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Dominion 8: The Formidable

The first chapter of Dominion 8: The Formidable

1  The Liberator

 Jethro awoke and glanced around quickly and saw the dimmed light from the curtains at the windows.  He expected to hear the sounds of the night hunters leaving the shelters.  Instead, he realized that he was safely on Obisque.  He could hardly believe that he was no longer on Ratooque.  He sighed gratefully with the thought.

He could see the others sleeping soundly.  He smiled as he knew that they were all safe too.  Jethro walked out into the burning sunlight.  He smiled as he remembered that on Obisque, the sun stayed up for much longer than 24 hours.  It was dark for much longer than 24 hours also.  Jethro figured it to be sometime in the early summer.  The weather had warmed to be almost warmer than Ratooque had been.  In those days, the daytime would still be slightly shorter than the nights.  Still, because the sun was only just past mid sky, he knew that it would still be light for close to another 16-18 hours or so. 

He decided to go for a walk.  It was not long, until he found himself at the hidden entrance to the cave.  But he was not so confident that he wanted to crawl through the lengthy tunnel.  Instead, he hiked on.  He went to the cliff side and climbed down. 

Once inside the cave, he turned on his wrist lamp, and ventured further in.  There was nothing to indicate that anyone had been there since the Kahli war.  He found an old knapsack which had the dried remains of hard bread and rotten dried fruit.  There were also his old jacket and a couple of Stephen’s many polished stones.   He lifted one of them from the stone shelf where it sat.  He felt the smooth stone in his hand.  He smiled at the memories. 

He remembered the war.  He remembered seeing Stephen lying on the dance floor.  He cringed from the painful memories that it brought back to him.  He was surprised to find the intense bitterness and hate for the Kahli quickly grip him once more.  He sighed.  He shook his head and the wave of hate dissipated.  It was in the past.  Nothing could change what had happened, and the Kahli had gone and not come back.  He could feel himself letting go of those feelings again.  He smiled.  He had no time to spend on the Kahli anymore.

Any bitterness he carried was now concentrated on those who had betrayed his men.  They would be the same people who had killed Kerline, Reuben and Kestelle.  He burned with a desire to find the colonel.  Yes, he would make the colonel pay dearly for what he had done to his men.

He was about to put the smooth stone back on the shelf, but had second thoughts about it as he remembered Reuben.  He remembered Reuben and Helam’s pleas that he not forget them.  He smiled, in spite of the thought.  He slipped the stone into his pocket to join the other reminders that he had of Reuben and Helam.  He had carried them every day for years.

“None of you will ever be forgotten,” Jethro quietly promised.

He glanced around the cave.  He nodded as he thought of the Kahli.  They had cut three of his family members away from him forever, and yet, for all the pain, he was able to leave the past in the past.  He would never seek to be friends with the Kahli, but he had decided that he would no longer actively hate them either.  All he wanted to know about the Kahli, was why?  Why had they slaughtered so indiscriminately?  Why had they come to Obisque to begin with?

Jethro knew that by the end of the war with them, it had been costly for the Kahli in terms of numbers lost.  However, whole villages on Obisque had been slaughtered.  His own village of Pertage, which had once teamed with a population of 20,000, had been all but destroyed.  Only two or three hundred people from Pertage had survived it.  Because of that, Jethro had not found it difficult to find an empty house to stay in.

He felt a lump in his throat as he continued through the cave.  At least two more of his best friends were now gone.  He wondered where Helam was.  Jethro wondered if he was still alive.  It suddenly occurred to him that life had changed once more.  With three more lives gone, it would always leave holes in his life that could never be filled.

He climbed back out of the darkness where the cave hid and resolved never to return to it.  The darkened hole had brought excitement and adventure to him as a youth.  It had also saved his life and the lives of his friends.  Nevertheless, it was filled with a gripping sense of sadness.

He returned to the house he and his men had occupied at Evanridge, just a few kilometers from the cave.  He found Serta sitting on the step outside.  She looked tired, as she stared off at nothing in particular.  Her hair was pulled back with a twist, which gave her a surprisingly attractive look.  It was nice to see her in a clean uniform too.

