Kayla followed her squad into a dropship and took the free seat next to Kes. The frantic treatment and evacuation of wounded Raiders had gone smoothly, and as far as Kayla knew, no-one had been pronounced killed in action.
The vessel’s ramp closed and it lifted into the night. Through a window, Kayla saw the mountains recede below them as they climbed to orbit. She tapped her helmet’s release and servos whined as the faceplate retracted.
“What’s going on?” she demanded.
Kes raised her own vizor. “We’re returning to the Banshee,” she said.
Kayla began to protest, but the corporal held up a hand.
“Just take it easy, will you? I don’t know what’s going either, but the order came direct from General Smyrna.”
“Rayker’s out there and wounded. Aren’t we going after her?”
Kes returned her frustrated expression with raised eyebrows, and Kayla realized that she shouldn’t push the issue. She would simply have to wait.
Another helmet popped open. “Kayla,” Ray said, with an edge to her voice, “I obviously wasn’t there with you in the castle. Didn’t you say you surprised Rayker when you tried to shoot her?”
Kayla nodded.
“But she’d already been shot up by the Raiders? How many times?”
“Six, Christie said.”
Ray gave her a significant look. “Well, you’re the best pistol shot in the company. How is it possible she got away from you?”
Kayla shook her head. She was also confused about what exactly had happened. “I don’t know. She was just too fast.”
“So, she heals crazy fast, yeah? And now that she’s alert and on the move, she could pick us to pieces while we try to chase her down.”
Kayla flashed her fire team member a look of disdain. “You know what, Ray, I didn’t join Valkyrie because I wanted a safe and easy life—”
“Barnes knock it off,” Kes hissed. “This decision is over our heads, so let it go. We’ll get a full briefing on the Banshee. Got it?”
Kayla felt the pain of bottled-up anger, but the squad leader was right. She glanced back at Ray, but the woman had already sealed up her helmet and was watching the planet recede out the window.
On the opposite seat of the ship, Kayla made out the form of Tian, and gave her a kick, but her helmet remained closed, and she didn’t respond. Further down the bay, Thandi caught her eye and gave a quick shake of her head.
That brought Kayla up short. Even her best friend looked like she was pissed at her, and that only happened when she genuinely screwed up.
She carefully felt down her chest rig and pulled a silver necklace out from a pouch—the only place she kept it when she wasn’t wearing it. It was a simple piece of jewelry consisting of a chain looped through a small coin which was engraved with a name. She tied the chain around her wrist so it couldn’t fall off, and held the coin tightly in her hand. The adrenaline in her blood stream began to fade, and she soon crashed with exhaustion.
The Rangers passed an uncomfortable flight of several hours, struggling to sleep in the awkward seats of the dropship. Once they began their approach to the Banshee, hidden in the shadow of Ambrosia’s moon, Kes began to wake them. Yawning and sleepy eyed, they piled out into the hangar of their mothership.
“Team leaders!” Lieutanant Akane called to the disembarking Rangers. “Gather on me. The rest of you are on standdown—take care of your kit, get some showers and food.”
Kayla stayed with Kes as they followed Akane, and the rest of the company’s NCOs and officers, over to a corner of the Banshee’s hangar, where Captain Aguilar and her headquarters staff were waiting.
“Is that everyone?” Aguilar asked as she eyed the assembled Rangers. “Okay take a knee, and I’ll bring you up to speed. I know a lot of you were surprised to see us returning to the Banshee while our principal target is on the run, but here’s what’s happening.”
Her company first sergeant activated a holo-projector and a spider web relief of the mountains they had left took shape from the light rays. A small point of light was nestled in the river canyon, just outside a major beach resort, twenty miles from the chateau.
Aguilar gestured to the display. “One of the team members in the chateau was able to plant a tracking device on Rayker’s body before she regained consciousness. This is her current location. She is obviously resting in a concealed position, near a civilian population center.”
Murmurs ran through the small crowd. Kayla’s jaw clenched.
