They never really let you retire

I have made many choices over the years. I accept all of them. Regret only a few. I joined the military to fulfill a family tradition dating back generations, all the way back to the Shogunate on Earth that Was. Before that, if you believed the family legends. Tradition was a powerful thing in my family. There were decisions I'd made in life because it was a matter of tradition, or honor, or, in many cases, both.

It was who I was.

My career, from the late phases of the war into the post-Unification assignments with Special Operations, was still a largely closed book. Most of my wartime Ops were still classified at high levels. Even the unit I spent the final years of my military career with was a ghost. Officially I'd been listed with a training section, which wasn't entirely a lie. But there had been much, much, more. Things I still didn't talk about. Things I will never forget. The reasons I went 'Inactive Reserve' three years ago.

There'd been opportunity to change course, naturally. When my first tour ended after the war, I could have left with honor and returned to the life my family wanted for me. I could have moved into a nice cozy window office in KHI's headquarters tower, or the orbital, or gone on to any of a myriad positions in the family industrial empire. But I hadn't. I'd chosen to stay in Special Operations, even after Unification. I'd thought it was my duty. At the time, in truth, I wasn't over Caitlin. So I stayed in, and went deeper.

And now it was coming back to haunt me.

I'd long ago set the "Cargo and Passenger Screening System" on Hale's to flag on a carefully selected set of rules. Most of them were pretty generic. Known criminals. Alliance officers. Politicians. Certain business interests. All expected. Some of the rules were fairly esoteric though, with some of them appearing completely fukakai. Some of them were fukakai. But most of the seemingly odd ones were very specific, very exotic, and highly specialized.

Another trained spook would recognize them for what they were, if not the specific things I was looking for. Of course, fully two thirds of the traffic that came through Hale's never registered a manifest which rendered the whole system rather moot.

It wasn't an exotic rule that went off this time though. It was about as basic as could be: Registered Alliance Military. Specifically, Major Jayson Lynch. 9th Training Regiment, 2nd Battalion, J Company.

My old unit.

After a few hours he found me in the office. I'd sent Genni off to get some coffee and a bite to eat, being fairly sure Lynch would want to talk to me alone. Not that I was worried, or entirely alone. Not in my office anyway.

"Congratulations on the promotion, Jay. What brings you to our little slice of Heaven?"

Jayson was dressed in clothing that would have seemed at home on pretty much any frontier world. He even walked like a Rimworlder. Blending in. He looked at me, smiled faintly, gave me a crisp professional salute, then a deep respectful bow. "Guro. Good to see you. General Taggart asked me to speak with you, we figured I had a good chance of not being shot. May I sit?"

I gave a soft laugh and motioned him to one of the chairs. Jay had been an excellent field agent before joining 9-2-J. We had very different specialties, but we'd gotten along well and worked effectively together in the field. "Please. Good call, by the way, as I'm no longer in the habit of randomly shooting people who come into my office. But what does Taggart want?"

Taggart, then a Colonel, had recruited me into the unit himself. I had a good deal of respect for the man, but we had some ethical differences. He knew why I'd chosen to leave.

"Major, I know you're three years into your Inactive status and would probably like to finish out the last two in peace. The General empathizes, really, he does. Unfortunately, there is a lot more happening out here than anyone expected and you're right in the middle of it. Intel Section appreciates the routine SitReps you file, but they're looking for more detail."

I nodded, listening calmly. Any Intel Officer on Inactive status was expected to file routine situation reports and I was no exception. My reports though had always been slightly vague. Very carefully tailored to not gather too much attention, while still fulfilling my obligation to the service. "I see, Jay. Go on."

"They know there's a lot going on out here. The Hardliners have entire sections under their control in the Military, more than you'd think given their standing in Parliament. The machines. That construct you adopted. Her daughter living with your family. x0x0 Zangsun herself setting up a field headquarters out here? There's enough interest that they want to put someone on the ground."

The fact was, there were at least two transient visitors I'd identified as Intel Officers over the last six to ten months. None of the colonists though. Too hard to hide the comms on a small colony like this. At least when there was another Intel Officer with direct access to the entire array. But there were transient field agents out here on a fairly regular basis. "They've had people on the ground out here, Jay. They had a field agent here shortly after I arrived. Hard to imagine they aren't getting enough from the transients they ship in from the Cruiser."

"This is coming from Taggart himself, Shay. Intel Section wants a field agent. The General wants it to be you. This is bigger than you've even imagined and he wants someone he can trust out here. I won't even go into the usual company ploy with you: We make subtle threats to the people you care about. You counter with four hundred square kilometers and a shovel. I acknowledge you could end me. You acknowledge Nine Two could carry out the threats, then make subtle reference to just how bad an idea that would be. In the end, we both lose. Taggart doesn't want that. I don't want that. You don't want that."

I had to smile. He was right, of course. We both knew the rules of this game all too well. If it came to confrontation, a lot of good people would end up dead, myself included, and no one would be ahead. "You know I've made some good friends out here, Jay. I'm not going to betray them. Not for Taggart, you, or the Alliance."

"He's not asking you to, Shay. He just needs someone he can trust. Someone he knows isn't Hardline."

"We had differences, he and I. But I digress. What's the offer?"

He gave a curt nod, reaching into a vest pocket to pull out a small data-plaque, sliding it over to me as he spoke. "Status change from Inactive to Field Assignment, with an immediate promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. Retirement clock stays the same. Two years are up, you retire, as much as any of us can, full Colonel. Whole thing's ghosted. You'll report directly to Taggart. Assignments as needed, and yes. Right of refusal." Jay said the last with a small, wry, smile. "He knew you'd demand it."

"Generous terms. Why?"

"You've got visibility into a lot out here, Shay. This'll give Nine Two a trusted asset in the middle of it, and you legitimate access to Intel resources you'd be diving anyway."

I nodded slowly. I'd been diving Intel assets for months, looking for links between the hardliner "Loyalists," the bots, and even at some level into their possible interest in Blue Sun, Lily, and Aurora. "Why now, Jay? Why does Taggart care now?"

"I don't know. Have my suspicions but I'll keep them to myself." He said, nodding to the data-plaque on my desk. "The details are in there. All of it. General might have left an explanation, but he didn't tell me about it."

I picked up the small plaque, rolling it between my fingers. "I'll think about it and be in touch, Jay."

"Shiny," he replied with a nod and a faint smile - "I'll be around town a couple days. Give you a chance to make up your mind. Be a kindness if you could let me know before I go back."

"I'll let you know, Jay."

With that, he left. Leaving me alone with my thoughts and a proposal I'd half expected for months.