Merkiaari Wars: 03 - Operation Oracle Read online

  “Yes sir. Everyone knows you’re reorganising things, and 1st Battalion is a mess right now. We know you need to bring us back to full strength with units from 2nd.”

  “Do I now?” Burgton said sounding amused. “What else do I need to do?”

  She wasn’t immune to sarcasm, and she felt her face heat, but he had asked. “Take the existing units in 1st Bat and reshuffle them to bring Alpha and Bravo Companies to full strength. Charlie and Delta will be gutted at that point. You’ll need to take two Companies from 2nd Bat and transplant them into 1st.”

  Burgton nodded. “Will I? Is that your recommendation?”

  Gina frowned. Was it? No, she realised. She wouldn’t strip 2nd in his place, and that realisation made her flush. She was an idiot. If she wouldn’t do it that way, why did she think he would? It was the scuttlebutt. The rumours said it was going to happen, and she had listened.

  “No, Sir, but that’s the scuttlebutt. If it were me I would consolidate all units of 1st Battalion into Alpha and Bravo Companies. They will be just a little over strength, not much, but more importantly morale would benefit. We’ve fought and died together for two years. I would recommend you keep us together.”

  Burgton glanced at his captains and then smiled at Gina. “Precisely. This brings up a problem of course. Colonel Flowers is on his way to Alliance HQ to test a new batch of recruits. When he returns with them, he’ll be in charge of their training with the aim of creating new Charlie and Delta Companies for 1st Battalion, but in the mean time we have to arrange the command structure of 1st Battalion in line with 2nd, which is already completed.”

  She nodded.

  “Captain Penleigh is taking permanent command of Alpha Company.”

  The General said it quick and without softening the blow. The news hurt, but it wasn’t unexpected. She nodded to Eric. “Congratulations, Sir.”

  “Thank you,” Eric said solemnly.

  The General went on. “This means you revert to your actual rank of lieutenant, Gina.”

  “Understood.”

  “Eric wants you back in charge of his 1st platoon, but I want to give you some options. You can take 1st platoon and run it for him as you would have before the Shan campaign. That’s option one. Another option is to join your friend, Kate Richmond, in a new section we’re putting together.”

  “New section?”

  “I haven’t decided yet what to call it, but basically it regularises something we’ve been doing for a while. Black ops and intelligence gathering.”

  Gina frowned. She wasn’t a spook, but she had known from the first that she might be called upon to do that sort of thing. She had met Eric while he was undercover on Thurston. She knew some of the things he’d done in the past and might do in the future. Any of them might be ordered to do the same. The thought didn’t appeal, but she had signed up to be a viper with her eyes open.

  “It wouldn’t be a good fit for me, Sir. Kate though, hell yes. She would be perfect. I’ll do whatever you need me to do, but with respect, I wouldn’t volunteer for that sort of mission.”

  “As I thought,” Burgton said. “I can’t promise that I’ll never send you on that type of operation. The needs of the Alliance might dictate otherwise, but I’ll keep your preferences in mind.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  “There’s one other option. When the new recruits arrive they’ll need training and leadership. You could take a position in the training battalion.”

  That idea appealed more than the other, but she couldn’t see herself permanently relegated to the classrooms. She could teach, she’d done it before, but it had been out in the field. Teaching replacements in the real world was different to standing at the head of a classroom.

  “I’ll take 1st platoon under Captain Penleigh, Sir.”

  “Thanks, Gina, I do need you,” Eric said.

  Burgton nodded. “Effective immediately then.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Gina acknowledged. “Orders?”

  “As before, the Shan are yours, but get yourself caught up with your platoon as well. The Shan have priority. Once you know what your platoon needs, delegate the work to your sergeants and get moving on the surveys. You’ll need to coordinate that with Varya and Kazim. You can keep an eye on your platoon at long range via the net.”

  Gina blinked in surprise. That was a lot of work to come at her all at once, but she had never been work shy. “Yes, Sir.”

