Yates stormed into Victor Company’s temporary barracks. The honeycomb structure was semitranslucent to take advantage of the daylight. Considering Sheol’s current mood, there wasn’t much of it. The cells in the wall provided enough energy for the internal lights, the utilitarian kitchen, the showers, and the head. They were all silent at the moment. Most of Victor Company had hit their racks hard. Promise had opted for the shower, hoping it would help her unknot. So far it hadn’t worked.
“Where?” Promise barked over the sound of pelting water. She quickly rinsed off and mopped her hair with a towel before stepping under the blower. A column of forced air dried her in seconds.
“SOS just came in,” Yates said as she jerked open a locker and withdrew her sidearm. It clanked on the top shelf, followed by several spare clips. Yates stripped out of her utility shorts and shirt and grabbed the towel from the shelf below. Water hit the deck before she was in. “Jupiter triggered her backup. She’s in a dormant volcano two hundred fifty klicks from here. Battalion is deploying.”
“About time. Give me three mikes and I’m green-to—”
“Negative, Promise,” Captain Yates said forcefully. “We’ve been ordered to stand down.”
“What?” Promise opened the flash-cleaner and pulled out her shorty one-piece, which she’d opted for because of Sheol’s heat. The standard mechsuit underarmor was cut more sparsely than the full-body version, with straps at the shoulders instead of a full tee and legs up to the calves. The vents in the underarms and back provided extra cooling. Promise stepped in and sealed up. “Then what’s the hurry, ma’am?”
“The colonel wants me in the command center before he dusts off. I’m the next senior officer on post. I’ll be in command while he’s away. I hate this atmosphere and my teeth taste like ash.” Yates gargled and spit. “I’m not standing in as the BAT-CO looking like this. It’s going to be a long night and I could use the company. Why don’t you join me?”
“The colonel can’t do this!” Promise winced at her tone of voice. She sounded like a petulant whiner. But he really can’t do this. It’s not fair. “Why?”
“That’s exactly what I said. But, I was overruled. Can you really blame him?” Yates stepped out of the shower dripping wet. “Hand me that, will you? Thanks. Promise, look, Victor Company just got smashed. We are down to nearly half strength. You saw my armor and I saw yours. They’re trashed. We can’t deploy in them. I was lucky to get mine off in one piece, and only with a lot of help. It’s in the morgue now and I doubt the servomechs will get it online. There’s no time to thaw a replacement suit. Otherwise, I’d have asked to go.”
“Permission to comm the colonel, ma’am.”
Yates racked her hands on her hips and sighed. “Promise, it won’t do any good.”
“Ma’am, please.”
“Lieutenant.” Yates’s voice was as hard as peristeel. “I just got blasted by the colonel for forcing the issue. He threatened to toss me in the brig if I didn’t drop it.” Yates turned and opened her locker. She glowered at her reflection in the mirror on the door. “I suggest you do the same.”
Suggest isn’t the same thing as an order.
Promise locked her hands at the small of her back, stroking a tube of gloss; popped the cap and pushed it firmly into place. It felt cool and slick in her hands and reminded her of her mother’s long-ago mantra “Never leave home without your lips.” The more she stroked the tube the more her nerves settled, the more she focused on the here and now, the more the shakes subsided and her voice calmed down until she was reasonably certain she had her emotions under control. She adjusted her belt and her sidearm and glossed her lips, and then turned to face Yates.
“Permission to speak freely, ma’am.” She offered the tube to Yates without explanation.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Yates brushed the offer aside.
“Battlefield makeover, ma’am.”
“Are you trying to tell me something?”
The two enjoyed a brief smile, which evaporated when Promise opened her mouth.
“Lieutenant, I don’t have time for this.” Yates had pulled on her beegees and a pair of utility shorts, fingered her hair, and holstered her pulser in a drop-down wraparound. Then she reconsidered the tube of gloss. “Fine, hand it over.” She puckered and nodded in the mirror. “Not bad.” Her laughter caught Promise off-guard. “I can’t believe I’m saying