by L Bowers
“Yeah, I suppose the Lenashal have that effect.” She turned to a sealed hatch and pressed a button to open it. “After you.” Angela stepped aside.
I walked in and my heart skipped a beat. “This is…” A loud clang from behind cut off my words, and the worst possible scenario came to mind. As I tried to remember if I was supposed to hold my breath or expel it all before going extravehicular without a suit, Angela spoke up.
“It’s an airlock. Look at the door.”
I did as she asked, since I didn’t want to turn around and let her see the fear in my eyes. Letting her think I worried she was about to space me might not go over well for the rest of our conversation.
The outer hatch was round. The outer seven inches was a thick metal, but there were four long sections running around the circumference of the hatch that were made of a transparent material. The only thing visible beyond was black freckles with pinpricks of star light. “It’s beautiful.”
“That’s why I like to come here.” Angela slid down the bulkhead to a sitting position. “Take a seat. We can see the stars from the deck as well as we can from up there.”
I did as I was told, and waited until my rear end settled before I jumped right into the meat of the conversation. “Angela, I want you to be my girlfriend.”
She chuckled. “Do you ever feel like a dumb kid in high school saying that?” She put up her hands to cut me off. “Not that I’m saying you are. It’s that you would think there would be a more adult-appropriate term for going steady as we got older.”
I chuckled. “I did feel a little juvenile. But that…”
“Yes. I’ll be your girl, Ray. But there are a few things you need to understand. First, I’m a one-man kinda girl, and I expect the same in return. And second, none of that bull about you feeling inadequate because I’m stronger than you. Both of those are deal-breakers for me.”
“Okay, I get that, and both are fine with me. I already knew you kick more ass on a Tuesday than I could in a month. And I don’t want another woman. I think I’m lucky to have you. Why would I want to mess that up?”
Angela smiled. “Why, indeed.” She scooted closer so we were shoulder to shoulder. “I’ve had other guys that didn’t seem to think the same. One guy I thought was the one, turned out to be the one for three other women.” She looked down at her lap. “That hurt me bad.”
I took her hand in mine. “I wish I could say I’m sorry, but I’m not.” Her head snapped up to glare at me. “If he had done right by you, then I wouldn’t be sitting with you now. I might not have had the chance to save you and start our beautiful friendship. So nope, not sorry.”
I looked out the porthole for a moment as I waited to see if she would deck me or respond. Neither happened. “I’m sorry he hurt you, though,” I finally said. “I have half a mind to find the dude and punch him in the face. But I guess I have to be grateful for him being an ass.”
Angela chuckled. “I guess I am too, now. It took a long while to get here, though.”
“That’s understandable. Rest assured that I won’t treat you that way. And not because you can kick my ass. I respect you too much to do that to you. And I care for you, Angela. I couldn’t live with myself if I had intentionally hurt you in such an egregious manner.”
She leaned away to give me the side-eye. “Look who decided to break out the fifty-dollar words today.” We both chuckled. “I appreciate that, Ray. Thank you.”
“I suppose it would be best to tell you about my dating life,” I said. “The reality, as unpleasant as it has been, is that my dating life was mostly non-existent. I had a few dates, but not many relationships. The longest one I was in lasted all of three months and one week. I don’t think I was the problem, or they were. I simply haven’t found anyone I had enough in common with to make it work.”
“What was missing? That the other women didn’t have, and you needed?”
I drew a deep breath. This was the part that always ended with me being left alone. “I’m a LARPer.”
There was silence for a few minutes. I figured it was Angela was taking the time to figure out how to let me down gently. “Okay, what does that mean?”
“You’ve never heard of a LARPer? Live Action Role Play?”
“Nope, sorry. Could you explain it to me?” She gave me a sheepish grin.
“It’s,” I swallowed a lump in my throat, “it’s when you dress up and pretend to be in a fantasy world while fighting against others doing the same. The weapons or tools are made of foam, so they don’t cause injury.”
