America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 5: Insurgency (2 page)

“Sorry,” I repeated, about to disconnect and
leave.

“Please, do not leave yet,” pleaded Valerie.
“Sit. It has been a long time since I have had a visitor. You have
been across the stars to Arthropoda and New Colorado? I have heard
scant rumors of the Legion being sent out to protect our colonies.
May I download a few images from your ID card?”

“Yes,” I replied, immediately regretting my
decision. The privacy of an ID card is almost sacred, and is only
shared with intimates. “You said you no longer get visits? Are you
lonely?”

“Don’t be silly, sweetie,” said Valerie. “I
am just a computer memorial program. If I want to talk to someone,
I can always communicate with the others buried here.”

“Can you tell Captain Lopez I am here to
visit him?” I asked.

“I already have,” said Valerie. “He knows you
are coming. Captain Lopez says you owe him money.”

“Lopez is a funny guy,” I said. “Uh, he was a
funny guy. I have to go now.”

“Joey R. Czerinski, can you do me a favor?”
asked Valerie. “Please. Would you consider exchanging emails with
me so I can keep up to date on current events on the Frontier? I
hate having to rely on the rumor mill and censored news
reports.”

“I suppose so. Do you need to see my ID card
again?”

“No sweetie,” said Valerie. “I only needed
your permission.”

“It’s getting late,” I said. “I really have
to be going.”

“You can download my data, too,” suggested
Valerie. “I was quite the looker back in the day. Think of me once
in a while. I will surely think of you, too, my good-looking
legionnaire.”

“I will,” I promised, disconnecting.
Jesus
H. Christ,
I thought to myself as I walked south.
Cemeteries
creep me out enough, without the talking dead everywhere. I’m glad
I did not visit at night.

I easily found Captain Lopez’s grave in the
small Legion section. Not many legionnaires made it back to Old
Earth. I placed my hand on his tombstone.

“Your computer chips allow you to live
forever, and now I am dead!” complained Captain Lopez. “It’s just
not fair.”

“I’m glad to talk to you, too.” I said. “I
traveled across the galaxy to be here. How the hell are you?”

“I am dead!” screamed Captain Lopez from the
grave. “And being dead really pisses me off.”

“Sorry,” I said. “It must be boring being
dead.”

“It’s hell on my sex life, too,” said Captain
Lopez. “That Lieutenant Valerie Smith is hot! I might ask her out
tonight.”

“You can do that?” I asked. “Can you ... you
know ... go all the way with her?”

“I’m dead,” said Captain Lopez. “But
Microsoft is working on technology upgrades that might solve that
problem, if you must snoop.”

“That’s probably more information than I
need.”

“Actually, our virtual world can be quite
active once I obtain access,” continued Captain Lopez. “The problem
is too many of the dead are snobs and won’t allow access. Plus,
there is a shortage of babes here at Arlington.”

“Did Lieutenant Smith give you access?” I
asked.

“Not yet,” replied Captain Lopez. “But I’m
certain after I ply her with a little wine tonight, she will give
me all the access I want.”

“That sounds wrong on so many different
levels,” I commented. I was feeling a twinge of jealousy. That
seemed wrong, too. “Valerie wants me to exchange emails.”

“You would steal my girlfriend?” shouted
Captain Lopez. “You bastard!
Bendaho!
”

“You don’t have access, so she is not your
girlfriend,” I argued. “She has more class than to associate with
the likes of you!”

“I will have access tonight,” boasted Captain
Lopez. “You stay away from her!”

“Fine,” I said. “You can have her! She’s not
my type, or real, or alive – whatever. Anyway, I hope you two have
a happy life together.”

“That’s not funny,” said Captain Lopez. “Why
are you here? You just came to torture me?”

“I am here to visit an old friend,” I said.
“”What more reason do I need?”

“Whatever,” replied Captain Lopez. “You don’t
have any friends, new or old.”

“There might be some probate issues you need
to sign off on.”

“I knew it! I took all my money with me to
the grave, and I am keeping it! You are no friend of mine!”

“I
am
your friend,” I insisted,
sounding sincere and truly hurt.

