Carnifex. Part 5

He knew they'd put to death a number of international journalists for spying, war crimes and generally aiding the enemy; they made no secret of any of that. Neither did they make any secret of their penchant for enforcing the laws of war in the most forthright and barbaric fashions. Indeed, they made it a point to broadcast those reprisals.

They did not broadcast broadcast reprisals taken against family members though that, too, happened. So it was said and widely believed, in any case. reprisals taken against family members though that, too, happened. So it was said and widely believed, in any case.

"How large a force do they have?" Malcolm asked. "How much does it cost us? How big a force could they field?"

This information Rivers had at his fingertips. He'd been, in a partial and roundabout way, instrumental in the Federated States' hiring his old friend Patrick Hennessey, now going by the name Carrera, and the force he had raised. He'd kept up on developments. After all, Hennessey had always been entertaining.

"In theory, Mr. Secretary, they have four divisions. They call them 'legions,' which is a little confusing as the overall organization is called "the Legion." Then again, we call the Army 'the Army' even though we have eight 'armies' under it.

"Of those four, one is forward deployed in Sumer. That's the only one that, officially, we pay for. The other three are back in Balboa in varying states of training and manning. The forward legion usually numbers around twelve to thirteen thousand men. The total active force is about thirty-three or thirty-four thousand and rising. There is also a reserve force but they are very tight lipped about that. We don't think it's as large as the active force...yet. They could probably double or triple their force if they wanted to. So far they have given no indication that they do want to. What they have raised, so far, costs us on the order of seventeen billion drachma a year."

Malcolm's eyes bugged. "We pay seventeen billion drachma seventeen billion drachma to some p.i.s.spot North Colombian city state?" to some p.i.s.spot North Colombian city state?"

"Actually, no, Mr. Secretary. We pay it directly to the Legion. They give a portion, a very small portion, less than a percent, to the government of Balboa. But they're only a non-governmental organization, sponsored by that government. They are not controlled by it. They're not controlled by anybody. anybody."

"Oh, really? really? We'll just see about that." We'll just see about that."

Goodbye, third star.

"No, Mr. Secretary," Rivers answered forcefully. "Don't see about that. They're quite capable now, financially, of continuing the war on their own for quite a few years, if not quite indefinitely. If you try to control them you'll just find you've let slip any control we have for a control we can't have. I know their commander. see about that. They're quite capable now, financially, of continuing the war on their own for quite a few years, if not quite indefinitely. If you try to control them you'll just find you've let slip any control we have for a control we can't have. I know their commander. Don't Don't try to control him. It just won't work." try to control him. It just won't work."

31/9/466 AC, Isla Real, Quarters #2 I think the thing I like about this, thought Lourdes, on her knees with her head bobbing and her tongue working, thought Lourdes, on her knees with her head bobbing and her tongue working, is the control it gives me, not just over the s.e.x, but over Patricio. But then, is the control it gives me, not just over the s.e.x, but over Patricio. But then, she thought as her husband pulled her head off, stood her up and pressed her back to the wall, she thought as her husband pulled her head off, stood her up and pressed her back to the wall, but then he doesn't always let me keep control. but then he doesn't always let me keep control.

Despite having borne two children, a boy and a girl, Lourdes' body was unmarked, well shaped and still very firm. Tall, almost as tall as her husband, she was quite slender except in those places a woman should be more full. If anything, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s had improved from her pregnancies.

Cupping one of those, Carrera bent his head to tease the nipple of the other with his tongue. Lourdes loved that, he knew.

She let him continue in that for a long while, moans of sheer desire occasionally escaping her lips. When she couldn't stand it anymore she pulled his head up to kiss more intimately.

Balancing her back on the wall, Lourdes arched her hips forward and reached down to guide. A small gasp escaped her lips as Carrera thrust up and forward. The gasp became a long moan as he filled her fully.

And, for a while, she didn't think of much of anything.

