Authors: Joseph Picard
“
With Cip what?”
Crud, Cassidy didn’t want to cause
Cipriana any more grief. Karen knew exactly what she needed to know
already, she was just hunting for bonus points. She could almost
hear the pages of the psychology handbook turning in Karen’s head.
“Well, you know.” Cassidy was careful not to trail off her voice.
Careful not to leave any more breadcrumbs for Karen to follow, it
was time for a subject change.
Karen nodded, as Cassidy kicked a
pebble along. “Cassidy, can we talk about Cheryl?”
Fuck. Can we cancel the topic change?
Well, it was coming sooner or later. Step lightly, Stanton, you’re
in a minefield. “I guess that’s why you’re here, huh?”
Karen nodded. “Stop nodding,” Cassidy
thought, “You’ll break your neck if you keep doing that. Or I
will.”
“
You two were close, I
understand?”
In response, Cassidy just held up her
hand to show her ring.
“
What’s it signify?” Karen
asked.
Yeah, well, of course she was going to
ask. Cassidy regretted bringing attention to the it. She didn’t
want to explain the lameness of a promise ring again. She just
replied “Yeah, very close.”
“
And how are you coping with
her death?” There it was. All the infantry had been deployed in
previous questions, and this was the first shot of battle. ‘How was
she coping’, she asked. What a stupid fucking question, fit for a
field reporter running around a disaster site with a microphone.
But she knew it was coming.
How to reply? Honestly? Never. But she
couldn’t be glib about it either. That would raise all kinds of red
flags in Karen’s little pop-psych head. Damn it, her pain was
private. “Well, I’ll be honest with you. It sucks. We had plans,
y’know?”
Karen nodded, oblivious to how it was
an invitation of strangulation to Cassidy. “What kind of
plans?”
Just shut up please! What kind of
plans? International table hockey tournaments! No wait! Giant plaid
emu racing! “Oh,” Cassidy sighed, careful not to let her body
language bleed through. “The cliché, the happily ever after... All
that crap.”
“
And now that plan’s
gone.”
Cassidy resisted smacking her forehead.
Well, god damned fucking thankyou, Einstein. How many atoms did you
have to split before you deduced that?
Karen continued. “How does that make
you feel?”
She did not ask that. Did. Not. There
should be a course these people have to take, all about never using
that exact phrase, to avoid getting things thrown at
you.
Thankfully, Cassidy prided herself on
having a level head. There simply wasn’t anything lethal enough on
hand to throw. “It kinda makes me feel like flying around in an
airlimb with ridiculously over-trained bodyguards, carrying a
really old spear. So far that’s working out pretty well for
me.”
“
Yes, I heard about that.”
Karen paused. Cassidy could hear the pages in Karen’s head flipping
back and forth, looking for a similar case. “I can’t say that is
sounds like a terribly healthy situation.”
Yeah duh. Especially for the guy on the
other end of the spear. Cassidy looked out towards the temple.
“It’s an Aguei thing, I guess.” Was Karen terribly well versed on
Aguei customs?
“
You’re not
Aguei.”
Well, darn. Being able to blame a
vengeance quest on heritage would be much more effective if Cassidy
wasn’t white.
“
Armil said it best.”
Cassidy's voice slowed to a measured pace, reserved for doling out
folksy wisdoms. “There’s really no such thing as an honourary
Aguei. You either are, or you aren’t. Nuthin to do with
blood.”
Soaking it in for a moment with a sigh,
Karen observed, “Kind of convenient though, isn’t it?”
Cassidy stopped walking. When Karen
stopped and turned to look at her, she was met with the fiercest
glare that could escape from under the brim of Cassidy’s
hat.
A long pause. Karen felt she had
overstepped a little, and opened her mouth to say something
conciliatory, but was unable to make a sound before Cassidy pointed
forcefully at her. “I fail to find anything convenient in
this.”
Cassidy started to walk back to base at
a brisk pace.
