The general anticipated what he knew some of them might be concerned about. “Let me assure you we want our two cadets here to continue their studies at West Point.” He looked at each of them. Then he said, “By we, I’m including other government officials, the Superintendent at the academy and the President. No pressure though!” He laughed and the others all joined him.
“Since you girls have both demonstrated very high academic proficiency, I’ve put in a special request. If you’re willing, I’d like to have you both study some additional languages.” The general knew Missy was taking Spanish, which she had studied in high school. Likewise, Tracy was studying French. “I’m hoping you will agree to an accelerated class, in addition to all your other studies and activities. I want you to study both Farsi and Pashto.”
Candace said, “Oliver and I are going to study those languages as well. We’ve been talking about things … while there’s no way either of us would ever join the military, we’d be okay with maybe working for the U.S. Embassy someday. Uncle Paul has already arranged for us to visit a few embassies during my Thanksgiving vacation. Colonel Chory has agreed to go with us.”
Colonel Chory said, “Yes and if Oliver can sense any other supernaturals over there during this little tour? We’ll know who to call!”
Chapter Two
Oct 9, 2019
Missy and Tracy had signed back in that Sunday, right on time at 1900 hours. Now, three days later, they had finally managed getting their friend Kelsey to stop by their room. Kelsey was the top student in their class, academically, and they wanted her help with their new languages. Kelsey had a real gift with explaining things to her peers which otherwise went completely over their heads when hearing those same things from instructors.
“Farsi? And Pashto? Why would you want to study those languages? And, why would you want me to study them? It’s not as though I could ever pass for someone who speaks those languages.” While Tracy and Missy might actually be able to disguise themselves as Afghans, that wouldn’t be possible for Kelsey. They’d all been talking about what was or wasn’t feasible and had heard all about how Missy had sometimes disguised herself as a Pashtun local during her short tour in Afghanistan.
Tracy had brown hair and brown eyes and was able to tan very nicely. Missy had green eyes and could easily dye her dark red hair to some shade of brown, if needed. Further, Missy’s ability to quickly heal allowed her pearly white skin to tan rather than burn and she would get dark as a walnut each summer. Kelsey, however, was a natural blond with sensitive skin and there was no way she’d ever manage looking like anyone from the Mid-East, in spite of having brown eyes.
“Oh, come on, Kelsey! It’ll be fun! We need your help so we can really learn these languages. No one expects you to actually go undercover. Just help prepare the rest of us so we can maybe do that someday.” Tracy looked over at Missy with raised eyebrows. It was time for the clinching argument.
Missy said, “Mitch has agreed he’ll do it. But, he says only if you’re helping.” Their classmate Mitch was Kelsey’s boyfriend and first string running back on their football team. He had started out as a linebacker but had been switched to offense this year. He was huge while Kelsey was only five-four but they seemed to fit together really nicely. Whenever outside of the classroom, it was rare to see one without the other.
Kelsey laughed, knowing she was now definitely tricked into agreeing. Mitch was really gung-ho about his future career and having expertise in any Mid-East languages would definitely help him. Obviously, her friends had already gotten to him, convincing him to join them in taking their extra special accelerated course and he hadn’t been able to resist. Everyone knew how that four star general had invited Missy and Tracy down to the Pentagon. They definitely had influential friends in high places and poor Mitch was probably hoping he’d benefit by following their lead.
“And, the first class is tonight, right after we get back from the mess hall?” Kelsey sighed and shook her head. Sure … that’s why this course was extra and special; they’d each be working their ass off trying to do it in addition to everything else. “Who else have you hoodwinked into taking this? Sally? Sharon?” Sally Navarro and Sharon Manton, like herself and Tracy, were former roommates of Missy’s. They had all ended up great friends by the end of their plebe year and that friendship had continued all the more since starting their second year.
Missy said, “Well, there aren’t too many here who can manage it. But, sure … they’ve agreed. So have Tony and Marcus … a couple others. Even Gary and Kelly … they’re like you and Mitch … we can only get them as a matched pair. About a dozen of us all together.” Kelly Wong had been the third roommate for Missy and Tracy during Beast Training and Gary Sabre, Anthony Fugia and Marcus Brown had all been in the same squad with them during those first crazy weeks at the academy. They’d really excelled as a unit and had remained close ever since. Many of their classmates all looked to them now for leadership and direction.
Tracy added, “The academy has even designated that same classroom for this. You know … the one you used the end of last year for your Kelsey’s Korner tutoring stuff? We all decided we’d keep calling it that, as long as you agreed to join. So, you’re in, right?”
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Major Suleiman Khan looked at the thirteen students staring back at him. The hour had flown by and as he finished their first lesson, he couldn’t help thinking about what General Blake had said. Yeah, he was now seeing how this assignment was important enough that his dropping everything and rushing here was justified. These individuals were extremely bright and obviously very dedicated. The best of the best. America’s finest. Twelve cadets plus Captain Bonomo, one of their TAC Officers.
