by S. M. Savoy
Campbell took a small box from his pocket and handed it to Guthrie. “I’m sorry your promotion has this cloud hanging over it. The situation had nothing to do with the promotion except for the actual time. We’ve been planning this, but they need officers they can trust right now. Command Sergeant Major Guthrie, you’ll report to Captain Sanders. I’ll be looking for a new major for your group. Third Lieutenant Glenn Howard will assume command until then.”
He turned to Rick. “I understand that your brother is very angry over what happened to his wife and Oz. But he’ll have to control it. I’ll met out discipline. He will not approach the major or in any way contact him.”
Campbell turned back to Nelson. “You aren’t getting off scotfree here. You didn’t break any orders, but by your own word you did attempt to murder Sara Mitchel when she was in your care. That’s a very serious offense. You’ve put us in a very difficult position. You know enough to really harm us.”
“Excuse me, General,” Rick said softly. “Maybe we could make him forget. We could ask the magic to go back to his first sight of Sara until now. He’d have nothing to say. You could assign him to some obscure area where people don’t know him.”
“He’d know he was missing four years,” Campbell said doubtfully as the major said, “You can’t do that! I won’t say anything.”
“Tell him he was in an accident or something. He’ll believe whatever you say.” Rick smiled ironically at the major. “Sucks, don’t it.”
Stasia laughed a sharp bark of laughter. “Make him forget us all. Assign him to the ass end of nowhere and let him wonder why his career halted.”
“You can’t do that! Taking my memories away, that would be cruel!”
“God, you’re a hypocrite!” Stasia spun away from him.
“Me?” Nelson yelled. “You wanted to kill her too just for the thought of her stealing your boyfriend. I was trying to protect the world from them!”
Stasia paled. Rick glared at the major and took her hand. He said, “Stasia, I invite you to join this raid. Joy, I invite you to join my raid.”
“Forget,” Brenda chanted with her eyes closed. Blue magic began to swirl around her. It grew denser and gained speed, the other caster’s magic joining it, whirling in a vortex around her in seconds.
Nelson headed to the door.
Guthrie shot him with his tranquilizer gun as Rick leapt across the table.
Rick grabbed him and dropped him on the table. The magic whirling around Brenda began to give off sparks.
“Forget,” Stasia whispered and clasped Joy’s hand.
Lightning blew through the window impacting Brenda then leaping to Joy and Stasia before sliding over the major. It disappeared a minute later with a whoosh of air that fluttered their hair and Brenda slumped.
“You okay,” Mike whispered as he pulled her up.
Rick glanced at his HUD, checking vitals, then leaned down to feel for Nelson’s pulse
Brenda nodded to Mike and said, “I don’t know if it worked or not. Wouldn’t it be ironic if he changes into a warrior instead?”
“Ironically terrible,” Rick said as they all stared at the major’s unmoving body. Rick sighed unhappily. “I really liked him. I’ll miss him.”
“We could recruit him again,” Toric said, “I mean, he wouldn’t remember a damned thing. Sara is way better at handling the magic now. He’d have no need to be afraid of her.”
“Yeah, I don’t think Charlie would go for that,” Hawk said.
“I won’t go for that. I don’t trust him anymore,” Stasia said.
“We wanted to forget as well. We won’t remember not trusting him,” Rick said.
Stasia frowned unhappily. She turned away from the major’s body and hid her face in Rick’s chest. “We can’t forget. We need to stay vigilant.” A shudder traveled her.
Rick leaned down and kissed her. “We have time to decide. It’s only been a week.” He glared at the major, Stasia’s pain filled him with an urge to hit the man but he knew it wouldn’t end in a simple fight. It would be Nelson’s death on his hands, and he hastily looked away before he could lose control. He turned to the general. “I know Charlie has to report to his ship on Monday, but Sara will need him here for her father’s funeral. Lee could pretend to be him on the ship.”
