The room fell silent, all eyes turning to Alex. He took a deep breath, bracing himself. “You might want to cancel the hangover, Malik. We’re shipping out in the morning.”

  “Shipping out?” Jackson said. “Are you serious? Don’t play with us like that, boss-man.”

  “That’s why the Major pulled me aside. To pass me our new orders.”

  "That's great!" Malik said, a big grin on his face. "It's about time we saw some real action." He paused, raising an eyebrow. “We are going to see action, aren’t we?”

  “I don’t know,” Alex replied. “I can’t make any promises.”

  “There’s something else, isn’t there, Gunny?” Zoe said. “Major Rodriguez usually announces new orders during a briefing, not in a closed-door meeting.”

  “Perceptive as usual, Private,” Alex replied, a faint smile touching his lips. “All of First Company is shipping out to the Wolf system to join Recon Three.”

  “Recon?” Sarah questioned. “The entire company is joining an expeditionary fleet? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “There’s a ship missing,” Alex answered, each word like a lead weight on his tongue. "The Galileo."

  A tense silence hit the room like a lightning bolt. Shocked, sympathetic gazes met Alex's, understanding dawning in their eyes.

  "Oh, Alex," Sarah said softly, stepping forward to put a comforting hand on his arm.

  "Do they know what happened?" Jackson asked, his voice losing all its normal jest.

  Alex shook his head. "Not yet. That's why we're being sent in. To provide support in case there's someone behind it with an axe to grind."

  "You think it was the outworlders?" Zoe asked with a hard edge to her voice. "They've never exactly been happy with the way the government handles them.”

  “They’d have to be stupid to try something like taking one of our ships and its crew,” Jackson said. “The Navy would wipe the floor with them and get home in time for pancakes.”

  “A rogue actor, then,” Zoe said. “Maybe someone looking to frame someone else for the disappearance. Maybe the Galileo is already…” She trailed off, lowering her head as her face flushed after her thoughtless remark.

  Alex didn’t need her to finish the sentence and was glad she hadn’t. The same thought had already crossed his mind multiple times during his trek from Rodriguez’s office to the barracks.

  "Maybe it was aliens," Jackson joked weakly, trying to lighten the mood and save Zoe from her faux pas. But no one laughed. The ramifications were too close for comfort, too raw.

  "It could have been a jump drive malfunction," Malik said. “It wouldn’t be the first time. Remember the Icarus?"

  “We can speculate all we want,” Sarah said. “That won’t help Dana or the rest of Galileo’s crew. If we’re lucky, we’ll spend the entire deployment hanging out in the rec room playing cards and getting bored off our asses, all because their jump drive went wonky.”

  “Yeah,” Zoe agreed. “At the very least, the training sims will feel like a party after spending months trapped in a sardine can with the likes of you degenerates.”

  “Gunny, we were headed out to Miyaki’s,” Sarah said. “Do you want us to wait for you?”

  “No, thank you. Go enjoy your downtime. You earned it. I'm going to try to reach my father to make sure he’s heard about Dana, and if so, to see if he knows anything more than I was told."

  They hesitated, clearly torn between wanting to support him and giving him the space he needed. Finally, Malik nodded. "Alright, Gunny. But if you need anything, anything at all, you know where to find us."

  With that, they gathered their things and headed for the door. Each of them put a solid hand on his shoulder as they passed, offering a respectful “Gunny” or just a gentle chin jerk conveying their support. Alex returned the gesture, grateful when he was alone and relieved to have made it through updating his team without losing his cool.

  He went to the other end of the barracks to his private room. Some Gunnery Sergeants locked their doors. He didn’t. He trusted his team and wanted them to know as much. In return, they were respectful enough always to knock and wait for his acknowledgment before they entered.

  He went in and sat down heavily on his bunk, dropping his head in his hands. Could it really have been the Outworlders? They had been agitating for better resources more vocally of late, but to attack a Federation ship outright? It seemed like a drastic escalation.

