Casualties of War - Bennett R. Coles (leveled readers TXT) 📗

the long tracks of dirt that had fallen off the three dark green, armoured vehicles that loomed in front of her. She stepped to the edge of the building’s canopy, just out of the rain but in clear sight of the dozen or so Army soldiers that stared down at her from their machines.

                  “Which one of you requested the lift?” she asked.

                  “That’d be me,” said a man in the second vehicle. “I just need your drop ships for a couple of hours.”

                  “And you are?”

                  He glared down at her. “Storm Banner Leader Ciotti.”

                  Her stomach twisted in a knot. The same rank as her father, and a senior enlisted rank. But still enlisted. She was an officer, whether the Army recognized that or not.

                  “Well, Storm Banner Leader Ciotti, your command hasn’t sent any requests for Astral Force assistance. Do you have an urgent operational requirement?”

                  His glare took on a shade of contempt. He glanced at his watching soldiers, then climbed down the vehicle. He was at least as tall as Huebner, and with his full combat gear could have blocked out the sun. He loomed over her, bare inches away. She fought the urge to step back and tilted her face up to meet his eye. Rain pelted her cheeks.

                  “You’re new here, Lieutenant.” He spat the rank. “And you don’t know how it works. We have a standing agreement with this station, upheld by your predecessor, where we can use the drop ships when we need them, without having to do all the paperwork. Now I suggest you start issuing orders to make that happen.”

                  She felt her face flushing, the rage suddenly welling up within her. “The only order I’m issuing,” she forced herself to say, “is for you to take your vehicles and get out of my compound. If you’re still here in sixty seconds, I’m arresting you.”

                  Ciotti sneered. “You don’t have the stones, princess.”

                  The cheap insult shouldn’t have phased her, but the next thing she knew her pistol was out and aimed at Ciotti’s face. Her hand was steady, finger on the trigger. Ciotti’s sneer vanished.

                  “Get back in your vehicle.” She willed him with vicious anticipation to disobey. It would be so sweet, and so justified under military law. “Get out of my compound. If you say any words other than “yes, ma’am” I will pull this trigger. Do you understand?”

                  He stared at her for a long moment, jaw clenched. There was clear comprehension in his gaze, but no fear that she could see. This probably wasn’t the first time he’d stared down the barrel of a gun. But it wasn’t the first time she’d aimed one, either.

Finally he looked away and forced the words from his mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”

                  He stepped back cautiously, turned and climbed slowly up his vehicle. A few quick orders and the Army machines whined to life and rolled away.

                  Only then did Katja lower the pistol and holster it. She kept her grip on the holster to stop her hand from shaking, fighting down sudden fear. Not of any loudmouth soldier, but of herself.

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Bennett R. Coles served 15 years as a naval officer and United Nations military observer. His first novel, Virtues of War, was published in 2010 to critical acclaim and drew upon his years in uniform to create an ultra-realistic portrayal of military life and combat. Learn more at bennettrcoles.com.

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Publication Date: 06-27-2013

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