"Do you really have to go so soon?" she asked Carrera, later as they lay in bed. "You only come home about five or sometimes six weeks a year. Are you so anxious to leave me."

Carrera sighed, then answered, "I take more leave than the troops get."

"Yes," she conceded, "but they only spend one year away for ever three years they spend here."

"That's only now," he countered. "Most of the leaders have been gone half the time since the war began."

"And you've been gone eighty percent of it."

To that Carrera had no really good answer. He went silent, thinking, They don't carry the curse I do, the obligation to destroy those who murdered Linda and the children. They don't carry the curse I do, the obligation to destroy those who murdered Linda and the children.

After a short time he offered, "You were with me there until you came up pregnant with the second child. Besides, the war won't last forever."

"It will last too long; long enough for me to become a dried up old prune."

"Never happen," he answered, adding, "You're one of those women who will keep her looks into old age. I can tell."

Lourdes shook her head, doubtfully. "I'll age, the same as anyone. And you'll grow tired of me."

"Never happen," he repeated, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her head onto his shoulder. "For one thing, you're a lot younger than I am. By the time you're a wrinkled up old lady, I'll be using a walker, too old to get tired of anything except p.i.s.sing myself."

She giggled at the image. "Now that that," she said, "will never happen."

"Yes it will." Unless I'm lucky enough to be killed before it does. Unless I'm lucky enough to be killed before it does.

"Speaking of the future, what's on for tomorrow?" Lourdes asked.

"Ma.s.s review of the Corps of Cadets at Puerto Lindo, then rechristening of the old HAMS Venganza Venganza. Want to come watch? The boys are bussing in from all over."

"No...no. I'm not comfortable with turning fourteen-year-old boys into soldiers."

"I love you for that, too," Carrera whispered, "for that among many other reasons."

Lourdes never asked if her husband loved her more than he had his first wife, Linda. She was much, much too afraid of the answer.

Interlude

Munich, Germany, European Union, 15 May, 2077 The first thing Martin Hoyer the Third noticed about the envelope was that it was pink and flowered on the outside. How like the government to send bad news in such bright packaging, How like the government to send bad news in such bright packaging, Hoyer thought. Hoyer thought. Perhaps if grandfather had not been such an Perhaps if grandfather had not been such an untalentierte teilzeit schmierfink untalentierte teilzeit schmierfink we would have had enough money of our own not to have to rely on the state's largess to see us through our old age. Instead he wasted his life writing books no one would read...even in German. we would have had enough money of our own not to have to rely on the state's largess to see us through our old age. Instead he wasted his life writing books no one would read...even in German.

Not that Martin or his wife, or their one-unemployed -child, were particularly old. He and she were only fifty-seven and had been drawing on the state's pension scheme for a scant two years. The boy, Martin Hoyer the Fourth, received unemployment compensation, despite never having worked a day in his life. But even in two years they had seen the system go from penny-pinching to outright miserly.

At least we haven't been reduced to eating dog food. Yet.

He opened the envelope and began to read: Dear Sir or Madam: In accordance with the European Union Directive 2076/015 for the preservation of the public fisc and extra-planetary colonization, you and you spouse have been identified for reduction of benefits or transportation, with a.s.sets, to the planet of New Earth.

Hoyer took a quick glance at what "reduction of benefits" meant in concrete, Euro, terms and thought, Dog food. Dog food.

You and your spouse have thirty (30) days from the date of this letter to decide. Thereafter, should you decline transportation, on each anniversary of this letter you will have another thirty (30) days to change your minds, transportation schedule permitting.

Hoyer read the missive through, sighing frequently. He put it down and called for his wife. As he waited, he went through the rest of the mail.

Interesting that there's a letter too for our lazy-as-dirt son, he thought.

Chapter Three.

The Helen (H): that amount of beauty required to launch one thousand Achaean ships of approximately eight tons empty displacement each, or approximately eight-thousand tons of shipping, and to destroy one city.

