Untitled (Chapter III - part 1)

III

Manchester, New England Territories

North American Union

Former State of Vermont, USA

0745 Hours

“Hey, you awake in there yet?” Joseph banged again on the door, “C’mon, I’m freezing out here, let me in.”

Levi Warner staggered across the living room. “I’m coming! Just a bloody second.” he shouted as he reached the door and unlocked it. He neglected, however, to open it before he turned and let himself fall face first onto the living room couch.

“Hey bro’! Sleeping in this morning I see.” Joseph jested, noting Levi’s prone position as he let himself into the apartment. “What’s up with you? Was there a party last night that you forgot to invite your own brother to?”

“Ughgghh…” Levi groaned.

“It is freakin’ cold out there. Here, I brought you some coffee… good thing too by the looks of you.” Joseph plopped himself down in the chair next to the couch as he placed two large cups of Starbucks’ finest onto the coffee table. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for duty this morning, soldier?” he asked as he began to remove his jacket.

“No… they gave me a forty eight hour pass.”

“No way! Really? Why would they do that? Not that it isn’t cool.” Joseph’s eyes lit up suddenly realizing it was the start of the weekend, “Sweet! It’s Friday! I’ll skip out early! Let’s do something.”

“Shhh… you are talking way too loud. Whisper…”

“What the hell is wrong with you? You sick or somethin’?” Joseph pried one of the large hot coffees from the cup holder and kicked his feet up on the table ignoring his brother’s plead to whisper.

“I can’t tell you.” Levi groaned.

“Oh, c’mon, not another one of your ‘If I tell you, I have to kill you’ bullshit excuses.”

“No… seriously.”

“What? Are you hurt?”

“I’m sore and have a pounding headache… pass me that coffee.” Levi lifted his face out of the cushions and made an overly dramatic grasping motion with his right hand toward the remaining cup.

“What happen? You get blown up, little bro’? I told you not to join the fucking military dumb-ass.” Joseph rolled his eyes as he handed his brother the remaining cup. “You should listen to your older brother.”

“Two minutes doesn’t make you my ‘older’ brother.”

“According to Timex it does.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Levi grunted as he pushed himself to a sitting position and took his first sip of caffeine for the day. His head was pounding and his gut felt like he had gone three rounds with the AK himself.

“You look like you might be in need of whatever is in this bag.” Joseph chuckled as he pushed a wrinkled white paper bag that had been sitting unattended across the table. He had noted from the green and red emblem on the outside it was from the base pharmacy.

“Pain killers… take one every four to six hours as needed.” Levi reached for the bag, “I better listen to the doc… especially if that doc is myself.”

“So you gonna spill it or what? C’mon, you can’t hold out on me… Let’s hear it. Who was it that blown you up? Let me guess… Major General Baques!”

Levi half smiled, “No…” As twins, Joe and he were never separated for long. They were each other’s best friend on top of being a brother. Despite the close genetic match, their personalities could not be more different. Levi was the disciplined one, a hard study, motivated and determined to be a top rated surgeon someday. Joe on the other hand liked to play things a lot more ‘casual’ as he jokingly called it. While both of them had finished college, Levi with his pre-med degree and Joe with a BA in journalism, it was Levi who had recognized a benefit from joining the military as a commissioned officer. Joe would have no part in it and tried desperately to convince his brother not to sign. The disagreement had caused a rift in their relationship for a year as Levi left for officer training and then on to medical school, courtesy of the United States military. The deal was simple, they paid for his M.D. and afterwards he would serve six years as a commissioned medical officer patching up wounded G.I.’s. While Joe had harbored resentment against Levi for that decision, they both knew that in reality it was Joe’s resentment to being alone. Hurt by his brother’s decision to leave, Joe had turned inward, his feelings of abandonment fueling his anger. Levi himself wasn’t without a mote either. Joe should want the best for him. Why wouldn’t he? As things worsened, in both men, as in most people, their inner hurt manifested itself most profoundly as anger, which spurred arguments and eventually lead to their first physical confrontation before mutual silence. The silence had lasted for close to a year.

But as Levi had prepared to leave for medical school, he and Joe had somehow managed to talk. Levi couldn’t really remember how or who had initiated contact. But once they were talking, brotherly love for one another allowed them to overcome injured egos. Wounds healed and they were once again as they had been since birth, inseparable for too long.

“Wait! That Dirke guy! He blew you up didn’t he? The bastard!”

