The Unincorporated Future by Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin Read Free Book Online Page B

soldiers. Taffy was wearing a veil that she’d borrowed from a Muslim comrade who’d bought it as a gift for his niece. Rabbi took great joy in performing this ceremony. Lately, he’d been a Cabinet secretary of the Outer Alliance far more than a Rabbi of the Jewish people, and even when performing duties as the latter, they tended more often than not to be funerals. This wedding was tonic for a burdened soul, and even the normally taciturn captain seemed to finally relax, cracking a blissful smile as his bride circled around him seven times. Taffy was being “guided” by Rivka Dyan, the unit’s explosives expert. Rabbi held a silver chalice filled with wine from his personal stock, actually grown from grapes he’d planted himself. He said the traditional prayers, made the abridged traditional speech, and then bade both the captain and his bride to take a sip from the wine. Once satisfied that the two had been wed according the letter of the law, Rabbi took a small glass from his pocket, put it in a cloth napkin, and placed it on the ground. “Though today is a day of joy, we must never forget the destruction of the Temple in our holy city of Jerusalem and the destruction of faith in the fires of the Grand Collapse.” Rabbi tipped his head toward Claude, who promptly brought his combat boot down on the napkin. The sound of the shattered glass echoed across the Cerean Sea, followed by the much louder sound of a hundred happy, healthy voices shouting, “Mazel tov!”
    What followed then was an explosion of shouting, singing, and spontaneous dancing as the vibrant sounds of klezmer music burst forth from a hundred DijAssists. It was a wonderful celebration—that lasted only thirty seconds.
    “Quiet!” screamed Rivka. The crowd went from celebration to alertness in a matter of seconds. An act consistent with that of any battle-hardened combat unit. Rivka was staring disbelievingly at her field scanner. “Captain,” she said, looking over to the newly minted groom, “I’m getting readings on this thing that says UHF combat personnel have been detected on the surface.”
    “Not unexpected,” he answered tersely. Then, under his breath, “Though the timing coulda been better.” Those close by laughed sympathetically.
    “I know, sir,” she answered, “but this thing’s picking them at what should be eight times its maximum range. And before you ask, I have run a diagnostic check. It’s not damaged—it’s just giving me data it shouldn’t be able to.”
    Brodesser nodded stiffly. “How many enemy does this miracle scanner detect?”
    “Ten, Captain,” she answered. “It says they have heavy weapons.”
    Claude very much wanted to ignore what seemed to be an obvious equipment malfunction. His unit and his bride had earned whatever moments of pleasure they could use. But to ignore a combat scanner, even one that was probably malfunctioning, was not something he wished to do or have his unit see him do. He was saved from the choice by Sergeant Holke.
    “Rivka, send me the data,” Holke said. “You Unicorns enjoy the wedding. I’ll take the TDCs out to have a look.” Holke saw the captain was about to protest and cut him off. “Please, you’ll be doing us a favor. We don’t know how to dance, and now we have more time to get you a wedding present.”
    Claude laughed. “We’ll count this as your wedding present, and in case I forget to send a card, thanks.”
    As the music started up again, Sergeant Holke led his ten TDCs out on a simple observe-and-report jaunt. He fully expected to be back at the party within minutes. However, five minutes after Holke left, he was forced to make a priority call.
    Once again, the party came to a precision stop. Claude answered the call, and as he did, the entire wedding party could clearly hear emanating from their captain’s DijAssist the sounds of assault rail gun fire and the explosion of plasma grenades in the background.
     
INVASION!!!
Outer Alliance