by Michael Todd
Pandora yawned. Oh, to know I am going back to Paris. I can’t even explain to you the joy that brings my little black heart. The last time I was there without being in a battle I had four lovers.
Katie was a bit surprised. How long were you there? I didn’t know you had lived in Paris.
Pandora chuckled. I didn’t. I was there for one night on some business.
Katie thought about asking questions, but she decided that it was best to have some secrets when it came to Pandora’s love life. She really didn’t want to hear about the orgy she’d participated in decades before. Juntto glanced up as the plane door opened. “Tell me, why are we not taking a portal? It would be much faster.”
Katie walked up the stairs in front of him, indicating the cargo area where the crew was loading the plane. “Because I have a ton of stuff to take with me, too much equipment for us to manhandle through a portal unless we were making multiple trips. Besides, doing the portal thing takes it out of me. I want to be fresh and strong when I get to France. Korbin will put us straight to work if he has anything to say about it.”
Pandora agreed. It does take a lot out of you, more than I realized when I was out of your body. It’s like when you’ve been boning all day and you didn’t hydrate. Hydrate, folks. Hydrate.
Katie shook her head as she made her way toward her seat. She lifted her luggage into the overhead bin and shut the door. She had only brought a couple of non-work outfits with her, figuring if she wanted to go out that badly, she would buy something new. She sat down in her seat and stretched her arms and legs. It had been a pretty long day, which made her glad she had her own private jet.
Pandora sniffed. Looks like they were on the ball with this one. Fully stocked it for me.
Katie looked at the bar in front of them. The stewardess was putting out food and clamping the covers down on them for take-off. The plane was packed with both donuts and special metal rounds for the new French fort. It was a strange combination, but they were equally important, at least to Pandora. The people needing the rounds might have argued that a bit.
Katie smirked as the stewardess closed the cabinet, sealing a stack of Krispy Kreme donut boxes inside. I still don’t know why you insisted on bringing that many donuts. You know that the French are masters with their pastries.
Pandora scoffed. But they aren’t Krispy Kreme. I need to make sure I have a backup in case it all sucks, or I get stuck on the base building this fort.
Katie shook her head. Kind of the point of going—to help build the walls.
Pandora sneered. Manual labor is not my thing.
The sound of Juntto struggling grabbed Katie’s attention. He groaned as he yanked out one of his six bags and handed it to the stewardess. Katie lifted her eyebrows, looking at all the luggage. The cases were packed to the brim and looked heavy, even for the shrunk-down version of Juntto, and his face let her know he was slightly irritated by it all. That made Katie giggle.
She looked over as Juntto sat down across the aisle against the window, leaving the seat next to him open. “Um…Juntto?”
He glanced at her. “Yeah?”
Katie held back a laugh. “May I ask what all that is for? Did you decide you needed to bring your full Hygge gear to France with you? You do know we aren’t going back into the Leviathan, right? France actually has really nice accommodations, stores, blankets… Food.”
Pandora snickered. Maybe he is moving out. This is his escape.
Katie shushed her. Angie is the best. Besides, I didn’t think he even owned that much stuff.
Juntto wiped the sweat from his forehead. Katie waited a moment for him to answer, but he seemed to be focused on something out the window. Katie leaned her head forward. “Hello? I mean, we aren’t moving to France. You are going there to help me train the Frenchies.”
Juntto groaned. “It’s not my luggage.”
Katie looked around, slightly confused. “Uh, it’s not my luggage either. I hope you didn’t take some random person’s bags and bring them on the plane. We’ve talked about this before. You can’t just take other people’s things, Juntto.”
Juntto rolled his eyes and looked at Katie with irritation. “I didn’t steal anyone’s bags. They are Angie’s.”
Katie furrowed her brow. “Angie’s? But she’s…”
Just then Angie pranced through the doorway and stopped. She was wearing a long blue trench that came to her calves and baby-blue flats. Her hair was down, and she sported big sunglasses. She put her hands out and smiled. “Here I am, family, no need to wait any longer.”