Levi hurled a balled up paper napkin at Joe.

“Hey! I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this! I got your back – we’ll jump the guy later tonight.”

Levi shook his head; half smirking and rolling his eyes as he put his face in his right hand propped up on the couch armrest. He knew his brother wouldn’t talk. He trusted him with his life. “Ok, but you have to swear this is off the record… I mean not a sentence. Got it? It’ll be my career if you leak this.”

Joe studied Levi’s body language. He knew when his brother was serious. “Of course, little bro’. You know I won’t say nothin’. Spill it!”

“You know, for a journalist, you certainly have an aversion to proper English.”

“I is what I is. Now stop trying to change the subject and start yappin’ for Christ sake.”

“Fine.” Levi propped his feet up on the table and took another sip of coffee. The hot liquid seeming to hold magical properties as his belly began to push the caffeine into his bloodstream. “Gentech’s boys – you know those ‘altered’ ones your buddies over at the networks keep hyping about?”

“Well I never interviewed one but yeah, what about ‘em?”

“They’re called AKs – don’t ask me what that means – anyway, I see ‘em around base every once in a while, couple times a month maybe; but never spoken to one. In fact, now that I think about it, I don’t recall ever hearing them speak to anyone as a matter of fact… that’s odd.” Levi paused in thought.

“And…?” Joe prodded impatiently.

“Well, as you know, they’re supposed to be the ultimate bad asses; like some kind of super warrior or something; right? Well… I’ve actually seen one in battle. Remember a few months back, right before mom died, and you and her were always asking me if there was something wrong?”

“You mean when you had mono?”

Levi shrugged his shoulders and gazed out the small living room window across the room, “Well, I may have lied about that.”

“Okay… why would you lie about having mono? Did you catch something off continent from a pretty little pleasure perhaps?”

“No… Will you just shut up and listen?”

Joe smirked deviously, “Fine… go on. So, tell me, why did you lie about having mono?”

“Because it was a classified mission and I couldn’t talk about it.” Levi paused again, gathering the willpower to continue. He let out a slow breath and began again, “We had engaged a terrorist cell just over the border; my entire platoon that is. It was a real mess of a fight. They were dug in deep and we just kept pounding ‘em with volley after volley after volley. But we weren’t getting anywhere and casualties were already at fifty percent and mounting fast. I was exhausted. We all were. I had already done six or seven triage sweeps and there was no end in sight. I seriously didn’t think we were going to make it out of there this time.” Levi sighed again and took another drink from his cup.

Joe watched his brother put his cup down and rub his eyes and head. Whatever he was building to really messed him up bad it appeared. Joe suddenly realized just how serious this might be.

“So there we were…” Levi continued. “Eighteen hours into this debacle and just as fucked as we had been from the beginning. We should have never been there to begin with but Baques sent us in with no real plan on how to win this little shit storm. Finally the General orders us to pull back and hold position. He says, “The ‘cavalry’ is on its way”. Well we quickly find out that the ‘cavalry’ were these AK guys and they were inbound hot and fast…”

“Why have I never gotten wind of any of this little fiasco? I don’t remember any fighting up there recently – at least not this big of a deal.”

“Well they do own the media… Anyway, we are sitting there hoping like hell to make it through the next few minutes. Rebels were beginning to crush our front lines and they had our artillery next in their sights. I can tell you, we were pretty fucked by that point. So, here we are holding onto any inch we can when we hear them. Them, the ‘cavalry’… they come from the south over the tree line like a freight train; four of them… fully clad battle drags carrying AKs – I think there must have been a whole squadron of them – maybe a dozen or so men, I’m not sure. Like I said I only really saw one of them the whole time.”

“So what happened?” Joe was genuinely intrigued.

