Starfist: FlashFire by David Sherman & Dan Cragg Page A

Bravo Company.
    Private Solden’s eardrums ruptured, so he never heard the air-to-ground rocket detonate on his firing position. The force of the explosion picked him up, flung him backward, and slammed him into the wall of the bunker. He lost consciousness instantly.
    Major General Alistair Cazombi was known as “Cazombi the Zombie” for a good reason: he never showed emotion, never even cracked a smile; well, almost never. The one time he did reveal how he really thought about something was the reason he’d been exiled to Fort Seymour on Ravenette. As the Director for Personnel to the Combined Chiefs of Staff, General Cazombi was fully aware of the reason why the Marines of 34th FIST, men he had come to know and respect, were quarantined on Thorsfinni’s World. He did not agree with that policy, nor did he agree with the government’s policy of keeping the alien threat a secret from the Confederation’s member worlds. And he said so in meetings with Admiral Porter, the Chairman of the Combined Chiefs.
    “I could have you sent to Darkside for even talking about this!” Porter had raged at last. This time they were meeting alone, but Cazombi had also brought the subject up when other members of the staff were present; he was determined not to let the matter rest.
    “Sir, if we trust our Marines to fight the Skinks we can trust them to keep quiet about them too. Confining them like this is tantamount to sending them to Darkside.”
    “Well, who ever heard of a twenty-three-year-old with a snout full of beer who can keep his mouth shut?” Porter said, echoing a statement his personnel director had made in a previous meeting.
    “Sir, that’s a good point, we must assume somebody on Thorsfinni’s World already knows about the Skinks. And what about the people on Kingdom? They’ve seen the Skinks up close and personal. A lot of people other than our Marines know about them, and we can’t impose quarantines on whole worlds.”
    Admiral Porter drummed his fingers on his desk, showing his impatience with Cazombi’s pressing this point. “General, nobody on Thorsfinni’s World is going to believe the sea stories of a drunken Marine!

You know the Marines are the biggest braggarts ever. And the Kingdomites? Hell’s bells, General, they’re religious fanatics! They’re always having ‘visions’ and ‘epiphanies’ and all that nonsense! Nobody believes them on principle. And the fact is, the word has not gotten out and it won’t, as long as the quarantine keeps those blabbermouth Marines away from the rest of humanity!”
    Cazombi took a breath. “Admiral Porter, hasn’t anyone in this government figured it out yet? We’re trying to keep the biggest secret in history from people who absolutely need to know about the threat.”
    “That order comes from the President herself, General!” Porter banged his fist on his desk. “Do you realize the panic that would ensue if we let the word out now, without preparation? We’re reinforcing our garrisons in the outlying worlds for that very reason. When the people have all the protection we can give them, then they’ll be informed as to the reasons why—and not until then! We do not want them thinking we’re leaving them on their own. We let the word out now and every world in Human Space will be begging for troops we don’t have.”
    “But they are on their own! We don’t have the forces to provide the protection everyone needs. The Skinks can strike anywhere, anytime, and we cannot block all the holes in our defense, not with the available forces. And what happens if we have a major war of our own on our hands? We can’t fight on two fronts at the same time.” Now Alistair Cazombi finally lost control and blurted out the words that sealed his fate: “I wish sometimes someone would go to the goddamned press with this story and blow the whole thing.”
    Porter’s mouth fell open. “You—you—” was all he could get out at first. “You are a brave and