Watching Yute

by Joseph Picard

  The Colonel and his two men were treated with hospitality; fed, and offered bunks if they wanted. They didn’t have a ride out for the time being, with their chopper still out transporting the prisoners. Cassidy watched them with mild amusement. These guys were regular army, getting a taste of life here. The two soldiers were beginning to relax, and even the Colonel began to realize that he didn’t need to give orders so loud. He didn’t need to give orders at all, really. Casual camaraderie in the mess had a much more home-like feel to it, especially with Jim baking cookies nearby.

  “It’s just about time for shift change.” Cassidy said, as she and Cheryl nabbed a cookie.

  “Just like nothing happened?” Colonel Calvert asked.

  Cassidy chuckled, and patted her stomach, which was still explosion-free. “Close enough to nothing for me.” Cheryl failed to see the humour. They stopped by the barrack, and headed out. After exiting the base, they could see that the Grand Elder’s airlimb had arrived. Flowing from the hatch were Armil’s personal guard of G.E.G Storms. Lots and lots of Storms, led silently by their female Colonel.

  Cassidy, Cheryl, and a few other members of afternoon watch continued on leisurely, and many of the Storms jogged past them towards the temple. They were more impressive, more heavily armed than Calvert’s men, but they were somehow less obtrusive. They moved so quietly, and so fluidly, they seemed to fit the calm of the place. Those that had to move around one of the walking guards did so as smoothly as smoke.

  When Cassidy and Cheryl got to the temple, several Storms were lined up across the front, below the bottom step. Others could be seen wandering the ruins. Perhaps looking for grenade fragments.

  Cassidy stopped by one. “Going in for an inspection?”

  “No ma’am.” His voice was fitting of the way these Storms moved. Precise but quiet. “We don’t need to, and we’d rather not take these inside if it can be avoided.” He lifted his rifle a moment for illustration.

  Cheryl spoke up. “Are you going to be guarding this spot from now on?”

  “Don’t know, Sir.”

  Afternoon shift was officially underway, and Cassidy settled into her post with Cheryl at the south east door. The view was somewhat ruined by the Storms posted out front. Even if they were less disturbing than the Colonel’s men, they were still an unavoidable reminder of the morning’s attack. It was difficult to make small talk with Cheryl when there was a Storm within earshot. It was plain that Cheryl was still rattled, and this above anything else, rattled Cassidy.

  Off and on, clusters of Storms would convene in front of the temple. Sometimes just two, sometimes half a dozen. After a while, Cassidy managed to figure out that yes, they were collecting the grenade fragments. Cassidy didn’t feel the need to point this out to Cheryl. Did Cheryl notice what they were doing?

  Cassidy decided to make another attempt at small talk, using as little verbal communication as possible.

  “Hey, you.” She caught Cheryl’s eye and smiled as seductively as she could. It made Cheryl smile, holding back a smile.

  Cassidy bit her lower lip softly, and threw Cheryl a slow wink, and ran her hands along her spear slowly. Cheryl couldn’t help chuckle a bit, and threw Cassidy a little kiss. “Is my Cassie thinking of going camping after the shift?”

  Cassidy smiled sheepishly, tilting her head. “Damned right.” Cheryl’s mood was well-lifted. Mission accomplished.

  Night arrived for the latter part of the shift. The few remaining Storms posted out front blended into the night better, and made them less obtrusive. The Storms had done their own shift change, and only two remained in front of the steps.

  The normal night shift arrived eventually. Karl was one of the guards who took over the south east door, and he had a message. “You two are supposed to check in at the base instead of going to your camp.”

  Damn it. Not ‘before’ going to- instead of. If people are worried about security, it stood to reason that Cipriana wouldn’t want two people sleeping out in the ruins, alone and isolated. But still, those grenade nuts were an isolated thing, right? And they didn’t even have their own way of getting here. And the camp wasn’t a prime target, or even a target at all. Cassidy was pretty sure that not even Cipriana knew exactly where it was.

  During the walk back to the base, the journey’s lack of Cipriana and Marcus reminded Cassidy that they had taken the shift off to meet with Armil.

  “They’re not going to take camp from us, are they?” Cheryl spoke like a timid child.