“A person needs to be dead before you can
call them your friend?” asked Captain Lopez. “You really are a
morbid sort.”

“I am leaving. You aren’t real anyway. You
are just an imprint memorial. The real Manny Lopez wouldn’t talk to
me like this.”

“Not so fast. I died in battle. Did we
win?”

“Of course we won,” I answered. “The Legion
always wins.”

“Don’t give me that public relations crap
General Kalipetsis shovels out. The day I died, we kicked ass on
the spider insurgency. Right?”

“Yes. We dealt the insurgency a mortal blow
that day. We killed hundreds.”

“If you are really my friend, then you will
avenge me.”

“We killed so many spiders that day,” I
replied. “How can I sort out which alien killed you?”

“I was murdered by Lieutenant Laika Barker,”
said Captain Lopez. “The coward shot me in the back. That
traitorous
bendaho
will kill you, too.”

“There was no evidence of that on the helmet
cameras,” I said.

“Check the recordings again,” pleaded Captain
Lopez. “Promise you will avenge me.”

“I promise,” I said, disconnecting.

I knew it! Once a terrorist, always a
terrorist!

I abruptly awoke at my desk.
Barker’s days
are numbered,
I promised.
I only hope his death is slow and
painful, in the grand tradition of the Legion.

Then reality set in.
What? Was that just a
dream? Or a vision? I can’t execute Barker based on daydreams. I’ll
be watching Barker. Even the paranoid have enemies. I so need a
vacation away from all my enemies.

back to top

Chapter 3

Rioting broke out in the spider enclave of
Window Rock. Why? McDonald’s Corporation got caught adding oatmeal
to their hamburger again. At last report, the rioters had burned
down the Post Office. The spiders would have burned down McDonald’s
too, but it is the only fine dining restaurant in town. I sent
Lieutenant Barker and a company of legionnaires to restore order
and enforce federal law. Captain Lopez wanted to lead the company,
but for their own safety, I did not want Barker and Lopez working
together.

Lieutenant Barker’s mechanized company of
legionnaires was met at Window Rock by chanting spider
demonstrators yelling for the Legion to go home. Smoke still rose
from the Post Office. Spiders carried debris from the Post Office
above their heads as they danced a victory celebration over the
human pestilence. Lieutenant Barker positioned armored cars at each
intersection. On a PA system, he ordered the streets clear of
demonstrators. The spiders ignored his orders and began throwing
concrete chips and rocks at the legionnaires.

Lieutenant Barker’s response was unique. He
ordered a flamethrower mounted on one of the armored cars to be
used to burn down every business in the downtown area. The spider
rioters fled to their homes. Then Lieutenant Barker posted a
written message on the ruins of the Post Office stating that if the
structure was not rebuilt by next month, he would return and burn
down the rest of Window Rock. Barker called it ‘peacekeeping with
an attitude.’ The note concluded with a smiley face drawing. Even
before Lieutenant Barker left Window Rock, the destruction was
filmed, downloaded onto the Galactic Database, and broadcast on all
planetary news stations.

* * * * *

“I had a dream you might be interested in,” I
announced. “Want to hear about it?”

“No,” replied Captain Lopez. “You sound like
a woman. Only women want to discuss their dreams.”

“It was more of a premonition,” I explained.
“I dreamt Lieutenant Barker shot you in the back during
combat.”

“I had that dream, too!” exclaimed Captain
Lopez, crossing himself. “How can we both have the same dream?”

“I don’t know. I dreamt I was visiting your
grave at Arlington National Cemetery. It felt so real.”

“Arlington?” asked Captain Lopez. “That part
won’t come true. They are yet to let legionnaires into that country
club. Only the regular army gets in. It’s discrimination.”

“What does it matter, if you are dead?”

“A better question is how
you
survived. In my dream, Barker told me he intended to kill us all.
I’m going to kill Barker before it’s too late.”

“Wait,” I suggested. “We need more to go on
than late-night dreams. For now, just keep an eye on Barker.”

I thought about checking for Lieutenant
Valerie Smith in the database, but postponed that until later.
Captain Lopez did not need to know about that part of my dream,
especially if she was real.

