“Very well, Corporal.” It would have to do, for the moment at least. “That will be all. Keep the information about potential prisoners to yourself. The battalion will be briefed on everything come morning.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” He stood and braced to attention.
“Dismissed, Corporal.”
He executed an about face and left her office. As the hatch slid shut behind him, the hatch leading to Ashlyn’s bedroom slid open. Lucinda Ortega stepped into the office. When she nodded at the far hatch, Ash shrugged. Before she gave her impressions of the meeting with Donnelly, she wanted to know what her XO thought.
“Well?” she asked as Ortega took the chair Donnelly had vacated.
“He’ll do. But I’ll put a word in Nichols’ ear to keep an eye on him.”
“Good.” Ash lifted one foot onto the edge of the desk and blew out a breath. “If his brother is still alive, I want Nichols groundside. Not only will his presence reassure his brother but any other survivors as well.” And that would go a long way in helping any survivors accept that they were really free. It was a lesson Ashlyn knew all too well.
* * *
Evan Moreau didn’t even try to hide her frustration. Abel Kannady sat across the desk from her. He had arrived at her office without warning and demanded to see her. Under most circumstances, she would have told her assistant to give him an appointment and show him out. But nothing about Kannady fell into the “most circumstances” category. Instead, she had said to give her a few minutes to finish what she was working on before showing him in.
Those few minutes had been spent trying to figure out why the fool risked both their lives by coming to see her. They had been so careful that last month to do nothing that might cause attention to be brought to their relationship. It was bad enough that her real employers were starting to have concerns about the job she was doing. The last thing she needed was for Kannady to do something foolish. There were too many eyes and ears out there just looking into the attack on the capital – not to mention the false charges that had been brought against that bitch Shaw and her people.
“This had better be good. You risked both of us by coming here unannounced.”
He bristled at her tone but she didn’t care. He needed to understand just how serious the consequences of his actions could be.
“You forget your place, Moreau!” he snapped.
She bit back her retort. Much as she wanted to tell him he was nothing but a pawn in a game much bigger than he could ever imagine, she couldn’t. She didn’t dare. That would mean her life because he would be foolish enough to try to use it for leverage, if not against her than with her employers. Their response would be quick and fatal, for both she and Kannady. So, somehow, she had to diffuse the situation and then find a way to deal with this fool once and for all.
Damn it but there were going to be a lot of bodies before this mission was over and that meant more complications than she wanted to consider.
“No, but obviously you have forgotten how dangerous it is for us to be seen together,” she countered. “So what is so serious you had to risk us both?”
Even as she spoke, she cursed herself. She knew better. She needed to keep him calm. His pride and overriding ego could very well cause him to strike out at her. If he felt threatened, he wouldn’t hesitate to offer her up to the authorities. He wouldn’t even consider the fact that she had more than enough evidence against him to have him facing the executioner. All he would think about was the need to prove to her that he was in control.
But she was damned if she was going to let him leave without making sure he understood just how foolish his actions had been. She just had to figure out how to do it without pushing him over the edge.
Pushing him.
The image of pushing him out the window and watching him fall the fifty stories to the ground below was an enticing one. Unfortunately, it would raise too many questions and have too many eyes focused on her. She wasn’t ready to do a bolt – yet.
“You assured me you had everything under control and yet they are still making arrests. Arrests that have nothing to do with the charges that were leveled against Shaw and the others. Arrests that come much too close to my interests.” He all but ground out the words. “What are you planning to do about it?”
She opened her mouth to reply and then shut it. He eyes narrowed and she tilted her head to one side as she looked at him. She had been so focused on making sure neither Sorkowski nor O’Brien said anything to the authorities that might wash back on her or her employers that she hadn’t paid much attention to any other arrests that might have been made.
Galled that Kannady might actually know more about what was going on than she did, she did a quick search. Her frustration grew as she scanned the data scrolling across her screen. Kannady had a right to be concerned, not that she would ever tell him that. More importantly, her other employers would be more than a little worried when news of the arrests reached them. If she didn’t do something quickly to alleviate the potential damage, she could kiss all she cared about, including her life, goodbye.
“I assure you, steps are being taken to protect your interests. By the end of tomorrow, each and every one who has any tie, no matter how tenuous, to you will know how foolish it is to even consider betraying you.”
All she had to do was grease the right palm and arrange for an
accident
or two. So simple, assuming she could find the right palm to grease.
“Don’t try to talk your way out of this, Moreau. I’ve paid you good money to make sure my interests are protected. If just one investigator comes snooping around my interests, I’ll hold you responsible.”
Hold her responsible!
She didn’t know whether to laugh or reach across her desk and throttle him where he sat. He actually believed he held the upper hand. The fool. Well, she would play him a bit longer and then she would take great pleasure in teaching him just how foolish he had been in threatening her. Perhaps she would even arrange things so that all paths led back to him where the investigation into the charges against Shaw and the others, as well as the attack on the capital, were concerned. It would be worth all the headaches and expense to see his expression when he learned he was being charged with treason.
But she couldn’t let him know what she planned, not until it was too late – for him.
“I assure you that you are overreacting.” She stood, a slight smile on her face. Let him think her the fool. It wouldn’t last long but it would give her the time she needed to put the next phase of her plan in place. “By end of day tomorrow, you will see that there is nothing to worry about.”
“You had better be right.” He, too, stood. His expression was hard and she almost laughed as he did his best to look imposing.
“You need to get ahold of yourself, sir.” Now she leaned in, her voice soft, her expression intense. “Fear is the enemy. It makes us careless and that is the one thing we cannot be, not when victory is so close to hand.”
His nostrils flared and his color rose. But he said nothing. Good. That meant he was thinking about what she had said. Unless she missed her guess, it was probably one of the only times someone had dared tell him to think before acting. It really was too bad no one had beaten that lesson into his head when he was younger.