“So, like I said, we’re pinned down, the mission is going to shit… even Major General Baques himself can’t move because the rebels have his command ship disabled and he is sitting there like some lame-ass duck. I thought for sure he was going to be a dead General at any moment. Then, out of nowhere, all hell breaks loose as these guys come roaring through the smoke, turrets blazing… and the rebels begin unloading everything they had at them as the battle drags opened up on their position. And I mean everything… it felt like the damn earth itself was crumbling. Missiles, artillery fire, small rounds, you name it. Every rebel nest out there was gunning for those battle drags. But they were hitting mostly air… the drags were just too fast; doing crazy aerial maneuvers not missing a beat as they kept pounding enemy hardware and positions. Nothing they had on the field could match those battle drags’ firepower and nothing, it seemed, could pierce their camouflage and armor. It was like God himself had sent the archangel Gabriel down to earth; flaming sword in hand. Even the white haze hanging over the battlefield was turning bright red from so much tracer fire. Thousands of rounds per minute from their main turrets were chewing up rebel positions across the battlefield with ease; and worse it sounded like a thousand buzz saws all going on at once. There were so many red tracer rounds pouring out from the turrets so fast, it looked more like laser beams than bullets. Rebel armored columns were throwing off glowing molten metal in chunks as the red beams sliced through their armor. It was nothing short of awe inspiring to watch… I’d never seen a gunship in action before and there were suddenly four of them ripping through the lines like a video game.”

“Holy shit…” Joe overly annunciated each syllable.

“Yeah, Holy Shit is right… it was fucking insane. So anyway, one of these drags comes in real fast, right near to where my medic squadron and I were hugging the ground trying to stay alive. We had been pinned down in there for some time when this thing comes full bore to within about fifty yards of us. I saw what I assume were four AKs hit the ground, three of them headed away from me and I lost sight of them fast. I mean, we were in the shit by that time. Smoke everywhere; I was half deaf, dirty, hot and could barely breathe from the stench all that firepower. On top of that my eyes were stinging so bad that I felt like I was crying from all the water pouring out.”

Joe listened intently as Levi recounted the event. His mind picturing the scene, he was mesmerized by his brother’s emotions in his voice as he spoke.

“So I can see this one AK looking over at us; my Lieutenant is going nuts waving him toward the rebel trench that was filling the air over our heads with lead and god knows what else. Needless to say it was certainly preventing a bunch of weeny doctors from sweeping the field for wounded. I remember the AK turning toward the entrenchment already sprinting across the potholes. He never looked back, never stopped, never dove for cover. And he was fast, god, so fucking fast… fastest man I’ve ever seen… and he just kept running toward that trench…” Levi’s voice suddenly grew quiet.

Joe waited for what seemed like a few minutes and finally prodded his brother to continue, “You ok? We don’t have to talk about this, we can stop.”

Levi looked down at his coffee cup, the black liquid still steaming.

“No, I need to talk about it… When he got to the trench, I was sure he would begin firing… taking them out… but he didn’t. You know what he did Joe? You want to know what he did?” Levi turned to look Joe in the eyes.

Joe felt chicken bumps spread down his arm, “What?” he had no idea what to expect next out of Levi’s mouth.

“He threw his damn gun down.” Levi said as if still in disbelief.

Joe squinted his eyes for a moment, “What do you mean, ‘he threw his gun down’?”

“I mean, he unclipped his strap and threw his fucking gun on the ground.” Levi said looking squarely at Joe. “And the whole time he is standing there I could see his vest blowing off bits of material as rounds hit him square on. But he still didn’t move. He just kept staring down into that trench… little puffs of white flying off his vest every half second or so.”

“He just stood there? Did they kill him?” Joe asked amazed.

“I was sure they were going to… but he just stood there staring down like he didn’t care… Honestly I didn’t know what the hell I was watching. It was like I was watching some crazy deer staring into the headlights. But then, I mean agonizingly slowly, he starts to move… he casually reaches up under his vest and slides out this fucking knife… and it’s one hell of a fucking wicked looking knife… then… just like that, he jumps in.”

“Into the trench?”

“Yeah… I lost sight of him… but maybe two seconds after he jumps in, six guys pour out of that trench like… like cockroaches. They were falling over the dirt embankment… falling over each other, scrambling to get the hell out of there. A couple of them even started to trip and fall in our direction trying to get away. I don’t think they were thinking at all at that point… I don’t know what happened in that trench but it scared the hell out of these poor bastards. Whatever he did down there put the fear of God in them… or maybe the Devil, I don’t know.” Levi’s voice tapered off, his eyes staring off into the distance like he was watching it all unfold in his mind; like he was back there watching it for the first time all over again.

Joe wasn’t moving. He had forgotten about the coffee still in his hands. His brother was quiet, staring out the front window. Joe didn’t speak.

“Then I saw him…” Levi’s voice was slow.

“Who? The AK?” Joe asked softly.

