One Good Soldier

well.

'Full throttle up, Dee!' Jawbone continued.

Dee shook herself to and saw DeathRay's fighter looming at her fast. She was certain that she was a goner, but at the last second tracers came in off his three o'clock. Deuce engaged him just in time to give Dee the second she needed to recover and get the hell out of there. But then the damndest thing Dee had ever seen happened.

The Navy Ares-T fighter started swirling about its center of gravity point while still traveling along the same trajectory it had been on. The Navy fighter twisted and spun in a mad whirl in all directions. Tracer simulators came out of it each time it tracked around to hers or Deuce's position. The little fighter whirled so fast Dee could barely see it or manage to respond quickly enough. Finally, the thought hit her just to get the hell away from there. So she slammed the throttle forward.

'Move, Dee!' Jawbone shouted, and then she sighed. 'Shit. Fucking, goddamned DeathRay.'

'You have been confirmed killed in action,' the computer-simulator referee voice chimed.

'What the hell?' Dee could tell by Deuce's icon turning orange in her DTM that she was KIA, too.

'Pukin' Deathblossom,' Jawbone said between breaths. 'Good flying, Dee. DeathRay is, well, DeathRay.'

'A puking what?'

Chapter 11

July 1, 2394 AD

Sol System, Earth, Washington, D.C.

Friday, 12:31 PM, Earth Eastern Standard Time

'Ambassador Spellman, welcome to Washington D.C. I appreciate your joining us today,' Alexander Moore stood from behind the Resolute desk and made his way across the Oval Office to meet the ambassador from Arcadia. The Ross 128 governor should have made the trip himself, but President Moore saw this as power posturing by the leader of that colony.

'Mr. President. It is an honor, sir. Please, call me Alonzo.' The ambassador looked nervous to Moore. That was just the way that the president wanted him. Moore knew he had to convince the colonists to back down on this revolt against the tariffs. Without the money from those tariffs, there was just no way Congress would continue to fund the large military buildup and presence being planned for the U.S. colonies and territories. Without protection, they would be sitting ducks for the Separatists to move in and take them.

'Well, Alonzo, I know it is a damned hot July day, but why don't we take a walk through the Rose Garden and chat man-to-man before the press gets hold of us, huh?' Moore clapped the man on his shoulder with his right hand and pointed him toward the door with his left.

'Certainly, Mr. President. Whatever you would like.'

'Thomas.' Moore turned to his ever-present shadowing Secret Service agent. 'We're gonna go for a little walk.' The Secret Service man just nodded and followed.

Abigail, he thought to his AIC.

Yes, sir?

Is Sehera waiting for me out in the Garden?

Yes, Mr. President.

Good. We'll good-cop/bad-marine this flunky.

Amateurs.

My sentiments exactly, Abby.

Alexander and Sehera did their best to take turns charming and then threatening the ambassador at the same time. It was a First Family effort for the history books that applied both soft-spoken diplomacy as well as the big stick. Alexander thought at times that they were getting through to the thick-headed and dull-witted politician, but he wasn't sure.

'Alonzo, my good man, if the Separatists decide to bring their terrorism into your star system, there is very little that Governor Brown could do about it. The Arcadian Naval Guard is little more than a rescue service. You would be at their mercy.' Alexander argued his point. 'It takes a lot of resources to keep a defense force there, and how do you expect we'll pay for that?'

'Nevertheless, Mr. President, we have a major ground force. Do not forget that our planet has been inhabited for over a century and we have a million-man Armored Guard