“A couple of things are immediately obvious from tonight’s events,” Aguilar continued. “Point one; she made this trip in thirty minutes. After the Raiders shot her to pieces.”
This announcement was met with whistles and gasps of disbelief. Kayla shivered. What was it going to take to put her down for good?
“She went straight for a public place,” Aguilar continued, “because she knows we would want to avoid exposure. That should tell you how much she’s figured out about this organization.”
“Or already knew,” a voice said to a few murmurs of agreement.
“You keep thoughts like that to yourself,” Aguilar snapped. “I’m not having rumors and speculation distracting the company from this mission. Anyone who just mouthed off can consider this your first and final warning to pull your head out of your ass.”
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Nobody so much as shifted their weight.
“Point two;” Aguilar continued, “her speed indicates how problematic a chase could be, even if she’s unarmed. Command cannot take the risk of a protracted battle that roams across such a public area. Point three—and this is where it gets really concerning—the missile launch that hit the building tonight came from a battery of Ambrosia’s sky defense. Intel indicates it was hacked remotely.”
Silence followed this statement. Anti-air missiles did not target buildings, which meant that either the launch had been planned ahead of time, or someone had pulled off an obscenely difficult system takeover and then reprogrammed a guidance head with only a few minutes of warning. Both possibilities were equally appalling.
“So, as we have suspected for some time, Rayker has an extremely powerful friend in the galaxy. Tonight, we were given proof of that relationship in spades. Someone was able to see what was happening at the chateau and reacted immediately to protect her, cutting out dozens of command-and-control links in seconds. Ladies, we have to face the fact that we are out of our depth if we try to fight our target within Helvet-controlled space.”
Kayla’s expression turned sour. Around the half-circle, other Rangers looked similarly morose.
Aguilar sighed heavily before she continued. “The decision has been made to let her go in the hopes that she will lead us towards her benefactor. Or at least somewhere that helps us better understand her support network.”
Heads shook and voices grumbled. Even though the conclusion had been obvious since the words ‘tracking device’, Kayla still felt angry, and cheated. But she couldn’t argue with the rationality behind the decision and resigned herself to the general opinion that they were all back to square one.
“The Task Force will remain close on her trail and, if this device sends out its tampering alert, we will close in for the kill as soon as we can.” Aguilar paused and ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t mind telling all of you that letting this animal go, after so much work and preparation, burns my soul. But we have to face the fact that our organization is behind the curve on a truly profound threat within human civilization. I, for one, want to do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of it. So—food, showers and rest, and be ready for a fast turnaround. We might need to pounce at a moment’s notice.”
She looked around the assembled faces. “Questions or comments?”
Kayla cleared her throat. “Ma’am, I suggest we nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”
Several Rangers laughed while Aguilar cracked a wry smile. “Thank you, ‘Great Destroyer’ Barnes, for that insight. I will be sure to pass it up the chain.
Some of the anger eased with the moment, and Kayla began to feel the creeping cloud of fatigue fog her mind. The officers had a few other questions about the company’s readiness, which Kayla, in her unhappy state, took as further evidence that nothing reassured them more in times of stress than the sound of their own voices.
Eventually the meeting broke up, but as Kayla turned to go, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Kes, accompanied by Lieutenant Akane. The corporal motioned with her head to step to one side. They were all visibly exhausted, but there was obviously more that needed to be said before they could call it a night.
“So, Lance Corporal Barnes,” the platoon leader began, “I’ve got Raiders clamoring to buy you a drink and demanding that I put in the paperwork for a medal. It seems that the two operators who were first to arrive at the scene, Shaklia and Guiying, were quickly neutralized by Rayker. Without your help, they might both have been killed, instead of currently comatose, but alive. Not to mention how many others in that hallway she might have exacted her revenge on.”
“Ma’am, I take full responsibility for my actions and—”
“Goddammit Barnes, it’s been a long night and I don’t need you interrupting me when I’m dressing you down.”