  While a jump drive malfunction was not unheard of, it was extremely rare. The Icarus was the only ship he knew of that had experienced one. No, ships didn't just vanish without a trace, not without some external influence.

  His thoughts circled back to the worst-case scenarios, each more dire than the last. What if Dana was hurt or worse? What if they never found the Galileo and learned what fate had befallen her and her crew?

  Alex shook his head, trying to dislodge that dark thought. Sarah was right. Speculating wouldn't do any good. What he needed was information and accurate intelligence about the situation.

  And who better to provide that than his father?

  Assuming he knew Dana had gone missing. Alex figured he must know. Admiral Montoya would have told him first. The Admiral would have shared as much as possible with his old man. The man was smart; only an idiot would keep the Wraith in the dark about anything.

  He stood and headed for the showers, deciding to clean himself up before making the call. Otherwise, his mother might excessively fuss over his sweaty, battle-weary appearance.

  The hot water did little to soothe his nerves, but it did help clear his head. He emerged feeling marginally better and more focused. He dressed quickly in utilities before retrieving his digital assistant from his footlocker. He keyed in the sequence that would connect him to his childhood home. He watched an animation of the planets orbiting the FUP Marines logo until the connection to the orbiting military comms satellite was established. It would then be packaged and transmitted through a network of thousands of forced bends in spacetime.

  Four minutes later, the animation vanished, and her holographic image coalesced above his DA’s screen.

  ”Alex, honey, it’s so good to hear from you.”

  She looked tired, her eyes shadowed with worry, but she had managed a smile for him. He knew right away that the news had already been delivered. He wasn’t sure if he felt better or worse. Seeing his mother like that made it feel so much more real.

  "Hey, Mom," he said, forcing a smile of his own. "Yeah, it's me. We just finished our last training sim for this cycle, so the comm embargo is lifted. I figured I’d check in.” He paused, collecting himself before continuing. The message wouldn’t transmit until he tapped the send command, and the satellite’s onboard AI would remove any dead air. “I heard about Dana. I…I don’t know what to say other than I wish I could be there with you and Dad right now. I was hoping to talk to him. Is he around?”

  The waiting was the most challenging part of communicating over such long distances. Still, it beat the hell out of not having contact at all.

  “I’m sorry you had to find out from your superiors,” Jane answered. “It would have been better if we could have told you ourselves. I won’t lie and say I don’t want you here, too, but what you do is important, and I know that you know we’re proud of you. Of course, we’re worried about Dana, but we aren’t giving up hope. Not by a long shot. As for your father. I’m sorry, Alex, but he’s not available right now. I’ll definitely let him know you asked for him.”

  Alex sighed. His father was probably out at the lake fishing again with his DA turned off.

  “Thanks, mom. I…I’m not sure what else to say right now. Everything else feels so inconsequential. How can we chat about sports or the weather while Dana is out there somewhere in trouble? In any case, they’re shipping us out in the morning, so if Dad’s gone fishing, I may be gone before he gets back. Comms time is limited enough here, it’s even more restricted on board a ship. In any case, I love you both, and I’m doing well otherwise. Always prepared for a fight we hope will never come. I’ll check in again as soon as I can. Love you, Mom.”

  He sent the transmission, and while he waited for his mom’s response, he put on his boots and began lacing them up, suddenly feeling the need for company and distraction.

  “I know exactly how you feel, Alex,” his mother replied. “It’s taking all of my effort not to think about it every waking moment. Your father is taking it even harder. He’s not used to being a bystander, you know. Waiting for news is hard on us both. But he’s more like a caged animal. He needs to be doing something or he’ll go crazy. I know your time is limited, so I won’t keep you. Just do me a favor and stay safe out there. And don’t give up hope. Soren and I sure won’t. I love you too, Alex.”

  The hologram blew him a kiss before fading away.