  >_ close memory file #0000065003456

  She glanced at Cragg. He was waiting for an answer and she realised that only a few moments had past. “I’m okay with it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed, but it was always a temporary promotion, and the General gave me choices. I chose to take 1st platoon again.”

  “Really? What were the others?”

  “Training the new recruits, or joining Kate.”

  Cragg frowned. “I would have joined Kate. She and the rest are going to be off Snakeholme and doing stuff all the time.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I’m no spook, Martin. That sort of thing suits Kate, but not me. Besides, we’re vipers. We’re going to be around a long time. I’m sure we’ll get to do all sorts of things in the years ahead.”

  “And then there’s the Merki,” Cragg said grimly.

  “Yeah, there’s always the Merki.”

  The silence stretched out as they remembered the past two years fighting the aliens. No one knew what the future would bring, except for the General maybe. Gina frowned as she remembered what Burgton had revealed to her about his fallibility in that regard. Had he found a solution to his failing simulations?

  Gina and Cragg kept each other company as the sun came up, and busied themselves with making breakfast. The Shan liked some Human foods, and Gina cooked one of their favourites. She considered herself a decent cook when she had the opportunity, which wasn’t often. Autochefs were used by default everywhere except in the field. It didn’t seem strange that Shan liked her cooking. They were primarily carnivorous, more so than Humans even, and everyone she knew liked bacon no matter that it came in sterile sealed plastic packets. She cooked half a dozen eggs to go with the thick slabs of sizzling goodness.

  Vipers, like all Alliance forces had to eat, but they also had other needs. Their enhancements meant they needed certain supplements to their diet, and every so often they needed to top up. Gina grimaced. Viper smoothies tasted disgusting, but it was that time again. Still sitting cross-legged before the fire, she delved in her pack while the food sizzled, and pulled out one of the compact plastic cans of supplement. Cragg did the same.

  “You too?”

  Cragg grimaced. “Medical ordered me to double up for a couple of weeks.”

  “Sorry.”

  “So am I,” Cragg said pulling the tab on the top after shaking the can vigorously. He raised the can in a toast, and they knocked them together. “Absent friends.”

  “Absent friends,” she said and chugged the nasty stuff. Her free hand slapped the ground as she forced herself not to gag. “Gahhh!” She crushed the can before throwing it back into her pack. “Why can’t they make it taste good?”

  “I asked that once. Rutledge said if it tasted good we’d drink them all and overdose.”

  She snorted and grabbed her canteen and washed the nasty stuff down. Just then, Varya left his tent on all fours sniffing the air ostentatiously. Cragg grinned as Kazim followed him out with his eyes still closed as if asleep, but with a string tied to his nose dragging him toward the food.

  Gina exchanged a glance with Cragg and then burst out laughing.

  After breakfast, they broke down the camp and headed further into the valley. Kazim filmed everything and chattered about their surroundings. Varya used his equipment to take soil and water samples, as well as map the course of the river. Every now and then, he stopped and scented the air. He was tracking the native wildlife, not actively hunting anything, but keeping them in mind just in case.

  “I like this place,
Gina,” Varya said. “Like home it feels.”

  “I’m glad,” she said. Her rifle came up to her shoulder and she aimed into a dark patch of undergrowth beneath the trees. Sensors indicated multiple targets watching her. “Slide back toward me, Varya. There’s something...”

  “I smell them. Grass eaters, nothing to fear,” Varya said nonchalantly.

  She lowered her rifle. She trusted Varya. If he said they were herbivores and not dangerous, she believed him. Grass eaters he said. Here in the forest that probably meant they ate nuts and berries or something. There wasn’t any grass.

  “I didn’t know you could smell the difference.”

  Varya’s ears flicked. “Usually, but not always. Some animals on Harmony will eat anything. Carrion eaters are the easiest to scent.”

  “And these?” she asked as they walked. She kept an eye on sensors, but the critters remained in hiding.

  “Grass eaters... nuts, roots, seeds. I smell their fear and the harmonies say they’re not predators. I’m not as good as Shima, but I can tell that.”

