Merkiaari Wars: 01 - Hard Duty by Mark E. Cooper Page A

our enemy. President Thurston isn’t above using InSec for his own ends despite his so precious constitution.”
    Eric took note of King’s sneering condemnation of his President. There was something personal there; it wasn’t all politics, and Eric wondered what it was about, but King was still talking.
    “... our base of operations. I won’t tell you where you’ll be working, and you will have no access to that information even while there. If you have objections?”
    Eric shook his head. It was perfect. King wanted him to work on planning more raids from a secret location as a security measure, but he was a Viper. He could be deaf and blind and dropped anywhere on the planet and he would know where he was seconds later. He was only a thought away from a secure satellite link anywhere in the system. His designers would never have missed such a basic necessity. Many of his systems used the link. TacNet didn’t actually need to use it—unit to unit links could be and often were used—but TacNet could use satellites to increase range when they were available. Sensors used them for keeping track of friendly and enemy units on the battlefield, and for navigation. Calling in air support without them could be a pain. The point was, King could call it a secret base all he wanted, but as soon as Eric arrived, he would know where it was and so would the marines. He would see to that. The Freedom Movement had just taken a huge step toward their extinction, and Eric a step toward heading home again.
    He was pleased.
    The time came and he went through the motions of verifying payment. He couldn’t care less about the money and wanted to get going, but he had to play his part. A mercenary wouldn’t overlook it, so he dutifully used a wand to check his balance. Two million had been deposited a few minutes earlier and he nodded to King.
    “It’s there. When do you need me to be ready?”
    King raised an eyebrow. “I thought you understood. You will leave from here directly, and no you can’t go back to your hotel.”
    “Don’t you trust me?” Eric said.
    “Of course not. You will be escorted by my men at all times until you reach our base. Once there, you can move about, but not before then, and we won’t let you leave without escort for any reason.”
    Eric shrugged. “I agreed to a contract for the duration of hostilities. Hope you don’t mind if I make that duration short.”
    King smiled this time. “I like your confidence. You get to leave when we have won, not before.”
    “Understood. I estimate three to six months,” Eric said. “But that depends on resources and your willingness to cooperate with me and use them as I direct. I don’t need to take command or expect to, but I do need your fighters to at least consider what I say.”
    “They will do what I tell them,” King said coldly, his eyes suddenly hard. “You will have access to our logistics data, and I expect you to evaluate what we can and can’t do with what we have. I want ideas. If you have a way to increase our capability, I want to know about it immediately. You will be my advisor as far as my people are concerned. Advisor only. They won’t take orders from you.”
    Eric shrugged. King was a paranoid bastard. “Okay by me. I’ll need a way to talk to you, unless you’re coming with?”
    “No. I can’t be away from the capital right now. I’ll give you a number where you can reach me or someone I trust.”
    “Fine.”
    King stood and prepared to leave. He spoke with Zhang a moment before leaving the room. The eight man security team did not follow.
    “Well,” Zhang said and clapped his hands together cheerily. “I have transportation all arranged for you. Your... watchdogs? They will take over from here. Good luck to you.”
    Eric nodded to him and followed his keepers out of the office. They led him outside and into the compound toward one of the transports he had seen earlier. He climbed into the cargo bay of the nearest when