“
Cassidy.” Karen said,
rummaging through her pocket. “Take my card, if you ever want to
talk.”
Cassidy took the card, and continued
walking. As she walked she reached back to slip the card in the
back pocket, ‘accidentally’ missing. The card fell listlessly to
the ground.
“
Cassidy, you dropped
it.”
Without breaking stride, Cassidy simply
replied, “Oops.”
~~~
Cassidy walked into the women’s
barracks. A couple people were sleeping, and Cipriana was in her
meditative pose. Cassidy walked over to her own bunk, and sat on
the edge.
She stared at Cipriana, who sat there
with closed eyes. Cipriana was broadcasting her usual aura, but it
still wasn't quite the right aura. Cassidy stared for quite a while
in silence, expressionless.
“
Cip.” She said finally,
flatly.
A moment passed before Cipriana calmly
opened her eyes. “Cassidy. Hello.”
Was she on the other line with the
ghost? “So. Heard anything good lately, Cip?”
“
Many things. More burdens
than good. I’m the new C.O., after all.”
“
It’s confirmed then. You
rank up, huh? They could have brought in someone new to replace
him.” That might have been better. Was she reliable now? Then
again, if Marcus was hearing the ghost before, maybe it wasn’t so
dangerous to have a crazy C.O.
“
I have the responsibility
to find replacements now. Armil has lent me a few men for the
immediate need, but I’ll have to find new people. Two permanent,
and one temporary, while you’re…”
A moment dragged on while they both
thought of what Cassidy’s new duty might entail. “You know… it’s
possible I don’t come back to duty here when it’s over. There’s a
bad memory or two here, you may have noticed.”
Cipriana sighed. “We would all feel
the… loss if you did not return.”
Cassidy looked over to Cheryl’s bed.
“Any of the temps using her bed?”
“
No. They’re
male.”
Cassidy stood up from the edge of her
own bed, and lay down on Cheryl’s. “Kay. G’nite.” She rolled over
and curled up on top of the covers. “I mean, good afternoon.
Whatever.”
She pulled the pillow in front of her
face, and inhaled deeply. She hoped to find the scent of Cheryl
again, but was disappointed. Of course laundry had been done since.
The sterile smell was a spiteful void.
She gripped the pillow as tight to
herself as she could, and pretended to sleep.
~~~~~
:::C /38
~~~~~
Horad drove up to his usual parking
space outside the dugout. There wasn’t any sort of meeting today.
Morale had been low since two of his men got put into jail for
lobbing grenades around the Yute temple.
The others asked him about the
stabbing, since it had been on the news. He found himself reluctant
to answer them about it. Explosives had always seemed so easy.
Simple. You never even have to see the victims. Most of his
bombings were as victim-free as possible. Property damage attacks
done at night. He knew however, that people had died from time to
time by his actions.
But stabbing someone… that was
different. He hadn’t done that before. He could still vividly
remember the feel of flesh giving way to blade, made all the worse
by the look on their faces. Especially the girl.
It had led him to imagine the final
moments of people bleeding to death after an explosion.
He shook off the grizzly thoughts, and
turned off the van’s engine. He tucked his unopened newspaper under
his arm, stepped out, and looked around. Something was different.
He couldn’t put his finger on it.
He opened the hatch, and was careful
not to trigger the trap. Before he was too deep down the stair, he
looked back across the ground. There were no footprints or tire
tracks, other than those he has just made. The dirt was very
smooth, as if there had been some heavy winds. Had there been? Must
have.
It smelt odd inside. Just a little
trace of something different. One of the boys must have been here
recently, and smoking something unusual.
As he made his way to the office, he
noticed that the weapons pile had been disturbed. All of the ammo
was gone. The others have taken ammo before, but all of it? That
was stupid. He’d have to have a word with them, and beat some funds
out of them.