“Get enough sleep, Talille?” He questioned, as he approached.

She jerked her head up at him, as if he had startled her.  She smiled faintly.  She got to her feet.  He had to look away, as he remarked how beautiful she was.  He felt himself blush from the thought.

“Not quite enough.  I can’t believe that I’ve slept almost ten hours.  It’s a little confusing.”  She shielded her eyes from the sun, as she glanced at the sky.  “Shouldn’t the sun be going down or something?”

“A full day on Obisque is just over 70 hours.  The days are shorter than the nights still, but the days last forever and the nights are worse.  There are some folks here who never look at a time piece.  They work when they work, and they sleep when they sleep, and sometimes it’s more of one than the other. 

“Our family kept our routines according to colonial time.  It was less confusing in some ways, but in others, it was odd.  Sometimes we would find ourselves going to bed, just as the sun was rising.  Or we were getting up, just as it was getting dark.  Of course some work could only be done in the light.  As a farmer we learned these lessons early.”  He smiled as he reminisced about his youth.  “During those times, it seemed we worked until we couldn’t stand any longer.  That was usually in the spring for the planting.”

“I suppose that is why there were so many people out last night,” she nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Jethro said.  He sighed and glanced around the small village. 

“Do you miss it?  I mean, do you miss being a farmer?” She questioned.

“Always,” he nodded.  “But I could never return to farming.  I’m not sure I can do anything normal.  I’m a soldier now.  I’ve learned the arts of death so completely, and it has affected me in a way, that I don’t think I could function well in polite society.”

“Nothing normal?” She pressed.

He shook his head.

“I don’t believe that.  You’re much more complicated than that,” she said, looking at him strangely.  He noticed her beauty again and smiled, but then quickly turned away.

“I guess it’s time to get up,” Pack’s said from behind them. 

Serta jumped.

“Is everyone else awake?” Jethro turned to see him.

“Not yet, but it won’t be long,” Pack muttered.  He gave the pair one more survey before going back inside the house.

Jethro stretched.  The clean uniform felt good on him.  Several minutes later, the others were coming out of the house. 

“I should probably show you around and introduce you to a few people,” Jethro said as the others glanced around.

“No, if you don’t mind Jethro, I’m anxious to get started doing what we talked about last night.  It’s time to make people pay for what they did to us on Ratooque.  You said you could teach us to fly.  You said you could get us transferred away from our ground unit.  I’ve been waiting 11 months to do something.  I don’t want to wait any longer,” Stone said.

Jethro glanced at the others.  No one said anything.  “Very well, we can start teaching you to fly then.  We can make introductions later,” Jethro agreed.  “We will also train physically and we will train each other in our areas of expertise.  We will need to be ready to do more than just fly.”

“Let’s get started then,” Pack nodded.

Jethro, along with Pack, Weldon and Serta started right away to teach Stone and the others.  All four spent a few weeks intensively teaching the other men to fly.  Jethro worked to help Weldon and Pack improve as well.

One morning, after nearly a month of training, Jethro inventoried the fuel storage on his ship. 

“We’ve got to do something,” he said quietly to himself.

“What is it?” Stone tested nearby.

“There are only two fuel cells left.  We need to check the other ships,” Jethro said with concern.

However, after checking them, he found that they were not much better. 

“That isn’t much,” Stone said, also noticing the problem.

“No, even if we were to do a lot of hooking, the fuel won’t last long.  We will have to get back into the organized military soon, or we might get trapped by our enemies for the lack of fuel,” Jethro pointed out.  He thought a moment.  “Let’s take two and park them where they might do us the best good.”

“Do you mean like if we got marooned some place?” Stone tested.

“Yes, I suppose that might be good.  Pack was marooned at K-5 twice already.  That might be an excellent place for one of them,” Jethro nodded.

 “Let’s do it.  I doubt any of us will ever go there again, but if we do, I want a way off as fast as possible,” Stone said quite vocally.

The moment they discussed it with the others, Pack volunteered to fly the ship to Ratooque himself, but only if someone else followed him.

