Chapter 44: Chapter 43: Newly Commissioned

The two men moved quickly to the sounds of trouble. As the cart navigated the darkened passages of the mines, Alex couldn’t help but wonder what caused the scream?

Had a bear gotten into the mines? Could they even get access in the first place?

He could only imagine the kind of carnage he would see if a bear had torn up the miners in close quarters but that didn’t seem to be the case as they came upon the distressed scene.

Rooney had to stop the cart before they found the men as there were rocks and other debris littering the path in front of them. It soon became very apparent what had happened. The roof of this section of the mine had partially caved in, dropping heavy rocks and boulders on the men working here. The man that was screaming had the misfortune of taking most of those big stones on his legs, crushing them underneath.

“What the hell happened here?” asked Rooney as he climbed over rocks toward the wounded miner.

“Partial collapse,” answered another miner, who’d been attending to the injured man.

“How’s that possible?” demanded Rooney. “These passageways into the mine are reinforced. It would take an earthquake of some magnitude to cause a collapse like this.”

“There was no earthquake down here. We would have felt it otherwise. One second we were working and the next? Poor Tim took the brunt of the fall.”

“Are you two going to keep talking about me like I’m not even here?” yelled Tim, clutching at his broken legs. “Or are you going to get me back to the damn hospital?”

“Come on, help me with him,” said Rooney to the other miner.

They started to remove the rocks that had piled on Tim’s lower half. Alex pitched in as well, and they worked diligently to free the injured man so that he could be loaded onto the mining cart. Once he was secure, they went all the way to the top, emerging into the covered protection of the biosphere.

“We’re going to have to carry him to the rovers,” said Rooney to Alex. “Come on, it’s not far away.”

Despite the short distance, Tim screamed most of the way by the way he was carried. The man was nearly unconscious by the time they laid him down across the backseats of the rover. Rooney used his P-com to call ahead to the city to let them know they were coming, but when it came time to leave, Tim was the only one with an objection.

“Can you give me a rifle or something?” he asked, still clenching his teeth in pain.

“What the hell do you want a rifle for?” asked Rooney.

“You know the reason why. The fucking bears! If they attack us on the way back, I want a rifle for protection,” said Tim.

Rooney didn’t think the request was too extreme as he gestured for one of the members of the VDF to grab a spare pulse rifle. In the process, he also had another man grab their original rifles, the ones they put down before going into the mines.

“There, now both you and Alex have one,” said Rooney to the injured man. “Just don’t shoot us by accident, got it?”

Tim nodded and the rover rocketed out of the garage a short while later, getting on the road down to the city. In the back, Tim screamed and yelled as they went over every bump in the road but he seemed to take his job of watching for bears seriously. He never put his rifle down and was constantly scanning both sides of the road.

“One of those crawlers would come in handy right about now,” said Alex to Rooney. “At least then Tim wouldn’t have to worry about protecting himself while we drove back to the city. We might even be able to get him medical care before we got there.”

Rooney took a deep breath and looked at Alex out of the corner of his eyes. “Alex, being in the VDF means being able to learn to accept that we are handicapped by the Council. That’s never going to change.”

That was a bet that Alex was willing to take. One way or another, he’d fix all these glaring flaws in the city’s defenses. If he was expected to live here long term, then it was the only way to prevent the colony from being wiped off the map by the bears.

They made it back to the city without incident, the rover flying into the garage at the end of the walkway that led to Biosphere Five. There was a stretcher waiting for them upon arrival, and they loaded Tim up and took him to the hospital unit which occupied the other half of Biosphere Five (luckily for Tim).

Once he was in the hands of the doctors, Rooney gestured for Alex to follow him back to his office, where they removed their armor and put away their pulse rifles. Finally, Rooney sat down behind his desk and looked Alex in the eyes.

“Well, what do you think, Alex? You’ve seen just about everything today, and the fact that you’re still here tells me a lot about you.”

“I’m not the kind of man who’s used to running away from his problems,” replied Alex. “It’s obvious we have a job to do here in Vesta, no matter how hard the Council might make it for us.”

Rooney chuckled. “That’s the damned honest truth. Now comes the million credit question though. Now that you’ve seen the risks we face and the position we’re in, do you still want to join? The VDF could really use a man with your talents. It would help me to see your perspective with all the experience that you bring. I’m not going to beg you but I think it would be a damn shame if they put you on something menial like food production.”

Alex couldn’t help but grin at that. “Somehow, I don’t think I’d be satisfied doing food production either. The VDF is the place for me. As long as you don’t mind putting up with my frequent requests to change things.”

Rooney scoffed. “Hell, I don’t mind. All the shit you said today makes good strategic sense. It’s the bureaucrats we’ll have to convince but that’s neither here nor there. Here, this is for you.”

Rooney pulled open his desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper. Half of the paper was already filled out except for a few open parts that Rooney quickly filled in.

