Spec-Ops

IX.

Major Delles surveyed the techs seated at the tables in the mess. This time, more than ten chairs were empty. One would have belonged to Suares, another to Vielho… and Chihouly. Too many names for one lousy obsolete power plant.

Meralez had seated herself at one end of the single long table, with Castaneda on the other side.

DeJahn hadn’t tried to get close on the other side. He’d just taken the last seat near the bulkhead table.

“This is the big push.” Delles smiled enthusiastically. “What we have planned here will upset the Seasies’ economy for a decade or more, not to mention crippling their efforts to match us in biowar capabilities. What we’re doing is just a small part of an overall coordinated program…”

An overallcoordinated program? More like another frigged-up mess where nothing would go like planned, and a whole bunch of techs would get dis-shock or brain-fried.

“…it’s taken some time to identify the critical targets, and not all of them are obvious, but all are critical to the sectoral economy…”

Just tell us what they are, thought deJahn. Skip the enthuse shit.

“…Lumut is critical to the development of the next wave of warm-water bioconversion systems

…Targets will be the power systems, the membrane formulation complex, all comm links, and the potable water system, as well as all humint armed units…”

Turn the place into a wasteland, just like they did with Cascadia Coast… and make sure no one’s left who can explain what happened. Margot had been in Cascadia, just visiting. And deJahn had applied for spec-ops the next week.

“…all the biounits are in place and registering green…”

As if you’d tell us about those that aren’t.

“…We’ll be using the main pod for the heavies, and two and three for the aux bio-units. Here are the pod assignments.”

The holo image appeared in the air beside the major. One of the names under pod two was deJahn.

Frigging support. It didn’t help that Castaneda was assigned to the main pod. He forced a smile.

At least Meralez was in pod two with him. Not that she’d ever been other than polite to him, but even that helped.

“Any questions, Techs?” Delles barely paused before adding, “Dismissed. Operation begins at zero nine hundred local tomorrow.”

DeJahn stood.

Meralez walked by him, as if she would not speak to him.

He nodded, deciding against smiling.

“I saw that. With Vielho. You’re not so cold. Not like people think.” She flashed a quick smile, almost secretive, before her face turned just tech-pleasant.

Cold? He kept to himself, but he wasn’t cold, was he?