Duty from Ashes (29 page)

“Of course, Sir.”

“Very well. We will let you continue the interrogation, Colonel. Keep me informed if the governor has anything else of import to say.”

“Roger that, Sir.” She paused and looked at Donnelly. “With your permission, Admiral, I’ll leave Captain Ortega to conduct the interrogation while I get the rest of Alpha Company ready to follow up on the information he gave us about the other POWs.”

“Very good, Colonel. See to it.” He nodded and started out of the room. At the door he stopped and turned back. “Donnelly, you’re with me.”

It was better to remove the lieutenant from the temptation to do something foolish than to leave him there.

C
HAPTER
S
EVENTEEN

D
AMN
THEM
ALL
to Hell and back again!

Evan Moreau angrily paced up and down the length of her office. She desperately wanted to throw back her head and scream in frustration. That bitch Ashlyn Shaw and her supporters had done it to her again. Despite everything she had done to find out what FleetCom and the government had planned, they had managed to send a mission to the Cassius System without word of it leaking until it was too late. Now, not only had FleetCom sent ships in an attempt to break the interdiction around the system, they had managed to liberate the system and retake Cassius Prime. Worse, the Devil Dogs, under Shaw’s leadership, had played a major role in it all.

That was bad enough. Worse was the fact that her employer would not take kindly to finding out that her government sources had apparently dried up. If she could no longer pass along information about what Harper and his allies planned before they managed to put it into action, she lost much of her value to those who currently employed her. Worse, if they decided to make an example of those they held responsible for the loss of the Cassius System, she knew her life would be forfeit.

Damn it!

But they hadn’t beaten her. Not yet. She still had sources she could squeeze. Better yet, she had people she could offer up to her employers in her stead, starting with that idiot Kannady. All she had to do was stay one step ahead of everyone. She’d made a living doing just that for years and she wasn’t about to stumble now.

First things first. She would make sure those arrested in connection to the false charges against Shaw received another
reminder
about what would happen if they even thought about cooperating with the authorities. O’Brien was still confined to the medical ward. So he was out of reach. Too many questions would be asked if anything else happened to Sorkowski. But there were others who could be used.

Yes, that would work and it would satisfy her employers that she had at least that part of her assignment under control. As for the rest of it, she’d simply be proactive. She’d send a report tonight to her handler outlining how one of her political contacts had betrayed her by giving her bad information. It would mean sacrificing that contact, so she needed to be careful about who she named. Not that it really mattered as long as it bought her time to cover her own tracks.

She poured and drink and stared at the amber liquid in her glass. How had things gone so wrong so quickly? It was rare when she was caught this much off-guard. She had to find her center again and do so quickly. Either that or she had to go off-world. If she didn’t, she had a feeling her days were numbered.

The only problem was she didn’t know by whom.

*     *     *

“Donnelly, I need a moment of your time,” Admiral Collins said as he entered prefab that served as field hospital until they could transport the POWs shipboard.

Three days had passed since Task Force 119 retook Cassius Prime. Since then, the Devil Dogs has been scouring the Capital, looking for any of the invaders that had managed to slip away in the confusion of the initial attack. Now, as they were slowly returning the POWs to their families and helping the surviving members of the government figure out just where the System stood, Collins knew it was time to start thinking about sending the survivors from the
Tarrant
home.

The one truly negative note from the last three days came from Ashlyn Shaw. She had led Alpha Company as they attempted to locate the remote compounds Kasun told them about. Unfortunately, when the Callusian overseers learned they were surrounded, they had killed their prisoners and then themselves. Forty seven POWs, half a dozen of them from the
Tarrant
, had died and Collins would never forgive himself for not getting to them sooner.

Now, standing in the field hospital, Collins frowned and shook his head in resignation. Medical teams from every ship in the taskforce had been working around the clock to treat the POWs, civilian and military alike. Even so, too many of them were so badly injured they might not recover.

They had learned from Kasun’s records that close to three dozen crewmembers from the
Tarrant
had been picked up after they’d abandoned ship. Most of the rest of the crew had died when the Callusian ships had simply destroyed their escape pods. Of those three dozen, only a dozen still survived. But they had fared better than the embassy staff had. The Callusians had killed most of the Marines assigned to guard Fuercon’s embassy. Only four Marines still lived and the civilian staff hadn’t fared much better.

“Yes, Sir?” Ryan Donnelly asked as he braced to attention.

Collins put him at his ease before continuing. “How’s your brother?”

“Sir?” His brow furrowed in question.

“Son, I know you’ve been spending as much time as you can with your brother. Colonel Shaw has been keeping me informed. What I need to know is how your brother is and if he’s said anything about what happened to him and his shipmates that I need to know?”

“Honestly, sir?”

Collins nodded and waited for the young man to continue.

“I’d gladly give up my career, even my life, to kill Kasun, Peltier and all the others for what they’ve done to him,” Donnelly said.

“I happen to agree. But that’s the last thing we can do, no matter how badly we want to. Not yet at any rate.”

“I can’t say I like it, Sir, but I do understand.”

“Frankly, Donnelly, I don’t agree either but we have no other choice right now. If we do anything else, we will prove ourselves no better than the Callusians.” He pinned the young man with a firm look and held his gaze until he nodded reluctantly.

“Now” Collins continued. “I really do need you to answer my question.”

For a long moment, Donnelly said nothing. Then he blew out a breath. “Sir, I think Joss is damned lucky to be alive. He tried to argue when Lt. Commander Sykes ordered the bridge crew to abandon ship. It’s a miracle his escape pod wasn’t one of those destroyed by the enemy and it’s a miracle those sadistic bastards didn’t kill him later. It’s going to take him time to get over what happened, but he will.”

