ASYLUM: Chapter 22

Chapter 22

   The next day was quiet for the most part, Gilly came by and said she was putting together a memorial service for Dan and the others we lost in Denver and wanted to know if Danni had any preferences for music, Bible phrases, or anything of that sort. Danni just shook her head and was quiet, but finally she said, “Just one thing. Daniel had a tattoo on his back that read, ‘Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.’ Can you work that into your service? I think he would like that.”

   “Absolutely, and I think it does more than just memorialize Dan, it demonstrates the whole purpose of the Rangers. We train for battle, to serve and protect.”

   “Yes, I suppose it does, thank you, Gilly.”

   “Listen, I have to go for now, Felicia and I are going to look over a couple of areas in the old worker’s barracks with the idea of building a small chapel, but I’ll be back with Jerry this afternoon. We’re bringing a gas grill for the steaks, potatoes, and corn on the cob.”

   I glanced up at the ceiling and looked at the sprinkler heads that were nearby, “Uh, Gilly? A gas grill might not be a good idea. If it gets hot enough, we might find ourselves in the midst of deluge.” She looked puzzled, so I said, “Fire sprinklers.”

   “Oh, oh my. We didn’t think of that. Well, I guess we should think of something else, but…”

   “Ah, come on!” Debra said, “I’m stuck in this bed and now I can’t have a real grilled steak? Really?”

   Gilly smiled and said, “You’ll get a steak, I promise.”

   “I have to help you to the bathroom,” I said, “I’m sure we can figure a way to get you to that steak.”

   Danni perked up and said, “Why not the rifle range? There are the tables where the instructors set up the spotting scopes and their score pads, we could eat there and be out of the weather if it turns bad. I’ve been there when there’s no one else and you can hear the wind in the pines; it’s kind of peaceful when no one’s shooting.”

   “That would be nice,” Gilly responded. “The range then. Daniel, will you need help getting Debbie there?”

   “I can drive her over in one of the carts, but a wheel chair would be useful once we’re there.”

   “Don’t bother with that,” Debra said. “I’ve got a pair of crutches I can use. I’ll take a pain pill before we leave and I should be good to go.”

   Danni shook her head, “Doc Horne said you should keep your leg elevated except on bathroom breaks. What if it starts swelling again?”

   “Come on, guys, I’m going to look silly sitting out there with my leg strung up.” She threw a quick smile at me.

   “Maybe,” Danni said. “But you’ll look even sillier in the clinic with only one leg because you developed a blood clot and the doctor had to cut it off.”

   That made me uncomfortable, “Danni’s right,” I said.

   Gilly said, “It’s not a problem, I’ll call the clinic and have them send a wheel chair over.”

 

   Ted Banner is a consummate grill artist and he’s extremely well-organized. Between him and Lieutenant Thomas, they got all the steaks, corn, and potatoes done at the same time. I have a hard time running one grill, they had three going at once. The meal was outstanding and though Debra complained occasionally about being ‘strung up,’ she seemed to make it through without too much discomfort. Danni and I waited on her hand and foot.

   As everyone was finishing up, Packer brought the true purpose of the cookout to the forefront.

   “Okay, as I said before, I want written after action reports from each of you about the missions to Denver and when I say, written, I mean typed; I’m tired of trying to decipher the chicken scratches that some of you call handwriting.” That drew a few groans. “Suck it up, Buttercups. Lieutenant Thomas, I want to start with you.” Thomas suddenly looked pensive. “I know you feel like you failed in your mission and lost sixty per cent of your team, but the numbers also show you managed to save forty per cent while under extreme pressure from opposing forces. Shit happens and after interviewing the survivors, each one has stated your quick and decisive decisions while under fire were the reasons the ones who survived are here today. I’ve already advanced your rank to Lieutenant, but it wasn’t officially announced, are you willing to accept the increase in responsibility?”

   “Respectfully, Sir, I feel that I failed and do not deserve the honor.”

   “Nonsense, we are a military unit, and we all recognize the possibility of losing people under our command; it’s part of the job we chose.” Packer turned to Danni and asked, “Sargent Monroe, do you feel Lieutenant Thomas failed in any way?”

   “No, Sir. The ambush carried out against us was professionally executed and I still firmly believe the Lieutenant’s actions were correct and well-executed. His actions under fire are the reason I’m sitting here today.”

   Packer nodded, “I agree.” He looked back at Thomas, “You’re a well-trained operator, Lieutenant, and I need your expertise. I’m asking you to reconsider your refusal of command as an officer.”

   Thomas looked uncomfortable, but finally said, “I’m willing to serve in whatever capacity you wish, Sir.”

   “Good, that’s settled. Everyone? May I officially introduce, Lieutenant Matthew Thomas of the Rangers.” All of us gave him some applause as recognition. “Next on the agenda, Sargent Monroe, your expertise in training the Militia has for too long, gone unrecognized. When I look at the professionalism of our citizen militia, I am constantly filled with surprise and pride. Quite often, Lieutenant Bellows is occupied with other concerns and I need an officer that can be fully committed to the training and leadership of the Militia, are you willing to accept that responsibility? I’m not going to require an immediate answer, we all know this is a difficult time for you and you have our heartfelt condolences.”

   Danni nodded and said, “Yes, Sir. I need to be busy; I need something to do, I need…” She took a gasp of air and I could see she was close to breaking down. Debra reached out and squeezed her hand and Danni seemed to draw strength from the contact. “Yes, Sir, I accept the promotion.”

   “Excellent! You may end up regretting that decision, Monroe, because you are going to be one busy soldier; be in my office tomorrow at eight in the morning with a synopsis for the training of our young adults and children. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present, Lieutenant Danni Monroe.” Again, we applauded as Danni managed a smile.

   “Now, Militia Member, Stacy Menendez.”

   Stace got a sudden wide-eyed expression, “Sir?”

   “Your demonstrated expertise in serving as a Tracker in the Militia has drawn considerable notice. Your Squad Leader has spoken quite highly of your abilities and in the recent mission to Denver, you demonstrated a high degree of devotion to the safety of your fellow soldiers and loyalty by volunteering to put your life at risk for their rescue. I am promoting you to the rank of Corporal and assigning you as Assistant Squad Leader. Do you accept?”

   She swallowed, hard, and said, “Uh, I guess so, I mean, yes, Sir!” That drew some laughter and she squirmed a bit in her chair as she turned red.

   Nadia was given the rank of Corporal and the position of Assistant Squad Leader; I could see her raising through the ranks rapidly with her no-nonsense practicality. Rich was promoted to Sargent and became a Squad Leader. Finally, he came to Debra.

   “Everyone is already aware that I have promoted Debra Tarn to the rank of Lieutenant, and with good reasons. She is doing an excellent job of training our Designated Marksmen and is extremely good at the profession herself. That alone is more than a good reason for her to receive a rank commensurate with her duties, but her recent actions while participating in her last mission demonstrates extreme loyalty to her fellow team members, expertise in combat, perseverance, and resilience. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I officially present, Lieutenant Debra Tarn of the Rangers.”

   Everyone applauded once again and Debra colored with embarrassment at the comments some of them offered. I was filled with pride to have her acknowledged and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

   “Lieutenant,” Packer said. “I know some of the highlights of your escape, but few of the rest of us do. Would you mind recounting the events?”

   “As you wish, Sir.”

   She cleared her throat and shifted in the chair she was sitting in as Danni and I both said at the same time, “Are you okay?” I figured the pain pill she had taken earlier might be wearing off.

   She nodded, took a breath, and started. “Danni and I were pinned down. She was partially underneath one boxcar returning fire and I was under another car on a parallel track. Every time we tried to join one another, we were turned back by machinegun fire, by the way, Lieutenant, I recognized the sound, they were PKMs.” Danni nodded in agreement.

   “I wouldn’t mind the Rangers and Militia having a few of those,” he responded.

   Debra agreed, “Me too. Eventually, we heard Lieutenant Banner's rally point signal and I shouted at Danni to go; she didn’t want to be separated from me, but we had no choice. She took off for the rest of the team and I headed the opposite direction. I planned to loop around and meet up with everyone at the rally point. Unfortunately, they kept pushing me farther away and cutting me off from the directions I needed to go. When I would get tired of running, I would take a break and start sniping at the pursuers; that always gave me a little breathing space to figure out where to go next. I ran out of water a few times, but was able to refill my canteens from a small river running through the area. Then, one of the times I went to the river, my water purification filter was literally shot out of my hands and I had to start using unfiltered water. When I had the time, I would grab a bite to eat, and use my spotting scope to observe the region. Almost every day, I would see planes landing on the other side of the city, something I think we should investigate. The first day, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to rejoin the team at the rally point, so I concentrated on trying to move in a southerly direction, but they ended up pushing me out of the city and into the mountains east of Denver. There’s not a lot of trees or brush up there, but there was plenty of rocks, crevices, draws, and dry stream beds to seek concealment. I lost count of the days, ran out of rations, and finally they were really closing in on me and I thought it was coming down to basically shooting it out with them. I had moved back into the city the day before because of the high numbers looking for me in the hills, but they caught sight of me and were boxing me in. I had wandered back close to the railroad tracks and damn if a train didn’t start passing through. It wasn’t very long; only about six or seven cars and the locomotive. I jumped up from where I was concealed and ran for it. I managed to grab hold between two of the cars and drag myself up and out of sight. The train kept accelerating and it was headed South, so yeah, I went along for the ride. The train never did reach a really high speed, so I stayed with it until I recognized the mountains East of Las Cruces. I was hoping the train would turn West and get me closer to home, but no joy there. After I bailed off, it continued in the direction of El Paso, so that might be something else we need to check into. When I jumped from the train, I ended up tumbling and that’s when I injured my knee and broke my wrist. I guess the train was traveling faster than I thought. When I finally got my wits back, I realized I was close to Interstate 10, so I started walking that way. Well, not really walking, more like hopping on one leg. I finally gave up the idea of walking home when I reached the overpass and tried that little walkie-talkie. It was on the fourth or fifth channel I tried that I was answered by the ham radio guy that contacted the Hole. He radioed back and said help was on the way. Then those fucking, oh, sorry, Gilly, those Antifa guys showed up and started harassing me. I guess they saw me when I jumped from the train. They spent some time trying to get me to come out from under the overpass, but finally decided to come get me instead. That was really stupid and they had no idea what they were doing. I took out all four of them and then our people showed up and brought me home.”

