Chapter 16: Recovery

It was again some female voices and giggling that woke Dane. He was in a bed, covered with just a sheet, and a bunch of bandages all over his body. The female voices instantly stopped when he moved. Then a smiling Doc Dante looked down at him.

“Where does it hurt most?” she asked. He ignored her as he looked around the cabin he was in. There were no private medical rooms on the Pig, so he had a good view of who was there.

“The last time I saw so many pretty ladies surrounding me was...,” Dane started and then stopped.

“The last time you rescued a bunch of females from pirates,” Duchess Sarah completed as she came closer and looked down at him. “Nick Belton told us all about your escapades.”

“There is this military classification, where a marine, actually any soldier, has endured so much during battle that they are ordered to the rear and prohibited from taking part in further battles,” Doc Dante said. “If what I heard about you, and read from your records, is true then my guess is that the marine corps will banish you to a training battalion for the rest of your ten years’ service.”

“Can’t think of many things more boring than that,” Dane muttered. “What happened to the ranger that got shot? Who was it?”

“That was Sergeant Brand,” The doc said. “The Kevlar panels in his suit saved him. He has a huge bruise on his chest as bragging right. You are the most serious. No casualties. There are a few lightly wounded marines in the 7/5 from repelling the pirate boarders.” Then she addressed Duchess Sarah, who looked nearly as gorgeous as Alita even if she was slightly older. “They were grabbed off a gate-keeping frigate to act as protection for us. They were a bit slack at first, but then their sergeants noticed how this one was keeping the rangers busy with exercises. Their sergeants used to threaten them with Sergeant Galan. Now he is their hero as well.”

A week later the major walked into the medical pod, followed by the entire ranger group, Doc Dante, Duchess Sarah, and even the 7/5 lieutenant. They all ignored Dane as they settled wherever they could find a place to sit or lean.

“We need to have an after-action discussion but since the doc claimed you are not to be moved yet; we will have the meeting here,” the major said. “Just to be clear, whatever is about to be discussed here will be classified as Top Secret: Need to Know.” Dane was not really in pain anymore, as long as he didn’t move. He also knew that he was kept on medication that inhibited some movements.

“I will start,” the lieutenant of the 7/5 said. “We were definitely not prepared for what we encountered when the readiness level got pushed to high. Between the time we moved onto the Pig, until we jumped that last gate, I had a lot of grumpy marines. From what they called unnecessary and inhuman exercises; things progressed to a competitive spirit once they got some lessons in ranger-level spike training. Every one of us in the 7/5 had a rude wake-up call when we realized we were facing pirates in a life and death situation, and nearly every ranger on the Pig was suddenly gone somewhere. I realized the value of fitness and training. I am scared I might lose half my platoon from the number of ranger training applications I received. We have three walking wounded, no casualties, and a platoon in very high spirit. I pity any pirate ship trying to take us on now.”

“Good to hear,” the major said with a smile. “Tell your men that we, the rangers, thank them for their protection. Also tell them, since they were involved in a real battle where people bled, every single one of them are now members of the Order of Warriors. All eighty of you are now entitled to wear formal pants with the bloodline beading. As for recruiting from them for the rangers, we will see.”

“I’m next,” Lieutenant Behr said. “We were shadowing the Pig when the two pirate ships, masquerading as navy frigates, jumped the Pig. Sled warfare was, is, totally new to us, so I was amazed at the effectiveness of the sleds against ships. We could have destroyed both but that was not part of our objective. The ease with which one of the pirate ships was made ineffective while not disabling it was an eye-opener. The navy had better watch out, in case the pirates also learn those tricks. We stayed behind when the ship designated as P1 fled the scene, but we were not needed, thanks to the effectiveness of the 7/5. We arrived just in time at the pirate base to take part in mopping up. This time we had no limitation put on us in stopping a pirate ship from fleeing.”

“Yes, they took turns cutting that ship to pieces,” the major said with a smirk. “Lieutenant Dupre?”

