When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (31 page)

             
“Thank you
,”
he said after they finished setting the chairs back in place
.“
You were very helpful today
.”
Jerry grabbed his briefcase, slipping his phone into his pocket and throwing his bottle of water into the recycling bin.

             
Mara nodded, still focused on the task of cleaning the table
.“
This was different than I expected. You are a skilled negotiator. I do
n’
t think a single concession was made without equal compensation from our side
.
”

             
Adeline spoke up
.“
The art of building a treaty is
n’
t about leaving the table happy. You have to be willing to make sacrifices, otherwise yo
u’
re not going anywhere
.
”

             
Jerry pulled his phone out and activated a note from Alexander. He showed Mara
.“
The High Chancellor provided me with guidelines about where and when to draw the line. All we had to do was start the conversation way above expectations and walk them down into our comfort zone
.”
He did
n’
t admit that the entire ordeal had been significantly easier than predicted. In fact, in his fifteen years working for the government, no single table talk had ever ended so amicably. And those were between members of the same species
.“
I had
n’
t expected your species to be able to eat human food. That opened up a few possibilities we had
n’
t thought of
.
”

             
Mara patted Jerr
y’
s shoulder. She seemed more comfortable with physical contact than the rest of her kind. Some of the Nangolani were downright skittish about being touched
.“
In any case, you displayed remarkable poise. I find that every minute spent with your race delivers mountains of observations. It is no wonder you have become such a dominant force in your systems
.
”

             
“That and a lack of anyone else on the food chain
,”
Adeline said.

             
Mara looked up, suddenly worried
.“
You have to eat those below your station
?
”

             
For a second she did
n’
t respond. Then she and Jerry laughed so hard tears streamed from their eyes. A full minute passed before the Chief of Staff was able to speak
.“
Mara, I think you and I need to have a lesson in modern idioms. Are you tired? Do you need to rest
?
”

             
She smiled
.“I’
ve been living forty-hour days my whole life.
I’
d rather spend more time learning with you
.
”

             
Jerry looked over at his team, raising his eyebrows quizzically.

             
“I think w
e’
ll pass
,”
Adeline said
.“
I have to get these boys back to the office so we can transcribe the recordings
.”
She held out a hand which Mara quickly accepted
.“
I look forward to working with you again, Mara
.
”

             
“Likewise
,”
the Historian replied. She lingered with Jerry as the diplomats walked down the hall and disappeared behind the corner. Turning to Jerry, she smiled
.“
Shall we
?
”

             
He walked to the door and gestured for her to lead
.“
Ladies first
.”
As they walked out into the hallway together, Jerry put a hand on her back. There was something comfortable about her. She reminded him, in a strange way, of his aide: so eager to learn
.“
Now I will teach you the wonder drug we cal
l‘
coffee
.
’”

-                           
VII                            -

              The wind rocked the northern tower of Delt
a’
s post. Built out of ammunition crates and excess canvas, it was more an elevated bunker than anything else. Sandbags protected the unlucky guards from incoming fire, but did nothing to break the constant icy gusts that swept up from the canyons below. Delta had secured a strong foothold in the plateau, but it made for a terribly uncomfortable home away from home.

             
The lone sentry squeezed his eyes shut as another blustery current buffeted his lackluster shelter. It was seven hours into his watch and he was ready for relief. To be fair, h
e’
d been ready for relief hours ago, when the sun was still bearing down and the temperature was forty degrees warmer. Ever since the company had pulled from the fighting, each day was just an exercise in the age-old idiom
:“
Hurry up and wait
.”
He and his fellow soldiers spent most of the week cleaning their weapons and conducting drills, but even the platoon sergeants were lax now. With the gauntlet ending in a few days, there did
n’
t seem to be much point in risking an injury.

             
The sentry chanced a peek at his watch, but the numbers were too dim to see. He danced from one foot to another, trying to warm his numb feet. He was a native of New Ede
n’
s tropical paradise the Golden Tooth, where the temperature rarely dipped below eighty. As he was fond of saying, he was
n’
t built for Kronos nights. Unwilling to wait for his replacement, the corporal switched on the soft blue light and stared at the ticking hands. He shook his head, disappointed.

             
When he heard the sound, his first thought was that it was his lucky day; that Private Cobert had arrived early to send him back to a warm bunk. Spots danced in front of his face, the ghost images from the watch, obscuring the dark form that climbed into the tower. He smiled.

