Jane Grant showed up a few minutes later. She had a hangdog expression on her face that Adam had never seen before. Jane was one of the most positive, can-do people Adam had ever met. As his Operations Officer, she coordinated what happened on Key West Base.
“Major, you do not look happy. But I can understand that, given the circumstances.”
Jane managed a half smile. “No, I have to admit. I don’t see much to be happy about right now.”
Adam looked at her. She had been one of his most loyal people. And now she was suffering for it.
“Jane, I know this is not easy. Everyone I have talked with realizes the trick-bag we are in right now. My plans no longer seem viable…”
“Stop right there, Commissioner. The Krakens may have screwed things up, but your original idea is sound, given the situation we were in. You’ve help save a bunch of people from the slaughterhouse.”
He snorted. “Yeah, at the cost of many others. I just have to face the fact that I was fooling myself. When you try and dance with the devil, you may not like the music or the results.”
They sat facing each other, Adam’s office quiet except for the ticking of an old grandfather clock he has salvaged a while ago. Once the most powerful person in the northern hemisphere, second only to the Tschaaa Lord, he now realized the recent occurrences showed just how powerless he had become. It was if a huge shift in the timeline had happened, unbeknownst to all until the ripples it produced began to make themselves felt. Now, he felt like he had just been run over by a tidal wave.
Jane stood up, and stepped closer to him. “Boss, Adam, could you stand up for minute?” Adam stood up. Jane hugged him tightly. “I know this blows military decorum all to hell, but…I love you. I always have. You and the Chief saved me from death or being some local warlord’s plaything. If things had been different… maybe I would be have also been one of your wives.” She tilted her head back and looked up at him. “But I chose to serve you as a military officer. I was always told that an officer and a lady does not sleep with the boss. It destroys the professional relationship.” She took a deep breath, let it out, her eyes a bit wet now.
“But I can still love and serve you as long as I can. So, here I stay.” She kissed him. He kissed back. Before they knew it, they were on the large overstuffed couch, kissing, squeezing, and fondling each other. Within minutes, Jane Grant’s Air Force blue slacks were pulled off, as were the panties beneath. They kissed each other deeply, and the immediate joining of their bodies was a perfect fit. It took just a few moments and then both the participants were experiencing very human orgasms.
They lay in each other’s arms, Adam gently caressing Jane. “That was not supposed to happen…” began Adam.
“Yes it was,” answered Jane. “Or it wouldn’t have happened.” She took his face in her hands and looked at him. “This is probably the only time this will happen, given you having two lovely wives who I happen to like and respect also. But…it needed to happen. I needed to tell you how I feel, and to know how you feel about me.” She kissed him.
“This will always be one of those fond memories I will have until the day I die. Which is the way it should be. Now, to spoil the mood, we both need to get back to work and try to salvage this mess we just inherited from those asshole Krakens.”
Adam smiled, kissed her lips. “Always the professional. I think I need to promote you, and not because we just had sex. But because you have been working way above your pay grade.” Then he turned serious. “But promise me something.”
“What, Adam?”
“If you see that it is time to leave, then leave. Do not stick around out of loyalty to me. I want you to be safe, and survive. Head for the U.S.A. I think they will take a defector with your knowledge. Promise me that.”
Jane looked into his eyes, knowing again why she loved him. Some would say it was at least partly due to the Tschaaa screwing around with everyone’s hormones and DNA. Jane knew better. He did care about those around him, more than himself.
“I promise.”
“Good. Now, Kat is officially on maternity leave. We need to find another face for our broadcasts. Reverend Kray is to meet with me later. He may provide me with someone who may be a bit over the top. But, to be truthful, I don’t care.”
Jane sighed. “Well, I can fill in, and we already have a couple of news readers. But of course, nobody with Kat’s presence.” Jane paused for a moment. Then, she spoke again.
“You probably heard we had a Russian defector last week. A good-looking redhead, Inna Popov, if I remember her name correctly. She skipped when the powers that be wanted her to fight in North America. As soon as she got a chance after arriving here, she deserted.”
