by Arthur Byrne
“Tong, I’ve always wondered where you got those uniforms.”
“They were part of the cargo, sir.”
“Do you know how many we have left?”
“No, I only took what we needed, but there are a lot of them, probably three containers full.”
“Do you have an assistant?”
“No, sir.”
“I want you to hire one...which reminds me. PJ’s girlfriend might be good for the job. I need you to do me a favor. Go find her, and I want you to do it personally. Go find her and tell her PJ is fine. Tell her he’s been doing important work for me, and he’s safe. Then, if you like her, you can ask if she wants the job. I’ll leave that bit up to you, but after you get an assistant, I want those uniforms inventoried by size. I want this to be a top priority.”
“Yes, sir.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Nash made them walk at a brisk pace. Both mappers were pretty tired when they arrived at the command center but were amazed when they saw it. He gave them each a few of the excess weapons and told them to give them to the master-at-arms and to ask him to get a weapons inventory together and put it on his desk.
After the mappers were dismissed, Sasha said, “So, I’m guessing there’s a story here, Nash?”
“That’s Governor Nash, thank you.”
PJ said, “What?”
“Frank stepped down, there was a huge town meeting, and because I was here playing prisoner of war camp with you three, I wasn’t able to object when they voted me in as the first governor of Cargo Bay 37.”
Ronnie said, “I was hoping you’d run in the election. Bloody hell, this is awesome. Well done, guvnor.”
Sasha said, “I’ve always been drawn to men of power.”
“You know our ideas about trying to save the Magellan? I think this changes everything. How did the interviews go?”
“We got through fifteen people. Some of them just kept talking and talking. It seems they’re all relieved to be able to sleep in a room, knowing they won’t be attacked. Not one of them was angry about being captured, and none of them seems loyal to Bhat.”
“I was hoping it would turn out like that. Do you think we can trust them?”
All three of them looked at each other, and then Sasha said, “I don’t know about the rest of the group, but this bunch all agreed to join the admiral.”
“What if we built our own battalion?”
Sasha asked, “What about the Navereen?”
“I still think taking care of them is a good idea, but instead of giving the admiral fighters, let’s offer to join forces. Do you think we could pull that off?”
Sasha thought about it for a moment. “Admiral Fletcher is a tough son of a bitch, but from what I know of him, it might be possible. It’s the approach that is hard.”
“I assume he knows about Bhat.”
“I’d assume so, too.”
“What if we turned him over to the admiral?”
“I think you just might make a friend.”
“What do you think, PJ?”
“I think they made a great choice for governor. I would have voted for you.”
“Thanks. Oh, and I sent a message to Misila. Seaghán is making sure she knows you’re okay. What do you think, Ronnie?”
“Ronnie Wu serves at the pleasure of his Excellency the Governor, though I still intend to crush you in the next game of nost-and-struken.”
Sasha insisted on cooking dinner, while “her boys” relaxed and played some cards. She made it clear that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer and was prepared to kick their butts if they objected.
Nobody objected.
After dinner, Nash and Sasha went to bed early. It wasn’t like the other nights. Tonight they just sat and talked about what needed to be done. They both, for the first time in years, dared to dream about the rest of their lives.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Coming Sept 8, 2015, Book II, The Magellan Apocalypse: Asin’s Hope.
Reach the Author at:
Blog: ExtremelyAverage.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/ExtremelyAvg
Email: [email protected]
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Facebook: Facebook.com/Brian.D.Meeks
Arthur Byrne doesn’t exist except in the pages of Underwood, Scotch, and Wry and soon in the sequel, Underwood, Scotch, and Cry.
Brian D. Meeks, however, does exist.
The author can be found at his blog, ExtremelyAverage.com or on Twitter @ExtremelyAvg. His bio on Twitter sums him up well. “I have delusions of novelist, am obsessed with my blog, college football, and occasionally random acts of napping. I also Mock! Will follow cats & guinea pigs.”