The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (63 page)

As Irena noticed him she felt her fear disappearing. She knew that smile, and a thought, a memory appeared of how much she used to love it. She knew that right now he is lost in some deep thought. She couldn’t imagine what it was. There were so many things. She knew what he was, what he did. She knew him for a long time, knew him since she was a young girl, after all he was the brother of one of her best friends from high school. She hadn’t seen Ana since she broke up with her brother. She tried calling her a few times but…

But she never really knew him…not until that day…a shiver past through her as she remembered their first kiss. It wasn’t the first not technically since they had a brief fling in high school but it was the first real one.

She loved to play with men, always did, but since the day they went out she knew that something was different. But she stayed the same. She went out with him and for a while she stayed faithful but in the end… It was not like it was the end of the world, and there were so many guys out there. She turned and smiled at Petar. He was watching them. It seemed that the smile gave him peace or at least she thought like that. He was different from Phillip manlier, more talking, less a dreamer, he was cool. Phillip was more peaceful, quieter and calmer. She smiled as she remembered he was a soldier. She knew that Petar was going to the gym that he was practicing karate, and was constantly bragging about it. Phillip never talked about his fighting skills, about what he could do, never liked talking about what he did on the missions. She knew from his sister that he took part in the fighting on the ships, she knew that he got medals for it. She even knew that he had trophies which he kept at home. Ana’s talks about him where what got her interested again that and the memory of that time in high school. And yet the encounter was sudden and unintentional it just happened. Before she knew she was going out with him and it was good. She liked him, liked the attention he gave her, but then he went to his unit came rarely for the weekends, and she met Petar. And even though she hated it her old self came back to the surface and she gave in to his advances. It felt good at first when she played with him and later with Phillip but it didn’t last long. Phillip noticed that something was wrong and reacted. She feared that things might get violent that night but instead he just walked away and that made her angry.

He did it like she was nothing. She expected him to yell, to say something, anything. Instead he just left. She knew as she saw in his eyes that she hurt him, she could even feel that he loved her but his reaction surprised her. She sent him a letter trying to explain or more rightly to make it like she broke up with him.

They were walking and he suddenly stopped and looked at the fountain and the flower gardens surrounding it. The fountain was newly built. It was built several years ago when the park was increased. So were the gardens. As she noticed the site she gasped. It was the place where they …

“It is beautiful isn’t it?”

She looked at him. What was the meaning of this? She felt surprise and a little bit of anger.

But as she watched him she calmed down. He wanted to tell her something so she let him have his way. And as she watched him she noticed his surprise as well. He wasn’t planning this.

“Yes it is.”

She closed to the fountain and the rising flowers that were surrounding it. The flowers were orchids in several colors. The fountain had two sculptures, an angel spreading his wings and a small child sitting and watching him. The angel was reaching down handing the child a present wrapped in orb. It was a gift of happiness. A small bench was placed close to the fountain. The bench was here from before but it was never moved and with the fountain and the garden it gave a perfect view of the circular gardens.

She remembered the exact spot where he kissed her, first her hair and forehead and then gently on the lips. It was a gentle kiss, a passionate one. She raised her hand and touched her lips. For a moment she forgot that he was here as well. She turned and noticed him watching her. She blushed and turned.

“Why did you bring me here? Why did you call me Phillip?”

He came close and looked at the fountain.

“Because we had to talk, and to give you back this.”

As he said those words he handed her back her letter. The one she sent him. She felt a pang of regret.

She took it from his hand.

“Why? You didn’t have to do that. I don’t need it.”

“I don’t either. Not where I’m going.”

She looked at him with surprise. She remembered his words from previous about not seeing him for a long time. At the time she thought that he was just saying it because they broke up but as she watched him she knew that it was something else.

“Where are you going? Why are you saying that?”

He kept looking at the fountain not saying a word. She came closer.

“Phillip, where are you going? Why now?”

“You know, this is the first place I saw you, I mean really saw you, not that day when we…but back when you were in high school. I was back for my sister’s prom and you were sitting here on the bench. You had a blue dress on you, that and a small orchid in your hair. You were talking with someone on the phone and as you did you looked at me and smiled. It was the first day I saw you and I never forgot you.”

As she listened to him she was surprised. He never spoke of this before. And she couldn’t remember it. She remembered the dress and the night but she couldn’t remember that exact moment. And it was so long ago. And yet as she listened to him she knew he did. She knew he once told her that in a way destiny interfered between them always placing some obstacle on the way to them being together. She didn’t know what he was talking back than and she smiled as he said several examples when they came close.

But he never mentioned this. She remembered him on Ana’s prom. She knew she liked him back then, he was well known, the brother of one of the most popular girls in her school, her best friend, a soldier and a good student. But she never knew he noticed her back then or that she managed to leave such deep impression on him.

As she came closer and stepped parallel to him he continued.

“It was the first time i noticed you as something else then just my sister’s friend. Since we were together i always brought you here, not because it was the place where i kissed you but because it was the place where it all started. And now it is the place where it will really end.”

As he said those words he turned. Their eyes met and she felt as he could see right in to her soul.

“This is the last time you will see me because I’m leaving soon. I called you to give you back your letter and… and because I needed to see you one last time. And it was good. No matter what happened between us I needed to see that you were ok.”

“Phillip i…”

He raised his finger to her lips.