“No, I’ll see that he can stay with her here as long as she needs.” Campbell assured him. “I want you all here. Everyone is to speak with Doctor Gotlieb until he releases you.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I’ll deal with Major Nelson.”
“Oz is redoing all of our security. We’ll need time to organize that before we can be reassigned anywhere.” Rick glanced at Mike then away flushing. He didn’t even like to contemplate how panicked Sara’s magic would become if she ever remembered. He was glad her magic loved Mike better than him, but he doubted two warriors would be enough for it. It had been harder than he liked to admit to himself to leave her, and he knew Mike felt it too.
Stasia gave him a worried glance and he smiled ruefully as he withdrew his magic. She has two warriors with her, he told himself forcefully, annoyed that his musings had stirred his magic.
He said, “Sara might need Mike or Todd or Joy. Please make them available to her.”
“The entire raid will be assigned as their security until we get this worked out. I realize none of you are just going to bounce back from this,” the general assured him. “More guards will be assigned to both the house and lab,” he added.
Rick nodded thankfully. “Frankly, we aren’t fit for any missions right now. We’re all exhausted and sick from worry. The magic is stressed and unhappy with us. We need peace.”
“Go and rest. Talk to Doctor Gotlieb. Report for work on Monday,” Campbell said.
Rick rubbed his forehead and turned to Pierce. “Who do I talk to about her father’s body?”
“Me, call me. We can have it shipped wherever she likes,” he said.
Rick nodded.
“Dismissed,” Campbell said softly.
They stood and saluted, pulled down their face masks, and left.
The same Secret Service agents escorted them out.
* * *
The president took a deep breath. “I think we can be grateful the magic can tell the truth from a lie.”
Campbell frowned. “Their discipline is slack. They ignore protocol when it suits them. Hayes was the lowest ranking officer here and he took over as if the chain of command didn’t exist.
“He’s a warrior and it’s what they do. Besides, this was personal, not professional. They saw this as a personal attack,” Pierce said.
“Yes,” the general agreed unhappily.
“Who knows how far back this sent our reputation with them. I want the magic happier,” the president said emphatically. “Do whatever we have to do to make it happy. If the magic needs them to sit in the sunshine all day, do it! We’re learning too much— it’s too valuable for us to lose it.”
The general said, “Major Nelson was correct in a way. We aren’t dealing with men and women. They’ve been changed into other than human. I’m not quite convinced it’s alien manipulation though.”
The president waved his hand and rubbed his forehead.
Pierce said, “I’ve read the same reports you have, and I agree what they perceive as other could be their subconscious desires, but the struggle to hold it back is real. Whether the needs they fight are their own, a sort of split personality, or truly the needs of another being is almost impossible to say. Does Sara want Rick on an unconscious level? Does she pick men who admire her, or does she force their admiration? Is she really just fighting herself? Charlie tells us he fights his impulses, what he describes as the magic’s push to kill threats. And he does so relatively easily by telling himself it isn’t a threat. Is that him telling his subconscious or him telling a separate being that trusts him utterly?”
The president said, “We’ve had this discussion ad n
auseum. You all know I believe it’s an entirely different entity and a young one that’s learning. Unlike Major Nelson, I don’t think we’re dealing with a being that intends to subjugate humans but with one who was just born. Although, I admit, I could be wrong, but I think we’ll find out when she has her thirty. If it stops there and the push to reproduce fades, we’ll have our answer. And meanwhile, we learn.” He shrugged lightly. “It isn’t like we know how to destroy the magic anyway. Killing a host just leads to more hosts. Our best option is to continue as we are. Keep them under control and use them.”
“While we learn, it learns.” Campbell flicked at glance at Nelson’s unconscious form. “As a weapon it isn’t working out so well.”
“There’s more to be gained than using them as weapons.” The president smiled ruefully. “They’ve worked very well as hostage rescue. Putting them at risk is dangerous, we know that now. We need to be very careful how we use them. Joy should never have been sent alone to Libya. Major Nelson screwed up there as well.”