   Packer nodded and then asked, “At the airport, were you able to establish how many planes were arriving daily?”

   “Never more than one or two. Things are kind of quiet now days and you could always hear them when they came in our took off.”

   “On the train, were you able to establish whether they were carrying cargo, or were they empty?”

   “I was able to climb up on top of the cars and see over the sides. All, but one of the cars were empty. One was loaded with boxes that were stamped as UN Food Relief. At least that was what was on the boxes I could see through the open vent. Unfortunately, the level of the boxes was lower than I could reach, so I kept being hungry.”

   Packer thought for a moment and asked, “On the train, security?”

   “I moved to the front of the boxcars just behind the locomotive and was considering whether it might be possible to hijack the train when two guys, who were obviously security, stepped out of the engineer compartment for a cigarette break. They were both armed with AKs and one had a grenade launcher attached under the barrel. Both men were wearing that Lizard Skin camo, carried a full complement of mags, and the Grenadier had a bandoleer of grenades for his launcher. Both men were wearing body armor, seemed bored and inattentive to their surroundings. I’m willing to bet they were on a scheduled trip they had done often before.”

   “Good report, get it written up and include anything else you remember.”

   “Yes, Sir.”

   Packer sat there quietly a few moments as we waited and then he said, “Militiaman Tarn.”

   Puzzled, I answered, “Yes, Sir?”

   “We’ve been taking advantage of you and not giving you the acknowledgement, you deserve.”

   “Sir?”

   He snorted.

   I squinted my eyes and dubiously said, “What?”

   “There it is, that word, you still use it a lot.”

   “Uh…”

   “I need an Intelligence Officer, Tarn, and you are just the man for the job.”

   “Good grief, Major, I’m way too busy for anything else on my plate. Between my Militia training and duty, my work at facilities, doing research for you, and now, caring for Debra, I’m already out of hours in the day.”

   “I’ve already spoken with Morgan; he says he can do without you if he can lean on your knowledge when necessary. As far as your training, both Bellows and Monroe say you are definitely good to go. As far as your Militia duties? As my Intelligence Officer, that will be your duty, your job, but as a member of the Rangers instead of the Militia.”

   Debra reached down and squeezed my thigh as she smiled at me.

   “But, Sir, I mean…”

   “Tarn,” he said in exasperation, “You’re already doing the job, take the title and rank that goes with it.”

   Danni chuckled and said, “Maybe he likes his wife on top of things.”

   “Danni!” Gilly gasped.

   Debra broke into laughter, “Well, he does! Occasionally.”

   Packer frowned, “All right you two, it’s not proper to make a joke at a superior officer’s expense.”

   The laughter died out as Danni said, “Superior…officer?”

   “Of course,” the Major said. “The position comes with the rank of Captain.”

   I looked at Danni and then to Debra, both had surprised expressions. Then I looked at Major Packer and said, “I would be honored to accept your offer, Sir.”

  

   It was really quiet in the apartment that evening. I kept seeing Debra and Danni stealing glimpses and making vague hand gestures of, and to, each other when they thought I wouldn’t notice. Inside I was laughing, but I maintained a serious demeanor. Maria came by and asked if we wanted breakfast in the morning, which was unusual, because normally she would call on the phone. I told her only Debra would, and would she mind spending days with her for a while. She said, of course, and she loved spending time with her little Chiquita. Ted, Sara, Felicia and Dak stopped in and we had a couple of glasses of home brew to celebrate. Banner regaled Sara, Felicia and Dak with some hilarious interpretations of both Debra’s and Danni’s reactions to my promotion. Neither one of them seemed all that pleased with his retelling, but they did laugh with the rest of us. There seems to be some eggshells on the floor, so I think I’ll trod carefully for a while.

   By the time everyone left and Danni retired to the bedroom, Debra seemed her normal self and insisted I give her some ‘special attention,’ which I eagerly did, but with a twist that involved a blindfold and a couple of thin leather belts restraining her wrists above her head. Wow! I have definitely discovered another dimension to my lady. We are going to play that little game again.

   The next morning, Danni and I left for the Bunker a little early after Maria arrived, with the intent of having coffee in the Ready Room before the start of the work day. That was when I learned Danni hadn’t gone to bed, but had spent a portion of the late evening working up a brief plan of how she wanted the military training of the Cadets to go. Then the conversation took a curve.

   “Daniel, I want you to know that Debbie and I are not upset you were promoted higher than either of us.”

   “You’re not? Boy, you could have fooled me.”

   “Well, maybe a little at first, but that’s because it came as a total surprise. We knew, both of us, what Packer wanted to do, hell, we were the ones who initially suggested it, but we didn’t know he was going to go all in. We figured you might receive the rank of Sargent.”

   “I don’t understand.”

   “You know how much Debbie worries about you; she would work herself into being sick with the worry.”

   “I know, I tried not to worry her but…”

   “I know it, she would tell me about what was going on between you.” She leaned forward and said, “Stop the cart, what I want to talk about right now is not something Debbie wants spread around.”

   I immediately braked to a stop, “What? What is it? Is she okay? Is something wrong?”

   “Whoa! Geez, Daniel, that was like four questions at the speed of a bullet. Nothing is wrong with her, well except a broken wrist and a dislocated knee…and…uh…”

   “Damn it, Danni!”

   “She gets a little loud when she cums.”

   I choked and I could feel my face burning, “Danni, you do that on stuff on purpose, don’t you?”

   She laughed and said, “Yeah, I do; you’re so cute when you get outraged because a woman gets a little salty.”

   “Good grief!”

   “I’m sorry, that was a little overboard, even for me, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

   “Good, cause that stuff…”

   “The other guy, the other you, the one she told me about, is it safe for Debbie to be around him? I don’t think you would even consider it; I mean the night of the Spring Ball, you were absolutely furious and even after she hit you, you still didn’t raise a hand to her, but what about him?”

   I remained silent for a moment and then said, “When I realized she had told you about him, it hurt me, very much, especially after seeing what I thought I had seen. It still causes me to…withdraw a little. I trusted her when I exposed that part of me, Danni. She’s the only person who ever knew besides the psychologists and psychiatrist I had to see when I was a kid. Be honest with me, please, did she tell anyone else?”

   “No, absolutely not, I swear to you.”

   “Have you…”

   “No, absolutely not, Daniel, and I swear on that also. I think Danny suspected something because when you threw him against the wall, he said it wasn’t you and he hoped to never see that look on your face again.”

   “I still feel bad about that.”

   “That wasn’t you, was it?”

   “Yes, and no. I was really confused, Stacey almost had me stopped and probably could have calmed me down, she was being persuasive, but then Debra started angrily shouting at me and it reignited the whole thing.”

   “Yeah, she can be rather mercurial, but answer me, Daniel, is she safe?”

   Before I could answer, he swept me aside, “Of course, she is. Who Daniel loves, I love, who Daniel hates, well, let’s just say I can take care of things when necessary. I am him; he is me, and I can’t do anything like that without his permission. The night of the Spring Ball? When the brawl broke out? He turned me loose and I took care of business.” He looked Danni up and down before finally saying, “Danny boy has gotten better at hand-to-hand combat with the lessons he’s taken, but you’re the best there is around here, if you care so much for him, why don’t you train him?”

   Danni sat there frozen for a moment and finally squeaked out, “Daniel? Uh, I kind of want Daniel back now, can I talk to Daniel now?”

   “Probably best not to mess with things you don’t understand,” he said. “You don’t need to worry though, he loves Debra with everything he has, he would die for her, gladly. You though?” He hesitated and then, “Yeah, he’d die for you too; you’re the sister he never had. If he could, he would trade his life for the life of your Daniel.” And then he was gone.

   Danni was staring hard at me with her hand over her mouth and I hurriedly said, “Danni! Listen! It’s me, I’m sorry he talked to you! It’s me, Daniel, I don’t know how…it’s got to be all the stress and raw emotions I’ve been going through, I, would never hurt Debra or you, I swear…”

   “Stop it!” I shut-up in mid-sentence as she reached over and placed her hand over mine on the steering wheel of the cart. “Daniel, what you, what he said. You would’ve given your life for Danny’s?”

   “Of course, I would; he was my brother.”

   For long moments she stared at me and finally said, “Your life belongs to Debbie now, don’t throw it away, ever. I don’t want her to feel what I’m feeling.” Then she pointed towards the entrance to Phase One, “Drive, I have a crushing need for a cup of hot coffee.”

   When we arrived in the Ready Room, there were already a number of Rangers and Militia sitting around the tables, drinking coffee and talking. As Danni and I walked in, everyone stood and gave us a round of applause before approaching and telling us congratulations for our promotions. Danni seemed to soak it all in and laughed at my embarrassment to all the attention. Shayla Lincoln hung back a bit and when the crowd started drifting away, she approached us.

   “It’s going to take getting used to, you know?”

   I asked, “What will, Shayla?”

   “Calling you, Sir,” she said. “And calling you, Ma’am,” she said to Danni, “While I salute.”

   “Maybe,” I said. “But the first time you call me, Sir, over a beer, it’s going to put a wrinkle in my finish.”

   She smiled and gave me a hug, then the same with Danni as she told her, “If you need anything and I can help, don’t hesitate, okay?”

   “I’ll remember that, Shayla, thank you.”

   We each grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at a table as Packer kept calling people into his office. The numbers waiting slowly diminished until there were only myself and Danni left. Then the Major called Danni in and I sat alone while they talked in his office. I watched through the window until she stood, said a little more, and then saluted until he returned hers with one of his own.

