Decker's War: Books 1-3: Commonwealth and Empire

— Prologue —

Plasma rounds cracked over Command Sergeant Zack Decker’s head in a steady stream.  Pinned down by the enemy behind a jumble of granite rocks, he still waited for Captain Sarratt to do something that might relieve the pressure, such as calling back the assault shuttles to provide air support.

Little remained of Decker’s patience, a virtue in short supply at the best of times.  None of his Marines had become casualties so far, but the operation was turning into the expected clusterfuck.

Decker’s first public argument with the captain occurred in the middle of the mission briefing aboard ship, and things had gone downhill from that point.  Sarratt wasn’t the 902nd Pathfinder Squadron’s regular commanding officer, and his inexperience was all too clear in the way he planned the mission.

There was nothing easy about taking a marauder group’s hideout, and Sarratt’s plan made it even more complicated than it had to be.  If it hadn’t been for their orders to collect intelligence, they could just as well have destroyed the outlaws from orbit with a kinetic strike.  There weren’t any civilians around who could become collateral damage.  The closest town on this shithole planet was a few thousand kilometers away.

The squadron’s executive officer tried to dissuade Sarratt from carrying out his plan, suggesting a workable, if less spectacular alternative, but to no avail.

They should have jumped in guns blazing, covered by the Gatlings and rockets of their assault shuttles.  Instead, their acting CO wanted to sneak up on the enemy, gain the element of surprise, and then run through them like plasma through plastic.  Decker would have gone straight to the last part and replaced surprise by massive firepower.

After one look at his designated drop zone on the scans taken by the frigate from high orbit, Decker had decided to disobey his orders.  Of all the possible DZs around the hideout, this one was not only the closest but also the most obvious.  The marauders were neither blind nor stupid.  They’d have figured out it was a great place to drop Marines hunting for them.

Sarratt’s complicated plan hinged on having Zack’s troop land there before advancing on the target.  His troop’s job was to pin them down, while the captain brought the rest of the squadron around for the killing blow.  He had resisted all attempts to change Third Troop’s DZ.

Instead, Zack had a quiet chat with the assault shuttle pilot and landed his Marines in a less visible but far safer spot a few kilometers away.  By the time Sarratt found out, Decker was already halfway to the original DZ, but on foot.

The captain had threatened Decker with disciplinary measures for his disobedience, but he had ignored him.  Provided their communications were over a private channel, no one else would be privy to the exchange and Sarratt would calm down once they concluded the operation with success.

Zack had wanted to send a small patrol to scout the marauder base from the ground and warn of any ambush along the way.  Sarratt would hear nothing of it, ordering him to press along at speed, to make up for the time wasted by landing further away.

The original DZ had turned out to be a well-prepared ambush site.  If Decker and his troopers had landed there, the enemy would have wiped them out almost at once.

*

Three this is Niner, the radio crackled to life.  Why the hell aren’t you moving?

Because we’re fucking pinned down, Decker replied, furious.  How fucking often must I repeat myself?  We’re not moving until someone can take the pressure off one of my flanks.  They have us covered from all sides.

Three, this is Niner, Sarratt replied, voice trembling with rage, mind yourself when you speak with me.  As I’ve told you more than once, I can’t spare anyone to help you correct your mistakes.  Thanks to you, I now to take the target with one less troop than the plan called for.

Niner this is Three, Decker’s tone dripped with sarcasm, perhaps my holding down a fair chunk of the enemy’s firepower might make it easier for you to carry through your abortion of a plan.  In the meantime, we’ll try not to die.  Three, out.

Decker knew he would pay for his intemperate words later.  However, risking the lives of his Marines because an idiot of a captain wanted some combat time before the next majors’ promotion board wasn’t on the menu.

A stupid training accident had sent the squadron’s real CO to the hospital, and Sarratt had used his connections to get the temporary command.  Though Pathfinder qualified, he had spent most of his career in a rifle battalion.  Commanding a ‘leg’ company wasn’t anywhere enough experience, and he was too arrogant to listen to his troop leaders, all of them experienced Pathfinder noncoms.

Decker cursed his regimental commander for dumping Sarratt on them, but the colonel had no reason to expect orders sending them into battle on the fringes of the Shield Cluster.  No matter what favors someone owed Sarratt, people needed to be slapped upside the head for this.

A rocket-propelled grenade smashed into the ground in front of him showering the Pathfinders with shrapnel and debris.  So far the enemy hadn’t brought up enough firepower to turn this into Decker’s last stand.  But now that they were shooting RPGs, it could only mean they were breaking out the heavier stuff.  If they had mortars, they could make it very uncomfortable for the Pathfinders.

Just as that thought crossed Decker’s mind, he heard the dull thud of a mortar round leaving its tube.

Shit, Decker swore, then shouted, Incoming!

The mortar round landed a few dozen meters to Decker’s right, throwing up a shower of earth and wood splinters.  It was a small caliber shell, but a direct hit on one of his Marines would be fatal in a very messy way.

Decker debated informing Sarratt that the enemy was using artillery, but discarded the idea.  If the captain wasn’t smart enough to notice the heavier ordnance, there was no point.

Without the assault boats flying cover, there was no one to relay news of progress by the main body.  For all Zack knew, the enemy could have pinned them down as well.  With the squadron’s executive officer aboard one of the shuttles, there was no tactical command post on the ground to coordinate the attack.

Another mortar round exploded, this one nearer.

Niner, this is Three, Decker gritted his teeth as he called Sarratt, this time on the squadron push.  We’re coming under effective mortar fire.  If we don’t get relief soon, you’ll be able to scrape us off the ground with a shovel.  Even one pass by an assault shuttle would help.

When Sarratt replied, Decker knew things weren’t going well on his end either.  He sounded out of breath, anxious and there was heavy gunfire in the background.

I’ve called the shuttles back, Decker.  Just hold on.  Once they’ve made a pass at the enemy positions in front of me, I’ll have them support you.

Suggest you have them take down the enemy mortar team first.  He ducked as a shell came down in the center of his troop’s position, throwing a geyser of earth and stones into the air.  They have our range.

Before Sarratt could reply, the voice of the lead shuttle pilot came on the push.

I have eyes on the mortar position and will engage as a priority target.

