"I'll get it, Ben," She said, reaching around me and pulling the door open.
"Thank you," I said, turning to my right and heading in the direction I last saw everyone walking in. A second later I felt a hand push its way through my arm and wrap around it, and she fell into step next to me.
"An escort would be nice, even if it is just part of the way," she said with a small smile.
"This feels so formal," I said. “Do you usually walk like this with someone you just met?”
"Women's intuition," she said. We walked for about ten minutes, finally catching up with Arrendondo and Phil. They were casually waiting by a park. Phil wouldn’t look at me, which was good for him.
"Corporal,” I said, “Here’s your coffee. Sorry I’m late, there was a long line."
"Who’s your friend, Private?" she asked.
"This is Rhonda,” I answered. “I offered to walk her ‘til we caught you and the others. The terrorists and all, you know, it’s kind of dangerous on the streets."
"Maybe you should walk her home, Private, and meet us at rally point three," Arrendondo said.
Ruby answered before me. "No, that won’t be necessary,” she said. “It's not far, I'll be alright."
"I insist,” Arrendondo said. “Until we catch those responsible we are all in danger. It’s just a little community goodwill."
"Let’s go Rhonda, once she has made up her mind she won’t change it, and I would happy to do it." I gave a slight tug on her arm and she began moving.
"You can quit once we’re out of sight,” she said quietly. “I’ll be fine."
"I don’t know,” I said. “If she finds out she will skin me alive. Is it a problem for you? You don’t have a jealous husband, do you? I know we didn’t do anything, but they don’t always see it that way."
"No, no jealous husband. My brother, mom and gram — we all live together," she answered.
"Oh good,” I smiled. “I’d hate to ruin such a nice day."
"Ben, what do you think they will do if they catch the ones responsible for the bombings?"
"Oh man, that's way above my pay grade,” I answered. “You know what these stripes mean?"
"No, not really."
"They mean nothing. They mean, do what you’re told and don’t ask questions." I laughed, she smiled.
"I just thought you might have some insight into it, maybe know something I don’t know," she said sheepishly.
"I'll give you my two cents worth,” I said, “We are still a part of the Alliance and under those laws I think everyone involved would be facing some prison time and fines; probably depends on their part in everything. That is, right now. If people start getting killed, blown up, shot up — then it’s a long time in prison or a death sentence. The other thing that will change is the peaceful protesters will find a totally different group of peacekeepers facing them. They will be high-strung and intense. Long and short, Rhonda, is there will be consequences that cannot be seen ‘til later."
She walked along beside me quietly, I assumed thinking about what I had said. We rounded a corner and ran into her brother.
He saw her with me and went ballistic, yelling as he walked towards us. I took my arm from her and gently pushed her behind me. She was telling him to calm down and not do anything stupid.
I looked down at the crazy brother, trying to decide what I wanted to do. I couldn’t hurt him; I knew that would screw things up. He managed to get in my personal space and I pushed him backwards. Not hard, but hard enough.
Ruby, or Rhonda, pushed me out of the way to check on her brother. He was fine, but he would play it for everything it was worth. She gave me a dirty look, but I was already prepared for it to be my fault.
I raised my voice a little as they walked away. "Rhonda, coffee tomorrow, same time, okay? I'll be waiting!"
I watched her walk away. Man, she was something. Her hand was on her brother’s back and I saw her give a thumbs-up. I turned and headed to meet everyone else. I was already mentally preparing for the ration of shit I would get, friendly and otherwise.
Chapter 6
I moved briskly, looking around as I walked. I saw him step out of the entry and fall in step next to me.
"That was an interesting few hours, Private. Let me ask you. Who is in command of this op — me or you?"
"You are, sir," I answered, trying to understand why he would be pissed. Then again, he was a captain, so he probably didn’t need a reason.
"Why didn’t you take her into custody? You know who she is, right?" he asked. The edge in his tone softened.
"Yes sir, I do."
"And? Enlighten me, Private."
"Sir, I thought if we took her right now then the others would disappear. It was my understanding that the only thing they have on her and her brother are that they are protestors. Which isn’t a crime, when done peacefully."
"We might be able to get answers out of her, Private. We have our methods."
"I believe that, sir. But she is still just one fish, and she is smart. She won't spill. I don’t think she is violent, either. There are others who are orchestrating the destruction."
He stopped walking, and I stopped a step later. He was thinking.
"What else do you know, Private?" he asked finally.
"I know the brother is a hothead and scared,” I answered, using what little I had encountered the brother. “When I entered the coffee shop they were having a disagreement about something. I would say the brother is involved with the people we really need to arrest. There is no father in their family picture, that she mentioned anyways, so I think the brother, being a follower, is looking up to someone."
"Hmm,” the captains said. “Well, he did lose it when he saw you with her."
"Yeah, a double whammy,” I smiled at the captain. “The uniform of the enemy and the big handsome guy his sister was holding on too."
"Let’s do this,” he said. “For the record, I think you're right. It seems you are taking this duty seriously, unlike some of your team. Wanna tell me what happened with De La Cruz?"
I had to think a moment. He had probably seen me, after all.