   As she walked past me, she slowed and said, “The Major will see you now.”

   “Are you heading back to our apartment? Or are you off to duty somewhere?”

   “I have some things to take care of, and then I’ll be back at your apartment later this morning.”

   “Okay, I don’t understand why I’m so nervous right now; I’ve been in the Major’s office so many times I can’t even remember.” She smiled and started to walk away, but I stopped her, “Danni?”

   “Yes?”

   “Uh, am I supposed to salute the way you did when you went in? Or, what?”

   “If you were wearing your smock, yes, but you’re not, so no. You are out of uniform, but you still speak with respect. Just talk to him the way you normally do.”

   “Okay, I can do that,” I said as Packer came out of his office.

   “Daniel? Come on in.” Then he turned and re-entered his office.

   She gave me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, “Relax, Captain, you’re here because you belong here.” Then she walked away.

   I hurried to Packer’s open door and entered, “Good morning, Sir.”

   “Have a seat, Daniel, there are some things I want to go over with you.”

   “Yes, Sir.” I sat in a chair, but on the edge of the seat.

   “Relax, Daniel, one of the things I want you to do is, anytime you and I are together, the way we are right now, I want you to appear relaxed and confident, alright?”

   “Sir?”

   “The people who serve under you must always feel you are in control, always. If they think you are unsure of yourself? They will be unsure of you, understand?”

   “Yes, Sir, I understand.” I slid back and tried to look relaxed, but Packer just smiled and said, “The more you practice, the easier it will be. Just act like your normal self when you were here before; you had it down pat.”

   “Yes, Sir.”

   He turned around and pulled a satchel off the shelf behind his chair, laid it on his desk and then pushed it to me, “This is for you, courtesy of Intelligence over at Holloman. That’s a top of the line laptop that has Gupta’s encryption code downloaded on it. Gilly says it is much more capable than the laptop you normally use.”

   “Really? Thank you, Sir.”

   “Do not, under any circumstance, leave that computer unattended unless it is in a secured location. Holloman was very adamant about that, clear?”

   “Yes, Sir.”

   “I’m going to give you a little leeway and let you choose any staff you might need; anyone in particular you might be interested in assisting you?”

   “Is there anyone on staff that could help with technical issues I might have?”

   “No one who is a member of the Rangers, the Governor may know of someone, so touch bases with her. There are the people from NMSU Las Cruces, they might help, but I suggest you avoid Stella; I don’t think I have to explain why.”

   “No, Sir, you don’t. There is a young girl who was a student at NMSU, she was rather helpful with my research at one point, Julia Ortiz?”

   He looked thoughtful for a moment and then, “I thought maybe I recognized the name, but what with Felicia, and all. She’s not in the Militia? I know she’s not in the Rangers.”

   “No, Sir. She was thinking of joining the Militia, but was concerned with the weight of all the equipment, she’s rather small and petite.”

   “I see, I’ll check into it and see what I can…No, you check into it, it’s your Intelligence Office and I’ll be damned if I’m going to micro-manage my way into an early grave.”

   I smiled, “Yes, Sir. Will my office be here in the Bunker?”

   “Not necessary, find a room, maybe with the help of Sorenson? And get it set up to work from. I want direct phone communications with your office and I want them secured.”

   “Yes, Sir.”

   He turned around again and pulled a thick packet from another shelf and then tossed it to me, “This is a week’s worth of radio transcriptions from the Communications Shack, see what you can find in there that might be useful.”

   “Yes, Sir, I’ll get started right now.” I rose to leave, but he looked back up from a paper he had begun to read.

   “Oh, I almost forgot, go by the sewing room and see Gilly; her and Mrs. Bellows are putting together your uniforms.”

   “Uniforms, Sir?”

   “Yeah, I can’t have my junior officers showing up in civvies for work.” He looked over the frames of his glasses and added, “Get a haircut, you’re not Bon Jovi, you’re a soldier, so start looking like one. And when I say a haircut? I mean high and tight.”

   I swallowed, but said, “Yes, Sir,” before I walked out the door. I kind of liked the way my hair looked. Bon Jovi? Who, or what, the hell was that?

   I went to the sewing room and Gilly met me at the door, “Hi, Daniel, are you here for the uniforms?”

   “Yes, Ma’am.”

   “Okay, come on in and we’ll get you measured up.”

   I followed her in and saw Bellows’ wife sitting behind a sewing machine as she sipped a cup of coffee. “Hello, Mrs. Bellows.”

   “Hi, Daniel.” She looked at me with a critical eye and said, “He’s going to be a little tough to fit, Gilly. I’m certain we don’t have any his size.”

   She nodded and said, “Get out the measuring tape and write it down, we’ll get started this afternoon.” She looked at me and said, “Sorry, Daniel, but we really need to finish a batch of smocks for the new Militia trainees for this afternoon, but I’ll tell Jerry to relax until we can get them ready for you, okay?”

   “Thanks, Gilly, he seemed rather set on my appearance.”

   “The old high and tight speech?”

   I smiled, “Yes, Ma’am.” She waved me off and I left for Dak’s office.

   When I reached Dak’s office his secretary sent me in and we talked for a few minutes while he looked through a database of available rooms. Then he asked, “How big of a room do you need, Dan?”

   “I really don’t know, maybe something I can grow into if needed?”

   He started flipping through a program and stopped, “Ah, here we go, there’s a data processing room in Phase Two that originally served its purpose while construction for the permanent processing room was being built.” He laughed.

   “Where?”

   “PH2L2-71. That’s the room number. It’s built into the outer wall of Phase Two and is only ten doors away from your apartment; you’re in 61.”

   “That would be outstanding, how big is it?”

   “Uh,” he glanced over the specs and then said, “800 square feet, that’s pretty big, all things considered and it has toilet facilities.”

   “Can we go take a look at it?”

   “Sure, let me get the keys for it.”

 

   We had to ascend three steps after we entered because of the raised floor, but we looked it over and I decided, though it was going to take some work, it looked promising. “I’ll take it,” I said.

   Dak smiled and said, “Are you sure? It’s awful close to home.”

   “That’s one of the pluses,” I said.

   “It could be considered one of the minuses though.”

   “Why? While Debra is laid up, I can check on her anytime I want and go home for lunch, yeah, this will be great.”

   “It also means she won’t have time to cool off when she leaves home to come confront you about leaving the toilet seat up.” He was joking about a time when she was on birth control pills and became somewhat, well, a lot, emotionally erratic.

   “Hmmm, well, there is that, but as long as she’s off the pill, we should be good to go. How soon can we get going on this?”

   “As soon as I get back to my office, I’ll make the calls and put an expedite order on it. I’ll have tech services get over here and remove all the un-needed com cables, install a secure phone line and make sure you have access to the inter-facility computer network. I bet we can have you working in here within two weeks.”

   “Too long,” I said. “I’ll start working from home, but I need this ready to go ASAP. I’ll go talk to Morgan now and see if I can get a push on.”

   “Okay,” he sounded dubious. “I’ve seen you get the ball rolling before though, so maybe you can do it again.” He held his hand out with the dangling keys and added, “The keys to your domain, have fun.”

   We went our separate ways and I went straight home. I walked into the apartment and said Hi to Debra and Maria; they were watching a recording of a TV series about dragons and war. Debra seemed to brighten up as soon as she saw me, “Hey, Hon! You’re home earlier than I thought you would be!”

   “Just passing through, Babe, but I wanted to let you know some news.”

   “What is it?” She asked.

   Then Maria said, “It’s almost time for lunch, Daniel, are you hungry?”

   “No thanks, Maria, I’m kind of in a hurry.” I turned back to Debra and said, “You’ll never guess where my new office is going to be!” She didn’t say anything, but she was smiling. She hates trying to guess things, “If you look out the front door? You can literally see the door to the new Intelligence Office!”

   “You’re kidding!”

   “No, while you’re recovering, I can come check on you and we can have lunch together, every day.”

   She raised her eyebrows and said, “And you can stop in for a quickie any time you want!”

   Maria disapprovingly said, “Chiquita! You should be more dignified!”

   Debra laughed and said, “Come on, Maria, we’ve been swapping stories and I know how undignified you can be, so relax a bit. Can you make Daniel a sandwich before he leaves?”

   Maria chuckled and said, “Of course.” She entered the kitchen and started gathering the makings.

   “I don’t have time, Babe, I have to get over to Facilities and talk to…”

   “Dan? The reason Danni and I first came up with this whole idea was to take pressure off of you, not add to it. You are already trying to skip meals and I’m not having it. Sit down and let Maria make you a sandwich.”

   I started to object, but when I saw the steel in her eyes, I conceded defeat. “Okay, Babe, but maybe I can eat it on the way?”

   “Well, at least that’s something. In the meantime, come here and give your woman a kiss.”

   I did, and Debra really got into it; I considered sending Maria home for a little while, but resisted the temptation.

   I heard Maria from the kitchen say, “Necesitas practicar tu dignidad!”

   Debra said with a laugh, “English please, Maria, you know we don’t speak Spanish.”

   “You are rejecting your heritage, a proud heritage.”

   Debra smiled up at me and said, “Somehow, she figured out I was half-Mexican and she’s determined to teach me Spanish.”

   “Well it certainately wouldn’t hurt; it might even be beneficial,” I said.

   “I don’t want to, but if you think I should?”

   “Up to you, Babe.” I looked and Maria was wrapping the sandwich in wax paper. “I have to go, Babe, I’ll see you later, okay?”

   “Eat… your… sandwich, and I love you.”

   “And I love you too.”

   Maria handed me the sandwich, a small plastic cup with a lid, and a bottle of water. I held up the cup and asked, “Salsa?”

   “Yes.”