Katie blinked as she took off her glasses and pranced over to her seat, patting Juntto on the arm. “Uh, I didn’t know you would be accompanying us to France. In fact, how did you get here?”
Angie smiled, catching her breath. “Oh, I had a car pick me up. The plane is already going to France. I’m your assistant, so I need to assist you, right? I can assist you in France, while at the same time taking in the sights and sounds of the most romantic country on the planet.”
Katie smiled at her and chuckled. “Well, I can’t argue with that. Welcome to the team. I do hope you brought some work clothes.”
Angie waved her hand in the air. “Of course. But I can’t make my entry into France in work boots and jeans.”
Pandora giggled. I like her style. Just take charge. Roll with the punches. Get some French in her.
Katie buckled her belt as the plane began to move. I doubt she will be the one getting French in her. Juntto isn’t from France.
The base was pretty quiet, the training and workday over. Timothy had called it a day, taking his tablet with him to his room for a hot bath, and Stephanie was relaxing in her room while waiting to talk to Korbin. The trainees had all retired to the barracks, knowing they were set for another hellacious day of training with the guys. It had become a normal thing, though, and they were getting better every day.
From the living room came a combination of melodic guitar strumming followed by the clinging and clanging of another. The sound echoed through the halls and ruffled the hair on the back of Brock’s neck. Eddie, on the other hand, was determined, and any sound to him was better than never giving it a shot and giving up on his dream of being a rocker.
Eddie glanced at Brock. “I always forget that you were a rock star.”
Brock chuckled. “I forget I was a rock star. It honestly feels like it was another life and another body. I’ve changed a lot since those days, and now I can’t believe how much of an ass I was.”
Eddie leaned forward. “News flash: you’re still an ass.”
Brock laughed, rolling his eyes. “All right, try the G chord again. Do it slowly, and strum quietly with your other hand. No need to rock out with your cock out when it sounds like something is dying.”
Eddie took a deep breath and situated his fingers. He raised his pick to the strings and tried to carefully strum down them. Brock grimaced, listening to the murderous melody coming from the body of the instrument.
Eddie groaned. “Fuck. Okay, I got it, I got it.”
He strummed again and growled. “Fuck, that’s not it either.”
Brock chuckled, watching him try over and over. He didn’t want to kill Eddie’s dream, but with instruments, you either got it or you didn’t. There were times when those who didn’t have that it quality could perform campfire tunes, but this was not one of those situations. Eddie was probably the worst music student he had ever had in his life.
Eddie sighed and put the guitar down, looking at how red the tips of his fingers were. “I think that maybe this was made for someone else. I’ve always wanted to learn to play, but I don’t think I’ll ever get it.”
Brock laughed and put his guitar to the side. “Normally this is the point where I would say something motivational, but buddy, I have to agree with you. You are one hell of a shot when it comes to work, but you can’t hit a note to save your freaking life. It’s like your hands have a mind of their own, and they are revolti
ng against you with all their might.”
They both laughed, looking up as Turner walked into the room. He made his way through the maze of furniture and hopped over the back of the couch. Brock looked at his serious face and nodded at him. “What’s up, buddy? You look like you’re contemplating something big.”
Turner nodded. “I’ve been putting a lot of thought into it, and I have decided that I want my demon back. Well, obviously not the one I had, but a demon. I want to be a Damned again.”
Eddie nodded. “I’m right there with you, man. I asked Katie a while ago.”
Brock understood. He was the only one with a demon left in his crew. “What about Sean?”
Turner shrugged. “I don’t know, but either way, I want to be a badass again.”
7
The Fasten Seatbelt sign dinged off over Calvin’s head, and the stewardess walked over with a whiskey and Coke. “This is what they said you liked. Oui?”
Calvin smiled, taking the drink from her. “Thank you.”