“Oh.” Angela sat back against the wall. “That’s not so bad. I thought you were going to say something crazy, like you were into sex with multiple midget goats or something equally nuts.”
That made us look at one another for a second, then laugh. “No,” I said through chuckles. “Nothing that depraved.”
“Tell me about this LARPing thing you did. What kind of fantasy world, and who were you in it?”
“It was a modern world, which made it easier to play in my opinion. We pretended to be…” I looked away, since I didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes at having hitched her wagon to a complete geek. “We were superheroes. I was Lash, the Cobalt Whip of Justice.”
Angela reached across, took my chin in her hand, and gently guided my head around to face her. “That’s precious. While it’s different from what anyone I know has done, it’s not a deal-breaker. It does explain a lot about you, though.”
“How so?” I tilted my head to the side.
“Think about it. You want to get augmented to become more than human. Something like a superhero would be. I’m guessing you hope to help people with your augs?”
“Yeah, I did.” I rested my chin on my hand and my elbows on my knee. “I hadn't connected those two things until now, but it makes sense. There is one thing you should know, though.”
“What’s that?”
“I no longer want to be augmented. I believe being augmented blocks or slows the progress of the person and Lenashal. It’s probably why I’m able to grow so much faster than you guys. I think, and Aspen feels the same, that I’ll surpass augs in all things sooner or later.”
“That makes a lot of sense, and it explains why our Lenashal want us to get rid of the augs. Kopf’s, Standish’s, and mine, that is.”
“I didn’t know that. Maybe you should have it done so you can become stronger.”
“Maybe, but we’ll have to see what the future holds. These things may be stuck in us until our enlistment is over. That was on the updated contract we had to sign in order to get the augs.” She shrugged. “We’ll see.”
The remainder of our talk in the airlock was minor compared to the bombs we dropped on each other. For me, it was the time of my life. I learned about the little scars on her arms, and her childhood. She learned small details about me. Once we finally stood, ready to return to Marine Country, we knew each other far better than when we started the walk to the airlock.
“It’s about time you two showed up!” Kopf shouted from across the squad bay when we walked in. “Been waiting all this time for you two.” The squad bay went quiet as every eye in the place turned to look at Angela and me.
“Good to see you, too,” Angela shouted. “Thanks for letting everyone know we arrived. Much appreciated.” With those words, the rest of the squad looked away and went back to what they were doing—or pretended to.
Kopf’s face turned red, and his grin became a look of regret and embarrassment. “Sorry about that,” he said as we drew close. “I wasn’t thinking. Too excited about movie time, I guess.”
“Movie time?” I asked.
Angela stopped next to me and half-turned so she could look at me and Kopf. “Remember? Before you passed out, Kopf was planning a movie night for our downtime. He’s still ready to go.”
“Yup,” Kopf added. “Got the reel queued up and ready to go. Simply have to push play.”
“Reel?” I was unfamiliar with t
he term.
“It’s from the good ol’ days when movies were played on projectors with big reels of tape that ran through the machine letting the projector…well, project the image on the tape.” He waved his hand as if pushing away a foul smell. “Doesn’t matter. Are you guys ready to watch the flick?”
“Sure." I sat on the deck between Angela and Standish. The latter handed me a can of soda and a candy bar. “Thanks.” He nodded.
Kopf gave similar treats to Angela as he sat. His personal computer went dark, then the movie started.
It Came from the Cold Dark of Space.
The words scrolled across the screen. “Really? Standish asked. “Not only a horror movie, but one that takes place in space on a naval vessel?”
“What?” Kopf looked hurt. “We need to relax, and what’s more relaxing than watching a bunch of sailors get brutally murdered by space monsters?” He looked to his left. “No offense, Doc!”
“Yeah, whatever,” the Navy corpsman assigned to our company replied with a dismissive wave.