   “You’re the best, Maria.” I hustled out the door and headed for Facilities as I dumped the salsa on the Ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and started wolfing it down. Maria’s salsa made everything taste better. Then I stumped to a stop as I realized I had left my new lap top in the apartment. Damn it! Less than two hours and I already screwed up! I rushed back to the apartment and burst through the door.

   “Daniel?” Debra was surprised by my sudden re-entry.

   “Sorry, Babe, but I left the computer here.” I looked around as I said, “Where is it? I left it on the table.”

   “Oh, Maria saw it and tried to catch you, but you were gone. She was going to put it in the bedroom, but I guess she had to use the head.”

   The bathroom door opened and Maria came out headed for the bedroom, “Maria,” I said. “Thanks for thinking about putting that away, but I need it.” I held out my hand and she placed it in my grip.

   “You are always leaving things laying around. Women have enough work without following you around and picking up after you.”

   She seemed a little testy, so I tried to unruffle her feathers, “I’m sorry, Maria, I’ll try to be more thoughtful.” She just nodded and then walked past me into the kitchen. I waved to Debra as I rushed out, “Later, Babe!”

   Morgan wasn’t in the Facilities main office; his receptionist informed me he had taken several of the crew foremen to the cafeteria for lunch, so they could have a meeting as they ate. I turned around and hustled back to the cafeteria. Once there, I scanned the large room and then walked to the table they were sitting at.

   “Morgan?”

   “Daniel, we were just talking about you, what’s up?”

   “Well, as you know, I’ve sort of been drafted, to volunteer, to be the Intelligence Officer for the Rangers.”

   “Yeah, personally, I think it’s a bit of a step down, but hey, I guess they need you.”

   “Anyway, I’ve picked a room in Phase Two for my office, but it needs some work done on it before it can be usable.”

   “Which one?”

   “PH2LV2-71,” I said. “It was the temporary data center before they shifted it to Phase Four.”

   “Oh, yeah, that changeover was a bitch. So, what’s up? What do you need?”

   “On the surface, not very much actually. I need almost all of the comm cable removed, the computer floor taken out, a secure phone line, the restrooms look good to go, it has a small kitchenette that’s good, um, a secure computer line established, some minor relocation of electrical outlets, you know, the usual stuff.”

   “When do you need it?”

   “I hate to sound like the usual, Morgan, but seriously, ASAP.”

   “Really? You’re not screwing with me at all?”

   “My job is the continuance of this facility, Morgan, and the safety of everyone here. Serious enough for you?”

   “Daniel, if it was anyone else, I’d call bullshit and slide your request to the bottom of the work list where it’s supposed to be, but I do know you.” He turned to the three foremen and said, “Eat up guys and then we’ll take a ride out to Phase 2 and see what we can get done with the rest of today and this evening.” Then he looked back at me, “Do you want to have lunch with us?”

   “No thanks, I ate a sandwich on the way to your office and drank a bottle of water on the way here; I’m good to go.”

   “Same ole Daniel; you need to stop and smell the roses once in a while.”

   “That’s what my wife is for, she’s my rose.”

   “I kind of thought so, did you buy that perfume for her, or is it something she had when you guys met?”

   “Huh?”

   “The perfume she’s been wearing, sometimes it smells like roses and sometimes it has a sort of roses and musky cinnamon scent to it? I’ve been wanting to ask her where she got it so I could get some for my wife.”

   “Ah, geez, Morgan, I’ve never seen her put on perfume, but since you mention it, yeah, roses. I’ll ask her about it and get back to you, okay?”

   “Thanks.”

   I waved and took off for the kitchen in the back of the Cafeteria. As I walked behind the counter, the woman food handler gave me an evil look and asked me what I thought I was doing. “I’m looking for Julia Ortiz, she works here washing dishes, if I remember correctly.”

   “You’re a little old for her, aren’t you?”

   “Huh?”

   “I said…”

   “No, no! Geez, I have a different job I need her for. Her talents are being wasted here.”

   “Yeah? Doing what?”

   “Computer research, correlation of data,” I racked my brain for terminology to dazzle her with.

   “Knock it off, I’m not a dumb ass. Is it really a job? One she’s suited for?”

   “Yes, Ma’am, she’ll be working for the Rangers and the Militia.” I started to walk past and she stopped me again.

   “Whoa there, hot shot! This area is sanitized three times a day and I don’t want you spreading your nasties around. I’ll go get her, it’s almost time for her shift to end anyway.”

   As she walked into the back, I heard her shouting Julia’s name. A few moments later, she followed as Julia came out wiping her hands on a towel, “Oh! Hi Daniel!”

   “So, you know this guy?” The food handler asked.

   “Yeah, I was working part time with him on a computer project.” She looked back at me and asked, “Need a little more help?”

   “A lot more, as in permanently helping with data, you up for it?”

   “Seriously?”

   “Seriously.”

   “On, hell, yeah!”

   “Jules! What have I told you about that mouth! When dirty stuff comes out, it leaves room for dirty stuff to get in!”

   “Sorry, Maggie, I’ll try to remember.”

   “Good, now get out of here and I don’t want to you see back here unless it’s to eat. Got it!”

   “Yes, Ma’am.”

   Once we were out of earshot, I said, “Wow, I bet you’re glad to be done with her.”

   “Huh? No, no, she’s really nice to me. She sounds all mean and everything, but she’s really sweet to us younger girls, and as you noticed, really protective too.”

   “If you say so.” I had my doubts. “Okay, I want you to go home, get cleaned up, and then come to my apartment. We’ll be working out of there temporarily until Facilities has our office finished and then we’ll move there.”

   “Okay, is your wife going to be there?”

   “Why? Did Maggie tell you to always have a chaperone?”

   She smacked my arm and said, “No! It’s just, all the kids in the Cadets idolize her and Sargent Monroe, I mean Lieutenant Monroe. Your wife because we all heard about the mission to Denver and Lieutenant Monroe because she looks out for the girls in the Cadets.”

   “The Cadets? I thought you were over eighteen!”

   “No, I’m only seventeen, is that going to be a problem with me working for you?”

   “Uh, I don’t know, we’ll see. I really want your expertise though.” We walked a little farther and then I said, “Where are you staying?”

   “It’s called the Old Workers’ Barracks for some reason. A bunch of us girls live all together in a dormitory.”

   “Oh, okay, I used to live there once upon a time.”

   “You did? You don’t seem to be all that old.”

   “Huh?”

   “You don’t seem old enough to be living in an old workers’ home.”

   “Uh, Julia, why do you think it’s called the old workers’ barracks?”

   “Well the people who were already there called it that, so I sort of figured the old workers used to live there. I mean, it seemed logical to me. This place isn’t very old, I figured they wouldn’t call it that because it was old, so they must have put the old workers’ in there so they have a place to live after they couldn’t work anymore?”

   “I guess that would sound reasonable to some, but the reason it’s called that is because those barracks were where the workers who built this place lived while it was under construction. Now the job is finished, so most of them left and went back to their homes and that’s the reason it’s called, the old workers’ barracks.”

   She smacked the side of her head with the palm of her hand, “Geez, I saw the flaws in the reasoning, but bought into it anyway.”

   “Always question presumed authority, Julia. It can make life easier, but mostly it makes life more interesting.”

   “Yeah, I guess so, I’ll see you at your place, okay?”

   “Sure thing.” She trotted away as I smiled to myself; she was extremely smart when it came to computers, but she was a bit naïve, like me, in other ways.

   I went home also and when I walked into the apartment, Debra waved me to her with her index finger over her lips. I leaned down and whispered, “What’s up?”

   She pulled my ear close to her lips and said, “Danni came in a few minutes ago with two duffle bags. She said she wanted to talk to you when you got home; she’s in the bedroom.”

   I nodded, gave her a brief kiss and then went to the bedroom door and lightly knocked. “Danni? Debra said you want to talk to me?”

   “Come in, Daniel.”

   I opened the door and after peeking past its edge I walked in, “What can I do for you?”

   She was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back straight and her knees pressed together; on her lap was an OCP camo battle jacket that was folded neatly. I could see a name tag that read SMITH. She pulled the shirt up and after pressing it to her chest for a moment, she held it out to me, “Dan and you are, were, the same sizes. I couldn’t stand the idea of giving his cammies to Gilly to be altered for someone else, so I brought them here, for you.” Her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was red.

   “Oh, Danni, no, you keep them; alter them for yourself someday.”

   “No, Dan would want you to have them, he really would. He had a really good set that were almost new he was going to give you when you eventually went Ranger; he always said you would someday. I already went by and told Gilly you wouldn’t need her to alter any clothes for you; I told her I was giving you Danny’s.”

   “Danni…”

   She tapped a duffel bag with the toe of her boot and said, “This is all his clothes, his uniforms. There are seven sets of blouse and trousers. There’s also some spare OCP pouches, a rigger’s belt, holster, mag pouches and such for a duty belt. He wore his Glock on the front of his vest, so, it’s gone now. When he went down, I grabbed the first thing handy to try and drag him to cover. It was that hatchet you brought him from Home Depot in Las Cruces; god he loved that thing. The way he had it attached wasn’t very good though and it ripped off his belt. I knew he really liked it, so I stuffed it down in my vest. Then I tried to pull him again, but he was already gone. It’s in the duffel too,” She looked up at me, “He would really get a kick out of it if you carried it like he did. Did you know he would practice throwing it at targets?” She laughed sadly, “He was terrible throwing it, but every once in a while, it would stick in something and get him all pumped up to keep practicing. There’s other stuff you can have too. His Kevlar bump hat for his NVDs, but the NVDs are gone. He had them in his patrol pack when…” She trailed off as she started to tremble.

   I heard a sound I was all too familiar with and looked at the door as Debra came stumping in on one crutch, “Debra, what are doing out of bed?”

   “My sister is in here grieving; no way am I laying out there with my leg up in the air when she needs me.’ She tossed the crutch on the bed and lowered herself down beside Danni with a little help from me. Wrapping her arm around Danni’s shoulders, she said with emotion in her voice, “Come here, Sweetie, I’ve got you, I’ll always have you.”