  Cassidy put her hand on Cheryl’s shoulder as they walked, and Cheryl moved closer so that Cassidy’s arm was around her. “I dunno, hon. I hope not.”

  When they arrived at the base, it looked like almost everyone was out front. Marcus was corralling this sloppy formation, and talking about a route. He called afternoon shift into the crowd, but Cipriana pulled Cassidy and Cheryl aside.

  “Ladies, everyone but the watch at the temple are going for a march tonight. A bit of a patrol.” Cipriana said. “Tonight I’d appreciate if you spent the night at the base, we’ll talk about your camp later.”

  “Uh… where’s this patrol going?” Cassidy asked, a little nervously.

  Cipriana smiled softly. “Just taking a general look around for anything odd. Don’t fret, I’ve made sure your camp will remain undisturbed. You two won’t be going on any of tonight’s patrols.” She leaned in with Cassidy and Cheryl, and spoke very quietly.” I have a special mission for you.”

  “Special mission?” Cheryl copied Cipriana’s secretive behavior.

  “There’s a folding chair sitting in the barrack. Your instructions are taped to the bottom of it.” Cipriana saw Cheryl getting a little worried. “It’s an easy mission, no danger really, but it must be done discretely. Understood?”

  “Understood.” Cassidy and Cheryl nodded.

  “Okay, go. Don’t waste any time.”

  Cheryl and Cassidy discretely passed along the edge of the group, into the base. Only a few metres inside, the quiet was noticeable, contrasted from the chatter outside. They moved quietly towards the barrack and saw the chair, sitting not far from the washroom door. It was hard to imagine what sort of mission was waiting for them. What needed such secrecy, yet was not dangerous?

  Cassidy knelt beside the chair, and reached under it, to pull a note off the bottom. She unfolded it, and read, Cheryl crouched behind her, reading over her shoulder.

  Happy six months, you two. A little early, but opportunity knocked. You should have privacy until about 24:00, but don’t rely too much on anything past 23:00. For safety’s sake, stick to the women’s areas. There’s a bottle of red under Cassidy’s pillow. Try not to use up ALL the hot water.

  -Cipriana

  Cassidy and Cheryl stared at it for a moment or two. Cheryl wrapped her arms around Cassidy from behind and gave a squeeze. “Best. Mission. Ever.”

  “Remind me to… I don’t know.. wow. Yay Cip!” Cassidy had no sooner finished stammering, than Cheryl was simultaneously pulling Cassidy towards the showers and fumbling to pull off her top, giggling like a demon all the while.

  “Are we going to use all the hot water?” Cassidy purred, turning to face Cheryl, and helping with her top.

  “We’ll sure try!” The two left a short trail of clothing to the nearest shower stall, including Cassidy’s hat. Giggles and similar little sounds mixed with the sound of water spray. Roughly half an hour of love had passed when they paused to catch their breath, pressed together against the back wall.

  Cheek to cheek, breathing hard for a few moments, then Cassidy whispered just loud enough to be heard over the water. “We’re being watched...”

  “What?!” Cheryl jumped, but was held against the wall by Cassidy.

  “Shh, shh… it’s okay..” Cassidy reached up onto the wall behind Cheryl, and Cheryl understood.

  “Oh, ew.. little visitor?” Cheryl cringed a away a little as Cassidy brought down a young aeki. In well over half a year, she still hadn’t had an am
icable close encounter with one yet. Maybe it was the fresh endorphins in her bloodstream, but she felt ready. Maybe.

  “Put out your hand.” Cassidy said softly with a little smile. Cheryl cautiously obliged. Cassidy took it, and positioned it palm-down. The less-sensitive back of her hand would be less ticklish to the soft little touches of the little lizard. She placed the aeki on Cheryl’s hand, keeping her own hand close.

  “Ah!” Cheryl whimpered, “It’s feet feel so..” She got used to the little padded steps on her skin, careful not to upset the aeki. It was pretty docile, so Cheryl felt a little braver. She put her face closer to the aeki, and stared it in the eye. “Hello….!” She said softly.

  Cassidy just smiled, and stared at Cheryl in adoration.

  As some time passed, Cheryl’s look of innocent wonderment dissolved, as she looked back into Cassidy’s eyes. “I think I’m done with this. What do we do with it?”