“This is a form authorizing you to be a commissioned officer within the VDF,” explained Rooney as he filled it out. “For your rank, I’m going to put you as a . . . as a captain. That makes you answerable only to me. You’ll be my second-in-command and your first duty will be protecting the mining biosphere. As for the rest of the command structure, I have five lieutenants who are in charge of ten privates apiece. You’ll have authority over those lieutenants, two of which are usually at the mining biosphere at any one time.”

The only thing left to do was for Rooney to authorize it. He put his signature at the bottom, and then he sealed it by imprinting his fingerprint onto the paper with the aid of a small scanner. Finally, he handed it over to Alex.

“Now it’s official. Welcome to the Vestan Defense Force, Captain Alex Hawthorne.”

*****

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After helping Rooney make an official announcement, which was carried to every serving VDF member’s P-com, Alex left Biosphere Five with the intention to go back to the housing unit he shared with Jenna. He knew he still had to stop in to see Rick that evening but after spending most of the day with Ellie and Annette, Vitale, and now Commander Rooney, he was looking forward to a little downtime.

After reaching their unit, Alex placed his hand on the scanner, which opened the door quickly for him. He stepped inside, only to be greeted by an amusing sight.

By the looks of things, Jenna had fully stocked their kitchen with her trip this morning, and she’d also sprung for some goods to make their unit appear more homey. She must have worn herself out in the process, because she was now snoozing on the main couch, her eyes shut and her mouth as open as a barn door.

It made Alex want to laugh. Mostly because she was one of the only women he knew that could still look attractive in such an unglamorous pose. That also might have been the result of what she was wearing. Jenna was wearing a tiny black tank top alongside itty-bitty gray shorts, the likes of which showed off the majority of her legs.

It was a great look for her, despite the open mouth. For the first time in a long while, Alex felt something that reminded him of belonging. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt since before Sophie died but there was something about the way Jenna fit so easily into his life that had him hopeful for the future.

Trying not to wake her, he made his way to the portion of the couch that she wasn’t lying on and sat down carefully. He’d no sooner closed his eyes before she was stirring, and when he opened them again, she was looking right at him.

“You’re home!” she said, pushing up to a seated position. “Wait, when did you get home?”

“Just a few moments ago. I was trying not to wake you. Sorry about that.”

Jenna smiled. “I didn’t even realize I fell asleep. I got so much stuff for us this morning. Lots of food and stuff to make this unit feel more like home.”

“It’s already coming together, I like it,” said Alex, looking around.

Jenna beamed with a smile at the compliment. She shifted her position so that she was sitting right next to him.

“We weren’t awake on the colony ship for long enough for it to feel like home,” she explained. “I’ve been wanting a space that I could call my own since we left Earth, and now this place is already starting to feel that way. I’m also really glad that I can share it with you.”

“You and me both,” said Alex, meaning every word. Though he could never replace Sophie, he found that Jenna was proving to be an equally good fit, which was saying a lot for the relatively short time he knew her.

“So how was it today?” she asked. “How was the mining biosphere?”

“Worse than I expected. It appears that the VDF is really handicapped with what changes they can make. I can see now why they are losing so many people. Their defenses make no tactical or strategic sense whatsoever. I’m almost shocked at the level of ineptitude.”

Jenna pursed her lips. “Is it making you think twice about joining the VDF?”

“No, it’s really not,” said Alex, pulling out his commission form from his pocket. “In fact, I’m now second-in-command.”

Her eyes went wide as she looked over the document. “Captain? Wow, this is huge, Alex!”

“Now I get put on the task of making it all better. Or at least doing what I can. Commander Rooney made it sound like Belladonna goes to a great length to oppose anything they want to do.”

“Sounds familiar,” grumbled Jenna. “But if I had to bet on who was going to win that contest of wills, I wouldn’t bet against you.”

Alex turned to face her, only to find Jenna looking back at him demurely. She leaned forward to kiss him but soon pulled away, squeezing her nose.

“Smelly,” she teased. “And dirty. I can tell you’ve been in the mines.”

“Maybe I should take a shower before I go anywhere else.”

She started to nod before a sexy grin appeared on her face. “Want company?”

“I’d never turn that down.”

“Perfect, let me grab some towels for us and we can go right now.”

It took Jenna a minute to locate what she was looking for but when she came back, Alex was just staring off into space. He didn’t realize when she called his name once without getting a response. Finally, Jenna sat down next to him.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked. “I can tell you’re very far away right now.”

Alex shook his head. “Just thinking about all the things that need to be done here. So much work. And with the threat against the colony, there’s not much time.”

“Maybe you’re right, Alex. Or maybe, we’re just the best people to attempt to fix it? Maybe we need to make Vesta the home we want it to be.”

Alex turned to look at her. “That’s a good way of looking at it.”

“I thought you’d like that,” replied Jenna before tossing his towel in his lap. “Now come on. This shower isn’t going to take itself.”

Alex found that he needed little convincing to join her for that much-needed shower.

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