Chapter 17

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I led the few flight-capable Black squadron mecha in the area to flight deck 2. A few of my other pilots had gone ahead and grabbed our limpers, bringing them down so they could be taken inside. A destroid surfaced on a flight elevator and passed out a few GU-11 gun pods, fully loaded, and helped get the wounded below deck. 

I opened a general comm channel, "Alright, guys. We're going to have to take off again. This battle isn't over yet. Perry, you alright? Good. Go below and get yourself a fresh Veritech, then. Montgomery and Rasimus, you take him down and get your planes restocked too. Zance? You conscious yet? <Nope.> Someone take his VT below, too." 

"Sir." Marshall opened a channel to me. 

"You alright, Marshall?" I asked. His pressure suit had been activated, but I could see a bruise on his forehead and blood running down his chin. "Obviously not. Once you're below deck, you should get yourself taken to medical. You're in no shape for combat." 

"But..." 

"I said go!" I closed the channel. 

<Nine Valkyries left.> I thought, counting my combat worthy personnel. Looking about, I saw there were no pods within view, or within radar range, but I was sure there were more coming. There had to be more. Those of us that stayed above decks, in three groups of two, spread out across the hull. "We've got to keep protecting the fortress, people. Look sharp and take off as soon as your missile man gets to you. Don't bother with the catapults unless you're low on reaction mass. And, has anybody seen Malone?" 

Martuchi spoke up, "Er... Sir? His Veritech was destroyed. He didn't manage to eject." 

I felt my jaw go slack. <Malone bought it?> Then I forced my mouth shut and set my face. I had more important things to do. Like running a squadron. 

I kept McArthur with me, and I kept Martuchi and Rice together while I left Delta wing, the only wing that had managed to stay intact, together. We were all to stay close to the fortress until the battle was over, to make sure they didn't pull something like that again. I had Martuchi's group keep an eye on the bridge especially. In addition, I sent someone to go wake up Theta flight, because we might be needing them. 

After that, I had a few minutes to think. I wish I hadn't. I had lost five men, and another three had been hurt badly. I still had nine left, but that didn't make any difference. <Five more lives lost to those damned aliens. I can hardly imagine how bad off we'd be if we'd been in the main attack force. But still... Five men. Gunn... Harrington... Vincent... Clancy... All of them good men... I just hope they don... didn't have families.> I couldn't think right then. I couldn't even remember their first names. 

Then McArthur spoke up, "Black Leader, we've got fifteen bogies to our three o'clock. Engage?" 

I gave him an affirmative. Combat takes the mind off of one's troubles. 

[] 

I buried my face in a book I wasn't reading, trying to hide my eyes. Though no one was in the office with me, I just couldn't bear the thought of anyone seeing me when I was upset. I was only somewhat relieved that Clancy and Vincent had left their families behind on earth, and I wasn't surprised that Malone wasn't really going to be missed by anyone. 

I wasn't as shaken up over Malone's death as the others. Not that I didn't care, of course. I'm not that cold. He had been a good pilot, and despite his attitude problem and the fact that I had thought of killing him personally several times since I'd met him, I still ended up missing him, no matter how much I denied it. That's part of being human, I guess. 

Tack Gunn, a corporal, had a wife and a child who would miss him very much. I knew because I had to tell them... personally. I didn't try to be soft, I didn't try to phrase it nicely. I just told them. 

"Mrs. Gunn," I said, doing my damnest to stay calm. "Your husband was killed defending the SDF-1 yesterday. I'm sure he..." 

She screamed. She had known something was wrong the moment I had knocked on her door, but, obviously, she hadn't expected something as terrible as this. She collapsed against the door frame, sobbing, I did my best to comfort her. She wasn't listening, so I just held her and listened to her cry. After a minute or so, she stopped crying, sniffed, and looked at me. 

"It's your fault," she whispered. "You're his commanding officer, ain't you? You made him go out there. You was out there with him, and you didn't save him when you got the chance." 

"Mrs. Gunn, I..." 