The second one, they left on a moon near Obisque.  The third, they decided they would use, until they could transition safely back into the military.  That way they would only have to fuel one ship.  They would leave one full cylinder of fuel for each of the parked ships.  That would give the third ship five full cells.

“Jethro, how are I and my guys doing?” Stone tested when they got back.

Jethro smiled.  “You and your men have learned to fly well enough to easily pass any practical flying exam.  However, you still need help with the basic technical information.  You’ll have to know that part to certify.  All I can do for you on that part is to be a resource to you.  I’ll teach you as much technical information as he can and about as many other things about the ships as possible.  But you’ll have to learn it.  I think it would make it easier to comprehend it if we had other ships to fly, so you could see the differences and the similarities.  However, we don’t have access to the other ships.”

“Jethro,” Pack spoke up, before they were to start the day’s training.  “It’s time we got back.  By now no one will be expecting us to show up.  If we had gone straight to Harrison before, they would have been waiting for us.  But now, I think we might be able to sneak over to see him.”

“Do you think he’s still on Balaria?” Jethro tested.

“Probably,” Pack responded.

“I guess you’re right.  We have to do something,” Jethro said. 

He keyed his computer and brought up general information for Balaria.  He knew that any specific probe to find Harrison would probably set off an alarm.  Harrison’s name appeared almost as a footnote among the names of prominent leadership on the planet.  He was listed as liaison officer for the base.  It looked as if Harrison was nothing more than a minor administrator.  

“I guess it’s time to go,” Jethro said. 

While Pack piloted the ship toward Balaria, Jethro used the computer to get a general view of the complex layout for the military housing, and to find Harrison’s bunking assignment.  Pack landed the ship on the tarmac next to several other ships.  No one raced to confront them.  The sun would soon set.  He didn’t want to leave the ship yet.  If they were seen and recognized, it could bring their enemies upon them before they could do what they had come for.

Jethro pulled the ship’s log disk and pocketed it.  He didn’t bother to put a new one in its place.  “We won’t be using this ship again.  It will be too dangerous to come back to it.  If it gets noticed, they’ll watch it.  We’ll seal the ship with a security setting to make it seem as though the pilot plans to return for it,” he said and set the code.

“It’s almost sun set,” Pack said.  “We should wait until very late to approach him.”

“That is a good plan Sir,” Weldon agreed.

Jethro merely nodded.  They found a place where they could sleep for a while.

Stone glanced over when Jethro awakened.

Jethro didn’t have to say anything.  Stone nudged Pack, who in turn woke Weldon, and the others.  Jethro led the small party across the grounds, to the building where Harrison was supposed to be.  They scaled the side of the building to the balcony of the general’s quarters.  Jethro was careful to investigate the possibility of alarms.  He found three separate alarm systems.  Jethro approached the window from the side to enter, but Stone stopped him from continuing.  Stone pointed out a small round device attached near the top inside-corner of the window pane.

He whispered in Jethro’s ear.  “Motion sensor.” 

Stone lifted himself higher, while staying close to the side of the stone wall.  He continued to pull himself up, until his eyes were even with the device.  He took a small piece of cloth from his pocket, and very slowly slipped it over the device, and tied it into place covering it.  Then Stone climbed slowly back down to crouch beside Jethro. 

“If we move the window, it will set off the sensor.  If we get close to the unit, when we try to uncover it, the movement will set it off.  Even covered, any fast movements around the window might be noticed.  I’m afraid it is fool proof,” Stone warned.  “I don’t know of anyone who has fooled it.  We’ll have to find another way inside.  The power switch to it is underneath the device.  It could be done from inside, but only if all the other alarms are off.”

Jethro stared at Stone, as he pressed his mind to think of something else.  He shook his head.  He scanned the wall, but the two windows further down the wall, would be secured the same way.  That meant they would have to enter through the door.   Jethro knew that it would be impossible to do that without being noticed.

He pulled Stone close enough to whisper into his ear.  “Will it set off the alarm if I knock on the window?”

Stone nodded.

“What if I knock on the framework?” Jethro pressed.

