Serenity Moore

The office was dramatic. Wall to wall it was deep space and it looked like everything was sitting on a wood floor and surrounded by glass walls. Serenity recognized the constellation and could pick out Wolf Moon in the distance, a black shadow that wasn’t immediately obvious unless you knew it was there.

“Major Serenity Moore reporting as ordered, Colonel,” Serenity said, holding her salute and staring at the space behind Colonel Spears. Even here, in a virtual reality, there was no escaping the intensity and power of that gaze. From experience she knew he was even more frightening in person. Those eyes could melt steel if he got angry enough.

“At ease Major,” Colonel Spears said, standing and returning the salute with a smile. “Please sit down.”

Serenity sat down in the chair. She had let her appearance age a little so she didn’t look like such a young, wet behind the ears commando. In her current staff position she didn’t have anybody to lead, but a Marine officer had to be ready for a command at any time and accomplish any mission. In front of the hero of the Han war, she still felt like that young, idealistic commando from so long ago.

“I’ve watched your career,” Mike said. “You’ve done well. Not a wet behind the ears commando.”

“Thank you sir,” Serenity said, almost sitting at the position of attention. The last time she had served under the great Mike Spears she had been an enlisted commando. Now as an officer she still looked at him with awe. He had been instrumental in bringing the Han to their knees and forcing them to the negotiating table. Over a billion people still cursed his name. Ranking officers of the Han Empire still had nightmares that he might come for them one day, to finish what he had started. The Han knew her name and any Han assassins that encountered her would certainly take the shot, but she had just been one of his commandos. Taking his orders and killing on command. Here, in front of her was the nightmare incarnate and the current target of any Han assassins in system.

Mike sighed.

“I mean it,” Mike said. “At ease. You aren’t some enlisted Commando anymore. You are a bad ass war veteran and a hero of the Han war.”

“Yes sir,” Serenity said. Trying to relax and knowing that her attempt would be doomed to failure. Colonel Spears was still a god like figure to her, more so than any other officer or politician in the Republic.

“The problem with doing everything in virtual reality is that offering you a drink is a pointless effort,” Mike said with a sardonic smile.

Serenity tried to smile, to show she was relaxing, but the smile felt too forced. She was sure the Colonel saw that. From experience she remembered he missed nothing.

“Well,” Mike said, the resignation obvious in his voice. “I have need of someone with your skill set and background. A ranking officer who knows what she is doing, and has done it before.”

If anyone else had said that to her she would have scowled at them. She was very comfortable with her skills and background, but Colonel Spears was different. He had some very high standards and expectations and when she had served as one of his commandos she had always felt she was barely good enough and so close to disappointing or letting him down.

“I am ready to serve,” Serenity said. Her transfer to the Logistics Analysis section at Marine Headquarters had sounded like one of the most boring and unpleasant jobs in the Marine Corps. She had been wondering who she had pissed off until she found out who her new commander was. Officially Colonel Spears was listed as Marine War College Adviser. Generic. A Lieutenant Colonel Dawson was the official commander of the Logistics Analysis Section, but when she had been instructed to report to her new CO and given a VR link, she had appeared here in Colonel Mike Spears’ office. Her mind was still trying to understand what was going on and all the ramifications. Putting the hero Mike Spears in a logistics billet was like putting Genghis Khan in charge of flower arrangements in a small garden. Finding Genghis Khan in a garden with flowers though was a sure sign that the shit was about to hit the fan.

“Don’t let the ‘Logistics Analysis’ fool you,” Mike said with a conspiratorial smile. “This is a covert operations section and we don’t analyze the use of beans, bullets and bandages. Everything I’m about to share with you is seven-alpha secret.”

Unconsciously Serenity sat up straighter. This was not typical.

“I understand sir,” Serenity said. Butterflies were starting to dogfight in her gut. She hadn’t felt like this since she had been selected for the Reaper mission so many decades ago.

“Major Paternoster was given command of the Reaper Marine detachment,” Mike said looking at her.

“Yes sir,” Serenity said. She had heard that. She had volunteered but Paternoster had been senior and Serenity wasn’t entirely sure she could fill the role of Major aboard a deep space raider like Colonel Spears had.

“The Reaper is not the only deep space raider we are sending at the Union of Enlightenment,” Mike said, which was a surprise to Serenity.

“Majors Thomas and Holt both have seniority and volunteered sir,” Serenity said. There were also other officers that had served aboard the Reaper but she didn’t know if any had volunteered. If she were honest she couldn’t imagine any of them volunteering. Nobody had a mind like Colonel Spears.

Mike leaned back in his chair.

It creaked, which was an interesting touch in the VR.

“But I think you are a better fit,” Mike said, which was a surprise to Serenity.

“I have a large pool to draw from,” Mike continued. “Lots of officers volunteered for the Reaper mission. Now with the Reaper still heading to UE space people are digging in for a long war. Everybody and their grand mother knows this cold war with the Union of Enlightenment is going to warm up sooner, rather than later. The Reaper is on her way but won’t light the fires of war. I suspect those have already been it and the UE is just fanning the flames.”

“Yes sir,” Serenity said, not sure where he was going.

“There are other deep space raiders being assembled,” Mike said. “More powerful than the Reaper. The Reaper has become a symbol, something for the UE to see and understand. These other raiders will employ many of the lessons we learned from the Han war. We need experienced Marine commanders, veterans who have done this kind of thing before and have the right mind set. I think you are one of those people.”

“Thank you sir,” Serenity said, wondering if she could ever hope to fill Colonel Spears shoes.

Why did he still have this effect on her? He made her feel young and insecure again. Now he was asking her to fill his shoes aboard a new warship.

“It would be an honor,” she said.

Colonel Spears nodded, satisfied.

“You will be able to cherry pick your executive officer,” Mike said. “We are going to request volunteers and hold try-outs for commandos. You will have final say over who goes. Right now you will only get about forty commandos. In a year or two we should be able to send you more. We will also have a couple Marine cadre slots available. I expect you will be able to identify likely candidates from your first group. They will help when the second group arrives and you should be able to increase the tempo of your operations. We are still trying to figure out how many Marines total should be assigned to the ship.”

“How many can the ship hold Colonel?” Serenity asked.

Mike’s smile was predatory.

“A lot,” Mike said, not willing to provide details. “We are still working out details. It is a new class of ship, but for the Marine aspect, if you keep your planning as if you were going to deploy aboard the Reaper and getting reinforcements after a year, you should be good.”

“Aye sir,” Serenity said.

“You are my first pick for this billet,” Mike said. “It will give you a chance to grow I’m sure, maybe get you lined up for some stars on your collar. It will be damned hard and I don’t envy you some of the decisions you will have to make. The commander in charge of the mission is a real loose canon from what I hear, not very popular with Fleet but she is very damned aggressive. If anyone can do this then I’m sure it will be you.”

“Thank you sir,” Serenity said. “I won’t let you down.”

“I know,” Mike said.

“Officially you will be assigned to this section,” Mike said. “If you haven’t figured it out, I am also known as Lieutenant Colonel Mike Dawson. Your CO and my alter-ego when I go out in public. The overall mission will be under the aegis of Operation Shadow Strike. I will send you more briefing material soon. Good luck Major.”

“Thank you sir,” Serenity said.

Mike stood up and reached out to shake her hand.

After the handshake the Colonel beat her to the salute and Serenity logged out.