   I left them alone and after I walked out, I could hear Debra talking softly to her. I wandered around the apartment a bit, checked in the fridge for a snack and then walked next to the hospital bed with the trapeze attached to it, that was when I smelled it, the roses and musky cinnamon. It had to be some type of perfume. I filed it away with the intent to ask Debra what it was called.

   I went to the table and opened the satchel the computer and files that Packer had given me were in and started going through the files. It was page after page of transcripts. Good lord, this was going to be extremely boring. I immersed myself in it though and soon I was startled to discover three voices in the living room instead of two in the bedroom. I looked up and found Julia having an animated conversation with Debra and Danni.

   “Well,” Danni said. “Look who just realized the world existed.”

   I must have shaded a little red because Debra and Danni laughed a bit. Julia just looked back and forth between the three of us and finally shrugged. “I need to moderate that somehow,” I said. “If anyone ever decides to assassinate me, it will be entirely too easy for them to sneak up on me.”

   Debra snapped, “Don’t say that, never say that!” Both Danni and Julia were startled by the outburst. She glanced around and then said, “Sorry, I guess I’m feeling a little...”

   Danni said, “It’s my fault, if I wasn’t constantly…”

   Debra cut her off, “No it isn’t, you get to do that, it’s what we need when we are grieving.”

   I shifted in my chair and said, “Yeah, well I have a question. Normally I just sort of use scissors to trim my hair, but Packer says he wants me looking more professional. Is there a barber shop somewhere around the Hole?”

   Debra said, “I know there’s a women’s hair salon, but I never noticed a men’s barber. There must be one somewhere though. Most of the guys around here are fairly well-groomed.”

   “So,” Danni said. “The Major wants your hair high and tight, huh?”

   “Yeah.”

   She walked out of the room and after a few short minutes she returned with a set of electric hair clippers. “When I was overseas, all the guys would ask me to cut their hair or shave their heads, I got pretty good at it and always cut Danny’s hair when he needed it.” She tossed me a towel and said, “Take off your shirt and when I’m done, you should take a shower. If you don’t, you’ll be itching like crazy tomorrow.” I stood up and stripped off the tee-shirt I was wearing and Danni said, “Wow, you’re right, Debra, your husband is in great shape, Oo, la, la!”

   Debra laughed and said, “You can’t have him! He’s mine!”

   Julia looked around a little wide-eyed and finally said, “You guys are strange.”

   Even Danni laughed as I said, “Julia, welcome to my world.”

   I swung the towel around and settled it over my shoulders before pinching it closed in front with my hand. Danni pushed my head to one side and started cutting my hair off. I could hear Julia talking softly to Debra and Debra answering her, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Finally, Danni stepped away and gave me critical look and then nodded. “Good,” she said. I started to remove the towel, but she said, “Not yet, I need a soap and razor now.” Into the bathroom she went and then came out with a bowl of semi-hot water. She dipped her hands in the water and used a bar of soap to lather up before applying it to the sides and back of my head. “Debra?” She said.

   “Yes?”

   As Danni was applying the soap to my head, she seemed to be working her fingers into my skin, “Your man is really tense and the muscles in his neck and base of his skull are hard as rocks. Giving him massages will be good therapy for your hand when that cast comes of.”

   I was getting drowsy.

   “How bad is it?”

   “I’ve felt worse, but not by much.” I heard the bed shifting around and then Danni rapidly said, “Get your ass back in that bed and your leg in the sling!”

   “I will, but he’s been under a lot of stress and I want to feel it for myself.”

   “I felt it for you.”

   I jerked upright as I realized I was almost asleep, “Wha, what?’ I turned and looked at Debra and said, “Back in bed! Julia, help her get that sling back on, please.”

   She did as Danni dipped her hands in the bowl of water, applied it to my head, and started using a razor to shave the sides and back. When she was done, she used a wet washrag to remove the leftover soap and then a small towel to dry my head off. She continued to massage my neck through the towel and once again I started to get drowsy. “Relax Daniel, that’s it, just relax and let it flow, flow with it Daniel…” And then she placed one hand at the back of my head and the other under my chin before she twisted my head; my neck, and my back cracked from the base of my skull to the middle of my shoulder blades.

   “Damn, Danni!” Then I realized a lot of tenseness I had been feeling was gone, just gone. “Oh, wow, that’s feeling pretty good now.”

   “I thought it might.” She brushed the hair from the towel onto the floor and then pointed to the bathroom, “I’ll bring you a change of clothes, okay?”

   “Alright.”

   I stepped into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror over the sink. Huh, not too bad, in fact, I kind of liked the look. “Dan?” Danni was standing in the doorway with a set of OCP cammies, my RAT boots, socks, underwear, and a brown tee-shirt. “After your shower, try these on to make sure they fit. I’m pretty sure they will, but try them on.”

   “I will,” I said, “Thank you.” I showered, dried off and then dressed in the uniform. When I was done, I noticed that Dan’s name tag had been removed and another one had been added in its place, TARN. Over the other side from the name tag was an embroidered tag that said, Grant County Rangers. When did that happen? In the center was the rank symbol, the twin bars of a captain, black on a subdued background. I braced myself, and then stepped into the hall and then the Living room. I simply stood there until the girls noticed me, and then Danni stood to attention and saluted me.

   “Danni…”

   “She has to, Honey,” Debra said. “You’re both in uniform and she’s a junior officer; you should return her salute.”

   I returned the salute as Debra and Danni had taught me, and Danni finished her own. “Wow, that was incredibly uncomfortable.” I said.

   Danni laughed and said, “Yeah, it was for me too after I put the Lieutenant’s bar on that the Major gave me. All my friends and people I’ve served with over the past three years saluting me; I think some of them purposely searched me out just to see me squirm.”

   Julia suddenly asked, “Was I supposed to salute? You know, because I’m a Cadet.”

   “No,” Danni said. “You’re not in uniform, but when you are, then, yes.”

   “I don’t have a uniform,” she said. “Just that poncho thing they call a smock.” 

   “That is your uniform,” Danni said. “Eventually, even the Rangers will be wearing them as our uniforms get old and wear out. Some of the newer Rangers are already wearing them.”

   “Oh, okay.” Then she looked at me and said, “When we are working on the computers and looking at the transcripts, am I supposed to wear my uniform since I’m working for you?”

   “Uh…” I had no idea.

   “Yes,” Danni said. “You’re only a Cadet, but you are working in an official capacity for the Rangers and the Militia.” She thought about it for a moment and then said to all of us in general, “I need to incorporate lessons on military bearing and protocol for the cadets early in their training cycle to relieve any nervousness concerning what they should do and when they should do it.”

   “Yeah,” I said. “I’m constantly worried I’m going to, unknowingly, step on someone’s toes.”

   Then Debra said, “I guess I’ll get used to the short hair on you, but I always liked having my fingers in there; it made for a great handhold when…” She stuttered to a stop as she glanced at Julia.

   “Geez, Lieutenant Tarn, I’m not a child, you know.”

   We talked a little longer and then I called Julia to the table where we sat and I started explaining what I wanted her to do. I gave her my old lap top to use and said I wanted her to start copying the radio transmission transcripts into it with the intent of being able to eventually use queries to establish correlations in reports.

   She nodded, and then said, “Okay, I don’t mind doing this, but wouldn’t it be better to hire some data entry people to do it? It would probably go a lot faster and allow you and I more time to actually look for the correlations you want to find.”

   From her bed, Debra said, “Bingo!”

   I glanced at her and saw she was rapidly scribbling on a pad of paper, then I looked back to the transcript I was looking through and asked, “Babe, what’s the name of the perfume you wear?”

   The scribbling never ceased as she answered, “I don’t wear perfume, Honey, you know that.”

   Julia stopped what she was doing and asked, “You don’t? Why not?”

   Debra stopped writing and looked at her, “There are two reasons: One, when you are on a combat patrol, scouting, tracking, or any activity that might require stealth, you do not want to give yourself away with the artificial scents you might be wearing. Two, and the most important to me, my husband says he prefers my natural scent to something store bought. At first, I thought he was just being sweet and complimentary, but now, I’ve come to believe he truly does love my natural scent.” Then she looked at me and asked, “Why are you asking, Honey?”

   “Earlier, when I was talking to Morgan, he asked the name of the perfume you used because he liked it and wanted to, someday, get the same for his wife.”

   “But I don’t use…”

   “I know, but he said something interesting; he said the perfume smelled like roses and sometimes sort of rosy with a hint of musky cinnamon combined.”

   “He’s nuts,” she said as she frowned.

    Danni rose from her seat on the couch and leaned over Debra as she sniffed Debra’s tee-shirt. Then she said, “Nope, nothing, all I can smell is Debbie.”

   “I thought he was off-base too, but when the two of you were in the bedroom earlier, I could actually smell you from your sheets and realized he was right, it was roses and cinnamon.”

   “Ewww, you were sniffing your wife’s dirty sheets?”

   I looked at Julia and said, “What? Of course not! All I had to do was stand close…” I realized the impish grin from Julia was for my discomfort. “God, not another one.” I turned my attention back to the report I was retyping into the computer.

   “Honey…”

   “Never mind, it’s not important anyway.”

   Then Debra said, “Julia, would you mind coming here for a minute?”

   Julia did, and as I watched, Debra pulled her tee-shirt out from her body and said, “Take a sniff, do you mind?”

   Julia leaned down and audibly sniffed, then did it again before straightening up and saying, “No roses and no cinnamon, just a lady smell.”

   “Daniel? Come here please?”

   “No,” I said, “I’m busy.”

   “Honey, please? This scent thing has really got me thinking.” I stopped and looked up at her and realized she was serious.

   I got up and walked over to her, “What?”

   She pulled the tee-shirt out and said, “Please? Sniff it?”

   “Babe…”

   “Please? It might be important somehow.”

   I sighed, but did as she asked, before standing back up.