“He was so fast, Joe… he climbed out of that dirt hole and he began to slaughter those guys… one after another… and I mean slaughter, not just kill… he would sever a hand from one, slice a throat open on another… there was blood everywhere… it was like a red mist in the air… it covered him, his knife, his victims, the ground… everything.”

“Jesus…”

“This one guy… he held him against a tree by his face… then he split him all the way down from his throat to his pelvis… I swear I could hear the guy screaming over the noise as he was punching at the AK, trying to get away, kicking at anything he thought might give him a window of escape…”

“I don’t think I want to hear this…”

“Then… just like that, he split him wide open… it was like a second and it was over; all his organs were emptying down the front of his trousers... it looked like gallons of blood gushing everywhere… like an animal being gutted or something… The AK just stood there and watched as the guy died. Then he let go and what was left of this guy’s body slumped to the ground… he then turned toward us and the last of the guys that had managed to get out of that trench.”

“Holy Christ… I think I am going to be sick.”

“And you want to know the worst part Joe?” Levi looked back at his now greenish colored brother, “He was smiling the whole time.”

Joe leaned forward in the chair, placing his feet slowly on the floor. “That was disgusting… thank you for that. That was great; awesome… yeah, I can’t drink this.” Joe set his coffee on the table.

“That’s not what I was going to tell you, Joe. I’m not finished.”

“Oh yes you are.”

“No, you insisted on hearing this… now you are going to shut up and listen.” Levi sounded annoyed. “I have had to live with this for months.”

By this time, Joe wished he had just left things alone, “I got a squeamish stomach remember.”

“Yes, I know… but I told you that story so that you would understand this one.”

“More?” Joe looked up at his brother, “Well… shit… get on with it I guess.”

“Yesterday, we received an emergency beacon signal as we were returning to base after a training exercise. It wouldn’t have been our duty to respond but we were still in the air and near the signal source, so we got the order.”

“Uh huh…” Joe said, still feeling a bit queasy.

“We thought it was just a patrol that had tangled up with a rebel raiding party. There is always some skirmish going on – usually small arms fire, nothing major. So, we took the call and headed out to the encoded location. My Lieutenant wanted to make it a snappy retrieval and back to base. I think all of us did by that time. So, we get there and I get the order to go out and do triage – you understand triage right?”

Joe nodded affirmatively.

“So, I hit the ground and start toward this guy – but keep in mind a couple things don’t make sense about this whole deal. One, he’s alone and no patrols I know of aren’t at least tag teaming it at all times. Two, the emergency beacon had a non standard identifier attached to it. It was valid but just not your standard signal. So I’m ordered to go out and see what the hell is going on. I figure it was some fresh recruit that had gotten separated from his patrol and freaked out… maybe ran into some unfriendlies and got banged up a bit. It happens more often than you would think.”

“So what then? What was it?”

Levi shook his head slightly, still in disbelief about what had happened.

“It was a fucking AK… and a goddamned Red to boot. He was out cold… and fucked up pretty badly. Something or someone had kicked the shit out of him and he’d called us.”

“An AK? I thought those guys were the baddest, craziest fucks out there.”

“Yeah and I think he did too. But apparently he and everyone else are wrong. And that’s not all… Gentech retrieval was there. They had some GIC checking everyone out… of course I didn’t know that until after I woke up.”

“Woke up?” Joe squinted and wrinkled his eyebrows at Levi, “What do you mean ‘Woke up’? Why were you asleep?”

“Because whatever kicked the shit out of that AK blew me and my buddies up is why. Stroikoff is dead… along with my entire medical squad that was onboard the drag at the time it went boom.”

“What the fuck? Wait, you’re telling me that your entire squadron is dead? As in D-E-D, dead? Everyone? Except you?” Joe’s mouth stayed open a bit.

“At least that is the impression I’m getting but no one is talking… ‘protocols’ they keep telling me. They won’t tell me shit, except here, take 48 hours, go home. And then there is this GIC Fuller, some slime bag from Gentech, wanting to ‘buddy’ up to me like I know anything about anything.”

“Holy shit – I was kidding about the blown up bit earlier.”

“Yes, well it sure doesn’t feel like a joke. But being blown up is the least of my problems. Somehow I seem to have gotten wrapped up in something in which I really don’t want to have any participation… Whatever kicked the shit out of that AK Red and took out my squad has got them nervous… even the Gentech spooks seem a little spooked. This is big, Joe. If the rebels have got something that can neutralize the AKs, this could be bad… really, really bad.”