The milliHelen (mH): a more convenient measure than the Helen, that amount of beauty required to launch one ship and burn down a single house.

The Linda (L): a more up to date measure; that amount of beauty required to launch eight-thousand tons of shipping in a single ship and destroy a city.

Dos Lindas: (ex-Venganza) an antique aircraft carrier of sixteen-thousand tons unladen displacement, restored and recommissioned to take part in the war waged against Salafi terrorists and their supporters by the an antique aircraft carrier of sixteen-thousand tons unladen displacement, restored and recommissioned to take part in the war waged against Salafi terrorists and their supporters by the Legion del Cid Legion del Cid (qv) (qv). Destroyed cities: TBA. Destroyed cities: TBA.From Baen's Encyclopedia of New and Old Earth Baen's Encyclopedia of New and Old Earth, Terra Novan Edition of 475 AC

1/10/466 AC, Academia Militar Sargento Juan Malvegui, Puerto Lindo, Balboa The original port had been raided and burned by pirates almost three centuries before. Its crumbling walls, what remained of them, huddled at one corner of the rectangular bay, held up in places by nothing but friction, gravity and the binding, green and brown tendrils of jungle that interwove among the stones. Shacks, too, sat within the ruins, sometimes surrounded on three sides by the chewed walls.

Outside that original town, or the ruins and shacks that remained of it, a certain amount of newfound prosperity could be seen; new houses, some few stores with bright gla.s.s windows, paved streets. This was to be expected when one trebled the population of a not very populous place, and considerably more than quadrupled the average income of an otherwise rather impoverished place. The new population and the new money had come from two sources. The first of these was the Academy, especially its fairly well paid (by local standards) professors and military cadre. The second was the shipyard built to refit the old aircraft carrier-the ex-HAMS Venganza Venganza-the Legion had purchased for a song, albeit at three and a half million FSD a rather pricey jingle, one step ahead of the breakers. There were other ships in port waiting for the shipyard's attentions.

Carrera had made some efforts to keep the old town as it was, buying up properties to fix and preserve the ruins. He'd wanted the boys of this first military school to have the lesson always before them: This is defeat; avoid it. (Another school sat on the other side of Balboa, right next to the equally ruined Balboa Antiguo, Balboa Antiguo, also sacked and burned but by Old Earth's UN. That one, the also sacked and burned but by Old Earth's UN. That one, the Academia Militar Academia Militar Belisario Carrera, was sited by the ruins for much the same reason as was the Juan Malvegui.) Belisario Carrera, was sited by the ruins for much the same reason as was the Juan Malvegui.) The school itself was on the other side of the bay from the town, near the bay's mouth. When the fog was not heavy or the rain was light, the boys could see the ruins from the battlements of the old stone fortress-Fortaleza San Filipe-that dominated the bay, the school, and the old town.

There was no rain and only a very light fog as Carrera's staff car wound through the street. It was both preceded and followed by armed and armored vehicles. There was a battalion of Castilian troops at Fort Williams, not so far away. Relations between the Legion, on the one hand, and the government of Balboa and the Tauran brigade of which the Castilians were a part, on the other, were, at best, strained. Moreover, the Tauran dominated Cosmopolitan Criminal Court had a standing warrant for the arrest of Carrera and his nominal chief, Raul Parilla, for various alleged crimes committed by the Legion during the initial campaign in Sumer.

I know we're going to have to fight them, eventually, Carrera admitted to himself. Carrera admitted to himself. But I want that fight to be on our terms, not brought on by well-meaning troops trying to save Parilla or myself from incarceration. So...best not to tempt the Taurans...yet. But I want that fight to be on our terms, not brought on by well-meaning troops trying to save Parilla or myself from incarceration. So...best not to tempt the Taurans...yet.

