The War for Profit Series Omnibus (31 page)

Galen said, “We’re from the Jasmine Panzer Brigade. We have over two thousand soldiers who need food and fuel.”

The Queen looked toward Galen. Her eyes twinkled. “See, that’s more like it. A proper introduction to smooth things over. Two thousand soldiers, you say. Maybe we can offer them more than food.”

Karen said, “And we need to put in a tap line to the sky factory.”

“Sure, sure, we can work something out. Any of your men need to meet some girls, bring them on over to my town and we’ll take good care of them.”

Tad said, “We’ll see. Depends on what kind of girls.”

Queen Zora said, “Working girls. Young ones, but they know their business. They know if they don’t please a man they taste the back of a hand.”

Koa said, “Anything to help a soldier unwind?”

“We got it all. Hooch, smack, weed, meth, whatever you please.”

Karen said, “Thank you for sharing that information with us. Now, turn around and place your hands behind your back.”

Queen Zora stepped forward and barged right into Karen, forcing her to step back, one foot on the top step. Galen drew his pistol and pointed it at the chest of the thug on the left; Tad had already disarmed the thug on the right and had him face down, arm twisted behind his back.

Koa said, “You are under arrest.”

“Who do you think you are? You people aren’t arresting nobody. You people aren’t getting out of here alive!” Queen Zora shoved Karen down the steps. Just as Karen fell, Zora’s face disappeared, a gaping six centimeter hole lined with smoking flesh, bone and brain matter in its place. A bullet bounced off Galen’s back plate, so he shot his thug and turned and went down the steps to help Karen get back on her feet. Sevin moved from the skimmer’s laser to the driver’s seat. Tad broke his thug’s arm and dashed down the steps and into the skimmer and got control of the laser. Koa crouched and descended the steps to jump into the skimmer, a burst of light machine pistol fire from the front gate’s guard shack passing above his head. One round hit his helmet and skewed it a bit clockwise. Galen shoved Karen as she got in, and then he had to leap to get in because Sevin was already raising and rotating the skimmer.

Tad sent half a dozen laser bolts into the front gate guard shack. They burned through it completely. Sevin sent the skimmer leaping over the wall and skimmed at high speed down the street, then took a right and then a left.

“Where are we going?” asked Galen.

“Side street. Parallel to the main boulevard.”

Then a left and a right, back onto the main boulevard, fifty meters from the toll booth. Trucks were parked to block it, but Sevin revved the blowers and leapt over the booth. Back on the main road out of town, he set the throttle to cruise at 90% maximum speed.

Galen removed his personal communicator from his helmet and shut it off, then signaled the others to turn off theirs too. Satisfied he said, “Well, you wanted a war, you got one.”

Sevin grimaced. “I got something for my troops to do now. Give some of the new guys a chance to cut their combat teeth on these clowns.”

Tad said, “How long before they get organized enough to present a threat?”

Koa said, “I’d give it about two weeks. First they have a lot of in-fighting amongst their enclaves to settle.”

Tad aimed the laser to the left and set it to low, and then sent a steady beam into an opium field, setting it on fire. “That should help them get organized.”

They turned off the paved road onto the dirt road. Sevin slowed the skimmer so it would throw up less dust.

Karen said, “That city has a lot of people in it. They could overwhelm us.”

Koa said, “The population is almost two hundred thousand, but we can’t view them as a single entity. There are five major criminal enclaves competing for power. There are also some decent people who will be glad to see the criminal organizations dealt a blow. And the individuals in the crime enclaves, they’re mostly concerned with where their next high will come from. And the abused and exploited people, once their masters are dealt with, they won’t bother anyone. And most importantly, the air factory company. They won’t be too upset if we clean up that town.”

Tad said, “We’ll defend for a while and let them whittle down their own numbers. Then, offense.”

Galen said, “Well I’m sure we’ll have the tunnel done before we switch to offense. I’d like to take the heavy tank company back there for a little visit.”

Sevin turned off the dirt road and deliberately meandered in wide, sweeping arcs a kilometer across.

“You lost?” said Karen.

Sevin looked over his shoulder. “No. Just don’t want to leave a straight trail of blowout for them to follow. Can’t make it too easy for them.”

“I don’t think they’re that smart,” said Tad.

“A town like that,” said Sevin, “there has to be a handful of ex-military from somewhere, wasting their lives on sex and drugs. Never underestimate your opponent.”

Seven slowed and stopped next to the crane at the top of the crater’s rim. He dismounted and talked to the crane operator, then stood off at a distance and used his personal communicator before getting back in the skimmer. Galen didn’t ask what all that was about, he knew he was better off not knowing. Sevin drove the skimmer back into the cage, the crane lowered them back to the floor of the crater, and Sevin dropped them off at the Brigade conference room.