 “I happen to agree,” Collins said. “But has he told you anything you think I need to know.”

“No, Sir. To be honest, he hasn’t said much of anything about what happened to him. He asks about his people, even the civilian POWs, but that’s about it. As I said, it is going to take time for him to get over what happened.”

Collins frowned. He understood. He had seen too many of their people after they’d spent time as
guests
of the Callusians. The enemy had turned torture, mental and physical, into an art form. No one who spent more than a very short time in their custody emerged unscathed. Not that it helped the taskforce just then. They needed to know if the Callusians were going to be sending more ships to the system anytime soon. Until reinforcements arrived from Fuercon and their allies, they risked losing the system again if the enemy sent a large enough force.

“All right. Get back to your brother. Let me know if he says anything that might help us know when, or even if, the enemy is scheduled to send supplies or reinforcements.”

With that, Collins turned and left. Striding across the compound, two Marines at his back, he sent word for Captain Jareau to set up a briefing with the taskforce’s senior officers.

*     *     *

Kasun paced the short length of the cell and cursed long and hard. He still didn’t understand how everything had gone so bad so quickly. When he had accepted the position of Occupation Governor, his superiors had assured him of the system’s security. Those fools on Fuercon wouldn’t try to retake the system. Not now. Not after so much time had passed. There was no way, those same superiors told him, that the system would ever come under attack. It was, in short, the closest assignment to perfection possible.

All he had to do was run system efficiently, providing the manpower and other material needed. The powers-that-be really didn’t care what he did with the POWs as long as he continued to supply
workers
when needed. He had done all that and more. But it hadn’t been enough to keep those Fuerconese bastards from invading.

And he knew exactly who the High Council would blame. He would be the one they’d point to, saying he should have had better defensive systems and procedures. But what could they expect? They had taken away most of his ships and troops. He’d had to make do with systems damaged in the invasion and not yet fully repaired and troops no other commander would take.

None of what happened was his fault. If anyone was to blame, it was the High Council. They should have anticipated what Fuercon did. What good was this new partner in the war if they didn’t get the information needed to anticipate an attack by Fuercon or its allies?

He was damned if he was going to take the fall for their mistakes.

*     *     *

“Ten-hut!”

The dozen men and women sitting at the conference table quickly climbed to their feet. Before they could brace to attention, Collins waved them back to their seats. He was tired and there was just too much to do to worry about protocol just then. Even so, they waited for him to be seated before returning to their chairs.

“Thank you, Conrad. As long as we have coffee, I think we’re fine. I’ll send for you if I need you.” He waited until his steward left the room before continuing. “All right, everyone. You know the task ahead of us. We are to hold the System until reinforcements arrive. The good news is, that should happen within the week. Word from FleetCom is that Second Fleet will be arriving in the next five to seven days. Once it arrives, we will hand over command and control and return home.”

He nodded to see the relieved looks almost everyone at the table wore. Everyone had been working long hours, often pushing themselves and those under their commands to exhaustion, to make sure the capital as well as the system was safe.

“However, before we start relaxing too much, let me remind you that we don’t know when, or if, the enemy will be returning to the system. The records we’ve recovered give no indication about patrol or delivery schedules and that worries me. Captain Jareau?”

“Thank you, Sir.” His executive officer activated the holo screen over the table. A moment later, the system map appeared. “This is a real-time representation of the System. The green dots are our ships. The blue are the defense platforms and the red are mine fields. The yellow dots represent planned minefields. The green dots are sensor arrays.

“Thanks to Chief Murozovski’s crews, the defense platforms are fully operational. The security codes have been changed so the enemy will not be able to easily hack into them should they return.”

“Excellent, Jules. Thank you.” Collins nodded in appreciation. “Colonel Shaw?”

“The defense station has been cleared. After the Devil Dogs made the initial breach, Colonel Johnson’s troops held it while they did search and rescue. They found no Cassians onboard. Records indicate the few staffing the station at the time of the invasion were killed in the initial attempt to take over the station. Since it is basically fully automated, the Callusians kept only a skeleton crew onboard.

“We are still working to make sure there are no pockets of enemy resistance anywhere in the capital or any of the major cities. It is slow going but the Resistance has been a great deal of help. The good news is, the Callusians pulled out most of their troops before we arrived. The bad news is we don’t know why and we don’t have an accurate count of how many they left behind. My professional opinion is that we make sure the major cities are cleared and then leave it to the locals to check the outer areas.”

“I happen to agree with you, Colonel. There is one thing to remember, it won’t be our decision in the long run. By the time FleetCom decides, Second Fleet will be on station and we will be on our way home.”

“Sounds good to me, Sir.” Ashlyn grinned slightly and he understood. How could he not when part of his last briefing package from Fuercon had included a reminder from her mother that Ashlyn needed to be home in time to participate in the courts martial of O’Brien and Sorkowski.

Now Collins turned his attention to Joss Donnelly. The lieutenant sat near the far end of the table, looking slightly discomfited to be included in the briefing. “If you’re up to it, Lt. Donnelly, I think it is time for us to hear what you can tell us about what happened to the
Tarrant
and after you and your crewmates abandoned ship.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Donnelly sat up a little straighter and his expression turned serious. Seeing the difficulty he appeared to be having, Collins decided to help out. “Lieutenant,” he began quietly, almost gently. “Start with that last day on the
Tarrant
. What happened?”

Donnelly nodded once again and closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them and reached for his mug. He sipped and then began. “Sir, we were on a standard courier mission. We had dispatches from home for the embassy. It had been an easy trip, nothing out of the ordinary happening. Because of that, Commander Sykes didn’t have extra crew on duty.”