Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) (58 page)

“
Yes ma'am.
He's good. Very good. I had hoped for him to get a commission but I
now know he's where he belongs.”

“
Oh?”

“
I had to stop
and think about his abilities, and where they best were used. Sitting
behind a desk would be a terrible waste of his talent. He's a born
operator.”

She glanced at the
panther then back to the bear and nodded. “You're right. He's
good, I'll give him that, but sitting behind a desk or off the front
lines would be a total waste of that cloak.”

“
And he knows
it. I think when he gets older his view might change, but then again,
I'm not sure,” Valenko shrugged. “Honestly I think he's
another gunny in the making. In he larval stage though of course.”

“
Possibly,”
she said nodding.

“
Sergei,
Chirby, and Miles...”

“
Shooters. And
hard chargers,” the Lieutenant grunted a laugh.

“
Yes ma'am,”
he replied. “That they are. Some would call them spear
carriers. We need them as much as anything else. That's why I have
the gunny riding herd on Chirby and Sergei.”

“
There is
always a place in the corps for them.”

“
Yes ma'am. I
hope some of Asazi's maturity will rub off on them in time, but I'm
not holding my breath.”

“
I wouldn't,”
she chuckled.

“
Unfortunately.”
He shook his head. “I believe Hurranna is looking at a pilot's
slot if she can do it. I honestly don't see her as an officer. She
isn't a follower, but she's not really interested in being a leader
either.”

“
Ah,”
the Lieutenant nodded looking thoughtful as she digested that. “You
were all in F, all in the same squad?”

“
Gusterson
wasn't ma'am. Squid ma'am.”

“
Oh yes,
that's right,” she realized and nodded.

“
He's all
right for a swabbie I guess,” the bear rumbled. She snorted.

“
And that is
why you still socialize with them?”

“
Everyone
needs a break ma'am. A good beer, steak, and a bullshit story.”

She chuckled softly.
“Okay, I'll buy that. But don't get to chummy.”

“
Wouldn't
dream of it ma'am.”

“
That panther
though, he's... damn. Care to swap?”

“
Not on your
life ma'am,” the bear laughed. “I'm trying to get him to
take the noncom promotions board when we get back.”

“
Oh?”
She nodded looking thoughtful again. “He is good. I will give
him that. You've got quite the team.”

“
Yes ma'am. If
you want to see how good I can always sit out the next exercise with
the gunny and see how the rest of the team performs,” he said.
“Since we've emerged from hyper we're still a day out from
Agnosta III. Plenty of time to get one more exercise in before
hitting the dirt.”

“
Oh hell. What
a challenge,” she smirked a little. She tapped her chin with a
finger tip.

“
Up for it?”
he asked, smiling.

“
I'm thinking,
I'm thinking.”

“
Take your
time ma'am,” his smile broadened a little. Her eyes narrowed.

“
You're on,”
she said finally. “If only to finally get some payback.”

“
We'll see,”
he said, smile growing into a grin.

“
Oh hell,”
she said shaking her head as she caught the grin and it's
implications.

 ...*...*...*...*...

“
So this looks
good?” Valenko asked, pointing to a boxed in valley. It was
bordered on all sides by steep mountain cliffs. Snow melt trickled
down the mountains to join together at the low end of the valley to
fall off a cliff into a torrent below. It fed into the rivers
downstream.

Off to one side of
the river were a couple thousand acres of swamp. Most likely created
when the river overflowed during spring time. From the looks of the
shots the mountains were heavily wooded. Perfect for training
purposes. Zebo and his kin would feel right at home there. Hell
they'd probably have a hell of a time getting the Gashg out.

“
It looks
good. It's got just about all of the things we need. Plains, forest,
swamp. We can always create a desert and jungle zones in other
areas,” Schultz said using his hand to scroll through the holo
map. “I like it. Defensible, the only way in is either on foot
or by air.”

“
Getting
supplies in and out will be tricky. Pilots wont like flying in with
the mountains in front of them,” Valenko rumbled, rubbing his
chin.

“
Sucks to be
them,” the gunny said with a shrug. “There is another
reason to check it out. We've gotten a request to check the area out.
It seems something's been scaring the locals.”

“
Oh?”

“
Yeah. They
thought it was a predator, but now they aren't so sure. The attacks
have escalated to isolated farms.”

“
Hmmm.
Livestock?”

“
At first. But
last week they hit a farm.” An above shot of a smoldering
building was shown briefly.

“
They?”
Valenko asked. He was pretty sure now what the answer would be.

“
Two or more
at least. I'm pretty sure it's not a predator. At least not a...
well, I saw the report. A predator doesn't open locked doors to rape
and stab people and then leave the knife sticking out of their
chest.”

“
Ah. A monster
of another sort,” the bear growled deep and ugly. “I've
had familiar experience with this. It will be nice to be on the side
of the angels for this one,” he rumbled.

“
Good,”
the captain nodded. “Second squad is going to be field testing
the LAV's we brought along and providing back up for both you and
third squad. I don't expect a problem but I'd like everyone to be as
prepared as possible.”

“
Yes sir.”

“
Report every
two hours. Climb a tree if you have to punch a signal out.”

“
Hurranna can.
Tree won't take my weight sir.”

“
True.”

“
You'll meet
the locals in the area. Be on your best behavior. Try not to step on
any toes.”