You will engage the objectives as I laid out, the captain shouted.

Neither the pilot nor Decker replied.  Mere seconds later, he heard the sound of tearing cloth as the lead gunboat’s Gatling cut loose, followed by the next and the one after that.  A larger explosion, followed by a mushroom cloud of dust, erupted from the jungle as the plasma cooked off the mortar’s ready rounds.

Any chance you can do a pass in front of my position?  Decker asked.  If I can escape from this trap, I can relieve the pressure on the others.

Affirmative.  Paint your perimeter and we’ll fry anything beyond it.

Decker quickly passed the order to his troopers.

I have you, the lead pilot said moments later.  Hug the ground.  We’re coming in.

Ignoring Sarratt, the four assault shuttles turned the forest beyond Decker’s position into a nightmare of fire and death.  This was how they should have come down on the marauders in the first place, instead of pissing about trying to surprise them.

The moment the shuttles broke away to engage the targets to Sarratt’s front, Decker stood up and motioned his squad leaders to move out towards the target.  There was no point in dawdling.  The only play left was to hit hard and hit fast.

They rushed through the smoking ruins of the jungle, their way cleared by the air strikes and when they neared the base, all sounds of fighting had stopped.  The only noise came from the burning vegetation, and stray ammunition cooking off at random in the fires.

Urged on by Sarratt, Decker didn’t pause to figure out why the marauders had given up the fight.  It was as if they had dematerialized, leaving nothing but ruins.

As the perimeter of the installation came into view, he realized that the enemy had played them for suckers.  Before he could warn the others, the fake base erupted in one giant blast.  Decker’s last thought before his world went dark was how he’d strangle his CO the moment they were back on the ship.

— ONE —

What should I do with him?

The Dragon’s Tooth’s plump, gray-haired waitress nodded towards the far corner, grimacing at the proprietor, a paunchy ex-Marine with tattoos on his arms.

They, and the customer snoring with gusto, his head on his folded arms, were the last living beings left in the bar.  It was a little after three in the morning.  Late.  Only the whorehouses in the spaceport precinct stayed open later.  Most never closed.

Tren, the innkeeper, shrugged.  Leave him be for now, Mara.  By the time we finish down here, he’ll wake and wander out on his own.  Poor fucker has enough problems without getting tossed out of a joint like this.

Your place Tren.  But don’t take on no pity cases now, Mara replied, shaking her head.  I know you too well.  She pointed a red-tipped fingernail at him.  Can’t resist an old Marine in trouble, can you?  Give him a free beer and a free meal, sure, but don’t take him home with you as if he’s a stray cub.  Hell, the sad sack’s large enough to frighten the living shit out of the cub’s mother.

You know, Mara, you sound just like we’re married.  Tren snorted in mock disgust as he wiped a stain off the scarred counter.

Near enough, Tren.  Near enough.  Mara hoisted another battered chair on an equally battered table, grunting at the effort.

You wanna fuck Mara before going to sleep every night, you have to listen to her speak.  She leered at him.  Anyway, on some planets, the law would say we are married.

Which is why I retired here, you foul-mouthed old hen.  I don’t aim to repeat my mistakes, and I’ve been through that sort of hell once already.  What a mistake to make.  Tren spat into the imitation brass spittoon, making it ring like a bell at the impact.

Who the hell is that drunk, anyway?

Old Marine, Mara.

I know, you old fool.  He even looks like you – ugly puss, drools when he tries to speak like a human, and drunk from sunrise to sunset.

Fuck you, Mara.

Later.  She wiggled her fat bottom at Tren, chortling.  Hey, your old buddy seems better looking than you.  Maybe I should trade.  Maybe he’s better than you in the equipment department too.

You wouldn’t want Zack, trust me.  Tren suddenly turned dead serious, and that brought Mara to a halt.  She looked at him and frowned as if trying to read the answer on the ex-Marine’s broad, prize fighter’s face.

Apart from being drunk, which seems to be normal for everything that wears a uniform, what’s the boy done?

Dunno.  Zack doesn’t want to talk about it.  But that’s not what I meant.

You want to tell me, or is this one of those off-limits things?  Mara knew by now not to press Tren when he didn’t want to speak.  Though he never laid a hand on her like her first husband had, he was scary as hell when he was pissed off.

Tren shrugged.  Zack’s a mean fighter.  Lived for the Corps, didn’t have time for nothing else.  He has a kid somewhere he’s never seen.  Wife fucked off when Zack refused to leave the Fleet for a civvie job.  Hurt him bad too.  Never wanted to get close to another woman since then.  Became a super trooper: Pathfinders, special ops, every fucking war the Corps fought in the last twenty years.  There are people think the man isn’t quite human anymore.

He shook his head, eyes far away, in that place where Mara never went.

Now Zack’s on early retirement, which can only mean they’ve kicked him out.  And that’ll kill him for sure.  Zack Decker was one hell of a Marine, but he’ll never make a civilian.  Either drink himself to death, pull out a gun, and blow a hole in his head.  Or else, bust up someone or some place and get gunned down by the Militia in a blaze of glory.

That’s why you’re kinda soft on him?  Mara asked in a gentle tone.

Yeah.  I figure old Zack don’t have too much time left in this universe unless a miracle happens and he finds a job that’ll keep him alive.

Like what kind of job?

Tren tossed his soaked, grimy rag into the stainless steel sink beneath the counter and rubbed his chin with a calloused hand.

Well, Colonial Army’s out.  Don’t hire no noncoms forced to retire.  Too many of ‘em are bad news a court-martial couldn’t convict.  Merc outfits aren’t so choosy, but there’s none in the area.  It’s too quiet on Aramis.  Mara nodded.  Tren had already given it thought.  Rent-a-cop?  But that’ll drive Zack nuts so fast he won’t have time to collect his first pay.  Hire on a fast trader?  Some of ‘em need good gunners where they go for business.  But none are hiring these days either.  Anyway, a lot of ‘em are half-pirate, and that’s no place to send a man who spent twenty years fighting the scum.

Mara patted Tren’s still muscular forearm.

You really seem to care about this guy.