Stone shrugged his shoulders.  “Whatever you do, do it slowly.”

Jethro took a breath, and then signaled the others to retreat.  When he could see that they were all back on the ground, he turned and knocked on the window frame.  Nothing seemed to happen.  He knocked again, with a little more confidence.  He had to do it several times.  Each time he knocked, Stone would cringe.  Finally Harrison showed up at the window.  The yard lights were bright enough for Jethro to see the man inside.  A look of complete shock registered in Harrison’s face, as though Jethro had slapped him.

Harrison reached to open the window, but then stopped himself.  He smiled broadly and left the window.  He returned a moment later.  He had scribbled a quick note and showed it to Jethro.  The note was simple.

North garden near the fountain, 5:45 a.m., bushes by bench, shady side.   

Jethro nodded.  Harrison smiled again, and held a hand to his face.  Then he saluted Jethro smartly, and moved away from the window.  Jethro reactivated the security devices that he had previously defeated.  He moved cautiously and very slowly removed the cloth that Stone had put over the motion detector.  Afterward, he climbed carefully over to the corner and back down the wall. 

They went to the garden.  Jethro soon found the fountain.  There were enough trees and bushes to conceal themselves.  He settled in and fell asleep.  He was awakened by footsteps, just as light from the coming sun was beginning to make things visible.  Jethro checked his time piece.  It was only 5 in the morning.  Jethro peaked out to see a uniformed woman striding toward them.  The others were awake before she walked past them. 

More soldiers walked past.  The numbers of soldiers passing were increasing.  Many were walking fast and some ran.  Everyone seemed in a hurry.  By 5:45 there was nearly a steady stream of soldiers racing past.  They were on their way from the barracks to the office buildings on the other side of the park.

Jethro was becoming anxious, until he saw Harrison coming their way.  The man appeared to have two men escorting him.  Harrison moved to the bench and sat down next to the bushes where Jethro hid.  The other men remained standing.  They loitered impatiently.

“Relax Gafman; the meeting doesn’t start for another hour.  Besides, Sherman would rather that I not be there anyway.  Sit and relax,” Harrison encouraged.

“We’ll do our jobs,” the tallest man said rigidly.

“Suit yourself, but you’re making me nervous.  Can you fidget a little further away?” Harrison questioned.

“It’s our job to keep you safe, Sir,” the shorter one said.

“Shores, you’re about as worried about my safety, as I am about going to that meeting,” Harrison said.  “I know what your orders are.  Where am I going to go?  We’re at least two kilometers from the nearest shuttle pad.  Sitting on a bench, in this park, isn’t getting me any closer to a ship.  You will be able to see me just fine, so you know I can’t go anywhere without you knowing about it.  I have no intentions of running away, so you might as well let me sit here for a moment.  I like the view and it helps me to relax.” 

“Well, we need to have you at the meeting.  They’ll have our heads if you’re late,” Shores countered.

“Don’t worry.  That’s one of the reasons I wanted to be early.  Quite frankly a gentleman, a quiet sit in the park for five or ten minutes, isn’t going to hurt any of us,” Harrison chided.  “Now why don’t you two go over there for a while and let me be alone with my thoughts.  I need to practice.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Shores argued.

“You can both see me well enough from over there,” Harrison pointed.  “But from over there, I won’t have to listen to you and you won’t be interrupting me.  I have another speech to rehearse.”

“Another one?” Gafman complained.  “What is it this time?”

“It’s for the new office recruits.  I have to go over policy and procedure with them,” Harrison said with a sigh.

“I’m not going to listen to that all day,” Shores said sourly.

“Well, I’m going to rehearse it, so what do you propose?” Harrison demanded.

His question was met with momentary silence. 

“We’ll be just over there,” Gafman nodded.

The two men moved away.  They sat down on the bench at the other side of the fountain, but made certain that Harrison could see that they were watching him.  Jethro could see them through the gaps between the leaves in the bushes.  He knew the crashing water from the fountain would drown out Harrison’s words. 

“Jethro, are you there?” Harrison tested in a normal tone.

“We’re right behind you, Sir,” Jethro announced quietly.

