Chapter 38

The simulation stopped, and we took off the suits. John, Frank, and Martin wore big smiles at what they had accomplished. "You all did very well just like you used to do. Martin, you will make a hell of an infantryman once you are given the enhancements we have already received."

John said, "I never fought like that before. My speed was phenomenal and this suit will take anything."

"John my suit was as good and I got three limbs shot off. Don't get too cocky because this class was only 'Ship Taking 101' wait till the really rough stuff come. Have you considered what will happen, when they decide the ship is lost to us?"

"Oh," he said. His mind picturing a ship turning into a nova.

We took turns in the shower as Carlton retrieved the suits for us. Twenty kilometres up and about a hundred south of the Bay Carl came into the ship. Martin was put out of sorts because we did not tell him that this could be done.

We were all dressed for the Albany weather and had our suits over top if need be and settled into the small thicket in a nearby park. Carl led us through his hometown and to the hotel housing our unit. The air was mild and the recent snow had turned to slush underfoot. Martin who was not used to the snow and had a little more difficulty negotiating the icy spots.

It was one o'clock and our old group was scattered all over the property. Most were finishing their meal in the restaurant. Some were in the bar drinking a beer and talking. The rest were in their rooms waiting for our call. The front desk paged the rooms I indicated and a sign directed all of the men to a meeting room we had just rented.

Sixteen men soon came in. Corporal Rocco had arrived late and had been briefed by the others, and had gone to the clinic with them. Rocco was put into the acceptable category.

"Good afternoon gentlemen. It is nice to see you again. We have gotten the reports back and find that we can accept seven men immediately. The rest will be put on a one time retainer till the next round of recruitment comes around." There was a lot of grumbling in the ranks till they found out that they would get a tax-free two thousand dollars each.

"Your rooms are paid for till the end of the week and you each have some money to enjoy yourselves. When I first talked to you I mentioned my loyalty to the group. Now I am asking you to be loyal. In the coming year people may be asking you questions about our unit. I am not asking any of you to lie, just don't volunteer any information. Is that acceptable?" Nods came from around the room and all wanted to ask more questions.

The seven men were informed and they went to get packed and check out. After the handshakes, hugs and the promises to keep in touch we left in four taxis and stopped just a short distance away at the park. The drivers were given generous tips and we all got out.

Private Polanski asked, "Why are we getting out here?"

Carl replied, "You always did ask a lot of questions." We trudged through the snow and slush till we got into a small clearing. Carlton whisked each into the ship and all the luggage too.

Private Stansky said, "What's this?" with a very excited voice.

John who had only been introduced by his first name said, "Stansky, your mouth is open. Remember the time you swallowed a moth in the bar in DaNang? It looks like you can swallow a god damned fuckin turkey now." The voice, inflection and knowledge told Stansky who it was.

"John, John Marks. Is that you?"

"It sure is. While you guys were sucking back beer I was eating my Wheaties. Now pipe down, while the Cap fills you in."

"Thanks John. Seeing you should get them thinking straight. The other gentleman is Frank Turner." I turned to the rest and said, "To make a long story short, the Earth is going to be attacked, by some nasty critters. I want to do a pre-emptive on them and steal the ships they stole from my friends."

The real questions came and Carl, Frank, and John did most of the replies, till we stopped in the base. They were surprised when the door opened and they were not in the park in Albany.

"Mom, I would like to introduce, Frank Rocco, Henrick Stansky, Jan Polanski, Jamal Brown, Seth Branson, Richard Wilcox, and Dave Piton. The newest additions to your knights-errant," I said, using my voice.

From the very air in front of them came an image of a beautiful woman like Secric in many ways, but subtly more Human. She appeared to be about thirty something and very well preserved. Her gown was a light blue and her hair was a golden blonde. Her cleavage was exposed, but in a restrained and refined way. The only thing she seemed to be missing was a diamond tiara in her hair to match her piercing blue eyes. Everybody, and I mean everybody, was shocked at the apparition.

"Close your mouths or they will think that you have never seen me before."

"We haven't. That is a very beautiful image."

"I have been working on this for a while, taking all the things that all of you like, in a woman."

Mom spoke in a quiet voice and said, "I thank you gentlemen for coming in aid of my people. It has been a long time since your ancestors came here to help my race on another matter. I am afraid that this time the fate of everyone on this planet and others are at stake. The star Epsilon Eridani has been invaded, and we believe Sol will be invaded soon. Fleet Admiral Buchanan has agreed to gather resolute friends and drive back the Samutz and protect Earth in doing so."

Shit, Mom was as persuasive as hell.

She continued, "General Shingle would like to train you in the use of Tandra weapons and tactics, to assist you in doing this. He has shown himself to be a courageous warrior, in the taking of the destroyer, now in orbit around your primary."

Rocco the most outgoing stepped forward. "Ah." He apparently did not know what to say next.

"Mom," I supplied.

