General Gruber had gambled and won.

Chapter 35.

Tarina listened to Wendy's voice as she counted backward from ten. As soon as she reached five, Tarina gripped the joystick of her Avenger and waited for the harsh jolt to her body that would come when they came out of their jump into Derra-5's atmosphere. Even though she had prepared herself mentally for the kick, her body still felt the full force of the impact.

The ship's sub-light engine kicked in. Tarina reached over and activated her ship's thrusters to control the rapid descent.

"The arena's playing field looks empty," announced Wendy as she looked down at thermal image displayed on her console.

"How long until our friends arrive?" asked Tarina.

"Now!" responded Wendy. A large landing craft suddenly appeared several hundred meters directly above their heads, blocking out the silvery light from one of Derra-5's moons.

Tarina banked over and lined up her craft to land in the schoolyard as she had the last time. She reached up to key her mic to talk to the landing craft, but remembered that everything on the planet was still being jammed.

Wendy turned in her seat and looked behind. "Looks like they've slowed their fall and are going to make a smooth landing in the arena."

Tarina felt a wave of relief wash over her. As she brought her craft down, she could see the fires raging all along the riverfront. It looked like a scene straight out of h.e.l.l. Her thoughts instantly turned to Sheridan. She wondered if he was down there in amongst the flames. She tried to block her thoughts and concentrated on landing her ship safely.

A cordon of heavily armed soldiers met the Avenger while Tarina popped open the c.o.c.kpit, removed her helmet and climbed down onto the snow-covered ground. A sergeant greeted Tarina and asked her to follow him to the headquarters.

At the arena, the second the landing craft touched down, all of the exits opened. Hundreds of Marines carrying all of their equipment on their backs sprinted out. They had ten seconds to disembark. Even if not all of the men were off in ten, the doors were closing and the landing craft was heading back to the fleet.

A sergeant at the front exit counted down on the landing craft's PA system. He grinned when he saw that they were going to make it. The last soldier was out the door with two seconds left to spare. Automatically, the doors slid closed and the landing craft began to lift back up into the night sky. An automated voice told the crew to prepare to jump in five seconds time.

Unseen among the burnt out buildings ringing the arena, a Kurgan drone tracked the ma.s.sive ship as it rose up. It locked all of its missiles on the ship and fired. The landing craft did not stand a chance. One second before it was to jump away, the deadly projectiles struck the rear of the ship, igniting the fuel cells. A brilliant orange and red fireball lit up the night as the ship blew apart. Flaming wreckage rained down to the ground, killing a handful of Marines who had still been out in the open.

Tarina heard the thunderous explosion, stopped in her tracks and looked up in horror as the burning debris tumbled from the sky. She swore. Twenty people had just died in the blink of an eye.

"Ma'am, this way, please," said the sergeant. "It's not safe out there."

"Yes, of course," numbly replied Tarina.

After trudging through dimly lit trench system for a few minutes, Tarina soon recognized where she was. Inside the headquarters, the mood was the exact opposite of how she felt. Men and women were enthusiastically congratulating one another. People wanting to shake his hand mobbed the commander of the newly arrived battalion of Marines. From the way the people were acting, you would have thought the war was over and that they had won, thought Tarina.

General Gruber welcomed the lieutenant colonel before handing him off to his chief of staff. He looked around the room. The second he saw Tarina, he smiled from ear to ear and strode straight towards her. "If it isn't my favorite transport pilot," said Gruber with a wink as he shook Tarina's hand.

"They took out the landing craft, sir."

"I know," replied Gruber somberly. "But we have gained eight hundred fresh soldiers. And I desperately need those men to make up for the losses I suffered earlier tonight."

Tarina unzipped a pocket on her survival suit and handed a couple of computer drives to the general. "Sir, I was told to give these to you. They're from Fleet Headquarters."

Gruber called his operations officer over and gave him the drives. He set a hand on Tarina's shoulder and said, "I have some information that I need you take back with you. My staff should have it all packaged up and ready to go in a couple of minutes. Until then, I'd like you to meet some of my people." He guided her through the throng of people still celebrating until they came to a quiet corner of the room. She could see two Marines drinking coffee, caked from head to toe in mud.

