Metal Deep: Infinite - Metal Wing: Episode 5 (2 page)
Read Metal Deep: Infinite - Metal Wing: Episode 5 Online
Authors: GX Knight
Departure day for the newly enlisted was typically a rather public affair involving train stations, crying family members, and soldier-processing that turned a man into just a number. A number to be berated by instructors, tortured with endless waiting, and prodded with painful medical procedures. All of that precedes the really fun process that breaks that man or woman down into the perfect Bathesdan fighting unit in the desert vacation spot we like to call “Bootcamp.”
That is not how my day went.
Star and I had been picked up just before lunch by General Wyld’s limousine. We were escorted to the top of the military spire where we dined in the officer’s lounge with some of the most decorated officers on Bathesda. I got a few nods of recognition, a couple of handshakes, and I was even asked to sign some autographs. Later, Star and I enjoyed a military-guided air tour of the city, before we finally landed at a small outpost just outside the local training complex located at the tip of the West Desert where Bootcamp was located.
The small outpost was well-furnished but without all the frills we enjoyed earlier at the Spire’s OC. Star and I were left alone to wait. We redeemed our dwindling time together to watch the sands of the West Desert blow plumes of sugardust by the window. The dancing sands held her distracted gaze. I was content to hold her hand and daydream about our future.
“You’ve been quiet today,” I said trying to stay in the here and now. “Are you going to be okay?”
She smiled. Her face warmed the cold military-steel décor of the room. “I will be. I’m just looking forward to the end of this. I’ll be so happy when we can finally move on with our lives.”
“I think about it every day,” I assured her. “I’d retire from a thousand Laser Ball teams if it meant getting to spend every second of the rest of my life with you.”
She tossed her wheat blond hair and gave me a happy smile. I stole a kiss from freshly glossed lips that shimmered in the pink rose lip color she wore. We held each other until the moment was broken by General Wyld’s arrival.
His angled face was cool and hard. He stared at me as I held his daughter. For the first time he had no objection about our PDA. He nodded toward a young sergeant who had stayed in step with the general up until he got “the nod,” whatever that was for. The man scrambled off into the unknown recesses of the installation so that only the three of us remained. We took our cue from the silent stare that it was time to say our goodbyes. Starshine pecked me on the cheek, and I returned the sentiment. We hugged, and then she mouthed, “Good Luck.” A posted guard outside the room opened the door and ushered her out to the landing pad where the VTOL was waiting to take her back home.
I stood at the door and watched her go. My eyes never left her. I wanted to remember that little blue dress and yellow sandal outfit for as long as I was away. She looked perfect, and I wanted that to be the picture of who would be waiting for me.
Once she was gone I returned my attention back to the general, “Recruit Rycard, reporting as ordered.” The door closed behind me, and finally I was alone with the personification of intimidation.
The general smiled, finally breaking the ominous countenance that towered over me. There were few people I had ever met who made me look short, but General Wyld was one of them. I was intimidated by him, but only because I had to have his permission to marry Star. He was unwilling to give it to a “civilian.” He was a Bathesdan soldier to the core, and only a soldier would he allow on his daughter’s arm. I, on the other hand, had been a Laser Ball loudmouth. The public loved me; the general did not. I wasn’t overly fond of him either. He was a little stiff for my taste. I didn’t entirely trust him either, but he had something I wanted. If there was anything I had learned over the past half-decade while in the arena, it was how to work out a plan, and then work the plan, no matter how long it seemed to take. I just hoped I could wear a military uniform without getting court-martialed for my mouth. I’ve never really been good at taking orders.
“Enjoying your first day as a soldier?” He asked.
“I’ve felt more like a tourist,” I replied. “I thought ‘sneaking me in the back’ meant I would have joined the other recruits by now?”
“Are you that eager to get in the mud with the grunts, son?”
“No sir, just eager to earn my place in your military, and in your family.”
General Wyld cracked another smile. If amusement happened to land on his face, it didn’t stay there long. He ushered me over to one of the two-seat tables at the far end of the desolate room. We sat down, and within a few seconds the sergeant returned with a fresh coffee tray and small stack of file folders marked
Classified
. The sergeant poured our coffee and offered the usual condiments. General Wyld asked, “Are you familiar with the term
Classified
?”
“It means you can kill me, if you tell me.” I answered dutifully.
“True. And while the killing you may come eventually. In this case, it’s unnecessary if I give you permission to know,” He corrected. “It’s a great way to keep people’s stones in a sling, if you catch my aim?”
I couldn’t tell if he was kidding about the killing, but I knew he was setting this up to control me forever, “I do, sir.”
The general continued, “As you have been a person of some interest to me for quite some time, for obvious reasons, I know all about you. I know things about you that you don’t even know. That being said, I can guarantee the personal time you have spent training for Laser Ball puts to shame anything that we can put you through out there in basic training. Further, your proven skill sets, combined with the need for situational expediency has arisen. A new weapons programs has afforded us both a unique opportunity. That is if you’re interested in leap frogging over five years of service? Otherwise I can show you the door, and you can be in a bunk spit-shining belt buckles and peeling spuds with your fingernails before the moon rises.”
I straightened up in my chair, and took a sip of coffee. “I’m listening,” I said, ready to hear more.
“I thought you might be. Based on your history, your
inevitable
relation to me, and other factors not necessary to mention here today, I’m prepared to read you into what could be our most highly kept secret initiative. You can skip most of Bootcamp, and I will grant you a field commissioned rank of captain.”