"Yeah, I do.  Zack Decker saved my life a long time ago.  We were both buck sergeants in the same platoon, on Hispaniola before the war became a war.  Old Zack pulled me out of a crowd of angry pesans who were looking for someone to rip apart.  Zack Decker, all alone with a fucking carbine and no damn ammo.  The guy has more balls than brains sometimes.  But if he hadn’t stared the fuckers down, I’d be dead, so I owe Zack."

Listen, Angel, if he means that much to you, we can put him up for a while.  No trouble.

Thanks, Mara.  He kissed her with a tenderness surprising in such a hard man.  Appreciate the offer.  But Zack, he doesn’t live on no charity.  Take free beer and food from a pal, sure.  We’ve been paying each other a treat since he was a PFC with no more sense than a puppy.  But Zack’s getting his pension, little as it is, and he won’t take anything.  Proud bugger.  There was admiration in Tren’s voice as he looked at his sleeping friend.  Command Sergeant Zachary T. Decker was one hell of a Marine.

Tren pulled a chipped shot glass out from under the counter and poured himself a measure of whiskey.

I’ll stay a while, ‘till he wakes.  You go on up, Mara, and get some sleep.

For what seemed like a long time, Tren Kinnear stared at his friend’s resting shape, sipping contraband hooch and thinking hard.  Pathfinders take care of their own, even when they weren’t Pathfinders anymore.

*

Zack Decker shuffled through the deserted streets of Heaven’s Gate, kicking at empty booze bottles, cig packs and flyers advertising cathouses with his scuffed work boots.  Hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched, and head pulled down into his jacket’s raised collar, the big man only superficially seemed like any other drifter in any other spaceport on any of the Commonwealth’s planets.

At one-ninety centimeters height, one hundred and ten kilos weight, all of it muscle, and with a face chiseled in granite, Decker looked like a mean drunk, a mean ex-Fleet drunk.  An even meaner hangdog now that his head started pounding with the inevitable hangover, his efficient metabolism already recovering from the ethanol binge at the Dragon’s Tooth.  Who knew what he’d been tossing back near the end.  Could have been hyperdrive coolant for all he cared.

He had a twice-broken nose, sharp as a hawk’s beak now, sandy hair still cut in a short brush, a jagged white scar running from his left ear down into his collar and dark blue eyes, almost purple, bright and old beyond his years.

To the rats lurking in the slum’s dark alleys, his appearance, and athletic stride, honed by years of wearing heavy armor battle suits, marked him as a veteran, someone to avoid.  Vets knew one hundred and one ways to kill a body with their bare hands, and few of them ever went anywhere unarmed.  The cutthroats and footpads had good survival instincts.  They left him alone, even though there wasn’t another soul in sight, at three-thirty in the morning, in the seediest part of Heaven’s Gate.

They wouldn’t have found much for their troubles.  Zack Decker was just about broke, his meager pension barely holding out from one month to the next, especially since he’d crawled into a bottle and stayed there, day and night.  With nothing else to do and no money for the better places in the city, he visited seedy bar after seedy bar in the spaceport precinct, each worse than the next, his itinerary without rhyme or reason, searching for something without knowing what.

The Heaven’s Gate slums had plenty of flyblown bars.  Zack had been at it for three weeks straight, ever since a tramp freighter had dumped him here when his money ran out.  Not that Decker minded.  He didn’t know where he was headed, anyway.  One planet was just as good, or bad, as the other.  He’d lost the only home he knew when they handed him his pension papers.

Tonight, he’d stumbled on an old pal, Tren Kinnear, once sergeant first class in the 9th.  Gone to fat in his old age, but they’d been through plenty of tough times together and become tight buddies.  Tren had always wanted to own a tavern somewhere, near enough to a spaceport so he could hear the transports land and bring more thirsty spacers to his place, and he made that dream come true, for what it was worth.  Had himself a woman too.

The night air in Heaven’s Gate was chilly, and a thin mist was spreading from the open sewer the Heavenites called their river.  Zack shivered and tried to burrow deeper into his jacket, in vain.  A uniform had been good enough for twenty years, and Decker never had much of a civilian wardrobe.  Now, when he needed the rags, he didn’t have the money.  Couldn’t even remember where the dough had all gone.  Cheap booze, it had to be.  Couldn’t have been cheap hookers.  Even dead drunk he had more sense than that.

Muffled thunder broke through the still night air and resonated in Zack’s skull.  He glanced back at the port and saw a sleek trader ship heading off for parts unknown.  At least her captain had a purpose in life.

Laughter and music poured out of an open doorway across the street, and a splash of multicolor light fell on the cracked, grimy pavement.  Two men in spacer coveralls, much worse for wear, stumbled out of the whorehouse and stood on the sidewalk, swaying as they fought to get their bearings.  The music and illumination vanished, leaving them stranded in the night.

Zack gave them a glance and decided the footpads would take whatever the whores had left in their pockets before they had walked one block.  They should have stayed with the hookers until daybreak.  It was safer that way.  But some guys were too dumb to survive.  Decker shrugged and kept walking.  Not his business.  Survival of the fittest in his universe and that meant not only the healthiest body but also the sharpest wits.

A few minutes later, he heard a strangled yell behind him, but he didn’t even break his pace.  Survival of the smartest.

*

When Decker reached his rooming house, he was cold stone sober, with a headache to beat all headaches, and no hangover pill to be had for love or money.  The ship’s sawbones used to hand them out like candy whenever the crew of Musashi took shore leave.  But there were no naval surgeons in the seedy areas around the spaceport.  They all had enough money to sleep in fancy hotels, drinking good hooch, instead of Tren Kinnear’s rotgut.

The rooming house was an old tenement a few blocks from the spaceport and had been built so long ago that its original owners were long forgotten.  It had seen no maintenance since before Zack’s birth, but it was cheap enough, and it came furnished if you could call the crap he had furnishing. 

The plascrete stairs squeaked under Zack’s weight when he walked up to the third-floor landing.  The building’s lift had broken down so long ago that they didn’t make spare parts anymore.

It was a big place with a clientele that included every variety of loser imaginable: hookers, thieves, welfare bums, goons and more, everyone jammed together on five floors of warehouse-grade concrete.  At four in the morning, most of them were coming home from work or play, and Zack did his level best to ignore the young prostitute next door as she struggled to open her lock.  It wasn’t easy, the way she was dressed.

