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I took rearguard at Maiga's orders, while she took point and navigated. We trooped
miserably through the grim landscape. Tesla treated us to a running commentary. Partly about
how hot it was, which I knew. The rest of the time he told us how much his head and back
and feet hurt, which I didn't want to know.
"Why the hell would anyone fight over this territory?" Ilyan sounded testier than
usual. He probably had a headache, despite his hat and the scarf covering the back of his
neck.
"Who the hell cares?" I muttered. Not really in answer, I don't think he expected one.
But he did glance back at me, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and then turned away again.
"Stupid," he said quietly. "Damn stupid waste of time and resources."
We walked in silence for a while. Well we kept silent, but the buzzing of insects filled
the air. What the hell did the bugs eat? Rock? I ignored them. It's not worth getting aerated
over a few bugs, not worth the sweat. But some of the others found them troublesome,
waving at the air to keep them off.
"Ugh!" Tesla cried suddenly, sounding disgusted. "I swallowed one!" Maiga looked
back at him for a second, but then continued. Ilyan, walking behind Tesla caught up to him.
"I swallowed one of the damn bugs!"
"Think of it as extra protein," I growled, earning a dirty look from nearly everyone.
"What if it's poisonous?" Tesla demanded, coming to a halt.
"Then it'll soon be a lot quieter around here."
"Shut up, Jadeth!" Maiga called from up ahead. Then her voice sounded right in my
ear over the comms line. I saw she had her radio lifted to her mouth. "Leave him alone or I'll
come back there and beat the crap out of you."
"Yeah? I'm shaking." I sneered back at her, not even taking the trouble to keep it
quiet. Her glare sizzled across to me. I'd been restraining myself from strutting around like a
colonel and hadn't been challenging her as much lately. The novelty of having an officer I
could talk back to without being tossed in the brig had almost worn off. But I couldn't resist a
dig now and again. Especially not when she jumped on me for teasing Tesla. Not that I
maybe didn't deserve slapping down for that. But she never did the same if I said anything
similar to Ilyan. Even he whined sometimes and since he wanted me to toughen him up, I
gave him a hard time about it. But Maiga never snapped at me for that the way she did if I
needled Tesla.
Bitch. Couldn't she try to make her game a bit less obvious? I thought about talking to
Ilyan about it. He's a bright bloke, but the most intelligent fella can be blind to certain things.
But I decided against saying anything. Never interfere between a man and his woman. Basic
rule.
I stood there waiting as Tesla drank water and spat (stupid, stupid, stupid) to get rid of
the taste of the miniscule bug he'd swallowed. I tapped my foot against a rock, making no
secret of my impatience. Vim and Diliph, standing nearby, frowned at me. I glared back, not
feeling like getting the hairy eyeball from a couple of cubs like that.
"We moving?" I shouted. My eyes locked on Maiga's again. She dropped back from
point.
"Break, ten minutes," she called. "Keep your packs on. Sergeant, watch the back
trail."
I sighed theatrically and moved into position, sat propped up against a rock that gave
me a good view down the trail we'd just walked up. I drank some water.
"Jadeth."
I glanced back to see Ilyan approaching me. He took off his sunglasses and I flipped
up my visor. "Here, you want half of this?" He snapped a protein bar in half and handed a
piece to me. I nodded and took it.
"Thanks." I polished it off in a couple of bites. Some kind of fruity flavour, nice.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
I glanced at him, surprised at the question and the concerned tone. Well I suppose I
shouldn't be surprised, he's a sensitive bloke.
"Just tired."
"Right," he said. He took a small bite of his half of the protein bar.
"Are you having regrets, Jadeth?"
"Regrets?"
"Do you wish you hadn't joined up with me?"
I stared at him. How the hell could he think that?
"I think Tesla is," Ilyan went on, not really waiting for my answer, his eyes far off.
"What, just because he complains a lot? Nah, I know plenty of fellas who just
complain same as they breathe. They're awake they're moaning."
"He's not adapted for this."
"Well, neither are you. But don't worry about him, he's coping."
"Is he?" Ilyan looked back at me. "Is he really?" This time he expected an answer.
"Yeah," I said, giving my professional opinion. "It's a battle, but he's getting there."
"He doesn't like it."
"He doesn't have to like it. He just has to get on with it."
"Right." Ilyan went silent for a while and slowly ate the rest of the food bar. "Jadeth, I
am glad you're here."
I wanted to flip my visor back down to stop him seeing the smile on my face.
"But I wish you'd make more of an effort to get along with Maiga."
The smile vanished.
"She doesn't make much effort to get along with me," I said, trying not to let my tone
get too harsh.
"I know." He let out a heavy sigh. "I know."
I guess he's not used to people who just spit their dislike into each other's faces. Back
at spook central I'll bet it was all diplomatic snark and metaphorical knives in the back.
Dislike. That's a diplomatic word too. My 'dislike' for Maiga chewed at the edges of my soul.
"Let's go!" Maiga called.
****
In the afternoon we tracked down a company of marines who looked like they'd been
totally fucked over in their last engagement. They were waiting for a med-evac transport and
just sitting tight with their wounded until then. Maybe their weariness made them more
inclined to listen to Ilyan, because they ate it up with a spoon and I got the feeling half of 'em
would have joined us right there and then, but Ilyan convinced them they'd do more good by
spreading the word when they were evacuated back to base.
They gave us some supplies and asked us to stay with them overnight, but Maiga
preferred us to get away on our own. I guess she didn't trust them. Paranoid. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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