He really liked the fact that France sent him home in a private jet. He had really not been looking forward to being stuck in a crowded plane for hours and hours, wearing his sunglasses so he didn’t freak anyone out. Instead, he could put his feet out and relax, which was something he desperately needed. Something he hadn’t done since he had gone to Taiwan to help Korbin.
He took a sip of his drink and stared out the window at the passing clouds. Calvin couldn’t help but wonder how Sophia was going to react when she saw him. She knew that he was trying to come home, but she didn’t know that he had actually made it happen. He hoped she was as stoked about it as he was. At the same time, he was dreading being face to face with her and finding out how she really felt about him being infected again.
Sophia was a smart girl. He knew she wouldn’t have gone off on him when he was still out in the field. She wouldn’t want to endanger his life by throwing him off mentally. But now the action was over, and she had full rein to let him know exactly how she felt.
Calvin’s demon sniffed. So, is this Sophia hot?
Calvin growled. Shut up. That’s my wife we’re talking about here.
His demon sighed. Calm down, Tits McGee. I’m not trying to steal your girl or anything. But since I am now inside you and not going anywhere anytime soon, I figured it would be good to know. We are going to be hanging out quite a bit.
Calvin chuckled. I guess you’re right. Yeah, man, she’s smoking hot. Drop-dead gorgeous.
The demon laughed excitedly. That’s what I’m talking about. The last time I infected a human he was gay, so I took over completely and banged a bunch of chicks with his body. I really had to fight him sometimes, though. He would straight block me mid-fuck. Like, the big guy would go tumbling down. It was embarrassing, bro.
Calvin smirked, thinking about Brock’s old demon. So, you never told me your name. I guess if we are going to be together for a long time, I should know what to call you.
The demon cleared his throat ceremoniously. I am Fuskpagnathar the Unworthy.
Calvin blinked, shaking his head. I am not even going to try to repeat that. Seriously, where do you demons get your fucking names from? Is there a demon baby name book out there that they pick from or something?
Fuskpagnathar laughed. Really? You think I rolled out of some troll’s womb? I was human once, and then bam! Straight to hell. I probably deserved it. Apparently when you rape, pillage, and burn people in their own thatched huts, they get all bunched up in the panties up there.
Calvin wrinkled his nose. Well, I need to call you something else. Let’s see… Fusk? No. Nathar…or Nathan? Oh, how about Nate?
The demon groaned.
Calvin nodded. I like Nate. Easy to say, rolls off the tongue, and I can call you Nate Dogg.
Brock slowly chewed his piece of gum as he stood next to Stephanie. She put her hand on her chin and turned her head sideways. They were about ten feet in front of the barracks and to the right of the parking area, staring at an empty patch of sand. The wind whipped to the side, blowing sand around as they shifted their bodies, turning their heads the other way but not saying anything out loud. To the passing soldiers, it looked like they’d lost their minds.
Stephanie took a deep breath and glanced at Brock. “So what do you think? I mean, is this going to meet all of our requirements?”
Brock tapped his fingers to his lips and then held out his hands and spread them apart. “And you can always expand it if you think it’s necessary. Personally, I would build up, though. You know, in case you want to add things that aren’t going to be viable in sand.”
Stephanie nodded her head, still staring at the patch. She squatted in front of the imaginary garden and pursed her lips. “You may be right. And we are definitely going to need windbreaks, and some way to shade the space. That heat pumping down in the summertime will do it in, no question.”
Brock shook his head. “Oh, definitely. You could do the windbreaks and bring a roof up and over, but don’t make it solid wood. I’m sure there is something out there that will let light through but protect from overheating.”
Joshua strolled out of the armory and looked around, seeing Stephanie and Brock with their backs to him, staring at the ground. He furrowed his brow and jogged across the open area, slowing down as he approached. They didn’t look up when he got there, just kept talking. Joshua had no idea what was going on, but he stared down at the sand with them, just figuring he was missing something.
Stephanie looked up at Joshua. “What do you think, Joshua? Do you think it’s a good spot?”