Joe leaned back in his chair; his gaze resting on the ceiling fan above.

“What do you mean? What could hand an AK his ass and walk away scot-free? Maybe it’s some kind of new weapon; incapacitates them somehow and then a whole bunch of them just jump him.” Joe half-joked. It was a defensive tendency.

“I don’t know… whatever it is it’s something they hadn’t planned for; that much I am sure about. Something those brainiacs didn’t consider.”

“I smell a story…“ Joe said quietly as he twisted a lock of his hair.

“Don’t… you promised Joe.”

“Kyle if there is an AK killer running loose out there, then someone is gonna hear about it sometime. Why can’t it be me that breaks it?”

“Because I don’t know shit – this is just speculation. Plus I kinda really have a lot of student loans that won’t get paid back if I get busted for having loose lips, if you catch my drift.”

Joe turned back to Levi changing the subject, “Listen, I’m sorry about Stroikoff. I’ve heard you mention him by name a couple of times. It sounded like you two were friends.”

“Yeah, I liked him, he was a good man. He was a dad you know. I think he had two kids as well, both under six if I remember right. It’s just sad; two kids won’t ever see their dad again. I can’t imagine that. He was a good guy and a great doctor. I’m gonna miss him.”

Joe leaned forward, reaching across the table to gently shake Levi’s foot, “I really am sorry, Levi. I’m buying tonight, ok?”

Levi wiped his eyes. His heart went out to his friend’s family.

“Well, I have to warn you… I might drink a lot tonight.”

“You do that… No worries, bro’. You know I got you covered.”



***

Joint Base Archer-Beaker

215th Brigade HQ

NOREASCOMATLFLT

Designation: RASCALS

0930 Hours



Kyle strode through the gigantic hangar doors and into the football field sized enclosure; removing his cover as he entered. Once again, the hard heel of his combat boots resonated against the cement floor with each step. It was the step of a commanding officer; forceful, determined, authoritative.

He glanced around the hangar, pausing at each of four battle drags being poured over by mechanics and technicians. Each one working in concert to ensure every system on board was performing at peak levels. They were the best of the best; hand picked for the honor of servicing the crown jewels of Alliance hardware. Kyle stopped, standing squarely in the center taxiing aisle, reviewing each battle drag singly.

He knew Commander Mazor would be close by. This was Mazor’s squadron and those drags would be his top priority as he prepared for their mission. Kyle was somewhat torn anticipating their upcoming conversation. He knew David would not outwardly display any resentment to him as his commanding officer; he was far too stringent a soldier for that. But he feared it could create an imbalance in their fiercely competitive friendship. Previously they had always been peers, reporting to parallel commanders or chains of command. This would be the first where one had reported to the other and he was apprehensive about how David would take the news. But he would follow his orders, that was assured… what he didn’t know was just how it would affect their personal relationship long term. But like David, Kyle was a soldier first, friend second and right now, he had orders to give and he expected them carried out.

“Commander on deck!” someone announced from the sidelines. At once there was a mad scrambling amongst the men to get to attention.

“As you were.” Kyle ordered, scanning the hangar for Commander Mazor.

“Well look what the beakers drug in off the street!”

Kyle knew the voice. It was coming from somewhere near one of the drags. It was Mazor alright. He quickly located the source fifty yards to his right, turning in that direction. Mazor was already walking toward him.

“Goddamn, what the hell happened to you, Northwood!” Mazor grinned, wiping his hands with a dirty cloth before tossing it aside.

Kyle grinned as he began walking toward David, “Oh, the armsling? I hurt myself jerking off to this blonde over in intelligence. She’s got a body that should be illegal in this man’s army but I wouldn’t trust her if she was tied naked to my bedpost… so I have to limit myself to fantasy.”

David laughed as he grabbed Kyle’s left hand in a handshake; his right hand resting on Kyle’s left shoulder. “Is that right killer? Well, if you want to know what I think, well they fucked up something in your treatments is all there is to it. See I got all the muscles and brains and all you ended up with was one fat libido.”

“And all the humor…” Kyle retorted as he shook David’s hand.

“You got soft on me I see.” David tightened his grip as he half smiled.

“Wishing for something doesn’t make it true.” Kyle responded in kind, matching his grip.

“We’ll see about that old man.” David began to squeeze Kyle’s hand with strength that would have brought any normal man to his knees.

“Ok, what? You want to do this now?” Kyle laughed as he met David’s challenge, “Ok hotshot, you give it your best go.”