  Cassidy took it back, smiling at Cheryl. “Normally I’d get dressed and take him outside when I was done my shower.” She stepped out of the stall, and placed the lizard in a sink, and then came back to Cheryl. “But we still have hot water.”

  Long after fingertips were wrinkled, they migrated activities to Cassidy’s bunk, briefly attacking the wine from Cipriana. Without glasses handy, they drank right from the bottle. While Cheryl was taking a turn, Cassidy dug for her terminal to play some music. Cheryl’s was still at the camp.

  Cassidy had to turn on her terminal; it wasn’t seeing a lot of use lately. Cheryl passed her the bottle, and Cassidy took a swig, but nearly spit it out when the terminal was done initiating. A notice on the screen waiting read Missed call: Brandy – Message waiting.

  “Brandy? Like your ex, Brandy?” Cheryl was surprised, but far less than Cassidy.

  Despite shock, Cassidy saw little reason to care. “To heck with it. Hang on, I’ll find some music.”

  “Nah, nah, may as well get it done. Do you want me to go in the next room?”

  Cassidy didn’t think she had anything to hide from Cheryl, so the tapped the button. “Nah, it’s cool.”

  Brandy’s face appeared on the screen. She looked worried. “I saw about the attack on the news. Are you still at the weird temple base? Call me when you get this, I just wanted to know if you were okay.” The message ended, and Brandy was gone.

  “Damn, it’s on the news so fast!” Cassidy went to switch to music.

  “Well? Call her back! She was concerned enough to call.” Cheryl urged.

  Fine, she was right, really. Cassidy threw her top back on, and called back. It took a bit for Brandy to pick up. “Cass! You are alright! When your terminal was off, I just got more freaked out. You look fine.”

  “Yeah, I-“ Cassidy was cut off by Cheryl. “Yeah, she’s only alright by luck! The silly twit jumped on a grenade!”

  “What?” Brandy said, “That was you? One of the people on the news mentioned a woman laying on a grenade, and another woman throwing a grenade away...”

  “Hi, I’m the thrower, I have some common sense.” Cheryl peeked around to get part of her face in the picture. Cassidy pushed her back, and threw her top at her.

  “Who’s your friend?” Brandy asked.

  “Oh, that’s Cheryl.” Cheryl had her top back on, so Cassidy pulled her over so they were both in view of the terminal’s camera. “She’s uh…” Cassidy sighed a little. “She’s Cheryl.”

  Brandy smiled a calm smile, glad for Cassidy to have someone, but a tiny bit disappointed that Cassidy had someone. She spoke in a voice that quite well reflected a mix of feelings. “I see. How long?”

  “We’re about a week early, but we’re celebrating month six.” As Cassidy said it, she imagined Brandy calculating how long it was after the breakup before Cassidy and Cheryl got together. She refrained from asking if Brandy was seeing anyone. She didn’t really want to hear it if she was, and if she wasn’t, it would be uncomfortable as heck.

  Brandy held up her smile, but the effort it took seemed to imply that she was single. Maybe Cassidy was trying to read too much. “Well congrats! You two look like a good match. Anyway, I just wanted to hear that you were alright. Both of you try to play safer, alright?”

  “Alright, will do, Brandy. See you.”

  “Bye.”

  And she was gone. Cassidy looked to Cheryl with woeful eyes. “Part of me feels bad for her for some reason.” Her face changed to an expression of mischief. “But the bitch in me loves showing my ex the hot chick I bagged!”

  Cheryl chuckled, and stopped short. “Shit! If she saw the news, my folks probably did too! Can I call em on your terminal?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Cheryl punched them up. It rang, and rang. Finally it connected, audio only. “Eh? Cheryl?” it was her father’s voice, and he sounded half asleep.

  “Hey dad. Seen the news today?”

  “Just caught the sports n’ weather, why?”

  “Not important. You were asleep, it’s late, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Go to sleep.”

  “Alrighty! Love you!”

  “Love you!”

  Cheryl disconnected, and switched to some light music. “Hey Cassie.. would you wanna take some vacation time and go visit them with me?”

  “Meet the folks, huh? Big step!” Cassidy smirked.

