Desert War (a short story)

The blonde nurse with a smile full of beautiful bleached teeth, and a stiff, starched uniform, fit the grey blood pressure cuff around Jennifer’s left arm. Jenny couldn’t help but stare at the nurse. Her white outfit fit perfectly and her face was made up and expertly contoured until she looked like a doll.

“Nice tattoo.” She said, looking at Jennifer’s arm as she pumped air into the cuff. “Just to let you know…. “ She glanced at her clipboard. “Jennifer, we’ll vaccinate you against everything.”

“Everything?” Jennifer’s voice shook. This was it. Ground zero. Months of training. Firearms. Hand to hand combat and week after goddamn week of injections. It all led here, to this tiled white room reeking of disinfectant; complete with steel furniture, functional tables and rows and rows of vials in refrigerators backed up against the walls. Countdown to deployment started the minute she walked out the door. “Is there really a vaccine for everything?”

“Not for civilians there isn’t. It’s a good thing you decided to enlist.” The nurse let the air out of the cuff; the hanging black tubes reminded Jennifer of snakes. “For you love, we have the army package.” She nodded at the refrigerators full of vials. “We’re going to protect you against every disease we know about, even bad breath and foot rot. When that’s done, there’s the egg harvest. We can’t let you fight with so much of the future inside you.”

“So they said at the recruiters.” Jenny absently touched the BP cuff. “I didn’t know my eggs was valuable. If I’d a known, maybe I wouldn’t have joined up. If ma didn’t need the money…” She tried to keep her voice neutral but it still trembled. “Will it hurt?”

“Naw. Pshh. Two incisions, 30 minutes tops. They get them all. No more eggs means no more periods. Yaaaay.” The nurse did an elegant double fist pump at the ceiling.

Jennifer noticed the nurses’ nails were perfectly manicured. Her hands were soft and white. “No periods huh? No shit?”

“Yup. No periods, no tampons, no pads no pain. You don’t want to be in a shooting situation on your period.”

“I get that.” Jennifer sighed. “But what if I want a family? What then?”

“We can cross that bridge when we get to it. Your blood pressure is perfect. 120/80. Beautiful.”

“No, really nurse, what if I want to start a family? I got people stateside. Mom’s home by herself after dad passed. She needs to get on Medicare or somethin’ to help her cause she’s forgetting everything. Sometimes she forgets she has a daughter. And then I got a guy on Ignite that can’t wait to swipe right. I want him to, he got a government job and everything but if you take my eggs, how’s that gonna work?”

“Well…there’s self implants for starters but you’ll have to use your own sperm. There’s no way to guarantee you’ll get back your own eggs, the repository is too big to keep track of them all. Then there’s surrogates, we can get a fertilized egg implanted in a surrogate. And… oh yes, the artificial womb should be out of clinical trials in a couple years. I think we’ve got you covered. Your insurance covers all except the surrogates. That still needs licenses and permissions. Red tape takes years. I wouldn’t worry about having a family just yet though, we have to finish a war right?”

“Yeah that.” Jennifer sat up on the narrow cot. Tell me about testosterone shots. Why do I still need em? Don’t they like - change us?”

The nurses’ blue eyes widened. “You’ve been reading up huh?”

Jennifer nodded. “Internet. Not much we can’t find out these days.”

The nurse leaned forward, her eyes pools of deep translucent blue. “Unfortunately yes. But don’t overthink it. We know exactly how much to give you.”

“Said every goddamn mad scientist ever.” Jennifer pulled the BP cuff from her arm. “I’m getting a shit ton of side effects.”

The nurse held Jennifer’s eyes steadily. “There’s a reason why we give it; testosterone makes you stronger, more focused under stress. Even helps shut down pain. For the grunts…. ground forces, we need you to be more capable under fire. Testosterone is the answer and girls don’t make enough of it, so…..”

“So you give it to me?” Jennifer took a deep breath. “It’s gonna make me strong but damn girl, I got more hair on my cooch than I ought to. It’s like a mini Sasquatch or something. I might need a weed whacker if this keeps up. And my uh zibga is getting bigger. Dang thing tingles almost every day. Is that normal?”

