“You lost, Ranger?”

Thandi looked around to see the familiar face of Cara Favre—Urtiga’s Pararescue friend—watching her. She smiled sheepishly. “Um… yeah this place is a maze.”

She had been wandering the cramped metal walkways of the Banshee, trying to find her way to the canteen, but she hadn’t figured out the cryptic compartment names. Harassed-looking women passed by her as they worked the ship, and their impatient demeanour had made Thandi think twice about asking for directions.

“Where are you trying to get to?” Cara asked, radiating earnest helpfulness.

“Oh uh… the canteen, I guess.”

Cara cocked an eyebrow. “You guess?”

“I think my squad is there, but there’s so much coming and going I just…” Thandi waved a hand in front of her face. “I guess I’m losing it.”

Nearly thirty-six hours earlier the operation order had come down, and Kes had begun barking orders at the squad. They were deploying to Caldera, she explained without going into detail. They were to get all their kit together, check and clean their weapons, then be ready to load onto transports out to Tyr’s starport.

A rush of activity followed until a last-minute schedule change left the whole company sat in a boarding hall with nothing to do but stew for several hours. Thandi alternated between prayer, and the guilty feeling that she was wrong to ask for special treatment.

Despite feeling constantly on edge, she was grateful that she had her squad leader to look to in the maelstrom of chaos. Kes seemed to know everything that was happening and what to do about it. She watched over the squad like a demon, making sure they had packed everything they needed, and were in the right places at the right times.

Once the shuttles reached the Banshee waiting in orbit, one hundred and fifty Rangers had piled out into the claustrophobic metal corridors and berths. Bunks were quickly assigned, then they were pushed out of the way of the harassed crew of the starship. Thandi had a bunk—more of a shelf she thought—lined up with dozens of others, and a small cubby hole to pack her rucksack into. That, and any trip to the head, was all the personal space she was allowed.

Her time shipboard was spent navigating a frustrating maze, in closer proximity to hundreds of women than she had imagined possible, as she squeezed between bodies on the way to the mess, to a briefing, or back to the bunk.

Though she was now completely lost, the friendly face of Cara meant that she would not have to ask for help, and expose herself as the shameful ‘Freakin’ New Girl’. Thandi’s shoulders relaxed for the first time in days, and she felt the ache of stiff muscles.

Cara winked at the young Ranger. “You want to see something awesome?”

Thandi smiled and nodded. She was led through a series of turns and corridors until the wide-open space of the ship’s hangar appeared before her.

Large drop ships stood in a neat line, surrounded by smaller, more agile looking craft. Cara walked straight past them as Thandi hurried to keep up, until they approached the bulk of a sleek fighter jet. A group of women were slowly maneuvering it onto a rail which disappeared down a tunnel through the hull.

Thandi recognized Toska, and another pilot stood to one side, examining a clipboard.

“Thought I’d show you this since you were nearby anyway,” Cara said with a wink. “Pretty cool, huh? Oh—step aside there.”

Thandi moved quickly as a service drone barreled through the spot she had occupied. She glanced around for more movement, then stopped and let her eyes take in the dull grey bombs strapped to the aircraft. The plane itself had the smooth curves and matt black paint of a stealth fighter. As Thandi watched, the attendant crew rolled it into position and locked a launch hook to its landing gear. Then they began to check through the jet’s systems.

“It’s one of our Shrike fighters,” Cara explained. “Toska will fly tomorrow to support the operation, but tonight, Chatter will stand by on alert status, in case the infiltration teams need air cover. They cover each other, so there’s always someone ready to go, and nobody gets left hanging out in the cold.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“That’s awesome,” Thandi said, though she felt like a tourist. “Um… are you going to be on the dropships with us?”

“Nope, I stay up here. If something goes wrong, or someone needs emergency medical treatment, then me and my team will jump in.”

“Jump?” Thandi’s eyes went wide.

Cara grinned. “On the other side of the ship, we have gliders that the Banshee will shoot down into the atmosphere.”

“That’s insane.”

“It’s a wild ride. Dangerous for sure, but we practice it a lot, and it’s totally worth it to try and keep someone alive. The one thing this organization does best is give us the tools we need to support each other. There’s no other way to confront evil, you know?”

Thandi nodded. “Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for showing me.”

“No problem. Canteen’s this way.”