Joshua tilted his head back and forth, studying the ground. After a few moments, he glanced at Brock and Stephanie, who were waiting for him to answer. He cleared his throat, nodding uncomfortably. Shifting his arms, he put one around his waist and held his chin with the other. “Sure. Sure. Uh, are we talking about inserting a new weapon here or something? Like, what are we talking? Rocket-launcher? Special gun? Bunker for soldiers out here who need to take cover? Or are you thinking a completely new design? I can do that too, but we would have to discuss the details.”
Stephanie stared at him for a moment and then burst into laughter. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “I love you, Joshua. You really are the best.”
She turned around and put her arms out, looking back at him in excitement. “No, we are talking about my new garden. Korbin is supposedly sending home some seeds, and I thought it would be a good idea to start getting it together now. That way, when it’s time, I can just drop them in and start watering them and bringing my garden to life.”
Joshua nodded his head. “Ohhhh. Okay. I know nothing about gardening, so I am the wrong person to ask.”
Stephanie pouted. “Oh. Dang. Did you need something?”
Joshua clapped his hands and pointed at her. “Actually, yeah. I came out to find you to see if you had a little bit of time to talk to me. I wanted to go over some things—kind of issues—that have been weighing hard on the armory and on my mind.”
Stephanie nodded. “Of course. Brock, I will catch up with you later. Maybe we can lay down the blueprints for the garden boxes.”
Stephanie smiled at Joshua. “Lead the way, buddy.”
The two walked back across the open area, shielding their eyes against the flying sand. Joshua opened the factory door, exposing them to the loud sounds of the machine room. Stephanie hurried in and brushed the sand off herself and out of her hair before walking through. Several of the girls smiled and waved as they headed back to his soundproof office.
Joshua let her in and shut the glass door behind him, completely blocking the noise from the machines. He sat down at his desk and smiled nervously across it at Stephanie.
She raised both eyebrows. “What is this about?”
Joshua shuffled some papers. “So, I’ve been doing the numbers, and it would seem that we need to either cut down on shipments of special metal weapons or we need to open a wh
ole new facility.”
Stephanie was taken aback. “Oh. Wow. That was not at all what I thought you were going to talk about. That’s pretty heavy stuff. Wow. Okay, um, is it the people? We can bring in more if you need them.”
Joshua shook his head. “No, not the people at all. The girls are more than capable of covering the shifts. And I say ‘open a new facility’ loosely. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I have the bandwidth to open a whole other factory, even if it was possible. Yes, then I would need more employees, but even worse I would need more of me and more of my materials. It would be almost impossible to do that at this point without seriously wearing us all down, and we can’t have someone else run it. They won’t be able to create the product.”
Stephanie put her hand to her chin. “That is quite an issue. Is it just the weapons, or is some of this coming from the number of bullets we are manufacturing? I know we never quite have enough. We could have one facility just for bullets, and it would never close.”
Joshua smiled and tapped his fingers on the desk. “Actually, it’s the amount of special metal that we used on the hell-bombs, but it is also the quantity of weapons and ammunition these new forts are taking. And by the time they order, I don’t have enough time between then and when they get to the next incursion to replenish.”
Stephanie looked out at the floor. Now that she really paid attention, the pile to ship out was getting smaller by the day. “Are you already at a breaking point?”
Joshua stood up and looked out the window. “No. We are running low, though. It’s not dire right at this moment, but it’s something that you need to be aware of. I think Korbin needs to be aware of it as well, especially if he has anywhere coming up that is going to blow us out of the water. We could find ourselves too deep to swim.”
Calvin stood at the counter at the airport watching the guy typing on the computer. He looked out at the beautiful blue San Diego sky, and it made him even more excited. He was really looking forward to seeing Sofia again. It had been far too long since he’d held her in his arms, and far too long since he’d whispered at her belly and told their little one just how much he loved it, both of which were equally important to him.