"Gents, I'd like to introduce to you Second Lieutenant Tarina Pheto. This young lady is the bravest pilot I have ever had the honor of knowing."

The soldiers looked a mess. Their ragged uniforms were filthy. Both men needed a shower and a shave. They barely looked like Marines.

"Hi, Tarina," said one of the men covered in mud.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Sheridan's green eyes looking back at her. With a scream of joy, she wrapped her arms around Sheridan's neck, pulling him in close.

Gruber stood there with an incredulous look on his face.

"Officers," said Cole dryly.

Wiping the dirt from Sheridan's face, Tarina leaned forward and kissed the man she once thought she had lost forever.

"I take it you two know each other?" said Gruber. He waited a couple of seconds until the two young officers let go of one another.

"We knew each other at the academy, sir," said Sheridan, sheepishly.

"Must have changed since I went there," observed Gruber. "A simple handshake was good enough in my day."

Tarina blushed. "Sir, sorry, it's just that I thought Michael was dead."

Gruber looked over at Cole. "Feel like getting a fresh cup of coffee, Sergeant?"

Cole grinned. "Sounds good, sir." They walked away, giving Sheridan and Tarina a minute or two of privacy.

Tarina looked deep into Sheridan's eyes. "Michael, I was told you were dead."

"I know. It's a bit of a long story. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Your father's the one who told me you were still alive. He asked me to tell you that he loves you and that he's proud of you."

Sheridan shook his head. "They're just hollow words from a man who barely knows me."

"Michael, you're wrong. I saw the look in his eyes and heard the pain in his voice. He misses you."

"I'll have to wait to pa.s.s judgment until I meet the admiral again."

Tarina did not want to be dragged into another family discussion. Not again, not when they had so little time to spend together before she had to leave. "Michael, any second now I'm going to have to leave. Is there anything you wish me to pa.s.s onto to your father?"

Sheridan took a deep breath and said, "Please tell him that I'm alright and that I look forward to seeing him again when this is all over."

Tarina saw an officer walking towards them. Her heart ached. She knew it was time to go. She let go of Sheridan's hand, took the drives from the major and slipped them into her pocket. Trying not to cry, she said, "Time to go."

"Lieutenant Sheridan, I want you to personally make sure my favorite pilot gets to her ship safely," said Gruber.

Sheridan smiled at Tarina and playfully said, "Lead on, general's favorite."

Five minutes later, at the Avenger, Sheridan stood facing Tarina. He held her hands in his. "I won't ask you when you're coming back, because the odds of us b.u.mping into one another again are probably slim."

Tarina stepped close. "I'm sorry I broke it off with you. I should have ignored your mother."

"No, you were right. It was the kick in the pants that I needed. Unfortunately, it took a few months to sink in before I knew how right you were. I love you, Tarina."

"I love you too, Michael." With that, they embraced and kissed with a pa.s.sion that both had missed from their lives.

"Excuse me, you two, but there's a war on and I don't want to go down in flames like the landing craft did," said Wendy from the c.o.c.kpit. "While you were busy, I redid the calculations. We'll jump three seconds after take-off. There's no way in h.e.l.l that a drone can spot, lock, and fire its missiles in that time."

"Got to go," Tarina said, letting go of Sheridan.

"Stay safe, Tarina Pheto."

"You too, Michael Sheridan, you too." With a heavy heart, Tarina climbed up into her ship, placed her helmet back on and then turned to take one last look at Sheridan. He waved up and then stepped back so she could engage the sub-light engines. Tarina closed the c.o.c.kpit and switched on the craft's engine. She turned her head away and focused on her job. A second later, the Avenger began to lift up into the night sky.

Wendy's voice filled Tarina's helmet. "Engage the jump engine in three-two-one."

Below, Sheridan watched as Tarina's ship climbed ever higher and then in flash it was gone. Slowly a smile crept across his face. She had never said she loved him before. They were the sweetest words he had ever heard. Turning his back on the Marines standing around the landing site, Sheridan made his way back to the headquarters. Until now, he had just fought to keep himself and his people alive. Now he had someone in his life worth fighting for.

Chapter 36.