Could he get them fluent in these two languages over the next seven months? They’d be meeting at least four times a week with a makeup class every Sunday night. And, they’d all agreed to start talking to one another, practicing these new dialects whenever possible, sort of as a game. The course was designed to be intensive with total immersion so if they truly lived it, as he’d asked them to do, they might indeed reach their goal.
Sergeant First Class Henry Town was assisting him. He’d arrived only yesterday from Afghanistan, where he was serving his second tour. He was back only temporarily, remaining assigned to Team Twenty-Two. His unit had recently been reconstituted as some sort of black ops unit and apparently, in spite of having just about finished his tour over there, he was staying on with them rather than rotating back to a new unit.
Town was fluent in Pashto and would be a big help. The students were from different companies in different regiments and there would be frequent occasions when some were out in the field for training. He could send Town out there to provide them with training while he remained back with the others. Yes, this course was to be far more intensive than the courses normally being taught at the academy. General Blake’s special orders.
After dismissing the class, he watched as they all milled around, joking and in no rush to go anywhere else. Several went up to Sergeant Town. Khan knew Cadet Missy McCrea had actually served with Team Twenty-Two and it was obvious the two of them were comrades. Surprisingly, it seemed Cadet Tracy McGonagle was no stranger to the sergeant either. Then he was distracted when Cadet Kelsey Powers approached him.
“Sir? Will you be providing us with any CD’s we can use to listen to lessons? You know … on our phones or iPod’s or whatever?” Kelsey had glanced at the software he’d had them all load onto their laptops but hadn’t noticed any audio files for other devices.
“Yes, I’ll be distributing those next week. I don’t want to overwhelm any of you cadets with too much all at once.” He smiled at her and tried not to stare at her breasts which jutted out prominently. “I understand you’re the one our classroom is named for? Kelsey’s Korner?”
Kelsey laughed. “I think Missy and Tracy might have manipulated folks to keep calling it that. They insisted I take this course with them. Last year,
I did some tutoring and by the end of the year, my classes grew pretty big. I had help, of course, and we covered several subjects but everyone liked calling my sessions by that name. My friends all expect me to explain things for them … that way, they don’t need to embarrass themselves in front of their instructors.”
Major Khan nodded with understanding. “I’m sure you give them some alternative ways of grasping things which they find quite helpful.” He noticed Cadet Mitch Cooper standing possessively by her side.
Mitch said, “Kelsey can explain things so even a rock can understand them. I never would have made it through Calculus last year but with her help, I ended up getting a B in that class both semesters. We all want her to help us with this course since it’s supposed to be so intensive. And, from what you told us about it tonight, it sure sounds that way!”
“Well, if she can help, Sergeant Town and I will be more than grateful. We’re willing to do anything we can to get each of you talking fluently. The focus will be on actual conversations rather than merely doing translations.”
Sergeant Town walked up and, overhearing the major’s comment, he added his own thoughts. “Yes, you’re all going to be learning how to speak these languages as though your lives depended on it. For some of you … that’s very likely to be the case if you get assigned to go undercover as local nationals someday. McCrea got away with doing that by not saying a word. I was with her, of course, so she didn’t have to.”
Kelsey said, “Missy doesn’t tell us very much about her time over there last summer. She actually passed herself off as a Pashtun local, huh?”
“She fooled us completely when she first joined up with the team. She walked up, appearing out of nowhere, dressed and looking exactly like a local but without saying a word. We knew she was coming but had no idea what she looked like and we were sort of expecting … well, I don’t know what we were expecting.” Town laughed. “Later, when we were patrolling as locals, it was a big help having her. Nobody suspected we were soldiers, seeing her with us.”
By this time, everyone was gathered around the major and the sergeant, enjoying the chance to hear about some of the activities Missy’s A-Team had participated in. One voice asked, “If you didn’t look like soldiers, what about your weapons?”
With his full beard and dark tan, Town had a swarthy appearance; it was easy to picture him dressed as a local Afghan. “Oh, we weren’t carrying any pistols or rifles. We were rounding up anyone we suspected of being a Taliban soldier … if we needed help, our teammates were hiding nearby and had plenty of firepower, but we never had to fire a single shot. The idea was to keep things quiet so we subdued them using other means.”
“Other means?”
Town laughed. “Sometimes, we’d signal our buddies and they’d step forward with weapons aimed and that was enough to get them to surrender. Other times, we’d subdue them …” He noted the interested expressions on all the faces staring back at him. “Ahhh … you all know how Missy can quickly knock someone out using her martial arts skills, right? Of course, there was that one time when she used one of her knives …”
Missy tried to curtail the storytelling and said, “I’m sure we all need to get back to our rooms now. I’ve already explained to most of those here how our activities over there were all classified, so I wasn’t free to share any stories with them.”
Town knew most of those present were not aware Missy was a supernatural. But, he wasn’t giving away any of her secrets, exactly. He laughed and looked at her, saying, “C’mon McCrea! I don’t think you stabbing that one guy in the arm that time falls under the big secret blanket we have for the overall operation.”
Sharon blurted out, “What about when she got wounded? Were you with her when that happened?” She had forgotten she wasn’t supposed to reveal that since not everyone was aware why Missy had received her Purple Heart and her Bronze Star medals.