The sound of metal wrenches, power tools and diagnostic beeps which had previously filled the hangar began to quiet as workers took notice of the two AK Reds locked in their pose; neither man budging and both grinning from ear to ear. Amid frantic whispers, the work in the room came to a slow halt. Two dozen soldiers, male and female alike, suddenly stopped in mid task and moved forward to try to catch a glimpse at the scene; tools and equipment still in hand. To them, they were witnessing two demi-gods clenched in a show of strength and ego. Both men were legends not just amidst their ranks but across the globe. Two of the strongest humans ever to walk the planet were pitted toe to toe in a battle of pure strength and willpower and there wasn’t a soul in the room that was going to miss seeing this play out. It would be a story told around chow tables this evening for certain.

The power play between the two legends escalated quickly but silently. Kyle matched David pound for pound as he began to squeeze ever harder with each passing tick of the clock. Within seconds the pressure in their palms was immense. It was easily capable of crushing human bone had it been an ‘unaltered’ on either side. David gnashed his teeth, reaching down inside himself calling forth every ounce of the immense strength in his engineered frame. His muscles, straining against the pressure they exerted, began to quiver, delivering over five hundred pounds of pressure per square inch. For any man other than Kyle, it would have meant permanent impairment to his hand.

Kyle watched as David’s jaw muscles tightened. He knew that David was nearing his peak. But he knew just as well that he could match him… and even exceed him if needed. He had surpassed David’s strength long ago, courtesy of “experimental” procedures tested at Dirke’s behest. He had volunteered and it had paid off for him; for others not so much and as David was one of Dirke’s prized ‘creations’, he wouldn’t risk him. He was ordered into silence and had complied. He had kept the secret from David for years, more from fear of losing friendship than obeying orders. David was also a prideful man, even ego-centric; Kyle knew he would not take the revelation well. David was one of the few men on the planet who truly understood him and who he was and he did not relish the thought of no longer sharing his company.

He surgically applied counter pressure equal to David’s clasp, but stopped short of overwhelming him. He watched as beads of sweat formed along his friend’s forehead. He did not want to defeat David, not immediately prior to their conversation and most importantly not in front of his men. In this scenario, there could be no win, but just the same, there could be no lose either. He knew it had to end in stalemate just as it had always done.

“Goddamn it, Northwood! You old son of a bitch! Strong as ever.” David let out a pent up breath, finally breaking the silence. Releasing his friend’s hand, he slapped Kyle’s shoulder, “Stalemate as always! It is goddamn nice to see you, killer!”

Kyle smiled, “I was hoping you were going to give up. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to last.”

David humphed, “I knew I should have kept up the pressure! I would have beaten you eventually. C’mon over here. Let’s adjourn to my office and let these boys get back to work. Apparently nothin’s gonna get done ‘round here while you and I are in the room together.” David turned away from Kyle and shouted at the gawking crowd, “As you were, soldiers. I want these drags spit polished by chow time tonight. Now move it! Let’s see some hustle! Elbows and assholes! That’s all I want to see around here!”

Kyle watched as the men sprinted back to their work wasting no time looking busy once again.

“C’mon buddy, this way.” David turned and began to walk toward a small office along the side of the hangar. “You seen Dirke lately?”

Kyle walked next to David noticing the workers in the room covertly glancing in their direction, “Yes and he’s still Dirke alright.”

Reaching the door to the office, David opened it, strode inside and plopped himself down into the chair behind the desk to the right.

“C’mon in; take a load off.” He gestured to the chair across from where he sat.

Kyle turned and shut the door behind him as he entered David’s temporary office. It was always customary to assign visiting senior command staff accommodations for their use while on base. It wasn’t the nicest office he had ever been in, cold metal desk, older visuals and a scratched up window overlooking the hangar deck. He made a mental note to acquire David an upgrade later that afternoon. No need for him to be stuck down here on the hangar floor. He was surprised David hadn’t squawked about it already to facilities. Maybe he was the one getting soft as he got older. Kyle grinned at the thought of a soft, old Mazor.

“Nice digs.” Kyle said as he threw his hat on the desk and sat down across from David.

“Better than getting limp upstairs behind some plush desk.”

“Hasn’t done me too bad.” Kyle reminded him.

“I’ll get you next time, I promise you that.” David snarled back. “So what have they got you up to? Dirke get you assigned on this mission too or is this strictly a social call?”