The Rangers received several briefings; makeshift affairs set up on the flight deck in front of the waiting dropships, with a jury-rigged holo projector and the cold metal deck for a seat.

The first presentation gave them a general overview of the situation. A secret base on Caldera was turning people into monsters, and the Vipers were going to shut it down. They were given an overview of the autopsy of the mutated body brought back by the field team, and a tentative assessment of its presumed strength and abilities. Of particular interest were the recessed pressurized organs in its arms that allowed it to shoot deadly spikes, faster, the Collective scientist explained, than a bullet from a gun. This left the Rangers silent until Kes raised a hand.

“So, you’re saying this was an innocent farmer who was transformed into this thing?” she asked.

“That’s correct,” the scientist replied.

The hangar filled with angry muttering. Thandi saw Ray begin to clench and unclench her fists.

Kes, however, remained objective and curious. “What kind of data do you have on their intelligence, or their ability to organize?”

“We suspect some artificial enhancement has been performed to facilitate those abilities, but we cannot confirm since the cranium was not provided intact.”

“What do you mean?”

“She said your dumbass new squad member blew its head to pieces, Kes!” another NCO called across the deck. “So now we know nothing.”

Thandi groaned quietly.

“Okay, check,” Kes replied. “I’ll take your concern as a form of jealousy that my squad picked up an effective killer who placed her team’s lives first, while you’re struggling to herd a bunch of wannabe lab technicians around.” This was met with murmurs of agreement, as the other Ranger shook her head, but fell quiet.

More briefings followed on the cultural and political situation on Caldera. Eventually, a full holographic table was set up in the flight hangar so that the Rangers could familiarize themselves with the mountains and valleys around the search area. Kes spent a few hours there with the other non-commissioned officers, noting down particular features and examining potential ingress and egress routes, before returning to the squad and talking it over with them.

They were all most concerned about the lack of an established landing zone. The terrain was so variable that some locations would be easily defendable, while others would be death traps. Strangely, everyone seemed to accept the lack of information, and Thandi was surprised that she was the only one concerned about it.

“It’s called mountain warfare,” Kes replied bluntly, after Thandi pestered her once too often. “Learn to live with uncertainty.”

And that was only the start of her problems.

“Thandi, I need you to help me with something,” Lyna said as they went through their gear with Ash. “With Kayla gone, we can’t transport as much ammo for the light machine guns. Those are the biggest hitters, right? If they can’t lay down fire, it puts the whole squad in danger.”

“Okay,” Thandi nodded.

“You’re not up to speed yet, so you won’t be quite so useful shooting and moving. But you can carry more weight.”

Thandi listened carefully, dreading the conclusion, even as she had to acknowledge it was the correct one.

“Ash,” Lyna said, turning to their fire team leader, “are you happy for me to drop another couple of boxes on Thandi?”

“Uh…” Ash’s eyes scanned empty space, and she shrugged. “Let me check that with Kes.”

“Why do you need to check that with Kes, Lance-Corporal?”

Ash sighed. “Whatever, fine. Do it.”

Lyna shook her head as she helped Thandi rearrange her backpack.

Eventually, all the running around and note-taking wound down, and there were no more tasks to complete or briefings to attend. Combat suits and weapons had been checked and rechecked, and all the Rangers had to do was sit around and wait. They spent as much time as they were permitted in the ship’s mess.

“Thandi, I’m telling you,” Lyna argued. “Orbital Demolition is the best unit in Valkyrie. I mean, why would you pass on floating out in the vastness of space with an entire planet beneath your feet?”

Thandi pushed her finished tray aside as someone stopped next to her in the crowded mess room, looked down at her, and scowled. “Did she call you Thandi? Thandi Khawula?”

Thandi nodded nervously. “Um, yeah, that’s me.”

The woman, a flight crew chief, sighed as she reached into her pocket. “I was going to throw this away, but since fate dropped you in my path—here.” She passed a note into Thandi’s hand. “But you tell your friend down there that if she tries to use a crew chief as a goddamn messaging service one more time, I will take both of you for a one-way dropship ride. Get it?”

“Oh yes, sorry. She’s a troublemaker, I know.”

The crew chief nodded and moved away. Thandi unfolded the paper, carefully examining Kayla’s almost unreadable handwriting. ‘Going in with Urtiga and Masey. Christie’s staying in a dropship—very sad. Best of luck!’

She laughed, folding it away as she turned back to her intrigued squad mates.