Though no one but Carrera knew it for a fact, the boys of the Brigade of Cadets Brigade of Cadets were part and parcel of the plan for meeting and defeating the Taurans when the day came. Some others had guessed some of that plan. Alexander Sitnikov, in particular, was, as commander of the cadets, well aware that the boys spent two days a week training on strictly military subjects, that the three schools thus far built had their buildings connected by tunnels, and that those tunnels led off the school grounds to well concealed spots in the jungle. Sitnikov knew, too, that the three schools still building shared these features. Lastly, any fool with a map could see that four of the six schools were well sighted to serve as springboards to attack into the Taurans' base area, the ten mile wide strip through the country that contained the Balboa Transitway, an above sea level ca.n.a.l. Of the other two, one was in excellent position to defend the country's main airport, west of the capital, from ground or airborne attack, while the last was near enough to the former-and future-military base at Lago Sombrero to effect the same purpose. were part and parcel of the plan for meeting and defeating the Taurans when the day came. Some others had guessed some of that plan. Alexander Sitnikov, in particular, was, as commander of the cadets, well aware that the boys spent two days a week training on strictly military subjects, that the three schools thus far built had their buildings connected by tunnels, and that those tunnels led off the school grounds to well concealed spots in the jungle. Sitnikov knew, too, that the three schools still building shared these features. Lastly, any fool with a map could see that four of the six schools were well sighted to serve as springboards to attack into the Taurans' base area, the ten mile wide strip through the country that contained the Balboa Transitway, an above sea level ca.n.a.l. Of the other two, one was in excellent position to defend the country's main airport, west of the capital, from ground or airborne attack, while the last was near enough to the former-and future-military base at Lago Sombrero to effect the same purpose.

Sitnikov kept his insights to himself. He had few qualms about using fourteen year olds as soldiers, and none whatsoever to using fifteen- through eighteen-year olds.

Formerly a colonel of armor in the army of the Volgan Republic, and before that in the Red Tsar's Guards, Sitnikov had been sent to Balboa early on, to train the new legionaries in the complexities and nuances of Volgan-built tanks, as well as their techniques and tactics. He'd come over, liked what he'd seen, liked the larger paycheck on offer for switching nationalities, and so had elected to stay. That had been more than five years ago.

He'd been as bald then as he was now. Nor had he aged otherwise. Everything in Balboa agreed with Sitnikov, from the weather to the work to his new Balboan wife, a smoky beauty from this very town. The work especially agreed with him. His lifetime's ambition had been to command a division-tank or motorized rifle; it mattered not-in war. He was reasonably certain that, under the table, Carrera had given him the first half of that ambition, the division in the form of what was soon to be nearly thirteen thousand cadets. The other half, the war, was almost certainly coming.

Sitnikov and his key staff met Carrera at the base of the terreplein over which had been erected a reviewing stand. Behind the reviewing stand stood the fort's ma.s.sive stone walls.

"At ease," Carrera ordered, after casually returning the ma.s.s salute.

Sitnikov led the group up a smooth granite stairway, then along the gra.s.sy terreplein to the stand. There were already some dozens of spectators; one of them, Carrera was surprised to see, the Castilian colonel commanding the Tauran battalion at Fort Williams.

Idly, Carrera wondered if Colonel Munoz-Infantes was here as a spy or perhaps in sympathy. He didn't know enough about the man.

Note to self: Munoz-Infantes, check into, task for Fernandez.

Slowly Carrera walked the line, shaking hands, patting shoulders, smiling. When he reached Munoz-Infantes he was somewhat surprised to see the Castilian colonel brace to a stiff attention, click his heels, and announce, "Legate Fernandez intervened with Legate Sitnikov to invite me to this ceremony, Duque Duque."

"Did he indeed?" Carrera searched into the man's face for some insight. No use, it was as blank as a stone slab. "Well...welcome, Colonel. Enjoy the show."

"Fernandez thinks he can be turned," Sitnikov whispered later, once he and Carrera were seated. "Munoz-Infantes is a Falangist. He hates the Tauran Union, hates the wogs, hates the Gauls, hates the World League, hates United Earth, hates cosmopolitan progressivism, hates..."

