Chapter 19 Chapter Eighteen

I became a captain.I never saw Jane again. Of the two, the former is the more dramatic.Carrying Jane across the open battlefield for several hundred meters on his back, and then putting her into the fixed compartment under fire, is enough to make a good mark in the official report of this battle.It is icing on the cake to bring back the technical diagram of the Consu tracking system.As Major Crick said, it was too much.But if it were you, what would you do?I got a few more medals and a promotion in the second battle on Coral Star.If anyone noticed that I had risen from corporal to captain within a month, they didn't say much.Well, neither did I.By the way, someone paid for my drinks for the next few months.Of course, in the colonial army, all alcohol is free, but the important thing is everyone's heart.

Consu technical manuals were sent directly to military research.Harry later told me that browsing it was like reading a draft of God himself.The Rye people knew how to use this system, but they didn't understand how it worked at all—even if they had a complete schematic diagram, they probably wouldn't be able to piece together another one.They don't have this level of manufacturing.We know this because we don't have the skills either.The principles behind this machine opened up a whole new branch of physics, and the colonial government began to look at its jump drive technology with fresh eyes.

Harry was selected as a panel to analyze how the technology could be used in practice.He was delighted to be assigned this position.But Jessie complained that it made him unbearable.Harry used to always say that his math knowledge wasn't up to the job, but that wasn't true anymore, because no one was that good at math anyway.Of course, this also reaffirms one point: the Consu people are clearly a race that we should not mess with. A few months after the Second Battle of Coral Star, legend has it that the Rye once again went to the Consu's space and begged the Consu to provide them with some more technology.The Consu's answer: Blow up the Rye's spaceship and drag the wreckage into the nearest black hole.I think it's a bit too heavy a punch.But rumors are just rumors after all.

After taking back Coral Star, the Colonial Army assigned me some easy tasks. The first was to tour the colonies as the newest hero of the Colonial Army to show the colonists: How the Colonial Defense Force is fighting for you!I've also participated in many military parades and judged many cooking competitions.After a few months of this, I wanted to do something else, although it would be nice to be able to visit a few worlds without killing the natives. After finishing my PR cruise, the colonial army asked me to manage the recruit transport ship.I was the one who stood in front of a thousand old people in new bodies and told them to enjoy themselves while a week later told them that three quarters of them would die within the next ten years.The errand was a mixed blessing, and in the end it was unbearable.When I walked into the troop dropship cafeteria, I often saw a group of new friends meeting and getting to know each other, just like Harry, Jessie, Alan, Maggie, Tom, and Susan.I wondered how many of them survived.I wanted them all to live, but I knew in my heart that most of them couldn't.After a few months of this, I asked for a job change.No one is surprised by this requirement.It's not the kind of job you'll be happy with for a long time.

Finally, I asked to return to the battlefield.While I'm pretty good at fighting (what a queer thing), it wasn't because I liked fighting that I was asked to go to the front.The only reason is that in this life I was a soldier and I had promised to go to war.I would like to give up this career someday, but until then, I want to be faithful to my duty.I took over a company and was assigned to the Dawes.This is where I am now.It's a good boat.I lead a group of good soldiers.In this life, I want nothing more. I have never seen Jane less dramatic since.After all, not seeing a single person is not a big deal.Jane took the first shuttle to the Amarillo, where the doctor took one look at her Special Forces badge and wheeled her into a corner of the medical room.She stayed in the fixed cabin until she returned to the Phoenix system and could receive treatment from the special forces medical personnel.I ended up returning to Phoenix on the Bakersfield.By then, Jane was already in the medical unit of the Special Forces, not something that someone like me could see, even if I was a fresh hero.

Shortly thereafter, I was awarded the Medal of Honor, promoted, and began speaking on the colony-to-colonial tour.I finally got word from Major Creek that Jane had recovered and had been reassigned, along with most of the surviving fighters from the Sparrowhawk, to a new ship called the Kite.Sending Jane a message is useless.Special forces are special forces.They are the Ghost Brigade.You shouldn't know where they're going, what they're doing, or even that they're right in front of you. But I know they exist.Whenever a Special Forces soldier sees me, he slaps me with his BrainPal—short emotional messages of respect.Although short, I was the only living person to have served in Special Forces; I rescued one of them and successfully completed the mission in the harsh conditions of a partial defeat.I'll bang back in return, but otherwise, I won't say a word to give them away.Special Forces like this.I never saw Jane again in Phoenix or anywhere else.

But I have heard from her.Shortly after being sent to the Dawes, the jerk told me I had a message from an anonymous sender.This is new, I've never received an anonymous message through BrainPal.I opened it and saw a field of grain, a farmhouse and a rising sun in the distance.It could be sunset too, but I don't feel like it.I thought for a second before realizing it was supposed to be a postcard.Then I heard her voice, a voice I've known in my life from two different women: I let the news pause for a moment to gather my mind before reading on. that's it. I thought about the day I stood over my wife's grave for the last time.At that time, I turned and left without any regrets, because I knew that she was not lying in that hole in the ground in the past.I entered a new life and found her again in a woman with her own unique personality.When this life is over, I will still turn away from it with no regrets.Because I know that in a different life, she will be waiting for me.