Joe Steel did not sleep well. Now, he sat on the side of his bed staring at the floor in the dark. He had several thoughts running through his head, but they all led to the same place: he couldn’t stay like this.
A knock came at the door, and Joe stood up and opened it.
“Sir,” said Joe when he saw Major Montes on the other side.
“How are you doing?” asked Montes.
“Good, sir. I’m glad to be back.”
“And what a way, too,” said Montes with a chuckle. “May I come in?”
“Sir,” said Joe as he stepped aside to let the major in.
“Lieutenant Alverda messaged me this morning,” said Montes once the door closed behind him. “He said the prisoner is cooperating with the interrogation team.”
“Anything useful?” asked Joe.
“He didn’t say, and even then, you know the interrogations can take some time to ensure it’s the truth. I’m just glad you’re all okay. When we lost you in the retreat, I feared the worst.” Montes chuckled. “I should’ve known better.”
Joe smiled. “When I saw Mulloy with the Scincians, I knew you all would make it back, too.”
“I had you all listed missing as soon as we got back to base, but the Birnsteins pushed us quickly out of the area. Lieutenant Alverda said it would be days before we got to search for survivors. More Birnsteins moved into the area, and the jammer was still up.”
Joe nodded but didn’t say anything.
Montes looked at Joe critically for a second before he said, “You seem distracted, corporal. Did anything else happen out there?”
“No, sir,” said Joe with a smile. “I’m just glad we came back with the Birnstein.”
“That was a great surprise,” laughed Montes. “Lieutenant Alverda wanted to chat with us this morning when you’re ready.”
“Of course, sir. Let me get dressed,” said Joe.
Montes and Joe navigated the corridors of the Human base to get to Lieutenant Alverda’s office. They passed several other soldiers looking determined as they made their way to morning drills. Two different groups of pilots also moved to and from the landing pad as the refreshed pilots headed out for patrols while the exhausted ones returned to their quarters after flying all night.
An ensign waited outside of Alverda’s office when Joe and Montes arrived. The ensign was busy flipping through a report on his personal device, but he looked up when Montes stopped in front of him.
“Morning, ensign,” said Montes. “Major Montes and Corporal Steel to see the lieutenant.”
“He’s expecting you,” said the ensign. He then nodded at the door and said, “Go on in, sirs.”
“Thank you.”
The lieutenant’s office was small and simple. A large monitor on the left-side wall showed troop placement in the area. A desk sat near a window on the far wall with no chair behind it. Lieutenant Alverda stood behind the desk looking at the monitor while holding his personal device in his right hand. Alverda looked over when the door opened and placed his device down on the desk.
“Excellent, major. Come in,” said Alverda as he smiled and looked at Joe. “And you, too, corporal. Great job out there!”
“Thank you, sir,” said Joe as he stood at ease.
“These birds have been fighting recklessly out there. I wasn’t expecting we’d take any of them alive.”
“I’m glad I could help, sir.”
“And it has,” said Alverda. “The bird is singing beautifully. I just want to hear from you how it all happened.”
“Exactly as I said in my report, sir,” said Joe. “After the retreat order was given, the Scincian soldiers found us fleeing through the woods. The next morning, I decided we should start back, so we could get back here as soon as possible. As the Scincians guided us to one of their settlements, we ran into the Birnsteins.”
“And you know what they were doing?” asked Alverda.
“Not at first, sir, but I soon realized they were working with the substance that destroyed Pturllel.”
“Yes, your homeworld according to your file. Why weren’t you able to bring the substance back with you?”
“Two reasons, sir,” said Joe. “We had to get out of the area after learning the birds were near, and it’s a dangerous substance in a bulky container. That wouldn’t have been easy to transport. The prisoner said he was a lab assistant that worked with the substance, though, so he should be able to tell you everything about it.”
“He is telling us plenty, yes. I thought about sending a squad to find the device, but we know more birds have been in that area. They’ve likely reclaimed it already.”
“Isn’t it odd they were running this experiment in a warzone?” asked Montes.
“I’m told the birds thought all Humans were out of the area,” said Alverda as he picked up his personal device to review something on it. “Funny considering their jammer was still active during that time.”
“But if something went wrong, they could blame us for it,” said Joe.
“Good point,” acknowledged Alverda. “We’ve gained more knowledge of the Birnstein players here, so I believe something like that is a likely scenario.” Alverda lowered his device and looked at Joe with a quizzical expression. “Is there anything else you learned from the prisoner in your time with him, corporal?” he asked.
Joe shook his head as he said, “No, sir. I put everything I know in my report. The others should’ve, too.”
“Well, thank you again, corporal. You’ve contributed a lot to our campaign here. Major Montes, you and your squad will soon be transferred to my command. We have something in the works here as the Birnsteins dig in further. I’m having everyone on this base take part in it.”
“Yes, sir,” said Montes. “We’ll be ready.”
“The situation is fluid and has already changed once today, so be ready for anything,” continued Alverda. “Dismissed.”
***
“Good morning, team,” said Montes as he walked into the room.
Joe and the rest of the squad had been sitting and chatting quietly, but they stood up and snapped to attention with a loud “Sir!” when the major walked in.
“At ease,” said Montes when he stopped in front of everyone.
The squad relaxed, and Joe looked curiously at the two soldiers who’d entered with Montes. These two stood at ease to Montes’ right and looked between the members of the squad briefly before they turned their attention to Montes when he spoke.
“I have a few things to go over with everyone this morning,” said the major. “As you know, we’ve been transferred under Lieutenant Alverda’s command. Our orders for the time being are to remain ready, which I say is a good thing after the casualties from the initial battle.”
Montes became quiet, and the squad shuffled in the silence as they fought to keep their emotions in check after being reminded of Temitope’s and Abbot’s deaths.
“That leaves our squad short,” continued Montes a moment later, “and we aren’t the only ones who suffered losses. Because of that, we’ve had two soldiers reassigned to our squad. I want to introduce everyone to Ensigns Chayka and Pandev.”
Montes motioned to the female soldier and then the male one. Each nodded when Montes said their name, and Joe nodded back. The two looked intense, and Joe just knew they shared related horrors from the last battle.
“Chayka will be Newgate-three-four, and Pandev will be Newgate-three-eight,” said Montes. “I’ll keep our teams the same for now with Chayka and Pandev with me. Any questions about the designations? Good. Then I leave each of you to your own devices for the day, but we will run drills tomorrow to get to know each other better. I’ll send the details to each of you later this afternoon. Be prepared come morning. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!” said Joe and the others.
“Good! I want us ready to go when we get our orders. We’ll make the birds pay.”