At that point Sitnikov was interrupted by a fanfare of trumpets, emanating from both sides of the reviewing stand. This was joined a few moments later by ma.s.sed drums on the fort's parade parade, below the terreplain.

Then came the singing. From three gates to the northeast the six thousand-soon to be over twelve thousand-boys, aged at this point fourteen to seventeen, marched onto the parade singing the theme song chosen for the youth: "Think, boys, think on all that matters most: Your homeland, the Legion, your flag and your faith.

Hold them holy, holy in your hearts Pure as the morning light.

Juventud adelante, cantando feliz Si hay sol o si llueve Juventud adelante, cantando feliz A muerte o victoria a.s.saltamos el mundo con pasos fuertes..."

"Is there anything he likes?" Carrera asked.

"Huh?" Sitnikov looked puzzled.

"Munoz-Infantes; is there anything he likes?"

"Ah. Yes...according to Fernandez. They include Castille, the Spanish language, the Catholic Church, the Castilian Army...and, apparently...us."

The ceremony concluded, the boys were still singing as they marched off the field.

"Juventud adelante, No camino tan duro.

Gritamos "Ave Victoria!"

"We've laid on a little reception, partly for ourselves but mostly for guests and the families of the boys transitioning to senior status next year," Sitnikov announced. "Perhaps you might want to chat with Colonel Munoz-Infantes..."

Carrera thought on it briefly before answering, "No...I would if I could but I can't. The Dos Lindas Dos Lindas is supposed to be recommissioned tomorrow morning and I have another speech to rehea.r.s.e in my mind. You feel free to feel him out, though, Sasha. Just don't commit to anything and don't let him send anyone to snoop around our facilities." is supposed to be recommissioned tomorrow morning and I have another speech to rehea.r.s.e in my mind. You feel free to feel him out, though, Sasha. Just don't commit to anything and don't let him send anyone to snoop around our facilities."

"I understand, Patricio," Sitnikov answered.

Carrera was reasonably sure that the Volgan understood perfectly. perfectly.

Most of the tonnage of the Legion's not-so-very-small fleet was, for the time being, here at Puerto Lindo. Besides the aircraft carrier, which dominated all the others, there were five ex-Volgan Suvarov Cla.s.s cruisers, purchased from a sc.r.a.p dealer for a total of eleven million FSD, along with thirteen more former Volgan ships, one destroyer, two submarines, six obsolete frigates, one mine-countermeasures ship, and three corvettes.

The Suvarovs had been out of commission and slated for sc.r.a.pping for over a decade but, in the confusion attendant on the collapse of the Volgan Empire, no one had ever gotten around to actually sc.r.a.pping these last five. They were virtually sc.r.a.p anyway, all but one of them, or possibly two. That best one had been kept up longer than the rest to serve as a flagship. Carrera thought that still something might be done with the rest. The one that was in fair shape was being restored in a somewhat desultory fashion. The others? Even if sc.r.a.pped for their steel, the gun turrets, five dual six-inch mountings each, might be emplaced on concrete pads around the Isla Real's perimeter.

The other warships were newer and in better shape. Among these were even two t.i.tanium-hulled submarines, formerly nuclear but in fact as dead as chivalry with the reactors and anything to do with them torn out. Carrera didn't actually know to a certainty what he would do with any of them, but the price had been right. n.o.body wanted Volgan ships, not even Volga.

There was a second carrier out there, also an ex-His Anglic Majesty's Ship, the Perseus Perseus, the Legion had an option on. It was in truly awful shape though, since some light sc.r.a.pping had actually commenced before the Legion bought its option. It might, at best, serve as a stationary training ship. It was certainly never going to sail again; it would have to be towed to Balboa to be any use at all.

Though Carrera didn't know what he was going to do with most of the hulls he'd bought; he did did know what he was going to do with the know what he was going to do with the Venganza Venganza.