I Am Automaton: A Military Science Fiction Novel (6 page)

They heard the sound of Carl bouncing a basketball in the backyard. His father put a sympathetic arm around his wife. “Well, I don’t think Peter wanted to come home to this. Let’s give him a chance to
settle in. He must be hungry.”

“Yeah,
Mom. I’ve been dreaming about your meatloaf since the last time I came home. You wouldn’t have any of it handy, would you?”

His mother wiped her eyes, sniffled, and nodded, smiling uncontrollably at her son’s flattery. “Yes, Peter. As a matter of fact
, I do. I’ll warm some up for you.”

Peter smiled at his mother. “Sounds good,
Mom.”

He shouldered his duffle bag and walked out of the kitchen, ascending the steps to his room. As he unpacked his bag on his old bed, he heard his parents continuing the discussion in hushed whispers as Carl dribbled the ball furiously on the patio out back.

Peter looked out his old bedroom window as Carl took a shot that hit the rim and ricocheted away from him. Had things gotten so bad that even his egghead brother was now considering the army? He was the one who was to become some kind of a doctor or engineer and make his parents proud.

However,
part of Peter was relieved that he was no longer the black sheep who disappointed his parents. Now he was in good company, but that did not stop him from worrying about his little brother.

When he finished
packing, he went down stairs and wolfed down his mother’s leftover meatloaf. She stood there clutching a cup of coffee and watching him eat with maternal satisfaction.

It was a small satisfaction, but some of the only satisfaction she got these days. She tried her best to be content at home, but she missed the days of working in the office. A casualty of the recession, she became a shell of her former self, smiling through her domestication and feeling helplessly inadequate.

Peter’s father was sitting with him at the kitchen table. “Peter, this accident you had…”

“Nothing that would happen again, Dad. A freak accident. The
Major called it a ‘low probability event.’” He hated lying to his father. “I’m okay, really. So how’ve you guys been?” Change of topic.

“Good, I guess.
The hardware store’s doing okay. Business has been a bit slow, but it’s a living. It’s good to see you again.”

His mother jumped in. “It’s always good to see you, Peter.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

All things being equal, Peter felt good. He was home, he was stuffed to the gills, and he was ready to hit the town. “I’m going to grab Carl. I’ve been itching for a night out on the town.”

He remembered his last night on the town with Apone and his squad.

His father put his hand on his shoulder. “Can I offer you gents a lift? Frisky’s I presume?”

“Yeah, Dad. Thanks. We’ll walk back.” Peter got up and hugged his mom.

“Be careful, Peter. Look after your brother.”

“Will do, Mom.”

He and his father went into the backyard to fetch Carl.

***

Peter and Carl got out of their father’s car and waved as their father drove off. Ah, Frisky’s. It was a local dive—small, smoky, a total dump—but it was theirs. Every single local knew Frisky’s, only some would ever admit to frequenting
it, but the beer specials were unmatched.

Carl gestured for Peter to lead the way
. Peter opened the front door and held it for his little brother, and they walked in.

Inside
, it was packed, a typical Friday night. There were men and women, mostly in their twenties, and a few middle-aged husbands who snuck out of the house for the night to have some suds with the guys or just find temporary respite.

The MP3 shuffler was belting out a Wave Punk tune, what people in the 1980’s would have considered a blend of new wave and punk music. It was old wine in new wine skins, but it was the popular genre of the moment.

Peter led his brother to the bar where he ordered two domestic beers. Forty dollars. Couldn’t beat it. Townie bars had their merits. The boys sat there and canvassed the bar enthusiastically with their eyes. There were pretty girls everywhere, townies mostly, but that’s all there ever was around there.

Peter appreciated that one thing
about the army. It got him the hell out of Texas. He mused that nine point five out of every ten patrons in the bar probably never left the state.

Carl was watching his big brother. He knew something was weighing heavily on him. “Pete, everything alright with you? You look like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders…”

No, just the weight of ten men and their families.

“…I’m sorry you walked in on that conversation.”

“It wasn’t that, Carl.”

However,
Peter saw the look of relief on Carl’s face and didn’t want it to look like he was condoning Carl’s decision. “But I agree with Mom and Dad. You can do better than the army.”

“Pete, you’ve been in the army so long, you haven’t been keeping up with what’s going on in the private sector.”

“What private sector?”

“Exactly.”

“But, Carl, men die in the army. Good men like you.”

“So what do I do, hide away in safety in our parents’ basement? Pete, I’ve never been anywhere. You’ve been places, seen things.”

“You have no idea, Carl. I’ve seen many things. I’ve seen dead bodies. Not just of the enemy, but children…
children
, Carl. Comrades, friends, fellow Americans…good people.”

Carl was now starting to feel genuinely concerned. He knew his brother, and he knew there was definitely something wrong. “Pete, what happened to you?”

“The same thing that will happen to you if you enlist, Carl. You’ll lose people. You’ll make friends, get close to men in your unit, and then you’ll lose them. If you’re lucky, you’re the one who will eat it, and then others can worry about feeling bad for your death.”

Carl looked confused. “I thought you were spending the past year in training exercises.”

Crap. Peter underestimated how sharp his brother was. He needed a topic change. “How about you, little bro? How are things in the ladies department?”

Carl looked away defensively, pulling his drink closer to him. He pretended that he was scanning the room. Peter knew this was a sore topic for Carl, but it did the trick. It took the focus
off him.

“Well, not many women want to date unemployed, broke students living with their parents.”

“Carl, it doesn’t mean that you can’t have any fun.”