“Why?” asked Adam.
“She said that she was not in the mood to fight for some Yankee capitalists. Apparently her family was big in the Politburo before the breakup of the Soviet Union. Their belief system rubbed off on Inna, who appears to be an unapologetic old style Marxist. The thought of fighting for the capitalist warmongers is repulsive to her.”
“How can we use her?”
“She has a background in mass media and propaganda. But she does not want to be on camera, as she still has some relatives who survived in Russia. So, she is willing to help us, and thus the Tschaaa, not because she is pro-Squid, but rather that she is Anti-Capitalist U.S.A. She may be a bit nuts, but she has the voice for radio.”
“Well, use her then. If she turns out to be a fake, maybe a plant, she sure can’t hurt us as much as the goddamned Krakens did in Montana. As long as she helps us survive here in Key West, and keep things under control, fine. The U.S.A. is going to get a big boost from the film they showed, and from the new young black lady they are using as their version of Kat. I expect people to defect, as well as the number of people coming to us from the Feral areas to drop off, maybe even disappear. We need to keep us from having riots in the street, or all out combat with the Squids until we have a means to save as many people as possible. I honestly do not think things will ever be the same.”
Dressed again in her uniform, hair and face in place, Jane smiled. “Well Director, no rest for the wicked. Let me know if our Reverend Kray comes up with anyone we can use. Hopefully, no one with a big squid tattoo across their face. That would be a definite turn off on tv.”
Adam sighed. “I will, Jane. And thanks for being…you.”
Jane gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I can’t be anyone else.”
Adam visited with other residents of the Base, listening to their concerns. He tried to allay their fears, give them hope. But he also told them to have a backup plan in case everything fell apart. He could do no less, or no more.
Then it was time to meet with the one person he was loathe to see, James Kray. From the first time Adam had met the Reverend James Kray, titular head of the Church of Kraken, now called in short hand the Krakens, Adam had not liked him. Tall, slender bridging on skinny, he reminded Adam of a cross between a praying mantis and a vulture. When he looked at someone, the look in his eyes and face seemed to reflect a predatory sizing up of the subject in his gaze as a potential meal. Adam swore Kray sometimes held his hands as if he were an actual a praying mantis about to grab its prey.
Kray showed up with two huge bodyguards who were probably televised professional wrestlers in life before the Squids. Now, they had the large, stylized Kraken tattoos on their faces, the dark blue ink obscuring their ethnic heritage. Kray strode through the outer office as if he owned the place, ignoring Mary. But she had already seen him arrive in front of the building on the hidden surveillance camera, alerting Adam.
So Adam met him at the door to his office, spoiling the Reverend’s grand entrance. “Reverend Kray. How are you today?”
The Reverend stopped, giving Adam a smarmy smile. “Good, Director. And ready to get on with the duties His Lordship has given me.” Neither man extended his hand in friendship, for a handshake. They were forced to work together. That did not me
an they had to like it, or each other.
The two hunks started to follow Kray into the Director’s office when Adam spoke up. “Sorry Guys. Private meeting.”
The Reverend frowned. “They go everywhere I go. Security, you know.”
“Oh come now, Reverend. Are you saying you are afraid of talking to me alone? Do you think there is a threat here somehow? Only one group has ever tried to whack me here, and they didn’t succeed. And they had a nuke”.
“Well, Director, I notice you have a bodyguard over there,” he motioned to Heidi standing near Mary’s desk. “As limited as it is.”
Heidi snorted. “I’ll show you limited.” The two huge men, apparently not liking her tone, started to step toward her. “Come, on guys, if you want a dance, my card is empty.”
Adam knew that despite the size difference, Heidi would have them both gutted with her knives in about five seconds. Sometimes it was the size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog in the fight.
“Now lady and gentlemen,” Adam interjected. “Let’s not get into a pissing contest. We are here for friendly meeting. Right, Reverend?”
