“Give it a rest,” Corky scoffed. “I’ve already changed it for you a couple of times,” she teased gently. “And the Sergeant Major did it once.”
A mortified gasp and Corky broke down instantly with a look at her face.
“Okay, I was just kidding about the Sergeant,” she admitted with a snicker.
“No fair picking on me,” Malory rumbled. “I’m convalescing.”
“Oh, alright,” Corky said with a grin. “I couldn’t resist.”
Malory grunted.
“Speaking of the Sergeant, I should call him. I know he wanted to talk to you when you woke up.”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“Then I don’t want to see him unless it’s an emergency.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” she asked sarcastically. “Look at me. I’m so ugly I could make a train back up and take a dirt road.”
A chuckle. “So? Its not like he’s gonna make a pass at you or anything. Don’t be such a little prom queen.”
Malory sighed. “Fine, but I’m not using the bedpan. I’d rather teach my asshole how to chew gum.”
Corky laughed. “I love you, Malory.”
Morose eyes raised. “I love you too,” she said softly.
“I know you’re feeling moody,” Corky soothed. “I have something that might cheer you up.”
“What’s that?” Malory asked curiously.
For an answer, Corky walked over and pulled the sheet away from the room’s other occupant with a flourish.
“You fixed her!” Malory exclaimed happily.
Corky grinned like an idiot at Malory’s delight and carried Little Lovecraft over to be clutched in an impatiently extended hand. “She’s a tough little bitch, just like her Mommy,” she said fondly. “She learned some manners while you were sleeping,” she added mischievously.
Eyes sparkled with amusement. “Is that a fact?”
“Yep,” Corky said gleefully.
Malory seated the doll on her chest and pulled the string.
“What happened to your nose? Did your parents lose a bet with God?” the doll asked annoyingly.
Malory scowled as her lover laughed merrily. “It’s going to be a long winter,” she predicted remorsefully.
10/31/02 - 0800 hours
It had been six days since Corky had seen Malory, something she had been quietly warned to expect on the flight to Washington. So it wasn’t a surprise when upon arrival, Malory and the other servicemen had been spirited away and she had found herself, Clovis, Lenard, and Watkins together in a separate vehicle, losing sight of Malory’s car as it pulled into an underground parking garage situated beneath the Pentagon
From that point, she had been separated from her colleagues and had become an unwilling guest of the government, spending three full days undergoing an interrogation conducted by six stern looking men that had absolutely no sense of humor. On the fourth day, she was given a room key and an escort to a nearby hotel with instructions to remain there until called upon.
The time since, had been spent in a long haze of worry and concern, wondering anxiously what would happen to Malory and the others. They had discussed it a lot in the month before their rescue, both in public and in private. As Commander, Malory was the one held the most culpable and speculating her fate was a constant source of unease that consumed Corky to no end.
Finally, the call had come and had been greeted with both relief and apprehension. Now, the Pentagon loomed in the distance and she looked disinterestedly through a car window as the scenery passed her by.
As the vehicle pulled to a stop, she recognized with a scowl several of the men waiting to greet her as erstwhile interrogators and she got out reluctantly. Unexpectedly, another man emerged from the crowd and her eyes lit up happily as she rushed forward to embrace him.
“Larry!” she exclaimed cheerfully, flinging herself into his arms. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Well, hello there,” Larry said jovially after receiving his mauling.
“What are you doing here?” Corky asked warmly.
“They wanted to talk to me too,” he said seriously.
“What’s going on?”
“Not quite sure yet,” he admitted.
A throat cleared and their escort gestured them inside. Corky scowled, more than a little irritated with all the secrecy, as she fell in with the pace of the procession. The entourage traveling silently through what seemed like never-ending miles of corridor until they arrived at a door manned by a pair of grave looking Marines, one of which opened the door.
“Dr. Rivers, Dr. Daniels, please make yourselves comfortable,” he said, gesturing them inside.
Warily, Corky entered the room and smiled happily upon encountering her friends, all of whom were wearing their dress uniforms.
“Hi guys, don’t you all look handsome,” she said cheerfully, looking around hopefully but coming up empty. “What’s the scoop?”
“Don’t know,” McNeely said. “This is the first we’ve seen of each other since we landed.”
“Where’s Malory?” she asked worriedly.
“No idea,” McNeely admitted. “But I’ll bet we find out today.”
Corky grunted thoughtfully. “Is she in trouble?” she asked worriedly.
“She better not be,” Clovis rumbled and she smiled at him fondly.