“Go back to work or go home. Get drunk. Whatever you do, do not draw attention to yourself. I haven’t let you down yet and I won’t now.” She waited, wondering if he would say anything. When he didn’t, she continued, modulating her voice into reassuring tones. “You hired me because I get the job done. I wouldn’t last long if I didn’t. So trust me to do what I’m good at.”
“I want an update by tomorrow evening.”
She assured him he would have it and then watched as he left her office. The moment the door slid shut behind him, she allowed herself the release of kicking her desk. The pain it caused helped focus her anger. She had gotten sloppy and that wasn’t like her. She was being pulled in too many different directions with this job. If she hoped to survive it, she needed to focus. She would deal with the immediate danger, those who had been arrested, and then she would deal with Kannady. Hopefully, by then, the plans her true employers had in place to take down the Fuerconese government would be past the point where anyone would care about her. That would give her time to get off-planet and out of the system. A new life sounded better with every passing day.
* * *
“All right, Devil Dogs, this is it,” Ashlyn said over the battle net as she stripped out of her BDUs. Her light armor rested nearby. Her weapons were laid out next to it. “The taskforce will be entering the Cassius System shortly. We are now at full alert. Gear up and head to your battle assignments. Beta and Delta Companies, report to the attack shuttles. LAC pilots and support personnel, report to your posts. At the Admiral’s orders, we will begin the assault on the planetary defense platforms. Company commanders, make it happen.”
As she ended the message, the signal for General Quarters sounded. It was followed by Captain Jareau relaying basically the same information to the ship’s crew that she just had to her Marines. Ready or not – and she prayed they were – the fight was about to begin.
Five minutes later, clad in her light armor, Ashlyn moved to her desk. Waiting to be added to the dispatches to be sent back to Fuercon was a letter to her parents as well as one to her son. She wanted them to know that she had been thinking about them should anything happen. Even though she had a good feeling about this mission, she had learned the hard way on more than one occasion that you never knew what a battle might bring.
Wishing she could talk with Jake before the proverbial shit hit the fan, she authorized the transmittal of both letters. She could trust her parents to make sure Jake saw her post as soon as it arrive. If something did happen to her, they would, when he was ready, show him the second message she had recorded for him, the one she included with their letter. Her son needed to know he was always close to her heart and she never forgot about him. But now she needed to tuck that part of her away so she could concentrate on the mission at hand.
“Ten-hut!” Adamson called out as Ashlyn entered the main bay a few minutes later.
“As you were.” Ash moved through the knots of Devil Dogs as they checked their equipment and went over their assignments. As she did, she glanced around, making sure she missed no detail, no matter how small. “Master Guns?”
“All present and accounted for, Ma’am,” Talbot said as he approached. “The shuttles check out and are a green for go.”
“Very good.” She nodded in satisfaction and then drew a breath. “Beta and Delta Companies, mount up! I want you in the shuttles and ready to launch the moment you get clearance.
“The rest of you, get to your assigned stations. Be prepared to assist Beta and Delta Companies if necessary. COs, if there are any questions or if you need anything clarified, now’s the time to ask.” She waited, looking to see if anyone spoke up.
“Ma’am, any restrictions on ordinance other than what was included in the preliminary briefings?” Nichols asked.
“That’s a negative, at least so far. This will hopefully be a standard board and secure operation. So no heavy loads. We don’t want you blowing out any bulkheads and killing yourselves in the process. However, if heavy arms are necessary to secure the station or to save lives, then don’t hesitate to use them. Just take whatever precautions you can to protect yourselves and any friendlies who might still be onboard.
“The ROE is simple. Board, secure and hold until relieved. FleetCom would prefer that we not completely disable the platforms because we will need them to help hold the system. However, lives outweigh material. Remember that.
“Now get going. Time’s running out.”
“You heard the Colonel. Get your asses in gear, boys and girls, and let’s take the party to those motherless sons of bitches!” Talbot said.
“Ooh-rah!”
The bay echoed with the call. Then the sounds of Marines grabbing their gear and moving quickly into position followed. Ashlyn watched for a few moments more. To the untrained eye, the sight of so many armored men and women might seem like chaos but, to her, it was a well-choreographed dance. In ancient times, they would have been warriors, dancing around the fire and chanting to the gods. Now they checked their battle armor and weapons, made sure they carried extra ammo and power packs. Comms checks were made as were checks of the battle net. Lives depended on what happened in the next few minutes and every member of the battalion knew it.
“Devil Dogs!” She waited until everyone silenced and all eyes were once more on her. “We will take the system back from the Callusians. We will teach them the lesson they should have learned in the last war. Most of all, we will serve Fuercon and the Corps with honor. From now until further notice, all comms within the unit are to refer to our individual call signs. Understood?”
“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am!”
“Then elbows and asses, Marines! Elbows and asses!”
“What are you doing just standing around, Marines? You heard the Old Lady. Get a move on!” Adamson shot Ashlyn a grin before moving off to help one of Beta Company with his gear.
“This is it, Luce,” Ash said softly as they moved out of the bay. She wanted to check on the LAC pilots and then she had to report to the flag bridge. “Are we ready?” She could let her concern show with her XO and not worry that Ortega would think any less of her. They had known one another too long and had been through too much not to be honest now that they were once more heading into battle.
“We’re ready, Ash. You’ve made sure of it.” Ortega pulled her into one of the side corridors, away from the Marines and Naval personnel rushing to their stations. “Ash, I mean it. You’ve made sure the battalion is better prepared than it has been since before the end of the war. You’ve not only shaken off the rust but you’ve given FirstBatt a shine it hasn’t had in a long time. So quit worrying. The Devil Dogs are ready, thanks to you.”