About Face

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  Alex took a breath. Her mouth opened and closed before settling into a grim line.

  “I’m so pissed off,” Alex said. “Since Ingram, I’ve been so angry that I just shut down. John said I haven’t done anything in the last month but play with the kids and hang out with Maggie on the beach. I don’t even remember that! My entire insides seized up. And I . . .”

  She shook her head.

  “No hope,” she said so softly. “No sense. And there I am — treading water in the fucking ocean. Me! Zack’s dying. And I can’t help but think . . .”

  “If I just let go . . .” Joseph said in the same soft tone.

  “ . . . all of this horror and rage will be over,” Alex said.

  Alex nodded and then sighed.

  “And you know what people talk about?” Alex asked. “Congratulate me for?”

  “The simulation,” Joseph said. “They should congratulate you for simply making it through another fucked-up day.”

  Alex nodded. They fell silent and watched the night.

  “Promise me this,” Joseph said. “Talk to me before you make any decision about the military or contractor or . . .”

  Alex looked at him.

  “I’m your Staff Sergeant,” Joseph said. “I started your career in the military . Give me the chance to sit down and talk it through. And if you decide . . . you know.”

  “To kill myself?” Alex asked. She gave him a wry smile. “I’d never do that to Max. John. The twins.”

  “Just in case,” Joseph said. “I brought you into this work. It’s my responsibility to see it through.”

  “And you?” Alex asked. “When this bullshit gets to be too much, will you come find me? At least to say good-bye?”

  “I will,” Joseph said.

  They sat in silence until their heartbreak began to drift away on the wind.

  “I want to suggest something to you,” Joseph said.

  “Okay,” Alex said.

  “Just a suggestion, that’s all,” Joseph said. “You can feel free to ignore it. I won’t be offended.”

  “Okay,” Alex said.

  “What if you took the demotion?” Joseph asked.

  “About face?” Alex asked.

  “Sort of,” Joseph said. “Go back down to a Sergeant, if they’ll let you keep your beret, or a Private, if they won’t. Let Vince run the team for a while.”

  Alex turned to look into his face.

  “You don’t need the money,” Joseph said. “The team is still yours to run by all standards; it’s just Vince’s butt on the line. Take over The Factory. Do what we’ve talked about doing there.”

  “I can’t do it as a Private!” Alex said.

  “Why not?” Joseph asked. “You might be too angry to acknowledge this now, but this mission is your life now. You can’t walk away from it. You can much better serve this mission as a Sergeant or even a Private. Either way, you’d be under the protection of your superiors. No more of Ingram’s crap.”

  “You don’t think my rank helps our team?” Alex asked.

  “Maybe,” Joseph said. “It might also hold us back because it’s easier to block you. Fewer at the top.”

  Alex nodded.

  “Plus, Vince is a Navy Captain, which is a higher rank than yours. When all of this is over, and dipshits like Ingram are out of there, you get your rank and status back, if you want them.”

  “What about the contractor?” Alex asked.

  “You can buy in,” Joseph said. “Or better yet, get Max to buy in as a silent partner. He can keep track of what they’re up to and recruit help if we need it.”

  Alex looked like she’d smelled something horrible.

  “It stinks, no doubt about it,” Joseph said. “But they’ve been one step ahead of us this entire time. It’s the one thing that turds like Ingram would never expect. It could be enough to turn the tables on them.”

  Alex nodded.

  “We still live in a cause-and-effect world, Alex,” Joseph said. “We just haven’t figured out the cause yet.”

  Alex raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Nancy?” Alex asked.

  Smiling, Joseph nodded. Alex grinned.

  “Nancy is a wise woman,” Alex said. She took a breath and moved to get up. “You should return to her.”

  They got up together and hugged each other tight. Pressed heart to heart together, they stood alive amongst their loss and love. With a sigh, they let go of each other and went to where Raz had been standing. Raz hugged Joseph. They walked through the house together. At the doorway to the garage, Alex gave Joseph a light hug, and he left. She went back into the kitchen where the others were waiting for her. She took one look at MJ and stopped walking.