Sheridan found Cole sitting with Garcia, Roberts and Tammy in their bunker. A chemical stove in the corner of the room kept the bitter cold away. A warmed up ration pack awaited Sheridan's return. Before Sheridan could take a seat, there was a knock on the door. Garcia opened it and welcomed into the room a mother with a small child in her arms.

Cole nudged Sheridan's arm and quietly said, "Garcia has been cleaning out and treating wounds suffered by kids during the last bombardment. The field hospital is overwhelmed with military casualties. They're turning away civilians who aren't in need of immediate lifesaving care."

"We don't have a lot of medicine ourselves," pointed out Sheridan.

"One of the medics who arrived with the reinforcements is a friend of hers, so he gave her a top up of her med bag. I told her it was ok to help out."

Sheridan took a seat and watched while Garcia treated the child for burns to her arms. When she was done, Garcia gave the women a small bottle of ointment for the wounds and a couple of fresh bandages. The woman thanked Garcia and turned to leave. Roberts jumped up and held the door open for the woman and her child.

Cole waited until the door closed and then handed Sheridan his food. "I take it, sir, that the young woman, you kissed back at headquarters, is the one your mother doesn't approve of?"

"Correct," Sheridan responded as he took a seat on the floor.

"What young lady?" asked Roberts.

"What's she look like?" prodded Garcia.

Cole said, "From what I saw, she's quite beautiful, slender, bald and has a strong South African accent."

"I'm not fond of bald women," confided Roberts. "But I do like accents."

"I wasn't asking," Sheridan retorted.

"Where did you two meet?" asked Garcia.

Sheridan placed his meal down and looked over at his comrades. "What is this, quiz the lieutenant day?"

Garcia nodded her head. "Sir, we don't get much gossip around here, so, yes, you're on the hot spot. I'd really like to know where you two met."

For the next couple of minutes, Sheridan told them all about Tarina and about his mother's dislike of her because of her skin color. The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs to their bunker ended the conversation. A Marine private walked in and handed Sheridan a note. He read it over, signed it and then gave it back to the soldier.

When the Marine was gone, Cole looked over at Sheridan. "So, what's on the go, sir? More liaison work?"

Sheridan shook his head. "General Gruber wants to see you and me in his office tomorrow morning at 0800 hours."

"Did the note say why?"

"Nope. Perhaps we're going outside of the city again to gather more intelligence on the Kurgans' activities?"

Cole said, "The general really likes you."

"Yeah, I guess he does."

"That's not always a good thing, sir."

Sheridan was taken back. "Why would you say that?"

"Sir, with all due respect to the general, he's clearly not afraid to trade lives, a lot of lives to get what he's after. Remember when the Kurgans first struck our position on the outskirts of the city?"

"Sure. What about it?"

"A lot of good men died at the hands of the enemy's drones. General Gruber deliberately kept his air-defense a.s.sets from engaging the enemy so he could see what the enemy's tactics would be when they met resistance. Also, those men on the far side of the river who were ma.s.sacred when they tried to withdraw...they did not need to be there. They were there as bait to let the Kurgans think that we were still planning to resist their advance. "

"Generals have to make hard decisions to win. Sometimes people die."

"Sir, I'm not disputing that. If you don't think that Gruber would use you to gain a battlefield advantage, then you're fooling yourself. You, I, all of us are a means to an end. You're young and you care about the people you serve with and that's a good thing for an officer. The sooner we're a.s.signed back to a regiment the less of a chance of us being used up and tossed away."

Sheridan shook his head. "You do realize that you can be quite the cynic sometimes, Sergeant."

Cole smiled. "Sir, I tell everyone that I meet that you're the smartest officer I have ever met, but you have one failing."

"And that is?"

"You trust people too much. A healthy dose of pessimism from time to time will serve you well in your career. Look, I could be wrong about the general, but my experience to date tells me to be leery."

"Ok, let's wait until tomorrow to see why the general wants to see us. If it's for some foolhardy scheme, then you may be right. However, until then, I'm going to continue to be me."

Cole stuck out his hand. "Fair enough. I wish I still drank. I'd bet a case of Scotch on this and I'd win."

"Dream on, Sergeant," replied Cole shaking his friend's hand.