“Let’s do this.” I felt cheerful. Kopf pushed play and took his seat.
12
Goshawk
“Get up,” someone said in a hiss as they roughly kicked my bunk. “I said, get up, damn it.”
My eyes snapped open. The speaker sounded like the owner of the voice that haunted my nightmares. When I looked over, my worst fears were confirmed. Sergeant Lupita stood over me with a scowl on his lips.
“Time to wake up, Sunshine,” he snarled. “You have a meeting with the CO and ship’s captain.”
“How long until the meeting starts?” I asked in a groggy croak.
“It starts as soon as you get your pansy ass to the captain’s ready room off the main bridge. Don’t keep us waiting.”
“Shit.” I leaped out of bed.
As if I were back in boot camp, I dressed in a swift ferocity a civilian could never know. Less than a minute later, I hopped down the squad bay on one foot while shoving my other into my boot. I ran to the ladder well leading up, without bothering to tie the laces.
“Hey, Marine,” a random sailor shouted as I passed her. “Tie your damn shoes.”
I waved at her and kept going. There wasn’t time to stop for something so trivial… Something jerked my foot out from under me. As I fell forward, I realized it was the shoelace stuck firmly under my left boot.
“I told you,” the sailor shouted from down the hall.
Once I was one flight up, I did stop and tie my shoes. Had to make sure the sailor wasn’t able to see me do it. Couldn’t have her thinking she’d won.
“It took you long enough,” Lupita said as I entered the captain’s ready room from the entrance in the corridor outside the bridge. Only authorized personnel were allowed in, and even as a sergeant, I didn’t fit the bill.
“Sorry I’m late.” I came to attention before the ship’s captain and my squad’s CO, Major Carver.
“You’re fine,” Major Carver said. “Take a seat, Sergeant Goshawk. We have important matters to discuss and little time to do it in.”
“Aye, sir.” I sat next to Lupita. It wasn’t where I would have picked, but it was the seat Major Carver directed me to with her finger.
“Now that we’re all here,” Captain Stiles, the ship’s captain said, “we can get right to it. Sergeant Goshawk, we need you to do whatever hoodoo you do to get yourself and your squad ready.”
“Sir?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Shut your damn mouth and listen,” Lupita snapped.
“It’s fine, Staff Sergeant,” Major Carver said. “The faster we can answer questions, the sooner we get on with the matter at hand.” She turned her steely gaze on me. “As I understand it, you can make your bond with these lenser things stronger. Is that correct?”
“Lenashal,” I corrected. “And yes, we can become stronger.”
“Good.” She nodded. “I need you to show your squad what you know so they can all get stronger. I think you will need them as strong as possible for what comes next.”
“Next?” I asked, which elicited a low growl from Lupita.
“Since you arrived back on the ship,” the captain said, “we’ve followed the trajectory of the dragon ship that Intel feels we can reach the fastest. Once we get to it, assuming we aren’t forced to destroy it, you and your band of Merry Men will board her.”
“Once inside,” the Major took up the briefing. “I need you to lead an assault to the heart of that thing and shut it down. Once it’s safe, we’ll send in reinforcements to occupy and gain control. If all goes well, we’ll have a new source of valuable intel on these blasted machines.”
“It is my hope,” the captain said, “that we’ll also gain some insight about why the SEALs abandoned their post and went rogue.” He leaned forward. “I don’t know if I have to tell you that their actions have a lot of people higher up the food chain than I, very concerned. When they get concerned, I get concerned. You better believe that if I’m concerned, you need to be as well.”
“Why me?” I asked. “Why us?”
Major Carver leaned closer and put herself a little too far into my personal space. “I don’t understand the question.”
“Sir, what I mean is, why send my squad when there are more capable squad leaders available? I haven’t been augmented, nor have I gone through the training needed to transition to a Zero Three MOS. So why us, when you can send someone better?”