She wore indigo leather tonight, a bustier that left her midriff and nipples free to the admiring eyes of potential customers.  The nipples, painted a screaming shade of green for the occasion, to match her hair and eyelids, were of admirable proportions, especially under the assault of the cold night air.  A matching mini-skirt attempted to cover her nether regions, but as designed by its makers, it failed.

Zack was sober enough to notice Rosette’s obvious intoxication on whatever drug she had bought with her nightly earnings.  He didn’t know her age but would have sworn she wasn’t a day over twenty, even though her eyes could easily have given her ten, fifteen years more.  Part of it was thanks to her choice of career.  But most of it was thanks to the hard drugs she used.

Decker might have crawled into a bottle, but he hated hard drugs with all his being.  He had spent enough years chasing the scum who smuggled the crap into the Commonwealth so it didn’t end up in the bloodstream of mixed-up kids like Rosette.  Zack felt sorry for her, but he refused to get involved.  Or in her bed.

The girl suddenly realized she wasn’t alone and looked up.

Hi, Zack.  Her white grin seemed unnatural in a dusky face darkened even further by the uneven lighting.  Wanna come in and spend time with me?

No thanks, Zack shook his head, immediately regretting the motion and unlocked his door before she could grab his arm and try to pull him into her room.  Decker didn’t believe in taking advantage of a zoned-out girl who should be in school and falling in love instead of turning tricks and snorting junk.  Then, there was Zack’s fear that the whore had scary bugs lurking in her privates, diseases just waiting for a stupid prick.

With a loud snick, the door closed behind him, cutting off the sound of Rosette’s voice.  Decker looked around the room, feeling a deeper depression than the one usually brought on by too much alcohol.  To call the place dingy didn’t do it justice.  Though it was larger than his cabin aboard Musashi, it wasn’t as comfortable or as clean.  It didn’t even come close to being as clean.  Nor did his old cabin have resident scavenger insects, a few of them larger than his thumb, which seemed to thrive in the rooming house.

No hangover pills meant only one solution since Zack didn’t want to try sleeping with an artillery barrage rolling through his skull.  He pulled a half-empty bottle of cheap whiskey from under his bed and pulled the cork.  Not even bothering with a glass, he took a swig and swirled it in his mouth, trying to kill the sour taste of Tren’s rotgut.  The whiskey burned a trail of fire down his gullet and added to the lethal stew in his stomach.  Perhaps the booze hadn’t such a good idea.  Still, the headache faded, replaced by heartburn.  But that was something Zack could live with.

Unfortunately, this time, it didn’t take many king-sized swigs to put Decker back into the swim again.  And the more he drank, staring out of the grimy window at the first pearly gray of dawn, the worse he felt.

His eyes wandered over to the closet door.  Like everything else in this building, it was broken, jammed wide open.  There, hanging as if in his shipboard locker, was his black Marine uniform with the stripes and crossed-swords of a command sergeant on the sleeves, Pathfinder jump wings on the breast and all the other ribbons and devices that came with twenty years of memories, good and bad.

Staring at the uniform gave Decker painful pangs of homesickness

He took another swig of whiskey and leaned back in his chair to open the drawer of a scarred white dresser, from which pulled a battered but serviceable blaster.  Meeting Tren tonight had reminded Decker of too many things.

The blaster came from a Shrehari marauder he and Tren had fought years ago.  Like most Pathfinders, Decker had kept his trophy and carried it with him in battle, after getting it chambered for Fleet-issue ammunition.  When he retired, he had held on to the gun.  It was his private, if unlicensed, property.

With practiced movements, he stripped the weapon, checked each piece, and reassembled it, satisfied that it was in perfect working order.  He rammed in a full magazine of Fleet-issue ammo, unaccounted for when he left Musashi and armed it.

On some worlds, suicidal gamblers still played Russian roulette with old six-shot revolvers.  Zack had seen them at it once.  But you couldn’t play Russian roulette with an automatic blaster: each pull of the trigger was a sure winner.

He looked at the pistol in his hand and took another swig of whiskey.  Then he raised the gun, eyes staring at the pink line of clouds on the horizon, and stuck the barrel into his open mouth, muzzle pointing up at his brain.

— TWO —

The universe, in its infinite wisdom, wasn’t finished with Zack Decker yet.  Not by a long shot.  Just as he was about to pull the trigger and blow his brains across the room, he heard a scream that tore through the haze of self-pity and booze.  Admittedly, it was a muffled scream, but the sounds of a body thrown against the wall separating Zack’s room from Rosette’s was convincing enough.

Fights weren’t unusual in the decrepit rooming house, and sure as hell not in the slums.  But this sounded like a young, screwed-up kid getting the living crap beaten out of her, and that was different.  At least in Zack’s eyes.  Though he wouldn’t admit to it, he felt just a bit protective about her.  She was young enough to be his daughter although he hoped his real daughter wasn’t out turning tricks and getting high.

With a speed surprising in a man his size, and with the level of alcohol in his blood, Zack was across the landing, kicking in girl’s door.  The plas shattered around the simple lock just as whoever was giving Rosette a licking did something that made her scream again.

Without thinking, Decker closed the few feet between himself and the sharp-faced, greasy goon who was holding her by the wrists with one hand and doing something painful between her legs with the other.

He smashed the butt of his blaster against the man’s skull, feeling the bone crack under the impact.  The goon gave a last grunt and slid to the floor, blood seeping from his scalp.  Rosette merely stood there, almost naked, the glittering costume jeweler and green dye making her look pathetic in the dingy, smelly room.

She stared at Zack wordlessly, scared by the violence in the former Marine’s eyes.  Decker breathed in and out a few times, working to regain control of himself.  After a few moments during which none of the losers on the floor had come to see what the ruckus was, Zack slammed the door shut with one hand and knelt beside the man.

He reached for his neck and tried to find a pulse, without success.  Zack had cracked his skull and smashed his brains.  Once again, the great Zachary Decker had waded in without thinking and struck without moderation.  He sobered up for the second time that night.  Many people out there would call this manslaughter.