“See you later Smaj, I’m going back up top,” said Sevin, who slid over to the passenger seat. His assigned driver and laser gunner mounted the skimmer and the vehicle skimmed away.

Galen, Tad, Karen and Koa sat at the conference table. Spike sat at the far end. “So how’d it go?”

Tad looked down, Koa shrugged and Karen looked toward Galen.

Galen said, “Well, good and bad, depending on how you look at it.”

Karen said, “We’ll not be getting real food for a couple of months at least. Also, the organic fuel pipeline might not ever get done. We may have to truck that stuff in from the next town, the one almost five hundred klicks away.”

Koa said, “It’s been interesting. We whacked a hornet’s nest today.”

Spike looked at Galen. “What did you do?”

“We met with the most pre-eminent enclave leader in City Seven, and asked for a chance to bid a contract for them to provide us with real food and organic fuel. She was unreceptive, but offered to sell us narcotics and offered the services of slave prostitutes.”

Spike blinked and leaned his elbows on the table. “Then what happened?”

“Well, I had to arrest her. She resisted, assaulted my logistics officer, I was shot in the back of my combat vest, Koa took a round to the helmet, so we had to shoot our way out of there and flee for our lives.”

Spike leaned forcefully back in his chair, looked at the ceiling and yelled, “Damn you Sevin!”

Koa broke in to the conversation. “We killed Queen Zora and three guards.”

Spike stood.

Galen said, “Sit down, we have it all recorded. We’re clean; we have nothing to worry about. Nice and legal.”

Spike sat. “Okay. Now what?”

Galen said, “Tad, continue on with ops. Train the trainers, run all our troops through the lanes before the EugeneX recruits get here. Logistics, work things out with the next town; five hundred klicks is not too far to run a tap line. I understand we have enough shelf rations to feed our people for six months, if necessary. Intel, you got your hands full but you also have enough time and resources to get a handle on the new threat. XO, we need to change our plan for morale support.”

Spike said, “What does that mean?”

“We can’t depend on the indigs for a party ville. I’ll contact my mom and see if she has any suggestions about how we can set up something legitimate here in the crater.”

“All right,” said Spike.

Galen stood. “If there’s nothing else, dismissed.”

Galen was half way through his get-out-of bed stretch when his wrist chronometer buzzed on the plastic container/night stand next to his bunk. He picked it up. A text message from Spike:
Check your personal communicator
.

He shuffled around the stuff laying on the night stand: an eBook reader, a couple of loaded pistol magazines, a disposable nose-wipe container, a cup with coins in it, a clean t-shirt, and underneath it all, his personal communicator. He wiped the dust from its screen and turned it on.

The screen showed connectivity and the announcement that the local comms net was operational. He tapped the screen and saw that a new packet of data had just been added, meaning a jumpship had arrived and had sent a burst to the local comms net receiver. Galen checked; there were nine new movies he hadn’t seen, and he planned to watch them at the theater in full-D instead of on his flat screen. Next was a message from his mother. It had detailed plans for the bases’ ‘downtown’ district and a list of nearly two hundred entertainers, cooks, barmaids, drinky women and an all-women administrative staff to run the whole thing. Galen double-checked to make sure his mother’s name was not on the list.

A knock at his door.

“Are you awake?” Karen’s voice.

“Come on in.”

Karen entered and placed a plastic container on his desk. “I brought you breakfast.”

“Thanks.” Galen sat at his desk and pulled the tab that would heat the ration. Then he removed the lid and pushed out the spork that had been part of the lid, held in by perforations that weakened when the meal was heated.

Karen sat on his bunk. “Any good news?”

“Our ship came in, and our comms net is up. My mom’s plan for downtown looks easy enough to implement and maintain. We’ll make a ton of money from it, from the EugeneX troops and police. More than enough to offset the costs of getting support from farther away.”

“Well eat fast, I want to take you with me to attend the grand opening of the tunnel. It’s a pretty big deal, since it’s the first major project handled by the Myung Jin builders. They got it done on time despite the fact we chose to have it dug on the opposite side of the crater from Factory Seven.”

“No problem,” said Galen. He inserted food, chewed once, swallowed, and repeated until his food container was empty.

As she left Karen said, “My skimmer is out front, you can ride with me. I’ll wait.”

