nonstarter. Sorry, Michael, but that's the way it is. We need to find another way.'
'Sorry, sir, but that's not right. You just need one volunteer, and that's me. I dragged everyone into this mess, so I think it's up to me get everyone out.'
Adrissa sat back and steepled her fingers. She stared at Michael for a long time. 'You're a stubborn little bastard, Helfort; that much is a gold-plated fact,' she said at last. 'And yes, you did drag everyone into this mess. So tell me. If I don't give this crazy plan of yours the green light, you'll harass and hound me until I do. Am I right?'
'Pretty much, sir, pretty much, but to be serious, I know what I've suggested is risky, but so's being stuck here on Commitment while the Hammers kick the crap out of us for the next ten years. I've only had two days to think the mission through, and I agree with you. As it stands, it's too risky. Give me a week and let me see if I can get the risk down to something you can live with.'
'One week.'
'I'll also need access to ENCOMM's intelligence knowledge base. I need to know everything they know about the Hammer's ballistic missile and nearspace defenses, and when I say everything, I mean-'
'Everything, got it.' Adrissa frowned. 'Mmm, that might be a problem. They keep their intel very close to the chest. Leave it to me; I'll see if I can persuade General Vaas to make an exception in your case.'
'He'll want to know why, sir.'
'He will, but since your plan…' Adrissa paused. Shaking her head, she continued. 'Plan? Not even close to being a plan, not yet, anyway. What was I saying? Oh, yes. Since your deranged scheme involves the NRA, I suppose we might as well bite the bullet and tell him what we're thinking. The sooner we get Vaas onside, the better.'
'Then I guess I'd better get started, sir. The general will want to see something a bit less, er… adventurous.'
Adrissa laughed. 'He will, he sure will. Right. You'd better get started. Make sure you don't discuss this with anybody, not even with the lovely Sergeant Helfort, and that's an order.'
'Aye, aye, sir. By the way, she's been promoted. It's Lieutenant Helfort now.'
Adrissa rolled her eyes. 'Oh, for chrissakes, two Lieutenant Helforts! One was bad enough. Go!'
'Sir.' Monday, February 11, 2402, UD Sector Juliet, Branxton Base, Commitment
'Hello, spacer. Why so glum?'
'Oh, hi, Kat.' Michael pushed his coffee mug around the tabletop. 'Oh, the usual. Just got a vidcomm from Anna.'
'And let me guess,' Sedova said, her face a sympathetic frown. 'Your plans for some time together have just been trashed?'
Michael sighed. 'Yup. The 120th is going back into the line sooner than she expected.'
'I'd heard. Seems General Vaas thinks we've all had enough time to recover, so it's back on the offensive we go.'
'So it seems,' Michael said. 'Must say, I'm surprised. The NRA might have kicked the Hammers back where they came from, but it cost them.'
'Yeah, it did, and it shows. We've just been briefed on ENCOMM's plans for the next three months. All small- scale stuff.'
'Which begs the question, how-'
'Are they ever going to win this fucking war?' Sedova said with a scowl. 'That's the only question that matters to me.'
Michael tried not to wince; every time the question was asked-and it was asked a lot-it reminded him that he and he alone was responsible for Sedova's predicament. 'That is the question,' he said, 'and I wish I knew the answer.'
'What the hell,' Sedova said with a smile. 'Did I tell you I'm going to get hitched?'
'You're kidding. No, you didn't.'
'Yeah. Next month, hopefully, though the way ENCOMM pushes its units around, it may be the month after.'
'Ah, that'd be Trooper Zhu?'
'That's the man. He's with one of the combat engineering regiments.'
'Don't know him,' Michael said. 'But I'm glad, Kat. Very glad.' He meant it; if people like Sedova were prepared to make that sort of commitment, then maybe life might not be so bad, after all; maybe he should not feel so guilty. 'I hope he makes you happy.'
'Thanks.' Sedova smacked her coffee mug down with an emphatic bang. 'Coffee's the one good thing-no, it's the only good thing to come out of a Hammer canteen,' she said, pushing back in her battered chair.
'So what brings you here, Kat?'
'Handing Acharya's effects over to FLTDETCOMM. Not that there was much to hand over,' she added, mouth turning down into a tight-lipped, bitter scowl. 'Poor bastard never had a chance.'
'He did well, though.'
'He did,' Sedova said. 'Hell Bent was worth fighting for, and I'm glad they saved her. Pity the NRA didn't turn up five minutes sooner. Dev would still be alive. Not that I blame them. They had a lot going on.'
'They did. How's the salvage work on Alley Kat going?'
'The engineers will have removed the last of the rockfall today. We'll start stripping her down as soon us they give us the okay. I'll be sorry to see her turned into a useless hulk, though. She was a good ship.'
'She was,' Michael said. 'Always thought heavy landers were indestructible, though I'm damn sure they were never designed to survive thousands of tons of rock crashing down. You keeping the salvage work tight?'
'Yes. Only our people will get to see the pinchspace generators. We'll break them down and split up the parts. If the Hammers ever find the bits-'
'Don't go there,' Michael said. 'I like to think we might be forgiven one day, but we won't if we ever let the Hammers get their hands on a Block 6's pinchspace generator.'
'No,' Sedova said, sipping her coffee. 'What are you up to? Going to join the NRA?'
'Hell, no,' Michael said. 'My last excursion was more than enough. It's beyond me why Anna's decided it's the life for her. I think she's nuts, but that's Anna. Just hope she comes through.'
'She will. She's tough and smart. So what are you doing?'
'Project for Adrissa. Strategic options, you know the sort of thing.'
'Well, no, I don't, and since you obviously aren't going to tell me, I'll stop asking.'
'Sorry, Kat. Can't talk about it.'
'That's okay,' Sedova said with a cheerful smile. 'I'll be taking over Hell Bent.'
'How long before she's back operational?'
'A week, maybe. Can't wait. I have a few accounts to settle.' The look of hungry anticipation on Sedova's face was hard to miss.
'We all do. Look, I'd better go. Captain Adrissa gets grumpy if I'm not working twenty hours a day. Catch you sometime.'
'Yup.'
Michael made his way back to FLTDETCOMM; Adrissa was waiting for him.
'We leave in ten minutes,' she said. 'General Vaas wants to see us.'
'Long Shot, sir?'
Adrissa smiled a tight half smile. 'Getting him to back this lunatic plan of yours? Yes, it's a long shot. I'll meet you at the maglev.'
'Sir.'
Setting off, Michael tried to keep his mind focused on the upcoming meeting with Vaas but soon gave up. His frame of mind had been bad enough before Anna's latest vidcomm had trashed their plans for a two-day break. Now it was worse, and not just because Vaas's insistence that the NRA go back on the offensive meant Anna's regiment would be in action any day now.
The thought of Anna back in combat was hard to bear; coming on top of the unremitting pressure he was under to whip Operation Long Shot-Adrissa's feeble attempt at gallows humor-into something that might work made it even harder to bear. Not that he was not making progress; he was. The problem was the cost of failure. Michael had taken some terrible risks in his time but never anything on the scale of Long Shot.
