“You can say that again. It’s lookingbusy.”
As she looked back,Valentine was surprised to see a dozen or soNovas moving in from an adjoining passage nearly fifty metres away.They marched in perfect time and with an array of extra heavyweapons fitted to their bodies.
“That’s the brand-new1st Lance. And 2ndand 4th have been rebuilt withnew recruits, and survivors from other units.”
“So,1st Platoon is back in action?”
“Oh, it’s better than that. We’ve got reinforcements from TerraNova and Taxxu, enough fresh meat to rebuild the entire companywith spares. I hear that 2nd Company is finishingtraining in the next few weeks.”
“Impressive. A lot has changed in the last ten days.”
“Ten days?” Hawkinslaughed, “Val, you’ve been out formonths. How did you think all of this happened so fast?”
She lifted an artificial hand toher head and could feel the scar tissue.
“I thought it was just…”
“It’s okay,” said Alexis,“The recovery time, especially for soldiers likeus. We put heavy loads on our minds. We were told you would be senthome. But you’re not, right?”
They passed heaps of storage containers, and towards the half open doorleading to the ship. There was no need to duck as they passedinside to the partially lit vessel. Valentine looked back at herand nodded.
“I’m staying here. In myexperience, there’s nothing worse thanhaving nothing to do. I need to keep my body and mindoccupied.”
Hawkins looked to Alexisand raised his eyebrows as though he was sharinga secret with her. Valentine, however, found her eyes drawn to thelarge ship inside the landing bay hidden away deep inside thecolony. The space was big enough for at least three similar ships,and as she looked up, she could make out the armoured hatches thatled to the surface. There were recently added turret installationsfitted along the side of the deep shaft that she suspected must beclose to three hundred metres from the surface.
Tex, how longhave they been herefor?
She asked the question, and to hersurprise there was no answer.
“My Cortex,” she said in surprise.
“Yes,” said Alexis,“They’ve all been upgraded. You need to beplugged in for a full diagnostic and firmware upgrade before it cango live again.”
Valentine touched her headagain and felt a little queasy.
“Firmware upgrade? What about hispersonality?”
Alexis seemed almost amused byher question, but as she looked intoValentine’s eyes, she could tell her friend and fellow soldier wasbeing completely serious.
“Oh…well, you’ll need to speak with the techs. From what Iunderstand, our settings and history will not bechanged.”
“We’ll see about that,”said Valentine.
They moved onfurther and into the full glare of a trioof powerful spotlights. That lit up the flank of the Alliancewarship, revealing every mark and dent on her hull, as well aspicking out the hard edges and weapon systems fittedthroughout.
“Nautilus.” A smile formedacross Valentine’s lips, “She’s beenrepaired?”
Seeing the ship was aminor thing for most, but it was more thanenough to take her mind off what she had just learned. Nautilus hadbeen their home in the previous year, and she could see from thework that had been undertaken the ship had seen a lot of action.There were also changes she didn’t remember from the last timeshe’d seen the ship.
“As good as new,”said Private Hawkins.
Valentine moved towards the leftside and looked up at the hull. She could see where armour had been replaced and the surfaceresealed.
“Repaired and rebuilt perhaps,but never as new. And this entireunderside has changed.”
“That’s correct,”said one of the techs working nearby. Heplaced down a diagnostic panel and nodded towards the ship, “Theentire underside has been reinforced for planetary insertion, andthe landing gear uprated for heavier landings. If you ask me, theMorato kind of makes the Jackal redundant now.”
“Maybe,” said Alexis,“But what happens when you needsubtlety?”
The tech looked up and down ather, starting with her feet, and then looking at every piece ofaugmentation before reaching her face. On any other occasionit might have felt a little uncomfortable, buthe wasn’t gawping at her form. He was looking at her armour,enhanced limbs, and overall bulk.
“No offensive, Corporal. But you arewalking tanks. I think subtlety went out of the window a long timeago.”
Alexis laughed, and as she looked to Valentine, she found she waslaughing, too.
“Okay. You might have a point there. But the Jackals still have aplace. Sometimes a single lance is all that’s needed to complete amission.”
“Amen to that,” saidValentine, “Sometimes less ismore.”
The man shrugged in partial concession,and then looked up to the ship.
“She’sbeen outfitted with more weapons along the lower hull.”
“I see,” said Valentine,“Looks like a mixture of point defence turretsand two small cells. They look too small for anti-shipweapons.”
“Oh…nicely spotted. That’s partof the tranche two upgrades. These cellsare half-size, for supporting fire. They can be outfitted withrockets, smoke charges, and short-range laser-guided missiles.That, combined with the upgraded lower amour should make combatinsertions a little more palatable. Plus, she’s packing the new ISdrives. Faster and longer ranged.”
“Corporal!” shouted a familiarvoice.
Alexis thanks the man, andthen signalled for the pair to followher.
“That’s the Sarge.He’s waiting for us.
Valentine remained stilland looked back to Alexis.
“Okay…something is happening here. Tell me.”
Alexis chuckled.
“The Sergeant can explain it better than me. Come on.”
They moved around the shippast even more marines, and then to the waitingSergeant. He was there, along with the two other Novas, one ofwhich was Acting Lance Corporal Tsarkov, a man who always seemed tohave it in for Valentine.
“Nice to have you back with us,”he said with a forced smile, “Enough bedrest?”
“Nice,” muttered Valentine.
The Sergeant looked to Tsarkovand slowly shook his head before lookingto Valentine.
“I wasn’t expecting to see youback for this op. Your report said you were scheduled for R&R on Earth. If you ask me, it’s wellearned.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to get backto normal as quickly as possible.”
“Good,” he said with evidentrelief, “1st Company is padded outwith newbies. I need people I can rely on out there. We’re leavingby the end of the day, have you caught up?”
“Not quite, Sergeant.I spoke briefly with the Captain, but he had toleave before we could discuss any details.”
“I see. Well…the short end of
