Warzone: Nemesis: A Novel of Mars (44 page)

We did, however, agree that all greenhouses and food processing plants be placed no closer than three hundred meters from any military target. We had to built another greenhouse complex three hundred meters from the one we had now. The complex we moved from became a storage facility for supplies, replacement parts, equipment and machinery. No weapons could be stored in the agricultural complexes. The logic being that even if the enemy post was totally annihilated, the victor wouldn’t have destroyed the food supplies.

I didn’t get everything I wanted. COL Tkachenko balked at the idea of not shooting pilots in the air that ejected from their tanks when they blew. I thought about walking out of the negotiations but decided that, though we didn’t get everything we wanted, it was close enough.

We exchanged 1LT Ryzhkov for 2LT Death Before Dishonor. Our man looked well, but so did the Soviet. Our prisoner looked fine, even though we had taken our liberties with him for a time. We concluded the meeting by signing the agreement, and followed with a hot pot of tea and sugar biscuits.

Afterward we played three games of chess. He bested me two games to one. We agreed to play one chess match a week via satellite uplink on Sol Saturni at nineteen hundred, unless we were in the field fighting that day or either of us lost any men in the last week. My ranking was only 1750 and I was determined to get better. One of our programmers was also a senior master with a ranking of 2450 and had created a computer chess game that would challenge me to become better. Wasting moves and bluffing were two of my faults. I broke myself of both habits. Bluffs don’t fool computers and wasting moves when playing them is fatal.

I’d like to have said that the war wasn’t as tough after signing the accord. But even observing SEAL’s Accord by both parties, it was just as tough. The difference was that the Rules of Engagement were restored and a sense of respect had developed. Survivors breathed easier knowing they would be awarded humane treatment by their captors.

COL Tkachenko made up for the civility of the Rules of Engagement with boldness and his sense of cold calculation in planning attacks. I had my hands full; my nemesis had arrived.

GOING HOME ON LEAVE

By the Martian month Mina, Earth year 1982, my confidence in LTC Killer Instinct grew. It was time for my leave back to Earth, so I called my XO into my office. “Jim, you’re soon to be in charge of this post for eight months. I’m going home on leave. I’ll be leaving on the next transport freighter.” He looked surprised that he would be in charge so soon.

“Yes, sir. You can depend on me, sir.”

“Good, I want you to me more involved in the administrative duties here so that the transition will be smoother. You will report here tomorrow and take possession of my office and begin doing my job. If you have any questions, just call me.”

Going home for a while would be good for me
, I thought. It was time to start packing for my trip and moving into the post commander’s quarters. I lingered over the pictures and awards that covered my wall. I stopped in front of a picture of Soke Marx presenting me my third-degree black belt in Keichu-Ryu Karate, my Louisiana College diploma, and my commission as a colonel. I dropped out of college in my second year to join the Navy, but was able to take correspondence courses through an ASDC program and get my diploma. It was not in Eugene Bordelon’s name, since he was officially dead. Finally, I stopped and considered my certificate telling the world I was Eagle Scout. Of all of my successes, this was my first. It set my path for everything that was to come.

It was time to move into COL Seal’s old quarters. I hadn’t moved in yet, even though it had been more than six months since his death and my promotion. I hadn’t been fully ready yet to acknowledge his death. If I’d been a junior officer, the move would have been decided for me. As it stood, I was the only one who could command me to move. My new executive officer was waiting without a word or complaint for me to move. He was to inherit my quarters, and was extremely patient not to press the issue. My former executive officer never even asked. He sensed I had a problem with moving in. I completed moving all of my boxes into the commander’s quarters and unpacked enough so I could function until I left.

I called up my executive officer. “Colonel, you can take possession of your new quarters. I got the last of my stuff out.”

“Sir, very good, sir. Have a nice trip home.”

I took a few of COL SEAL’s Navy SEAL pictures out of archive, along with personal letters from COL SEAL to his mother and sisters and made a package for his family. Two knives and two pistols out of the collection COL SEAL left me would make nice gifts for his sister’s husbands. I packed my travel gear as well as the naval officer’s uniforms that the ASDC directed me to wear when visiting family of my men who had died. My uniform bore the rank of naval commander and I had the papers and ID to back it up if needed.

I stowed my gear on the
Odyssey
and called Blaze to enter. I’d packed all of Blaze’s toys and her bed to make her trip less anxious. She hadn’t been on the transport freighter since she was a puppy. She hesitated, but when CPT Ripsnort beckoned her to come, she entered the freighter and curled up next to the captain’s chair on the bridge.

Eugene J. Bordelon, Jr. was officially dead, but I traveled as CMDR Eugene Martin on leave and also maintained pen pals with that alias. I had acquired Blaze from one of my pen pals from Missouri, an unplanned cross between his great pyrenees bitch and a wolf. She had dewclaws on the back feet that are common in wolves, but her ears stood up to a point then gave up and flopped over at the tips as if remembering her great pyrenees parent. The result was a snow-white female with yellow eyes, with the body and size of a wolf. This vacation was as much for her as it was for me. Blaze had not been on Earth since she was a puppy. She’d never chased a rabbit, or experienced all the smells and sights of a world full of life. Where I was taking her would be teeming with life and crawling with children.

Based on the difference between Mars and Earth orbits, it could be 54 million kilometers or 227.9 million kilometers, depending on when you attempted to leave. We always scheduled our trips home so I could have the shortest trip. We had a three month trip back, and one month of liberty. The trip back would be longer, as the Martian orbit was going to swing wider out on the way back.