  Cheryl replied timidly. “Well… yeah, I guess it is. Is that okay?”

  Cassidy leaned forward and hugged Cheryl tight. “You bet it is.”

  “Good.” Cheryl giggled softly, and pressed Cassidy back onto the bunk.

  ~~~

  Cipriana and most of the other women of the unit, (barring those on night duty) wandered in some time later to find Cassidy and Cheryl curled up (clothed) on Cassidy’s bunk. Cassidy’s terminal was still playing music softly.

  “Aww…” Wanda said quietly.

  Maxine looked over and smirked. “Lazy butts. If this happened on the guys’ side, they’d catch hell.” All of the women knew that Cassidy and Cheryl would be here though, with an official, unofficial excuse.

  Wanda snickered. “If this happened on the guys’ side, they’d be taking photos.”

  Maxine looked at Wanda, who was still looking at the napping pair. “You want to take a photo, don’t you?”

  “They’re just so cute together.” Wanda tilted her head with a little smile. As Cassidy turned a little, her hair slid across her shoulder a bit. “Well, now we know what it takes to get that hat off of her.”

  Cipriana chuckled softly. “Go ahead, take a picture. They might appreciate it.”

  No sooner had the picture been taken with Wanda’s terminal, than Cheryl began to wake, yawning.

  “Hey Cheryl, like it?” Wanda held her terminal in front of Cheryl, so she could see.

  “Mrrhh?” Cheryl peeked through sleepy, half-opened eyes. “Mmhmm. Yeah.” She yawned again. “Yeah, send me a copy.” She settled back in, closing her eyes again.

  Cassidy lifted her head. “Huh? Send what?” but she saw Cheryl was going back to sleep, so she followed suit before seeing the picture.

  Wanda smiled quietly. “I guess I’ll send it to both.”

  Reluctantly, Cassidy and Cheryl slowly accepted being awake. “Whu time’zit?” Cheryl mumbled, sitting up.

  “Time for morning shift to try to get a couple winks before they have to go to work.” Came a grumpy voice from a lump under a blanket across the room.

  “Sorry,” Cassidy said, “we can take a double shift to help out.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Cipriana said, “Your anniversary gift was a gift, you don’t compensate people for a gift. Besides, we all would have been on our little hike regardless of where you two were. And it was only a few hours. Morning shift will survive just fine. Before I forget however, I considered a new rule for your little camp.”

  Here it comes. Cassidy and Cheryl held their breath, like a convict
s awaiting sentencing. Cheryl literally crossed her fingers.

  “I don’t think we need fear your camp being a target, but I’d feel irresponsible if I didn’t take some manner of precaution.” Cipriana somehow even made laying down the law sound kindly. “As such, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you, and everyone not on night shift, to spend night time in the base. However, I see no harm in the two of you spending your morning free time at the camp.”

  Cassidy and Cheryl looked at each other with silent conference, and gave each other a little nod. “Sounds fair, Cip.” “Can we hug you, Cip?”

  Cipriana sighed. “That’s quite alright, I’ll pass.”

  Cheryl put her lips to Cassidy’s ear, and whispered a little. “Oh yeah!” Cassidy said, “Cip, could Cheryl and I take a few days off, go visit her folks?”

  “I’m guessing you both have time stocked?”

  “Yup.” Cheryl answered for them both.

  “I’ll try to make arrangements. Let me know when you would like to go, and for how long, and I’ll see what I can do.”

  ~~~

  After getting a little more sleep Cassidy and Cheryl put themselves together and headed out shortly after morning shift did. They ran into Marcus just outside.

  “Hey ladies,” he greeted, “I guess you have mornings off until further notice. Tours are off indefinitely.”

  “Oh? Was that Armil’s call?” Cassidy asked.

  “It was a collaborative decision,” Marcus said, “But yes, the final call was his. He didn’t feel the risk was worth the benefits of doing the tours until we understand the motives behind yesterday’s stupidity.”

  “That’s too bad. I’ll miss the kids that come” Cheryl paused. “But it’s about their safety more than anything, I guess.”

  “Come on, Cheryl,” Cassidy said, “we have almost eight hours until shift, let’s go camping!”