Chapter 29

Three weeks passed by in a wink. I did the swimming that Doc ordered and we went on long walks. When we came back from them we went on long rides. We laughed and talked and played. I was relaxed and freer than I could remember. Drake and Taylor were both picked up. Surprisingly Drake was the hardest to find. He had secured a job as a grunt at the Mech bay and blended in so well he was overlooked twice. Taylor tried to be an old man once too often.

I had sent a written message back to the General by Doc. The General went for it and the following message was sent out.

To: Takashi Kurita
Coordinator of the Draconis Combine

From: Ezekiel Jones
General, Commanding Shadow Brigade

Subject: Assassination Attempt

This is to inform you that on this date the last of three Bounty Hunters hired by your Warlord Grieg Samsonov was apprehended. Samsonov took exception to our defeating his An Ting Legion and sending them home with their tails between their legs. His standing offer of c100,000 was taken up by three not very competent people. After being questioned their toys were all taken away from them, they were spanked like naughty children should be and they were kicked off our planet.

Let it also be known that a collection was made and there is now a standing Bounty on Samsonov. We think it is more than he is worth but it now stands at c50. Please let him know that if he takes exception to this also that I will be happy to meet with him and we can discuss it man to man. I doubt that he will do this as he has shown himself to be a person who orders other to do what he is not capable of doing himself.

I think we will definitely become a burr under the saddle of the Warlord.

Another thing we did was plan a wedding. It was late spring now so we planned it for mid summer. Some time in late July or early August. "Let me know as soon as you can. I want to invite Denny and some other people who will need time to travel here." In addition to Denny I wanted to invite Major Barney McPherson, my old Cadet Battalion Commander. I hope he can make it.

"You mean I'll finally get to meet your older brother. Is he married? Is he good looking? I might just wait for him instead of you!" she laughed.

"You're too late. Not only is he married he's a Papa twice and I've never met or seen any of them. That's another reason I want to invite him. I want to meet my niece and nephew as well as my sister in law. So you'll have to make do with me unless you want to throw me over for Sean."

"Will he be able to be there? I'll get to meet the whole family?"

"I'm going to try, hon. That's why I need a firm date."

"There are some things I need to check as soon as we get back and I'll give you a firm date."

We took the shuttle back to Stirling and the first thing I did was report in to Doc. He put me through the wringer but after all the exercise I had been through lately it was nothing. He gave me a clean bill of health.

When I walked into HQ I was able to stop Travis before he made an outburst. "Would you tell your Commanding Officer that another Officer just came dragging in and would like to meet with him? When I go in get Jero and you two join us."

He pulled it off. I reported in to Mac and he sure looked surprised. When Jero and Travis came in I had them shut the door. "Well, guys it's like this. I still don't want the job and would like for you to keep it. I don't know what I'll do but I want to have a serious talk with the General and we'll decide. So while I'm back, I'm not back. I'm going to take the rest of the day off and go home. There are some things I need to get caught up on there but I wanted you to be the first to know. If it's left up to me the positions and the rank are yours, you've earned them."

"Before you ask, I'm feeling great. When you can you all three need to take a couple of weeks off and go out there. You'll return with your batteries charged and feeling a lot better."

"Thank you gentlemen and good day." Before they could say anything I walked out. I kept walking as far as the Shuttle port where I picked up my vehicle and drove home.

I surprised Kathleen and Dad both. They didn't know I was back. I got there just in time for lunch and we talked while we ate. I even asked Katie to join us this time. I told them about what had happened with the Bounty Hunters, my end of it anyway. I still hadn't talked to Zeke to find out about what went on over there. I also told them about the up coming wedding. "Kathleen, me sweet darling, as you're the closest thing I have to a Mother now, would you join us up front in the family section?" Of course she started to cry. I then turned to Dad. "I have a problem with the selection of Best Man and I need your advise. There are several people from Shadow that I'm sure would stand with me but there's this older man who has helped me through a lot of rough spots for quite a while. I was thinking of asking him to stand with me, what do you think?"

"Son, I think he would feel mighty proud to stand with you on such a special occasion." He had tears in his eyes too.

"There're going to be some more changes. I'm stepping down as Regimental Commander so that I will have more time free to take over some of the operations here. I want to slowly ease myself out of Shadow and into here. That doesn't mean that I'm going to quit Shadow but that I want to spend more time here and free you up more. I need to learn what you've been doing and how you've been doing it while you're still around to teach me."

"I'm going to put a letter in the pouch going back to the capitol as soon as Jade gives me a firm date and have ComStar send a message to Denny to see if he and his family can come out for the wedding. There are a couple more I want to invite from home, do you have any you would like to invite?" We started to talk about Aunt Sue and Cousin Jodie and this one and that one like all weddings.

It was mid afternoon when Katie let out a squawk and took off. "I ban talkin so much I plum forgot dinner. If ya wanna morsel on food on the table I got me work ta do." Instead of going back to work Dad and I went into the den and poured ourselves a drink. With a silent toast we sipped the scotch and each entered his own little world for a bit. When I came back to ground I turned to him. "Dad, I have to get back. I wanted to share my news with you and let you know about the wedding. Give my apologies to Katie that I can't stay for her meal."

At eight o'clock that evening I got through to Zeke in New Hope. It was nine in the morning there and his morning rush should be out of the way. "Are you coming this way anytime soon, General? There's some things we still need to talk about. I still want to step down and I've been giving it some serious thought. I'd feel better about it if we did it in person instead of this way. Besides I want to tell you about the wedding and so on."

"I'll be there either tomorrow or Friday. How's that?"

"That's fine, sir. I'll be looking forward to it. Good bye."

Jade gave me a firm date and I got messages off to Denny, Barney and to Sean. I also sent a message to the Commanding General of the Academy explaining that I was getting married and if it was at all possible I would appreciate it greatly if he could allow Sean leave so he could attend.

When Zeke showed up on Friday we met in the conference room. I told him what I wanted to do and he looked surprised. That had been a possibility he had not considered and he soon agreed with me. I am now the Major in charge of the Training Battalion/Academy. There had never been a full time Commanding Officer as the Training Battalion is not full time. We have always shuttled one officer after another into the position and the policy was always changing. Now there would be some stability. I wanted to establish a Training Cadre. When they were not busy with a normal training class we could schedule refresher courses for the regular members of the Unit. This way we would all stay current with new developments. We were large enough to need that kind of training.