  “What’s going on?” Alex asked. “What happened?”

  “That old guy?” MJ asked. “The one who came to see you?”

  Alex nodded.

  “He’s dead. Well, mostly dead,” MJ said. “He collapsed at the end of the street. I called an ambulance and went to the hospital with him. He coded in the ambulance. They got him going again.”

  “Any idea what happened?” Alex asked.

  “Lung cancer,” MJ said. “Threw a clot and had a stroke. That’s what the doctor said. The old guy has been in and out of the hospital for the last month or so. I waited until his daughter arrived. She said that he got a phone call today. She was in the backyard when he disappeared. Took her car to the beach.”

  “Someone sent him to me?” Alex asked.

  “She said that, when he’s awake — which isn’t often — he’s talked almost non-stop about some Saint and a Greek Queen of Romania,” MJ said. “Some old friends came by to see him about a week ago. She heard him ask them to find something — Alexi, Alexus, something. She thought it was a place.”

  “Is he alive?” Alex asked.

  “He’s in a coma,” MJ said. “The doctors don’t expect him to wake. They asked me if he had smoked his pipe. He had it on him. I guess that’s the worst thing for him. If he did, it likely caused his cancer to dislodge as a clot.”

  “He very joyously smoked his pipe,” Alex said.

  “There you have it,” MJ said. “You were the last thing he had to do. He probably figured he’d rather smoke than continue to live as an invalid in his daughter’s home.”

  Alex nodded.

  “Who is he?” Vince asked. “What did he say?”

  “I’m not at all sure who he is or was,” Alex said with a nod. “But this is what he told me.”

  She told them about Saint Josef the New of Partos and the complicated love story of the Greek Queen Elizabeth of Romania. When she mentioned the bee, Vince and MJ gasped. Her eyes flicked to Raz. He looked worried. She then told them about the key. She hesitated to mention it but ended up telling them what Joseph said — she may be in possession of this key.

  “I don’t like it,” Raz said.

  “What part?” Alex asked.

  “Not any part of it,” Raz said. “I don’t like the little gnome who appears and then dies. I don’t like that there’s a connection to the Fey SF Team. I don’t like that all of this is happening while our team is under threat of removal from the military.”

  “That’s exactly right,” Vince said. “If we pursue any of this, we’ll be in direct violation of General Fonti’s orders not to mention the fact that we’ll be right in Admiral Ingram line of fire.”

  “I need to go home,” Alex said. “I was thinking of taking Raz with me.”

  “Are you waiting for me to order you?” Vince asked. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “Thanks,” Alex said. “We can go to Denver, see if I have this thing, and be back by nightfall.”

  “I wonder . . .” MJ said.

  “What?” Alex asked.

  “I was thinking,” MJ said. “If someone sent the little man, maybe they’re looking for the bee and the key. If you leave now, you’ll lead them straight there.”

  “That’s a good point,” Alex said with a no
d. “We could go get the last platoon of missing SEALs.”

  “You know where they are?” Vince asked with a laugh.

  “I think I do,” Alex said. “Just need to make a call. We can take care of that this week. Stop off in Denver on the way back here.”

  “What about the whole ‘go to the rear’ thing?” Vince asked.

  “Good question,” Alex said. “I think we need to go. But, like I said, I have to make a call.”

  She stopped moving and stared at Vince. Blushing, she looked down.

  “I’m so sorry,” Alex said. “You’re the leader of the team, and I . . .”

  Vince laughed out loud.

  “You’re very funny, Hargreaves,” Vince said. “I’m just here because my ass is not as burned by the fire.”

  Alex gave him a slight smile and nodded.

  “We need to be back by Monday,” Vince said.

  “Why?” Alex asked.

  “Colonel Gordon is going to be here to figure out what to do with all these men,” Vince said with a nod.

  “Good to know,” Alex said.

  “Hello?” Samantha, Alex’s sister’s, voice came from the door to the house. “Hello?”

