[Atrocities]

Part XV Compassion

“God damn him!” Cried out Sergeant Paul Harris as he slammed his helmet to the deck after being told the news about PFC Kord Anuran having been killed by the sky chariot explosion. Lead Pilot Major Jellico Mantel, a long time friend of Harris’ understood him enough to know that he was not really angry with the kid, but more or less angry with himself for not having kept him alive.
“It wasn’t your fault Paul.”
“Like hell it wasn’t.” Replied Harris as he tried to fight back a tear. Sergeant Paul Harris had recently lost his wife and two children and was having a tough go of it. Jellico knew and understood this. After all, who wouldn’t be having a hard time keeping it together after loosing those precious soles closest to you?
“It wasn’t a his fault either Paul, he was just standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Oh for crying out loud Jel, you of all people know that is utter Pathor fodder!”
“No I don’t know that Paul.” Replied Jellico as sternly as he could without sounding combative.
“That kid was my responsibility, and it should have been me that bought it not him.”
“Now that is utter Pathor fodder if I have ever heard it,” responded Jellico coldly. “You can not blame yourself for what happened to him, or to your wife and kids.”
Paul slumped down the bulkhead, and came to a sitting position on the deck with his knees up. He crossed his arms over his knees and leaned forward until his forehead touched his forearms. “I should have been with her and the kids Jel. I should have been there.”
Jellico kneeled down next to his friend. He put his hand on his shoulder and spoke in the softest voice he could. “Paul, when I lost Lori, it hurt so deep that I almost couldn’t cope with it. I thought about flying this crate right into the side of a mountain on more than one occasion, but you know what, I got through it. It still hurts like a knife through the heart, but I am dealing with it. I know what your going through, and I know how much pain your in. And I know that nothing that any one can say will ever elevate it, but for the Gods sake, just give it some more time. The pain will lesson, the guilt will subside, and you will move on.”
Paul looked up into the face of his friend and shook his head slightly. “You’re a good man Jel, a true friend, but don’t tell me that you know how I feel because you don’t. You couldn’t possibly know how much it hurts to loose your entire family.”
Jellico knew his friend to well to take his comment as an insult. Instead he smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder firmly.
“All I am saying old friend is that you were there for me when Lori died, and I will be here for you if you ever want to talk.”
The two men looked at one another for a moment, both giving the other a deep compassionate look of understanding that only two truly good friend could offer one another. Nothing needed to be said, both understand. Paul slowly reached over and took Jellico’s hand and Jellico helped him to stand.
“You had better get those wounded people settled in.” Said Paul somberly.
“You be careful.” Replied Jellico.
With that Paul smiled at his friend, grabbed his Pulse Rifle and headed down the loading ramp.

The excavating had already resumed by the time Captain O’Connor, General Christopher, Doctor Mentor, and Doctor Ramzies entered the ice tunnel. Chief Engineer Ron Lindley and his Assistant Engineer Calvin Kurd, both from the Global Engineering Corp, or the GEC for short, had already begun the process of clearing the Last few meters of ice away from what they hoped was an entrance hatch into the alien ship.
Colonel Erin Rogers was already examining high definition images of the writing they had discovered on the hull of the ship next to the hatch that they were now trying to gain access to.
“Colonel Rogers,” Said Captain O’Connor as he stepped up, “any luck translating the writing?”
Colonel Rogers looked up at the Captain and smiled. She was not an overly attractive woman, but one that could easily hold her own in a beauty contest. “Not yet Captain, but give me time.”
“From the looks of things, time is running out.” Commented Carl Wilhelm in his usually characteristic tone of voice. It was neither sarcastic nor rude but it did have a slight and subtle hint of both.
“Shouldn’t you be back in the mess tent drinking hot lacto berry juice?” Replied Sergeant Ruddy Arnold in response to Carl’s comment.
“I would think that you would be better suited to guarding the entrance than standing around here bothering those of us who actually have an education and know why we are here.” Commended Carl with notable sarcasm in his voice.
“Knock it off, both of you.” Snapped Tom harshly. “Sergeant Arnold, grab a pulse rifle and go guard the entrance. Carl see if you can assist the Colonel in deciphering that writing.”
Tom was not going to put up with these two tossing insults back and forth at one another. Enough time was wasted dealing with the sky chariot explosion already, and he did not want any more time wasted on useless arguing.
Arnold left without saying a word. He had long sense given up on his mission to spy on Tom for General Green, as Tom was wise to it, and kept him out of the loop. Arnold knew that he was considered by most to be a brown nosing little Pathor, but what could he do, he is what he is, and he considers himself smart enough to know what it was that he was; a major brown nosing little Pathor.

Carl was no fool, and knew that he had to make himself useful or he would be ordered out of the narrow chamber back to the surface to most likely guard something. So he did what he could to assist those around him. Tom took note of this and considered sending him topside to guard the remaining Prowler while the crew repaired the damage caused by the exploding sky chariot. But Tom opted to keep him where he could keep an eye on him. Tom still did not trust the butcher of Pennington, and despite his obvious attempts to prove to Tom that he was a new man, Tom still did not like or trust him any further than he could toss a Tempest Class Sky Carrier.

