Chapter 14

TAPS COBB LOOKED down at the body of the man he had killed. It was partially frozen and nearly buried in snow, but it was there. Dried blood clung to the surrounding snow, giving the immediate area a reddish-brown coloring akin to fresh rust. Taps felt a little sick at the sight but fought off the feeling as he Mad ordered Gil and another squad mate, Lyle, to dig the man out.

"Any sign of his rifle?" Mad asked Taps.

"No, sir," he replied.

"Damn. We could've used it."

Taps fell silent and looked at Mad out of the corner of his eye. Her strawberry blond hair was tied up in a ponytail and she wore a stern look that looked out of place on her young face. As much as Taps didn't want to admit it, he loved her.

From the first time he had seen Mad, he had wanted nothing more than to be with her. At first, he'd told himself he felt that way because Mad was the only woman in the squad on a frozen wasteland of a planet. Eventually, he realized his feelings for her were real, inconvenient as they were.

Taps was all too aware of the advances his comrades made on Mad and kept his distance, lest she think he was no better than the rest. It felt like someone was sticking a needle in his heart every time a soldier would try out a new pickup line on her, but he bit his tongue and carried on.

Taps had bided his time, sometimes engaging in polite conversation with Mad and helping her carry out duties around the base. He still hadn't revealed his true feelings and knew he wouldn't, probably ever. Now, he was just trying to be a soldier following orders. He was failing badly, unable to resist the urge to glance over at Mad every thirty seconds or so.

"We've got him, sir!" Gil said after he and Lyle had given a great heave and pulled the body straight out of the snow.

"He doesn't look like he was a Sovereignty soldier, sir," observed Lyle, "more like a civilian or a bandit or something."

The dead man wore thick white clothing which had shielded him from the cold and simultaneously served as effective camouflage. There was nothing that would mark him as a member of the Sovereignty.

Taps took a step closer and looked upon the face of the man, though there wasn't much left of it. Taps's shot had hit him square in the bridge of the nose, caving in most of his features. Taps stepped away, feeling the loaf of bread he'd had for breakfast try to come back up.

"It was a good shot, Cobb," said Mad from somewhere behind him. "He deserved it. Don't beat yourself up."

Taps nodded absently and walked over to the shallow hole the sniper had been buried in. Looking down, he saw a lot of dried bloodand a glint of metal.

"Sir, I think I found something." Taps said as he stooped over to pull the object out of the snow. Wrapping his hand around the metal, Taps yanked a sniper rifle from the ground.

"Is that the weapon he used?" Mad asked.

"I would assume so, sir," Taps said as he removed the rifle's magazine, which was only a quarter full. "Shots have definitely been fired."

He flipped the rifle over onto its side and found the bright blue-and-white New Sovereignty Eagle standing out starkly against the cold black metal of the rifle's barrel.

"Looks like he was a Sovereignty soldier."

"Why would he bother not wearing a Sovereignty uniform if he was carrying around a rifle that would give him away?" Gil asked.

"Not sure," said Mad. "Maybe a sense of misguided nationalism he wanted to remind himself about. It doesn't really matter. What does matter is he was here, and he tried to kill us. The only question is why? Why would a sniper get sent to a hostile planet alone? It's a suicide mission."

"Maybe they were trying to send a message," Lyle said. "They might be telling us that they're coming."

"But why would they warn us when they could use the element of surprise?" Gil said. "It doesn't make sense. He couldn't have been on a recon mission, either. Otherwise he would've tried to scope out one of the automatic oil refineries."

Taps stared at the sniper rifle while Gil and Lyle debated and suddenly it dawned on him. "They're trying to thin us out," he said. "If they bombed the planet they would risk destroying the natural resources, so they have to invade and take the planet in a land battle. The squads stationed here are the only thing that stands between them and control of Frigidum. They sent this sniper to weaken the opposition."

"Then why would they only send one of them?" Gil asked.

"Nobody ever said they sent one."

"What about the Rusty Blade?" Lyle asked. "It's orbiting the planet, right? Even the Sovereignty would think twice about taking on a Revolutionary Destroyer."

"Yeah," said Gil. "Unless they were sending a larger force. The Rusty Blade wouldn't stand a chance. It's there to stop Sovereignty scouting missions like this from happening. If it sees trouble, it's either supposed to call for help or run back home."

"That's what I'm talking about," Taps said. "Somehow this soldier got past the Rusty Blade. Hell, if he's here then there's probably an entire carrier full of Sovereignty forces on Frigidum. If they thin us out and take our Orbital Communications Station, we won't be able to call for help and the Sovereignty fleet can swoop right in and take the planet."

"Oh, no," Mad breathed. "Come on, boys. We should radio the other squads ASAP."

Taps followed Mad as she dashed back towards camp, hoping desperately that he was wrong.