He sighed, rubbing his temples and leaning back in his chair. “We learn so much from our mistakes. But we can’t afford to keep making them. Sara and Oz are impetuous. They’re young and need time to develop wisdom. We need to guide them better, keep them focused. They have an idea and run with it until another idea sidetracks them. It’s partially our fault, their ideas are so intriguing that we hurry them. We need to slow them down. They’re producing new technology so fast that we can’t assimilate it. We haven’t had time to study the ramifications. And we need time. Let’s give them time as well. Let them sit in the sun. It hurts no one. We need to know how long the magic can go without needing to reproduce. Unless we can keep them all calm and unhurt, we’ll never find that out.”
“I’ll keep a closer eye on all of them,” the general said.
“I’ll have Special Agent in Charge Lewis keep in closer contact as well,” Pierce said.
The president stood. “Thank you both for coming.” He gestured to Nelson’s body. “My men will help you out.”
- 27 -
Own Your Anger
Rick called his father and told him what they’d found out and what they’d tried to do to the major. “I still need to tell Charlie. He’ll want to go kill him, Dad. Being a warrior... I can’t explain it; the protectiveness you feel for those you love— people in your care. You feel your rage more, it makes you powerful, but it also demands action. He’s full of rage and will need an outlet for it.”
“Can’t he use target dummies?”
“Yes, he can spend the rage he has, but it will regenerate quickly. I don’t know how to stop that, how to make him less angry about what happened.”
“I don’t know either,” his father admitted. “I hate to suggest it; it’s unfair to both of them, but maybe if you said Sara needed him calm?”
Rick laughed bitterly. “She does need him calm. It enrages him more; every flinch makes him angrier. They’re both trying so hard, Dad. She feels his rage. He feels her fear. It’s a vicious circle.”
“They need therapy.”
“They’ll get it; well, he will anyway. It’s mandatory for all of us. They can’t order Sara or Oz.” Rick groaned in frustration. “Her father will need to be buried. She has no memory of what he did. Charlie does, and it’s sure to infuriate the hell out of him when she goes and is upset. You really need to be there, Dad.”
“I will be. Your mother and I will go and offer her what comfort we can.”
“Does Mom know?”
“I told her what Sara believes. I’m not sure I did the right thing.”
“Don’t let her make Sara feel bad about any of it.”
“She would never; she realizes it wasn’t their choice.”
Rick was silent a moment. “There could be pictures or live witnesses of Sara and Oz together and happy. I haven’t mentioned that to Charlie. I’m sure he must’ve thought of it himself. I don’t think we should tell Mom what really happened unless those pictures surface. It would kill Sara if Mom thought badly of her.”
“And if Sara sees them?”
“I don’t know,” Rick admitted.
His father sighed. “I know you’re all trying to protect them, but this lie is getting complicated already.”
“It’s the best we can do, Dad. Even if she sees them, that lie is better than the truth.”
John Hayes was silent a moment. “Will you forget?”
“God, we want to, we really do, but we can’t afford to. We need to be vigilant.” Rick cleared his throat. “We can make you forget,” he offered.
“No, I’ll bear it for my son’s sake. I need to remember to understand if you ask me for help.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, son.”
Rick hung up to call his little brother.
“So, he gets away with everything, and he doesn’t even have to remember what he did,” Charlie said bitterly.
Rick said nothing. He didn’t know what to say.
Charlie said, “Shit, I’ll talk to Sara and see what she wants to do about her goddamn father!”
Rick could practically feel the fury over the phone. “You need to spend some rage. You’re going to scare her. You know she feels it too.”
“God damn it, I know that!” Charlie was silent a moment. “How, Rick? You tell me how not to be angry about all this.”
“Spend it. Spend the rage. Leave room for love.”
“I’ll call you when we have funeral plans.” Charlie hung up. Thank God she was napping, he thought and rubbed his throbbing head.
Stress was exhausting her. His rage was energizing him and tiring her. Thank God we have Todd, he thought as Todd glanced up from the book in his lap when he peeked into their bedroom.