“You could say that…” Kyle steadied his voice, “I am in command of this mission as of 0700 hours this morning.” Kyle watched as David processed the words.

“Is that from Dirke?” David asked after a few seconds. He slowly leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk.

“Yeah, it is.” Kyle pulled out a small data stick from his upper pocket, reached over and handed it to David.

“My orders, I presume.” David stated as he took the stick from Kyle.

Kyle watched as he plugged the encrypted data chip into the terminal on his desk. David’s demeanor had already changed but he couldn’t tell yet just what he was thinking. Perhaps he needed a few more seconds to fully take in what this meant. He decided silence was the best course of action as David proceeded to decrypt the orders.

The visuals in the air over the desk flickered into view. The encryption software had already scanned for David’s RFID chip in his forearm confirming he was in the room. It would take just a second to match the RFID key against the binary lock within the stick. The orders were for his and his commanding officer’s eyes only. The remaining secondary security key was itself a biometric scan of David himself which, if validated, would allow the system to decrypt the contents of the data stick’s memory core. There was a soft beep as the system waited for David to initiate the scan.

David’s eyes peered through the visuals toward Kyle sitting on the other side. Was this a joke? Or was he looking at his new commanding officer? Saying nothing, he turned back toward the scanning device to the right of the desk, placing his palm squarely on the glass panel.

“Recognized, Gentech Commander David Mazor, access granted. Have a good morning, sir.” The familiar metallic voice sounded cold this time as it verified David’s biometric secondary key.

David turned back toward the visual display as the screen went black for what seemed like several seconds before finally bringing up Dirke’s orders. To Kyle, the orders were displayed almost instantaneously. He tried to make out David’s face more clearly through the display as he began to read. He watched and waited as David scanned through the mission summary. After several seconds of silence, he finally spoke.

“Well, it looks official alright. I guess you are in charge of this little party.” he emphasized the word ‘are’. He turned off the visuals and his gaze rested upon Kyle.

“I know we have been through a lot, Mazor. I just want you to know that it is my honor to be your CO. In my opinion, there is not a finer soldier in the corp. And of all the men in the world, there is not a one over you that I would want with me on this particular mission.” Kyle searched David’s face, trying to discern his emotions. He was either hiding it well or he didn’t know himself just how he felt yet. “Look, I don’t want this to change anything between us. We’ve been friends for a hell of a long time, seen our share of blood together and even toured parts of hell itself… as equals.”

“Northwood…”

“Let me finish…” Kyle raised his left palm toward David. “I need you with me on this one. There are some things about this that you aren’t aware of yet and I think that once you understand the gravity of this mission, you’ll understand why even with both of us on this, it still might not be enough. But I need to know you are with me one hundred percent… no less.”

“Permission to speak frankly, sir.”

“That’s what I need from you right now.” Kyle noted the ‘sir’.

“Northwood… I’ve had a lot of commanding officers. Most were ok I guess, some of them not so much. But there is one thing they all had in common.”

‘What’s that?”

“None of them could stand next to me in battle and hold their own… And for that reason alone, none of ‘em were worthy to be my CO.” David stood up and walked around his desk and stood in front of a still seated Kyle. “Northwood, I’d stand next to you in battle any day. You’ll have my hundred percent.”

Kyle felt a wave of relief wash over him. He stood and faced Mazor, “Glad to hear you say that, David.” Kyle smiled and stuck his left hand out again, risking yet another battle of strengths.

David glanced down at the offered hand, and then looked back up at Kyle. Without speaking, David brought himself to attention and for the first sincere time in his career, he brought his right hand up and touched the tip of his temple, saluting his new CO. Kyle straightened and returned the salute.

“I’d be proud to serve in your command. If you would, please consider my application to serve as your executive officer.”

“Done.” Kyle stated without hesitation. “Now, let’s get you out of this excuse for an office and upstairs. See if you don’t go soft on me.” Kyle picked up his hat, turned and walked toward the door.

“Does this mean I get an assistant of the female persuasion then?”

“I thought I was the one that ended up with all the libido?” Kyle opened the door and walked out onto the hangar floor. “Be in my office in thirty minutes for mission briefing.” He spoke loudly as he began walking away staring straight ahead.

“Yes, sir, Killer.” David whispered to no one. He watched through the window as Kyle strode back toward the large hangar doors.

“Commander on deck.” he heard someone announce.