A Private Little War (61 page)

* Engineer team (Derosiers, Forsyth, Jordaan, Khoury, Komatsu, Marsh, McRae, Moller) all
ExFil
at 90/365 Zulu, via Cavalier, as ordered. 3 Medical ExFil (Gottlieb, Solvay, Williams) as previously recorded.

NOTE 1:
Due to the evolving situation on the ground at Carpenter 7 Epsilon, all personnel lost during the attempted exfiltration of operation Carpenter &c will be listed as Missing, Presumed Dead until such time as our legal department makes a decision as to the most advantageous or nonliable permanent classification. To the best of our knowledge, all contractors (excepting those separately named: see notes below) not given prior, official KIA status (see attached certs., Eden Lucas, dec.) were aboard a single CB-30 ATGV (“Newkirk”) under OOC license (see attached invoice, ref: Theodore Prinzi, Cmndr) when said vehicle was damaged during takeoff by non-impacting ground fire. This fire disrupted ATGV Newkirk’s flight characteristics, causing flare and rotary damage to the right lifting engine. ATGV Newkirk was able to lift but suffered a catastrophic right-engine failure after approx. 30 seconds of low-altitude flight and experienced a high-velocity ground interaction. Point of impact was 4.2 miles WNW of base area and extraction point. All aboard (excepting those named separately, as above) were killed on impact or received fatal injuries, with remains either recovered or identified on-site. Witness statements are currently coded SHRED, CONFIDENTIAL. Remains disposed of IAC.
No formal notices are to be made at this time.

NOTE 2:
4 members of operation Carpenter &c (McCudden, James L., Prinzi, Theodore R., Rice, David M., Serdikov, Victoria G.) were recovered alive at or near ATGV Newkirk’s point of impact. All 4 are currently in custody of the Colonial Marine Third Expeditionary Unit and being held as unlawful combatants, location unknown. The seizure of personnel has been confirmed by statements from Third MEU, legal affairs, and private contacts.
It is the company’s current position that operation Carpenter &c was acting in conflict with stated company regulations, and without executive orders.
We are claiming no formal knowledge of any actions taken by McCudden, Prinzi, Rice, and Serdikov. Final status of the 4 persons named above will be decided by oversight panel.
No action is being taken at this time.

NOTE 3:
Carter, Kevin H. was not aboard ATGV Newkirk. Witness statements (see Serdikov, CLASSIFIED attached) place him on the ground at the time that ATGV Newkirk received fire, being wounded in the face,
neck, and upper-right quadrant by the same fire. While it is highly likely that these wounds were fatal, no body was recovered from the base area or exfiltration point. No remains were found during subsequent searches of the area.
Carter, Kevin H. will be classified KIA 14-447 C7ep, pending recovery or new information.

2009, LAURA SHEEHAN

Jason Sheehan is a former dishwasher, fry cook, saucier, chef, restaurant critic, food editor, reporter, and porn store employee. He was born and raised in Rochester, New York, and though he has since fled the Rust Belt repeatedly, he still harbors an intense fondness for brutal winters, Friday fish fries, Irish bars, and urban decay. As a young nerd, he fell hard for
Star Wars, Doctor Who
, William Gibson, Roger Zelazny, and the spaceship-and-raygun novels his father would leave on his bedside table. He dreamed of someday befriending a robot, stealing a spaceship, and wandering off across the stars in search of alien ladies and high adventure. Since that hasn’t happened (yet…), he now writes about it instead—which is almost as good. And yet despite all this, his mother still kinda thinks he should’ve been an orthodontist.