The War Across the Stars

The War Across the Stars by Alex Pennington

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Authors: Alex Pennington
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if you try to slip away.  And as a side note, if you keep this up, I’ll have you removed from the program,” Miller said almost calmly. 
    It was strange for Miller, but I guess it’s not every day that someone stood up for him while he’s present.  Yet, normal people aren’t dumb enough to do stuff like that to his face, but Max isn’t normal. 
    He ran off to start his laps, soon to regret his little stunt here.  The complex was a fairly sizable building.  Halls, rooms, and storage were the primary takers of space, but most of it was storage.  There were at least a hundred SR-4’s at the complex and well over five thousand rounds of sniper ammo.  Then there were also targets, like balloons, dummies, and bull’s-eyes.   Then there were large fans for mimicking extreme weather conditions.
    “As for you boys…” Miller said gently,  “We’ll debrief in my office.” 
    Ryan, Nevin, Phil, and myself all jogged behind Miller as we entered the building.   Colonel Miller took very long steps for his size.
    Inside the building the halls were nice and warm. Constructed of Cecrete 10, the building itself was rather new.  We moved into Miller’s spacious office.  We sat in the row of chairs facing Miller’s desk.  Behind his desk were two chairs, one of them already occupied. 
    “This is Colonel Terry McVane of the Intelligence Branch.  He’s gonna be listening in on our debriefing.  “So… Let’s begin,” Miller instructed.
    Ryan explained the events of the mission calmly.  Miller’s face became gradually solemn. 
    “Then we found out that Robert Washington was a Vorgian spy,” Ryan told Miller. 
    “Ah-ha” Colonel McVane yelled, “Once again these bumbling recruits have failed.  First they failed to effectively coordinate with the professionals at their disposal, then one of them turns out to be a spy!” McVane blurted. 
    “Colonel, settle down,” Miller said gruffly. 
    “I have no need! My point is right there!  So the Rangers, the finest snipers around are killed in a shuttle accident.  We think we should just pull some civvies straight off the street to take their place!?  Nonsense!  Hosting a shooting contest was the best the Senate could do?  Send some morons and tell the winners that they are to be the new Rangers!  That’s simply preposterous!  They should have pulled our top men from the Marine Recon branch and put them there!” 
    “Now Terry…” Miller protested, “We tried, Recon wanted to keep their guys, and they have that right…especially in times of war.” 
    “Oh… Is that so, Frank?!” McVane shouted again.  “All about rights and regulations, huh? Well Frank… with this evidence I’ll have those civvies back home within a day!  Except Dunkelman… he’s actually a soldier,” McVane added. 
    “Terry… I would like to request that…” Colonel Miller began.  
    “Frank, don’t even ask.  I’m leaving.  I was here by my own request, not assignment.” 
    He then stood up, strode to the door, and left the room.  The office fell silent. 
    Finally, Miller spoke, “Sorry ‘bout that boys. You’ve trained for nearly half a revolution.  I’ll do what I can to stop him from having you recalled,” Miller said in an uncharacteristically soft tone. 
    “Thank you sir,” Ryan and I said in unison.  “You may proceed with the debriefing, Sergeant.” 
    “Yes sir,” Ryan accepted. 
    He resumed his explanation on our rescue by the Comanche .
    “Well then… that wasn’t good,” Miller stated, “However… good job down there, Ross, we’ll get your corporal insignia on by tomorrow.” 
    “Thank you sir,” I responded.  The room once again filled with silence. 
    Then Miller looked at the floor, “Dismissed.”
     
     
     
     
     

 
    Chapter 8
    Redeployment
     
    Fifteen days slowly passed since Colonel McVane’s outburst. Training had resumed… twice as hard as before.  Colonel Miller had personally flown to Eli to

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