Battle for the Known Unknown Ch. 05

"Yes sir. You can rely on me."

"Good," said the general. "Your preparations for duty begin immediately. You will leave the Mariner Federation tomorrow and you must not tell anyone where you are going or that you are leaving at all. You will be detailed to go on a routine patrol rather like the one you went on today. The difference is that you, and the other soldiers on your detail, will not return. The story that will accompany your disappearance will be that you were lost in action and presumed dead. You do understand, colonel? You must tell no one, including your lover, Mia Nkome," the general made a show of consulting the holographic display at his elbow, "that you are doing anything at all out of the ordinary. I don't need to emphasise, I'm sure, how much we expect your total discretion."

"Not at all, sir."

"You will be taken to an off-planet centre where you will serve under the direct command of the Interplanetary Union. This is international territory where the state of war between the Mariner Federation and the Polar Republics is not effective. Normal hostilities will cease, although you know and I know, of course, that your highest duty will still be to preserve the hard-won way of life of the Federation. Do you have any questions, colonel?"

"None, sir. I shall serve the Interplanetary Union and the Mariner Federation to the best of my abilities and remember always to whom I owe first allegiance."

"Well said, soldier," said the general, allowing a smile to crack across his inscrutable face. "You are dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," said Colonel Vashti. She saluted his senior officer and turned about to leave his office.

At last, Vashti thought to herself, as the door slid behind her. Now her real mission in the Solar System could begin in earnest!