Free Mission Origin View (Final Days Trilogy) by Barry Knox Page A

prejudiced against just about anyone…be it race, nationality, planet, or what they eat! He’s not the most pleasant person to be around, but when you’re in a firefight, you’ll be glad he’s there. He’ll cool down after the inspection, so let’s make sure we’re squared away before he gets back.”
    “ I’m loving this mission more by the minute!” Gault said as he finished a hospital corner on his bunk.
    Sergeant Manelly finished his preparation for the inspection and walked into the corridor while the other marines were still busy. He hurriedly typed a message to Gideon on his Anna forearm interface display.
     
    Lieutenant, there’s been an incident with Gunny Xia that I think you should know about. Contact me when you’re available to talk.
     
    Manelly sent the message, and a second later he saw Xia coming down the corridor.
    “ Are they ready for inspection?” Xia asked Manelly in a now- calmer voice as he neared the quarters.
    “ I hope so, Gunny,” Manelly said and followed Xia inside.
     
    Marine Armory, SRS Stephen Hawking
    1635 —February 15, 2372
    “ Gideon, I have a message for you from Sergeant Manelly,” Anna said.
    Gideon was taking inventory in the marine armory, making sure that everything on his manifest was indeed accounted for.
    “ Read it to me, Anna,” Gideon said as he continued counting the number of assault weapon power packs. Anna read the message, and without stopping his work, he told Anna to send Manelly a reply to come to the armory as soon as possible.
    A half hour later Manelly arrived at the armory and told Gideon what had happened between Xia and Sipes.
    “Thanks for the heads-up, Sergeant; I’ll take it from here,” Gideon said.
    “ Yes, sir,” Manelly said and turned to leave.
    “ By the way, we never had this discussion,” Gideon added.
    Manelly stopped, turned to Gideon , and said with a smile, “What discussion, sir?”
    Gideon stopped his inventory and walked toward Captain Neubauer ’s office in the corner of the armory, thinking as he walked that he should’ve already talked to the captain about Xia.
    Gideon rapped on the captain’s door and heard, “Enter!”
    Gideon walked in and stood at attention.
    “Permission to speak to you about a matter concerning Gunny Xia,” Gideon said, still standing at attention.
    Captain Neubauer stopped what he was doing, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Gideon.
    “ At ease, and for goodness’ sake, Gideon, when we’re alone we can suspend marine protocol,” Neubauer said, and then he added, “What did Gunny Xia do this time?”
    T he captain’s response surprised Gideon. It was as if he already knew Xia was in some kind of trouble.
    “ I overheard a sailor taking about an incident with Gunny Xia. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bring something like this to your attention, but I’ve noted several things in Gunny Xia’s records that concern me.”
    With a sigh Captain Neubauer said, “Very well, fill me in.”
    Gideon told the captain about what had happened, and when he finished, Captain Neubauer didn’t look surprised.
    “ I’ll take care of it, Gideon. I’ll order Gunny Xia to stay away from Sipes and stay out of trouble.”
    “ Can I ask you a question—off the record, Rezin?”
    “ Shoot.”
    “ Why was Gunny Xia assigned this mission? Looking at his record, I think he’s a liability.”
    “ He wasn’t assigned to the mission,” Captain Neubauer said, sighed again, and then continued. “I requested him. I had to go all the way up to the marine commandant to get it approved.”
    “ Why’d you want him so bad?” Gideon asked, confused.
    “ There’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, Gideon: any mission that you’re assigned to that sounds like a cakewalk…well, it usually leads to some nasty fighting. I agree with you. Gunny Xia is a loose cannon, and you have to keep your eye on him, but if we do run into trouble, he’s the best fighting marine I’ve ever seen.”
    “