March Upcountry

"They can probably figure out that we're headed for Voitan without any difficulty," Pahner said. "And there's something to be said for letting them come to us in a prepared position. But this isn't the sort of location I'd want to defend."

The area was a flat, heavily forested plain, higher than the swamp, but still prone to flooding. The flat plain, however, did not provide anything in the way of terrain features to use in defense. The company could, and had, cut down most of the secondary growth trees to improve their perimeter and fire lanes, but that was about it.

"If we reach Voitan," Cord said, deliberately, "we'll have many places to defend. Not only should there still be walls in places, but the quarries behind the city offer numerous fortifiable spots."

"What do you think, Captain?" Roger asked, yawning. Everyone was exhausted, including him. He just needed to drive on.

"I think that in the morning we pull out carefully, then make the fastest march possible to Voitan. We'll pile the packs on the beasts again and force the pace. I doubt they expected us to cross the swamp here. They probably have a crossing place they use, and if they've begun to assemble to hit us, they'll probably be assembling there. Unfortunately for them, we were too stupid to use the 'good' crossing."

"So we make a run for Voitan," Kosutic said.

"Right." Pahner considered the situation for a moment. "If it's as close as Cord thinks, then we should arrive by mid-afternoon." The long Mardukan day would work in their favor for once.

"And if it's not?" Kosutic asked.

"Then we will have exhausted ourselves for nothing," Pahner told her grimly.

Matsugae sampled the stew and gave the mahout who was stirring it a thumbs up. He walked on to where a Mardukan female was turning strips of meat battered with barleyrice meal on a large metal sheet over a fire. He pulled one of the strips off and blew on it to cool it enough to taste without burning his mouth. Again, he smiled and gave the cook a thumbs up.

The captain had backed the camp up against the river, and the company had spent the remainder of the afternoon digging in and cleaning up. Matsugae, for his part, had spent the same time working hard to put together a decent meal for the first time in three days. Many of the swamp beasts had been lassoed or hooked and dragged to shore. Although there was good flesh all over the carcasses, there were three or four particularly good cuts, and with all the bodies floating in the river, the mahouts had ended up taking only the skins and the very best of the meat.

Most of the mahouts were preparing the skins. The swamp beasts were fairly rare, and their skins brought a high price. The company, possibly Roger alone, had shot the cost of two or three pack beasts in one afternoon.

Matsugae gri

The dog-lizard wandered into the outdoor kitchen and sniffed at the strips on the fire. The Mardukan female tending them shooed her away, so she wandered over to Matsugae, looking pitiful. The beast had grown steadily since Roger adopted it. It was nearly the size of a dalmatian now, and its growth showed no sign of slowing. In addition, its tail was thickening. The flar-ta, which were similar to the dog-lizard in many ways, stored up reserves in their tails, or so the mahouts claimed. Certainly, they were ski

Matsugae consulted his toot and smiled as he tossed the dog-lizard the last bit of damncroc tail. Nearly time for di

"Kostas, that was wonderful, as always." A yawn interrupted Roger's compliment, and he grimaced. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Your Highness," Pahner said. "We're all beat. I hope like hell we don't get hit tonight. I don't think Bravo of the Bronze could hold off a troop of Space Scouts tonight."

"I think you underestimate them, Captain," O'Casey said. The chief of staff had begun to adjust to the brutal regimen of the trip, shedding fat and putting on muscle. When she got back to Imperial City, she intended to recommend shipwreck on a hostile planet full of carnivorous monsters and bloodthirsty barbarians as a sovereign method for attaining physical fitness. Now the former tutor smiled warmly. "Your troops have been just magnificent. Her Majesty will be incredibly proud when we finally get back."

"Well," Pahner said, "we have a long way to go before we find out. But, thank you, Councilor. That means a lot to me, and it will actually mean something to the troopers as well. We don't just fight for pay, you know."

Roger shook his head sleepily.

"I never considered all the little stories around me all the time. Do you know Corporal Hooker's first name?" Roger asked as he fed Dogzard a scrap of gristle from the damncroc.

"Of course, Your Highness. Ima."

"She said her dad had a sick sense of humor," the prince confirmed in a tone of outrage. "I offered to have him thrown out an airlock."

"He's long dead," Kosutic said, taking another fingerstrip of damncroc tail. "Snorted himself to death on dreamwrack."

"Ah," Roger said with a nod. "And Poertena wanted to go to college on a swimming scholarship..."

"... but he got beat out in the finals," Pahner finished. "There's more to leadership than wearing the right tabs on your collar, Your Highness. Knowing the details of the troops is important, and for knowing the really intimate details..."

"... you have sergeant majors and gu

"That... sucks," O'Casey said.

"Being a Marine sucks," Pahner told her with a quiet smile. It was rare for the academic to swear.

"Then why do you do it?" she asked.

"It's something I'm good at. Somebody has to do it, and better someone who's good at it. Not everyone is." The captain looked pensive for a moment. "It's... bad, sometimes. When you realize that what you're really good at is either killing other sentients in person or leading others in the killing of them. But everyone in the Regiment is an exceptional Marine. And reasonably presentable. And utterly loyal..."

"But there's more," Kosutic said with a grin. "That describes a surprising number of Marines. And even a surprising number that can make it through RIP. It's a big Corps, after all."

"Yes," Pahner said, taking a sip of water, "there is more. Every member of The Empress' Own has some odd skill that the selection board thought might conceivably be of use. You don't get in if the only thing you know is what you've learned since Basic."

"I knew Poertena could swim that river," Kosutic told the prince. "But I wasn't about to tell him that I knew he was an Olympic-class swimmer," she added with a laugh.

"You mentioned Corporal Hooker," Pahner said soberly. "Ima Hooker was an air car thief before a judge gave her a choice between the Marines and a long jail sentence."

"What the hell is she doing in The Empress' Own?" O'Casey asked with a gasp as she choked on a mouthful of wine.