“For those very same reasons,” Major Carver replied. “The sailors we’re looking for expect Marines with the standard grunt training and augs. You bring the unexpected to the table. Furthermore, you and your little ghost bird have shown capabilities that far exceed those of an augmented Marine. Shoot, Goshawk, I haven’t seen or heard of any of the augs with ghost teddy bears that can do half of what you can. I don’t know what secret sauce you found down there, but I believe it’s the key to getting what we need. Do you get me, Goshawk?”
“I think I understand, sir.”
“Good,” Major Carver said. “Get your people ready. We anticipate reaching the ship in twenty hours. Have your people hoodooed up and ready to go.”
After a few seconds of silence, Lupita spoke. “That was a dismissal.”
“Right.” I jumped to my feet and came to attention, and wished them a good afternoon. Then I stepped back, spun on my heels, and left.
The sailor that told me to tie my laces was in the same area when I returned. She looked down at my feet. Seeing my boots were tied, she looked up with a smug smile on her face, but didn’t say anything. I did my best not to pay her any attention as I went by. Her snicker emphasized how poorly I had done.
When I reached the squad bay, most of the Marines were up and about. I beelined it for Standish. He was the person in my inner circle with the most experience, so I would tap him for everything he knew.
“Standish,” I said as I drew near, which caused him to turn and face me.
“Hey, Sergeant,” he replied. “We were about to get some chow. You coming?”
“Yeah.” I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get some info from him.
“I have a question for you, Standish.” I set my tray of food on the table next to his. “I have no idea what I’m doing, and I need to know what you think I should do when we get back.” I gave him a brief synopsis of the plan for the rest of the time we had left before reaching the dragon ship.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Standish replied. “As soon as we get back, I’ll get the other fireteam leaders together and give them fifteen mikes to get all their people into the squad bay. Once there, you’ll have no issues getting everyone to do as you say.”
“Most of the Lenashal bearers are eager to learn how to get as strong as you and Aspen,” Kopf said. “Heck, I am too.”
“There are a few Marines that are scared,” Jones said from her seat to my right. “I think you need to reassure them and show them there’s nothing to fear.”
“I
agree,” I replied. “To the best of my knowledge, the Lenashal are the good guys. I don’t see any reason to fear them.”
“I agree,” Jones said. “But there’s no telling about everyone else’s. For all we know, there are bad Lenashal, and one of those grunts has a creature in them doing everything in its power to make their life a living hell. The point is, don’t expect everyone’s experience to mimic yours.”
“Well said.” Standish stood. “I’ll have the fire team leaders ready when you get back.” He marched out of the mess hall after dropping his tray on a conveyor that took it to an unseen area of the ship.
“I can’t believe this is my life now,” I mumbled.
“Better believe it,” Kopf said. “If you spent as much time watching movies as I do, you would know never to expect what you want to turn out how you expected. Sometimes, the things we want aren't the things we need. If we’re lucky, we end up with what we need so what we think we want doesn’t end up destroying our lives.”
“You’re saying the Lenashal gave me what I needed while the augs I wanted wouldn’t have turned out to be all I thought they would?”
“Shit, no,” Kopf snorted. “Augs are the tits. But seeing what you did at the ravine…” His eyes took on the glassy look of someone caught in the famed thousand-yard stare. “That was epic. Biblical, even.”
“I think we’ve had enough of fan-boy Kopf for one day,” Angela said. “Ray, please sign his chest already so we can get going.”
“Ha,” Kopf said with mock laughter. “If anything, he would sign my left butt cheek.”
“Ew.” I sneered. “The chest wasn’t going to happen. The butt cheek… Hell no.”
Kopf and Angela laughed. “Fine,” Kopf said. “We should go, though. I can’t wait to see what Lenashal everyone else has.” He hopped up and ran out without waiting for Angela and me.
“I guess I should go,” I said.
“Do we have to?” Angel flashed a faux pout, which looked cute as hell on her.