Kayla fell silent.
“So, whilst your act of heroism undoubtedly should be recognized, it needs to be balanced against the reality that you effectively deserted your squad, without communication, or co-ordination, and without letting them catch up to support you. Leaving Corporal Rudaski here in the impossible position of splitting her squad in two, so your fire team could be led on a not-so-merry goose chase, while she held down the perimeter.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Squads may be composed of two fire teams, Barnes, but they do not separate out of contact. They are a single, cohesive unit of Rangers that support each other through thick or thin.”
Kayla nodded tiredly.
Akane cocked her head. “In hindsight everything turned out okay. But what if you had been wrong?”
Kayla met her eyes with an expression of confusion. “Ma’am?”
“As far as we know, a missile system thirty kilometers away just upped and generated its own firing solution. Someone knew we were going for Rakyer, and they tried to stop us. But what if the strike wasn’t enough? What if there was a risk of her being deeper in the chateau? What if this unknown adversary had a ground team nearby, whose job it was to approach the chateau and extract Rayker? If they had seen your movement, and gone for the perimeter covered by your weakened and distracted squad, you could be looking at four dead Rangers. Am I wrong, Barnes?”
“No, ma’am.” Kayla looked down, and felt a cold dread flooding her veins. “Ma’am I sincerely apologize for my actions. I lost control.”
“I’m not so sure,” Kes interjected. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to speak to you about your lone-wolf approach.”
“I approved your promotion,” Lieutenant Akane said, “because you drive hard to be a better Ranger, and you push the others to keep up. As much as I hate to criticize heroic actions and quick thinking, it seems clear that you tore off because you have a deep comfort with leaving your team behind to take on the world by yourself. If you can’t get past your own ego, you’re a danger to all of us. Any more solo adventures, and I’m going to drop you back to private.”
Kayla’s stomach knotted. Up until that moment, she had been totally convinced she had been justified in taking off, but she hadn’t even considered the possibility of another threat. And, now that she was forced to think about it, why would Rayker have hung around to finish off the downed Valkyrie? She certainly knew she only had seconds to get away.
Doubt and shame swirled together through the tiredness and left Kayla with only one certainty. She didn’t have all the answers. With her lack of experience, she should obviously listen to her seniors and do her best to earn their respect. But Kes had stuck her neck out for her with the early promotion, and now she had embarrassed them both in the eyes of the platoon leader.
Kayla hung her head, and nodded her acknowledgement.
Akane rubbed her eyes. “Corporal Rudaski, you’ll put her on probation for the next three months. Any slip-ups, and I’m dropping her to private again.”
“Yes ma’am,” Kes replied.
They saluted, and watched as the lieutenant walked away. Kayla began to head back to her bunk, but Kes stopped her.
“One more thing, Barnes. If I ever hear you question one of my girls’ courage in front of the squad again, I’m going to have you transferred out of the battalion. Understand?”
Kayla was shocked. On the dropship, the thought of abandoning the hunt for Rayker had left her so angry. Had she really been that callous when she snapped at Ray?
“Yes, Corporal,” she nodded shamefully.
“That kind of leadership is a cancer that has to be destroyed before it can spread.” Her expression softened. “But I want to leave you the benefit of the doubt. Your judgment tonight wasn’t all that clear, was it? I mean, Christie was pretty vulnerable, alone in that chateau.”
Kes paused as she rubbed her neck. Kayla noticed her fingers brushing the chain of a necklace, which she knew to be identical to her own, but with more names.
“You know,” Kes said hesitantly, “we were all heartbroken by Rose’s death—”
Kayla shook her head and her words came out in a rush. “That has nothing to do with anything. Right? I am fully aware that everyone carries their own burden, and I’m carrying mine. Okay, I screwed up and made a bad call. I’ll own it in the hot wash, and I’ll commit to working on myself as a better fire team leader.”
Without waiting for a response, she turned and strode away, as icy fingers threatened to crush her heart.