Who was he, Rosette?  His voice was a lot harsher than he wanted it to be.  The girl flinched at Zack’s tone and looked out the window while she rubbed her wrists.  Please tell me this was a slime ball who won’t be missed, least of all by the militia.

Is he dead?  Her voice quavered with a mix of fear and coming down from her drug-induced high.

Yeah.  If it makes you feel any better, this shithead won’t be smashing you around no more.

Oh no!  She wailed and crumpled to the floor beside the rapidly cooling corpse.

It’s okay, kid.  Zack tried to smile as he reached out and put a light hand on her shoulder.  Tell me who he is, and why he was using you for torture practice.

He was a fucking militia cop.  Her voice rose in pitch as she hid her face in her hands, crying openly now.

Shock silenced Zack, and all the blood drained from his face.

His name, Rosette sobbed, was Leath.  She raised her head to look at Zack.  He was as bent as an old pipe cleaner.  Worked the vice squad in the spaceport precinct.  She sat back and leaned her head against the wall, tears streaming down her face.  Bastard runs hookers, pushes shit, and does protection.  You name it, Leath did it.  He isn’t alone in the precinct either.

Figures, Zack thought.  Corrupt bastards always ran in packs and covered for each other, which meant no awards from the local militia for cleaning up their in-house filth.  More like a quick bullet in the head to warn any other strong-arm who wants to put bent coppers out of business.

He came here tonight, she continued, to collect his cut from my night’s take, and what I owe him for some stuff he gave me, stuff he says they seized off a trader and can afford to sell at a discount.  He also wanted a quick fuck, on the house, but I told him I was too tired.  So he became mad at me and started beating me around.  Then he grabbed me down there, and it hurt.  Oh God did it hurt.

And then I promptly stepped into it.  Would have been better to blow my head off instead of playing cavalry to the rescue.  I just killed a fucking cop!

But Zack Decker didn’t become a command sergeant in the Pathfinders without growing some smarts.  As the last whiskey fumes vanished from his system, the combat soldier in him, trained to survive, took over.

First things first, Rosette.  Put on your regular clothes, pack everything you own and prepare to move.  You have fifteen minutes.

W-what?

You can’t stay here.  I might have killed him but how do you expect this shithead’s buddies to react when they find his body in your room?  You have to leave.  Now move it, girl.

She nodded and stood, still shaking.  Gingerly stepping over the body, she went to the closet and pulled out a simple street outfit, nothing flashy.  She didn’t even bother with underwear.  Then she wiped off her makeup and took off the fake jewelry.

With her green hair tied back into a ponytail, Rosette almost looked like the schoolgirl she should be, not like the streetwalker she was.  Almost.  When she’d cleared the closet of her belongings, Zack picked up the copper’s corpse by the armpits and dragged him into it.  With any luck, it would take a day or two before they found him.  Like when he started to smell ripe.  A day or two to get away.  Of course, if the local fuzz had military grade scanners, it might not matter how much of a lead he and Rosette had.  For further insurance, Zack jammed the closet door shut with a well-placed kick.

C’mon, kiddo.  I have to pack too, and I’m not letting you out of my sight.  He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her from of the now-empty room into his, next door.  Rosette looked around with curiosity as Zack packed his duffel bag.

Hey, you been in the Marines, lover-boy?  She asked, pointing at the uniform.

Decker grunted.  Yeah.  And you can cut the whore talk, Rosette.  You’re too fucking young for this kind of shit anyway.

Hah, she snorted, what the hell do you know, Marine-man?  You haven’t been where I’m coming from.

No, you’re right, he replied as he carefully folded the undress tunic and tucked it into the drab green carrier with his name stenciled on it.  I’ve been to worse places.  Didn’t push me into drugs and hooking.

No?  She held up the bottle of whiskey.  Booze is a fucking drug just like any shit you snort, inject, or plug into your brain.

That hit a raw nerve with Zack, but instead of lashing out, he snorted.

Smart girl, aren’t you?  Too fucking smart to waste your life on the streets.  How old are you anyway?

Twenty-five.  There was enough defiance in her voice to make Zack doubt her word.  He took her chin in his hand and forced her to meet his eyes.

You’re not a day over sixteen, Rosette.  Not even legal age to sell sex on Aramis.

Am too!

Suit yourself, but you’ll have to find a new line of business.  Heaven’s Gate cops will be looking for a green-haired, green-skinned whore called Rosette who’s probably underage and hooked on any kind of drug she can get.  Doesn’t exactly narrow it down, but it won’t take smart coppers too long to end up with you in an interrogation chair.  If Leath had you on a string, his buddies will know who you are.

And Decker ends up next in line for the rubber hose treatment.

He closed his duffel bag with finality and took one last look around.  Nothing that could be easily traced to him, except the DNA he left everywhere in his fallen hair and dead skin cells.  But perhaps he’d be lucky, and Aramis was a place where the fancy gear came out only when a wealthy or influential person was killed, not a bent militiaman.  Good thing he had taken the room under a fake name.

Decker nodded, satisfied.  The booze hadn’t entirely rotted his brain yet.  He could still think like a Pathfinder.  And that might be the only thing to keep him out of an Aramis prison.  If he made it that far.  The dead creep might have good friends who’d swear one Zachary Decker died while trying to escape.  It wouldn’t be the first time a coroner’s inquest overlooked the fact that the escapee died from something other than the plasma round fired at close range.

At least Zack had enough money to cover his trail until he could find a ship.  Getting the funds for a passage might be a bitch, but he’d seen worse.  Ironically, he hadn’t even realized that all thoughts of suicide had vanished with the rising sun and that he felt more alive now than he had in months.  Decker lived for action and adrenaline.  This was probably as close as he’d get.

Then he saw the girl waiting for him.  What the hell was he going to do with her?

Rosette, he frowned, a sudden thought crossing his mind.  You rent the room under your real name?

She remained silent for a moment, debating whether to answer.

No, she finally replied.  Rosette’s my street name, not my real one.  The room and my hooker’s papers are under the name Rosette.

Did they check your ID for the hooker’s papers?

You gotta be kidding, Zack, she replied laughing bitterly, confirming his suspicion she was underage and therefore not legally eligible for a prostitution license.  My papers came from a pimp who was more interested in fast money than laws.  That was before Leath came along, put the pimp away permanently, and took over.