             
“About damn time, man
.”
The Sentry blew into his hands, teeth chattering
.“
You ready to take over
?”
His eyes widened when he saw the face that emerged from the shadows. Delta did
n’
t have any females left in the exercise. And the
y’
d never had one this pretty.

             
“Tha
t’
s the plan
,”
Alexa said as she jammed the simulator blade home. Derry barely had time to gasp before his suit shut him down.

*              *              *              *              *

              Josh waited until he received a double-click on his radio. Upon hearing the signal, he gestured for Dax to send his team members to the southern tower. Two privates, eager to try out their sneaking skills, padded off down the narrow pathway behind the tents. Minutes later, two clicks sounded over their walkies.

             
The plan was relatively simple. Josh figured the guard would change around midnight, as most attacks occurred either just before or just after sunrise or sunset. With the towers under their control, and the perimeter patrol focusing on the ingress route to the east, Josh could set up his squad in a half-moon around the camp. The XO had been battle-tracking the statistics as reported over the Battalion Net week to week, and it was estimated that Delta was down to a platoon and a half in strength. While that was considerably more than Jos
h’
s heavy squad of twelve, it was not an insurmountable number.

             
Once the towers had been immobilized, Josh sent Dax and the rest of the heavy machine gun teams to occupy the positions. With a three-way crossfir
e—
carefully established to avoid fratricid
e—
the squad would tear the camp to pieces while attempting to leave the armory intact. Josh and a few sharpshooters would stay behind by the cliff to eliminate any survivors, and to sweep the base once the firing ceased.

             
Dax and his support gunner moved slowly toward the southern position, while Josh sent two more north. The silence bore down on the squad leader as he squatted there, unwilling to move lest the smallest sound give away his position and compromise the entire operation. The air had cooled significantly, the temperature plummeting. As his adrenaline wore down, Josh shivered. H
e’
d been here before, on other training exercises, and he knew how important the next few minutes would be. Charlie needed all of the Delta soldiers to play a hand they did
n’
t know the
y’
d been dealt, staying away from the towers and in their tents. The worse the weather became, the better it was for the squad. Cold soldiers tended to stay indoors if possible, and the Delta commander could
n’
t possibly imagine that the last squad in a dead company had just scaled a cliff face in an attempt to conduct a suicidal midnight raid.

             
As the moons continued to rise over the plateau, Josh waited for the signal from his teams.

*              *              *              *              *

              Captain Thornton stared at a shadow between two tents, unblinking. It was thirty minutes to midnight, and he was up checking on his recon elements that just returned from the field. It was the first night in two weeks that the entire company slept in one area, and the commanding officer was understandably tense. If their position had been discovered, a single mortar attack could be devastating.

             
Juno, the company First Sergeant, walked beside his commander. He did
n’
t worry about mortars, as most of the units had expended their rounds in the opening months of the games. Foolish wastes, he thought. The final days were when the munitions would be needed most. He congratulated himself on his foresight once again, smirking in his usual way that often put the soldiers off. The First Sergeant always seemed to be laughing at his own personal joke, and his particular brand of humor involved misery for the rest of the troops.

             
“Sir, is there something wrong
?”
Juno asked.

             
Thornton remained frozen in place. He could swear h
e’
d seen something moving, but what? His night vision was lamentable, and the lax light discipline was
n’
t helping matters. The
y’
d scouted the area for days before moving in, and he knew that no one could spot their glowing chemical lights from anywhere in the surrounding canyons, but the soldier inside growled at the use of such luxury items.

             
“Did you see that, top
?”
The captain pointed to just behind the mess tents.

             
Juno stared, but could
n’
t make out anything unusual
.“
Nothing there now. What did you see
?”
Even if he did
n’
t know what the CO was talking about, h
e’
d known Thornton long enough to work with him on his hunches.

             
“There was movement behind the tents
,”
Thornton said.

             
First Sergeant thought for a moment
.“
Could have been the relief for the guard towers. Maybe the
y’
re changing out early tonight
.
”

             
“Why early
?
”

             
Juno shrugged
.“
Only a few days left, kids get excited. I
t’
s hard to sit here and do nothing, so they look for work to do
.”
Even as he said it, the words felt wrong in his mouth. Something pricked the hairs on the back of his neck
.“
Sir, maybe we should pull a few more soldiers onto guard
.
”

             
Captain Thornton did
n’
t respond. Something new had caught his eye. Something in the north tower.