  “She would love it out here,” Kazim said.

  Gina nodded. “She could have come with us I suppose. She found me on Child of Harmony blind as she was, and in the middle of a battle. If she can do that without eyes, she could handle a walk in the woods.”

  “Oh yes, she could do that easily,” Varya said. “In fact, it’s harder living on the base. At least the harmonies would let her see out here.”

  Gina frowned at that. “Last I heard, her new eyes were growing in the tank nicely. Regen will work for her, so it won’t be long before she’s all fixed up.”

  “She’s looking forward to it very much,” Kazim said. “If not for your simulations, I think she’d go mad.”

  Everyone handled disability differently. Kate came to mind. She had lost an eye, was impaired like a stroke victim, and every enhancement she had was offline, which meant she had to endure Snakeholme’s 1.29 gravity again on top of everything else. It made her tired and snappish but that was about all. She knew medical were working her case and would come up with a solution eventually—basically, a special batch of nanobots were needed to surgically dismantle her processor and build a new one without damage to the surrounding brain tissue. Medical had never needed to do that before. A unit that took enough damage to her processor that it was beyond repair, usually died. They would get it done.

  Shima had a different problem. Her poor eyesight had been genetic, but its final loss was due to being flash blinded by a nuclear detonation. That meant a direct regen of her eyes would simply give her new ones with the same genetic fault. It would be like cloning a defective original. Medical had taken the time to correct the fault. The result should be perfect eyesight for Shima, but she also had an underlying problem. Her phobia. All her life she had feared her growing blindness. Now it was here, and if not for the new eyes growing in the tank she might well have gone mad and killed herself. Her sib, Chailen, would not let Shima out of her sight because of that, and wouldn’t until the new eyes were in Shima’s head where they belonged. Chailen was no hunter, and so Shima was grounded. No leaving the base.

  “When the healers say it’s all right, we should bring her out here,” Kazim said. “She would enjoy the exercise and the hunt.”

  “This one?” Gina asked. “You don’t think she’d prefer the jungle site?”

  “I think the jungle would be fun for a visit, but not to live in day to day.”

  Varya nodded. “I have no idea what the elders will decide, but I agree. This valley is ideal. It’s far enough away from Petruso City to give the illusion of separation, without the inconvenience of truly being separate. Do you know what I mean?”

  Gina shook her head, but Cragg nodded. “He means Kajetan wants an independent Shan colony outside of home space to use as inspiration for the younglings, but she also wants greater ties with the Alliance and vipers in particular.”

  Varya’s ears flicked in agreement. “Vipers saved us from the Murderers, Gina. She honours you all, and Tei’Burgton. If a colony is founded here in the valley, it’s remote enough to be completely ours, and you know we like the mountains—a keep would be a simple matter here. More importantly, the valley is on the same continent as your base and travel times will be as nothing. The colony would still be a part of this world, not forgotten.”

  Gina nodded, but with shuttle and maglev transport universal on Snakeholme, anywhere on the planet would be close enough to the capital for Shan purposes. Varya was talking about appearances more than technicalities. This valley met the criteria for a new Shan colony, but so did the other sites they had surveyed. This one though, was the closest to Petruso, just over three hours atmospheric flight time from the base and it had mountains. Shan really liked that. They were very attached to their keeps.

  “Are you recommending site five then? It’s nice here I grant you, but it will be bloody freezing in winter.”

  Varya grinned. “We have snow in winter at home, Gina, not just rain. We might prefer milder climes, but Harmony is about balance in all things. This place feels right. I wonder what the harmonies would say to Shima about it.”

  “Maybe you should ask her to visit and see before making your final report,” Gina said. She hadn’t experienced snow on the Shan worlds, but she’d nearly bloody drowned in the heavy rains there.

  “I might do that I think,” Varya said packing the latest sample into one of the pouches on his harness. “She’s the closest thing to Tei we have.”

  They moved on, Varya taking samples of the plants and checking for compatibility with Shan physiology. So far he hadn’t found anything startling. Nothing outrageously poisonous, just a few things that might cause mild irritation if it came into contact with skin, but Shan fur wasn’t just for warmth. It protected them against things like that and other things besides.

