Free EDEN (The Union Series) by Phillip Richards

intestine.
He’s lucky he’s not shitting out of a bag!’
    ‘The lads took good
care of him,’ I agreed, glad to hear that he would survive. I had no doubt that
the doctors and medics did a fine job putting my trooper back together, but it
was the lads in the section who had kept him alive long enough to get that far.
    The young officer
nodded. ‘Yes, they did, of that I have no doubt.’ He regarded me for a second,
and then his eyes narrowed inquisitively. ‘How are you, Andy?’
    It always felt
strange when the platoon commander addressed me by my first name. Mr Barkley
had warmed to me as soon as I arrived in the platoon, I guess because he felt
some connection with me after serving together during the war. He commanded a
platoon that was known to operate in a more relaxed manner than the traditional
rifle platoon, but I still found it awkward, preferring the sergeant major’s no
nonsense attitude.
    I shrugged, ‘I’m
alright, Sir.’
    ‘You made a call on
the ground,’ he said, his voice hardening. ‘You had nobody else to turn to, so
you made a call, right or wrong?’
    ‘The sergeant major
thinks it was wrong.’
    Mr Barkley laughed.
‘The sergeant major hasn’t sat in an OP with a suit firing next to it. You made
a call, and deep down he knows that. Who’s to say what might have happened if
you simply sat there. Would you be here right now? Who knows? What I need to
know, is whether or not you feel that you’re OK to crack on …?’
    My stomach twisted.
‘Sir?’
    He raised his hands
defensively. ‘Relax, I’m not about to get rid of you! Not if you don’t want me
to. Look, Andy, I don’t care why the fourth battalion sent you away. All I know
is that you were one of the top students on the Recce Course, and subsequently
the Recce Commanders Course as well. You were sent here because you’re the
cream of the crop, and we need only the best because of the nature of the
theatre we’re working in. But I don’t want to push you over the edge …’
    ‘You won’t, Sir.’ I jabbed
a thumb over my shoulder. ‘I want to be out there, doing my job. I’d rather be
there than here.’
    He stared at me for a
moment, as if considering my response, then finally his smile returned. ‘I thought
you’d say that. Just remember, any dramas, any issues you want to talk about, my
door is always open.’
    I wondered who the
boss had been speaking to. Had the counsellors told him that I was one to
watch, or was he unhappy with my performance on the ground? I decided not to
ask, in case I didn’t like the answer.
    ‘I’m alright, Boss,’
I insisted, forcing a smile. ‘Honestly.’
    ‘Good. Because we
have something big coming our way.’
    My body stiffened. ‘Big?’
    ‘Very big,’ he
replied. ‘Big enough that I want all of my commanders ready to go.’
    I realised that he
wasn’t going to give me any more information, not now anyway. The gym was no
place to discuss future recce tasks, and I doubted the boss would want to share
information until after our short break in the city. Alcohol loosened tongues,
and although Paraiso was safe to walk at night, people were always listening.
Alliance spies lurked everywhere, or so we were told, preying upon drunken
troopers in the hope they might let slip valuable information.
    ‘We’ll talk about it
soon,’ Mr Barkley said. ‘But for now, all I want you to do is rest, and unwind.
Relax for a bit, Andy.’
    ‘I will, Sir,’ I
replied. I planned to spend the next two days training and preparing my kit for
redeployment.
    Appearing
unconvinced, the boss looked me up and down. ‘My God, you’ve turned into a mean
looking bastard.’
    ‘New Earth makes you
grow up quick,’ I said gloomily.
    He gave a sad sigh.
‘Yes. Yes, it does.’
    Sometimes I sensed
that Mr Barker suffered as I did as a result of the war, and like me he had
nobody he felt he could talk to. It was a lonely life being a section
commander, but being an officer must have been worse.