   “Well?” Danni and Julia were closely watching me.

   “Roses, definitely, but there’s still a hint of cinnamon mixed in, though not as strong as when, uh, as when…”

   “That’s alright, we’ll talk more later.” She reached out and grasping my wrist, brought it to her face and sniffed, then she motioned to Danni, who did the same. Debra said, “When I smell Daniel, he has a distinct scent that has a strong effect on me. What do you smell, Danni?”

   Danni shrugged and asked, “Am I supposed to smell something? He just got out of the shower.”

   Debra said, “Danni, could I get you to drive me over to talk to Sara?”

   Danni looked puzzled and said “Now?”

   “Yes, now.” She looked at the clock on the wall and said, “Julia, didn’t you say earlier that you were going to meet some friends at the cafeteria at 4:30?”

   Julia looked at the clock as well, “Yeah, it’s starting to get close.”

   Debra invited her to leave by saying, “You can come with us and we’ll drop you off, okay?”

   Julia looked at me and asked, “Is that okay? Are we done for the day?”

   “Sure, go ahead, I’m going to go over to the new office and see if Facilities has gotten anything done yet.”

   Danni helped Debra to the bedroom and when they came out, Debra had changed into sweats, a tank top and sandals. She used the crutch to get out to the cart and then the three of them drove away. I glanced at all the papers on the table with the computers, then walked out, locked the front door and headed to the future home of the Intelligence Office.

 

   The raised computer floor was neatly stacked outside and when I entered, there were at least six workers hustling around. Morgan was helping one of the foremen snap lines on the bare concrete floor. I walked up and said, “Wow, you guys hit the deck running, didn’t you?”

   Morgan looked up and smiled, “Do you know how long it’s been since I actually worked on a project? I’m actually enjoying myself.”

   “Glad I could entertain you. I was thinking, we need this quick, so how about we skip flooring and just patch the concrete and seal it.?”

   “Sounds good; we’re almost out of carpet anyway. How about some area rugs?”

   I shook my head and said, “Naw, those things are forever tripping people, let’s go with bare concrete.” I looked up and asked, “Secure comm lines and phone?”

   “I have them scheduled for tomorrow. What about the restrooms and… Whoa! What happened to your hair!”

   I laughed, “The Major decided I had to up my professional appearance, so high and tight it is.”

   He looked at me critically and then said, “Well, it’s not my cup of tea, but shit, you make it look good.”

   “Thanks, Danni likes it I think, but Debra hasn’t fully got on board yet.”

   “Any way, the restrooms and the kitchenette; the restrooms were originally laid out, back-to-back and in the rear of the space. If we leave them as is, we can significantly shorten the remodel time; sound good?”

   “Yeah, they were separated from storage and the kitchenette by a hall, but it takes up floor space. Let’s delete that hall and it will give us another, what, maybe 60 square feet of open floor space?”

   “Yeah, that was all wasted before. I assume you’ll need a private office?”

   “Yeah, but I want it to double as a conference room and I’d like some windows in it, so I can see the main office floor space.”

   “Okay, we’ve got some fairly large windows in the boneyard we can repurpose.” He looked around and asked, “I assume you want to keep the Tee Bar ceilings with the walls just to the Tee Bar?”

   “Yeah, but I’ll need sound bats above the conference room and my office for security. Oh, and blinds, to close off the conference room.”

   “Got it. What about furniture?”

   “A desk for me in the office, nothing fancy, but utilitarian and comm capable. A reception desk with phone hookup and comms, uh, and give me three more desks for data entry, all comm ready as well.”

   “Just three data entry? You have a lot of space for more.”

   “Three for now, but I may need more down the road, so put the desks closer to the front, so we can add behind them if needed.”

   “Paint?”

   “Neutral flat colors, like, uh,” then I glanced down, pulled the front of my jacket forward, and said, “Match the base color of this, and trim in the next most used contrasting color as long as it’s not black.”

   He looked at the cammie pattern and said, “Probably have to be mixed in the paint department, that okay?”

   “Yes, of course.” I thought for a moment and then said, “Security, this room must be well-secured.”

   “It will be. I’ve got video cameras, electronic locks, keypad entrance, the works. I guarantee you’ll be good to go from the start. Hey, you want a print reader? I’ve got one on a shelf taking up space.”

   “Sounds good,” I said. I gave it one more look over and said, “Fire sprinklers look good as is, if the conference room is placed…is that what the snap lines are for?”

   He smiled, “Yeah, Perkins came over and told us where to add the walls for the office so we had coverage inside and outside.”

   “The heads that are in the hall we are taking out, any conflicts?”

   “Yeah, the ones in the hall to the restrooms were too close to the ones in the storage area once we took the wall down. Perkins already plugged them off.”

   “He’s a good man, he’ll do well for you.” I nodded and asked, “Projected time until you’re finished?”

   “We’re pushing this one hard for you, Dan, four days max, but you’ll be in here with the paint drying.”

   “Damn, Morgan, outstanding!” I looked around one last time and then said, “Well, I have work of my own and I need to run by Dak Sorensen’s office and see if I can procure some employees; I’ll see you later, okay?”

   “You bet!”

   I left, but as I did, I saw the front door of my apartment was partially open, what the hell? I locked the door; I know I did! The computers and the files were on the dining table! I ran to the door and burst inside to find Maria, sitting at the table and sewing a patch onto the back of an OCP Patrol Cap. The files had been pushed to one side and a sewing box was sitting where they had.

   “Hello, Daniel, I came to fix dinner for you, Debra, and Danni, but everyone was gone, so I used the key Debra gave me to open the door.”

   “Oh, I saw the door open and…I forgot you had a key. What are you doing?”

   “Danni called and said you might need to go somewhere and if you did, you would need this hat. She told me where the patches were for it and asked if I would sew them on for you.”

   “I see, thank you, Maria. The problem is, I’m not sure when I’m supposed to wear it and when I’m not.”

   “That’s okay, she told me what to tell you. Danni says, you wear your cover, that is what she says it is called, you wear your cover outside always, but the women may wear a bandana that matches their uniform if it is used to restrain their hair, then they do not need a hat type cover. The places you do not wear it is indoors, but then she says, when you are in the Hole, you wear your hat, I mean your cover, when you are outside of rooms, like in places to go from one room to another. Women may wear their cover if it is a bandana in the rooms and in the cafeteria, but men cannot wear their cover in the cafeteria. But she says if you are armed and fighting or acting as a guard with a gun, you wear your cover always, unless you are in the cafeteria eating.” She hesitated and then said, “I hope I repeated that correctly.”

   I smiled and said, “So do I.”

   “I’ll finish the hat for you while the potatoes are boiling. Will Debra and Danni be back soon?”

   “Honestly, I don’t even know what they are doing. They said they needed to speak with Sara Gupta about something.” I looked at the papers she had moved on the table and asked, “Maria, did you read any of these papers?”

   “No, I just moved them over a little, but I was careful not to stack them with each other, I hope that is okay?”

   “I suppose, but please, if you come again and…never mind, I’ll be careful not to leave my stuff laying around, and in the way, in the future.”

   “Good,” she said with a smile. “You are learning not to add to a woman’s work. Debra will appreciate that when she has a house full of little ones.”

   While she was talking, I gathered the papers together and slipped them into the satchel. Then I placed the new computer in with the papers. Walking into the bedroom, I gathered up my black utility belt and placed it around my waist. Then I slipped my Ruger and two spare magazines in the holster and mag pouches. When I walked back out, she handed me the finished patrol cap, cover. “Maria, I have to go see Dak Sorensen, so if the girls come home before me, would you tell them?”

   “Of course, congratulations for being an officer. Now Debra can look up to her man as a woman should.”

   “Thank you, Maria, but Debra doesn’t need to look up to me, we always look eye-to-eye.” I walked out and started for Dak’s office at a fast pace; I hoped he was still there.

   When I arrived at a little after five, his receptionist was gone, but I could see him through the window of his office. I tapped on it and he looked up, put a surprised expression on his face and waved me in. “Dan! I almost didn’t recognize you!”

   “Yeah, I guess I look a little different now.”

   “You can say that again. Felicia said you were getting promoted, but from Militia Ox, to Ranger Captain? Holy shit, I didn’t see that coming.”

   I laughed, “You’re not the only one. Anyway, I need your help.”

   “Okay, what’s up.”

   “I need three data entry people and one of them, at least, needs to work as a receptionist. Do you have anyone that fits the requirements available?”

   “What will be their duties?”

   “They need to be able to copy written, or printed, information into a computer, so it can be correlated at a later date. There is a crap ton of information that needs to be copied and it looks like a lot to be done on a weekly basis.”

   “Okay, so you’ll need people who can type fast and do it accurately.”

   “Yes.”

   “I don’t know, Daniel, what you are asking for is in high demand. What kind of incentive can I give someone who might be interested?”

   “Contributing to the future safety of the Hole? They will be working in the Intelligence Office and one of the things we will be looking for is clues and hints of future attacks.” I thought for a moment and added, “How about membership in the Rangers, or Militia, as an Intelligence Analyst.”

   He smiled and said, “You know, some people really buy into a good job title, that just might work, plus they get to fulfill their Militia obligation without crawling in the mud.”

   “So, you think you can get me a few?”

   “I won’t know until I try, but it sounds promising. What about office stuff, chairs, desks, computers, anything like that?”

   “Yeah, but that’s going to come through Morgan, so be ready for him to come calling.”

   “Okay, so when are we getting together again? Fel says she misses the card games.”

   “Tell her to get together with the girls and see what they can work out. I’ll be there for sure if I’m not on duty.”

   “Good enough, anything else?”

   “I don’t think so, but I could use those people pretty quick.”

   “When?”

   “Five days, maybe.”

   “Whew, that’s going to be tough, but I’ll see what I can do.”

   I stood up and reached across his desk to shake hands, “Thanks, Dak, I’ll be seeing you.”

   “Count on it!”

