Mage Marine Misfits: Book 01

by Derek Wallace

  He stepped away intending to find his own quarters when the counting stopped abruptly and quick footsteps followed. He tensed, poised to keep walking when the door was flung open.

  “Who are you?” Jordan Adity demanded. Jaime recognized him from his files. He was taller than he looked in the stills, more muscled if lean. His black eyes glared balefully at Jaime and he looked ready to take a swing with the fist not currently wrapped around a barbell.

  “Jordan, it’s good to meet you. My name is Jaime Pravin Hall. I’m your new squadron leader.”

  Jordan’s eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips as if afraid to talk.

  Jaime took a deep breath, deciding to bite the bullet at once. “I know of your…affliction, and I want to assure you that I will try my level best to maintain discretion in the matter of asking for information from you.”

  Jordan’s mouth opened, his eyes widening as if with fear. “You don’t have to ask me a direct question. If you even say something that I know is inaccurate, I will be compelled to correct you.”

  Jaime nodded, sympathy twisting his gut. “Is there nothing anyone can do?”

  Jordan shook his head so hard, drops of sweat landed on Jaime’s face. He chose not to mention it though, and just took a discreet step back.

  “Carrie was crazy talented. My brother killed her before she could reverse the spell. He thought killing her would remove it. But it didn’t. Now my dad wants to kill me since he can’t control what I say.”

  Jaime wanted to run away and not listen. From the look in Jordan’s eyes, it was torturing him that he couldn’t shut up. It must suck balls to live like this. Jaime would have slashed his own throat if the situation was reversed. He reached out and placed a tentative hand on Jordan’s sweaty shoulder. “Well, the good news is, nobody’s gonna try to kill you here. Not on my watch. Except the enemy of course,” he said with a small pat.

  “That’s probably why my uncle sent me to the misfit unit. Lower probability of survival.”

  “Hey, don’t say that. Nobody’s dying if I can help it.”

  Jordan simply nodded, which was a relief to Jaime. It was good to know the former gangster believed him on that at least. He made to step away and then hesitated. He had a question to ask but maybe this was an invasion of Jordan’s privacy.

  “What?” Jordan asked.

  “Well…I was wondering, how did you hear me on the other side of the door?”

  Jordan shrugged. “I got people trying to kill me. Of course, I got me some augs so I could at least hear them coming,” he said pointing to a blue spot behind his ear. Jaime knew how expensive those were. He couldn’t help wondering how Jordan could have gotten his hands on a pair. It was unlikely his father had paid for them seeing as he was the one that wanted to kill Jordan. But he knew that asking would definitely fall under violating Jordan’s privacy.

  “Cool,” he said instead with a nod and then moved on down the hall.

  Well, that was one intro done - five to go.

  “Awesome,” Jaime murmured to himself as he found his room.

  He was exhausted from everything. The surgery, his visions, the meeting with the general and travel to sector six. He threw his baggage pod on the table, resolving to unpack later and then flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes. Before he knew it, he was out like a light.

  ∞

  A beeping sound woke him up and he sat up instantly alert. He glanced toward his bedside table where the holograph projected by his phone said he had eighteen standard minutes to get through his ablutions and report for breakfast. He figured his phone had downloaded the sector’s schedule from the mainframe as soon as they got in.

  Good.

  He wouldn’t have to search someone out to ask. He dragged himself out of bed, stretching his still tired limbs and padded to the attached bathroom. He undressed, stepping under the shower head which immediately came on, drenching him for exactly a minute before switching off. Water was a precious commodity on the moon since it had to be transported from Earth. The water in the shower was already adulterated with cleaning agents so he just dried himself off, brushed his teeth, got his uniform on and made his way to the dining hall, letting Arnold - his GPS - lead him.

  Pretty soon, he didn’t need Arnold anymore because he could hear the loud talking coming from a room to his right. His heartbeat sped up with anxiety. He was about to meet his team; he was team leader and he would have to prove to the people in that room that he was worth following, otherwise they would all be dead.

