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Supposedly UNEF HQ was keeping track of who was where, but I had no way to contact anyone in my chain of command. I got us to bunk with some other people from the 10th. It was a lonely voyage, and I was grateful that my guys shrugged and took it in stride. If this was the worst screwup we got into, we'd be doing great.
Unlike Alpha, Paradise had a space elevator.
It was, the burgermeister told me, an old formula; you find the worst psychopathic antisocial losers in a society, give them power, and they would give you their complete, unquestioning loyalty. That was how Hitler and Stalin had come to power.
And Trump.
Were we fighting on the wrong side of this war?
"No sir," his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, nervously "all prisoners are going to a liz-, a Kristang base. I'm sorry, sir."
They put me in prison at the only Kristang base on the planet, staffed by the roughly thirty Kristang who had been inoculated with an experimental drug to protect against the biohazard on Paradise, all volunteers.
When things change, even radically, you look at your buddies, shake your head, shrug, and adapt. That's what you do, as soldiers. Civilians get upset when the menu changes at Applebees.
"Did it work?" I asked Desai. "Sir?" "The jump. Did it work? Did we jump? To the right place?"
“Oh, then to hell with them.” I breathed, relieved. It was a cheap way out of my moral dilemma, but I was grasping for it. “They can walk the plank.” I was starting to think like a pirate.
It would have been more useful as a command station if I understood what any of the buttons did, later I needed to have Skippy show me the basics. There were a lot of people squeezed onto the bridge, it was crowded.
I’ll be sure to change into a Marine Corps utility uni before we beam down anywhere.” “You do that.” I gave her a smile. “Carry on.” I was proud of myself that I didn’t turn to watch her shapely behind as she walked away. This could be a very long trip.
Skippy told me he'd been working with Giraud on an assault plan, and I let Giraud work without unhelpful interference from me.