"Private De La Cruz had trouble breathing, sir, maybe an allergic reaction to something here," I finally said.
"I've seen that allergy before. I hope no one else comes down with it."
"I'll do my best to help the other marines, but no promises,” I said.
"Let the corporal handle the day-to-day maladies, Private. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir."
****
"Captain, do you think it wise to let the incident go unpunished?" General Grey asked.
"Yes, General. If he was a loose cannon like Private Antolini then I would worry about how it would affect the mission and lock his ass up. But he isn't, and I did tell him to watch the corporal’s back, although that isn’t exactly what I had in mind. I talked to Corporal Arrendondo and she is going to have a talk with him."
"Have the corporal keep them separated, then. Private De La Cruz won’t like the Pandora's box he'll open."
"How good is this kid, sir?" the captain asked.
"Captain, his grandfather took him to the dojo at eight years old. The little girl next door to his grandparents was his best friend and they got jumped by some older kids on their way home from school."
"Sounds like a normal childhood," the captain said.
"Did you have your whole family killed, Captain? If so then maybe it’s normal for you, but I don’t think so."
"Is he that Jamison kid?"
"Yes, Captain. His father and I served together. He was a great officer. Benjamin learned everything the sensei would teach him, and if he didn’t teach it to him then he read books and practiced it on his own. His sensei chose to let him study on his own, but told him when he thought he was ready he would teach him other disciplines."
"So if this kid wasn’t in the Corp he would still be going to the dojo," the captain said, eyebrows raised.
"Captain, h
e has a key to the place. He was teaching children four years old and up when he had to stop and leave for basic training."
"I watched him in the sparring contests and he didn’t do anything special. If I hadn’t known about his training from you, I wouldn’t have known."
"Exactly, Captain. I watched the vid-feeds and he used textbook marine close combat. I am sure he was being fair to his team mates, knowing that is what they would know. Had any of them done anything to show they had martial knowledge beyond the norm, you would have seen something different."
"So if our training makes us the baddest badasses in this galaxy, what does make him?" the captain joked.
"I don’t know, Captain, but I just wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end."
"Do you approve of our plan for tomorrow, sir?"
"It’s good,” the general nodded. “Let him work the girl and her brother and see where it leads."
****
"I see. You’re right, William, it isn’t very smart of her to be talking to a member of the militia. Don't say anything, though. Georgie and I will be close by the coffee shop tomorrow and we will talk to her. Thanks for telling us. I’m sure after we talk she will understand. Bye, William." He hung up the comm.
"What's going on, boss?" Georgie asked.
"That stupid girl was talking to the militia. If she doesn’t listen to reason, then I’m moving up our time table; and you know what that means, Georgie."
"We get to party, me and her." Georgie grinned.
"Yes, Georgie. You get to party."
****
We sat eating breakfast in the militia chow hall. The captain had briefed us last night. We had a new route to walk that eventually came within a block of the coffee shop, but we wouldn’t be walking the immediate area. He had moved into a hotel across the street and would watch from his room. I would break off and arrive about the same time as yesterday. Today I had a small com unit stuck in my ear. It wouldn’t be unusual for someone in uniform, so I wasn’t worried about hiding it.
53 was with me and the corporal today while Phil walked with the other team. I hoped he didn’t piss Antolini off, because I knew that could get ugly. The corporal had put her in charge of group B. Phil had frowned at the decision, but kept his mouth shut.
It was pretty boring just walking around all day. My mind would drift, thinking about meeting Ruby later and her blue-gray eyes. Snap out of it, Jamison, I told myself. She isn’t the first pretty girl you’ve had coffee with. Emily and Antolini were both beautiful and very different. Arrendondo was just so sexy and would be a real handful in bed … my mind kept drifting.
I felt someone shaking me. I remembered daydreaming and then nothing. My head must have hit the ground hard.
"Jamison, wake up!” I could hear her and feel her shaking me.
"Corporal, what the hell happened?" I asked, opening my eyes to see Arrendondo looking down at me.
"C'mon, get up,” she said. “They need our help."
I felt a little trickle of blood running down my face. Once I could focus, I realized that across the street, a fire was consuming the building and our people were all over the ground. I stood up, ignoring the dizziness. I grabbed Phil and dragged him 20 feet away and went back. It was hotter than hell. The next person I came to was a civilian female. I grabbed her under the arms and dragged her to where I’d left Phil.
Arrendondo had pulled Antolini down the street, and out of the way I could see blood all over her. Initially, everyone ran. But then people were out and helping after a minute or two, providing first aid.
There were people on the second floor yelling for help out the windows while the lower level burned. It was too hot to get to the ones laying right next to the building. I saw a guy sitting in a large hover truck parked out of the way, just watching. I ran over, jumped up to the door, and held on.
"Take me up to the roof of that building!" I yelled.
"I'm not going up, there are you crazy?" the driver said.
"Then get out of the truck."
"No,” he scoffed. “Get your crazy ass off my truck."
I opened the door and was going to drag him out, but he held the controls and the truck moved in the direction I pulled, almost crushing me against another hover. I let him go.
