The Black Guard: Book II: Evolution (Black Guard Series 2)
Read The Black Guard: Book II: Evolution (Black Guard Series 2) Online
Authors: C. R. Daems
THE BLACK
GUARD
Book II: Evolution
By
C. R. Daems
The
Black Guard: Book II: Evolution
Copyright
© 2015 by C. R. Daems
No
part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping,
or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from C. R. Daems.
This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are
products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.
ISBN-13
: 978-0-9863514-2-6
ISBN-10:
0986351423
Check out all my novels at:
and
http://www.talonnovels.com
Sassar Mountain: A new way of thinking
Outpost: Meeting of the Helix Systems
Blackwood: Change can be difficult
Blackwood: Best laid plans
Heibei: They aren't what they seem
Avivo: Learning a new way
Nizara: The Angels of Death.
Safort: a planet up for grabs
Safort: Representative Sharli
Draco: The War Games.
Faithful: The enemy revisited
thinking
As I strode toward the exercise yard where the new
third-phase candidates were lined up, Captain Tyra Creech shouted, "Guard,
attention." They bowed low, their eyes downward, making them vulnerable to
attack, something no Guard would do except to show respect for a senior Guard
officer. Creech nodded to me.
"At ease," I said, looking over the eight
candidates who had successfully passed the second phase of Guard training and
were now corporals competing for the rank of lieutenant. At most, half would
qualify, and only one would go on to phase four with an opportunity to make
captain. "The Guard is the elite of the Jax Military ... why?"
"Sir," a tall red-haired woman said and waited
permission to continue. The Guard did not recognize gender while on duty;
therefore, an officer was
sir
regardless of gender. I acknowledged her with a nod. "To qualify for the
Guard, we had to exceed the requirements for the army and marines, making us
the best of the candidates."
"What about the navy, Corporal Beals?" I asked,
removing the satisfying look from her face.
"We were under eight years of age ..."
Under the Jax Inscription Law, children under eight years of
age went directly into the army school while children eight or older went to
the navy school.
"So we will never know if you would also have exceeded
the navy requirements and are therefore the best of the best, will we?"
In the stunned silence, Captain Creech frowned.
I paced a few steps back and forth as I continued. "Exceeding
the requirement for the army and marine schools is the entry requirements into
the Guard school but not the reason we are considered the elite of the Jax
Military. A very lofty position when you consider that the Jax Military is
considered the elite of the mercenary groups in the known universe. The heads
of government contract with the Jax Military because over the centuries we have
earned their respect with our tradition—take no prisoners, the famous Jax
saying which is taken to mean
never surrender
.
They trust the Jax navy and marines to fight their space battles and the army
to fight insurgents. But they trust only the Guard with their personal lives.
We have demonstrated over the centuries that no one can provide the personal
protection we can—not even the elite Jax army, navy, or marines."
"You mentioned tradition, but not duty," Corporal
Franklin, a wiry looking man said, eager to be recognized, then quickly added,
"Sir."
"Very good, Corporal Franklin. You've discovered the
reason Captain Sapir is here: to explain tradition and duty to us," Creech
said, and then looked at me and nodded.
"The Jax Military has long considered tradition and duty
one and the same. If you followed tradition,
take no prisoners
, you had done your duty."
"Sir, isn't that still true?" Corporal Reyes, a stocky
broad-shouldered man, asked while frowning. The expressions on the other seven
faces said they had the same question.
"What is true today is the same as centuries
past—if you die fighting, you will have lived up to the Jax tradition and
done your duty. The universe will applaud your bravery, but our reputation is
built on winning at any cost, not bravery. I doubt the universe feels we did
our duty in those instances where our client died. They may concede we fought
bravely and honorably, but not that we did our duty under the contract—to
protect our client. I would add that in those cases those in charge also failed
in their duty to protect those under their command." I paused to let each
person consider my words and a totally new concept.
"But, sir, tradition requires we each be ready to
sacrifice our lives to protect our clients, and that extends to those we
command. I would think that is our highest priority," Reyes said, to nods
of agreement from the rest of the group.
"The Guard is evolving, Corporal Reyes. Our previous standard
assignments involved protecting a person or his family inside a permanent
structure. However, the Guard has taken on several nonstandard assignments over
the past few years. These assignments have earned us recognition as the Black
Guard and will result in our being asked to take on more non-standard
assignments."
A tall woman, named Corporal Crider I thought, asked, "Sir,
haven't we always been referred to as the Black Guard?" Again, everyone
looked to be agreeing but unwilling to comment.
Creech spoke before I could answer.
"Yes, Corporal Crider, but that referred to the color of
our uniforms. The black now, however, refers to the cost of opposing the
Guard—death. Captain Sapir has raised the Guard's already high standards
even higher. As a consequence, we're anticipating being asked to take on more
nonstandard assignments. But those assignments will involve more risk and
correspondingly more Guards' deaths. Losses we cannot afford because of our
high recruiting standards."
"As Captain Creech points out, the Guard is evolving.
This evolution will require us to consider tradition and duty as separate
entities—and duty as having the highest priority. And that is what we
will be considering over the next two years. It's a practical and necessary
consideration if the Guard is to survive the future," I said, hoping I had
the skill to help these new leaders of the Guard see the difference between
tradition and duty. The survival of the Black Guard might depend on it.
* * *
"Who would like to start?"
I had given the candidates a reading assignment from the
Guard's historical records: the after-action report of Captain Darron Embry.
Their task was to determine how it related to the separation of tradition and duty.