I brought my Bible and all the classic books that I’d never had time to read and set in for a long journey. I also packed a couple decks of cards and some cash for the inevitable poker games that would be played among the returnees.

MAJ Ripsnort regarded me with the respect due my rank and didn’t refer to me as one of the
children
. He gave the returning pilots a great deal more respect than the greenhorns. They’d all earned it if they were still alive. This was a return trip to Earth from Europa, and I was able to chat with the pilots about the welfare of COL Exit Wound. He was still as tough as boot leather and ran a tight ship, which was no surprise. I didn’t envy him, though. Europa was an iced-over moon. Too high a percentage of pilots that bail out die from methane gas poisoning or freeze to death if their suit gets a tear.

I spent time with my dog, played poker and read books. MAJ Ripsnort was a challenging chess player, and we got together at least once a day for a couple of games. After the often fast-paced action of the battlefield, these long trips were often boring and gave way too much time for reflection. Most men who’ve seen a lot of death don’t want to spend a great deal of time with reflection. There was too much time to feel guilty about the ones who died and too much time to ask why you didn’t.

We arrived at the ASDC Academy three months later, and both Blaze and I were more than ready. A leased Dodge pickup that I’d requested and a roadmap of the southwestern United States were waiting for me. I left the secret training facility and took an unmarked dirt road to the public road, heading east to Mexican Hat, Utah. From there I drove north until I could hit a main highway going east.

It was mid-May and not too hot yet, so I rolled the window down and let Blaze stick her head out of the window. She seemed to be on sensory overload, and was overjoyed to see hawks, rabbits, grass, sagebrush and cactus. All of the training in the world can’t erase the fact that there is a wild heart in every dog that has to be able to run free every now and then. Now was that time. I stopped the truck just to let her loose. This stretch of highway was deserted anyway, so I took off her leash. I smiled and admitted to myself that the same thing that was true about dogs was true about men. Retrieving my pistols and a couple of boxes of shells, I made a target out of an old dead mesquite branch. After firing two boxes of shells, I was satisfied that I was able to shoot in Earth’s gravity and air density. Blaze looked and sniffed at everything while I walked a little and stretched my legs. She seemed to be very excited about the smells. There were no Martian life smells, except for the soldiers and some of our agricultural projects. This was absolutely making her day. After we both had spent more than an hour exploring and stretching our legs, I called Blaze to heel. This was the first time I’d ever seen her balk at a heel command. I forcefully had to pick her up and put her in the truck. After the initial whine in protest, we took off. Her mood quickly improved when she saw that she was able to stick her head out of the window again. She had the biggest doggy smile I’d ever seen that seemed to border on ecstasy.

We proceeded north until I caught an eastward highway and traveled just a few miles to Tierra Amarillo. I was hungry by then and what looked like an authentic Mexican restaurant called La Hacienda caught my attention. I couldn’t bring Blaze inside, so I got a couple of steaks “to go” and we traveled about ten miles outside of town and found a place to pull over to eat.

Afterward, I took out a canteen I’d packed and watered Blaze. She was still stimulated by her surroundings, but a big, juicy steak calmed her down a bit. We continued east and arrived in Taos by fourteen hundred. I already had reservations at the San Geronimo Lodge, mostly because they had a single room where my dog was allowed. It was just south of Taos and just off HWY 64 on Witt Rd. I thought I’d go to church tonight and in the morning stop by the business operated by COL SEAL’s sister’s family.

The room I rented not only allowed my dog, but also had a small kitchenette with a microwave and coffeepot. After unpacking my luggage, I took Blaze for a long walk. She was still very stimulated by her surroundings, but was beginning to calm down. We hopped back in the truck and went back to town to a supermarket to pick up some groceries for our stay here. I had to lock her up in the truck and crack the window. It was a good thing it was only May and the cool of the morning. As long as my dog could stay at this hotel with a kitchenette, there was no need for a kennel. I could care for her without any assistance. However, I wouldn’t be able to take Blaze to church. Upon returning, I called the main desk. They graciously arranged for one of their staff to keep her entertained until I got back. I had long since decided where I’d go to church. I’d made a search through phone directories on our
company
website and made inquiries through an ASDC agent to check a couple of possibilities before I left Mars. I’d decided to go to a Baptist church in town. I had two hours until church so I made a couple of dinners for me and Blaze, took a shower and changed.

After we ate, I called the desk and requested that Blaze be picked up. A few minutes later there was a knock at my door. I answered to find an older Spanish man named Alejandro reporting to take Blaze into his care. He had a humble, gentle bearing and Blaze took to him immediately, as though she’d known him forever. I was relieved and thanked him as they left for the evening.

With Bible in hand, I left to go to the First Baptist Church of Taos. It was my first civilian church service since I was last on leave, although we do get some services via satellite. It was refreshing to worship with people that didn’t have to kill their enemies as part of their job description. As I looked at these people, I was reminded for whom I was fighting for. It was enough to keep serving my country. The regulars greeted me warmly and made feel welcome. This was a friendly place, and the people were sincere. After the service, Deacon Jim Duncan invited me to have coffee and dessert at his house and I accepted. We had a fabulous time. I made a new friend and picked up a new pen pal. He invited me back to church the next time I was in Taos, and I promised I would be back.

I picked Blaze up at twenty-one thirty from Alejandro. He reported that he’d let her chase rabbits at a nearby field and take a swim at a nearby creek. She looked extremely happy. I took her back to our room and gave her a bath in the bathtub and rubbed her down with a towel, followed by a good brushing. Afterward I gave her some doggy treats and took my Bible out to read a bit. Blaze and I concluded the evening watching some old
Gunsmoke
episodes, and turned in at twenty-three hundred.