“We were worried about getting lost, well, not really, we would always find our way to the gates, but we were concerned that the pirate designated as P1 would turn off its fake navy beacon, which would mean the Pig and the other sled would not have been able to find us. After another freighter, P3, took P1 in tow back to their base, we decided to hitch a ride on P1; we used the claw to clamp onto the ship and turned off our engines. We disengaged when we got to the base at which time I sent two two-man teams to go spy on the pirates. They used the old trick of metal on a ship’s hull and learned a lot about the pirates. They also located the prisoners using that method. We also learned that while female voices are recognizable, conversations could not be followed, unlike with the deeper male voices.

“Something caused four pirates to exit the ship and approach two of the rangers. One of the pirates fired a shot at the rangers, hitting Sergeant Brand. His suit prevented penetration, causing him to have a nice bruise. I noticed that the pirate who fired the pistol tumbled away, but I have no idea what happened to him. That was when the Pig announced itself, which resulted in the one pirate ship trying a forced breakaway from two others. We learned later that they were in the process of disconnecting the other ships when the pirate captain started moving too early, killing some of his own people. By that time, we already knew there were female prisoners so when the forward airlock of the ship they were in got ripped open, the ship instantly started depressurizing. One of our members was near enough to board the ship against the escaping pressure and forcefully close the inner hatch of the airlock, preventing the death of all the prisoners. This member also managed to bypass safety features which enabled us to disconnect the ship from a derelict ship it was anchored to. This enabled us to get to the prisoners, who were critically low on air and water. My team has one walking wounded, and one seriously wounded, no casualties.”

“Thank you,” the major said. “Doctor Dante?”

“Among the marines I have a total of five wounded and no casualties,” she said. “Three members of the 7/5 have light stab wounds caused by enemy bladed weapons. All three are recovering with satisfaction and are released for limited duty. Of the two rangers, one walking wounded, released with limited duty and one seriously wounded. Sergeant Galan is suffering from the following injuries, all caused by flying objects while trying to close the airlock hatch. A heavy bruise to his lower back, caused by some metal object that would have broken his spine if he was wearing a regular space suit. Two smaller but more serious injuries that caused four of his back ribs to dislocate. One of them punctured a lung. Then a saber that was apparently the pride of the pirate leader, got dislodged and stabbed Sergeant Galan in the back of the thigh. No artery was cut, otherwise he would not have had enough time to get out of his suit before he would have bled to death. Oh yes, his nose got broken when he got slammed into the closing hatch when the heavy object crashed into him. Sergeant Galan is kept under medical restraints to give his ribs and lung a chance to heal. No duty until further notice.”

“Any idea how the saber got through the suit?” the major asked as he reached down next to Dane’s bed and lifted said saber up to examine it. “Mmm, I think this is called Damascus steel. If this is real, then this saber was actually made back on earth, making it much older than the thousand two hundred years since the arrival of humans here in the cluster.”

“I asked him where he got it, major,” Nick commented. “He told me he got it out of his leg, so I assumed he wants to keep it.”

“The Kevlar panels are mostly in the upper body, major,” Gunny Baker said. “No Kevlar protection on the lower legs.”

“Tough luck getting stabbed in the back of your thigh,” the major said as he laid the saber next to Dane on the bed. “There is an old ruling that states when a warrior is attacked by an enemy, and he beats the enemy, the warrior gets to keep the enemy’s weapons. Based on that, this belongs to you.”

“You might want to have a proper scabbard made for it,” Doc Dante said.

“Ensign Henderson, Ensign Winslow, do you have any comments to add?” The major asked. The two cute girls have looked in on Dane at a regular basis, but both were much shyer and more serious since the action against the pirates.

“From a navy point of view, particularly as shuttle pilots, we are still amazed at the operational ability of the sleds. We are particularly impressed with the destructive capabilities of the sled when used by proficient operators. We are sure the navy would alter the operational requirements to suit us better but the idea, which seemed positively harebrained at first, proved to have been implemented successfully,” Tina said. Then she dropped her voice a bit as she looked Dane in the eyes. “My concern is just that the navy doesn’t have suitable personnel to warrant the capability of an attack vehicle like these sleds.”