Galen put on his coveralls and boots, ran an electric razor across his face, put on his war gear and went outside and sat in the seat behind Karen. The skimmer drove around the lake and then turned outward and traveled eighteen more klicks to the tunnel along a path that had been well-worn by wheeled construction vehicle traffic and then paved. The tunnel was a full twenty meters wide, a semi-circle bored with a circular digging machine that left a flat surface on the lower half and a concrete lining around the sides and top. Excavated material made a berm ten meters high along either side of the entrance lane. The tunnel began well away from the cliff face and descended gradually for a distance of five kilometers, then leveled off. Three klicks later, the tunnel angled upward at a 15% slope for another eight kilometers and then rose out of the ground at a point eight kilometers outside the crater rim. The tunnel was still rough, the center divider and the lane markings and the lighting yet to be completed. Using the skimmer’s service drive lights and night vision goggles, the driver was able to maintain a speed of eighty kilometers per hour.

The skimmer emerged from the tunnel. The area was surrounded by a defensive compound, the strongest fortification a concrete structure surrounding the tunnel exit. Solid ten meter high walls on the sides and back, the wall in front with a twenty meter gap to allow traffic to pass through. The skimmer went through that opening and turned right and came to rest behind an assembled formation of troops standing at rest. Off to the right side of the formation was a set of bleachers, civilian construction workers seated on them. In front of the two groups was a lectern on a raised platform, four chairs behind it. Tad sat in one chair, Chief Polar in the next. Galen and Karen strode forward through the gap between the bleachers and the troop formation and took the two remaining seats on the platform.

Polar stood and said, “The ceremony will begin in two minutes.”

Sevin stood in front of the assembled troops. He executed an about-face and said, “Company, Attention. At ease,” then faced back toward the platform.

Galen looked around. Much of the material excavated from the tunnel had been used to construct berms around the area, defensive breastworks that included hull-down firing positions. A company of Hellcat tanks were already parked in many of them, with smaller ones still empty, about the right size for Hornet light tanks or infantry fighting vehicles. Four ground-mobile rail guns were already in position and Galen could tell that the three concrete foundations nearby were for point defense laser cannons that would be installed later.

Galen elbowed Tad and said, “This is something. They really are serious about keeping this entrance secure.”

Tad said, “Don’t act so surprised. You approved all this.”

“Yes, but seeing the plans and seeing it for real are entirely two different things.”

“I just hope somebody attacks, that would be cool.”

Galen elbowed Tad again.

Chief Polar announced, “The ceremony will begin now.”

Sevin called his troops to attention and the civilian workers stopped talking among themselves and turned their faces toward the platform.

Chief Polar said, “First, let me introduce Master Sergeant Karen Mitchell, the Jasmine Panzer Brigade Logistics Officer.”

Karen stood behind the lectern and said, “Thank you all for your hard work and dedication, I can’t thank you enough for everything you have done and I thank you in advance for all you will do in the future. The tap line from Factory Nine went better than I could have ever imagined, getting it done in less than a week was nothing short of a miracle. And the tunnel, I love this tunnel. Than you all, thank you very much.”

Karen sat, Tad stood. “Ladies and gentlemen, as many of you already know, I am Sergeant Major Tad Miller, your Brigade operations chief. I’m the A-hole who keeps bugging you with taskings and chores that keep you busy. But it all serves a purpose, the purpose that allows this Brigade to provide you with subsistence pay now and contract shares when this is all over. I’ll put this out now because I know, many of you either haven’t heard or didn’t much care at the time. Our mission is to construct defenses, train EugeneX security and military forces, and then get the hell out of here. And as of now, there are only three hundred and eighty seven days remaining on this contract. In three hundred and eighty nine days, we’ll all be back on Capella counting our money.”

Tad sat, Galen stood. “Master Sergeant Sevin, At Ease.”

Sevin faced his troops, “At Ease,” then faced back forward.

“Okay, everybody relax but listen up. Here’s the deal.” Galen rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this because it might jinx it, but things will slow down in a couple of weeks and you’ll start to have some free time. The nearby town hates us and has gone into a state of rebellion against us and EugeneX, who owns this whole planet. So Factory Seven Complex is not such a good place to spend your money or your free time. That’s why I put it off limits. But we’ve put together what I think is a decent little down town area near the spaceport terminal, between it and your barracks, that every one of you should be able to enjoy.”

Galen heard Tad whisper, “Get on with it.”

Galen reached into the lectern and pulled out an oversized aluminum gavel. “I hereby declare this tunnel, Open for Traffic!” He slammed the gavel down on the lectern and left a bit of a mark in its polymer surface.

Sevin called his troops to attention and dismissed them back to their regular duties, and the construction workers went back to their machines. Then Sevin met Galen on the platform. “Nice speech.”

“Thanks,” said Galen. “Any contact with those indigs?”

