An Alliance Reforged by J. N. Chaney & Jonathan P. Brazee

Author:J. N. Chaney & Jonathan P. Brazee [Chaney, J. N. & Brazee, Jonathan P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: military, SF
ISBN: 9798772082409
Google: L3fEzgEACAAJ
Publisher: self-published
Published: 2021-04-15T19:02:19.091209+00:00

Tomiko and Yancey were waiting for him as he left Lieutenant Nilson and Captain Macek after giving them his report. Word traveled quickly.

Rev’s throat choked up, and he couldn’t get anything out, but he didn’t need to. Tomiko spread her arms, and Rev rushed into her embrace, and Yancey enveloped them both. They stood there for a minute, maybe two, none saying a word as they shared their grief.

They finally broke and moved up against the wall of the crevice where Rev gave them the details of what happened. Rev’s mind was on autopilot. It was as if he were hovering above himself, listening to what he—no, not him, but some stranger—recounted what had happened.

“They never found his head,” he said as he finished.

Dead was dead, but that somehow made it seem worse.

“What about Hochenspatter?” Yancey asked. “He OK?”

“Should be. Three pieces of shrapnel, but Doc is tending to him.”

That was about the only good thing concerning the disaster. He’d been just low enough on the slope that he’d escaped most of the boobytrap’s blast.

Tomiko hadn’t said anything during his telling, and now she was staring at him with her piercing eyes. Rev shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

“And now you blame yourself,” she finally said.

“Well, like I said, I knew something was wrong.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Orpho wouldn’t even be here with us if he hadn’t known you from before, just like Yance here and I wouldn’t be here.”

Rev winced. Am I that transparent?

He’d been thinking that exact same thing as they’d returned from the mission. He knew that the Marine Corps was an inherently dangerous profession, and he was realistic enough to know that there was a good chance that none of them would be getting off this frozen planet alive, but that didn’t negate the fact that if it weren’t for him, Orpheus might still be alive.

He looked at the other two posse members. Orpheus was dead because Rev had considered friendship over duty and not intervened. What about Yancey? What about Tomiko? Was there any way he could treat them like any other Marine? Or would he make a decision based on emotion that could get them killed?

“But I should have acted on my suspicions,” he said. “I thought something was off.”

“And have you ever been wrong before?” Yancey asked.

“Of course, I have.”

“And was Orpho the mission commander?” Tomiko asked with laser focus.

“Well . . . yes. But I still coulda said something. And, like you just said, if Orpho hadn’t known me, he—"

“You take yourself too seriously, Rev. So, get off your fucking high horse.”

What?

“I . . . get off my high horse?” he said, a bit of anger breaking through his grief.

Tomiko was his girlfriend, and he wanted support from her, not an attack.

“Yeah, get off your fucking high horse. You aren’t the center of the universe.”

“I never—”

“Oh, yeah, you never. Look, Captain Perseus, each of us was asked if we wanted to join the unit. We weren’t just assigned.”

“What?”

“They didn’t just say, ‘Oh, you know Staff Sergeant Pelletier, and we need you to go and fight with him.

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