Star Missions - Book One - Part IV

Chapter 28 - No Man Left Behind

NO MAN LEFT BEHIND

Terra date: 21-10-2201 Mid-Morning

Hydra Base Colonel Hand's Office

 Colonel Hand was in charge. Ultimately, he was responsible for the men and women under his command. Losing two pilots did not look good. These are not civilians but high ranking Hydracorps officers. They answer directly to him. He is the one who sent them on the mission. They were his men, and his reputation was on the line.

Blue-Ray recommended caution, but The Colonel shot that down rather forcefully. He knew Ray was not the kind of officer who opposed reconnaissance missions, under normal circumstances. Until they knew what was happening on Terra, he felt it unwise to potentially make enemies with whatever new Extra-Terrestrials resided in the Precanus system. Defending the gate made sense, but traversing it, risky.

The Pasteur science ship got some of Blue-Ray's transmissions, at least those that related to Captain Tang's ship blowing up and Blue-Ray attempting to reach the Food Planet. That much was known, but whether Blue-Ray made it to the food planet was not known, nor were they able to confirm if Captain Tang blew up with his ship.

Losing Blue-Ray for good would be unthinkable. Station morale would sink even lower than it was after the bombing of the lab and arrest of Governor Belter. Colonel Hand was a soldier, and he wanted his soldiers to stick together. Lives depended on their trust and solidarity. Even more than his ambitions, Hand knew that he had to bring them home or at least try. No man left behind had been the military slogan since before the Dominions were formed, and the Leadership Counsel would spare no cost to live up to that statement.

If Hand were to become the hero of the Strolla System and supplant Victor Belter in admiration, he would have to act heroically. That is why he was personally taking charge of the rescue mission. The prep work had started, and as soon as he got the reports from the Pasteur, he would set the date and time of the rescue mission. What Hand did not do was feel the need to inform his inferiors of his plan until he was ready. That is why, when Lieutenant Lita Joshi barged into the Colonel's office demanding a rescue mission, he did not insist on the proper protocol. Instead, he decided to fill her in on his plan.

"Sir, we need to rescue Blue-Ray. He said he was headed for the Food Planet. We can't leave him out there." Lita was very emotional, but for some reason, Colonel Hand cut her some slack.

"Lieutenant, we need to see what we're up against. Don't worry. We will go in after him as soon as we get images back from the latest probes. I'm not about to leave a man behind," Hand reassured her.

That appeared to calm her down a bit. At least she was not leaning over the Colonel's desk as much. To Hand, she was blaming herself for not being there. Hand did understand that sometimes missions fail, but that should be the exception. Unfortunately, it was the first mission he had sanctioned since he became the absolute leader in the System. He didn't want to look bad.

"If only I were there, he wouldn't be out there all alone!" she lamented.

Hand wanted her to get her mind back in the game and retorted, "Yeah, and you'd be dead instead of Captain Tang. I don't plan on losing anyone else."

It did not escape Hand's memory that he was the one that put Tang on the team. Tang was supposed to be his man. Major Lee, commander of the Space Dog commandos, would follow his orders without hesitation. He planned to have one of his men - someone less attached to the Belter family - command the Hydracorp pilots as well.

Colonel Hand was about to explain to Lita why he called her to his office when his secretary informed him of an incoming transmission from the science ship Pasteur.

"Patch all calls directly to my office, Lieutenant." The face of a woman in a Hydra Captain's uniform appeared. "Go ahead, Captain," the Colonel told her.

Without hesitation, she said with confidence, "Sir, the probe has now passed beyond Nisthura. If there were enemy ships hiding behind the planet before they must have cleared out."

"Very well," replied Hand as he joined his hands into a fist. "Keep monitoring," he then cut the comm signal.

He thought for a moment as Lita stood on the other side of his desk and waited for orders. After a moment or two, Hand turned his attention back to Lita and the reason he asked her there.

"Lieutenant, can you pilot the Governor's cruiser?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir. It's like a shuttle," she said with a bit more enthusiasm, hoping he was saying what she hoped he would say.

The Colonel, seemingly offended, looked up at Lita square in the eyes and felt the need to educate her on some of the finer points of the Governor's shuttle.

"A glorified shuttle, if you want to call it that. It carries ten times more weaponry than your Hydra Fighter. It has boosters that can get it out of sticky situations, and the shielding should help it last a while in a fight."

Then, added, "You can say what you want about Emerson, but he sure knows how to build ships."

No doubt, Hand admired the ship and the shipbuilder.

Lita was not dreaming. Hand ordered her to get the Governor's cruiser ready and that he was to lead a rescue mission to the Food Planet and recover Blue-Ray.

He dismissed her but then asked, "On your way out, if you see Lopez, ask him to get in here."

She was happy to respond, "Yes, sir," and then quickly got to work.

As Lopez came in, Colonel Hand met him near the door. A bit confused, Lopez asked, "Sir?"

Hand ordered his trusty minion, "Today, at fourteen hundred hours, I want you to take three men and bring the Alien to me. We're going to go on a little trip."