* * * * *

General Kalipetsis flew to New Gobi just to
talk to me about the burning of downtown Window Rock. He was not
happy about Lieutenant Barker’s ‘peacekeeping with an attitude’
comment on Channel Five’s World News Tonight. Kalipetsis wanted to
discuss the matter with me in person before the press did.

“Explain to me how burning down Window Rock
helps the situation?” asked General Kalipetsis. “This is another
public relations nightmare for the Legion. We did more damage than
the rioters!”

“Lieutenant Barker did it, not me,” I
responded. “I told you I did not want him. He’s a terrorist who
should have never been let in the Legion.”

“Letting locals into the Legion is an
important political decision we are committed to,” explained
General Kalipetsis. “You are responsible for the conduct of your
men. Why did you send a rookie butterball lieutenant out there in
the first place? And you should have told Barker exactly what was
expected of him. Now what do we tell the press?”

“Just tell the press that we successfully
quelled a riot without the loss of a single life,” I said. “That’s
a lot better than we usually do.”

“That’s a good point,” conceded General
Kalipetsis. “I like that. The Mayor of Window Rock submitted a bill
to the Legion for damages. What about that?”

“Ask the mayor if he wants me to send
Lieutenant Barker back to Window Rock to negotiate damage claims,”
I suggested. “I think he will say no.”

“That’s good. If you are ready to talk to the
reporters, we will begin the press conference shortly,” said
General Kalipetsis. “Let’s go.”

I walked into a room full of reporters. Phil
Coen from Channel Five World News Tonight greeted me first.
“Colonel Czerinski, how can the Legion justify the burning of
Window Rock?” asked Coen. “Isn’t this just another example of
disproportionate use of force by an out-of-control Foreign Legion?”
He thrust a microphone to my face.

“No one was killed or seriously injured when
Lieutenant Barker confronted rioters who had just burned down a
United States Galactic Federation Post Office, and were intent on
assaulting legionnaires,” I replied. “Lieutenant Barker used
superior tactics and improvisation to avoid bloodshed. When was the
last time a riot was quelled so quickly without anyone being
injured? Did you know Lieutenant Barker graduated number one in his
Academy class in tactics?”

“I agree,” added General Kalipetsis.
“Lieutenant Barker should be commended for his restraint and
superior tactics.”

“Did the Legion stay in Window Rock long
enough to confirm no one perished in the fire?” asked Coen.

“Only a few buildings were damaged,” I said.
“Most of the town is still intact. Legion engineers are willing to
assist in reconstruction, once civil authorities are in control of
the locals.”

“I understand that the Mayor of Window Rock
is still very upset,” commented Coen.

“The mayor is just pandering to his
constituency,” I explained. “I think he’s another Democrat. My job
is to solve problems, not to run for re-election.”

“What about Lieutenant Barker’s threat to
return to Window Rock to burn down the rest of the town?” asked
Coen. “Is this your final solution to restive spider
communities?”

“Careful how you word your questions, or I’ll
have you locked up for sedition,” I warned. “Lieutenant Barker
ordered the community of Window Rock to rebuild their Post Office.
They had better get started.”

“Are you concerned about reports that the
Governor of the North Territory will send Arthropodan marines to
Window Rock to ensure the safety of spiders who hold duel
citizenship?”

“I am always concerned about Imperial
adventurism along the DMZ,” I said.

“What will the Legion do if the spiders cross
the border?” asked Coen.

“I will not discuss hypothetical situations
or tactics,” I said.

“Threats to our sovereignty are always
treated seriously,” commented General Kalipetsis. “Fortunately
Colonel Czerinski has excellent working relationships with local
Arthropodan commanders. I will discuss the matter with the
Arthropodan governor as soon as this press conference is over.”

“Might publicity from flare-ups like this
Window Rock incident draw more terrorists to the insurgency?” asked
Coen. “Might your heavy-handed actions actually hurt the Legion in
the long run?”

“Extremists will always be drawn to the
insurgency,” advised General Kalipetsis. “We do not let the actions
of terrorists dictate our policies or tactics.”

“When may we interview Lieutenant Barker?”
asked Coen.

“Never,” said General Kalipetsis. “Junior
officers do not give press interviews.”