"Mom, Ma'am. How are such a small number of us be expected to take on these Samutz and win?"

"Mister Rocco, you are to help train a lot more men and the combined group will journey to Epsilon Eridani to recover the stolen ships using surprise. Those ships once reconditioned will form part of the defence of Earth."

"Are you going too?"

A delighted laugh rang out that not even royalty could even come close to copying. "Mister Rocco, I am part of this base. I could no more go than all the buildings in Albany go." Recognition came into their eyes at last. And surprisingly it did not stop their growing fascination of her.

She answered many questions to calm them till she said, "The best place to learn is with the tutors. Your enquiries would be answered much more fully, and you will be able to retain the information much better." We all walked to the medical section and were diagnosed and treated. Their small addictions were removed along with many of their ailments. Only the tall broad shouldered Private Jamal Brown needed a treatment in the tank. He was just sedated, and placed in the container.

The rest were concerned till I said, "Jamal has a cancer that is eating through his bowels. It is doubtful if he would even be alive in a few months."

"Frank here had a cancer just as bad, and his legs had been lost to diabetes. Carl lost a leg recently and it was replaced. John was missing much of one foot. I also lost some limbs and they had to be replaced. You won't find this treatment any place else."

Carl added, "I carried the Cap back from the destroyer. He had only one arm at the time because the rest were burnt off. He was still trying to kill the Samutz as I pulled him back."

Polanski followed true to form. "That can't be. Nobody can do that."

Carl said, "Mom, run the recording of us taking the ship."

"Wait Carl." I said, but a large screen came to life showing us approaching the damaged destroyer and pulling up in the boat bay. I had to leave and walked out to find something else to do.

My mind was working on training and weapons systems for about three hours when the shaken men came to me. They had seen gristly sights in Nam, and even contributed to them, but they had never seen what happened on the ship.

Seth Branson put his hand on my shoulder and said, "I remember a lot better now, why we re-enlisted and followed you into hell. I can think of no other that I would do this for. I am prepared to do it again now that you asked." I got up and hugged him to me, a little broken up myself, by the show of emotion.

We all went to school. I took a course in ancient battles that succeeded, and some that were lost, and found out the whys of each. Giant flotillas came at one another and I knew there was no trick here. Millions and millions of beings died in a matter of hours. Another had carefully laid mines intercept the enemy as they retreated from a sudden advance. The energy necessary to breach a ship's shield was fantastic but there were weapons to do just that.

"Henry, Henry, Your family want to talk to you."

"Oh thanks Mom. What's happening girls?" I asked as if I were just awakening.

"I am getting lonely." Susan stated. "We have erected the shield around the ship and removed the damaged hull plates and are almost done the ribs. Will you send Carlton to pick us up?"

"Carlton will you go and get the girls?"

"Yes, sir."

"He is on his way. There are seven new recruits from our old unit here tonight and twenty two due around eleven. You better warn the girls while I do the same here."

I got up from the chair and stretched. I was taking a long time learning and planning some possible action. Carl was talking with the others trying to get them to contribute their thoughts to various ideas he had. Seth Branson was arguing with Richard Wilcox about why the Tandra required such limitations on the troops when on leave. They stood at attention when I came in.

"What is this about? You only did that when there were officers in the room that you wanted to impress."

Carl told me, "We have been talking and if we are going to get the most out of the men coming in, we have to make you look like an admiral. That will have to start with the way we treat you.

Carl continued, "I have been studying the Tandra Military Code and its protocol is not much different than ours. The laws though are far superior to ours. Mom and the rest of us have been going over the laws, rules and customs. Apart from a few points I would like to scrap the way we were taught and accept the Tandra rules of conduct instead."

I responded, "We should go over the rules very well, because once they are accepted, they will be cast in stone. We can't have them find out that the rules are variable. One of the things you have to realize is that the vast majority of the officers and good troops were women not men. The men were the types of people we would soon learn to feel disgust for. They would do their job but just. They had no initiative to get ahead."

John added his two cents, and stayed within the new guidelines the men had just made. "Sir, I think that we need to develop an esprit de corps. You are the obvious focal point. Another would be a uniform that is different enough to look very good and make the soldier proud to wear. Mom has some great uniforms to pick from. The material has fantastic properties that would allow it to be used, even when using a combat suit."

"That is an interesting point. Why don't you pick out some complementary uniforms that could be used on different occasions? Eventually we will have to become known to the rest of the world. At that time a subtle but effective uniform would help us immensely." We discussed the points with a lot of heat. It seemed that we were trying to fight hard enough to fit into a female Tandra's shoes. This got us on the topic of why the girls let me do all the things that an Earth male would do and they assumed the Earth female role.

I replied as best I could, "I took the responsibility, because I thought it was the right thing to do, just as each of you would. I think they are either testing me or bowing to the way I am and settling for a more passive role. They also seem to be copying the way Susan treats me, and doing the same. I argued my problems to a computer and won which no Tandra would think of doing. Let's discuss this a little later. The girls are getting back and I think you should warn the troops about what will happen."