“Good man,” Harrison seemed relieved.  “You can see that they have me on a pretty tight leash.  We don’t have much time, so you’ll have to pay attention.  I’ve left an envelope underneath the dining table back at my quarters.  That will give you all the instruction that you will require for now.  By now they will have the side door open for the day.  They will no longer be worried about me running, until we return this afternoon.

“Now tell me Jethro, what happened to you?  Where have you been?” Harrison questioned.

“Your man and his family on Kaashac were dead when we arrived.  It was a trap.  They were waiting for us.  We got out before they could get to us.  Our problems started when we were getting away from the planet.  We took fire.  It damaged our front thrusters and we lost our oxygen pump.  We had to crash land on Ratooque.  We were not able to get off Ratooque, until about a month ago.  Since then I’ve been teaching a couple of soldiers to fly. 

“We were certain that our enemies knew we had survived. They knew we were somewhere out there.  We didn’t want to put you at risk.  The Colonel had people who were hoping to collect a reward for us.  We knew they might expect us to contact you right after we got off Ratooque.  That’s why it’s taken us so long.”

“A month ago?   That’s another reason for their tightening of security here.  Yes, I can see that now.  So, Kaashac was a trap?” He asked rhetorically.  “That explains a lot of things.  Our network must have broken down.  They must have gotten to someone.  We’ll have to be a lot more careful when we get started again.  You’ll need to let Virgil know on your first meeting.  We can’t afford to trust any sources we added just before the mission at Kaashac.  All right, now, what about my family?”  He pressed on.

“They are alive and well,” Jethro responded.

“Very good,” Harrison seemed relieved.  “Are they in a place where they have ample?” He tested hopefully.

“Musk didn’t tell you?” Jethro asked.

“You didn’t meet him,” Harrison noted.

“No, I was on Ratooque by then.  Do you want to know where they are?” Jethro questioned.

“Not yet.  They’ve drugged me twice for information since I’ve been here.  They might do it again.  I have an anonymous contact here.  He told me that I have revealed nothing important as yet.  However, I have revealed the code to my personal communication account.  I fear that even if I change the code, they will have created a way to monitor my communications.  At least, that is what my contact has revealed to me.  They have pressed me for the location of my family.  So I guess they haven’t found them so far.  After you disappeared, I had Virgil write all the orders for your men, so I wouldn’t know what they are doing, or where they were going.  I only signed the forms so they would be official.  That way I couldn’t give them that information either.  I hope they’re all right,” Harrison paused for a while.  “I hope I did not reveal Musk too.”

“What do you want us to do, Sir?” Jethro asked.

Harrison lifted his head higher.

“Jethro, I have a great favor to ask of you.  I don’t want you to tell me whether you’ll do it or not, or even if you decide to agree or not.  I don’t want to know when, where, or how, but in two weeks they are going to assassinate me.  I know, because in two weeks, those two men over there are being reassigned.  They are not expecting to be replaced.  I assume that one or both will do the job.  I’m too dangerous for our enemies to allow any freedom.  They can’t afford to incarcerate me, so that leaves only one option for them.  They are arranging a convenient accident for me.  That means it will happen within two weeks.  They must need me until then, or I would already be dead.”

“I see,” Jethro said blankly.  “What about your political connections?”

“Everyone is keeping their heads down.  They can’t help me right now,” Harrison said quietly.  “They’ve kept me alive so far, but it’s obvious that there has been a shift in power, so I’m on my own for now.  All the same, it’s time to leave Balaria and get to work.  You and I have traitors to find, and we have a conspiracy to defeat.  I can’t–,” Harrison suddenly stopped talking for a second.  “Keep all reports locked away during off hours, as these might be used for espionage purposes.”

“It’s time, Sir,” Gafman said as the two men approached.

“I’m not half way through my speech and the meeting isn’t for another 50 minutes,” Harrison complained.

“You’ll have to practice another time,” Gafman countered.

Harrison sighed disappointedly, and then got to his feet.  He glanced down at the bench, as if to see if anything was left behind, then glanced at the bushes behind the bench.  He smiled briefly.  Then he accompanied the two men.

