Read Stark's War for Free Online Page A

forgotten but didn't want to admit it. "The mine threat is assessed to be minimal in that sector. Continue your patrol."
    Sometimes it was hard to tell who was trying harder to kill you, the enemy or your own chain of command. "Request this patrol be aborted until the patrol route can be swept for mines," Stark insisted.
    "Negative. Successful patrol statistics are already too low. Complete your mission."
    "Sergeant?" Desoto called. "What's the word?"
    "The word is we keep going," Stark replied. So the mouse-pushers at headquarters can keep their damn statistics up. "Okay, everybody, nobody's opened fire yet so this isn't an ambush. Get in single file and move real careful." It took a long time to clear the mined area, trying to pick out thin wires buried among all the junk a jungle keeps at ankle level. By the time they reached the supposed midpoint of the patrol, a village that might have been pretty before most of it got pounded into splinters and rubble, the afternoon was so far along that slanting shadows obscured the sullen faces of the few remaining inhabitants.
    Weary and footsore, the Squad limped back into camp well after dark, too tired to worry about the snipers who periodically harassed any moving object. "You're very late." An officer stood there, tapping his hip-mounted mem-pad. "Staying on timeline is critical, Sergeant. Being out past dark can be hazardous."
    "So can walking through a minefield," Stark replied in a steady tone.
    The officer shook his head. "There aren't any mines along your patrol route. I saw the intelligence estimate this morning."
    Stark's troops snarled like a pack of angry dogs, making threatening motions. The officer retreated in a hasty enough fashion to prove he wasn't totally oblivious to real threats, while Stark restrained his Squad. "Gonna frag that guy if I see him in the field," Gomez muttered.
    "I don't want to hear it," Stark ordered. "Get back to your quarters and see to your gear. We might have another op tomorrow and I don't want anyone having to drop out because their battle armor is busted." He ignored the ritual under-breath grumbles, then headed for his own quarters, only to find Vic Reynolds waiting for him. "Hi, Vic."
    "Hi, Ethan. Long patrol."
    "Yeah, they get that way," Stark agreed savagely, pulling loose the seals on his armor with precise care despite his anger. "Coulda gone faster if I didn't care how many people I lost on the way. What's the occasion for your visit?"
    Vic raised one eyebrow. "Good news, bad news, Ethan."
    "Gimme the good."
    "We're leaving the island."
    "Hallelujah. Where we going?"
    "That's the bad news."
    "How bad can it be? There's no place worse than this."
    "Oh?" Stark watched as Vic leaned back to stare up through the slit window toward the night sky. "Officially, it's very, very secret."
    "Fine. So tell me."
    "Guess. We have orders to ensure every suit of battle armor not only holds against bugs, gas, and assorted electronic threats, but also functions properly in an airless environment with no leaks. The environmental systems will be upgraded to operate in a totally hostile environment for an entire patrol cycle. And all the training simulators are being set to reproduce ops in one-sixth normal gravity. Where could we possibly be going, Ethan?"
    Stark just stared. "Someplace bad." Then his mind fixed on one of the details Vic had provided. "One-sixth normal gravity? What is that, some other planet?"
    "Close," Vic approved. "But not quite. There's only one rock within reach that has one-sixth Earth gravity. It's called the Moon."
    "The Moon!?" Stark exploded. "What the hell is on the Moon?"
    "Soon enough, you and I'll be."
    Preparations matched Vic's predictions. Normally these days the many units that made up the First Division were scattered hither and yon, some on "peace" ops, some openly fighting dirty little wars in obscure little countries, some rented out to nominally friendly countries to do someone else's dirty work and earn a few