Free Troy Rising 3 - The Hot Gate by John Ringo Page B

BM1 seemed on their side. Which wasn’t just an EEOC problem, it went right to the core of military discipline. At the 142nd she’d been treated as a FUN, a fracking useless noob, until she proved herself but it was just proving she was beyond noob. Not…this. She’d been aggressively disrespected by a junior spaceman, a guy who made sure the decks were properly washed. What the hell?
    She hated to do it but she only knew one person to consult.
    She sent a hypercom ping wondering if the Chief was available.
    “Yo, Comet, what’s up?”
    “Got a few minutes?” Dana asked. “I think I already stepped in it.”
    “It’s the 143rd,” Barnett commed back. “They should be used to cluster gropes by now.”
    “Sending a recording,” Dana said.
    “Oh, holy fracking hell,” Barnett commed back a moment later. “Does that idiot Persing even know what military regulation means?”
    “I probably shouldn’t have continued into the counseling session but I was so mad I didn’t turn off. Now I’m glad I didn’t.”
    “This is a problem,” Barnett said. “Among other things, if this is the standard of discipline I can see why they’re so jugged. But dipping into another person’s well is a no-no of the highest order. I’m going to do some discrete pushing on the Chief network but you’re mostly going to have to fly this one alone. As soon as you get the in-brief and you get a few seconds, call me back. I’d like to see what part of the brief covers a clear Article 91 violation not to mention 117. In fact, I’d love to see what part of the brief covers that since it would, in turn, be an 81 and 92 violation.”
    “So I’m not just being a gurrl about this?” Dana asked. “I was wondering.”
    “I would have hit the roof and screamed to high heaven,” Barnett said. “There’s playing the boy’s game and being disrespected. The first and second are two different things. So is playing girl games just to play games. There ought to be an article just for passive aggressive bullshit. This was straight forward disrespect to an NCO, Article 91 and provoking speech or gestures, 117. They don’t get that under control and you might as well give away the whole shooting match. Doesn’t matter if it’s a newly transferred female CM or the fracking President. You don’t violate the articles. Call me back after the brief. But, again, I can’t get directly involved. Time to girl up, girl.”
    “Will do, Chief,” Dana said. “Thanks for the counsel.”
     
    * * *
     
    “Good morning and welcome to the Thermopylae and the 143rd boat wing. I am Bosun’s Mate First Class Steve Persing, personnel NCOIC for the 143rd.”
    When Persing said “he’d see her at the briefing” she’d assumed he was just going to be one of the people at the brief. Not the briefer.
    “Technically, all of the space forces currently in operation in the Sol Defense Zone are now Alliance forces,” Persing continued. “However, as you are well aware, up until recently the 142nd has been a purely North American unit. The 143rd, on the other hand, is made up of a mixture of various countries from South America. The majority of the Coxswains are from Argentina and Chile, which are traditional enemies. The Engineer’s mates are from both countries as well as Peru, El Salvador and two from Colombia. Simply integrating persons from multiple countries, many of which are as I’ve noted traditional enemies, has been a challenging task. Now we are also dealing with the cultural differences with American personnel.
    “Latin Americans have a long history of antagonism towards the United States and, arguably, vice versa. The United States, under the Monroe Doctrine, considered the entire Western Hemisphere its zone of influence and has repeatedly tinkered with the governments of many of these countries as well as often using them as a source of raw materials and labor. There is, therefore, a certain amount of entirely justifiable friction that