"You’re just going to let those people die?" He looked away for a second, guilt written on his face and no remorse. He also didn’t see it coming when I hit him. He used both arms to protect his face, which was the opportunity I needed. I reached in and shut the hover down. It dropped three feet to the ground and bounced a little bit. I hit him again, and he went limp.
"Sorry, buddy," I said, dragging him out of the truck. I hoped I hadn’t damaged it as I turned it on and shot it straight up. I zipped over to the building where the people were taking turns trying to get air.
"Go to the roof!" I yelled and pointed up. It only took another second for me to get to the roof. I waited for thirty or more seconds, wondering what the hell they were waiting on. I noticed the trap door move but then stop. I looked closer and saw there was a lock on the door. Something was very wrong.
I looked in the back of the hover and found plenty of tools, including a portable plasma cutter. I jumped out, looking at the side of the truck. It was blank, no name on it.
I laid the tip of the cutter on the hasp and pulled it across it and the lock, then grabbed the handle and jerked it upwards. Smoke came billowing out. I had to wait again to be able to see, but soon a head, followed by the rest of the body, came climbing out. It was a man. I grabbed him, pulling him up and out. He moved away, hacking and coughing, his face red.
"Where is everyone else?" I yelled.
” Laying … on … the floor,” he managed between coughs.
"Stay here,” I told him. “I'm going down. I’ll bring everyone up, okay?”
The man nodded and I went down the ladder. I couldn’t see shit, so I got down on my hands and knees and crawled around until I felt someone.
I yelled hoping they weren’t all unconscious. "If you can hear me, come to sound of my voice.”
I grabbed the leg that I had touched and pulled. It was a young boy, maybe ten years old. I put him over my shoulder and went up the ladder two rungs at a time. The man pulled him off my shoulder and I went back down. The floor was hot, so I knew they couldn’t all just be lying there on purpose.
"Can anyone hear me? Make a noise, kick something, beat on the wall. I’ll come and get you." I coughed and my eyes burned. There was only silence.
I felt around and found an arm attached to a limp body. I pulled it up and over my shoulder and went up again, this time one rung at a time. The smoke and heat were getting to me.
Then the decision was made for me. I felt and heard the building groan and the floor opened up. Flames shot up as the part of the floor collapsed.
I climbed out and carried the body straight to the hover. The man had the boy up there already. He got in the back with the body of the woman I had just carried out. The boy started a coughing fit just as I lifted us off the building.
The fire and rescue were late in arriving, due to another explosion and the chaos between the two. There was a triage station set up and I sat the hover truck down right next to it.
I ran around to the back and helped them out, then grabbed the woman and carried her to a waiting stretcher. They sat the child and the man down on the walk and gave them oxygen masks. Someone was trying to put one over my head and I batted it away, my focus on the woman and the people working on her. I got punched in the arm and I turned to knock the shit out of someone, but it was just Ruby holding the mask out to me.
Chapter 7
"Put it on now!" she said forcefully. I bent over some and she slipped it on my face and turned it on. I looked around for my team and saw them huddled together.
"Thank you," I said before walking over to check on my team.
Antolini sat on the ground, leaning against a building. There were cuts on her head, face, an
d hands, and her arm was in a sling. Arrendondo and 53 were fine, like me — they had a couple of cuts and probably a bruise or two, but that was it.
We were all a little astonished when Ruby walked up with some first aid supplies and began cleaning my cuts. I could feel eyes boring into me, so I closed mine and laid my head against the building. I opened them a second later and could see the hostility in everyone's face. The body bags lying five feet away and the suspected terrorist tending to my face were like the wick on a bomb. Every second that went by, it was closer to blowing up.
I grabbed Ruby's arm as she was wiping some sort of burn salve on my hand.
"Rhonda, it’s not a good time right now." I glanced at the body bags. "There are others who need your help more than I do at the moment."
I saw the captain not too far away talking with some militia officers. He was glancing our way, but they weren’t. He watched Ruby walk away and begin helping out at the triage station. Antolini sat down next to me. She had tears in her eyes but she held it together.
"When I feel better, I'm going to kick your ass, Benjamin," Antolini said softly.
"I'm going to help her," Arrendondo added.
"You gonna help me out, 53, or let them gang up on me?" I joked.
"Sorry, my friend, no can do,” he answered with a smirk. “I will lie in my bunk at night and hope they gang up on me sometime. Let me know how it works out. Shit, Ben, you even got the fucking terrorist babe hot for you."
"Terrorist babe, 53, really? You still in high school?" Arrendondo asked him. I chuckled, but then she started on me.
"What’s up with that anyway, Jamison? You go in to buy coffee and find one of our targets, who walks out with you arm in arm 30 minutes later, then we get blown the fuck up and Florence Nightingale shows up giving you oxygen and cleaning up your cuts and burns. If you hurry and ask her she might have your babies for you," she said, her anger simmering just below the surface of her face.
"Elizabeth, can we talk about this later?" I was pushing it using her first name. I heard her exhale and felt her shoulder lean over into mine. Antolini was already leaning on me.
The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison Mission 1: The Scarab Moons Page 4