Kray nodded. “Yes, we are. You two wait out here, don’t let anyone disturb us. Shall we, Director?” He motioned toward the office. Adam saw that Kray just had to seem like he was in control, was in charge. The thought of having to listen to other people’s input was completely alien to him. Listen to the Tschaaa Lord, follow his directions, he may. Anyone else, especially other humans, forget it.
The two guards posted themselves at the entrance to Adams office, like two large pillars. Adam entered, went to his desk and hit the automatic closing mechanism. He sat behind his desk, having moved a padded chair directly in front. Adam was making sure that the Reverend understood that they were on his turf, not someone else’s. Sad that he had to play these games, but some people only understood when you made them face reality. And the reality of the situation was that, at least in Key West, Adam was still in charge.
“Can I offer you something to drink, Reverend?”
“No, I’m fine. The subjects at hand are pretty basic, so this should not take long.”
Adam leaned back in his chair. Under his desk, in a fast draw holster, was a slab side Colt .45, locked and cocked. Just in case things went South. But, Adam doubted it. Reverend Kray was used to dealing with victims, not people who fought back. If someone fought back, well, one of his Kraken minions took care of it.
“Well, as they say, shoot, Reverend.”
Kray gave him an almost feral smile. He was going to enjoy what he was about to say. Which meant pain and strife for some unfortunate soul. “I am putting together an assault force to attack the Unoccupied States. We need to get some revenge for what they did to our Lords. Killing all the young with that nuclear weapon…it cannot be allowed to pass without a response in kind.”
Adam had already been told by Lord Neptune that Kray had been given the authority to strike back, as well as to decimate and reduce Atlanta. So far, the Atlanta Operation had been turned into a case of wild expectations with little results. Casualties on the Kraken side had been high, despite support by battle robs, a Falcon or two, and a few Deltas. The Tschaaa were trying to recapture control of Atlanta, not only to get the Cattle there back for harvesting, but also to send a message that resistance was futile. The rest of Cattle Country had fallen back in line within a few weeks. All but Atlanta. Humans would have just reduced it to rubble in one massive air attack. But the Tschaaa did not think like humans. They hated to waste ‘good meat’. The plague that had made their original primate food source deadly and unusable, plus the long trip to Earth to obtain a replacement source had been spiritually debilitating for many of the Squids.
To say the Tschaaa Lords had “food issues” was an understatement.
That, plus the fact the oceans on the planet were teeming with life and vitality, revitalizing the Tschaaa breeding Crèches to levels not seen for thousands of years, made the Tschaaa loathe to destroy anything more. Enough destruction, leading to the Long Winter, had been done during the Invasion. Now, they wanted to keep any more destruction of the Earth’s environment to a minimum.
“So, how does that affect me and mine, Reverend? Don’t you have a couple of million followers of the Church to call on? You already have a few thousand investing the Atlanta area. Surely you can spare a few more to attack Madam President and her people.”
Kray’s smile turned to a look of frustration. “I have many faithful. What I lack is equipment and training. Especially heavier weapons. That is why I was sent to you by His Lordship.”
Adam sighed. He knew this was coming. He just kept hoping it would come later than sooner. “To be honest, Reverend, thanks to that fiasco in Great Falls, with Krakens abusing and killing children, getting any volunteers to help you and yours is going to be tough.”
The Reverend’s frustration was turning to anger. “We all serve the Tschaaa. I need your help to complete my mission, my orders. I was told you would give me that help. Case closed.”
Adam chuckled, which he knew would anger the Reverend more. “Reality is, my dear Reverend, I could order a bunch of people to give you in depth training. I could order them to train all you people, as well as provide thousands of trained personnel, but that would last for about a week.”
“What do you mean, last about a week?”
“What I am saying, Reverend, is that, thanks to the images your people provided to the media people of the Unoccupied States through their obscene actions, the name ‘Kraken’ is becoming synonymous with psychotic sacks of shit.”