“Shush. Don’t say something you will regret. Don’t say anything…”

She looked at him. As she watched him she felt strange. The anger, the trepidation, even the sarcasm, her playfulness was gone. Instead all she wanted was for him to hug her and stay here.

Phillip looked at her and as he noticed her eyes he wished things were different, he wished he could stay. He wished he could kiss her and say everything will be ok but he knew he could not.

“Irena we all make mistakes, we all have regrets and…” he turned away from her” and I don’t want to be one of yours. Life goes one…we…we had something, something wonderful, it is something that I will always cherish and remember, something I will never forget.”

“Phillip…”

He suddenly hugged her and she could notice him gently stroking her hair. Suddenly she didn’t care about anything else. She remembered this hug, remembered its gentleness and warmth, and remembered what came next.

“Irena I forgive you, I did the first time I saw you. I want you to do just one thing for me.”

“What?” – She whispered.

“I want you to never turn back and to be happy. Remember us with a smile and just be happy.”

She felt his kiss on her hair and forehead and then he just turned and left. As he went she just stood and watched him go.

And as she did she felt nothing but pain and fear.

Fear that she would never see him again.

Camp Pendleton California

May 28 2020 10:30 hours

General Barrett looked at the marines assembling before him. He knew that three other divisions are standing just like this at this very moment. He was the commander of the First Marine Expeditionary Force and of the Special units that were added to it. Four Marine divisions, the Macedonian corps, the French legion, the SAS Regiment, The First SPETNAZ Division, The First SF division of the PLA, and regiments from the forces of Germany, Australia and New Zeeland. In total one hundred and thirty two thousand men and women, the best that humanity had to offer were under his command.

The Marines of the First Marine Division, the ground combat element of the First Marine Combat Force, were resplendent in their dress blues as they marched, battalion by battalion, onto the parade ground and formed into three infantry regiments, each with three independent battalions. The division band followed, its drummers beating a tattoo as the regiments and battalions marched in. Twenty two thousand five hundred and seventy-five Marines in all. All were armed save the musicians; most with rifles carried at right shoulder arms, the others with side arms holstered on their belts.

As each battalion reached its designated position in the formation, their commanding officers called out, “Order, arms!” and as one, the rifles flashed off the Marines’ shoulders to be positioned alongside their right trouser seams. Sunlight glinted off the brass of the Marines’ buttons and emblems. The splashes of color on the left chest of their stock-collared jackets were the ribbons that told a Marine’s history.

General Barrett together with Major General Meyers the division’s commanding officer stepped onto the reviewing stand and stopped front and center to face his Marines. He took a moment to look them over. Almost every one of them had ribbons and medals showing they have seen combat. As he watched them he smiled. This division and almost every other he commanded were all composed of combat veterans, many of whom had experience fighting the very enemy they were going to meet on Arcadia. Those that didn’t had the experience of several theaters of war here on Earth back before the invasion and even after it as the world settled the accounts with the terrorists that were hunted down and the rogue states that supported them. As he watched he guessed that maybe one in ten marines didn’t have combat experience, only one in ten marines hadn’t looked into the mouth of the cat. He was sure that even if the fleet managed to smash every defense the Dacarians had they would still have to fight on the ground. And for that the troops under his command were the best.

There were always new recruits. The Marine Corps was expanding and doing it at a rate as never before. The reason was that it was chosen to be the earth military unit that would join the fleet at defending the new colonies and also in situations like this defend Earth’s interests and future. He guessed that the influence of the Science Fiction novels that always put the marines at the front and the fact that they were probably the best military unit in the world was behind the reasoning. Whatever it was he was glad about it. There were days when he feared that the marines might become obsolete but now he knew that it would never happen. This mission was a doorway to the future not just for mankind but for the Marine Corps as its strongest defenders.

Finished scanning his division, Barrett looked directly at the division chief-of-staff, Brigadier General James Robertson, who stood on the parade ground before the reviewing stand.

Robertson raised his right hand to the gleaming black bill of his barracks cover. “Sir,” his amplified voice boomed out loudly enough to be heard even in the rear ranks of the division, “First Marine Division, all present and accounted for!”

Barrett brought his right hand up sharply in salute, held it for a beat, and cut sharply. Robertson cut his, then marched to the side of the reviewing stand and mounted it to stand to the left and rear of his commander.

“Marines”- Barrett’s amplified voice boomed reaching everyone in the formation before him.

“You all know the face of the enemy, you all know what he wants, and you all know how dreadful he is. Many of you have faced them and defeated them. When we became marines we all swore an oath, and we did the same when we were incorporated into the Federation that now represents all of humanity. With that oath we became the defenders of the entire human race. Not long ago we had to watch the fleet defend our home; we had to watch friends die. Now it is our turn to show the Dacarian menace that it bit off more than it could chew. We will be the sharp end of the spear that will be driven in to the heart of our enemies. We have a mission, a mission that started not now but eons ago and we have an obligation to all our dead, to all humanity to see it through.”

He took a breath and continued.

“We, you are a part of the Federations First Expeditionary Corps. Together with our brothers and sisters of the other countries best units we represent the best and brightest our race has to offer. We have been selected to establish a beach head on Arcadia, to kick in the door to allow the Army to land and take the planet. We will be supported in this endeavor by the First Combat Support Brigade, and, once we secure space for their operations, the Second Marine Air Wing will fly cover for us.”