There was no way I heard that right. “I’m
definitely
interested,” I replied.
The general held up a hand of warning, “Make no mistake, Rycard. You will be put in harm’s way. You will be on the frontlines of an increasingly bloody conflict with unproven prototypes. Chances are good that you will not survive.”
So is that his game to keep me from marrying his daughter? There was only one way to beat him and that was to play the game. I took the classified files and opened them. “I understand, and I accept.”
General Wyld handed me a captain’s pin, and I began the first day of the rest of my new life as Captain Rycard.
It was my first leave since having joined the military. The weather had chilled some, the skies were a little greyer, and I made my first civilian java stop. It was also the first java stop where I had to pay for my own drinks. Nobody recognized me anymore. When I was a professional Laser Baller I never bought my own drinks. I guess “they” were right when they talk about the flighty-nature of fame. It wasn’t going to get me down though. Considering the dark-holed laboratories and classrooms I had been stuck in, the silent and gloomy greeting I received seemed almost bright and cheerful.
I was surprised when my Uncle Raven actually tore himself away from whatever laboratory he usually hid in to come see me. We sat down to a nice ice-chipped sweet java, and talked about all the small talk issues that could keep our conversation away from whatever secrets we both were trying to keep. I never knew what Uncle Raven did, except that he was a privately hired scientist who
never
talked about his work. As angry as his secrets used to make me, I was starting to relate all too well.
Because of his job, Uncle Raven had come to very few of my games. I understood. Star was always there to cheer for me anyway. In some ways it was easier not having family to hold me down. I was able to take long high-altitude training trips up in the mountains. I made treks across the smaller continents, sometimes with nothing but a backpack of barely-enough-basics, so I could learn how those in the less civilized world played, worked, traveled, and hunted. I had acquired many skills that made me the successful team captain I was, and I owed all of those opportunities to Uncle Raven’s more than generous funding. So, we may never have shared a dinner over the holidays, but each of us in our own way helped start a family legacy that would forever be attached to the Rycard name. Not bad for the only two Rycards on the planet.
After all the casual conversation topics had been covered, and our visit was about to end, he asked where I was going next. I told him I was about to sneak breakfast over to Starshine’s place and surprise her before our “scheduled” time to meet at dinnertime tonight. He nodded with approval, paid for the to-go javas and muffins I was going to buy, and wished me well. Everything was going as it normally had with us, but right before he got up to leave, Uncle Raven handed me a bright blue pocket-sized envelope. He said nothing about it, acted like he hadn’t given me anything, and before I could ask he stood and hurried out of the java shop.
There was a message on the front of it:
Open in case of extreme emergency only.
I stuck the envelope in my pocket, grabbed the java, and headed out to surprise Starshine without thinking too much about it. Knowing Uncle Raven it was probably emergency cash. He always made sure I was well provided for. I wasn’t going to need it anyway. I never encountered a situation I couldn’t control. Whatever was on the inside of that envelope was never going to see the light of day.
Star told me not to show up before dinner, and she was a stickler for her schedule, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to see my girl and tell all the fake stories about my training as a “Weather Predictions Officer.” I’m sure her father had done similarly many times over. I probably should have felt bad for practicing my lying, but I knew it was for her protection that she not be involved with my shady new world.
It took me almost no time to walk the seven blocks to get to her family’s loft down by the park. Of course, that was not their “official” home. The Wyld’s had a sprawling estate just north of the city. The ever-prepared general had several other places they called home. He, out of fear of having his family used against him by the enemy to gain military secrets, kept them all in random home rotations.
I learned, this wasn’t such a bad plan for someone who trafficked in sensitive information. Already in my short time at the little outpost one of the scientists had gone missing. Interestingly enough, he was known as the one with the biggest mouth, so his disappearance came as no shock. When I offered to look into the matter, I was told to just let it be. It thought he might have been captured. I didn’t like the idea of people out there getting hurt. Considering the lack of concern shown by General Wyld, chances were good this guy was silenced by our own powers-that-be. I made it a valuable lesson learned.
With one hand I held the tray of java, and with the other I straightened my civilian clothes before ringing the doorbell. I had gotten used to my black and grey uniform, and I felt almost naked outside of it. I waited impatiently, every second ticking like the final minute of a game clock. There was no answer, so I rang the bell again.
Finally, I heard the familiar shrill Star would get when she was stressed and out of breath, “Coming!” Then I heard her yell to someone else, “Hey, come help me get this over with.” I thought it was odd for her to have company. She was usually a loner. I couldn’t name more than two of her friends by name. One of the drawbacks of being a Wyld is that you weren’t allowed to randomly acquaint with most members of society.
The door locks clicked and silently the door pulled open. Starshine stood there dripping wet and wrapped a towel around the yellow bathing suit we bought together last summer. She looked up at me and gasped, which was quickly followed by another much manlier gasp from Snaps, my old teammate, who was shirtless and also drying off. I tried to lock my narrowing eyes with his, but he avoided my gaze. He looked like he didn’t know whether he should brace for impact or run away.
My brain processed the sight of my friend and my girlfriend standing half-naked and sopping wet the only way it could, so I threw the java and muffins down and charged through the door with a smash. I was going to save him the dilemma of having to choose between fight or flight. It was time to fight.