11
The shuttle settled on the landing pad, and the back ramp opened. Immediately, the yellowshirt started walking the mule with the special delivery package to the ramp as four black-suited personnel ran down the ramp to meet it. One of them took control of the mule, waving the sailor off.
“Yeah, like we haven’t just transported that thing all the way here,” Nix said. “And they know how to operate the mule better than the ship’s crew?”
“Well, they sure ain’t Navy. I’m saying OD,” Strap said.
“Probably right,” Rev said. “They’re going to want to be the lead on this, and it must have killed them to have to wait until we delivered it.”
“The question is if it’s gonna do anything to help the cause. For all we know, it was just some sort of tin-ass toilet.”
“You don’t really think so, right Miko?” Rev asked. Like the others, he had no idea what the thing was, but his gut told him it was important. So did the team at the asteroid. It was the first thing they’d wrapped up for removal, and it was loaded on the Alacrity for immediate transport back to the capital. Delta Company had been cross-decked with the Raiders staying aboard for the passage.
The more he’d watched the Persean and Frisian salvage teams back on the asteroid, the more he was convinced that they’d get good intel from the place. Sure, the Centaur technology was better than human, so it should have been easier for them, but it still must have taken a lot of effort to build the installation inside the asteroid. Tomiko was being facetious, but they wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble and taken such great lengths to hide it if all it contained were Centaur toilets. Maybe not specifically in the warehouse, but the entire asteroid had to be related to the war. But the OD would figure it out, or if not them, then the Frisian equivalent.
“What’s the name of the Frisian Omega Division?”
<The Turquoise.>
Of course, they’d use a color. No wonder Tomiko calls them crayons.
“Think they’ll let us have some time off after debriefs? It might be our only chance to see New Mars,” Tomiko asked.
“It would make sense. I mean, we’re right here. And we did just accomplish a pretty successful mission.” Rev hoped so, at least. He would love to see some of the sights of the Perseus Union capital.
“Since when has the military ever done anything that made sense. They’ll ship us back to New Hope, then send everyone here who needs to be part of the debrief there, too,” Hussein said.
And he could be right.
They watched the OD agents guide the shrouded package into the shuttle. Another agent stepped out, spotted them, and walked across the hangar toward them. Captain Omestori stepped out to meet him.
“Are you the Raider unit which captured the material of interest?”
Tomiko nudged Rev in the ribs and chuckled. “Material of interest?”
“Yes, First Raider Platoon.”
“Is this everyone?”
“No. Not everyone is here.”
“I want you to get everyone together in whatever this ship has for a conference room. Anywhere where I can speak to you.”
Captain Omestori still looked a little rough, not totally over his illness. He hesitated and looked around at the others. An OD agent had no real authority to tell Marines what to do, and Rev could tell that the agent’s perfunctory manner grated on him. But he shrugged and told Sergeant Nix to gather Second and Third Teams and get them to the galley.
“I’ll take you there,” he told the agent.
“Were you on the asteroid?”
“No, I wasn’t. Second Lieutenant Harisa was the senior Marine there.”
“Then I don’t need you there. In fact, you are not to be there.”
Rev could see the captain bristle, and for a moment, he thought the man was going to explode on the agent. But he controlled himself and instead said, through gritted teeth, “I’ll just debrief them after you’re done.”
The agent gave a slight smile and said, “If one of the Marines who was there can show me the way, I would be obliged.”
“Pelletier, Reiser, if you two would escort her,” the captain said. “I’ll catch up to you when you’re done.”
“If you would follow us,” Tomiko said as the five Third Team Marines lead the way off the hangar deck and down the galley. No one said a word as they walked.
Petty Officer Grenoble, who’d been on the team who worked on Rev’s EVA suit, and another sailor were in the mess decks, chatting and drinking coffee.
“I need this room,” the agent said.
“Ain’t no room. It’s a space,” Grenoble said.
“OK. Then I need this space.”
“We’re almost done.”
“You can finish your coffee elsewhere.”
Grenoble caught Rev’s eyes. Yes, the agent was being a jerk, all for what was sure to be the first of many debriefs. But it probably wasn’t smart to annoy her. Rev gave a slight nod and tilted his head to the hatch. With a sigh, Grenoble and the other sailor stood and left the galley.
“Take a seat while we wait for the others.”
“I bet she’s the life of the party,” Tomiko whispered as they sat together. “So, what’s this all about, ya think?”
“Probably swear us all to super-duper top secret about all of this before we start the debriefs.”
“Kinda hard to be super-duper secret when the Frisians have got their own package. So, what, don’t tell an MD agent?”
“It’s OD. They keep it secret when they take a dump.”
<That’s a good joke.>
“Yes, it is, isn’t it? And off the cuff, too,” Rev told Punch, inordinately pleased that his battle buddy liked it.
“The coffee’s not bad on the ship. Do you want some?” Staff Sergeant Delacrie asked the agent. She just shook her head.
A few minutes later, Lieutenant Harisa led the rest of the two teams into the galley. She started to announce herself when the agent told them all to sit.
“Is this everyone who entered Asteroid 6-067-442?”
“If that’s the one that had all the tin-ass shit, then yeah, this is everyone,” the lieutenant said as several Marines laughed at her choice of words. Probably not appropriate, especially for a commissioned officer, but everyone was feeling their oats after what had to be an historic mission.
The agent pulled out a portable scanner, then went to each Marine and Doc Paul, scanned their retinas, and asked them to state their name, rank, and Union number.
“She’s serious about this. You don’t think this can be another, like, you know. No glory?” Tomiko asked.
She didn’t have to elaborate. After they found the Centaur body on Roher-104, all mention of it in their records was pulled, including their award recommendations. All in the name of security.
When the agent was finished, she returned to the front and said, “For the record, I am Special Agent Five Teresa Light Udel, Five-five-four-eight-zero-lima-tango-six, six. I have with me . . .” she read the names of each of them, their ranks, and their union number, “. . . as so recorded, and am placing them under arrest.”
What?
She turned to the group. “As I just entered into the record, under orders from the Vice-Director Four, all of you are under arrest for treason against the Perseus Union.”