"Well guys," Carl began, "there are thirty some naked Tandra women and a few Human that will be coming through here shortly. About a half are definitely off-limits. The admiral has acquired a few wives and some dependants. I have two adopted daughters as well. They all have Henry, John, Frank, and my ability to read minds. They are strong both physically and morally. If you are accepted by them it is not a casual thing. There is a lot of commitment on each side. At least there is with Henry."

Rocco asked, "What are they like Captain?" I knew his question was not for information to get into their pants, but a genuine request for data on their inner workings.

"That is hard to say actually. I think that any of them would die to protect me." I could see their incredulous thoughts. "It is true. Their males are a real piece of work. They only want to fuck and the ones on Masis beat their wives, and when they are too old they are literally thrown to the wolves. Even with that type of male, they bonded with me to such an extent that I would never leave them. It is like being totally in love, and all others can look good but never good enough. Does that answer your question?"

Rocco replied, "I think you have it bad, but if all of you can read minds then how can misunderstanding happen?" It was getting late, and I wondered where the family was while I thought on his question.

"Susan, when will you be getting home?"

"Oh, about a half hour or so."

"I just talked to Susan, and they will be here in thirty minutes. Reading minds is a lot better than a cell phone because you can get the feelings behind the words and know what isn't said. Sometimes those subtle ideas are the most important."

Stansky asked, "Cap, how did you get your dependants?"

"Let Carl tell you. He got his at the same time." Carl told the story his way going into the gory aspects in great detail. Like most stories he improved on it a little. He finished up with all the money we got. The men were thinking of laughing at the joke played on them till they saw my face and decided the tale was true. They remained quiet thinking over the pertinent points.

I heard the Human girls laughing, and Roger doing the same trying to prove he was better, by being able to use his vocal cords. They came right to us and I was happy to introduce all of them. The names of the awakened girls were easy as I had to go over the list of people to help on the hull. The trouble is that everybody was dressed in summer clothes. Only the Earth girls had shoes though.

"Where did you get the clothes?" I asked Susan.

"We took a side trip. I stole some clothes from a clothes line and left a thousand dollar bill in Miami. Then we flew to South Carolina looking for a place to eat. I ordered lots of chicken and the trimmings. Since I waited for the food to cook I went into Wal-Mart and bought some clothes for the girls. I was kind of rushed, so I bought extras, so they could pick what they wanted. The nice stock girls pushed six carts for me around the store and out into the parking lot. Carlton picked them up and I went back for the food."

"Where did you get the money?"

"You are so untidy, at times. You left a few million in the ship. I just took a little." I couldn't hold it, and I doubled over laughing at the scene I saw in my mind. Soon the men joined me, when they thought about it.

"Why are all of you laughing?" She asked, because she could not follow my mind.

"Oh, just that you go out on a little working vacation, on the moon, to repair a downed hull. Every government on the entire planet is looking for any trace of what is going on. Your return trip requires you to travel a good portion of the continent, in a space ship. You stop to shop for some clothes and a little something for dinner." The men were still chuckling and I stated again too.

"I don't see anything funny," she said feeling indignant as she turned and started to open the buckets of chicken, potatoes and salads. She sent everybody through the cleansers before she would allow us to eat.

We sat on the floor eating chicken. I took small pieces of chicken and fed Bobby and Roger. Soon Moesha and Kimberly came over to be fed the same way. Clarice and Michelle were sitting beside Carl and demanded to be fed that way to. The rest of the young squad split up to be fed by either Susan or me. I now knew what a father bird felt like, as it fed his chicks. In a few moments Kitten, Chris and then Susan undid their dresses, and fed the babies. Sadda was close by but Susan breasts were full of milk more than Faith could possibly take. Bobby happily suckled from the unattended nipple.

Dave Piton the last of our group, and the quietest looked very interested in the tiny babies that could be held in the outstretched palms of an adult easily. Susan had read his thoughts and said, "The children are all Kitten's but Chris and I have been taking care of one each. It is almost like they are our own. That is part of the way our family is so great. There are so many interconnections that the whole is much stronger than the sum of the parts."

It was getting late, and I had two jobs to do. The second recruitment meeting of the mercenaries, and the pick up of the first group. This meeting was in Seattle. This area was picked because of its proximity to Canada. I could get the best from two countries. The same people were going as last time. The remainder were doing simulations in the suits.

Seattle was cold and overcast. It was three hours different so we had to be a little more choosey about where we were going to disembark.

A railway yard was the best, and we walked out invisibly. A taxi took us downtown to the hotel. There was already an FBI agent hiding behind a glass of beer in the bar. We set up shop and the agent came in to supposedly ask questions so he could join. Like the others I just said that I didn't want to repeat myself. I pulled out the stops on my aura and he retreated quickly.