by P. T. Hylton
She’d never considered doing CB’s job. She didn’t even know if she wanted it, yet she found herself saying, “Thank you, sir.”
Damn military training kicked in before her brain did.
Fleming turned to Brian. “I want you to focus all your efforts on Resettlement. We’re currently putting together a group of three hundred settlers, and we’re going to need a lot of innovation from your team to make this happen.”
“Of course, sir,” Brian said. “There are some projects I’ve been working on. For example, a have a proto-type echolocation system. It needs significant testings, but—"
“Forget all that. Everything gets bumped except Resettlement. We’re going to move fast here. I’m talking months, not years.”
CB’s mouth fell open for the second time in two minutes. Alex started to speak, but CB caught her eye and gave her a barely perceptible head shake. She got the message. They needed to regroup before questioning Fleming too much on this madness.
Still, she did have one question that couldn’t wait. “What about Agartha?”
“What about them?” Fleming asked. “I don’t trust Agartha, no matter how helpful the vampires pretend to be.”
“We’re in agreement there,” CB growled.
Alex wasn’t sure how she felt about Jaden and his people yet. They’d been nothing but helpful, but they were vampires. That was a tough detail to look past. “I don’t disagree, but if we’re going to do this Resettlement thing, maybe we need to learn from them. They’ve survived on the surface since the infestation.”
Fleming scratched at his chin. “What are you proposing?”
“Jessica seemed to have good rapport with Agatha's head of engineering. What do you say we send her down there for a while once the reactor’s fixed? Call it an exchange of information.”
CB nodded along. “In the meantime, she can investigate Agartha and find out what’s really going on down there.”
Fleming thought a moment. “I like it. If they’re willing to allow us to insert a spy into their city, we should take advantage of that.” A smile crept onto his face. “This is what I’m talking about. I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but we need to put that behind us. We’re the team that’s going to bring humanity back to Earth. It’s time to trust each other.”
“I don’t trust him,” Alex said.
She was sitting with Brian and CB at their usual table at Tankards, their favorite watering hole. They’d come there directly after their meeting with Fleming to let off some steam and say the things they weren’t able to say to his face.
CB nodded his agreement. “The guy thinks Resettlement is his holy mission. He was willing to blow up the whole council to clear his path to leadership, and he’s somehow already winning the people over to his side. There’s no telling what else he’ll do to get his way.”
“It’s downright diabolical,” Brian said. “In accepting his promotions, you two are basically acknowledging him as the rightful leader of New Haven. If you turn them down, you lose the GMT, access to weapons, and all your authority.”
Alex sighed. She hadn’t thought of it that way, but Brian was right.
“And now we have to focus on filling three slots on the GMT,” she said. “With Simmons, Drew, and Wesley out of commission…”
“Actually, it’s four slots,” CB said. “Fleming told me this morning. Firefly won’t be returning to the team. He’s being assigned to the Resettlement project. And promoted, apparently. He’ll be leading the first wave of Resettlers who take up permanent residence down there.”
“You’re kidding me,” Alex said. She spoke softly, bringing up the possibility as gently as she could. “Seems an odd coincidence. Firefly being promoted right after what happened to the council.”
Firefly had been the demolitions man for the GMT. He was also a big fan of Fleming’s politics. They’d only been back a few hours, and Firefly gets a sudden promotion?
Neither of the two men answered, and the silence hung thick in the air.
“I’m sorry, but we have to at least consider it,” Alex pointed out. “I know you don’t want to think anything bad about a member of the team, CB. I don’t, either. But the city council room blew up, and Firefly had access to more explosives than anyone else in this city. He’s not exactly the name that would leap to mind to head up a major project. Not unless you owed the guy a favor.”
“She has a point,” Brian allowed.
After a long moment, CB sighed. “I’m not going to jump to any conclusions, but I will admit it looks bad for Firefly. We’ll look into it, but nobody will assume the worst until we have proof. We owe him that much.”
“Unless he’s guilty,” Alex said. “Then we owe him the beatdown of a lifetime.”
For a moment, neither of the men objected. Then CB spoke again. “No. We have to handle this differently.”
“How so?”
The new colonel leaned forward. “Right now, the people of New Haven are on Fleming’s side. That’s bad enough. But soon, he’ll have an army. He wants them trained and ready to deploy to the surface as quickly as possible.”
“And again…Firefly’s leading them? Our Firefly?”
CB nodded. “We have to put a stop to this before Resettlement.”
“Why wait?” Brian asked. His eyes were alive with anger. “You meet with Fleming all the time. A bullet to the head would solve a lot of problems.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “Damn, Brian. I never knew you were so cold.”
CB ignored the comment. “Then what? We kill Fleming, it’s civil war.”
“Who gives a shit?” Brian responded. “It’s no worse than what Fleming did to the council.”
“A lot of innocent people would pay the price. Besides, you heard what he said about his loyal badges killing General Craig if anything happened to him. We have to be smart about this.”
“We need to win over Firefly,” Alex said.
