A Warrior's Home: Assignment Darklanding Book 09 Read online

  A lesser man might have bowed under the pressure. The more steps he climbed, the more he straightened, his shoulders back, walking like a proud soldier.

  When he got to his room, he realized that Maximus had followed him up. “Here you go, boy.”

  The pig-dog strolled in, looked the room over, then vaulted to the bed and curled up.

  “Do not fart on my pillow!”

  “Snort, snort, harrumph.” Maximus closed his eyes and in seconds, began to snore.

  “The truth is, I feel like I’m going home, to that crap hole known as Centauri Prime. I’m sure there are some nice parts, but that won’t be where we’re going. What in the hell are we going to do on Centauri Prime? Is there anything left to destroy?” Thad’s head was getting back into the game. After they boarded their military transport, he hoped he’d get answers to his questions.

  “And why did I give Shaunte my pistol? That’s not company property.”

  He put his shirt back on and went upstairs to her office. He knocked and heard something muffled from the other side of the door. He walked in. Shaunte’s eyes looked unfocused. She blushed. Half a bottle of good whisky sat on her desk. She casually threw back the remainder in her glass and then refilled it, to the top.

  “Sharing is caring,” she slurred.

  How long had I been gone? Thaddeus asked himself. It couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes.

  He walked to her desk and took the glass from its spot in front of her, then sat down on the corner after she slid the keyboard out of the way.

  He took a small drink, then a bigger one. It was orders of magnitude better than what Pierre served downstairs.

  He handed the glass to her. She took a sip before putting it down.

  She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Let’s make this a night to remember.” Her tongue appeared and caressed her lips.

  “It already is, but not that.” Thad shook his head while cupping her face in his hands. “It’s how I used to do business. Let’s get naked and shake the world! But those relationships never worked out. I don’t want to risk losing you, and if saying ‘no’ to a drunk Shaunte does that, then we were never meant to be. And I don’t want to remember that. I would rather remember us arguing about something important than getting lost in something less so.”

  She looked at him, her eyes dilated from the alcohol.

  “You are a strange man, Thaddeus Fry.” She crooked a finger for him to come closer. He leaned toward her, careful not to tumble onto her. She whispered conspiratorially, “I give you a hard time because I don’t want to love you.”

  He sat up straight, threw his head back, and started to laugh. “You and my ex-wives both.”

  She sat down and sobered as she looked at him through narrowed eyes.

  “But I do,” she said.

  “I know. Me, too,” he said. Always the man. Wasn’t he trying to turn over a new leaf? “I love you, Shaunte.”

  She snorted. “I bet I’m not the only one you’ve said that to.” Her eyes sparkled as she blinked, trying to focus.

  “I have to finish packing, and no, you’re not the only one, just the most beautiful and intelligent of the group, which isn’t as big as you might think.”

  “How big do I think it is?” She crossed her arms and glared at him while biting her lip.

  “More than one?” he ventured.

  “Is there a straight answer inside of you? Ever?”

  “Maybe you can wheedle it out of me?”

  She pushed her chair back and crossed her legs, putting her feet on his lap. He started to rub the sole of one foot, pressing hard and massaging with well-practiced hands.

  “I could get used to this,” she moaned.

  Just when you are leaving. Great timing, Fry-man. “Makes me want to come home that much sooner,” he told her, looking at her feet.

  No callouses like his.

  “Makes me not want to go at all,” he corrected.

  “Then don’t.”

  He sighed heavily and hung his head. He stopped rubbing her feet as his hands fell lifeless into his lap. “And that’s how it all begins.” His voice assumed a heart-wrenching sadness. “Can we be ourselves without changing who we are? If I let those boys go and I’m not there, fewer of them will return home. I know I can save their lives, most of them anyway. If I don’t go, the guilt will crush me.”

  “And then you won’t be the guy I love, will you?”

  “No,” he whispered. “I better go.” He took the last drink of the whisky, appreciating the quality, before putting down the empty glass. She moved her legs to clear the way.