“Your man is in trouble,” Stone whispered next to him.

“Yes,” Jethro agreed.  “He’s sort of in the same kind of trouble you were in at Ratooque.”

“How do we do it, Sir?  How do we grab him?” Serta questioned.

“Let’s see what’s under the table first, then we’ll figure out how to grab him,” Jethro said.  “We’re going to need different uniforms here.  We need to blend in better.”

“Why?” Stone questioned.  “The uniforms we have on are just fine.  They won’t question them.”

“No, they won’t question them, but we don’t want anyone to remember them either.  We don’t want anyone to remark any detail about us.  We want to be part of the background,” Jethro explained.

“Then you’ll want to lose those captain’s bars,” Stone pointed out.

Jethro fingered the bars at his throat and nodded.  “Yes, that would probably be wise.”  He glanced around at the others huddled into the bushes.  “Pack, trade me,” Jethro began to pull the bars off.

“No one is going to believe you are a sergeant,” Pack complained.  “You’re too young.  You’ll need to trade with Serta.  They would believe that you are a lieutenant.”

Jethro nodded, and handed his bars toward Serta.  She eyed them timidly.  “Don’t worry, they won’t bite.  Just don’t get too attached to them, though I’m certain that if you applied for it, you could pass your captaincy exams and be reinstated.”

She looked up and smiled briefly while exchanging them for her lieutenant’s bar.  A small group of soldiers approached.  They were coming toward them from the direction that Harrison had gone.  In fact they seemed to be going in the opposite direction from everyone else.  Jethro looked beyond and could see another small group behind them.  However, that group was still a long distance away.  

“We’ll quietly fall in behind these soldiers,” Jethro pointed out.

“Aye, Sir,” Serta whispered, as the group approached.  As soon as the group was past them, Jethro and the others rose to their feet and quickly stepped onto the walkway.  They brushed themselves off and started walking.  None of the soldiers ahead of them seemed to notice them.  Jethro glanced back toward the distant group behind them.  No one from that group seemed to be paying any attention either. 

Jethro took his group toward the laundry.  However, as they walked, he noticed other uniformed soldiers dressed like they were and made the decision to go right to Harrison’s quarters.  No one moved to intercept his party.  No one paid them the least attention.

Serta and the others stayed to mingle with other soldiers, who were also wearing mixed uniforms.  They were loitering near a window, where food was being served. 

Jethro and Pack went inside Harrison’s apartment.  Jethro found the envelope under the table.  Pack made a quick survey of the apartment.  Jethro heard a sharp sound from the other room and immediately poised for trouble. 

“Relax,” Pack whispered as he reentered the room.  “I disabled the motion sensor and one of the other alarms on the window we were working on last night.  I’ve rerouted the circuit so no one will notice that the alarms are off.  We can take him from here tonight.”  He sighed as he continued to search the apartment over.  “It looks like they bring him here and lock him in.  They are pretty certain that they can keep him here without any trouble.”

“How many people are we going to need on this?” Jethro questioned.

“Three,” Pack mused.  “I think you, I and Stone can handle it.  Clive and Talille can work with the others on other things.”

“We’ll need to figure out transportation for everyone back to the ship.  It will have to be in a way that no one will notice.  I’m thinking Garbage, freight, something like that,” Jethro suggested quietly.

“Sir, it might be better, if we took him to regular troop transport.  If they find him gone, they will no doubt check those civilian types of transportation first,” Pack pointed out.

Jethro thought about it a moment.  Then he nodded.  “And they will search a troop transport shuttle before that.  It will be a thorough search.  But what if...?” Jethro trailed off.  “Yes, we’ll take him on a troop shuttle.  Not as a passenger.  He’ll be the pilot.”

“Pilot?” Pack questioned.

“Yes,” Jethro nodded.  “We need to go past the post’s duty board.  Pilots and drivers will be getting their assignments for the day.”

