sir.”
“Katja…”
Her cheeks flushed anew.
“Thomas.”
“See you.”
She heard the line click off, but she stood with the headset to her ear for a long moment, forehead against the bulkhead.
12
O n the far side of the lounge, the officers of Saracen Troop were gathering around their commander. Katja moved quickly through the tables and up to join them. Besides Vici and Lahko, she recognized Sublieutenant Wei Hu, Lieutenants Serge Wicki and Sven Pletsers, and First Lieutenant Gopal Sung.
Wei had taken over Katja’s old platoon when she was transferred to
Rapier
, but she barely knew him. His lack of experience and smooth, youthful features made him seem even greener than he was. Wicki and Pletsers were both tall North Europeans, and Gopal was a short, wiry Himalayan. The first lieutenant was a platoon leader like other junior officers, but had the additional responsibility of being the troop’s second-in-command.
Katja had worked with these men for years before going on her fast-attack course, and she slipped into the group effortlessly. Feeling immediately at home, she very much appreciated Vici’s gesture to include her, even though she no longer had an official role in the regiment.
“Troops, it’s been a good couple of days,” the commander began. “I’m pleased with the maneuvers, especially because we beat the Spartans at their own game.” This comment drew chuckles, but Katja could only guess at the meaning. “Gopal, you did well as commander when they took me out.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Gopal said.
“I’m not going to keep you long—and I figure Lahko’s already too drunk to remember anything important—but I’m going to be in planning meetings tomorrow, so I won’t have time to brief you then. Here’s the situation.
“The cease-fire on Cerberus is holding, but Intelligence reports a lot of unrest, particularly in the Lhasan region. It seems, Emmes, that your little raid drew more attention than we expected—it’s probably a good thing that you got out as fast as you did. Fleet’s going to try and soothe everybody by delivering humanitarian supplies to Free Lhasa in a few days. Our regiment has had no official change of orders, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we pay the Cerberans a visit within the next month. So schedule some heavy-grav training over the next couple of weeks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Gopal said, speaking for them all.
“The official Laikan government has been making some friendly overtures to Terra recently, and the Expeditionary Force is scheduled to conduct some military operations in Laika’s vicinity as a gesture of goodwill—and to put on a show for the insurgents. My understanding is that the entire EF will rendezvous in the Anubian system, do some exercises near Laika, and then split off again. This shouldn’t affect us.
“Otherwise, Centauri military presence is light, and reported piracy incidents are down. We’re coming up on the mid-deployment leave period, so have your plans for personnel rotation on my screen by the end of the week. Any questions?”
There were none.
“Then have a good evening.”
The six junior officers instinctively straightened to attention and waited as Vici departed. Then, as if a switch had been thrown, they all relaxed and took long pulls of their drinks.
Gopal wrapped a strong arm around Katja’s shoulders.
“Good to see you, Big K,” he said. “It’s nice to feel tall for once.”
Katja’s eyes were nearly level to those of the first lieutenant, and she met his gaze while trying to suppress a smirk.
“If you keep touching me, I guarantee you’ll feel weak and broken pretty soon.”
He backed away with a great show of trepidation.
“How was your mission?” Wicki asked. “Sounds like you’re just making more work for us.”
Katja shrugged, and quickly described the events of the strike. The other platoon leaders listened with interest, asking pointed questions when relevant. None of them
“Katja…”
Her cheeks flushed anew.
“Thomas.”
“See you.”
She heard the line click off, but she stood with the headset to her ear for a long moment, forehead against the bulkhead.
12
O n the far side of the lounge, the officers of Saracen Troop were gathering around their commander. Katja moved quickly through the tables and up to join them. Besides Vici and Lahko, she recognized Sublieutenant Wei Hu, Lieutenants Serge Wicki and Sven Pletsers, and First Lieutenant Gopal Sung.
Wei had taken over Katja’s old platoon when she was transferred to
Rapier
, but she barely knew him. His lack of experience and smooth, youthful features made him seem even greener than he was. Wicki and Pletsers were both tall North Europeans, and Gopal was a short, wiry Himalayan. The first lieutenant was a platoon leader like other junior officers, but had the additional responsibility of being the troop’s second-in-command.
Katja had worked with these men for years before going on her fast-attack course, and she slipped into the group effortlessly. Feeling immediately at home, she very much appreciated Vici’s gesture to include her, even though she no longer had an official role in the regiment.
“Troops, it’s been a good couple of days,” the commander began. “I’m pleased with the maneuvers, especially because we beat the Spartans at their own game.” This comment drew chuckles, but Katja could only guess at the meaning. “Gopal, you did well as commander when they took me out.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Gopal said.
“I’m not going to keep you long—and I figure Lahko’s already too drunk to remember anything important—but I’m going to be in planning meetings tomorrow, so I won’t have time to brief you then. Here’s the situation.
“The cease-fire on Cerberus is holding, but Intelligence reports a lot of unrest, particularly in the Lhasan region. It seems, Emmes, that your little raid drew more attention than we expected—it’s probably a good thing that you got out as fast as you did. Fleet’s going to try and soothe everybody by delivering humanitarian supplies to Free Lhasa in a few days. Our regiment has had no official change of orders, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we pay the Cerberans a visit within the next month. So schedule some heavy-grav training over the next couple of weeks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Gopal said, speaking for them all.
“The official Laikan government has been making some friendly overtures to Terra recently, and the Expeditionary Force is scheduled to conduct some military operations in Laika’s vicinity as a gesture of goodwill—and to put on a show for the insurgents. My understanding is that the entire EF will rendezvous in the Anubian system, do some exercises near Laika, and then split off again. This shouldn’t affect us.
“Otherwise, Centauri military presence is light, and reported piracy incidents are down. We’re coming up on the mid-deployment leave period, so have your plans for personnel rotation on my screen by the end of the week. Any questions?”
There were none.
“Then have a good evening.”
The six junior officers instinctively straightened to attention and waited as Vici departed. Then, as if a switch had been thrown, they all relaxed and took long pulls of their drinks.
Gopal wrapped a strong arm around Katja’s shoulders.
“Good to see you, Big K,” he said. “It’s nice to feel tall for once.”
Katja’s eyes were nearly level to those of the first lieutenant, and she met his gaze while trying to suppress a smirk.
“If you keep touching me, I guarantee you’ll feel weak and broken pretty soon.”
He backed away with a great show of trepidation.
“How was your mission?” Wicki asked. “Sounds like you’re just making more work for us.”
Katja shrugged, and quickly described the events of the strike. The other platoon leaders listened with interest, asking pointed questions when relevant. None of them
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