  He stopped with his hand on the doorknob.

  “I’ll be here when you get back,” she said.

  “That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” he said toward the door before walking out.

  It seemed like a forever long climb to get back to his room. Maximus was wide awake on the bed, watching the door when Thad returned. “Move over, buddy. There’s not a whole lot of room here, probably just like it’ll be on the transport ship.”

  Maximus stood and Thaddeus dove into the bed, trying to get some of the covers. The pig-dog flopped down, half on the bed and half on his human.

  “So this is how it’s going to be? An alien from Glakridoz watching over me while an alien from Ungwilook watches over my job. Dammit! I forgot my pistol. That woman makes me insane.”

  “Snort, gurgle, snort.” Maximus looked at him, which was good. Thad didn’t want to see the other end.

  “Yes, in a good way. Go to sleep, for the morning shall come way too soon, my friend.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Thad and Maximus waited in front of the Mother Lode. When the general walked out, Penelope made a show of being with him. Thad didn’t turn away. It didn’t matter what she did.

  Or who.

  Sledge walked out behind them, looking disheveled but sober. A heavy thump drew Thad’s attention. Mast was flipping a tire. He seemed to be having little problems with it, using one hand and then the other to flip the tire around the workout yard. Thad went to him.

  “You are strong as a bull,” Thaddeus told his deputy.

  Mast watched the sheriff closely before speaking. “I feel wrongly. Ungloks accept what is and move on. I find that I do not very muchly want to. I want the sheriff to stay, be the sheriff. They say that I should not be the sheriff.”

  “Keep my seat warm. I will be back. I have everything to live for. You are my friend, Mast Jotham. You have saved my life and that, I will never forget.” Thad turned and looked at the upper floor window of the Mother Lode. Shaunte was silhouetted in the plastiglass. Thad turned back to his deputy. “I have everything to live for, and besides, what would my ex-wives say if the gravy train stopped delivering?”

  “That Sheriff Fry was a good man?”

  “Ha!” Thad couldn’t speak, chuckling until he coughed. “That is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day! My ex-wives wouldn’t say that. Oh look, there’s one of them now, but that one doesn’t get any money. She used to make more than me. Probably still does. Why doesn’t she give me money?”

  Thad shook Mast’s hand and walked away, still grumbling about no one giving him any money.

  General Quincy gave Penelope Fry-Grigman a quick kiss and fell in one step to the right of Thad. They walked in step as military are wont to do. Maximus kept pace without looking like he was hurrying.

  “Where are we going?” Thad asked.

  “Don’t you have a ship waiting?” the general replied.

  “I thought you had one?”

  “Keep walking like we know what we’re doing, and then we’ll see if someone at the spaceport can take us to TerroCom Central. There should be some out of work pilots looking for a few credits.”

  “Too true, General.”

  “Of course, he’ll have to sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

  “Why?” Thad looked at the general from the corner of his eyes. “TerroC
om is the worst-kept secret on Ungwilook.”

  “Maybe, but we have to keep up appearances. Reminds me of two knuckleheads marching smartly toward the spaceport hoping to find a ride, just to keep up appearances that they know what they’re doing.”

  “Touché, General.”

  ***

  Finding a ride hadn’t been difficult. The general was right. There were far too many out of work pilots. They hired the one with the biggest air taxi because neither man wanted Maximus on his lap. The flight was long, but uneventful. When they arrived that afternoon, the camp had been buttoned up and the battalion on standby.

  “Five hundred men and women.” The general looked at them with pride on his face.

  “Will they accept me?”

  “You bested ours on more than one occasion, during live fire, that shouldn’t have been, and you survived Centauri Prime once already as a unit leader. I need you, Colonel, but more importantly, they need you. I know you wouldn’t have come back for me. But you did it for them. You and I both know that the war is in their hands, not ours. They will win it or we will lose it. There can be no other way.”

  “For once, General, I agree with you.”

  “Why don’t you go down there and see your people.”

  “I don’t have a uniform.”