  “We’re in here,” Alex yelled to her sister.

  Samantha kissed Raz hello and came in. She set her leather briefcase on the table and took off her five-inch heels.

  “What are you doing here?” Samantha asked.

  “We needed to use your house,” Alex said. “Do you mind?”

  “Not at all,” Samantha said. “Are you staying for dinner?”

  Alex looked from Vince to MJ and shrugged.

  “Do you mind?” Alex asked Raz.

  “Sounds fun to me,” Raz said. “Is it too late for the kids?”

  “Maybe,” Vince said. “Not my kids. They’re on Denver time still.”

  “Or ours,” Alex said. “They’re flexible. Plus, they’d feel so left out if they didn’t come.”

  “The big fire pits on the beach have been lit the last couple of days,” Raz said. “I’ve wanted to take the twins out for marshmallows.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Samantha said.

  Alex couldn’t help but grin with the easy current that passed between Raz and Samantha. Catching her look, Raz grinned at Alex.

  “I’ll call John and Quince,” Alex said.

  “I think we have some steaks,” Samantha said as she rummaged through the freezer.

  “We’ll do it Fey style,” Vince said.

  “What does that mean?” Samantha asked.

  “We’ll bring the food,” Vince said. “You provide the house.”

  “Okay,” Samantha said. “Can you ask someone to bring wine? Beer? We out.”

  Alex grinned at Samantha, and she scowled at Alex. Vince’s daughter made a noise and Vince went to where she’d been playing. One final “Mind Your Own Business” sneer from Samantha, and she went to say hello to Vince’s daughter.

  “I’ll call Margaret,” MJ said. “Where are your grills?”

  MJ followed Raz out to the patio on the boardwalk, where they had a gas grill. Alex watched them talk for a moment before deciding to move out to the beach. She looked down to see Samantha standing right next to her.

  “How did you know?” Samantha asked in the low voice reserved for private conversations between sisters with nosy mothers.

  “Drinking with the JAG friends?” Alex asked in the same voice. “I might be autistic, but you were definitely not hung over.”

  “Do you think Mom knows?” Samantha asked. “I’d tell her, but I already lost one.”

  Alex gave a quick shake of her head.

  “Erin?” Samantha asked.

  “Maybe,” Alex said. “Probably not. She was pretty angry with mom.”

  Samantha nodded.

  “How far along? Alex asked.

  “Few weeks,” Samantha shrugged. “I have a really good feeling this time though.”

  “Does he know?” Alex asked.

  “As you know, it’s a little more complicated for us than ‘Let’s have a good time,’” Samantha said with a laugh. “Before you ask, he has a good feeling, too.”

  Alex grinned her support. Samantha kissed Alex’s cheek and went to change. Alex sat down in the living room and called John and Quince. The twins arrived before John and were immediately whisked off to the beach. John arrived with Vince’s wife Emily, who was working in the hospital where he was taking the training. As if they had been teleported there, the Fey Team and their families arrived almost at the same time. People rotated between the fire pits and the house. Because it wasn’t safe for Alex, she stayed in the house.

  Food came and went. Wine and beer came and went. And the Fey Team started to filter away. Sitting on the couch with her sleeping babies’ heads’ on her lap, Alex realized that she was happy. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was happy. She hadn’t made a decision on whether to quit the military or stay or possibly follow Joseph’s weird plan. She was just happy.

  John and Raz carried the last of the beach chairs back from the fire pits. Smiling at Alex, he picked up Joey. She got Máire, and they went home. Long after John had dozed off, she awake simply enjoying feeling of being happy.

  F

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Wednesday morning

  November 9 — 7:45 a.m. PDT

  Camp Pendleton, California

  Alex gave Miss Sweetie to the attendant and started walking toward the office. From her left, she saw a young man run in her direction. She stopped and waited for Petty Officer Masrfi to catch up with her. He was six feet away from her when he started talking.

  “My brother called my parents this morning,” the young man said. “He’s in Afghanistan. He was held by some tribal people, and . . .”

