After their postings on Armstrong ended, the two of them took extended leaves and went back to Atlantia, where they’d spent most of their post-war sojourn. The planet was an unspoiled paradise, beautiful rugged coastlines running along pristine seas and endless forests winding between sunswept meadows. Erik had found himself drawn to the ocean, and the crashing waves were one of the few things that relaxed him. He’d been born on the coast, in New York City, but Earth’s oceans had long been polluted, choked with garbage and poisoned with the fallout of war. From childhood all he remembered of the sea was the faint reek and the sludgy residue that clung to the shorelines and the rotting piers. But Atlantia’s ocean called out to him, a natural reminder that life could be something more than the perversion most of Earth’s people endured.
The Marines had saved him, pulling him from the executioner’s grasp and giving him a chance at a life with meaning. He never forgot his debt, and he tried to repay it with his devotion to his troops. Now he was seriously considering retiring from the Corps, something he couldn’t have imagined a few years before. Cain had always felt a duty to his men and women, but they were all gone now, retired themselves or scattered throughout occupied space in other assignments. The Corps was changing, and he didn’t know how to stop it.
By any measure, Erik Cain had done his duty and given his all for the Marine Corps he loved. But he still couldn’t quite bring himself to leave. Sarah would retire as well if he did, he was sure of that, and the two of them could find someplace, maybe even Atlantia, to settle down. To live in peace for the first time in their lives. He realized that was what he wanted more than anything, but it was just somehow…wrong. Something felt unfinished, as though it wasn’t yet his time to leave duty behind.
He pulled his arm in tightly, drawing Sarah in closer to him. “Sorry, my mind has been wandering.” His voice was soft and affectionate, but she could hear the tension in it.
She leaned in and kissed him. “I know, love.” She looked up at him and smiled. “Everything will be ok. You’ll do what you have to; you always have.”
He smiled and scooped her up into his arms. “Right now let’s see about going back to bed.” He walked through the doorway, turning to the side so he could fit though carrying Sarah. He was just about the lay her on the bed when the door buzzer sounded.
“Who is it?” His request was actually to the room’s AI, not to whoever was at the door.
“It is the concierge, sir.” The room AI had a pleasing rustic voice, perfectly matching the overall feel of the Inn. “He has a delivery for you.”
Erik laid Sarah gently on the bed and walked toward the door. “Open.” The door slid aside, revealing a moderately tall man, wearing a perfectly tailored hotel uniform.
“Pardon the interruption, General Cain.” He had a slight accent, which had puzzled Erik the first time they’d visited the planet, until he realized it was common to the native Atlanteans, particularly those from the planet’s northern hemisphere. “It was delivered early this morning, and it is marked urgent.” He held out a small metal canister, with a keypad and readout on one end. “I thought we should get it to you immediately.”
“Thank you.” Erik reached out and took it. The concierge bowed his head slightly, a local affectation, and turned to walk away. Erik walked back into the room, the AI closing the door behind him.
“What is it?” Sarah was looking over from the bed.
There was a small data chip attached to the locked canister. “I don’t know yet.” He walked over to the night table, plugging the chip into his ‘pad. A small note appeared on the screen. “My God, it’s from Will Thompson.”
“Who?”
“Will Thompson. He was in my squad when I first came up. We served together for almost three years. He was my sergeant during Achilles, but he took a hit early on. That’s how I ended up running the squad.” He paused, thinking to himself. “I haven’t seen him in years.” Another pause. “We tried to stay in touch after he retired, but you know how tough it is to get messages back and forth on campaign.” Cain felt a twinge of guilt…he was pretty sure he’d been the one to drop the ball on answering Will’s last few letters.
“Does it say what is in the canister?” She was craning her neck to get a better look. She considered getting up and walking over, but the room was still cold, and she decided to stay in bed and pull the covers over her.
“No.” Erik paused, reading the rest of the note. “It just says, ‘remember where we used to play cards?” He looked over at her, a puzzled expression on his face.
Sarah laughed softly. “What is it, a riddle of some kind?”
“I guess.” He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the canister. “We played cards on the Guadalcanal, in the engineering crew’s wardroom most of the time.”
“Was there something specific about that room?”
He looked at her then back to the canister. Suddenly he remembered. “The cabins on the Guadalcanal were numbered. They had long numbers, six digits. We used to joke about why a ship so small needed so many digits on each hatch.” He looked at the keypad. “What the hell was that number?” He closed his eyes, thinking, trying to remember. He turned the canister over and began punching numbers…3, 7, 0, 4, 8. “What was that last number?” He looked down at the small screen on the canister. Finally, he hit 9.
There was a small clicking sound and the canister projected a holographic image. It was Will Thompson, a little older but otherwise just as Erik remembered. “Hello, Erik. Or should I call you general?” The image flashed a wicked grin. “I always knew you’d figure out what you were doing someday.” His smiled broadened, but just for a moment, his good cheer quickly fading to a concerned grimace. “Seriously, though, I’m sending you this because you are a general, because I trust you.” Sarah slid across the bed next to Erik, putting her arm on his shoulder.
The Thompson image moved uncomfortably, shifting weight from one leg to the other. “Erik, I know how you feel about Alliance Gov, too, and that’s another reason I sent this to you. Things are much worse on the colonies than you probably think…at least the major worlds like Columbia and Arcadia.” He paused to let that sink in. “A lot of it has been gradual and covert…they probably don’t even know we know about all of it. They’ve been monitoring all communications sent via the interstellar net, and they’ve been brining in a lot of armed personnel…some kind of Federal police force.”
Cain stared at the image intently. Sarah could feel his body tense. Erik hated Alliance Gov with a barely controlled passion. He’d been expecting something like this for years, and it was beginning to look as if he’d been right all along.
“People are getting arrested, Erik…disappearing. They’re confiscating weapons, even long-ranged communications devices. I got this canister out through a…ah…friend…who does a little smuggling. Another day or two and I doubt I could have gotten it through. ”He paused, a pained look taking over his face. “It’s going to come to violence soon, Erik. They’re not leaving us any choice.” The image stared straight at Cain. “I don’t know what you can do, but the Corps needs to know what is going on. There’s a lot of misinformation going around. If we have to fight, we’ll fight. But please God, I don’t want to see Marines dropping here to start shooting at us. The Academy is riddled with spies, I’m sure of that. There have been more personnel changes there in the last year than in the other ten I’ve lived here. Something is going on, and it’s not good.”