locked themselves. The three of them stood on the side of the stage.
'Stand at attention and face the screen, Jack,' the admiral said in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.
'Aye, sir.' Jack turned and faced the screen at attention. Then a voice came through the speakers.
'Are we clear, Wally?' It was President Moore's voice.
'Yes, Mr. President,' the admiral replied. Then the screen blinked back on, and the three-dimensional projection popped out, and the Moores were standing right in front of the supercarrier officers.
'Good. Captain Boland, good to see you,' the First Lady said. 'Deanna sent me a message about how wonderful a host you were to her. Thank you very much for that.'
'Any time, ma'am. And it's good to see you too, ma'am.' Jack wasn't sure how to respond.
'Okay, this is the deal, Captain,' President Moore said. 'We've got a problem that only DeathRay can handle. Can we depend on you, Captain?'
'Yes, sir. Anything I can do for you, Mr. President.'
'Well, Jack, you see . . .' Moore paused as if he had to gather himself. Jack had never seen him like that. 'They've got our daughter. The goddamned Separatist bastards kidnapped Dee, and we don't know what they plan to do with her or where they've taken her. As you know, she teleported into Ross 128 for a cadet mecha competition right after she left you. Well, she teleported there just moments before those bastards seceded and shut down the QMT pad on their side. But just before they shut down the long-range comms, the Secret Service received a transmission from her bodyguard's AIC that he and the other student with Dee had been killed and Dee was being kidnapped by Colonel Walt 'Rat' Fink. You met him, I gather?'
'Yes, sir. Sorry to hear this, sir. Whatever I can do, you can count on me, Mr. President.'
'That is just what I wanted to hear, Captain Boland. Take whomever you want, whatever you want, and go get my daughter back safely! You hear me, Captain? You do whatever it takes!' Moore's face was furiously red, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing. The man looked ready to explode. And Jack didn't blame him at all.
'Yes, sir. I'll get her back, sir.'
'Jack,' the First Lady interrupted. Tears formed in her eyes. 'She may act all tough, but she is still just a kid. Don't let her do something stupid. And bring her home, please.'
'Yes, ma'am. I understand, ma'am.'
'And DeathRay,' Moore added. 'The fewer people that know what's going on, the better chance we'll have. We sure don't want the press in on this.'
'Of course, Mr. President.'
'Godspeed, Jack. Good luck.'
Chapter 14
July 1, 2394 AD
Sol System, Oort Cloud
Friday, 2:41 PM, Earth Eastern Standard Time
'Tommy, why don't you try this on for size?' First Sergeant Tamara McCandless handed the soldier a new insignia patch as they made their way down the corridor heading to the drop-tube hangar bay. All the AEMs had been ordered to battlestations. 'Congratulations, Gunnery Sergeant Tommy Suez.'
'Thanks, Top.' Tamara watched as he pulled the staff sergeant patch from his shoulder and stuck it in his pocket. He smiled thinly as he slapped the new rank insignia onto the shoulder of his UCU top. The patch melded with the fabric and then became seamless with the shirt. 'Now I'm making the big bucks,' he said with a laugh.
'You and me both, Tommy,' Tamara agreed.
'Any idea what is going on?' Tommy asked.
'Yes, the Ross 128 colony just seceded from the Union, and we're going to stop them,' Tamara replied with a calm, matter-of-fact tone to her voice. She didn't want to excite her new gunny.
'Holy shit! The president's daughter just went there.' Suez had briefly met her before she got all tangled up with the mecha jocks earlier in the day. He had followed Colonel Roberts' orders and went down to the hangar bay to meet the dignitary. He even got her autograph. Suez was a full-blooded true marine through and through, but he was also a Republican