 

   I hustled back to the apartment and saw the cart was back. When I entered, Debra was back in the bed with her leg up and looking a little pale. “Over did it, didn’t you?” I said.

   She nodded and said, “Yeah, I think so, but I thought it might be important.”

   “Okay, so, why was it important to see Sara?”

   “The smell thing, my scent, your scent, the way both of us respond to the scent of each other.” She looked a little dubious and then asked, “When was the first time you noticed you liked the way I smelled?”

   “It wasn’t too long after I met you. The first night we made love, right here in this apartment, I really started getting into it, but the day Danni and I came for you at the Child Care Center after we had been separated? That was when it really hit me. Do you remember when we had to climb that ladder and I was close to you, to support you so you wouldn’t fall?” She nodded. “I think that was when it really hit me hard. When we were climbing, it was all I could do to not put my hands all over you. You were intoxicating in the close space we were in. Why?”

   “That’s when I noticed your scent, in the crawlspace of the ladder. I wanted you so bad. It was like…I don’t know.” She seemed really nervous and withdrawn.

   “What is it, Babe, what’s wrong?”

   “Sara thinks…maybe…”

   “What?”

   She started rushing her explanation while she stared at her hands as she knotted her fingers together in her lap, “Sara thinks the scent might be a symptom of the blue shit we were contaminated with. She thinks the chemical, or whatever it was, is what causes us to be so strongly attracted to each other. That blue shit might be the reason we got back together, maybe we don’t really love each other, maybe what we feel is some sort of chemically induced sexual euphoria, maybe you don’t want me, not really. What if it wears off? Will you suddenly wake up some morning and realize I’m not the one for you? What if…”

   “Debra! Stop it! Stop it now!”

   “But…” She was starting to cry. “I can’t lose you, I can’t!”

   “You are not going to lose me, Debra. I am here for the duration. Let’s say, just for the sake of the argument, that the blue spray is what makes me crazy for your scent. I was head over heels in love with you before we were contaminated, remember? You told me the same thing; you were in love with me before you were contaminated. Right?” She nodded. “Let’s say the blue spray made us more attracted to each other, okay, so there is another reason for our intensity, but the intensity was there before the blue shit was. Does it seem to make us more aware of each other? Possibly, but I was already aware of you.”

   “I told you things about me I never told anyone before, the things I did and liked, the things I was so ashamed of, but now I want you to do those things to me. I’m not afraid you’ll hurt me, I want to do those things for you, is the blue shit the reason? Is it making me want to do those things?”

   “I want you to calm down, Babe, calm down, listen to me, okay?” She nodded again as tears ran down her cheeks. “If you need to, in order to reassure yourself, we will stop everything…”

   “Nooo, no!”

   “Hush, listen, I’m not leaving because all of a sudden you’re afraid the only reason I want you is because of that damn blue crap. I wanted you before, I want you now, I’ll want you tomorrow, but if it will prove to you I don’t need you to be wild and sexual in a chemically induced way, then let’s stop for a while, so you can see I’m not going to leave. Answer me this, you didn’t tell me your past until after we were contaminated, we both know that, but did you have fantasies about me doing those things to you before?”

   She nodded her head again.

   “You wanted me to do things to you before we were contaminated, right?”

   “Yes.”

   “What has changed, Babe? Nothing. That is what has changed. Nothing.”

   “But I’m scared, Daniel; I’m really scared.”

   “Of what?”

   “What if another woman comes along that was contaminated, what if you decide you want her more than me.”

   “Let me ask you this, what if another man comes along that was contaminated and you decide you want him more than me?”

   “Never! I’m yours! I belong to you and only you!”

   “I know that, Debra, I know you are mine. I know the blue shit won’t make you want another man. Do you want to know why, I know that?”

   She nodded.

   “Because it is obvious, that Morgan was contaminated somehow. He can smell your scent the same way I can, but you don’t want him, do you?”

   “No.”

   “And he doesn’t want you, he wants your perfume for his wife. He wants your scent for his wife. He wants his wife and no one else.”

   She gasped, “Oh my god, you’re right! He’s never even gotten fresh with me; he’s always really polite to me and the rest of the women!”

   “So, you see, it doesn’t turn people into whores; it enhances the desire you have for the person you want.”

   She reached up and pulled my face to hers and gave me another frantic kiss. The whole time we had been talking, all I could smell around her was roses, now the scent of cinnamon was over-powering.

   “Daniel, what do I smell like?”

   “A whole lot of cinnamon.”

   “So, roses are sweet demur wife, and cinnamon is…?”

   “Take a guess.”

   She looked up at the clock and said, “I told Danni I needed to have a long talk with you; she said she would be back at nine. We have three hours.”

   “Maria?”

   “I told her to stay home because we needed a husband and wife talk, but screw talking, we have three hours alone and that new haircut of yours is driving me to distraction!”

 

   A little after nine, the front door cracked open and Danni said, “It’s me, is it okay to come in?”

   Debra loudly said, “Yeah, it’s okay.”

   The door opened fully and Danni walked in as she looked us over. “I’m guessing everything is all worked out?” I was sitting on the edge of the bed where I had been while Debra and I talked.

   Debra smiled and said, “Yeah, everything is good. I’m going to call Sara in the morning and tell her what Daniel and I figured out.”

   “I assume you decided there was nothing to worry about, just like Sara and I told you the whole time you were getting upset?”

   “Yeah,” she answered. “I know; I guess I sort of panicked a bit.”

   “A bit? Is that what you’re calling it?” Danni shook her head as she passed through to the bathroom. “I need to pee, be right back.” We continued our discussion until Danni came out. “And?” She asked.

   “Oh,” Debra said. “We think the contaminant might influence physical attraction, but it only seems to work with people who are already attracted to someone. Daniel says Morgan describes my scent the same way he does, but Morgan wants the perfume for his wife and not me. See what I’m saying?”

   Danni stared at us for a few moments and then said, “I’m not real sure I agree with you.”

   I frowned and asked, “Why?”

   She asked Debra, “Debbie, the night of the blow-up at the dance, you had every one of those five guys eating out of your hand. Don’t you think maybe the way you were able to influence all of them as strongly as you did, might be connected with their probable exposure to the contaminant? Remember how easy it was to lead the first guy to the Projection Room?”

   “Well, yeah, but I didn’t feel the same way about them.” She looked at me and then said, “I was turned on by the dancing, not by them.”

   “I know, Babe, but Danni has a point. Remember I told you I could smell you all the way from the other side of the table when I got there? They were dancing with you, they were sitting at the table with you, I’m concerned about what may have happened if you would have been alone with them somewhere. The fake Marine that died? He reacted very strongly and in a very possessive manner because he considered me a threat to the possession of you and probably because of your scent.”

   “Oh, so some people might be drawn to people who are not receptive to…” She trailed off.

   “What?” Danni asked.

   I waited as I watched Debra going through a thought process until, finally, I said, “Debra?”

   “That fucking Stella Morrison! I bet that cunt was contaminated and now she has the hots for you!” She punctuated the ‘you’ with a stab of her finger in my direction.

   “Babe…”

   “Don’t you ‘babe’ me, Mister Oh yeah, I got shot! That bitch has tried to undermine our relationship from the very start!”

   “Uh…”

   Danni looked shocked and said, “Debbie! It’s not Daniel’s fault! He didn’t contaminate her and he certainately didn’t encourage her!”

   “I didn’t say that!” She snapped.

   Confused I said, “Debra, I don’t understand.”

   Debra grabbed her hair and yanked on it, “Gahhh!”

   Danni shouted, “Debbie! Stop it!”

   “You don’t understand!” She whined.

   I untangled her fingers from her hair and said, “Then maybe you should explain, why you’re so upset?”

   “How can I hate that bitch if it’s not her fault! It’s that damn blue shit!”

   Good grief.

   Danni started laughing as Debra said in a low dangerous tone, “It’s not funny, Danni Lynn.” Danni started laughing harder.

   I was struggling to hold my own laughter in as I said, “Well, what do we do now?”

   Debra covered her face with her hands and said, “I don’t know, I still want to kill her, but if she’s under the influence of drugs…”

   “Has Sara and Felicia come up with a test yet?” I asked.

   Debra nodded and said, “Yeah, but they’re trying to fine tune it; they think it’s only 60% accurate.”

   “So, no.” I said.  She shook her head, then leaned back and rested her head on her pillow. “You okay?”

   “Headache.”

   “I’ll get you some Tylenol.” I went to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, removed two of the tablets and took them back to her. “Here, take these.” She put them in her mouth and drank water from a bottle. “Do you need to get to the restroom for a…”

   “No, I skipped my period last month and it looks like again this month. I still get the headaches though.”

   “You mean, you’re pregnant?” I asked as my hopes began to climb. We weren’t trying, but an accident would be welcome.

   She shook her head as she said, “No, Doctor Horne says I probably missed because I was so fit. I guess a lot of women athletes drop their period because their fat level is so low. Now, this month, nine days of no food and only water, so I’m still extra lean.”

   “Oh, okay.”

   She closed her eyes and was asleep almost immediately.

   Danni shook her head as she placed the back of her hand against Debra’s forehead. Then she whispered, “So, she still gets the fever when she starts her period?”

   “Yeah, what the hell does she do when she’s in the field? She can’t just lay down and go to sleep when she’s on patrol.”

   “She pushes through it, just like every other woman in the world does.”

   I shook my head and said, “I’m glad I’m a guy.”

   Danni smiled and said, “So is Debbie.”

 

   Apparently, more damage was done to Debra’s knee than previously thought. It was three weeks before she could get around without a brace and I ended up cutting down the cane I had used when my leg was broken for her to use. She returned to duty instructing the Snipers, and assisting Banner training Trackers. Danni organized the Cadet and Militia training to fit around the school that Stella Morrison put together for the Cadets. Unfortunately, because Danni and Stella were required to work together on occasion, they had a tendency to butt heads because of Stella’s past actions. Danni and I began to avoid the topic of Stella when we could, but sometimes there was no way. Sometimes Debra would become unreasonably angry, and others times unreasonably sad. It was a toss-up which it would be.