  “You won’t get one until you’re on the ship. We’re ready to deploy. You take the first shuttle up and I’ll take the last one.”

  Thad studied the man’s features. He had lied to Thad on previous occasions, but not now. He couldn’t afford to lie to his executive officer. “Let’s go down and take a look,” Thad told Maximus. The general opened his mouth as if to say something, but decided not to. The creature was coming. He closed his mouth and clenched his jaw.

  It’s the little victories, Thad thought. He and Maximus walked down the embankment to the area where the wind was blocked and the unit was formed. Thad marched to the man out front.

  “Major.” Thad returned the man’s salute.

  “Lieutenant Colonel,” the man replied, using Thad’s full rank instead of the shortened version. Together they trooped the line, Maximus trotting along happily beside, snorting and farting. Thad ignored him, but the soldiers snickered at his antics.

  “I’d like to talk with them,” Thad told the major.

  The man motioned as if to say, there they are.

  Thad leaned close and spoke in a low voice. “If you want me to rip your head off in front of the battalion, then keep being an ass. You’ll find that I don’t play by the normal rules. My rules are fight and live. What are your rules for combat, Major?”

  “Cover and fire,” the man replied sharply.

  “Right out of the textbook. How many of these people are going to freeze when they come under fire?”

  “None!” the man replied belligerently.

  “Fifty percent. The number is fifty percent. And then thirty and then ten. Pretty soon, they’re numb to it. Until then, you won’t have full combat effectiveness.”

  “Where did you get those numbers?” the man asked.

  Thad looked at him. “Personal observation. Take off your uniform shirt.”

  “What?”

  “I gave you an order.”

  The man removed his shirt. Thad took it and threw it casually over his shoulder as if out for a walk on a spring day. “Get in the back of the formation, Private.”

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” The man lunged for his shirt. Thad caught him on the chin with an uppercut. The man’s head snapped backward and he fell to the dirt, unconscious. Thad pointed at him and Maximus walked up his body to growl at his face.

  “All you had to do was grab the bullhorn, but no. You wanted to play mumbly peg. Now you’re a cancer in the ranks.” Thad walked to the front, where a bullhorn was sitting on a chair. He stood on the chair and raised the bullhorn to his mouth.

  “Listen up. I know you’ve trained hard, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. The next phase will be your graduation exercise. We are going to war. We will win or we will die trying. I will be by your side as we apply the right amounts of violence at the right times to the right places. We will eliminate the enemy’s will to fight. Whether that takes one bullet or ten million, we’ll do what it takes. Who has seen combat before?”

  Few hands rose into the air. An alarming few.

  “This will be new to you. There’s nothing like it. The only thing that will prepare you is your training. Sight alignment. Sight picture. Well-aimed shots. Fire and maneuver. Focus on the objective and don’t get distracted. Cover your squad and they’ll cover you. You will be afraid, you’d be stupid not to, but you can function despite your fear. We have a job to do.

  “When the shuttles arrive, board by platoon. I’m Lieutenant Colonel Fry, and I approved this message.” He threw the bullhorn to the side of the unconscious man. “Come on, Max. We have a war to fight.”

  The pig-dog peed, then climbed off the man.

  ***

  Combat shuttles. The best thing about them was getting out, even if that meant boarding a military transport. The crew of the transport met the one hundred soldiers who disgorged from the first group of shuttles. Thad called for quiet to let one of the ship’s crew speak.

  “Welcome aboard the Bicknas Explorer. We are a transport, not your momma and not your poppa. You will conduct yourselves in an orderly manner for the two weeks that you are on my ship!”

  Thad smiled and waved for the soldiers to stand at ease. They watched in fascination after seeing how the new lieutenant colonel dealt with the last person who gave him grief.

  He stopped in front of the crewman. “Turn off your microphone,” he ordered.

  The man complied after a brief hesitation as he wondered about the authority of the man before him. Thad was still dressed as a frontier sheriff. Maximus slobbered at his side, cocking his head back and forth as he watched the crewman.