  He paused by the open door, eyes closed, regulating his breathing. He needed to be calm when he first met them as a unit. First impressions mattered.

  He took a step into the room, face set in an impassive mask, and then stopped in surprise. He’d expected a full house, but apparently, it was just three people making all the noise. Two were arguing fiercely while the third tried to mediate.

  “Welcome to hell, commander,” an amused voice said from behind him. He turned to meet eyes so light they were practically colorless.

  Zorica Killa Warwick.

  Her picture definitely did not do her justice. Jaime felt the heat of a blush in his cheeks and wanted to turn away from her, tame his very visceral reaction to her compelling looks. But he could not afford to break eye contact.

  “Zorica Killa Warwick. It’s nice to meet you.”

  One dark blue eyebrow rose in seemingly genuine surprise before the amused look was back. “So you’ve already read our files. How industrious of you.”

  Jaime ignored the sarcasm. “Can I call you Zorica?”

  She shrugged, looking unbothered. “You can call me whatever you want,” she said, a twinkle in her eye.

  Oh, she was going to be so much trouble. Jaime could feel it in his bones. He nodded, hoping his mask hadn’t slipped, and held out his hand.

  “Well Zorica, please call me Jaime.”

  Zorica looked down at his hand like she’d never seen one before. “Hmm, such an Old Earth name. You’re from the slum aren’t you?”

  Jaime wanted to ask what the connection between his name and his origins was but decided against it. Already he knew that Zorica liked to play games, and she would press any advantage he gave her until she had him backed into a corner. Better to act like he didn’t give a rat’s ass about anything she was saying.

  “I don’t suppose you’d like to introduce me to your colleagues?” he asked instead.

  Her smile widened like she was pleased he didn’t fall for her shenanigans so easily. He’d probably issued some kind of challenge. He sighed inwardly, applauding himself for getting into this situation on his first day. She hooked her arm through his, leading him toward the table where the three trainees were gesticulating wildly, barely managing not to spill food all over the place. He peered at the fare, feeling his stomach growl with hunger. Zorica glanced at him, clearly having heard his stomach as clearly as he did.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, “they feed us pretty well up here.”

  Jaime struggled not to blush again. This was super embarrassing. He hastened his steps, reaching the table a step or two ahead of Zorica. He heard her titter with amusement as she came up behind him but didn’t deign to look at her.

  “Guys, would you stop arguing for a hot second and meet your new boss?” she called, raising her voice. The three people at the table stopped talking simultaneously and turned to stare stonily at Jaime.

  He recognized Epone Fayza, the disgraced Elementalist. Her opponent in the fight was Uzochi Tiryaki, the turncoat from Brekson. The mediator was the AI that had swallowed his creator, AX-8721. He nodded at all three of them, curious as to what would make these three beings argue so passionately.

  Epone stood up, hand held up in a three finger salute. “Sir,” she said, in a seemingly serious tone, although Jaime could detect just a hint of mocking underneath.

  “That’s the infamous Epone as I’m sure you know if you haven’t been liv
ing under a rock,” Zorica said.

  Jaime raised his own hand in the two finger reply. “Honored to meet you,” he said.

  Epone frowned, sitting back down without another word. The AI simply stared at him, and Jaime assumed it was reading his data, probably from his phone or maybe even hacking databases. The extent of what AX-8721 could do was still undocumented.

  “If you have any questions about me,” Jaime said, eyes on the robot hybrid, “You need only ask.”

  That made AX turn away, its genetic human flesh coloring as if he was sheepish or embarrassed at being caught out. Jaime wondered who was in control: Mathias Teke or the AI. It was an interesting subject that he made a note to explore at another time.

  Uzochi simply sat detached, watching them all. Jaime bowed to him and he inclined his head back.