"I don't wanna hear it!" She yelled. "Get out of here! I never want to see your bloody face again!" Then she slammed the door in my face. I could hear her crying just inside the door, but I knew there was nothing I could do for her. <Different people handle it different ways.>Harrington's fiance took it better. She had already heard what had happened by the time I tracked her down, and she looked at me with a steady gaze. "Thank you for telling me, Lieutenant. I appreciate your concern and your sympathy. Thanks again." Later, I found out that she had already volunteered as a pilot for the RDF, ready to fight and kill the aliens that had taken her love away. 

I pulled the book away from my face and closed it, trying not to look at the wet pages. I pulled myself off the bed and walked over to my desk. I had only twenty-two of my original men left, and I had only received two replacements so far. <I'll receive only those two,> I corrected myself. Corporal Lauren Taylor and Charles Le'Mone, both had just finished their training and were assigned to my squadron to fill the gaps a bit. We were still desperately short of pilots, and, if the brass kept making such idiotic maneouvers, we would be going through them faster than we could replace them. 

As it was, I was going to have to rearrange my squadron's command structure. First, because I had fewer personnel, and, second, because the original structure didn't work. I had too few people in each group, and one pilot out of three didn't have a wingmate. I kept the three flights, but had two wings of four in each. With the flurry of fresh promotions, to be announced later today, I had several new sergeants ready for command positions. I put Nielsen, now a Staff Sergeant, in charge of Delta flight, with Marshall leading Gamma wing underneath him. I left O'Connel in charge of Theta flight, but I gave Rice her own wing under him, Lambda. 

They would, undoubtedly, be pleased about the promotions, I would have been ecstatic about my own promotion to Lieutenant Commander if I hadn't been so busy crying my eyeballs out. Marshall would be especially pleased. He had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions outside the bridge of the SDF-1. I was thinking of holding a small awards ceremony to give it to him, along with the bronze stars a few others in my squadron had earned, but I hadn't decided yet. <I kinda want to tell him personally, but... Ah, I've got an idea.> 

[] 

There was a knock on my office door. I stood up and straightened my uniform a bit before saying, "Come in." 

Marshall opened the door and stepped in, looking black and blue and wearing his duty uniform, and, as usual, it was badly wrinkled. I felt my smile turn to a grimace as he approached my desk and saluted. He was closely followed by three others: Martuchi, Taylor, and Le'Mone. Their uniforms were in better condition by far, I noticed. Le'Mone's buckle and buttons were almost too shiny. I shifted my stance slightly to avoid the glare. 

Returning their salutes, I said, "You should really do something about that uniform, Marshall. But we'll get to that during the next inspection." 

He nodded, "Yes Sir," trying not to look down. 

I looked at Le'Mone and Taylor and said, "Welcome to the Night Hawks. I'm glad you made it through training." 

"Now. As you've all probably guessed, I've had to rearrange our squadron. You four will comprise Gamma wing." 

Marshall looked slightly confused and Martuchi threw me a sly grin. I continued, "Sergeant Marshall, you're in command of this wing." 

He started, stammering, "What? I... Yes, Sir." 

"Sergeant Martuchi, you're his second." 

Martuchi raised an eyebrow at me. I said, "Didn't you know, Martuchi? You're going to be promoted because of your actions in our last battle." 

"Yes Sir, I knew... I just didn't know you knew yet," he replied. 

I gave him an Izi smile and said, "I'm your commanding officer, Martuchi. I recommended you for the promotion." Then I looked at Taylor, "You're Marshall's wingman, Corporal Taylor," then at Le'Mone, "And you're Martuchi's. Listen to them, and learn from them." 

They both nodded, and Taylor glanced over at Marshall, looking him over. She turned her gaze back in my direction and smiled. I could almost hear her thinking, <Thank you.>"Thank you very much for your time, Lady and Gentlemen. There is a formal ceremony for the squadron this afternoon. I expect you all to be there." I turned my gaze on Marshall and said, "Especially you, Sergeant." 

"Dismissed." 

Forward to Chapter 18.
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