Duty, Honour, Love

Stepping out into the sunshine Karasena’s determination wavered. She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and stepped forward Dee close on her heels. Assembled in the clear area between the comms bunker and the west rampart were her soldiers all in uniform and all standing to attention. Someone had piled metal crates in front of the soldiers setting smaller against larger to form a set of steps and a platform.

“Your idea,” she asked Dee pointing to the crates.

“I didn’t do it?” Dee replied.

Whoever had done would have to be applauded for their insight. Karasena felt relief it was hard enough a task to address her soldiers without having to try and look over people especially humans. She was only of average height for a T’Arni and most of the humans in her command were taller than she was. She mounted the steps to the platform and stood to attention and saluted her mouth dry and her stomach doing back flips. Her soldiers saluted back.

“At ease!” Dee barked beside her almost making her jump.

Karasena surveyed the men and women of her command noting that this was but a fraction of her forces. Due to oddities of the Confederacy her soldiers had assembled in height order. With T’Arni, shorter humans and Ezarans at the front and those taller behind. One thing she was glad of was there were no Valkyrie she could never get on with those overly tall warriors. Besides they didn’t like being stuck at the back. They were intimidating enough to always be first in line.

“Where is everyone?” she asked Dee.

“We’ve a few stragglers on their way in. And a few of the Ezarans are in Hawthorn they’ve got a problem with their reactor.”

Hawthorn was the biggest and closest of the settlements almost a small city it boasted about nine thousand civilians and was about forty kilometres away.

“Who?”

“Wenasi and his crew.”

Karasena nodded. No point in calling the Ezaran back not when there was an engineering puzzle to be solved. It was time for her to speak and much as she hated to be the bearer of bad news she knew her duty.

“Don’t know if any of you know?” She hesitated swallowing hard. “The Confederacy is at war with the Terran Empire.”

Gasps and angry muttering echoed around the base.

“Attention!” a voice yelled out.

Karasena glanced across seeing Sergeant Nanyo bawling like she was on the parade ground which the area they was standing in was technically that. Average height for a T’Arni her voice more that compensated for her statue. Even with her and Sergeant Fox restoring order it was far from peaceful. Karasena raised her hand for silence. Slowly the noise petered out.

“What about our families!” a voice from back shouted stirring things up again.

Karasena’s annoyance burned away her fear. She was supposed to be in command here. Some of her soldiers had married into local families. There wasn’t a month go by without some civilian introducing a family member in the hopes she would marry them. It was one of the reasons she was reluctant to venture into Hawthorn the nearest major settlement to the base almost a city as it was unless she had to.

“Weeks, PFC Max Weeks,” she said her voice clearly heard over the low muttering. She knew the names of everyone in under her command. “They will be safer where they are.”

“But?” Weeks persisted.

“Weeks where do you think the Terrans will strike? Not Hawthorn that’s for sure. We are the ones that’s got a giant target painted on us. Some of those Terrans ships could destroy this base without a backward thought or regret.”

“Here?” Weeks sounded frightened.

“That’s why I’m assigning only essential personnel to the base. The rest of you with be scattered to the settlements.” Karasena paused. “You’ll still be rotated to the outposts as per your assignment rotas unless some of you want to volunteer duty at White Mountain?” Her comment was greeted with silence. “See either Sergeant Fox or Sergeant Nanyo for your assignments.”

“Dismiss!” Dee shouted beside her.

As Karasena climbed down she saw soldiers gathered around Fox and Nanyo. Her knees shook as she stepped on to the floor. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m not cut out for this,” she complained bitterly under her breath.

“You are,” Dee told her. “That was inspired.”

Karasena gave her friend a hard look. “Inspired?”

“Sending away the non essentials,” Dee said with a firm nod of her head. “And you are right the Terrans will target this base. In the meantime don’t get bogged down by what ifs.” Dee grimaced, her thoughts distant. “I’ve been doing that for more years than I care about. You handled the situation well.” She made a gesture in the air with her hand. “Besides that the chances of the Terrans coming here are slim to none. There is nothing here unless they’ve run out of aravi or beans.”

Dee was right and it made her feel better but having planetary defences would help her sleep better at night. The bleep of her comms pushed all other thoughts from her mind. She answered it immediately.

“Yes?”

“The Mayor’s on his way he’ll be here in five minutes,” the voice on the other end of the comms informed her.

“Just what I need,” Karasena groaned cutting the comms off. She and the Mayor had clashed before over his use of military assets for civilian use. He had appropriated her engineers to fix the Hawthorn reactor. Helping out at harvesting and planting times were totally different. By helping out it meant having civilian food supplementing the ration packs the Confederacy issued. Erikino the planet they were on was nearly fully self-sufficient most of the farming and mining resources were ploughed back to the colonists with only the occasional trader bringing in luxuries.

“Remind him that we are on a war footing and our needs come first,” Dee said.

Karasena guessed that Dee was reading her mind. She often wished she wouldn’t but she knew that Dee could be discrete when she had to be.

She did have long to wait. A rather battered and dented ground car drove through the gate it once black paint faded to dark grey. There were three humans inside. Karasena instantly recognised the mayor and his security chief, the driver less so. The Mayor was fat and balding. Karasena could see as the car slowed that he was wearing his full mayoral regalia. Dee laughed suddenly Karasena wasn’t sure what she found funny. That was until the driver opened the door for the Mayor. The Mayor wiped a sheen of sweat from his balding head as he climbed out of the ground car. He was wearing a full-length coat with a fur collar and around his neck was a heavy chain a large medallion hanging off it. It wasn’t exactly cool out on the mid summer sun.

“Serves him right,” Dee whispered beside her. “Should have checked that the air conditioning was working before he set out.” Which explained why Dee was laughing.

The Mayor’s Security Chief was a total contrast. Thin, grey haired with a gaunt face and sallow skin. He was wearing black coveralls edged with silver, knee high black boots and a sidearm strapped to his waist.

“Mayor Guy, Chief,” Karasena gave her nod to the Security Chief. Of the two he was the more pragmatic. She had heard he had been an ex-merc or so the local rumour mill said. “To what do we owe this pleasure?” she said feeling a little chagrined that Dee could read their intentions from their minds but wasn’t telling her of their intentions.

“You know darn well. The war!” Guy said with a growl wiping another sheen of sweat from his brow.

“What about the war?” Karasena’s tone was flat. She saw Dee give her the eye and recognised the signal. Perhaps she was pushing too hard but he always got her back up.

“What are you going to do to protect the colonists.”

“Civil Defence is your job. Mine is to protect this facility until I’m ordered otherwise. I do not answer to you. We are at war and my orders come from Combined Operations,” she was blunt. One thing to her relief was the nod from the Chief he knew she was right.

Guy spluttered his mouth opening and closing rapidly. He often had the upper hand in conversations with her but this time she was determined to win this one.

“Until ordered otherwise our orders come from Com Ops. See to your own defences’ Mayor. The best thing you can do if the Terrans come here and I pray that they don’t is to use the storm cellars. We can’t help you.”

“You haven’t heard the last of this!” Guy shouted at her.

“Sergeant Fox,” she shouted.

Sergeant Fox came at the run. He saluted smartly. “Ma’am?”

“Get these civilians of my base by force if necessary.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The Security Chief was already back in the ground car his shoulder’s shaking but not in anger. Karasena could see he was finding the whole incident funny. Which it was if things weren’t so serious. Abruptly she turned and headed to the comms bunker. She didn’t see them leave.