  Alex stared at his DA momentarily before rewinding the transmission. The hologram’s quality wasn’t the best, but he still picked up something in his mother’s expression that suggested not everything was quite like she suggested. There was only so much she could say over a secured, monitored channel, but he got the impression that maybe Montoya had pulled the Wraith out of retirement, and that’s why he wasn’t around. Maybe his dad was headed to the Wolf system, too.

  He grabbed his utility cap and headed for the door, recalling what his mother had said about his father going crazy sitting around.

  Like father, like son.

  A stiff drink or two sounded pretty damn good right about now.

  CHAPTER 17

  Alex stepped out of the barracks, pausing momentarily to put his cover on and let his lungs adjust to the warm, humid air from the conditioned air inside. Fort Brix spread out around him in a complex of low, utilitarian buildings connected by hardened transparent umbilicals—veins that led to the heart at the center of the base. The central training center, a massive structure housing the advanced simulation chambers, was where the Scorpion team had just completed their latest exercise.

  The planet, officially designated PX-2847 but colloquially known as Jungle by the Marines, was a lush, verdant paradise. Well, paradise if you didn't mind the occasional carnivorous plant or venomous insect the size of your fist.

  But Alex didn’t mind the humidity or the bugs. He preferred taking the exterior route to the shuttle bay, listening to the chirps, clacks, and growls echoing from the dense foliage on the other side of a shimmering force field just outside the base perimeter. He knew the source of most of those calls by heart, having spent his first month on Jungle out there in the middle of it with his team. Combat occurred in the sims, but survival training happened live and on location.

  Not that there had been much to comm home about in that regard, either. The typical Force Recon Marine was outfitted with all kinds of gear that made hanging around in hostile environments like the jungle a walk in the park. Not to mention, their suits were a self-contained ecosystem, including climate control and waste filtering. If need be, they could wear them for up to two months without ever taking them off. Not that he’d ever had a need.

  Occasionally a bit of a smartass, he’d politely requested to be dropped into the thick of the surrounding green in nothing but his underwear once. Lieutenant Weathers, pointing out how much money the FUP had already poured into turning him into one of their most valuable assets, had politely declined.

  He smirked at the thought as he hurried across the light gray synthcrete to the shuttle bay located at the southern end of the umbilical network. The artificial concrete both reflected the heat of Jungle’s sun and prevented any of the extremely hardy foliage from punching through. Alex passed the large FUPM dropships, both Armadillos, their stubby wings and heavy cannons creating a menacing head-on profile. The ships were used both for drop training and transportation down to the station from geosynchronous orbit a few hundred miles overhead, where the big boys parked.

  The shuttle bay didn’t have doors, instead relying on a static field that kept the hot air out and the cool air in and let everything else through.

  Alex stopped at the shuttle parked closest to the exterior, where its pilot leaned against the hull, looking totally bored.

  “Lieutenant Bale,” Alex said. “Requesting a ride into town, sir.”

  Bale grinned. “You know, I just got back from ferrying the rest of your unit over to Hut. Why weren’t you with them, Alex?”

  “Because I smelled like the backside of a barnato,” Alex replied, referring to one of Jungle’s native animals—a lemur-like creature with a large, pink anus. “I wouldn’t consider insulting you by coming on board smelling like that.”

  “Why in hell were you so rank?”

  ”Another day at the office. Plus, I had a meeting with Rodriguez before I could join the others. But I’m ready to hit town now.”

  “Well, I can’t exactly say no, can I?” Bale said.

  “No, sir, you cannot,” Alex answered with a grin. With their training cycle complete, Scorpion squad was owed the next twelve hours of R&R, and Bale was on taxi duty for that entire time.

  He straightened and turned to the shuttle door. Touching the control panel, it slid open. He stepped aside and motioned Alex in. “After you, nepo baby.”