  “About that,” Gina said, but needed to clarify when Varya looked at her blankly. “The Tei.”

  Varya flicked his ears. “What about them?”

  “I was wondering whether you know if Tei will be part of any colony here.”

  Kazim kept filming but answered before Varya could. “A colony must be given every chance to succeed. That means balance in all things. Without balance, there can be no harmony. I would be amazed if all the clans, including the-clan-that-is-not, were not represented here.”

  Varya flicked his ears in agreement. “As Kazim said, they will come. There are Tei in all the castes, leading our people and showing the way. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of volunteers.”

  “Kajetan might have to restrict the number that applies,” Kazim added. “When our people see your world, Gina, everyone will want to come!”

  She laughed. “Might be a bit crowded! Seriously now, you think Tei will come to stay?” Both Shan flicked ears in agreement. “Do you think they’ll ask Shima to join?”

  This time Gina had managed to stump them, she realised. Varya looked at Kazim, who lowered his camera to look back. Ears waved and twitched, tails rose and gestured. None of it meant anything to the Humans. Finally, Kazim answered after turning his camera off.

  “Shima’s mother’s sib is Tei. His name is Tei’Thrand and Shima told me he helped teach her when she was still a youngling. She’s strong in the harmonies, Gina, very strong. Easily strong enough to be Tei herself, but the-clan-that-is-not rejected her because of her eyes. I’ve never heard of them changing their minds once a decision is made.”

  Varya flicked his ears in agreement. “Kazim is right, but Shima is a special case. She’s a hero. To us that’s a very special thing. She was rejected, that’s true, but The Blind Hunter hasn’t been. In a way she’s two people, and to reject a hero would be...”

  “Unthinkable,” Kazim said softly, obviously shocked by the thought. His ears were back.

  “Unthinkable,” Varya agreed. “That isn’t to say she would accept any offer the Tei made her. I’ve heard her feelings about them. I don’t think she likes the idea of
leading others, and I know she doesn’t like being called a hero. Foolishness she calls it. It’s not, but getting her to agree would be hard.”

  Gina nodded. “So when her eyes are fixed, she’ll probably leave?”

  “We don’t know what her plans are,” Kazim said. “But I think she’ll go home with Chailen and Sharn. They’re all the family she has.”

  “Before she goes then, I want you to help me out. She’s my friend, but more than that, I owe her for what she did that night at Charlie Epsilon. I know she wouldn’t agree, but I feel the debt between us. I want to help her make some good memories here on Snakeholme.”

  “Honour debts must always be respected,” Varya agreed. “We will help you, of course we will.”

  “Thanks. It’s important to me. When you guys go home, we may never meet again. I think a vacation out here for all of us would be a fun way to say goodbye.”

  “Oh I don’t know about goodbye, Gina,” Kazim said. “If I have anything to say about it, I’m coming back for lots of visits.”

  Gina chuckled. “Not sure what the General will say about that. Snakeholme is supposed to be a secret.”

  Kazim flicked his ears. “From the Merkiaari, yes, but not from your friends.”

  “Gina,” Cragg warned.

  She raised a hand. “A secret is best kept by not telling anyone, Kazim. When you go, you must keep our secrets to yourself. The General will talk to you about this, but even our own people don’t know where we are. Only those who live here know.”

  Varya and Kazim exchanged looks, but they flicked ears in agreement.

  “Good. Let’s move on,” Gina said.

  * * *

  11 ~ A Promise Kept

  The tech centre, Petruso Base, Snakeholme

  Shima awoke to darkness, she always did now, but... she had expected something else this time. She had gone into surgery, fallen asleep among Humans and their strange machines, and now awoken still in darkness. The disappointment was crushing.

  “Are you awake, Shima?” Chailen said gently.

  “I can’t see.”

  “Shush my sib, all is well,” Chailen soothed. “The bandages cover your eyes to protect them from light.”