   Then, Sara and Felicia finished their work on the test and announced it was foolproof. Debra and I volunteered to be tested even though we were certain we had been exposed, we were tested and the proof was provided; yes, we had been contaminated. Felicia, as Governor, ordered all personnel in the Hole to be tested and there were some surprising results. Rich and Nadia both tested positive, but neither one described symptoms involving smell from each other. Morgan tested positive; his wife did not, and even though he could smell Debra’s scent, he said he only had desire for his wife. The results from the testing didn’t seem to point positively to any one result from exposure, but Sara thought it was imperative that Stella be tested and invited Debra to attend the session. I think Sara thought it might be beneficial if Debra knew Stella’s actions were from contamination. All of us were sure that she had been exposed because of her actions in regards to me and frankly, we thought Debra would ease off on the hatred thing if she found out it really wasn’t Stella’s fault.

   Sara had asked Danni and Nadia to be present when the test was done because she knew Debra was going to be there, but when Debra walked into the lab, Stella refused the test.

   “No, and I’m not taking the test as long as, SHE, is present!” She stared at Debra and said, “I’ve heard the rumors; the threats you’ve made, and I don’t have to perform the test, period! You are simply searching for a reason to banish me from the Hole because of your unreasonable jealousy of me.”

   Danni told her, “If you show positive, you won’t be banished, Stella, it will just explain some of your actions and make life around here a little less dangerous for you.”

   “Are you telling me that you support this, woman? You and Captain Tarn are good friends, am I right?”

   “Yes.”

   “You actually share an apartment with Daniel and, HER, right?”

   Danni calmly said, “Yes.”

   “Then you are fully aware of how she leads him around by his penis! The man deserves more respect than to be treated as a sex toy!”

   Debra released a low growl from her throat and then said, “Slander me all you want, Stella, but be very careful what you say about my, husband.”

    “Oooo, the little peacock has her feathers ruffled! You know what? I don’t care! Eventually, he’ll get tired of the sexual submission and look for someone that can carry on a conversation that isn’t comprised of, OH! FUCK ME, BOY TOY!”

   Debra shifted her cane from her left hand to her cast covered right, stepped towards Stella with her left foot and punched Stella in the center of her face. Stella stumbled back several steps and then collapsed unconscious as Nadia rushed forward and stopped Stella’s head from bouncing on the floor. Nadia looked up and said, “Wow.”

   Sara was standing frozen next to her desk with a syringe in her hand and wide-open eyes as she stared at Debra.

   “Sara?” Debra said without taking her eyes from Stella.

   Sara squeaked, “Yes?”

   “Blood sample, now.”

   “Oh, oh, okay!” She kneeled beside Stella, wrapped a tube around her arm and snugged it up. Inserted the sample syringe, released the tube, and drew the syringe full of blood. She withdrew the needle and scrubbed Stella’s arm with an alcohol wipe. Turning to a centrifuge, she injected the blood sample into a different vial, placed the vial in a vertical position and then crossed her arms as she settled against the lab bench.

   “What are we doing?” Debra asked.

   “The sample has to set for ten to fifteen minutes before we can put it in the centrifuge.”

   “Then?”

   “I’ll add a clotting agent and then put the sample in the centrifuge to spin for another ten minutes.”

   “This is going to take while, isn’t it?”

   “Yes, but after we separate the red blood cells out, we’ll draw out the clear fluid and add the testing agent to what we withdrew.”

   “And then? How long till we know?” Debra asked.

   “Once we add the agent and mix it, it’s never taken more than sixty seconds for a positive, or negative, result.” Sara waited a moment and said, “You only hit her once, just one time.”

   Debra shrugged and said, “If you’re going to talk shit about a woman’s man, it’s best to learn how to take it on the chin, first.”

   Behind them, Danni said, “Nadia, give me a hand, we’ll put Stella in the resting room.”

   Debra glanced over her shoulder and said, “Keep her handy though, I want to deliver the results to her personally.”

   As they were dragging Stella out, Felicia walked in, “Okay, so Stella tested negative?”

   Danni shook her head and said, “Naw, Stella couldn’t stop shooting her mouth off, Debra warned her and then, POP!”

   Felicia shook her head as she began to help Danni and Nadia, “I’m not surprised, if there was someone else who could run the Education Office, they would be. Let’s just say Stella can be rather abrasive.”

   Debra tuned back to Sara, “How much longer?”

   “Amazing how slowly time passes when you watch the clock.” She glanced at Debra and asked, “Did you ever want to do that to me?”

   Debra smiled at her and said, “This machine, it separates the different components of the blood, right?”

   “Yes.” She sighed and added, “You did want to hit me; I guess I can’t blame you.”

   “That was then, this is now. Besides, it all worked out in the end, right?”

   Sara smiled and said, “Yes, it did. I never imagined I could feel about a man the way I feel about Theodore.” She paused and said, “I’m pregnant.”

   “You are? Ah, hell, Sara! That’s great!” She grabbed Sara in a hug and squeezed her. “Are you the first in the Hole?”

   “I think so.” She looked a little uncomfortable and then added, “I haven’t told Theodore yet.”

   “Why? I’ve gotten to know Ted pretty well and I can guarantee you he’s going to be one proud Papa.”

   “Well, you know, it’s one thing to be in love with a woman as dark as me, but maybe another to know your child is going to be…”

   “Whoa, hold it right there! I know Ted, and that is never going to cross his mind, so forget that shit right now.”

   “He doesn’t seem to care…”

   “He doesn’t. I understand how you feel though, it bothered me when I found out my Dad wasn’t my real dad.”

   “Have you told Daniel? That you weren’t entirely Anglo?”

   “Yes, I did and it was during the worst fight we ever had.”

   “You’re still together, so he doesn’t care?”

   “No, and neither do I. You know, he told me once that if he had met you before me, he would have dated you; he thought you were beautiful.”

   “He told me something similar, but then he said he wouldn’t have for very long because of my attitudes.” She paused and added, “Thank you, for letting me prove myself.”

   “Like I said before, that was then, this is now.” She pointed at the centrifuge and asked, “Is that thing done yet?”

   Sara turned it off and said, “Yes, now we add the testing agent.” She removed the vial, inserted a syringe, and then injected the clear fluid into another vial. Reaching for a small bottle, she withdrew an eyedropper and held it over the vial as she counted two drops into the vial. Then she swirled it around as she held it to the overhead light.

   “What now?”

   “If it stays clear, the test is negative; if it starts turning a light lavender, the result is positive.”

   Debra waited as Danni, Nadia, and Felicia joined them. They all kept staring at the vial until Sara said, “Negative, she hasn’t been contaminated.”

   Debra smiled and said, “So, she didn’t do the shit she did because of that blue crap. She did it because she is a mercenary bitch; good, her ass is mine!” She turned and started for the resting room, but then she saw through the window the room was empty. She turned around and asked, “Where the fuck is she?”

   “Now, Debbie,” Felicia said. “You didn’t really think I was going to just give her to you, did you?”

   “Felicia, after what she tried to pull…”

   “Debbie, if I let you have her, there would be a lot of trouble afterwards. Trouble that would eventually have an effect on Daniel. Is that what you really want?”

   “Well, no, but…”

   “Then let it go, Stella has never been punched in the face before and I think you left a mark on her face and a more important one on her ego. I don’t think she will be a problem anymore.”

   “Are you sure?”

   “I think so.”

   “Alright, but if she so much as smiles at Daniel…”

   “We know,” Danni said.

 

   Dak was able to convince the three people I needed, to commit to the Intelligence Office and eventually it began humming along nicely. Pina Calada, don’t ask, she’s sensitive about her name, became our office manager and receptionist when she wasn’t inputting data. Mike Spencer and Carol Parker work almost entirely at data input. Calada is the matriarch of the office at almost forty, but doesn’t look the part. She actually dresses like a sixties Hippy; she even wears rose tinted glasses. Carol Parker looks like she’s about to bolt and run all the time, there’s a story there, or not, she doesn’t talk much and volunteers nothing. Mike talks incessantly and seems to be enthralled with Carol. He’s spindly in appearance except for a pronounced pot belly and I’ve had to remind him a couple of times it might be healthy if he bathed a little more often. Other than that, he seems to be a nice guy and like the women, his fingers fly on the keyboard. It amazes me he can talk about, whatever, while he’s typing about something else. Carol was taught to look at the people talking to her as a show of politeness, so Mike’s constant jabbering was slowing her down at first, but then she would just put headphones on so she could ignore him. I wondered what she was listening to as she worked and once, while she was in the lady’s room, I picked the headphones up and listened, white noise, you know, the sound radios make when they aren’t on a broadcasting channel? I have a pretty strange office staff, but they’re good though.

   At first, the office staff would leave every day for lunch at the cafeteria, but then we would just have it delivered, or they brown bagged it. When Debra was busy, Maria would bring my lunch and sit with me in my office while I ate, but Julia caught on to what was going on and now acts like the older sister and rides me about eating. We finally stopped ordering from the cafeteria or bringing lunches when Maria started cooking for the office. It’s kind of funny watching everyone staring at the clock as mealtime approaches while wondering what Maria is going to surprise them with each day. Maria should have owned a restaurant; she would have been famous and rich.

   We caught up with the flow of information from the Communications Room and now I only have Pina and Carol transcribing when it is delivered to us. Mike, spends most of his time doing what Julia and I do, perusing the net and looking for connections between radio traffic and what we pull out. We’ve already provided Packer and Ortiz with some interesting stuff, but we still haven’t found anything that might lead us in the direction of identifying who might be passing information to the ZPG people. That worries me, a lot. I’ve already lost one of the best friends I ever had and I almost lost my wife because of someone passing on intel about our activities. We need to find that son-of-a-bitch.