“
I'll try not
to sir.”

“
See that you
don't.”

“
Yes sir.”

“
A piece of
good news, Destiny made it this far. The Admiral was ground side and
helped the people get back on their feet. They even have some mom and
pop vendors and small businesses so try to spread the credits to help
them get off to a solid start. They had a rough winter so it'll help,
believe me.”

“
Yes sir,”
Valenko nodded.

“
Full brief is
in your in box. That is all. Dismissed.”

“
Yes sir.
Semper Fi.”

“
Hot dogs, get
your all you can eat hot dogs! Five creds or a gram of gold or two
grams of silver per person!” The vendor waved as Miles stepped
down the boarding ramp. “Hey soldier boy want a taste of real
food? I've got some good hot dogs here, freshly cooked!”

Miles turned as
Asazi followed him down the stairs. He smiled and then turned back to
the vendor. “You sure about that offer?” he asked.

“
Uh... Yeah, I
stick to my word sonny, so what'll it be? One with mustard?” he
grinned. His eyes went up to the ramp, mentally counting the money he
was about to rake in then stopped as Sergei filled the shuttle hatch.

“
Holy crap,”
he muttered, eyes wide as the white Liger sniffed the air, stretched
against the hatch frame, and then roared. He felt something wet on
his thighs. Miles snorted, stepping aside as Asazi walked by shaking
her head and not quite hiding a smirk.

“
Out of the
way you big lummox!” Hurranna growled, ducking in between the
ligers legs to get out. “Ah! Freedom!” She leapt down the
stairs and then off to the nearest patch of grass.

“
Look out,
coming through,” Jethro said, elbowing the Liger to one side.
The tongs the vendor had in his hand fell to the ground. He bent over
and picked them up and wiped them on his apron absently.

The cats made it to
the ground just as first a leopard and then a grizzly came out the
hatch.

“
Ah, you know
what, never mind. Keeping my word is so overrated these days,”
the vendor mumbled, towing his cart away as fast as he could.

Miles watched,
laughing. “What's with him?” Valenko asked.

“
Oh, just
finding out you need to watch what you say. It could come back to
haunt you,” Miles replied with a grin.

...*...*...*...*...

Jethro took a deep
sniff, eyes closed, feeling the wind ruffle his sun lit fur. Damn it
felt right. Better then VR. Much better. Real. Really real. He could
feel the grit in the air, the concrete under his boots. He moved out,
away from the boarding ramp and stopped at the nearest patch of dirt.
He knelt and picked up a handful and let it run through his hands.

“
Nice huh,”
Hurranna said softly. “Seems big. A lot bigger than I expected.
You play games, walk around in sims, the park decks, but hell, none
of it can hold a candle to the real thing.” She luxuriated in
the feel of the wind and sun in her fur. The smells it brought were
incredible. Everywhere they turned there was something new to
experience. It was glorious.

“
Yeah,”
Jethro said softly. “Yeah.”

“
I want to
find a beach. A nice one with some wicked sun. Spend a week there.
Maybe catch some fish. Or sleep. Party all night, sleep all day,”
she said wistfully.

“
Fat chance.
Missions come first,” Ox said shaking his head. She stuck her
tongue out at him.

“
So why do we
have recon duty while second and third sit on their asses?” she
asked, turning back to Jethro.

“
You are
asking me?” he retorted standing up and brushing his hands.

“
Why not?”

“
Okay. Best
guess? Team mix. We're the most balanced. Also second and third have
the highest number of people who look pretty in a uniform but don't
know squat.”

“
Oh.”
She blinked and then grinned. “Is that all.”

“
Well, we're
first right? We proved it in the sims right?” he grinned back,
ears forward. She purred a chuckle nodding.

“
And the fact
that we're the most combat experienced squad, and you and Letanga
have both had recon training might have something to do with it as
well,” the lynx said shaking her head.

“
If you had to
point it out, why'd you ask in the first place?” Jethro
snorted.

“
Some people
are so full of themselves they like to hear themselves talk,”
she replied over her shoulder. He shook his head.

“
I think the
females were here!” Sergei said excitedly over by a big tree.
“They made it this far!” he grinned, ears forward. His
ruck was at his feet. The squad was stretching or checking their
gear. Letanga was racked out in the tree, limbs and tail hanging off
the branch. His ruck was leaning against the base of the tree. His
rifle was across his back however. Both eyes were slitted. Hurranna
wasn't the only one to enjoy the sun and breeze.

“
Why do you
say that?” Hurranna asked amused, shucking her ruck and then
rolling her shoulders.

“
I can smell
them. It's old and faint, but at least one I don't know and I think
Hera sprayed that tree and clawed it over there.” The big white
Liger pointed to a tree on the edge of the field.

“
Of course
they did. Destiny came here remember? We confirmed that already. The
Admiral left satellites in orbit and gave the survivors food and
gear. The Major got a message from one of them from him. A log.”
Jethro snorted. When he had heard that he'd felt an almost orgasmic
wave of relief. So, the virus hadn't done the Admiral in! There was
still hope after all.

“
Hhrrr. but
now we know they got here for sure.”

“
And they
didn't stay. I checked. They went back to Destiny. Something about
winter coming. It's spring now,” Jethro said waving to the sky.