CB nodded. “Exactly. Firefly is leading the military phase of Resettlement. If we have him, we have an army.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Alex asked. “This morning, he was my buddy. Now I find out he was probably working with Fleming all along. We have no idea where he stands.”
“Then we find out. We can’t afford to write him off. We need all the allies we can get.”
“Good,” Brian said. Alex could see he was feeling better about things now that they had a clear goal. “What else?”
“I need to work on Kurtz,” CB said.
That made sense to Alex. Kurtz was the head of the badges. If they could get him and his badges on their side, they would have the power to arrest Fleming and hold him accountable.
“Kurtz can help us with evidence,” CB continued. “This is going to be a battle for the hearts of the public, and right now Fleming has their hearts. If we want to convince the people, we need hard evidence.”
“What about me?” Brian asked.
“Two things. First, go along with what Fleming’s asking you to do. We don’t want him suspicious of your motives. Second, you and Jessica need to figure out who in your departments is loyal to Fleming and who is willing to hear the truth.”
“You got it,” Brian said. “I’ll talk to Jessica.”
“Good.” CB raised his glass. “But that can wait until tomorrow. We’ve earned a night of R&R.”
They clinked glasses and drank.
Alex grinned slyly at CB. “So, do we have to call you Colonel now?”
CB grimaced. “Officially? Yes. Unofficially? I’ve kinda gotten used to people calling me CB.”
“You know,” Brian said, “as much as I hate Fleming, he is right about one thing. We can’t stay up on this ship forever. It will take years of preparation, but at some point, we’re going to have to take back the Earth.”
CB took a long drink from the mug in front of him, then he said, “You may be right. But if we’re going to do it, I wish we’d do it right.”
“You
’ll get no argument from me,” Brian said.
Alex raised her glass. “Brian. Colonel Brickman. Here’s to Resettlement.”
5
“You’re serious about this?” CB asked.
“I am.”
CB looked around at the trappings of Fleming’s office. In the short time he’d been in command, he’d erased any hint of the former city council leader’s existence. Fleming had assured the people that this was a temporary arrangement, but CB knew better.
Now that he had this much power, Fleming would never let it go.
Fleming continued, “The people want a leader who can move quickly, and I’m that man.”
CB struggled to keep his face even. The plan that Fleming had laid out was beyond aggressive. He’d identified a site, a former supermax prison in Colorado. Fleming believed they could utilize much of the existing infrastructure for lights and electricity. The place was extremely fortified, and it was in a great position in relation to NORAD. Whatever the relationship with Agartha ended up being, the prison was in an advantageous location to either provide them assistance or to attack them if necessary.
The prison was also rural, so there had been no major cities too close by during the infestation. Theoretically, that should mean less vampires in the area.
“I don’t have any problem with the location,” CB clarified. “It’s the speed I’m worried about.”
Fleming pushed his chair back from the desk and stood up. “I don’t know what else to tell you, Colonel Brickman. The decision has been made. It’s time for you and your team to get on board.”
After the meeting, CB walked the to the GMT training facility. He moved briskly, taking out his frustration on the concrete beneath his feet. He knew there was no way for him to change Fleming's mind, yet still he wondered if there was something he could’ve said, some point he could’ve made that would’ve caused Fleming see things in a new way.
He’d lost enough team members recently. He wasn’t keen on losing anyone else.
As expected, he found Alex and the team hard at work training. Most of the team stood around watching the two people struggling on the mat. He cast a cool eye over his new team, appraising them one more time. There was Hope, who would take Firefly’s place as the demolitions expert. Now that Owl was back as pilot, Chuck was replacing Simmons as the recon man.
Finally, there were the Barton brothers. Ed was currently crying out in pain as Alex pinned him to the mat. She had him on his stomach, a knee pressed into the small of his back. His right arm was locked behind his back, and she was pushing on it with such force that CB was a little concerned that it might break.
Ed frantically tapped his hand on the mat, yelling, “You win!”
Alex immediately let him go and stood up, brushing herself off. She reached out a hand and pulled him to his feet.
“Not bad. But you have to learn to use your size. If you’d have—”
A burst of laughter cut her off mid-sentence. All eyes turned to Ed’s brother, Patrick, who was laughing uproariously on the side of the mat.
Alex scowled at him. “Something funny, Patrick?”
The man dabbed at his eyes as he tried to get his laughter under control. “No, ma’am. It’s just… Ed, I’ve never seen you lose to a girl.”
CB stepped forward, taking a place at the edge of the mat. “I’m sorry, but were you laughing at your commanding officer?”
Patrick straightened up, the laughter finally fading. “No, sir.”
“Really?” CB crossed his arms. “Because that’s what it seemed like to me. It seemed like you were laughing at Captain Goddard.”
“No, sir.” Patrick shook his head frantically. “I apologize, sir.”
CB sighed. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. Because if you were laughing at your commanding officer, I would have to get involved. But seeing as you weren’t, we can get back to training. Is that all right with you, Patrick?”
Patrick nodded, clearly relieved. “Yes sir.”
“Good.” CB nodded towards Alex. “Let’s get to it. Get on the mat, and knock Captain Goddard out.”