“So what am I supposed to do, lie to them?”

Peter smiled. “No, just don’t tell them the truth.”

He saw Carl eyeing a beautiful brunette by the MP3 shuffler. Some local hick was making a royal mess out of hitting on her.

He leaned over and talked in Carl’s ear. “She’s way out of your league, bro.”

Carl laughed and brushed his shoulder off. “You were the one who played in leagues, Pete. I’m going to dazzle her with my intellect.”

Peter slapped him on the back. “Go for it, tiger. I’ll be there to catch her on the rebound.”

Carl took one last slug, draining his pint, and slammed it heartily on the bar. “You assume I’m going to fail. You assume too much.”

“Go get her, Romeo.”

Carl started to walk away when Peter grabbed him by the sleeve and reeled him in.

“What now, Pete?”

“Wait a minute, hot shot. What’s your approach?”

“I’m just going to go over there and introduce myself.”

“That’s it? You’re just going to…say hi?”

“Yeah, introduce myself. You know, like civilized humans do.”

Peter looked over at the target. Long legs, ample rack, curves in all the right places. “I don’t think she’s so civilized, Carl. She’s some kind of predator.”

“Classy, bro. Real classy.”

“Hey, I just call it as I see it.”

“Let me do my thing.”

Peter let his brother go and watched in amusement as he sauntered over to the brunette by the MP3 shuffler. They had only just arrived, and already Carl was trying to show up his big brother. It had always been that way, even though Peter thought his parents favored Carl.

Peter was always bigger, more athletic, and better looking. Carl wasn’t bad looking, but he was more ordinary. However, when it came to intelligence, Peter admitted that Carl out-classed him.

Peter was not quite sure what Carl said to the girl, but her body language already indicated that she was not interested. She was trying desperately to look around the bar for a friend to bail her out, but she wasn’t so lucky. Carl was floundering.

Peter finished his beer and placed his glass on the bar. Big brother to the rescue. He crossed the bar over to where Carl and the brunette were standing. Peter addressed the girl, ignoring Carl entirely. “Hi. Is this guy bugging you?”

The brunette looked at him to gauge if he was serious. So did Carl. She nodded tentatively.

He grabbed Carl by his shirt. “Get lost, dude.” And he shoved him several feet away. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly Carl he was rescuing. “Hi, my name’s Peter.”

The brunette smiled, obviously impressed by his brawn and assertiveness. It was pure animal magnetism. “Hi, I’m Amanda.”

Carl, his pride wounded from being upstaged by his big brother yet again, went back to the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey and a beer chaser. He looked on helplessly as his brother charmed the pants off the knockout brunette. He figured that girls like that just responded to sophomoric bravado, something he decided was not in his constitution.

He turned to face the bar and wallow in his self-pity when he saw her. She was an attractive
blonde. Pretty, athletic, and she had an air of self-confidence. She was looking across the bar. Perhaps she was waiting for someone. Nevertheless, at the moment, she was alone.

Carl pulled himself together, took one last swig of his beer, and he summoned the courage to dismount his bar stool. He crossed the bar, apparently acting before his mind could catch up. He was frantically searching for the perfect introduction, but he was in front of her before he could come up with anything.

He stood there awkwardly in front of her, and it wasn’t long before her gaze shifted from across the bar to him. He didn’t know what to say. He held out his hand. “Hi…I’m Carl.”

Not facile at reading the opposite sex, Carl was not sure how to interpret her reaction. It was somewhere between confusion and
displeasure, but the look quickly faded, and she smiled politely. “Hi, Carl.”

“Do you mind if I join you?”

She began to fidget. “Well, actually I am supposed to meet someone…”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to meet my brother,” he pointed to Pete making time with the brunette, “but he’s obviously busy at the moment.”

“Oh, I see…” she looked over at Peter and then at Carl. She appeared to have an inexplicable sudden change of heart. “What’re you drinking, Carl?”

“At this point, whiskey.”

“Rough day?”

“You have no idea.”

The girl summoned the bartender. “Two whisky shots, black label.”

Carl was impressed. This girl knew how to order drinks.

“So, Carl, what was so rough about your day?”

“Well…I decided that I was going to enlist…in the army.” Dammit, he forgot…he wasn’t supposed to tell the truth.

“Oh, the army. Impressive.”

Wow. He wasn’t expecting that. She looked actually impressed.

“Yeah, well, my parents weren’t too happy about it.”

“No, I suppose they wouldn’t be.”

“Even my brother, who’s actually a sergeant in the army.”

“Really? Well, that seems hypocritical of him, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Yes it does.”

He couldn’t believe it. He was actually having a real conversation with a beautiful
woman, and she was so easy to talk to. The night was looking up.

“So why the army, Carl? You don’t seem like the army type.”

Now he was embarrassed. Apparently sensing his insult, the girl clarified her remark. “I mean, you seem like someone who’d do well in the private sector.”

“Yeah, that’s what my brother seems to think. But the economy is so bad, I can’t afford any more tuition, and there are no jobs.”

“So the army seems like your best option at the moment.”

“Well, I want to do something with myself. I don’t just want to sit around and do nothing. I am my own man. I want to see the world.”

“Well, Carl, you know the army isn’t a vacation.”

“I know
that, but maybe I want to do some good, and perhaps I’ll learn some skills on the job.”

“What were you studying in school, Carl?”

“Engineering. I figured that there’s plenty of on-the-job training, and the army can pay the rest of my tuition.”

“Well,
there are other skills you can learn too, besides engineering.”