“Just some snooping and probing. I think they’re smart enough to know what they’re looking at so they’re staying away. But I’m not letting them see everything, I’m just showing them enough to make them think twice.”

“Well technically they’re rebels defying the ultimate authority of the owners of this planet. Namely, me. But that changes when the EugeneX administrator gets here and I doubt they care about anything that happens outside the crater. So stay cool and ignore the rebellion as best you can.”

Sevin smiled. “You got it, Smaj.”

Galen helped Karen into the skimmer and then sat in the vehicle commander seat.

As the skimmer approached the tunnel, Galen noticed a strong breeze coming out of it. “Hey Karen, did they turn on the exhaust fans?”

“No. The air flow is natural. The air enters the tunnel down at crater floor level and flows up to here, like a chimney or smoke stack. They’ll install some airflow fans later, to ensure air quality as a safety measure for slower vehicles when traffic picks up. And some lighting. But we’re fine for now.”

The second trip through the tunnel seemed faster, although Galen knew it was probably a little longer, going against the air flow. In the pitch dark, Karen reached forward and held Galen’s hand and he clasped both his hands over hers. His wrist chronometer vibrated.

He looked, the face illuminating itself in response to his sudden movement. A message from Corporal Slaughter:
your bed is here
.

“We get comms down here?”

Karen laughed. “Yes. The tunneling machine needed nav data and left a cable as it went. It relays comms all through the tunnel.”

Galen said, “Our bed is here.”

“Good, now I can stay with you.”

The skimmer emerged from the tunnel and traveled back to Galen’s building. Galen helped Karen dismount. Only then did he notice that the skimmer driver was a woman. Hard to tell, with full gear on, but her voice gave it away.

The driver said, “We good, Master Sergeant?”

“Yes, Diane. I’ll be here the rest of the day. See you back at my office in the morning.”

Galen held the door of the building open for Karen. She walked in, went up stairs and looked inside Galen’s room. Galen eased past her and looked at his new bed. It was Queen size, memory foam mattress, and its top surface was sixty centimeters off the floor. He sat.

Karen said, “It looks good, but we need sheets, pillows and a blanket.”

“Let’s go shopping.”

Karen’s face brightened for a moment then she said, “Where?”

“The warehouse. I ordered bedclothes too, they must be there.” Galen hung his helmet and combat vest in his closet but decided to keep his pistol belt and sidearm on. He grabbed his patrol cap and held it in his hand and said, “The full-gear restriction for inside the crater ended yesterday.”

Karen took off her gear, hung it in the closet next to Galen’s and pulled her patrol cap from her pants left cargo pocket. “I got the word.”

They left the building and turned left, walking between several other barracks buildings until they were behind the warehouse. It was really the first of six spacecraft hangars built alongside the tarmac, but was being used as a warehouse. A cargo boat was backed up to its front door and forklift bots maneuvered in and out, stacking cargo in the warehouse. A Corporal with an electronic clipboard met them at the entrance.

“Something I can help you with, Sergeant Major?”

Galen said, “I have a box in here somewhere. From Ostreich Home Furnishings.”

The Corporal looked at the clipboard and said, “It’s along the left wall, one third of the way, to the back. A green container about ten centimeters thick and a meter square. Mass, twelve point six kilograms.”

“Thank you.” Galen went to get the package. Karen stayed with the Corporal. Galen returned with the package and sat it on the floor so he could sign for it on the clipboard. “You’re doing good work, Corporal.”

“Thank you, Sergeant Major.”

Galen lifted the container onto his shoulder and set off walking back to his room. Karen walked alongside, examining what she could see of the label.

Karen said, “Who sent it?”

Galen said, “I ordered it from a store back home.”

“You had comms with Ostreich?”

“No, I ordered it before I left. The bed too.”

Karen opened the door and held it for him. “Well why didn’t you bring it on the command drop ship?”

“I didn’t want to abuse my privilege. Nobody else was allowed to bring more than a kilo of personal stuff on the initial deployment, so I decided that included me.”

“But… the past two weeks, we were apart. That tiny cot in your room.”

“When we left Mandarin, I had no way of knowing we’d be a couple. Besides, if you weren’t a sleeper, we might still be in the early flirting stages, or maybe we wouldn’t have hooked up at all.” Galen entered his room and opened the container. Karen grabbed the fitted sheet and shook it out flat over the mattress.

Galen pulled two corners into place while Karen got the others. Galen tossed a pillow and pillow case to Karen, who put the case on the pillow while Galen did the same to the second pillow. Then he shook out the top sheet and spread it on the bed, Karen helping to smooth it out by pulling from the opposite side. Then the blanket. More of a quilt, really, with synthetic insulative material sewn between two layers of dark green coarse-thread cotton.