Wounded in Action.

WITCH – Selfer slang for a Negramancer. Male Negramancers are sometimes called Warlocks.

XO – Executive Officer.

Acknowledgments

There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’. There’s no ‘I’ in ‘Myke’, either. The team in this case is vast beyond counting and includes my family and friends, the tireless and dedicated staff at Ace, Headline, and JABberwocky, and the revelers of the movable feast we know as the Drinklings. It also includes the artists – some friends, some strangers – who daily give me something to fight for: John Scalzi, Chuck Wendig, Howard Tayler, Neil Gaiman, Molly Crabapple, Joe Hill, and countless others. When I think about dying for my country, you are the country I’d die for. China Miéville as well, revolutionary, intellectual, the most inspirational man I’ve never met. Thanks also to the New York City Police Department, the thin blue line I am so intensely proud to be a part of. Thanks also to the men and women of US Coast Guard Station New York, the most dedicated band of people I’ve ever had the privilege to serve alongside. You daily wade through trials that would make lesser people throw up their hands; you stoically accept a task where success is invisible and failure unforgettable, a shining example of the person I hope to be. Thanks also to Andrew and Megan Liptak, Major General Richard Schneider, Lieutenant Colonel Brett Cox, and the Corps of Cadets at Norwich University. Looking at your serried ranks, I know the future of our military is in good hands.

Thanks to my beta readers not thanked in previous volumes, Mark Lawrence and Justin Landin, brilliant and busy people who carved out time to help a friend in need. Thanks also to fandom, the congoers and bloggers and social-media allies who shore me up with humor, admonition, and relentless pedantry. My tribe, miles deep and eternal.

And Pete, as always. You’re probably sick of the constant gratitude, but you’ll have to deal. What’s owed is owed, and life’s too short and uncertain to leave the important things unsaid. Thanks.