“We were all run through the ringer,” Reynolds said quietly. “I can guarantee it was much worse for her.”
“So what are we here for?” she asked.
“To wait,” McNeely said bluntly.
“For what?”
“We’ll have to wait to find out,” McNeely said and Corky scowled in frustration.
10/31/02 - 0400 hours
It had been almost seven hours and the sound of the door opening startled everyone, Corky looked up expectantly and was disappointed to see an elder man in a Naval uniform enter the room. McNeely sprang to his feet and saluted, prompting the other soldiers to follow suit.
“At ease and good afternoon,” he said amiably. “Mr. Watkins would you come with me, please?”
The ostracized Watkins who sat by himself in a far corner of the room, reluctantly rose to his feet and preceded the Admiral out of the room. He left the door open in his wake and Corky performed a double take, hardly recognizing Malory as she walked through the door in her dress uniform.
Malory closed the door behind her and turned to find a roomful of salutes directed at her.
“Oh, cut it out,” she chided jovially, accepting a flying embrace from Corky.
“Would you look at those legs?” McNeely said in wonder.
“You owe me money,” Reynolds said. “I told you she shaved them.”
“Look at those ribbons,” Alvarez said. “I’ve seen Generals who didn’t have so many.”
Malory rolled her eyes and leaned over to kiss Corky on the top of her head. “If everyone is finished having fun at my expense, I’ll tell you what’s going on,” she said cheerfully, belatedly noticing Daniels. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Daniels,” she said politely.
“Good to see you, Commander,” he replied easily.
Everyone found a seat good-naturedly and looked at her expectantly.
“First of all, everyone has been cleared of any malfeasance, including myself,” she announced to communal relief. “And the powers that be have approached me with a proposal to present to you all.”
“What’s that, skipper?” McNeely asked curiously.
“You have two weeks to decide whether or not you’d like to continue on to other duty assignments or remain under my command. Those of you with the Coast Guard, which falls under the authority of the Department of Transportation, will be permanently seconded to the Navy,” she explained. “Those of you with the NSF have the option to become DOD employees under my purview.”
A rapid exchange of surprised
glances.
“Wow,” Reynolds exclaimed quietly. “That’s a bag of tricks.”
“I don’t get it,” McNeely said confusedly.
“As improbable as it seems, our government doesn’t have an abundance of people experienced in, what one would call, the supernatural,” Malory said casually. “The DOD will provide a base of operations for us and we’ll be deployed nationally and internationally to investigate… uhm… paranormal phenomenon.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Clovis asked disbelievingly.
“No, I’m not,” Malory said. “I was just as surprised as I’m sure all of you are now.”
“Does that include me?” Daniels asked.
“It includes everyone in this room and any staff we care to bring into the fold,” Malory explained. “However, our mission and objectives are to remain classified.”
“I’ll be damned,” Alvarez muttered quietly.
“You have two weeks of leave to decide,” Malory said. “Those of you interested need to report back to me here, at the end of that time.”
Corky pulled on her sleeve, guiding her to a private corner of the room.
“Malory,” she said. “What does this mean for us?” she asked worriedly.
A bright smile. “We can do whatever you want. I don’t have to be involved in this and neither do you.”
Corky grunted and peeked around Malory at the men muttering among themselves. “I want to do it,” she said sincerely.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Malory said easily.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“Can we go see my parents first?”
“Sure.”
“Where will we live?”
“Don’t know yet, but I used to work in this building. I have a condo in town,” Malory said slyly. “It has a king-sized bed,” she added rakishly.
Corky giggled. “I can hardly wait.”
“Me either,” Malory said excitedly. “I’ve been wondering for months what sex would be like in a real bed.”
Corky favored her with a gentle smile. “I’m so proud of you,” she said softly. “Let me go talk with the guys, you wait here,” she ordered.
“Okay,” she said agreeably and watched curiously as the men huddled around the doctor and they mumbled quietly for several minutes.
Eventually, she wandered over to the window to watch the traffic in the distance, becoming lost in her own thoughts.
“Commander?” McNeely said sharply and she turned find everyone lined up in the middle of the room.
“Yes?” she asked apprehensively.
“We’ve already decided.”
“And?”
Daly began to whistle and her eyes widened in recognition, a hand rising to cover her mouth as a group Cabbage Patch began.
“Come all without. Come all within,” they sang boisterously. “You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn...”
End
* Quinn, the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) Words and Music by Bob Dylan © 1968, 1976 Dwarf Music
* The Doppelganger Artwork by EricWadley © 2001 Archetypal Visions
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