  “Where is She-who-must-not-be-named then?” He asked Zorica.

  “Oh, she doesn’t eat with us. In fact, she doesn’t do much of anything with the rest of us if she can avoid it.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” Jaime said thoughtfully.

  Zorica raised an eyebrow. “Is it though? She’s not exactly the most pleasant being to be around.”

  Jaime gave her a sharp glance. “And I suppose the rest of you are princes and princesses among men?”

  Zorica gave another playful shrug. “Pretty much,” she said. “Now you want some food or you want a hole in your stomach lining?” she asked, picking up a plate and handing it over to him. He grimaced, unable to stop himself from rubbing his stomach as it gurgled. He really was starving. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten.

  He leaned in toward the kitchen counter, reading from the console.

  Eggs, one label said, and he pressed the button. Immediately, a robot hand brandishing a spatula deposited scrambled eggs on his plate. He went down the row, pretty much pressing every button. By the time he came back to the table, his plate was overflowing.

  Nobody batted an eyelash though; they simply continued to talk among themselves and let him eat in peace. He listened with half an ear, not really understanding their references, although he knew they were gossiping. They didn’t name names so he had no idea who they were gossiping about. For all he knew, it was him.

  You’re such a paranoid bastard, his brain informed him.

  ‘You trust the new guy?’ he’d heard that voice before but couldn’t quite place it.

  ‘I don’t trust anyone. Especially slum rats,’ the second voice was low, contemptuous and female. Also slightly familiar but not enough to identify who it belonged to.

  ‘I don’t know. I mean he did bend over backward to make sure I didn’t have to tell him more than I was willing to. I think he’s good people.’

  Jordan. That was Jordan Adity. Which meant the female was someone else on his team. He waited with bated breath for her to speak again but that was it. No other voices or visions came to him. He looked down at his depleted plate, casting his eyes to the side to see that Zorica and Uzochi were still seated at the table sipping coffee and talking quietly but everyone else had dispersed.

  What did it mean? He had no idea. But he could see how this new skill might be a blessing and a curse for him. If only he could control what he saw and heard, it would have been the perfect gift.

  “Finished boss?” Zorica looked over at him with another impish smile.

  “Yeah. I want to call a briefing of all personnel. How do I do that?” he asked. He could have asked Arnold to find out but he thought it better to ask someone who was already a part of the team.

  “Oh, just send out an alert on your phone. You have been added to the intranetwork, haven’t you?”

  “Arnold, are we connected to subsector six intranetwork?” he asked his natural language user interface.

  A holograph immediately appeared, giving him his schedule for the day, as well as all other contacts, information, and passwords he might need to maneuver his way. It wasn’t visible to anyone else on the table which is why Arnold chose to show rather than tell.

  “Thank you, Arnold,” Jaime said, and the holograph winked out.

  Zorica raised both eyebrows. “I see you have all the latest updates. How very techno-savvy of you.”

  Jaime lifted both palms up. “Yeah well, unlike everyone else on this rock, I have no magic to rely on. Arnold is all I have.”

  Zorica turned down her lips dramatically. “Aww, poor baby.”

  Jaime ignored her words, typing out a call to meeting and sending it out. He stood up and smiled at the pair remaining at the table.

  “I’ll see you all in ten minutes then.”

  Chapter Four: Official Introduction

  His team might have been a grumpy group but at least they weren’t tardy. Exactly ten minutes after Jaime sent out the summons, all six members of his team were present in the conference room and accounted for. It warmed his heart to see it. This was a good start. Perhaps there was a chance that this mission might succeed.

  ‘You’re a fool if you trust him then. You know the Federation put us in this team so we could get killed, right? Hell, you of all people should know.’

  It was a darkened room but not entirely dark. There was a faint blue light emanating from the corner. He could make out a bed, a desk chair, and weights. It was somebody’s room then, right here in this station. He’d put his money on Jordan’s room. The question was, had the conversation taken place yet or not? He hoped it wasn’t Zorica in the room with Jordan. That would be a blow; to know that that was how she felt about him. He kind of thought they hit it off this morning.