They left the apartment, and found their way to the duty board.  Jethro was anxious as he saw the day’s assignments being looked over by a handful of people.  He pressed his way through the small crowd until he was next in line to read the board.  Jethro looked and quickly made a decision.  He pulled one of the name plaques from the “night compound pick up” assignment, and placed it to the empty “shuttle pad” line.  He took Williamson’s plaque that had been placed at the “transferred out” area, and put it at the “night compound pick up” spot.  Then he moved away from the board.  He glanced around to see if anyone had noticed what he had done.  He waited for several minutes, but no one seemed to question him about it.  He stayed until he was absolutely sure that everyone who had been there when he had changed it had gone.

“Do you think that will work?” Pack tested.

“The guy being transferred out knows that he’s leaving today.  He’s not going to look at the board.  I’m guessing that he’s leaving this morning anyway.  If this place is like other bases, people will be coming to look at assignments for changes after breakfast.  Most aren’t going to come to look at this board for a good hour, so yes, I think it will work.  Others might realize the mistake about the guy being transferred, but I think they might wonder if that means there is another man on station with the same last name.  What would you think?” Jethro questioned.

Pack frowned, and then nodded.  “That might work,” he finally conceded.  “Assuming that Williamson is a guy.”

“What does it matter?” Jethro tested while shaking his head.  “Williamson could be anyone.”

They joined the others, who were laughing and talking with more soldiers who were nearly finished eating.  Jethro and Pack also went to the window and received a plate of food.  They moved in to join Serta and two soldiers.  Stone sat by himself nearby.

“You guys also look new to the base,” one of the soldiers commented.

“Just temporary assignment,” Jethro muttered, glancing at Serta, who nodded almost imperceptibly.  This was something they were well practiced at.

“Are you in maintenance also?” One of them questioned.

Jethro looked at Serta, who barely shook her head.  Jethro looked down at the man’s collar for his rank.  “I said I was on temporary assignment Sergeant.  You know I can’t tell you any more than that.”

“Easy Lieutenant,” Serta said with a friendly air.  “The sergeant is with security.  He has a very high security rating.”

“Begging your pardon, Ma’am, but military regulations state that under no circumstances, am I to reveal covert operations to anyone except my commanding officer,” Jethro stood erect and saluted.

The sergeant seemed to jump at Jethro’s outburst.

“That’s why you will put yourself on report Lieutenant.  Until you said what you did, no one would have known that you might be en route to a covert mission,” Serta hissed quietly, giving Jethro a malicious look.

The Sergeant seemed to stiffen. 

“Eat your breakfast soldier, then report to the CO,” Serta smiled mischievously.

Again the sergeant seemed to brace uncomfortably. 

She turned to the sergeant.  “I like to see the young lieutenants squirm,” she muttered quietly.  Then she seemed to enjoy the affect that she was having on the sergeant.  “Don’t worry Sergeant; as long as you don’t ask me any questions, you’re perfectly safe.”

It didn’t seem to give the man any comfort.  On the contrary, it seemed to make him all the more wary.  The sergeant gulped up what he had left on his plate and immediately excused himself.  He slipped away, taking several others with him.  Serta had played her part well. 

Jethro was glad that he had played his part the way he had.  Of course, the two had played many parts over the several months of working together.  They had played these parts in similar conditions.  Their ruse had always worked.

Jethro knew that the sergeant would not reveal the exchange.  His silence would be for his own protection.  No one wanted to be accused of probing into a covert operation.  Probing into covert operations often brought cacophonous reactions from high-ranking officers.  Some times it brought mortal danger to anyone, who might have participated in the probing.

Jethro moved to the table next to Serta.  He ate in a rush, in case some of the people might still be watching them.  As soon as he was finished, he rose to go.

“Stay put Lieutenant, I’ve reconsidered.  If you report, then they will probably stick me with someone truly annoying.  Why don’t you come over and sit with me a moment?” She tempted him.  He tried to look as conflicted as possible.

Jethro looked around, but no one seemed the least bit interested in them.  Jethro slowly sat down. 

“We have arrangements to see to,” Jethro whispered.

Serta nodded.  Jethro allowed the others to finish eating, before he got to his feet, and the others followed loosely.  Though they moved in the same direction, they were spread out enough not to look like a group.

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