"You could just ask, Kage/ the Colonel says without turning around.
'Sir?' I blurt out, startled.
"You could just ask what crimes Loron and Lorii have committed/ he replies, looking over his shoulder at me.
"What did they do?' I ask uncertainly, wondering if this is some kind of trap or test being set by the Colonel.
'Disobedience/ the Colonel says simply, turning around fully. They refused an order/
'I understand, sir', I assure the Colonel, crowing inside because I was right and Slavini was wrong. Witches indeed!
'I am sure you will, lieutenant/ the Colonel says with an odd look in his eyes. 'Prepare for embarkation on the shuttle in one hour's time/ he adds before dismissing me with a waved hand.
'Okay,' admits Slavini when I tell him as soon as I get back to the holding pen. 'But that doesn't mean that's what really happened, just because tiiat's what the record shows/
'Emperor, you're a suspicious man, Slavini/ I say sourly, annoyed that he still won't admit that he's wrong. 'Come widi me, we'll settie this once and for all/
I grab die sergeant's arm and drag him over to where Loron is sitting against the wall, staring at the floor. I put him and his sister on different exercise details in the hope that it would force them to communicate more with the others, but it just seems to have annoyed and upset diem. Well, I've had it with their introverted ways, they're going to become a part of the unit whether tiiey like it or not.
'What are you in for?' I demand, standing with my hands on my hips in front of Loron. He looks slowly up at me with those deep blue eyes of his, but doesn't say a word.
'As your lieutenant, I'm ordering you to tell me,' I snap at him, furious at his silence. 'Or is that another order you're gonna refuse?' I add viciously. He stands up and looks me straight in the eye.
'It isn't what you think/ he says finally, his glance moving back and forth between me and Slavini.
'So tell us what it really is/ I insist. He looks at us both again and then sighs.
'It's true that Lorii disobeyed an order/ he tells us slowly. I look smugly at Slavini, who scowls back. 'It was an order to retreat, not an order to attack/ he adds, and we both stare at him in astonishment.
'Ordered to withdraw, you refused?' Slavini says incredulously. You'll fit in nicely with the Last Chancers. Are you suicide freaks or something?'
'I was wounded in the leg/ Loron explains, face sombre. 'Lorii refused the order for general withdrawal and came back to get me. She carried me over her shoulders for the kilometre back to the siege lines. They said she had disobeyed orders and dishonourably discharged her at the court martial/
They didn't get you on some crappy conspiracy or complicity charge, did they?' I ask, wondering how Loron had ended up joining his sister.
'No/ he replies. 'I insisted I be discharged with her. They refused, so I punched the captain of my company. They were only too happy to throw me out after that/
To stay with your sister, you punched your captain?' laughs Slavini. 'No mistake about it you're fragging weird, man/1 look at the albino's sincere face, seeing an odd look in his eyes that makes me wonder even more about them. About where they're from.
Very well/ I tell him. 'I'll keep you and Lorii together from now on, if that makes you feel happier/
'It does/ Loron replies with a slight smile. He takes a step to walk past Slavini and then stops. He looks back at the sergeant and the smile on his face is gone.
'I would suggest you don't use words like freak and weird around Lorii/ he says, his voice dropping to a menacing tone. 'She is more sensitive and less reasonable than me/
I bet she is, I think to myself as Loron walks off, leaving Slavini visibly shaken. In an unconscious gesture, the sergeant rubs his eye with a knuckle and then wanders off, thoughts obviously somewhere else.
'So, Lorii,' Linskrug says, leaning as far forward as the shuttle safety straps will allow to talk across Kronin's chest, 'I bet you didn't think you'd be going back to the penal colony this soon!'
"We've not been in a penal colony/ she corrects him. The twins have begun to lighten up finally, as everybody gets used to them and gives them some space. For their part, they've started talking a bit more, as if the both of them have resolved that they're not going anywhere, so they better at least try to get along with some of the others. In fact, I'd say Lorii has got a soft spot for Linskrug, though I can't think what she sees in the handsome and once wealthy and well-connected baron. Kronin's asleep between the pair of them, snoring gently, as the shuttle takes us down to the moon.
'Sorry?' I say, catching on to what she said. I look over to my right where she's sitting next to the aft bulkhead. You mean the Colonel hasn't just picked you up from the penal moon we're going to?'
'No/ she says with a fierce shake of her head. "We've been fighting with a punishment battalion on Proxima Finalis for the past eighteen months/
"Why has the Colonel singled you out?' I ask.
"We weren't singled out/ Loron says, and we turn our heads to the left to look at him. 4Ve were the only ones left/
'Only ones?' Franx croaks beside me. 'How'd that happen?'
'Cluster bombs from ork fighter-bombers dropped straight into the middle of the battalion as we made an assault/ says Lorii and everyone's gaze shifts back to her. 'Blew apart two hundred troopers - everybody except my brother and me/
'Woah/ Broker says from the other side of the shuttle, shock showing on his face. That's pretty awesome/
^Vhat happened then?' I ask Lorii, curious as to how they ended up with us.
The commissars weren't sure what to do with us/ Loron continues the story, dragging our eyes to the other end of the shuttle. That's when Colonel Schaeffer turned up again, had a word with the commissars and then brought us here/
Turned up again?' Gappo asks, before I get the chance. You'd seen him before?'
Yes/ Loron replies with a nod. 'It was over a year ago, when the punishment battalion was first formed. He came and met the captain. We don't know what they talked about/
I'm trying to work out what we were doing roughly a year ago. It's not that easy, for a number of reasons. For a start, in the past year or so we've been to five different worlds, and they all blur into one long war after a while. Added to that, what was a year ago for Loron and Lorii might not be the same for us, what with warp time and the rest. It's like this: a ship in the warp can travel so fast because time there doesn't flow the same as it does in the real universe. Well, that's how a tech-priest tried to explain it to me on my first trip off Olympas. In our universe, time passes normally, so the people on the ship might experience only a week to a month, while three months have really passed them by. I've not had any reference to, for want of a proper term, normal time since Ichar IV two of my years ago. For all I know, ten years might have really passed me by in that time.
The shutde suddenly lurches, slamming my head back against the hull and wrenching me from my reverie. Everybody's glancing about at each other, wondering what's going on.
"What the frag?' I manage to bark out before the shuttle dips to the right sharply, hurling me forward into my harness.
'Turbulence?' suggests Linskrug, the calmest among us. I twist my head over my shoulder to look out the viewport behind me. I can see the circle of the moon below us, too far away for us to be in its atmosphere yet.
'Nope/ I growl, pulling the release on my straps and hauling myself to my feet. 'Stay here!'
I try to work my way to the front bulkhead, leaning on people's knees as I pull myself along. The shuttle shudders and banks the other way, tossing me sideways and pitching me to my hands and knees. Clawing my way forward, I pull myself up the bulkhead and lean against the wall next to the comms-unit connecting us to the forward chamber where the crew and Colonel are. Pushing the switch to activate it, I steady myself some more as the shutde seems to waggle from side to side for a few seconds.