  Alex grinned and kept walking while the young man told her everything she already knew. The final lost SEAL platoon was released after Alex called her children’s tribal leader. Outside of being terrified, the SEALs were otherwise unharmed. By the time Alex left for work, the Americans were clean, well fed, and waiting for pickup.

  “He wishes to speak with you,” Petty Officer Masrfi said.

  “Oh?” Alex asked. She stopped walking to look at the man.

  “He said that you know him from the Fey maps,” Petty Officer Masrfi said. “He was assigned to help you map some islands . . .”

  “Croatia? I’d completely forgotten,” Alex said. She looked surprised. Under her breath, she said, “He would have known the maps were wrong.”

  “That’s just it,” Petty Officer Masrfi said. “He did know they were wrong. He said the annotations were wrong. He even told his Lieutenant that they were wrong. When they were confronted by the tribal members, he insisted that the platoon should surrender and not fight, because they were in the wrong place.”

  “Thank God for that,” Alex said.

  “Thank my brother for that,” the Petty Officer said, with a smile that made it clear that his brother was his God.

  “I’ve spoken with the CS Navy,” Alex said. “He’s agreed to overlook your AWOL. Your record will reflect that you were on assignment at Camp Pendleton.”

  “Thank you, sir!” Petty Officer Masrfi said.

  “Your team leaders may wish to discipline you,” Alex said. “That’s up to them, but, you won’t be tried or court martialed.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Petty Officer Masrfi said, less enthusiastically.

  “The CS Navy wants you on the ground in Virginia by nightfall,” Alex said. “Talk to Sergeant Dusty. If he hasn’t already, he’ll put together your travel. When we figure out what we’re doing here, you’re welcome to return.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Petty Officer Masrfi said. “No offense meant, but I can’t wait to get back with my team.”

  “I’m sure that’s true,” Alex said.

  The Petty Officer saluted her. She returned his salute. The young man ran to get packed. Chuckling to herself, Alex went into the office.

&nb
sp; “It’s about time, Lieutenant Colonel,” a familiar voice said.

  “Howard,” Alex said.

  Colonel Howard Gordon held out his arms, and they hugged. He’d been on leave since he’d been wounded in the assault that killed Hank Zutterberg. Alex stepped back to salute her friend. He returned her salute with a smile.

  “What are you doing here, sir?” Alex asked.

  “Making all my dreams come true,” Colonel Gordon said with a grin.

  “Dreams, sir?” Alex asked.

  He gave her a sideways look, and she laughed.

  “You of all people know that I’ve wanted to create a training camp so that people can learn from your team,” Colonel Gordon said. “Fitness from Trece and White Boy. Drones and gadgets from Olivas. People management from Walter. Your map skills, of course, and, for the elite, thinking skills for intelligence.”

  “What about all of those spiffy computers that do better than a human being?” Alex asked.

  Colonel Gordon laughed, and Alex grinned.

  “Tell me, did these people truly just show up?” Colonel Gordon asked.

  “According to Vince,” Alex said. “I was . . . uh . . .”

  “Yes, I know about Ingram,” Colonel Gordon said. “I am sorry about that. You must have felt so betrayed by me, the Admiral, . . .”

  He stopped talking when her eyes welled with tears. He nodded that he understood.

  “I am sorry,” Colonel Gordon said. “I could say that it was time you grew up. That I couldn’t protect you forever. That this is what all leaders’ go through. But . . .”

  Alex nodded. He looked into her face and touched her arm.

  “I’ve never seen or heard of anything like what Ingram said to you,” Colonel Gordon said.

  “You watched the tape?” Alex asked.

  “Of course, I watched the tape,” Colonel Gordon said. “I was . . . disgusted. I can only assume he didn’t think his words were being recorded. That’s the only thing I can think.”

  “I don’t think he cared,” Alex said. “He’s clearly protected by the Admiral.”

  “You think the Admiral, my old boss and your friend, had anything to do with this?” Colonel Gordon asked.