Valentine hesitated, wondering if thismight even be a test.
“We’re trained,equipped, and good to go,Sir.”
“Of that I have no doubt.But that’s not what I mean. The mission is thething that concerns me, not your performance. You know our part inthe mission. What do you think?”
Valentine considered that fora moment, and at the same time used Texto bring up the data she’d seen on the alien ship. Though itprovided them with a level of detail so far unheard of, it stillunsettled her.
“Sir, what bothers me the most are the unknowns.”
“How so?”
“We’re going right to theSkils’ front door, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, doesn’t that sound alittle reckless to you, based on almost no reconnaissance? We knowthe layout of this system, but we don’t know its purpose. Is ittheir homeworld, or is it something else, like a staging post or afortress? What if we land there to find it isimpregnable?”
“Well, that is a possibility. But the data we brought back correlates withother intelligence obtained in the fighting around Mars. We knowthis system is the heart of their territory, and the primary worldis there for the taking.”
“But what if the data wediscovered was all just a plant.Something left for us to find?”
She could tell right awayhe had been thinking the same as her.
“You’ve already discussed this withCaptain Olik, haven’t you, Sir?”
He smiled as he looked at her.
“Lance Corporal, have youconsidered the officer programme? There’smore to being a Nova than simply smashing anddestroying.”
“I like smashing, Sir. It was never mydream to be an officer.”
“I see.”
He seemed almost disappointed to hearthat, but then his expression changed.
“Yes, I passed onmy concerns to the Captain, and it’s madeits way up through the chain of command. That’s why the mission hasevolved. The IAB will perform a reconnaissance in advance of themain force. We will be followed six hours later by the rest of thebattle fleet, including the heavies and the Rift control stationsand support vessels.”
“What about ground forces? Or are we expected to do this all on ourown?”
The Lieutenant shook his head.
“Not just us. Once theSpacebridge is open, we will send inelements of the 1stDivision, with the 2nd and7th joining them in reserve. We’ve got close to a hundredthousand marines coming up right behind us.”
“That’s more like it. That willgive us some flexibility.”
“Exactly. Now…your lance, is there anything you need that you don’thave?”
She looked back to them as theycontinued practicing.
“No,Sir. Just point us to the enemy, and we’ll do the rest.”
“Outstanding. Let’s hope the godsare on our side, and we can rid this place of these heinouscreatures.”
“Creatures, Sir?”
Something flickered in his left eye, and she could tell her wordshad somehow triggered a response. He looked around the deck as ifchecking to see if anybody else was listening beforecontinuing.
“Humanity can never be safe while these things infest ourcolonies, Lance Corporal.”
She spotted something odd in hislook, almost scorn as he mentioned the enemy. She had little realsympathy for the Ski’ligs, but somethingabout his mannerisms suggested it was not just the avian race thatconcerned him.
“Infest, Sir?”
He looked into her eyes and could seethe confusion.
“You’re not from Terra Nova, areyou?”
“No,Sir.”
“We are a world used to conflictand have seen the ravages brought on by the Biomechs and a host ofother debased monsters.”
He shook his head, and shecould see genuine sadness.
“My father almost succumbed tohis wounds at the steps of the palace when the rebels landed andended the war against them. That was a generation ago, and still,there’s a fear of their return. Every soul on Terra Nova knows thatno alien lands on that planet without evil in theirhearts.”
“He’s still there? On Terra Nova?”
“Hedidn’t die. No, he travelled back to Mars where he’s worked onweapons technology for decades. He’s a weapons specialist, a masterof the art.”
Valentine knew what was coming next and braced herself.
“And he was of the thousands ofcitizens those Ski’lig beasts turned against us.”
Now it all became clear to her.The loss of the past was nothing compared to what had happened onMars and its moons. He licked his lipsbefore going on.
“The siege we fought wasnot just against the alien threat. It wasagainst the people we love. One of us…maybe even me was responsiblefor his death. His body was riddled with gunfire from our ownweaponry.”
He moved in closer toValentine, and she could see his eyeswere a little bloodshot. He’d never been quite like this before,and it left her feeling a little queasy. She tried to move away,but it was too late.
“We have to stopthem. Every one of them before it is toolate.”
He pointed to her chest, and for a second she thought he wasabout to blame her.
“Sir, I understand.”
He seemed surprised to hear that.
“Oh, how so?”
She knew she was in a dangerousposition, but she also understood his suffering, perhaps more thanmost.
“My family, Sir. My father was one of those taken by theBiomechs. Every soul on his transport ship was reported as missing,presumed dead. That was until he was identified much later insidethe catacombs on Proxima Prime.”
The Lieutenant looked shocked.
“Theychanged him?”
Valentine swallowed, and thennodded.
“It wasn’t him, not by the end. But thematerial…”
Her nostrils twitched as she tried tocontinue.
“I understand, adifferent enemy, but the same result. That’s whyyou joined the military?”
“No, mybrothers were both in the Marine Corps before me. They were enroute to the Nexus to join the war effort. My mother demanded theygo for vengeance on the death of our father, all as long as Iagreed to stay with the family business. Their convoy was hitbefore they made it into battle.”
Valentine looked down and shook herhead.
“The loss of my father and mybrothers broke her. Her mind failed, andshe died a year later. My uncles were next in line with the familycompany, leaving me nothing, nothing but the promise she asked meto make.”
The Lieutenant’s face softened as helistened.
“Promise?”
“Yes. She wanted one thing, and one thing only, vengeance for theValentine family. With just me left, she wanted it to be me tobring back the head of an alien warrior, one that has cause as muchpain as the Biomechs, and to bury it beside her grave on ProximaPrime.”
“That’s quite apromise.”
“In her last months
