E E Knight-Vampire Earth 06 by Valentine's Resolve

Author:Valentine's Resolve [Resolve, Valentine's]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-10-12T16:47:58+00:00

"Hey, Pops," an assistant called from the radio.

" 'Scuse me," Pop-Tart said.

Valentine went down to the reading room to await the Action Group's return.

* * * *

They came back, almost unscarred. They'd lost one Bear to a booby trap, and another to

"overexertion" (Valentine had once heard a story in Arkansas about a Bear dropping dead as he and his teammates worked themselves into a battle frenzy over a Bearfire) and still more suffered wounds and contusions Bear metabolisms would soon overcome.

Valentine watched them eat before they even cleaned up.

They were a strangely taciturn bunch. Maybe it was the gloomy climate. A group of Southern Command Bears back from action chattered like magpies, though the conversation usually limited itself to light subjects, like unusual vehicles they'd seen or how much quality toilet paper they'd managed to loot.

Thunderbird, looking drawn, walked among them, passing out candy bars and bags of greasy peanuts.

"New-moon party this weekend," Thunderbird said. He had a fresh uniform on, but Valentine saw dried blood on his boots. "Have they issued you a dress uniform yet?"

"No."

"I'll make a call."

"What's a PB?" Valentine asked. He'd heard the acronym tossed around as the soldiers talked.

"Punishment Battalion or Brigade. We've got a Brigade, unfortunately. Two combat battalions and a short support."

"What, hard labor, that sort of thing?"

"More like Reaper fodder. They're our first line, out in pickets about three klicks west. Their commander's not a bad sort—they've really shaped up under him. They're criminals. There's some shady types in these mountains, preying on both sides. If they don't like the feel of the noose, they can opt to PB their term. Of course a lot try to desert as soon as they get their bearings. They get shot, of course."

"How did the fighting go?"

"Well. Adler was right, as usual. We caught them pulling back. Got a fair bit of booty—they dropped everything and ran when we showed up."

"I've never seen Bears operate in those numbers before. They're usually used at platoon strength at most where I come from. Accidents."

"They divide up pretty quick when we go into action, cuts down on the chances of two teams attacking each other. We're careful about getting them revved up and pushed into the redline. You'll see. Have a good hurrah up at the Outlook."

"I'd like to bring Gide. She could use a little cheering up."

"You're loyal. I like that. I'll authorize her transport, but she'll have to clear it with her militia duty."

* * * *

Gide cleared it easily enough. Perhaps Thunderbird made an extra call or two. In any case, they hopped on a horse-wagon train bringing captured scrap for salvage or to be melted down and recast. It was bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, mostly cookware and gardening supplies for civilian use. Hardly worth hauling away.

"How's the transfer coming?" Valentine asked. The dress uniform hadn't shown up after all, so he cleaned and pressed his daily as best as he could.

Gide wore a summer-weight sweater and skirt. "Denied. They want me to spend at least a year," Gide said.

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