The nurse nodded. “Yes love. We don’t have another way to do this. This is the army. We fight. We live, but only to fight another day. We die, and when we die, we do it for the greater good. For the children we will have, even if we never see them or hold them in our arms. For the world we want to build for them. It’s not about us, none of us are as important as the future of civilization.”

“Yeah, but it’s my hairy ass out on the front line nurse. I’m the one that might never hold my child. It’s fucked up to think I have to fight and there’s folks back home that say they support the war. But I’m the one out there. There’s even fully grown men that won’t fight. I dunno, maybe they get medical exemptions or something. I don’t know about you but I was against the military conscription the minute they said it applied to me. When did women get disposable?”

The pretty nurse’s smile broadened. “You’re looking at it wrong, love, there’s no real difference between men and women. We have all the research. Sure the plumbing is different but heck everything a man can do, a woman can. None of us are less disposable, as you put it and we each contribute what we can with what we have, but we get back what we need. It’s the perfect system. And that’s the future I want to live in. Imagine how happy people will be when everyone is taken care of and no one is forgotten. No poverty, no greed. Only justice and fairness for all. I’m so proud of you for signing up for active duty, you are what’s best and brightest in the world. I’m sure those that don’t fight contribute in other ways.”

Jennifer shook her head. “Nurse, you’re looking at it wrong. Civilization is a weight. It’s a burden that we have to carry. Cause if we don’t, it all comes down. And as far as I can tell, it’s the poor, the broken, the disposable that take most of the load. I’m carrying my share, just like you. But I don’t think my share and yours is equal. Not by a long shot.” She stood up. Where’s that goddamn egg harvester?

That was six months ago.

____

Damn it.
Jennifer threw herself on the ground. A loud whistling sound filled the air, filled her ears and seemed to lodge in her chest and vibrate. That was how enemy bots got you. Some kind of fucked up drone sonar ratcheting across the audio spectrum till it screeched in your ears and pounded tiny needles into your head.
She curled into herself and clamped her hands across her ears. In her earpiece, her voxcom crackled.

“JJ, you have to get to cover.”

“I know damn it Jeeves. How the hell do I find cover out here?”

“Patience JJ.”

The AI’s voice was calm and reassuring. During the initial setup, she’d chosen an English voice for the interface. Inside of a day, she named him Jeeves. That day seemed a lifetime away on the other side of the world.

“If you look up, you’ll see the gates to the compound.’ Jeeves paused. “Scanning…just outside, there’s a stalled truck. You can take cover there until the drones fly past. The metal will break up your sig.”

She looked; her display counted the distance to the opening. Fifty feet. Not too far.
Overhead, sharp triangular shapes raked across the sky in parallel formation shrieking like silver banshees, but moving away. She crawled to her knees fighting against the weight of her pack.

Where’s my rifle?

She scrabbled around the sand, a sharp pang of panic pressed into her heart. No way she would make it without a firearm. They’d drilled that into her head from day one. Secure your firearm. All day, everyday. Her gloves made her fingers sweat. Her hands felt numb and her back ached.

There.

She felt the familiar outline. She pulled the weapon closer and struggled to her feet.

“Move JJ. Now!” Jeeves’ voice was strained.

“Ok ok, I’m moving. I’m moving.”
She ran clumsily towards the gate. Her HUD picked up movement in the air. The drones made a turn. They headed back for another pass.

Come on Jennifer, get your ass moving. If the drones find you…

If the sonar tagged her, all enemy assets in the area would target her. That could be anything. Humans. Droids. The fucking drones themselves could drop grenades.
She picked up speed. Her sides ached from the surgeries. Six months ago they harvested her eggs. The incisions were tiny. But they still hurt. Every bump slapped the 50 pound backpack against her skin. Every dusty breath filled her nose with sandpaper and rasped against her lips. Her feet rubbed raw in the desert issue boots.

“JJ you have to move faster. I calculate the drones will find you in less than a minute.”