Patrick tilted his head, as if not sure he’d understood correctly.
Alex took a step toward him. “Did you hear that order from the colonel? Get your ass over here and knock me out!”
Patrick hesitated, looking to his teammates. None of them spoke, clearly not wanting to get involved. After another moment, Patrick hesitantly stepped towards Alex.
An easy smile came onto CB’s face. Patrick had four inches and fifty pounds on Alex, but CB never doubted the outcome of the fight he was about to watch.
Patrick raised his fists in a boxing stance, then glanced nervously at CB one more time.
“What are you waiting for?” Alex asked. “You have your orders.”
The new GMT man sighed, then stepped forward, moving lightly on the balls of his feet. He threw a quick jab, but Alex was ready. She dodged to the left, and his fist whizzed through the air next to her head.
She brought up her right knee, driving into his stomach, and the wind rushed out of him. As he doubled over, she stepped back, giving him a moment to recover.
“Captain Goddard is still conscious, Lieutenant!” CB yelled. “Were my orders unclear?”
Patrick stood up straight, his eyes fixed on Alex. This time there was no finesse to his attack. He charged, his arms outstretched, trying to use his size to take her to the mat.
As he grabbed her arm, she sidestepped, using his momentum to flip him forward. He landed on his back with an ompf.
Alex still had hold of Patrick’s arm, and she threw her leg over it, getting him in an armlock that, from the look on Patrick’s face, was anything but pleasant. It was clear to everyone around the mat that Alex could snap Patrick’s arm if she chose to do so.
CB chuckled. Even with everything that was going on with Fleming, Resettlement, and Agartha, watching Alex work still brought a smile to his face.
Patrick tapped the map, and Alex let him up. CB kept one eye on Ed, but somehow he managed to suppress any laughter.
As Patrick brushed himself off and returned to his place at the edge of the mat, CB stepped to Alex’s side.
“Captain Goddard, have you ever seen a vampire during the day?”
“Yes sir.”
“And what chance would you have in a fight against a vampire during the day?”
She answered immediately. “None.”
CB nodded and turned to the rest of the team. “Every one of you was chosen for this team for a reason. You’re all skilled. You’re all dedicated. You are among the best New Haven has to offer. You’ve proven yourself aboard this ship. But tomorrow you have to prove yourself somewhere else. On the surface. And let me be very clear. That is something entirely different.”
“We have a mission, sir?” Owl asked.
“Tomorrow morning. Captain Goddard will brief you.” He paused for a moment. “Make me proud, team.”
Alex ate the last bite of her casserole, set down her fork, and sighed contentedly. “Damn, CB, how come you never told me you can cook?”
“What are you talking about? You’ve been here plenty of times.”
Alex gestured to the empty plate in front of her. “Maybe so. But I’ve never cleaned my plate.”
“Okay, fine. Maybe I did break out a special recipe tonight, but tomorrow is a big day.”
That was exactly what Alex had been trying not to think about. Still, if she’d really wanted to get away from thoughts of work, maybe she shouldn’t come to her boss’s quarters for dinner.
“So, you got any words of advice for me, Colonel?”
CB frowned. “Cut out that shit. We’re after hours. Let’s stick with CB.” He paused a moment, thinking. “You really want my advice?”
“Of course. Otherwise I wouldn’t have asked.”
CB folded his hands on the table, his eyes suddenly serious. “They’re a good group. You know they are.”
“That’s no
t the issue. My concern is they aren’t a team. At least not yet. They don’t have, I don’t know, an identity.”
The newly minted colonel shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “This isn’t going to be what you want to hear, but I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do about that. It’s going to take time. More than a few missions.”
Alex sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that. Not one of them has ever faced a vampire. And here they are, stuck with a commanding officer just tasked with her first squad.”
That was the crux of the issue, Alex knew. If CB had been leading the team of new recruits, she wouldn’t have been worried. But they didn’t have CB. They had her.
And she wasn’t sure if she’d be enough.
CB looked her in the eye. “Listen, Alex, there was a reason we picked you to lead the squad.”
“Was it because I was the last person standing?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Well, there is that. But no. We picked you because things are about to get very difficult.”
“Geez, CB, this isn’t exactly the inspirational speech I was expecting.”
CB chuckled, but there was no joy in his laughter. “Maybe not, but it’s the one you need right now. Even if Fleming is right, even if Resettlement is the way to go, there are hard times coming. This will have a cost, and Fleming sure as hell hasn’t counted it.”
Alex leaned forward and lowered her voice a little. “You don’t have to convince me, CB. You say the word, and we’ll storm the Hub right now. We can’t let him get away with this. He killed the council.”
“Agreed. But we have to be patient. I’m meeting with Kurtz tomorrow. For now, you have one job, and one job only: keeping your team alive. We’ll carry out Fleming’s mission, but if it comes down to the mission or the team, pick the team. Every time.”
With that, CB stood up and cleared the dishes from the table. He carried them off into the nearby kitchen and set them down with a clack.
“Remember the good old days when Firefly used to cook for us?” He didn’t wait for a reply before continuing. “Want a beer?”