The excavating went on for nearly two hours before Tom decided to go to the surface and get something to eat at the mess tent. As a precaution Captain O’Connor had him escorted to the mess tent by a Sergeant named Paul Harris. Harris did not say much, mostly yes sir, and understood sir, and for this Tom liked the man. He was old school, he had a strong command presence, and he knew when to talk and when not to. This man had seen action, and agony on a scale similar to Toms own. Without ever talking to him, Tom knew him. It was as if he could almost read the mans mind. He was dedicated to his duty, but housed a tremendous amount of person pain. A soldier and warrior first, an ordinary man second. It took a special kind of man to become a man like Mr. Harris, and that fact was not wasted on Tom.

“General,” Said Nina Smith in a warm welcoming voice as he and Sergeant Harris entered the Tent. “Come to have me check those-” She stopped in mid sentence and glared past Tom at the Sergeant.

‘This is kind of odd,’ thought Tom, Doctor Ramzies had also wanted to get something to eat, but when he was informed that Sergeant Harris would be escorting them he declined and returned to his work of monitoring the ice for seismic readings. Doctor Ramzies expression was very similar to the one now being displayed upon Nina Smiths face as she stood there in front of Tom starring at the Sergeant. It was not a nice expression that she wore; it was more or less a combination of hatred, anger, and fear all rolled up into one spiteful expression.

Tom looked at Nina for a second then over to the Sergeant. His expression was more or less the same as it had been before they had entered the mess tent. He neither seemed bothered by nor otherwise interested in her or how she looked at him.

“You keep bad company General.” She finally said. Her voice was not at all friendly; when she spoke it was as if she was spitting the words out.
“Excuse me?” He asked honestly confused by the whole thing.
“This Vol* nearly took my head off a week or so ago.” (*Vol – A very dirty disgusting creature that lives in its own waste and eats the bugs that its decaying waste draws.)

Tom looked confused as he tried to understand what she had just told him. ‘Nearly took her head off?’ He repeated to himself.
“I am sorry, I don’t follow you.”
“Just keep that bastard away from me.”
It was clear to Tom that Ms. Smith sincerely disliked the Sergeant, and that that dislike displeased Tom considerably. Without looking at the Sergeant he dismissed him and ordered him back to the excavation site. The Sergeant left without saying a word.
Tom could tell that Nina appreciated what he had just done. He walked over toward her and took a seat at the table that she was standing next to. She was standing very rigidly, and Tom could see that she was trembling slightly.
“Care to talk about it?” He asked compassionately.
Nina looked down at him and tried to smile, but could not. She had folded her arms in front of her body, the universal gesture that signals one discomfort in a social setting.
“It will be alright, I will order him to stay away from you,” Tom paused for a second, “and from Doctor Ramzies.”
“Bill told you?”
“He didn’t have to, I could see it on his face the moment he saw the Sergeant.”
“That bastard tried to kill us!”
“What happened?” Asked Tom with as much concern and compassion as he could.
Nina took a seat acrossed from him and he gently took her hands into his. Her hands were both very soft and very warm, and Tom could not help himself, he felt compelled to look into her eyes, those beautiful green eyes. Tom’s heart melted as he gazed into depths of Nina’s eyes. They were so powerful, so inviting, so very much like those of his wifes, oh how he missed her. Whatever it was that was bothering Nina, what ever Sergeant Harris had done, Tom would take care of it.

“Doctor. Ramzies and I tried to reach Davenport after some General ordered us to stand down. Our communications were cut off, and Doctor Mentor was concerned that we were all in peril. He ordered Doctor Ramzies and I to take one of the Snow Marshals and head for Davenport.” She paused and looking away from Tom in the direction of Davenport for second before looking back at him. He listened intently to her story as she continued.
“The Snow Marshal got stuck, and we had to use a Scrambler to continue our journey. We were almost to outer limits of Davenport when one of those frightful Prowler things dropped out of sky right on top of us.” She had a cup of hot lacto berry juice sitting on the table next to her and she reached over and picked it up. She turned back toward Tom and took a small sip before continuing.
“They were going to shoot us if we did not surrender so we did. They landed, a ramp lowered, and two men came out carrying guns.” She paused again and looked away.
“It is alright, please continue.” Tom said softly.
“That bastard hit Doctor Ramzies in the face with the butt of his gun for no reason, then he hit me.” She looked back at Tom; the tears were gone, replaced by anger. “It was not a gentle tap either, it was hard; the kind of way someone like him would hit an enemy he was trying to kill.” She tried, but could not stop from tearing up once again.
“That bastard tried to kill us, for no reason what so ever, and he got away with it.”

Tom sat back in his chair, never taking his eyes off of her, reflect back upon what Nina had just told him. Tom did like the Sergeant, but he could not condone an unwarranted violent act such as the one she had just described and undoubtedly suffered. If it was true, and Tom knew it was, then he had no choice but to act. He would have the sergeant, the flight crew, and Captain O’Connor relieved of duty and sent back to Andover base and held pending a court marshal investigation. Tom leaned forward and spoke in a soft tone.
“I believe you, and I will see to it that he stands in front of the Judge Advocate for his actions.”
Nina smiled and took his hand in hers. She squeezed hard as she bit her lower lip.
“I am sorry for what has happened to you and to Doctor Ramzies.”
“Thank you. Thank for believing me.” She said.

[ May 25, 2003, 12:34: Message edited by: Atrocities ]