She slept better if Todd was nearby. Todd was a giant, ranger, teddy bear. Charlie winced. They were using Todd unfairly, not that he’d complained at all. He was very kind to Sara and him. God, he was lucky to have such good friends.
He placed his glowing on Todd’s cheek for a second, letting him feel his affection and gratitude.
Todd’s eyes lit with a blue glow, but he kept his magic contained, nodding and flushing slightly. Charlie left him guarding his wife and returned to the top deck where he stared out to sea as he tried to control his anger.
He was calmer by the time Sara woke but she still flinched from his anger. He waited until after she’d eaten supper to talk about her father.
She looked away, ducking her head to hide her face but she couldn’t hide her guilty fear from him. “I don’t want to go. I don’t want to talk to his friends.”
“Then we won’t go,” Charlie said and clasped her hands that were twining nervously in her lap.
“If I don’t go what will people say?”
“Who cares?”
She frowned, her worry and fear buffeting him, but he knew it was his anger that made her cry.
She stopped quickly, taking hard breaths, and feeling so guilty it brought tears to his eyes.
“Hawk said Lee would go as you,” Charlie offered.
“I don’t want to, but I think I have to go. Tara will go. If I don’t, she’ll get mad.” Sara turned away again. “Charlie, I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice as she started to cry again. “I don’t think I could stand it if she started rumors about me. It would be true now.” She cried harder. “Please, don’t be so mad at me. Lee can be you or make Mike you. You don’t have to go.”
“I’m not mad at you,” he sighed resignedly, “I’m tired of telling you that. I’m really not mad at you. Of course, I’ll go with you. I think I hate Tara. I didn’t before. I found her annoying, but I didn’t hate her.” He pulled Sara into a hug. “We’ll go and leave quickly.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll call Rick. He can make arraignments. He’s there and won’t mind. We’ll fly home and bury your father Friday.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again in a small voice. He s
ighed in exasperation. “Go talk to Todd. Tell him we have to fly back. Figure out where to sail us to and get us all tickets home. We’ll hire someone to get the boat home for us. I’ll call Rick.”
He waited until she went below deck to call his brother back. “Can you arrange the funeral for Friday? We’re coming home. She’s afraid Tara will carry through on her threat to make her look bad and the idea of it terrifies her now. God, the guilt she feels... Don’t say it! I know she doesn’t need to feel my anger. We both know Tara is a vindictive bitch. She would do it if the mood strikes her. We need to stop her. Please, Rick, help me stop her.”
“I don’t know how to. Let me think about it and talk to the others, and for the love of god, Charlie, burn off some of that rage!”
Charlie wanted to scream and curse, instead he quietly ended the call.
He found Sara in their cabin. “I need to run and get rid of some of this. I’m going ashore. Sam will pick me up and bring me back. Will you be okay here a while?”
She smiled at him, the smile a lie he felt in his soul. “I’m fine. Go beat up some trees and feel better.”
He nodded and left, whispering to Todd, “Stay near her, please.”
“You don’t need to ask. I’ll watch out for her.”
Charlie ran along the deserted shore and beat up the trees. He’d taken one of his swords and swung wildly, hacking trees to pieces. His rage scared her. Even with Todd there, knowing he was here and hitting nothing except trees, her fear was mounting. He tried to calm himself. Everyone who’d hurt her was dead. She and Oz were safe. Both were dealing with everything remarkably well. She loved him. Nothing had changed for her. Her feelings for him were the same. If he could master his rage, her fear and worry would lessen.
More than anything in the world, he wanted her to be happy. If he couldn’t have happy, he’d settle for calm.
But he didn’t know how to stop being so angry when he thought of what they’d done to her and Oz. For another hour he hacked the trees. Branches and leaves flew. He dropped his sword and used his fists, breaking the bones and cutting himself but the sharp stabs of pain disappeared so quickly he barely felt it.