You could hear a pin drop. Kray glared at him. Adam ignored the glare. It was about time this idiot was given a dose of reality.
Finally, the head of the Church of Kraken spoke. “So, you are saying your people would refuse to follow orders?”
“I am saying they would say ‘Yes Sir,’ show up, then drag their feet until they could desert to the Feral areas.”
“They would be shot.” Kray blurted out.
“Yeah, right. Start a gunfight with a bunch of STRAC troops who are well-armed and are furious with your people over what Krakens did to those children. They will gut your forces, then scatter when the Falcons and robocops show up. Even if Lord Neptune ordered a total annihilation, it would start such a shit storm that you would have a whole other Atlanta on your hands. Maybe several. Maybe they would help the Cattle break out. Just imagine that scenario.”
Adam got up and went to fix a drink. Kray was seething. But the Kraken leader knew Adam was right. Finally, he spoke again. “So if I told everyone that the…actions in Montana were the work of some renegades, unsupervised, doing what they willed…”
“Oh, come on, Kray. Do I have a big red ‘S’ on my face for stupid? We both know they had support to get all those crazy beasts made, bred, manufactured, whatever the hell. The Tschaaa had to be helping with the modifications to Earth fauna made in such short order. We had some good scientists, but most are probably dead. The survivors are either under Tschaaa control, in the U.S.A, or hiding in the uncontrolled, feral areas. The equipment used had to be of Tschaaa design. The growth tank on the broadcast was definitely from Tschaaa stores.
Adam walked back to his desk, sat down and took a slug from his double. “Most of our labs and scientific areas were either destroyed in the Invasions or abandoned during the Long Winter. And those that may have remained occupied, functional, were concerned with surviving, not playing the Isle of Doctor Moreau.”
He continued. “Look, I know we are at His Lordship’s beck and call. But I also know that he has become painfully aware of his lack of control over us pet humans. We may be on the verge of becoming a client species, but the nuke strike and now this…obscene disaster that was broadcast all over the world. It brought back memories of the Holocaust, Soviet gulags, the Killing Fields…” He took another drink.
“Bottom line, I can probably get a few volunteers to train your people. I can turn ove
r some of the M-1 Tanks, the Bradley Fighting Vehicles. I know that His Lordship is assembling a lot of small arms, and probably a few larger weapons, using slave labor at the huge complex that covers Baja California. But, beyond what I just said, it’s going to be in your hands. Your people and their buddies in Great Falls just made us take a big bite of a shit sandwich. Tastes good, doesn’t it?”
They heard a familiar voice in the outer office. Andrew, assigned cyborg robocop, was announcing his presence. Then they heard an unfortunate exchange.
“Hey, the Reverend says no one goes in…ack!”
One of the two huge bodyguards had apparently tried to dissuade Andrew from his task at hand, which was to enter Adam’s office. The automatic fortified door Adam had installed after the failed attack on him activated and Andrew stepped through as if it were a day in the park. Suspended a foot off the ground, one in each of his powerful hands, were the bodyguards. In Andrew’s grip, they looked like rag dolls.
Kray jumped to his feet and Andrew stopped directly in front of him. “Reverend. We have had this discussion before. I do not take orders. Humans do not get in my way. I give orders. You and your people move out of my way. Director Lloyd learned that fact years ago. Why can’t you and your people?”
Kray began to stammer. Adam jumped in. “Andrew, please. They are turning blue. Can you release them? Please?”
“Since you asked so respectfully, Director, yes.” He let the two large men drop and crumple to the floor. Kray glared at Andrew, but knew he was helpless to respond. Slowly, the two bodyguards began to come around. Heidi had been watching this and was trying not to burst out laughing.
Andrew glared at Kray. “I have noticed that some of you humans are much too wrapped up in your own importance. I suggest you start developing a bit less hubris to keep you from causing many problems for yourself and those around you.”
Kray stood for a moment, clearly angry to have been called out. “Yes Sir. I will ensure my personnel understand their…relationship to you.” Kray then turned to Adam.
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