One Good Soldier

focused his mind on the blackness of space. Then he began to slowly drift off to sleep.

'General quarters! General quarters. All hands, all hands, report to duty stations immediately. Prepare for battlestations call,' the ship's AIC said over the 1-MC intercom and through QM wireless to all AICs aboard the Sienna Madira.

'What the hell?' DeathRay jerked himself up via the built-in reflex to the general quarters call. 'How long was I asleep, Candis?' He stretched and rubbed at his eyes.

'About thirteen minutes, Captain. I guess there is no rest for the wicked.'

'Goddamned right,' Jack muttered as he shook himself to and then threw on his UCUs and put a toothbrushing cube in his mouth. 'Got any idea what this is about?'

'No, Jack. But the admiral has ordered all the senior officers to the briefing room.'

'That doesn't sound good. Start scanning the news feeds for me.' He spat out the cube into the sink and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Jack slipped his boots on and pressed the seal tab. They suctioned in place, and the color scheme of his uniform set itself to Navy blue. He slapped on his name tag, insignia, and wings, and stuck the black beret typically worn by mecha jocks in his back pocket. Then he was out the hatch in a mad rush toward the main briefing area.

Ross 128 just seceded from the Union, Jack! Candis thought to him.

'Down ladder! Make a hole, seamen.' Jack turned the corner of the corridor into the mostly full stairwell. The enlisted men in his way hugged the bulkhead or flattened their backs to it.

Oh shit! Dee! he thought. They'll shut the QMT gate down first thing. And you know they'll try to nab her.

She is with a bodyguard and a seasoned marine, the AIC said.

Yeah, against an entire damned planet. Those ain't good odds for Dee. DeathRay didn't like this situation at all. He really liked the First Daughter and hated to see her get caught up in the middle of bad shit, again. That kid just has some bad luck, doesn't she?

It's not her fault. And this all seems timed too coincidentally to me, Candis added.

Good point. Dee just happens to arrive at Ross 128 just moments before they secede from the Union and shut down the teleporter. Yeah, bullshit. This was another one of those coincidences where the Separatists were concerned. Who knew what that crazy bitch, Elle Ahmi, had up her sleeve. This could be the start of a full-scale invasion. He hoped like hell that Ahmi didn't get her hands on Dee.

'Hold the elevator!' he shouted as he rounded the corner to the main tower elevator. It was filling fast, and there were several officers piling in.

'Captain Boland, you barely made this one.' Colonel Warboys held the door for him. Warboys never smiled as far as Jack could tell. The Army man was all business. Even when he cracked a joke, it was sometimes hard to tell if he was laughing or grimacing.

'Thanks, Colonel.' Jack caught his breath. 'Any idea what's up?'

'Did you hear about Ross 128?' Warboys asked.

'Yeah, and the First Daughter just passed through the QMT.'

'Sounds too coincidental if you ask me.' Warboys reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of stimgum. 'Want a slice?'

'Hey, do I look that bad?' DeathRay grinned and took the gum. Almost as soon as the stick hit his tongue he felt a wave of energy rush through his body, and he was as wide awake as he'd ever been in his life.

'It's been a long day already. And I suspect it is about to get a hell of a lot longer.' Warboys looked blank for second. His AIC was telling him something.

'Shit, gonna need something stronger than gum, then, Colonel.'

'Me, too, Jack. Me, too.'

A matter of minutes later, very short minutes, and the main briefing room one deck below the CDC filled in and the doors were pulled shut. More than a thousand officers and SNCOs filled the room. The more senior ones were seated forward of the room and the lower ranks filed backward. There were hundreds standing against the rear and side bulkheads of the auditorium. Jack and Warboys sat next to each other in the front row. General Chekov marched across the stage and stood at attention.

'Rear Admiral Wallace Jefferson!' the XO grunted. Everybody stood to attention. The admiral walked across the stage and nodded to the XO, who then turned and marched off the stage and stood by a seat in the front row of the auditorium.

'At ease. Be seated,'