Nice cops around here: pimping, drug dealing, extortion, murder.  Like putting the monkeys in charge of the zoo and giving ‘em the keys to the bananas.

So what’s your name, kid?  Zack’s expression brooked no more lies or evasions.

Ellena Veillon, she replied looking down at her feet.

You from Heaven’s Gate?

No.  My family lives in Merat Lake.  It’s about two thousand kilometers to the west.  In farm country.  A hick town of pious folks where parents beating their kids, and worse, was a regular part of growing up.  Her voice was savage.

You wanted to know why I’m a hooker, well that’s why.  I had to get away, so I ran.  The only way I could eat once I was here was to sell myself.  But I was used to that stuff.  Satisfied now, Mister Big War Hero?  She cried again, silent tears running down her cheeks and shoulders trembling.

Zack just stared at her, wondering about a universe where this kind of crap could still happen on civilized planets.  After a few moments, he shook it off and took Ellena by the hand.

C’mon kid.  I don’t know what will happen, but we’re going to visit a good friend of mine near the port.  He’ll put us up for a few days, and we’ll see what we can do.

*

Damn, Zack, Tren shook his head.  You never know when to stop yourself.  That’s your problem.  Always was.  You stupid son of a bitch.  But there was no anger in his voice.  Only resignation.

Tren, Mara, Zack, and Ellena were sitting in Tren’s living room above the Dragon’s Tooth.  Both the innkeeper and his common-law wife were wearing gaudy robes over what looked suspiciously like birthday-suit pajamas.

When Tren had opened the door to Zack’s insistent ringing, he’d known at once that something was wrong.  Very wrong.  Especially with what looked like an underage tart in Zack’s wake.  Refusing a drink, to Tren’s surprise, Decker had told him what happened at the rooming house.

You know, the ex-Marine chuckled after staring into his glass for a few moments, you’re lucky in your stupidity.  No one in the slums, except slags, will help the cops finger Leath’s killer.  Most business people will figure you’ve done your civic duty by topping the shithead.  He was the worst scum that ever wore a militia badge.  Put the squeeze on everyone he could.  Never tried it on me, though, especially after I showed him my Shrehari blaster.  Tren grinned at Zack and nodded towards the duffel bag by the door.  You still have yours, I hope.  Good guns those Imp fifteens.

Tren took a sip of whiskey and shook his head.

Come to think of it, not too many of his cop buddies will be awfully zealous.  Either they’ll be too happy to move in on his profits, or they’ll be glad the biggest stain on the precinct is gone.  Tren belched.

But that don’t mean you’re in the clear, Zack.  They have to make an effort for form’s sake.  After all, can’t let the idea get around you can top a copper without consequences.  If you left no clues behind and didn’t rent the rooms under your own names, they won’t find you guys.  City cops don’t have high-performance scanners.  Even if they did, last I heard they didn’t take samples of every breathing body on the planet just in case, so they won’t have you on file.

Rooms aren’t under our real names, Tren.

The contrary would have surprised and saddened me, Zack old buddy.  Tren rose to his feet and clapped his hands.

We can discuss the future later.  Right now we all need our beauty sleep.  Some more than others.  He grinned at Decker.  You guys are welcome in my house for as long as you need.

Decker noticed that Mara’s eyes said otherwise, but the woman held her peace.

Zack, you can have the sofa here.  Miss Veillon, he bowed with exaggerated gallantry towards Ellena, earning an annoyed grunt from his wife, you’ll be most comfortable in the guest room.

*

Tren took a sip of his scalding hot coffee and looked out the window at the bustle of spaceport precinct.  It was close to noon, and the Dragon’s Tooth wasn’t due to open for a few more hours.  He glanced at Decker, who seemed absorbed by his coffee.

So far, all seems quiet in town.  But nobody’s had time to miss the scuzzbag.  Still, it’d be best to stay inside right now.

Just until I find myself a berth on an outbound ship, Zack scowled, feeling tired and angry at life in general.  He couldn’t even crawl into a bottle without fucking up.  And his aborted suicide attempt still bothered him.

Yeah, well that could take a while.

No mooching, Tren, Decker warned.  I pay for my place and the girl’s fair and square.  And somehow also scrape together enough money to buy a ticket off Aramis.  But what to do about Ellena?

The innkeeper nodded thoughtfully.  He had expected Zack to decline what he considered charity.

Can’t have you working out in town right now.  Someone might remember you living in that rattrap.  And I know your pension won’t cover a starship ticket plus your livelihood, plus your booze...

No more booze, Decker interrupted.  I need to keep my wits if the local plod’s on my tail.

"Good to hear, Zack.  But what I was about to say was that you can earn your keep by working around the Dragon’s Tooth."

I don’t sling drinks, Kinnear.

Will you stop fucking interrupting me?  Tren made an exasperated face.  "You serving drinks is just as bad as letting you out on the streets, shit-for-brains.  What I was about to suggest was that you pay for your keep by helping out in the stockroom and kitchen.  You can also play bouncer starting around midnight when the spacers turn rowdy.  You’re big enough to make dickheads think twice.  That work will give you rations and quarters at the Dragon’s Tooth ‘till you move on.  Deal?"

Decker shrugged.

Best offer on the table.  Okay, Tren.  But no charity.  I work for my grub.

You will, Tren chuckled, his jowls quivering, you will.  Wait ‘til you see a deep space trader crew come in for a party.  About the girl...  He turned to look at Ellena and a frown of concern creased his forehead.

Now what’s the matter, honey, you’re shaking all over.  Zack, is she coming down with something?

Decker, who’d been expecting it for a while now, nodded.

Yep.  She’s coming down with withdrawal symptoms.  Time for her next fix.

Aw shit, honey.  Why d’ya take junk?  What is it you’re on?  Meth?  Shimmer? Blackjuice?  Heroin?

Shimmer.  Her voice shook with an uncontrollable craving for the narcotic.

Shee-it, Tren swore.  I wish we could put the fuckers who smuggle the stuff in from the Shield out of business.  Too bad the Government won’t let the Fleet clean up the technobarbs.