“Aye Aye you dumb fuck. I’m trying.”
She leapt and twisted in the air so that her backpack hit the side of the vehicle. She slid down into the sand breathing hard, then lay down and wriggled on her belly to get under the truck. Sweat trailed down her forehead, into her face, her eyes. Down her cheeks. The shrieking grew louder. She fumbled with her gloves. If she could take them off, she could push her fingers into her ears. Louder. The air seemed to vibrate. Her eyes filled with tears. Then they were past, the sound dopplered away hollow and haunting.

“Ok, next move. Jeeves’ voice crackled into her ringing ears. “We have to get into one of the buildings.”

“Which one?” Outside the compound the unsecured zone stretched for miles. The potholed street led into bombed out ghettoes. There would be local hostiles and mercs.

“Scanning.” Jeeves was terse.

“Come on come on Jeevee. I can’t sit her. You know the brotherhood isn’t far behind.”

“Scanning.” Something exploded in the compound behind her. Something big. The ground trembled and the truck shook.

“Jeeves!”

“Completed. Three buildings over, the top floor is empty. We can call in an airship to get you out.”

“About time. Hostiles?”

“None for two clicks. Drones are coming back.”

JJ shook her head. She took a deep breath and elbow walked out from under the truck. Then she ran as fast as her pack would allow.
Her camo suit rubbed between her legs. Her pack slipped side to side. She knew her shoulders would be rubbed raw by morning. Might need to swab them with sanigel to keep them from getting infected. No sense dying of some forgotten disease on the wrong side of the damn planet even if you were vaccinated against everything.
The screeching grew louder.

“Hurry JJ. Hurry.”

____

She aimed a flat footed kick at the lock on the dirty door. Somehow it remained closed despite the bombing and looting that took place after dark. It gave slightly. She put her weight into the next kick and it splintered inward; she tumbled forward before the screamers flew past. Inside the air was dry and foul. It smelt like something had died and rotted until all that was left were bones bleached white by time and the arid air.
Something snapped. She looked at her feet. A thin wire led into the inky depths of the room. She tripped over it.

Oh shit Oh shit Oh shit.

Jeeves’ voice spoke into her ear. “IED detected. Run Jennifer.”
His voice was drowned out by the explosion. She felt as if a giant fist hit her in the stomach. The shockwave shattered her eardrums and most of the bones in her face. Her body flung out of the doorway like a stuffed toy. She didn’t notice when her helmet blew off. Her clothes were on fire. The last thing Jennifer saw was the clear cloudless blue sky.

For a moment, she thought of her mother. She was old and grey and her blurry eyes saw only just what was in front of her. She thought of her father. All that was left was a faded picture and his big smile. She hardly knew him. Her apartment was still there, stateside. Her tired roses would need watering. She could smell them. They were pink and red and soft. Her old dog, Ben probably would be under mom’s feet. He too was old and grey around the muzzle. Would he remember her? The sky brightened until the blue changed to blinding white.
Then there was nothing.

____

The general bowed her head. She clenched her jaw. She forced herself to breathe deeply. Her shoulders ached and her eyes felt dry and irritated. They were taking too many casualties.

How many more?

The soldier’s biometrics flatlined before her eyes. The telepresence feeds were invaluable. This time they discovered the screamers. So much tech they didn’t know about. Somehow the Easterners disrupted communications with the predators. Maybe they figured out the encryption. Maybe they used magic. But the drones dropped out of the sky over enemy territory.The fucking intelligence spooks seriously dropped the ball. How could they have missed something so important? She shook her head in disgust. Hopefully the geeks in the labs could rejigger the comlinks. Until then, they’d have to send in troops.

The only good thing in all this was the actual military. Since the new draft, there was no shortage of soldiers. Even if you had to pump them full of chemicals and mess with their heads promising them all the things that they really wanted. Family, love. A home. Funny how the things everyone took for granted turned out to be so important when the chips were down. They were willing to fight for this make believe world.

The general just hoped after the war, they would be able to re-create it.

__

Hey gentle readers, I'm only just finding my writing feet again. I started thinking about what it could be like if women were drafted. This is what came out. Hope you enjoy the story. It is just a story after all. Right?

Smiling.
J.
Picture courtesy pixabay.