“Act on the notes. Live in the pauses.”

  extract, Feebee’s AAR from the Crystal World.

  She entered Chen’s office without asking, the 2iC wasn’t on “sentry duty”. Chen heard someone enter, quickly flicked his screen off and looked up.

  “Jones. Take a seat.”

  “Sir.”

  He launched straight into his briefing, no pre-amble. Waste of time with Jones.

  “The Royal Guard are currently engaged with a handful of dissidents on a crystal world.”

  “Royal Guard?”

  “Ahh. Yes. The RG are a small mercenary force that protects one the Royal family's holdings on their crystal worlds.”

  ‘What’s a crystal world?’ Feebee asked the QI. Not wanting to distract Chen.

  'It's a world where the dominant life forms are silicon based. Plants dominate and grow as crystal lattices that require precise harmonic conditions to mature. The ecology functions through energy resonance and lattice maturation rather than carbon chemistry...'

  'I get the gist. Its a world full of pretty crystal. Thanks.'

  He got up and walked around the office. Feebee kept her eyes forward, waiting for the briefing to carry on, unconcerned by the pacing.

  She’s doing that damn stillness thing again.

  Chen continued, “I’ve managed to get hold of some of their after-action-reports.” He picked up a brown file. It was marked ‘Secret – Need to know. Restricted Distribution.’

  “They make interesting reading. There’s a lot we can learn from them. We need to observe how they do things. See what we can learn. Take Thomson and Biscuit as your Alpha team.”

  “Can I have copies of their AARs?”

  Fair request, Chen thought on that for a while, then handed her the file but did not let go. “I think reading them will give you a perspective on how the RG operates. As mission commander you have a clear need to know. You are responsible for mission outcomes. Agreed?”

  Feebee held the folder, “I agree. I’ll read them here then, now.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  He let go of the folder and nodded towards a chair. She crossed and read the files. There were maybe a dozen or so pages, double sided, tight lines of text, photos and schematics. They read like one of Chen’s reports.

  She memorised the data, would process it later. She handed back the file after five minutes.

  “You done?” asked Chen, surprised.

  Feebee nodded, “Yes Sir.”

  “Need more time?”

  “No Sir.”

  “OK. I’ll send your orders through. See the QM on The Measured Response, take what you’re likely to need. Bring back what you don’t use. OK?”

  “Yes Sir. Will you be coming too? So we can learn?”

  Chen looked at her for a good few seconds, Is she mad …

  “I would but ... Command isn’t prepared to let me go. You know how it is.” He let out a sigh and shrugged.

  Actually, Feebee had no idea what it was like but could guess.

  “Shame, I’m sure they’ll find a way to manage without you soon Sir.” Then she quickly added, “So, you’re not tied down so much.”

  “Yes. They’ve been very demanding recently.”

  “If that’s all…” Feebee started to rise.

  “Yes, yes. Dismissed.”

  Feebee sat at the same table in the rest room of The Measured Response. Away from the action, back to the wall. No doors or windows behind her. She was wearing plain black fatigues

  She reviewed the data from the AARs with the QI. It included a summary of the RG’s operational doctrine.

  > Control the environment, leverage tech

  > Move fast, hit hard, follow the plan

  > Detect, overwhelm and suppress

  > Maximise assets, establish dominance

  > Maintain momentum, deliver results.

  It seemed pretty standard to Feebee, typical of a over-powered force, bullying outcomes. But there had to be more, she was sure there was much to learn. Two ops were never the same. Each had its own challenges.

  Thomson and Biscuit, Alpha-2 and Alpha-3 strolled into the room. This time wearing plain black fatigues. They seemed more relaxed, nodded to her and crossed to the coffee machines. They poured themselves a mug each, then gestured, asking if she wanted some? She shook her head and pointed to the mug in front of her.

  Alpha-2 grabbed a couple of packs of short bread biscuits and started towards Feebee.

  Alpha-3 chopped up an apple and a banana which he dropped into a bowl along with some granola. Once the milk was added he wandered over too.

  Feebee looked up from the orders she’d received, they were waiting to be invited to the table.

  “Sit, sit. Please. You both good?”

  “Yes ma’am.” Both replied, in unison.

  “So, here we are again.” She was trying to be more engaging.

  The two marines looked to each other. Then both responded, “Yes ma’am.”

  “Oh. Ok. Good.”

  Well I tried.

  “I’ve got new mission orders for us.” She held out the docket.

  It had four lines of text on it.

  Report to The Measured Response QM for mission kit.

  Observe and report on Royal Guard methods.

  Team: Thomson and Biscuit.

  Assist only if required.

  “Captain Jones. Good to see you again.” The QM remembered her, she wore no name tag. He looked past her to the two Alphas in her team and nodded.

  “What can I get you?”

  She consolidated their lists into one and shared it with the QM. She saw his focus shift as he read it.

  He looked back at her and smiled. “Expecting trouble?”

  “No. Just want to be ready if it finds us.”

  He laughed and shook his head. He struggled to see past the fresh-faced image of the teenager that stood before him. But he had read the AARs. And people talked. Had watched her exercise and train. She took down seasoned marines twice her size with ease. Few fought her twice. No one liked getting their arse whipped by a fresh faced teenager.

  People gave her respect and space. And on this ship that spoke reams.

  “I’ll have it for you by the end of the next cycle. You’ll need a bigger ship than last time if you want to take along a micro-forge and this many bricks.”

  “Yes. Thankyou.” Those two words, delivered with calm authority, avoided the QM’s question about sign-off and assumed his compliance. He’d just seen a glimpse of what people whispered and her AARs hinted at.

  “Be sure to bring back what you don’t use.”

  She nodded.

  Feebee was issued with a long-range scout ship that would get them there and back quickly, support the macro-forge and carry a stock of bricks.

  The QM had checked her Qualifications and their Currency for a Scout ship. Like last time, they were all in order. She looked young but then he’d seen her fly the shuttle. She was thorough, prepared and good.