Jay Allan - The Cost of Victory

Cain was generally unburdened with concern about what others thought, but Holm was one of the few he did care about. Mentor, second father, friend. He would have followed the general into hell itself. “Thank you, sir.” He paused, then added, “That means a lot, sir.”

They stood there quietly for a few minutes, looking out over the railing, each deep in his own thoughts. The silence was broken by Captain Teller on Cain’s comlink. “Colonel, I’m sorry to disturb you, but the supervisor of this facility is extremely insistent that she speak with my superior.”

“Very well, captain. Advise her I will be with her shortly.” He switched to his direct link with Holm. “General, the former administrator is giving Captain Teller a hard time. With your permission, I will go out and deal with her.”

“Good idea.” He turned from looking out at the cavern to face Cain. “Remember, no one gets in here but your hand-picked team. And I want the members of that security force questioned as soon as possible. They are to be kept separate from the civilian staff.”

“Yes, sir.” He turned and started to walk down the corridor.

“And Erik?” Cain stopped and looked back. “I know you already had an altercation with Captain Warren.”

“Ah…yes sir, that was…”

Holm cut him off. “Erik, I don’t care about that. I just wanted to say that none of the political officers get in here. I don’t care what they say or how much they complain. Until I am able to confer with General Samuels, this area is off limits to them.”

“Yes, sir!” Cain would actually enjoy telling the government snoops to get screwed. “My pleasure, sir.”

Cain stood outside the blasted entrance to the tunnel, looking out at the various groups milling around. Mostly his people, some standing guard, some escorting groups of detainees as they began to march west. He’d ordered the civilian workers separated from the security personnel and for both groups to be evac’d to the plateau for eventual transport to a detainment area, probably near Holm’s HQ. But they’d probably have a long wait; Cain would be damned if he was going to divert any transports to moving these people until every one of his wounded had been evac’d to the field hospital.

He was about to com Teller when he saw the captain standing on a hill about twenty meters from the tunnel entrance. He was facing a woman whose back was turned to Cain. She had long blonde hair cascading down her back. For an instant he thought it was Sarah. No, he thought. Not possible. He walked toward them, and when he was about five meters away Teller motioned toward him and she turned around.

He stopped in his tracks. It wasn’t Sarah, but the resemblance was uncanny. She was a couple centimeters shorter, and her hair didn’t have the reddish tint Sarah’s did in the sun, but the similarities greatly outnumbered the differences.

“Colonel Cain, I need to speak with you.” Her voice was different that Sarah’s, lower-pitched, and the tone was darker, more intimidating.

Cain hesitated for a moment, still distracted by the resemblance. Finally he answered, his voice a little tentative. “What can I do for you?”

She stared at him. His visor was set to transparent, so even though he was armored, she could see his face. “Colonel, I must insist that you return control of this facility to my staff at once. The Tarsus Corporation has a Presidential Charter providing exclusive rights to explore this archeological site.” She extended her hand. In her open palm was a small data chip.

Cain had an urge to dismiss her abruptly, but she looked so much like Sarah he found it difficult. “I am sorry, Supervisor Cole – it is Cole, right? – but I am not authorized to allow anyone except designated Marine personnel into the cave. I’m afraid that’s final.”

A master manipulator, Alex could sense that something was holding him back. She’d half expected him to have her escorted forcibly to the detainment area. What is it, she thought? Is he just a sucker for a pretty face? No, it must be more than that. Erik Cain had a reputation for many things, but being a soft touch was definitely not one of them. “Colonel…” – she spoke gently this time, her tone sweeter, less confrontational – “…please call me Christine. I’m afraid you don’t understand. This facility is extremely fragile. My personnel are highly skilled. With all due respect, your Marines are not trained to handle this type of artifact.”

“Supervi…Christine, I can assure you that no one is going to disturb any artifacts in that cavern. Our interest is maintaining security, nothing more.” Teller stood listening, surprised at Cain’s tone and his efforts to explain. The captain had been expecting something more akin to a volcanic eruption, but for some reason Cain was restrained.

“But Colonel…”

“I am sorry, but the matter is closed.” His voice was sterner, not cold, but he was clearly losing his patience, a commodity he possessed in extremely limited quantities.

Back down, she thought. You’re not going to change his mind; don’t waste whatever goodwill you seem to have. “Very well, Colonel Cain.” Her voice was soft, almost seductive. Don’t overdo it, she thought. This man will see through bullshit. “I see that I have no alternative, so I will obey your orders.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.” He was looser; the tension that was building was gone. “Captain Teller, please have Supervisor Cole escorted to her people, and see that they are all made comfortable until we are able to transport them to a more appropriate place.” He turned to face Alex. “Christine, I am afraid that I have many duties. Good bye.” He turned and started walking back toward the cave entrance.

“Thank you, colonel.” That was odd, she thought. I’ll have to do a little research on the good colonel. But how the hell am I going to get control of the facility from these damned Marines?

Garret sat on the bridge of Midway, still uncomfortable, still in pain, but profoundly relieved. There had been some tense moments over the past four days, but now he was master of the Epsilon Eridani system. He’d even allowed himself the indulgence of a moderately powerful painkiller. It wasn’t enough to seriously impair his response time, but now he could finally afford to be just a touch below 100%. At least the thundering pain in his head, his constant companion for four days, had become more of a dull ache.

As with most victories, this one didn’t come without cost, though the losses had been far less than he’d expected. His broadband communication announcing his arrival had probably saved Admiral Compton and his people. The enemy fleet had been about to close to energy range of his battered ships. Facing overwhelming firepower, Compton’s force would have had little chance of survival. They would have bled the enemy as the price of their lives, but in the end, they would have fallen.

Compton had been sitting on his bridge when Garret’s broadcast came through. It gave him a shred of hope and, failing salvation, a chance to die for victory rather than defeat. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind – if he were in command of the enemy fleet he’d come in full bore and wiped out his smaller armada before Garret’s task force could close. Garret would have done the same – Compton was sure of that.

But CAC commanders were conservative. The penalties for failure were severe and did not encourage bold action. And Admiral Dieng was dealing with Imperial and Europan allies who had already suffered greater losses than they’d bargained for.

Compton played a hunch. His first instinct was to accelerate away from the enemy at maximum thrust. That would buy time, but the incoming fleet already had some velocity, while his ships were virtually stationary, deployed around the asteroids they had used for cover against the missile attack. Running would have delayed the enemy’s reaching energy weapons range but not long enough for Garret to arrive. So Compton stood firm, bluffing, signaling that he wanted the laser duel. Prey on the enemy commander’s concerns about Garret, he thought.