“As long as the chief of the navy don’t poach our rangers,” the major commented. “Duchess Sarah, would you like to add to this after-action report? We are aware that what pirates generally do to their female prisoners is far more devastating than merely getting killed.”

“Thank you, major,” Duchess Sarah said. “We, the twelve female prisoners on that pirate ship was beyond having hope of ever being rescued. It was thus a surprise when the pirates suddenly flee, leaving us in a depressurizing ship. For most of us, it would have been a welcome relief, but then we found this black-clad spacer in front of the airlock, with a saber embedded in his leg and a bloody face. When he identified himself as an imperial marine ranger, the relief was nearly overwhelming. To my embarrassment I have to state that I was spared the torture and humiliation of being constantly and regularly raped. I can only assume they planned to ransom me back to my husband. You are correct, the physical wounds of being raped do heal but not the emotional wounds. This might sound callous but true; nearly all the women have told me more than once since we were rescued, that just knowing that every single pirate in that nest died, is helping them to start the emotional healing process. Those who were virgins before being captured, could now see themselves having a widowed status, allowing them to start over in life.”

“Anybody else want to add anything?” the major asked. “We are headed back to Cornell but at a more comfortable speed of one G. We should be home in a month’s time.”

Somebody changed the major’s plans for him. They were halfway back to Cornell when the Flying Pig got new orders. They were met by a patrolling frigate who took the rangers and medical personnel onboard, leaving Major Gallagher, Gunny Rogers, the two ensigns, and the duchess and female prisoners onboard. The 7/5 also stayed since the frigate they met already had two platoons of marines onboard.

“Sergeant Galan, this is something that I would have liked to do with more fanfare and under special circumstances, like a big parade, but I got the suspicion things are moving in a direction over which I have little control,” Major Gallagher said as the rangers lined up to leave the Pig. “Under the circumstances, this is the best I can do.” Then he turned to Duchess Sarah, who was floating behind the major and handed her something. He took her hand and guided her, so she was in the same orientation as Dane and facing him.

“Sergeant Dane Galan,” she said with a serious tone but with a naughty twinkle in her eyes. “For bravery above and beyond the normal, I hereby award you this badge. Everybody here, especially Major Gallagher, is convinced that you more than deserve this.” Then she buttoned a ranger badge to his chest and gave him a chaste peck on the cheek.

“He is going to burst into flames,” Ensign Winston giggled as Dane felt his face turn hot.

“I already sent an update for your record to Cornell.” the major said. “Make sure to get the formal metal badge from stores when you get to the base.”

When they docked to the Cornell Space station, Dane was already on his feet with a much less noticeable scar on the back of his right upper thigh, as compared to the much bigger scar in his side. Doc Dante warned him about exerting his back, stating he might suffer back pain as a result if he survived to reach the age of fifty.

The remaining rangers and marines were sent down on the next scheduled shuttle with no fanfare. Dane was still on limited duty, but Doc Dante cleared him for running but no climbing or stress on his back. Being back at the ranger base was rather anti-climactic. There were no ranger candidates in training, so they were basically left alone. Dane and Nick started running every morning again.

A week later Dane was helping the two Gunnery Sergeants in selecting a group of marines for ranger training. Dane was told the most important criteria for ranger training was not physical strength or abilities but a cast-iron mental attitude of can-do and perseverance.

“Not to give you a swollen head, but you are the poster-child for ranger candidacy,” Gunny Allman commented casually to Dane.

“Then I have no idea how to determine which of these guys would make it,” Dane said as he pointed at the stack of applications in front of him. “I am not eighteen yet.” Gunny Allman and gunny Baker both gave him surprised looks.

“I suddenly wish we took the time to look at your complete record before making any suggestions,” Gunny Baker said.

“They might not have followed our recommendation anyway,” Allman said with a shrug. “We sent in a recommendation that you would make a suitable Gunnery Sergeant.”

“The way you handled those marines in cleaning the heads on the Pig more than convinced me you would be a great gunny, especially with your combat record,” Gunny Baker added with a shrug. Dane had no idea what to say. Gunnery Sergeants were the scariest marines in the entire corps. To have the approval of these two, not just Gunnery Sergeants, but Rangers, was a huge complement.