Tad and Spike waited for Galen to catch up to them. They saw a Helo set down a short distance ahead and sprinted to it, climbed in with the rest of the dismounted command group and rode back to the Jasmine Panzer Brigade compound.
Chapter Twenty Four
Galen entered his office and fired up the comms. The latest message from the Chancellor’s office was sent by his chief of staff. It simply said, “The Chancellor is dead. Died of a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to his right temple.”
Galen keyed his personal communicator. “Hey Colonel Baek, you there?”
“Yessir.”
“We’re leaving ASAP. How much space do you have on those assault boats?”
“Enough. They’re on the tarmac outside the marshaling yard.”
Galen thought for a moment. “Good. Tad, you catch that?”
“Roger.” Tad’s voice was strained. “What happened?”
“Why the rush?” Spike’s voice.
Galen said, “The Chancellor is dead. Our obligations here have been met. It is time for extraction. Get out everybody we can get out in six hours or less. We need to get out of this system before that Mosh fleet can get back from blocking the solar storm. Also, the indigs at High Command will want us to stay here and get turned into dog meat while they skate off to Capella. Not acceptable.”
Tad’s voice, “Roger, we’re moving on that now.”
“Jasmine Six out.” Galen sat at his desk, shut off the comms gear. He then changed into a fresh, clean set of combat coveralls and hung his gun belt on the back of his chair. Leave it for the Mandarins, they would need it. He left his office and jogged across the quadrangle to the marshaling yard. Tad was there, directing the troops to leave their vehicles and move out to the tarmac on foot.
Galen got his attention. “Hey ops daddy. Going well?”
Tad shrugged. “Lift capability. We can get our troops out but their gear weighs too much.”
Galen nodded. “Tell them to ground everything but boots and coveralls.”
Tad said, “That’s about all we can manage. But it’ll still be tight. You have room for me on the command drop ship?”
“Sure.” Galen smiled.
“Okay. We’ll have to leave last so I can direct operations right up to the end.”
“Sure. No problem.” Galen patted Tad on the shoulder and walked through the marshaling yard, past vehicles parked in somewhat sloppy rows. Beyond the yard was the tarmac and company-sized formations of Marines and Mercenaries formed up. They grounded their war gear and weapons and then marched off to board assault boats.
They were packed in tight, standing room only. Galen looked back at the tarmac and saw several blocks of grounded gear from formations that had already prepared to depart. He then made his way over to this command jump ship and sat in the cockpit with the flight crew. The pilot said, “Welcome aboard, sir.”
Galen said, “Won’t be long. Are you sure about the jump?”
“We can do it. Won’t be easy, but it can be done.”
Colonel Baek entered the cockpit and sat next to Galen, handed a slip of paper to the pilot. “The coordinates I promised you.”
“Thanks.” The pilot began entering data and making calculations.
Tad entered and said, “That’s about it, just two boats to go.”
“Have a seat,” said Galen.
Tad sat and fastened his seat belt, looked at his communicator screen. Beyond the chain-link fence of the marshaling yard was a mass of military-age Mandarin men. They pressed against it, a few climbing over. Here to get their hands on the gear left by the Marines and Mercenaries, most likely.
The loadmaster called up to announce that the ramp was closed and the cargo secure. Tad nodded and the pilot ordered the assault boats to lift. They took off and headed for he coordinates of the pirate jump point provided by Colonel Baek. It was a longer flight, but Galen didn’t want to have to confront the Capellan Space Force at the conventional jump point. The Interceptors lifted off next, and then Galen’s jump ship followed last. Through the view port, Galen saw Mandarin men grabbing at the war gear on the ground. An organized group of uniformed soldiers marched in formation toward the military vehicles in the marshaling yard.
The pilot arrived at the jump point and engaged the jump point generator. The assault boats moved toward it, made final adjustments to their vectors, and passed through one after the other. An indicator on the instrument panel of the command drop ship turned amber. The pilot shut down the jump point and said, “It’s not a problem, just have to let the generator cool for a couple of minutes.”
The two dozen remaining assault boats and seventeen Interceptors waited. Galen said, “Can we get them all out on the next jump?”
The pilot nodded. Then a mass of space shimmered and shifted and fourteen Mandarin Space Force stealth boats materialized in front of the command drop ship. The instrument panel received an encrypted hail. The pilot looked back at Galen.
Galen said, “Answer it.”
The pilot acknowledged the hail.
“Mercenaries, this is Commander Chey. Requesting assistance.”
Galen paused. He was staring at enough firepower to turn his little refugee caravan into less than an historical footnote. He cleared his throat and said, “What is the nature of your emergency?”
“We ran out of chow three days ago and just today ran out of water. Can you give us anything, anything at all?”
Galen looked at Tad, at the pilot. Colonel Baek shook his head. “We got nothing. We left supplies on the ground to make room for people.”
Galen said, “We’ll give you passage to Capella. I’m sure they can help you out.”
A long pause and then Commander Chey said, “Thank you, that will do.”
“Stand by for eleven minutes. I’ll send you vector data.”
“Standing by.” Commander Chey waited.
The assault boats and Interceptors passed through the point, the pilot let the generator cool, sent vector data to the stealth boats, generated the point again to let them pass, then took the command drop ship through behind them.
On the other side they were detected by a Capellan Confederation Space Force patrol. They sent a transport ship to their location. The boats and Interceptors docked and the personnel were sorted out. All the Capellan Space Marines re-boarded their assault boats for a ride to their home planet. The Mandarin Stealth Boats were taken by Capella, not permitted to return to Mandarin. That war was essentially over. The Capellan Space Force wasn’t in the business of sending its people to certain death.
Galen sat in the lounge of the transport ship and sipped ale. Soon this ship would take his people to Juventud, the new home for what was left of the Jasmine Panzer Brigade. He sat and wondered abut the troops left behind. The dead, he could honor their service, their sacrifice. That was something he knew how to do, he had plenty of practice. But the ones captured by the Mosh, the ones taken prisoner. He could only guess at their fate and the thought of it churned his stomach.
Chapter Twenty Five
Mike Stovall lay on his back under the quilt of his sturdy bed. It was in the loft of an A-frame resort getaway cabin in the mountains to the east of the Skeleton Desert on Mandarin. He slept naked, not much sense in getting dressed. He did have a bath robe and a pair of slippers by the door, something to wear if he wanted to leave his room. The sun was just coming up over the ridge of the mountains across the valley. He was Terran as a child, taken to grow up on Langston by his parents, enlisted in the Langston Legion, was discharged early for not being black enough…
Moved to Capella and joined their Space Marines, became an assault boat pilot, became a Panzer Brigade Interceptor pilot, was shot down and captured, held as a bondsman by the Mosh. His mission, at the request of his captors, was to impregnate as many Mosh women as possible during a Standard year. Their gene pool was getting stale; they needed an infusion of new blood. They could all pass for first cousins; the majority looked like brothers and sisters, and there were clones too.