A serious expression quickly appeared on Town’s face but then cleared. “Actually, yeah … I was with her when she went down. But, before I could do anything, she got right back up again and … well … we were taking a lot of enemy fire. It was pinning us down and there were a couple of our guys out there, badly wounded. Exposed. I’ll never forget watching Missy go out and drag those guys to safety. None of us will forget her doing that.”
Missy again tried to break things up, not wanting to deal with this. “No more bedtime stories, sergeant! We all have a big day ahead of us tomorrow and some of us might not have done all our homework yet. We do have some other courses we’re taking here, you know!”
Everyone did drift away, leaving the major and the sergeant alone in the classroom. Kahn asked, “McCrea was wounded and still went out there? Under fire? To help your teammates?”
“Oh, yes! She had been hit in the abdomen but managed getting out there and saving them. She got hit with two more rounds in the shoulder while doing that. When we finally reached her, she’d been passed out for quite a while. Fortunately, no one bled out. The general told you about her, right? How she’s not exactly normal?”
Kahn said, “Actually, no … but I’m beginning to understand why this assignment is so important. And, since I can see the girl is obviously back on her feet again, I can only assume some highly classified treatment method was used in healing her wounds. Is this related to whatever those secrets are concerning your Team Twenty-Two?”
Chapter Three
Oct 9, 2019
Back in their room, Missy and Tracy both spent an hour completing their homework. Then Missy stood up and stretched for a few minutes. Finally, she asked, “Hey, Tracy … how much do you know about shifters like me? Other than me, of course. What did your coven teach you we could do?”
“Gosh, besides be a colossal pain in the ass? Oh, wait … my coven didn’t teach me that … I learned about that all by myself.”
“Very funny! Be serious a minute, okay? You know how lacking I am in all of this stuff with no coven of my own and no other shifters … did I tell you about watching Carlos Shift?” Carlos was the only other werecat Missy had ever met.
She had managed getting Manuel Rodriguez so terrorized he willingly had walked away from everything he owned and was now being kept in permanent custody by “P” Branch. He had been known as the notorious “Frenchman” and been a major Colombian crime leader operating out of Bogota. He also had been the one responsible for kidnapping Candace and selling her to Islamic terrorists.
Missy had attended a large gathering at his hacienda near Bogota as the consort of Carlos Mancini. Carlos, in addition to secretly being a werecat, was also a drug lord in Colombia and one of the many business associates who provided Rodriguez with product; his was all grown by his family high in the mountains.
As part of her demonstration of evil power, during which she’d totally convinced Manuel she was some sort of a demon, she had demanded Carlos strip down naked; then, she’d pointed at him and he’d suddenly Changed into a ferocious mountain lion. She had threatened to change Manuel into a frog, amongst various other horrible things she’d do, unless he would agree to give himself up. Carlos of course had shifted on his own when she’d done that and then had shifted back, again at her command. He was now the one replacing Manuel, taking over his organization.
Tracy said, “Sure, you told me all about his wonderful performance. Of course, it was those lightning bolts which I sent down which really convinced Manuel what an evil demon you were, right?” She giggled, enjoying the memory of that night.
“Well, true as that probably might be … what I’m trying to explain is when I watched Carlos Shift for me? It was different. I mean, different from how I do it, okay?”
“Oh? How? One instant you’re you and the next instant you’re a cat. Isn’t that the way Carlos did it?”
“Not exactly … the shimmer of light he gave off was similar to mine and the burst of energy was similar … but, it wasn’t in an instant. It was just a little slower, if that makes sense. I never had a
ctually watched anyone Shift before, besides myself.” Missy had actually seen a video of one of her own Shifts, years earlier.
Tracy stared at Missy for several seconds; she could sense this was somehow a significant issue although she wasn’t seeing why, yet. “It doesn’t surprise me you can do it faster. You’re a witch and can draw energy from all around to add to what you always have within. Carlos isn’t a witch and probably only has his own inner energy. So, you’re faster.”
“Yes, that is probably true. But, I think I was always doing it in an instant, even back when I didn’t pull energy from outside. I told you how I used to have to wait before Changing back again, right?”
“Sure, at first it was three hours each time. But, now that you’ve learned to tap into your inner witch, or whatever … now you hardly have to wait at all. Missy, your ability to pull energy from all around you is much greater than what anyone else can do.” Tracy had brought Missy to meet with her coven and they all were in agreement: Missy was off the charts.
Some thought it was because Missy had lived for over two years in her cat form before finally managing to Shift back to her human form again. Since Missy was an earth witch, whenever she was up in any mountains, her ability to draw power really magnified all her abilities. And, now that those abilities were fully manifesting, her power levels remained at those same high levels pretty much all the time.
Missy said, “Now that I’ve seen how Shifting can take several seconds rather than be all in an instant … I’ve given my own experiences a lot of thought. And, I’m wondering what might happen if I take several seconds … or, perhaps even longer. What if I can do it in two separate actions, you know?”
Missy Makes Mayhem (Missy the Werecat Book 5) Page 2