  “Sir?” the voice startled him out of his fugue and he looked up to see AX peering at him in concern…or curiosity. Jaime would bet all the currency units he had that the AI was also trying to scan him.

  He took a step back inadvertently jerking his head away from the AI.

  “I’m fine, thank you. Shall we have a seat?” He gestured toward the conference table that sat ten, moving toward its head. Everyone followed suit, taking place along the table. He made a note of who sat next to who, especially Jordan. It wasn’t proof of anything but it was a place to begin.

  AX sat directly to his left, still watching him closely and he was gratified when Zorica took the seat to his right. Epone sat next to AX, looking like she swallowed a lemon, and Jordan sat across from her, on Zorica’s right while She-who-must-not-be-named took a seat at the tail end of the table. Uzochi was last to be seated, taking the seat one place down from Epone.

  ‘I know he’s in as much danger as the rest of us…’

  Jaime shook his head. He needed to find a way to switch that voice off, or at least control it. For now, though, he had to give the people in this room a reason to trust him.

  ∞

  “I’m in charge here so whatever I say, is what goes!”

  Jaime watched the footage featuring the first squad leader of the Marine Misfits during their first training session. It wasn’t going well. Epone and Uzochi weren’t even pretending to be interested while AX was staring fixedly, clearly reading the Epicurian’s stats. Jizyd Vruessk, immigrant from Epicuria who’d come to Earth, joined the Federation and worked their way up the ranks. Clearly, they’d learned their leadership skills from ancient Earth films if their style was anything to go by. Jaime wasn’t surprised they hadn’t lasted longer than one Earth year in the role. He was a good lesson in how not to handle this group.

  Jaime stopped the footage, replacing it with that of the second squadron leader, Alexis Frey. They were a little less abrasive but clearly suspicious of everyone on the team. They tended to demand proof of anything anyone said including reasons for absence such as visiting the facilities or illness, even though any stated and experienced symptoms were on file. They claimed that illness could be faked and nobody took that long in the facilities and they were always looking for perceived hidden motives and actions.

  It was exhausting to watch.

  Jaime
didn’t know how the team had endured it for three Earth years. Jaime might have contemplated killing them in their sleep. He leaned back, watching until the end, focused more on the behavior of the team and how they reacted than on Alexis. AX couldn’t seem to stop trying to read people. He noticed all the other team members wore firewalls somewhere on their body. Maybe it was a compulsion with the robot, or with the scientist, he swallowed; wanting to know things.

  Scientific curiosity.

  Jaime wondered if AX would tell him if he inquired politely. In all the videos he had in storage, AX said nothing whatsoever to Alexis. They simply stared or acted like they weren’t listening. Uzochi was cutting, bordering on rude most of the time, making derogatory comments about Alexis and giving strange and horrible predictions about her future. When she asked for specifics about the event in her future, Uzochi would wonder aloud why his negative predictions were the only thing she seemed to believe without question. This would lead to a fight that Zorica would now and then try to break up.

  Jaime wondered about that. He had thought that they had made a connection when they first met. But maybe that was just her M.O. She was the friendly one. The one who got along to get along. He shouldn’t read too much into it.

  Still…

  He couldn’t help leaning forward when she was onscreen.

  Studying her face.

  Trying to see if it was different than when she looked at him.

  “Come on Hall, this isn’t Love Boat. Get it together,” he murmured to himself, stretching his body and rubbing at his eyes. He was still exhausted from the operation, the news of its failure and the events of the last few days. He wanted to sleep for a year but that wasn’t in the cards. So what were his options? He just had to power through and do the best he could with what he had. He wondered why he hadn’t received any new visions since the one in the meeting room. It was strange, all things considered. He wondered if any of his teammates could help him understand.