Government might not have a say for long, Zack smiled bitterly, if more officers show guts like a few of our old friends.  Heard on the grapevine that people we know made a raid on a Kardati colony last year.  Not drug related but they put a whole clan out of business.  All unsanctioned.  Maybe we’ll see more of that.

There was a tinge of envy in Decker’s voice, envy at missing the action.

Enough skipping down memory lane.  He shook his head.  Ellena here is getting a bad case of cold turkey, and we’d better do something.

Right.  Kinnear rubbed his chin and glanced over at Mara, who’d remained silent.  She was throwing anxious glances at Ellena’s growing agitation.  Only thing we can do, since I won’t have any shit in the house is find some nerve juice.

What the hell’s that?  Zack asked, frowning.

Don’t know what its scientific name is, but it’s stuff they use in detox.  Keeps off the shakes but without the high.  It’s legal but only under prescription, which means registering.

Not a good idea, Tren.

I know.  Keep your fucking shorts on.  Mara’s has a few contacts who can get us some.  At least enough until we figure what to do with the girl.  Ain’t that right, darling.

Yeah, the fat woman grudgingly replied.  And I’ll buy something to wash that awful dye out of her hair too.  Green-haired girl’s obviously a tart, and that’s what the militia will look for.  One of you stays with her ‘till I’m back.  She might need holding down so she doesn’t hurt herself or go running to the streets to find a pusher.

I’ll do it, Zack replied with a weary shrug.  "My responsibility.  Same as payment for the nerve juice will be."  At this rate I’ll never leave Aramis, he thought.  We’ll to have to find her a detox program soon, one that’ll take ex-hookers who don’t own a bloody dime.  If she can give up the whoring too that is.

Yeah, sure, Tren replied, turning towards the window again, damning Zack for being so proud.  They were doing good business with the tavern and could afford to help out for a long time.

"Listen, Ellena can pay off her grub and bed, and the nerve juice by chipping in around the Dragon’s Tooth too.  Not behind the bar, he added before Decker could object.  Can you cook, honey?"

A bit.  Mum made me learn stuff before I ran off, Ellena replied, hugging herself and shivering.  You want, I can do simple stuff.  As long as I don’t have to go back on the streets.  She choked down a sob, looking more than ever like a young girl instead of a hardened tart.

I think we can arrange that, honey.  Tren patted her on the shoulder.  Why don’t you go to your room and have a lie-down ‘till Mara gets back.

S-sure.  Still hugging herself, the frightened girl disappeared around the corner and down the hallway.  When Tren heard the door close he followed her, faster and quieter than a civilian would have expected from such a stout man.  He came back smiling.

She can’t leave the room now.  Door and window are locked, and there’s nothing to hurt herself.

Seems like you’ve done this before, Tren, Zack eyed him with suspicion.

Rough neighborhood, buddy.  You know how it is.  He shrugged.  C’mon.  It’s time I showed you the bar operation downstairs.  Last night you weren’t exactly in a shape to figure your way around.

You’d be surprised, Tren.  And Decker described the public parts of the Dragon’s Tooth in excruciating detail.  Some things a guy never forgets.  Like how to observe and report.

*

Strange, isn’t it, Tren?  Zack Decker glanced at his friend as he reached for another piece of bread.  The two ex-Marines and Mara were eating their midday meal together in the apartment above the bar.  Ellena was having a rough time of it, even with the nerve juice, and was sleeping off another restless night in her room.

What’s strange?  Tren asked, chewing on a chunk of tuber.

It’s been five days since I topped the copper and we haven’t heard a thing yet.  Not a fucking word in this morning’s news either.  Decker tapped the reader on a small side table.  Bugger must have started to smell days ago.  Even in a shithouse like that, someone’s bound to notice, especially with the door broken down.

Tren Kinnear shrugged irritably.

Don’t worry about it, Zack.  Maybe the cops don’t want to make public that one of their own was killed in a flophouse, off duty.  Could be a dozen explanations, such as one of the other inmates found his body and made it vanish.  So the cops don’t crack down on everybody else in the place.

Decker grunted and returned his attention to the job ads in the daily.

You know more than you’re letting on, Tren old pal, but I suppose this comes under the ‘you don’t want to know’ shit we noncoms always tried to make young officers understand.  Suit yourself.

Zack’s work at the Dragon’s Tooth had been tame, and he’d stayed away from the bottle, except for a small nightcap with Tren after closing.  The only time he saw customers was when things got loud.  Then, he’d take his place near the door and stand in the shadows, bare, muscular arms crossed, to watch the crowd.  No one tried to see if he was as tough as he looked, which was just as well.  Zack didn’t want to attract more attention than necessary.

The rest of the time, the ex-Marine helped Mara and Ellena in the kitchen, cooking up straightforward meals for hungry customers.  Decker was surprised to find that simple as the food was, it tasted fantastic.  Home cooking like grandma used to make.

After a few days, he realized that under the seedy appearance, the Dragon’s Tooth was a cut above average.  And it attracted a better clientele.

Merchant spacer captains were among the regulars, come to relax with excellent ale or whiskey and a plate of Mara’s home cooking, in a place that kept out pimps, whores, beggars, drunks and other losers.  Tren Kinnear was making creds hand over fist, and he seemed to be on friendly terms with more than a dozen captains and officers.  There wasn’t a night the place wasn’t full of merchant types and the occasional Fleet noncoms on liberty from a passing ship.

Neither did Tren seem to have any problems with the law or the mob.  Cops never visited the Dragon’s Tooth except off duty to have a beer and a friendly talk with him.  The local hoods, who ran rackets left, right, and center, squeezing businesspeople in one way or another, kept a healthy distance from the Tooth.  Zack couldn’t figure why, but Tren was above-board.  He wouldn’t do anything illegal unless it was for a good cause, and Pathfinders had a strict definition of ‘good cause.’  In a way, Decker felt happy to see his old friend doing well for himself.

As the days went by, Zack felt more and more at home in the tavern.  He had a small space to himself behind the storeroom, which allowed him to keep an eye on the main floor after closing.  Ellena was getting better, with Mara’s mothering and the detox treatments, and she was working long hours in the kitchen under the older woman’s eyes.  Mara had taken a shine to the former hooker and watching them together, Zack figured she had adopted Ellena as her own.  It was probably the first time the girl had something like an ordinary family around her.  Nobody was beating her up; nobody was abusing her.

