at heart. It had been a big thrill for him.
'You would imagine that the most powerful man in the known galaxy would get a little pissed if his daughter were put in harm's way.' Tamara hadn't thought of that until now. She had been so busy all morning that she hadn't had any time to think of the dignitary visitor. But the President's daughter was trapped at Ross 128. She hoped somebody was going to go get her.
'Are we going to get her?'
'No, Gunny. We are going to take the QMT facility, transition it to a reserve team, and then drop to the planet below and take it.' At least that was how the colonel had described their mission.
About that time a young-looking Marine officer in UCUs rounded the corner in a hurry, headed in the opposite direction. He was the new second lieutenant the Robots were expecting. Tamara and Tommy stepped aside and saluted as he walked by; the new gunnery sergeant gave his best salute to the new second-ranking officer of the Robots.
'Excuse me.' Second Lieutenant Zachary Nelms nodded and kept on his way, not returning the salute. He looked very preoccupied to Tamara, but she didn't give a shit. The second lieutenant continued on in the other direction as Tamara and Tommy stood there holding their salutes and looking shunned. Tamara could see that Suez wasn't sure what to do in response, and, in fact, he was probably feeling a bit belittled by the lack of gesture. There were varying protocols for indoor and outdoor salutes, and there had been protocols for them on naval vessels throughout history. But with the advent of mixed forces on the mammoth supercarriers, the philosophy or rule of thumb of 'when in doubt, whip it out' had become the standard for saluting. It was a form of showing respect. And Suez and McCandless had just been disrespected.
'Well, that goddamned little shit,' Tamara fumed. 'Excuse me a moment, Tommy,' she told Suez and headed back down the corridor after the young officer.
'Excuse me, Lieutenant, I'd like a moment of your time,' Tamara said as she hurried up beside the second lieutenant and looked down at him. She was nearly two meters tall and athletic as hell. She had played both basketball and volleyball in college and probably could have gone pro. She might still after she retired and got her next rejuv, but for now she was happy being the SNCO of Colonel Ramy's Robots of the U.S. Marine Corp 3rd Armored E-suit Marines Forward Recon Unit. She was tall, muscular, and a trained heartbreaker and life-taker.
'Not now, First Sergeant, I'm in hurry,' he replied.
'Well, sir, then I'll walk with you, but you are going to hear what I have to say, sir,' Tamara said sharply and right to the goddamned point.
'All right, First Sergeant, uh, McCandless.' He looked at her name tag as if making a mental note to report her later to the CO of the Robots.
'Well, sir, what do you see as the role of senior NCOs, sir?'
'The NCOs are to keep my marines and their equipment functioning as a well-oiled heartbreaking and life-taking machine,' the second lieutenant said with a whole lot more than just a hint of annoyance in his voice. He almost sounded perturbed to Tamara. She didn't give a flying rat's ass.
'Yes, sir. That is half of the NCO's job. The other half of it is to act as an experienced advisor and mentor to junior officers, sir. You are a second lieutenant, sir, and have been active duty at best not even a year, sir. Most of the NCOs will have been in service for several years and even decades. Myself, I've been in twenty-one years, and Gunnery Sergeant Suez back there has eight years in, sir. I served at the exodus on the ground at Mons City at the battle for the main dome and at the Battle of the Oort. Gunnery Sergeant Suez back there was absolutely key in the victory at the Battle of the Oort. Saluting is a common courtesy and a show of mutual respect, sir.