He turned on the mini fridge so that he
could have a cold beer later. Sitting at his desk, his foot bumped
the heat suit that Samuel had given him. Samuel never did ask for
it back, as he said he would. He tried to think of other uses he
could come up with for it. Maybe it would be better to just try to
sell it. But to who?
The newspaper read much as it did any
other day. If the strength of the Aguei people was now free, you’d
think there’d be a noticeable change in the world. But who was
Horad to question the ways of spirits, or the speed at which they
preformed?
~~~
Cassidy awoke, rescued from another
nightmare. Her little terminal was beeping desperately for
attention. She sat up, yawned, and answered it.
“
Stanton.”
Colonel Nafim’s face popped up on the
screen. “Satellites showed us a lone man entering the dugout, about
ten minutes ago.”
“
Armed?”
“
Not that we could see. Even
if he has a pistol, I don’t think we have a lot to worry about.
Still, it’s worth using the smoke again.”
“
Fine. Are you coming to get
me?”
“
We’re about five minutes
out.”
“
Kay. See you on the pad.”
Cassidy hung up, and quickly put herself together, which wasn’t so
hard, given that she fell asleep fully dressed.
Maxine was in the room, and said
nothing as Cassidy went to answer the call of nature. Cassidy
hurriedly dashed out.
“
Good luck.” Maxine quietly
said. It felt strange to wish someone luck in killing a
man.
When the airlimb set down, Cassidy was
waiting. This was when she noticed that Cipriana had followed
her.
“
Cip. Something
wrong?”
Cipriana looked over to the airlimb.
“Cassidy, may I accompany you?” The bay door opened, and Keith
waved Cassidy over. She turned to Cipriana. “Sure, whatever floats
your boat.”
Keith put his hand out to assist
Cassidy onto the airlimb. She made her own way up, leaving him to
help up Cipriana.
Cassidy turned to Keith. “All
restocked, huh? Did you get that five liters of vodka we talked
about?”
“
Sorry, Sir.”
“
You’re fired. Hey, it takes
us twenty min to get there, right? What if he leaves by
then?”
“
The eye in the sky can
track him.”
“
Alright then.” Cassidy took
a deep breath. “Alright. I’m going to take a shower and junk while
I have time. I was sleeping when the Colonel rang me up.” She
marched off, leaving Cipriana and Keith to get
acquainted.
Cassidy hadn’t taken advantage of the
showers on the airlimb previously. The showers at the base were
spacious, if a bit rickety… at least compared to the airlimb’s
shower… booths.
There wasn’t much more space than
minimally required. She must have struck her elbow on the light
grey walls a dozen times before she was done. They were sterile
looking, and sealed so tight, that she felt like pre-packaged
luncheon meat.
Getting out, she dried off, (except her
hair, which she knew she didn’t have time to dry, and thusly didn’t
wash) and reinstalled her hat. She caught a glimpse of herself in
the mirror.
For all they knew, that guy the
satellite saw was just some innocent guy who happened to go to a
place where that heat suit happened to be. But something told
Cassidy that this was the day she’d look Cheryl’s killer in the
eye.
She looked herself hard in the eye.
“Ready for this, bitch?” she asked herself. Yeah. Yeah, she was.
This was the day. Let’s go.
No, wait, put on more clothes than just
the hat, then let’s go.
She put on her usual top and desert
pants, adjusted the kneepads. Strapped on the boots. Adjusted the
holster. She knew she was wearing a fraction of the gear that the
Storms equipped, but she felt like a tank. Unstoppable, force of
nature.
An odd sense of quiet surrounded
Cassidy. She was aware of it, and thought of Cipriana’s ‘aura’.
This aura was not one of peace. Nor was it one of war, or even
vengeance.
This was focus. This was
purpose.
She walked out of the shower room with
deliberate force, her will pushing her to the beast's spear. She
pulled open the door to her quarters and pulled the spear off its
rack. With continued haste, she went to the loading bay,
unapologetic as she nearly knocked over a Storm.