  “That really wounds me, Lieutenant. Right where it hurts,” Alex replied, touching his heart. They both knew his father’s influence had had nothing to do with his rapid advancement in rank or his choice of duty stations. Yeah, he’d made grade early, but only by six months, and had served only four and a half of the required six years in service to make Gunnery Sergeant. Still, he’d had the education, good conduct, duty performance, marksmanship score and physical fitness to make the waiver possible. And as for getting his choice of duty stations, he’d always wanted to be where the action was. Let the guys who want cushy desk jobs have them. He’d take his armor and a gun in his hand, even smelling like a barnato every damn day.

  He hopped into the small shuttle, hardly more than a rectangle with a pair of counter mass nacelles jutting out from the sides like wings. The interior was functional, with ten simple seats in the back and a flight deck up front. Alex joined Bale up front rather than sit in the rear like a passenger. The pilot didn’t mind. It was part of Alex’s routine.

  “How long were you in sim?” Bale asked as each of them settled into their seats and strapped in. Bale’s hands bounced along the interface, prepping the shuttle for flight.

  “Sixteen hours a day for the last three weeks,” Alex replied. “With the rest of the time spent in the great outdoors.” He pumped his thumb toward the perimeter. Each night, Scorpion squad had walked off the base into the surrounding jungle in their Karuta armor, pretending they were in the middle of their simulated mission. “A walk in the park, really.”

  “Yeah, right. Maybe for you.” Bale tapped on his interface, opening a channel to control. “Control, this is Rabbit One requesting takeoff. Destination, Hut.”

  “Copy that, Rabbit One,” the Marine handling flight control duties replied. “You’re cleared for takeoff. See you back in ten.”

  “Copy,” Bale said. He put his right hand on the control stick, keeping the left free to use the control interface. He increased power to the nacelles, and the shuttle hopped off the bay’s interior. Adding rear thrust, the vessel accelerated out of the structure, climbing quickly.

  Through the viewscreen, Alex watched as the familiar landscape unfolded beneath them. A dense, emerald-green jungle stretched to the horizon, broken only by the occasional clearing or winding river. It was beautiful, wild, and untamed.

  “So,” Bale said as they started the short ride to the settlement. “Anything new on the home front? I know you snake eaters like to call mommy first chance you get after a training session.”

  “Ha, ha,” Alex replied sarcastically, forcing out a response as his thoughts turned to his family’s unexpected situation. “You used to be funny. I’m not sure what happened. Too much time cramped in a shuttle flight deck, I guess.”

  “Better in here than out there,” Bale replied, referring to Jungle’s jungle.

  “I haven’t spoken to anyone else yet. I’m already twenty minutes behind my squad. What about you, flyboy? How are Paisley and the kids?”

  “They’re all good. Josh is going to be twelve in a couple of weeks, so they’re busy prepping his party. My deployment ends in eight days and six hours, not including jump time back to Earth.”

  “So you’ll make it home in time for cake. That’s awesome.”

  Bale grinned. “Barring any unforeseen circumstances, anyway.”

  “Like what? A rogue untoo smashing through the force field, rampaging into the shuttle bay, and running you through with its horn?”

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  Alex laughed. “No, they haven’t.”

  The settlement appeared through the forward canopy, like a gathering of oversized fairies amidst the heavy green. Hut was home to ten thousand civilians and composed of a collection of geodesic domes connected by umbilicals and protected by an outer forcefield, similar to Fort Brix. Which made sense, since the place only existed because of the fort. Home Corp made it their business to set up shop near all the off-world military locales, no matter the location's hospitality, and Jungle was no different. Like any other similar settlement, Hut offered a range of options to service members, all officially above board. Of course, there were below-board options, too, but Alex wasn’t that kind of Marine.

  Bale guided the shuttle toward the small spaceport at the center of the outpost, currently occupied by a single civilian cargo transport in the middle of unloading from a larger barge likely docked at the overhead station. Shuttles didn't require clearance so long as they landed at the edge of the tarmac, keeping out of the way of the bigger craft.