The only thing bothering Zack was the lack of reports on the dead cop.  Nothing in the news, nothing on the grapevine, which had a regular branch in the Tooth, and no militia cops from CID flashing badges and asking about an ex-Marine and his floozy.  But Tren had told him not to worry about it, so he held his peace, and money was accumulating in his account.

*

Almost six weeks after the incident at the rooming house, Tren walked into the kitchen, a big grin on his face.  It was close to eight in the evening, and the place was in full swing.

Another of the regular spacer crews was in port, after a long haul across the Commonwealth, and Decker had been kept busy whipping up plenty of Mara’s hearty, stick-to-your-ribs cooking.

Zack, old buddy!  Tren clapped him on the shoulder, looking every inch the happy, prosperous innkeeper.  Decker grunted as he finished chopping up yet another spice-onion.  Why don’t you let the girls finish whatever you’re doing?  I want you to meet someone.

He shrugged and took off his apron, wiping his hands on the silky-smooth fabric.  Kinnear led him across the crowded room to a darker alcove by the back door, stopping at the bar just long enough to pick up two beer mugs from the barmaid, a thin, sallow-faced girl who worked for Tren a few evenings a week.  Decker had never warmed to her, and apart from polite nods whenever they met, he much ignored her.

"Zack, I want you to meet an old regular, Captain Diego Strachan of the merchant spacer Shokoten.  Captain Strachan, this is my old Marine buddy, Command Sergeant Zack Decker, retired.  One of the best gunners in the Corps."

Decker shook hands with Strachan, a stocky, middle-aged man with squint lines around his eyes and a silver-shot beard around his mouth.  His black hair, also liberally frosted, had been pulled back into a short queue at the nape of his neck.

He wore a plain black leather tunic, adorned with silver buttons and trim.  The four stripes of a merchant captain hung on a short strap attached to his right shoulder.  It wasn’t the look Zack had expected from a civilian ship’s master.  But then, the crews of the fast traders that plied the outer star lanes hardly stuck to convention.  Common wisdom said they differed from marauders only in that the former were the latter’s prey.  The captain’s handshake was firm, testing and Zack responded, pressure for pressure, all the time looking Strachan straight in the eyes. 

Decker had a good idea what this was about since him being one of the best gunners in the Corps was so much bullshit.  Like many senior noncoms, Zack was qualified as Marine Master Gunner and knew how to handle most types of ship’s guns, and his command rank also meant he had the basic gunnery officer’s ticket.  But he was a Pathfinder first and best, not a gunner.

Pleasure to meet you, Decker, Strachan said as he released his vise-like grip.  Zack could read a small measure of approval in the man’s expression.  He seemed to place faith in the way a man shook hands.

Pleasure’s all mine, Captain, he replied.

Strachan sat down, motioning Zack to do the same, and Kinnear placed a mug in front of either before vanishing in the crowd.  The merchant captain examined Decker as he took an appreciative sip of Tren’s imported Shrehari ale.

So, he finally asked, what made you leave the Corps?  You don’t look like you’re at retirement age yet.

Zack briefly debated whether to tell him a bullshit story, then decided the truth was best, especially if he was right and Tren had set this meeting up to get him a job on a freighter.  Who knew what the other ex-Marine had already told Strachan about him.  This could be another test, just like the handshake.

Wasn’t exactly voluntary retirement, Captain, Zack shrugged, staring into his beer.  Telling a perfect stranger about it wasn’t easy.  I was brought up in front of the colonel for disobeying stupid orders from a shit-brained officer who almost got us all killed in a badly planned combat op.  Unfortunately, I also took exception to that officer once we were back on board ship, and I was out of sickbay.  If I’d kept my temper, the colonel could have convinced Captain Sarratt that hauling me in front of disciplinary hearing would be bad for everyone involved, but me giving Sarratt the what-for in front of the squadron made it impossible for the colonel to smooth over.  He formally considered my case and found I wasn’t sufficiently right and the officer sufficiently wrong to throw out the complaint against me.  He gave me a choice: retire voluntarily or face a court martial.  My chances in court didn’t look good, and if found guilty, it would have stripped me of my rank and sent me to a penal battalion, so I put in my twenty-year papers.  They gave me my pension and an honorable discharge instead of hard labor.

Strachan nodded as if satisfied with the explanation.  For a moment, Zack feared that he’d ask for more details on his story, but the merchantman took another sip and changed tack.

How much of a ship’s gunner are you anyway, Decker?  I know Tren enough to figure he sells bullshit along with the best beer on Aramis.  Once again, Strachan’s tone and expression brooked no evasions or tall tales.

I’m checked out on all gun and missile systems as an operator, I used to have command rank, so I also have my basic gunnery officer’s ticket, along with the Marine Master Gunner qualification.  So you could say I know the ins and outs of firing and fixing most of the stuff in the Fleet inventory, but one of the best gunners in the Fleet, I’m not.  I’m a Pathfinder first and last, which means my specialty is recon, not gunnery.

Strachan nodded thoughtfully.

Thought Kinnear was laying it on a little thick.  He tells me you’re looking for a job.

Yeah.

Why?  You have a decent one here working with your old buddy, don’t you?

Zack shrugged.

Too young to settle down.  I still have the urge to move.  Tren’s right.  I’m looking for a berth.

Strachan nodded again.  "Kinnear recommends you highly, and I’m short a gunnery and security officer in Shokoten.  Where we trade is where the high-profit margin cargoes are, and pirates know it.  My ship has good legs, but it also needs someone to handle our weapons properly in a fight.  You interested?"

What’s the job include, Captain?

Train the crew to man the guns and shoot straight in a fight, maintain the buggers, keep our small arms locker in order, train the crew in small arms handling, and ship’s security.  We pick up passengers along with cargo, and they sometimes need watching, and we have to make sure we’re secure on the ground when we’re sitting in a foreign port.  Think you can handle that?

Yeah, Zack slowly nodded.  I can handle it, and I’m interested.  What about pay and benefits?

Standard rates.

Which are?  I’m not familiar with the merchant service.

"A