After Earth (49 page)

As he regained his senses, he saw that his teammates were in disarray. Their strategy had gone haywire, and their leader was sprawled on the ground, unconscious and maybe worse.

“We can still do this,” Cade said into his navi-band even as he went spear with his cutlass. “Hit it from behind. Turn it around.”

The others went into action. All they had needed was a little push.

As they attacked the Ursa, it did exactly what Cade had hoped: It turned on them, giving him the opening he needed. Dragging himself to his feet, he ignored the injuries he had suffered in his collision with the monster, took two painful steps to gather some speed, and leaped onto its back.

Still stunned, he wasn’t moving as quickly as he had before. But he managed to hang on when the Ursa tried to dislodge him, lift his weapon above his head, and drive it deep into the thing’s back.

Then the Ursa
did
dislodge him. He hit the ground, rolled, and looked up to see what had happened.

What he saw was the beginning of the beast’s death throes. The spear had done its work. They
all
had.

But Cade didn’t stay there to watch the Ursa die. He picked himself up and staggered over to where Gwynn still lay on the ground.

Be alive
, he thought.
Be alive …

The squad leader’s face was bruised and bloody. Pitifully so. And he wasn’t moving.
Is he even breathing?

“Gwynn …?” he said.

No response.

A second time: “Gwynn?”

He was about to start mouth to mouth when he saw Gwynn’s eyelids flutter open. Cade heaved a sigh of relief.
He’s alive
, he thought.
Alive
.

Still, the guy was going to need a doctor. Cade could hear his teammates behind him, making the arrangements.

Gwynn groaned at him through swollen lips, but Cade couldn’t make out what the squad leader was trying to say. He leaned down and put his ear next to Gwynn’s mouth.

What he heard was, in words like the rusting of weeds, “What took you so long?”

Cade laughed.

“What’d he say?” one of the others asked.

Cade laughed again. “None of your damned business.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Then another. Then someone else grabbed hold of him, and yet another hugged him from behind.

Before he knew it, he was part of one big embrace. Not just a bunch of Rangers sharing a victory but something more than that. He had survived. But—more important—so had
they
.

Together
.

Cade was hot and dusty and more than a little stiff-muscled as he exited the transport that had brought him and his squad back from the San Franciscos to the Ranger compound. He was looking forward to a shower and some shut-eye.

What he encountered instead was Velan’s adjutant, standing there by the transport. “The commander wants to see you,” the guy said.

Cade had a notion why that might be. “All right,” he said, “let’s go.”

He cast a look back over at his teammates. They looked concerned. Maybe they were right to be so.

After all, Cade had risked his life to save Gwynn back at the desert training facility a few days earlier. And a Ghost, as Gwynn himself had pointed out more than once, was too valuable to risk that way.

Unfortunately, he’d had no choice. He couldn’t have let Gwynn die the way Nava had died. Faced with the same choice again, he would have done the same thing.

Surely Velan’ll see that
.

When they got to the commander’s office, Velan’s adjutant said, “Go ahead in.”

Cade opened the door, but Velan wasn’t in evidence. “Sir?” he said, wondering if the commander might be under the desk looking for something he’d dropped.

“It’s all right,” said the adjutant. “He’ll be right back.”

Cade took up a position in front of Velan’s desk. How much trouble could he possibly be in? He had killed the Ursa, for God’s sake. He had saved Gwynn’s life. He hadn’t followed orders precisely, but—

Finally, Velan came in. “Ranger.”

Cade turned to his superior. “Commander.”

Velan walked past him and sat down behind his desk. He didn’t look happy. But as far as Cade could tell, the guy
never
looked happy. “At ease, Ranger.”

Cade assumed the more relaxed position.

“There’s something I should have shared with you a long time ago,” Velan said, “when I first offered you a place with the Rangers. If I had, we might have avoided some difficulties.”

Cade just stood there and listened.

“Ghosts are critical to our efforts to eliminate the Ursa, no question. But so is
every
Ranger. Everyone has a contribution to make. Some people are capable of learning that lesson. Others are not.”

Cade didn’t quite get where the commander was
going with this.
Is he talking about what happened at the training facility?

Velan looked at him a moment longer. Then he said, “I made a mistake. You weren’t meant to be part of a Ranger squad.”

What?
Cade thought.

The words didn’t seem real. They couldn’t be. After everything he had been through? After everything he had accomplished?

No
, he thought. Just that: No.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” he snapped.

“Granted,” Velan said.

Cade pointed to the commander. “That’s the biggest load of horseshit I’ve ever heard. And if that’s your final word, you’re not half the Ranger I thought you were.”

Velan’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a judge of Rangers now?”

“Damned right I am.”

“And that’s the way you speak to a superior?”

“You gave me permission, remember?”

The commander frowned. “So I did.”

“And as long as I’ve got that permission, I’m going to tell you what—”

Velan held up a hand. “Hold on, Bellamy.”

“Or what?”

“Or you’re going to miss the rest of what I was going to say.” He cleared his throat. “As I noted, you weren’t meant to be
part
of a Ranger squad. You were meant to
lead
one.”

Cade straightened up.
Lead …?

“Well?” asked Velan. “No comment? No
thank you, sir
?”

Cade grinned. “Um … thank you, sir.”

The commander nodded. “It’s my pleasure, Ranger. And I mean that as sincerely as I’ve ever meant anything in my life.” He held out his hand and opened it to reveal an insignia, the kind squad leaders wore. “This is yours.”

Cade took it. “I didn’t expect this. I …”

Velan made a face. “Is this going to be a
long
speech, Bellamy? Because I’ve still got things to do today.”

Cade shook his head. “No, sir. Not long at all. Again, thank you, sir.” As he left Velan’s office, he could think of only one thing:

How proud Nava would have been of him. How very, very proud.