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"The captain wanted you," McManus told Harrison. "Quite urgently," he added. Harrison simply nodded.
"As in, you should start heading back now, sir."
Harrison returned to gazing off into the distance. McManus began to get mildly irritated by the officer's odd nonchalance, especially since it was so cold here. Night soon, thought the private, before speaking again.
"Sir, if you must now the captain's exact words were 'where the hell is my XO? Private, get out there and drag the sorry bastard back here now!'"
"There were men still on that craft," said Harrison, softly. The statement caught McManus off-balance.
"What?" he stuttered, a little off-put.
"When the alien craft lifted there were still prisoners on that craft," repeated Harrison. For the first time he turned to face McManus, and the private quailed slightly at the icy hatred in Harrison's blue eyes. "We escaped. They didn't."
McManus felt a worry growing inside him. The lieutenant's anger was plain to see, and he was half-afraid that he and the rest of Harrison's team could get blamed by the officer for their failure. No, corrected McManus. It wasn't a failure, it was a success. Not a complete one, but a success.
It was Harrison's slow nod that alerted him to the fact that he had spoken the last two sentences out loud. "Yes, I suppose it was. But, " added Harrison, sliding back into the mire of despondency, "I still failed to save the rest of them. We could have saved them - I just wasn't fast enough. I could have taken out the control or engine rooms when it started lifting. Or I could have cleared the prisoners out with more speed. "
McManus shrugged. He didn't bother mentioning that the first plan would have resulted in all their deaths as the UFO crashed back down to the ground. The second was unfair, since none of them had known the aliens would try to flee. He was sure Harrison already knew.
"Sir, may I make a suggestion?"
Harrison indicated that he could if he really wanted to.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened. I'm sure you've heard that shit already - sir - but it's true. You saved your team, you saved more men than would have been saved without us, and we whacked loads of bugs. So don't blame yourself for what happened. Blame the bugs. Those bastards came down from the skies and annihilated everything we hold dear. They're still trying to. We can't let them succeed, and they will if you don't goddamn get on with it!" He stopped, breathless, and surprised at the fire within him.
Harrison was surprised, too. For the first time he shifted from his seat uncomfortably. "Well-" he began, doubtingly.
Cutting him off, McManus leapt in again. "Hate the bugs, sir, and kill them. Okay? That's what we're all here to do. And we can't do it without leadership. That's what you're here to do, and right now, sir, you aren't doing a very good job at all."
Harrison tensed and almost leapt to his feet in anger at the slur to his abilities. Then he shrunk back a little, realisation dawning. " You're right," he murmured. A shiver shook his body, and the snow that drifted from him showed how long he had been siting here. "You're right. Damn it, maybe it was my fault, don't try and persuade me otherwise - but I am not going to let it happen again. Jesus, I've been stupid."
McManus shrugged again, acting nonchalant. "We've all been stupid at times sir. You just didn't plan yours very well. And you're supposed to be our logistics officer?" He grinned, and Harrison echoed him with a smile.
"Thanks, private," he said, the grin fading to a gentle smile of gratitude. "You should give speeches more often. You've got a talent for 'em. Maybe when we take back the States you can run for office."
"We all have our dreams, hey, sir?" replied McManus, and the two of them shared laughter at the joke. "Come on, let's get back to base."
As the two men walked off in the direction of the base camp, a sudden gust of wind stirred the area where they had stood. The wrecked tank creaked ominously, and a gale of snow lifted, swirling up into the wind, towards the skies. Towards the unknown source of the alien threat.
Written on October 21st by Shaun Green AKA 1st Lieutenant Kevin Harrison