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Authors: Joseph Ray
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eyes.
“Well yeah, when she pulled her gun I would have,” she announced, trying to look over his shoulder. “Why the big deal? You were right, okay. You want a cookie or something?”
He sighed, turning to face the remainder of the hall, yet to be checked. The two walked in silence, checking each lab and meeting room as they passed. His mind drifted back to conflicts from the past. Technically, he’d never been in a war, but politicians were the ones who decided what was a war and what was a skirmish. He’d lost too many friends because they hesitated when they should have fired. He’d sent too many messages through the rings to family members, telling them their kid fucked up and wouldn’t be coming home. True, he’d only written a small handful of such letters himself, but he’d request his superior officers run the letters through him. Majors and Captains usually had too many soldiers under their command to know each of them personally. Bear liked to tack on something personal about the deceased, telling a wife that her husband always remained faithful, or telling a son that their mom was always talking about the time they did something embarrassing. He felt it was important to remind the families that they weren’t the only ones whom would miss the fallen.
“You’d been dead back there,” he muttered, opening the door to the last lab on the left.
“Bullshit,” she snapped, letting a closet door slide shut on its own. “I’d nailed her the second her arm flinched.”
“And you’d been too late,” he reminded her. “If that was a Cyber back there, then you would have been dead. Everything they do is a step quicker than our brains can muster. I had my mind made up to pull the trigger the second her arm flinched, and she still managed to get her gun halfway out of her pocket. If you were still debating when she went to pull, you’d been dead. I’d be writing your dad tonight, telling him how you always stuck to protocol because that’s how he raised you. I’d be telling him how proud I was to serve with you, how I’d wished you’d been under my direct command, and I’d been thanking him for raising you the way he did. Face it slim, if that was you back there, you’d be dead.”
Janys opened her mouth to speak, but her mind told her tongue to hold itself. Her face grew red, partly from the suggestion that she would have failed, and partially from the words, he would have written to her father back on Earth. Bear’s letters home were something of a legend. Everyone joked about what he would write about someone if he would tell their family what an idiot they were or some embarrassing story he knew of during their service. She wondered if this was the first time he’d told someone before it happened.
“You wished I was under your command?” she asked, looking to the last doorway on the right. “I thought I was a pain in your ass.”
“You ARE a pain in my ass,” he confirmed. “But my security detail would be better off with you than without you. Don’t go growing an ego about it, but it’s the truth. Just for the record, I tried to have you transferred, Major Xavier wouldn’t give ya up, so he thinks pretty highly of you too.”
This time, the red in her face was directly due to blushing. She watched the man take a deep breath, then punch the security bypass into the door. It beeped at him angrily, refusing to open for the Sargent. He tried once more, the door only offering the same beep in return.
“Let me try,” she offered, sliding in between him and the panel.
Her fingers worked quickly, bypassing the interface and accessing the programming for the security door. Bear stepped back, realizing that her backside was only an inch from his front. He didn’t need a reminder of how long it’d been since he was this close to an attractive woman. After what’d happened earlier, he needed full access to his senses. He found the opposite side of the door, noting a faint smile
“Well yeah, when she pulled her gun I would have,” she announced, trying to look over his shoulder. “Why the big deal? You were right, okay. You want a cookie or something?”
He sighed, turning to face the remainder of the hall, yet to be checked. The two walked in silence, checking each lab and meeting room as they passed. His mind drifted back to conflicts from the past. Technically, he’d never been in a war, but politicians were the ones who decided what was a war and what was a skirmish. He’d lost too many friends because they hesitated when they should have fired. He’d sent too many messages through the rings to family members, telling them their kid fucked up and wouldn’t be coming home. True, he’d only written a small handful of such letters himself, but he’d request his superior officers run the letters through him. Majors and Captains usually had too many soldiers under their command to know each of them personally. Bear liked to tack on something personal about the deceased, telling a wife that her husband always remained faithful, or telling a son that their mom was always talking about the time they did something embarrassing. He felt it was important to remind the families that they weren’t the only ones whom would miss the fallen.
“You’d been dead back there,” he muttered, opening the door to the last lab on the left.
“Bullshit,” she snapped, letting a closet door slide shut on its own. “I’d nailed her the second her arm flinched.”
“And you’d been too late,” he reminded her. “If that was a Cyber back there, then you would have been dead. Everything they do is a step quicker than our brains can muster. I had my mind made up to pull the trigger the second her arm flinched, and she still managed to get her gun halfway out of her pocket. If you were still debating when she went to pull, you’d been dead. I’d be writing your dad tonight, telling him how you always stuck to protocol because that’s how he raised you. I’d be telling him how proud I was to serve with you, how I’d wished you’d been under my direct command, and I’d been thanking him for raising you the way he did. Face it slim, if that was you back there, you’d be dead.”
Janys opened her mouth to speak, but her mind told her tongue to hold itself. Her face grew red, partly from the suggestion that she would have failed, and partially from the words, he would have written to her father back on Earth. Bear’s letters home were something of a legend. Everyone joked about what he would write about someone if he would tell their family what an idiot they were or some embarrassing story he knew of during their service. She wondered if this was the first time he’d told someone before it happened.
“You wished I was under your command?” she asked, looking to the last doorway on the right. “I thought I was a pain in your ass.”
“You ARE a pain in my ass,” he confirmed. “But my security detail would be better off with you than without you. Don’t go growing an ego about it, but it’s the truth. Just for the record, I tried to have you transferred, Major Xavier wouldn’t give ya up, so he thinks pretty highly of you too.”
This time, the red in her face was directly due to blushing. She watched the man take a deep breath, then punch the security bypass into the door. It beeped at him angrily, refusing to open for the Sargent. He tried once more, the door only offering the same beep in return.
“Let me try,” she offered, sliding in between him and the panel.
Her fingers worked quickly, bypassing the interface and accessing the programming for the security door. Bear stepped back, realizing that her backside was only an inch from his front. He didn’t need a reminder of how long it’d been since he was this close to an attractive woman. After what’d happened earlier, he needed full access to his senses. He found the opposite side of the door, noting a faint smile
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