"Sir, since Captain Embry was captured, I can't see how
it relates to tradition or duty. After all, he didn't have a choice. He was
very brave surviving two days of being whipped by the rebels without giving
them his team's positions. The report said his entire body had been skinned
from the whip, in some places down to the bone. But in the end he was reported
to have screamed he would tell them what they wanted to know. If he hadn't died
shortly afterward, his entire detail would have been destroyed." Corporal Franklin
looked around the circle nervously. "Tradition and duty would dictate he
die without aiding the rebels."
"And he wasn't too smart, getting caught by the rebels,"
Corporal Reyes said, with a smirk.
"Maybe it was intentional." Corporal Beals looked
down at the table in thought. "Maybe getting caught was the idea. Get
caught and then feed the rebels bad information on his detail's
positions."
Corporal Varela shook his head. "But then why endure two
days of torture. Sounds to me like he made a mistake, and he held out as long
as he could before breaking."
"Would you believe a rebel you just captured who agreed
to cooperate after an hour or so of torture?" Beals asked with a wry grin.
"Sure, most rebels would spill their guts ... All right,
I see your point—it was a Jax Guard. But two days?" Varela shook his
head.
"But if his detail knew that was what he intended, they
would have written it up in their report," Corporal Crider put in.
"No, he was captured against his will."
"What if his team didn't know what he planned, but
realized it afterward? They didn't change their defensive positions so they ...
trusted him with their lives," Corporal Barrow said. He grinned and nodded
as if agreeing with some private conversation. "Tradition, die fighting or
in this case while being tortured, and duty, save the client with the minimum
loss of Guards' lives."
"Yes, that is my interpretation of the events," I
said, acknowledging Corporal Barrow with a nod. "Knowing that the rebels'
overwhelming force would eventually wipe out his detail and kill their client,
Captain Embry decided their only chance was deception. But for some reason we
may never know, he didn't have time to discuss it with his troops and had to
act quickly. Possibly an opportunity suddenly presented itself, or he detected
an imminent attack. Regardless, he maneuvered into a position to get captured,
endured two days of brutal torture to ensure the rebels would believe him when
he finally cracked, and gave them false positions that would give his detail
the best advantage if acted on by the rebels."
I paused for everyone to think about the situation. Slowly,
heads nodded as they considered the known facts. "Tradition would have
been satisfied if they had just waited and fought to the death, but the
inhabited worlds would have seen it as a failure of the Guard to protect a
client—duty failed. Captain Embry satisfied tradition by sacrificing his
life and duty to the client and his detail through the deception. Most think Guard
officers wear the whip because of Captain Embry's bravery in surviving two days
of torture. I wear the whip in honor of Captain Embry. A man whose sacrifice
demonstrated he understood tradition and duty were not the same and in so doing
saved the Guard from failing."
* * *
I entered the office of the Commander of the Guard, braced to
attention, and bowed low with my gaze on the floor.
"At ease, Sapir," Wexler said from behind his simple
wood desk. He was a tall thin man with silver-gray hair, which contrasted with
his black uniform. His only decoration was three stars above a red dragon on
his right sleeve. "Captain Creech has been quite impressed with your
approach. He admits he was skeptical about the Jax Contract Committee's
decision to have you design and teach a course to separate tradition and duty.
Of course, the proof will be in the execution, which will take years to
evaluate."
"That's true, sir. But I think the JCC was very
insightful. Captain Creech selected the three individuals who demonstrated the best
understanding of tradition and duty to be promoted to lieutenant and eligible
for captain training. I think the selection would have been slightly different
if he hadn't used those criteria."
"I agree. Creech and I discussed the candidates at
great length." Wexler stopped to sip his cup of kaffa. "I found your
interpretation of Captain Embry's actions very ... insightful. I believe your
version fits his personality, his outstanding career, and the recorded facts.
I've always disliked wearing the whip and considered it a nuisance, but now I
will wear it proudly in honor of a courageous member of the Black Guard. I want
you to write an official addendum to the Guard's history of the events on the
planet Chaohu and Captain Embry's part in that action." He laughed.
"I know Captain Attali has been teaching a few of the officers how to use that
whip you both love after they heard how you used it at Lanzhou. I think the
rest of the officers are going to want lessons after your addendum is
published. That whip will no longer be a symbol of your rank but rather a
symbol of Guard honor."
"Yes, sir. I'd like that. I believe he considered the
Guard his family and sacrificed his life to protect it." I felt a strong
empathy with the man, as though our minds were linked and I could hear his
thoughts.
"How would you like to have an assignment?" Wexler
asked, jarring me out of my musing about Embry.
"I had thought the JCC didn't want me on assignments so that
the other dragons could take any nonstandard contracts and you could monitor
the results." I was ecstatic and confused at the same time—ecstatic
to have an assignment but confused as to why they had changed their minds.
"General Lerman plans to participate in a joint meeting
of the leaders of the Helix Coalition on the planet Outpost and has asked for
you to provide his security." Wexler smiled. "Maybe he doesn't want
to trust this nonstandard assignment to one of the other captains, since it
involves his life."
"How large a detail?" I asked, curious as to the
threat the general anticipated.
"Just you, Sapir. I think the general is making a
statement—the Jax Military has no equals ... and if you disagree, the
single Black Guard accompanying me will be glad to discuss it with you."
Wexler paused to take a drink of kaffa and smiled. "Good luck, Sapir. The
Deathstalker will be in orbit tomorrow to pick you up."