  “My name is Colonel Thaddeus Fry. I’m responsible for this lot. I would appreciate it if you treated them with respect.”

  The man didn’t reply. He studied the colonel, looking him up and down. A well-worn long coat in the style to hold out the harshest weather. Grim features and a hard look that said he didn’t care about protocol.

  “The last time we had soldiers on the ship,” the man said softly, not looking Thad in the eye, “they half-destroyed the ship. It took us two weeks in the yard to get it back into operational order.”

  “I understand. I expect that was a different circumstance, a different group coming from an exercise and not a live mission?” The man nodded. “I’ll take responsibility. You let me know personally if anyone steps out of line. We need our berthing assignments, chow and shower hours, and then if you can point me to our command center, I have mission prep to do.”

  “Yes, sir,” the crewman replied. Thad grabbed the man’s shoulder and smiled. Maximus farted.

  “Why?” Thad asked the pig-dog, who grunted noncommittally.

  The shuttles launched back toward the planet. All hands watched them go. It made the situation more real.

  “Carry on.” Thad waited for the crewman to give the remaining instructions to the soldiers. At the end, Thad stepped up.

  “Find your bunks, stow your gear, and head for chow. Briefing back here at nineteen hundred. Company commanders, take charge of your companies and carry out the plan of the day.”

  After the appropriate salutes, everyone went their separate ways. The crewman motioned for Thad to follow. He headed toward officer’s country—quarters area for the unit leadership.

  Thad was pleased to find that he had a solo stateroom. Even though the bed was the same size as the one in the Mother Lode, he didn’t have to share the space, unlike when he traveled with the space transport fleet as a captain. Maximus sniffed at the bed and vaulted into it, taking up far more than was reasonable.

  “Is that how it is?” the crewman asked.

  “I’d love to say no, but then I’d be lying. What’s y
our name, son?”

  “I’m Crewman Douglas, sir.”

  “Maximus is an alien from Glakridoz. He’s intelligent, and I think sentient, but he does a lot of dog stuff, as well as pig stuff. It’s not pretty. But he knows stuff, is loyal, and has my back.”

  Douglas half-smiled as he backed out of the small space.

  “Give me a minute. I need to show the flag.” Thad pointed to the uniform hanging next to his bunk. After the crewman closed the door, Thad inspected it. Brand new. It still smelled like cash sales, the place where new soldiers went after boot camp to buy new uniforms because the issued stuff had been destroyed. At least it was put together correctly. His two black diamonds represented his rank. A third diamond for full colonel, and then stars for the general officers. Lieutenants and captains sported black circles for their rank. Those were supposed to be images of the sun, but to Thad, they looked like sunflowers.

  The enlisted wore stripes. Throughout history and across the universe, the enlisted wore stripes. That was just how it was.

  Thad stripped out of his sheriff’s garb, looking long and hard at his coat before folding it and stowing it in a drawer beneath his bed. He stuffed the rest of his clothes on top of it.

  The uniform felt good.

  Too good. It was like the general had assumed Thad was going to acquiesce well before anyone else had a hint. After Thad buttoned the camouflage shirt, he brushed his hands down the front to make sure everything hung straight.

  “Are you coming?” he asked Maximus before opening the door. The pig-dog jumped down and waited. When the door opened, he went ahead as if Thad were holding the door for him. Protocol would have suggested the Glakridozian was in charge. Thad wasn’t sure that Maximus wasn’t.

  They found Crewman Douglas waiting. He nodded and led the way to the Ground Forces command center, a large room with computers at a central table and screens lining the walls. Any computer could project to any screen.

  “Where can we post a printed map?” Thad asked.

  “We don’t have any printed maps. The budget cuts after the last war, you see,” the crewman said, parroting what he’d heard about why they weren’t getting money for standard materials. Thad suspected much of it had gone to outfit and train TerroCom. Some of the money had gone to Shaunte. But if TerroCom received the diverted funding, then why didn’t TerroCom have maps?