Chapter 674

The Grounds Just Outside Ship

Jeff turned to Sergeant Higgins, who had come roaring up in a Humvee, followed by numerous other Security personnel. “Sergeant, take command here. Secure that weapon,” he said, motioning to the pulse rifle lying a few feet from the body. “Everything is bound to be recorded because of all the Security cameras, and I imagine Ship has a recording also. I suggest that you delegate someone to go with the pilots so they can give their statements. She will provide space for your interviews, and you’re welcome to use the Retreat as well. Oh, hell, you probably know the drill better than I do. Anybody gives you shit, send them to me.”

“Yes, Colonel. Indeed, it was recorded. I happened to walk into the viewing room just as it went down and saw it myself. That’s the reason I was here so quickly.”

“Excellent.” Turning to the others, “Listen up,” Jeff bellowed out so everyone could hear. “Sergeant Higgins and his people will be interviewing everyone here. He’s in charge, and I expect full cooperation.”

Turning back to Sergeant Higgins, Jeff continued, “It goes without saying that I expect you to conduct this investigation just as you would any similar one. My wives will not expect any special privileges ... Ah, shit. Do the excellent job you always do, and if you need anything I can help with, call me.”

When the Sergeant was out of earshot, a grinning General turned to Jeff, “Colonel, take your women on down to the Retreat and try to get their minds off having just killed a comrade. We all know they had no other choice, but I suspect it will still bother them. I’m sure the Sergeant will send someone to take their statements, although from what I hear from the other pilots, there is no doubt that it’s self-defense.” Then a lot more quietly, “Tell them I said good shooting, and I never did like that asshole,” he finished with a grin.

“Thank you, Sir, but General, this lies at my feet. It’s my fault. I should have known he would do something stupid when I sent him back to his old job because of his insubordinate and pissy attitude.”

“Oh, bullshit,” Whitworth said with a frown. “In addition to all your other talents, you’re supposed to be clairvoyant now? Don’t be stupid, Colonel. Now take your women on home and get them settled down. Of course, we expect that there is a possibility of being shot at or even being killed while on a mission, but we don’t expect our comrades to try to kill us in our own backyard.

“Oh, and one more thing, Colonel. I’m going to be reviewing evaluation reports from Worthington’s former Commander. If there has been a pattern of disrespect toward authority in the past and particularly in his previous job, I will want to know why it wasn’t taken care of, and he was, instead, shipped off to you as ‘one of the best.’”

Arlene and Ann heard what the General said, and Arlene spoke up, “Sir, I failed to discipline him for minor infractions, and because of that, probably allowed this to build. Sir, if I...”

Whitworth hugged her, then Ann, before he turned back to the young warrior. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m going to, anyway. I just spoke briefly with several of the aviators in your Wing who would not be put off with my admonishment to wait and tell it to the Security personnel investigating the shooting. Their praise for both you and Ann was almost embarrassing in its intensity. As I reminded the Colonel, none of us is clairvoyant. Also, I find it hard to believe that Worthington hasn’t shown, at least, some disrespect for authority in the past. Anyone who can’t take orders should never be in my army or any other. We don’t operate with a ‘do as you please’ structure of command. He chose to kill his Commanders, and they objected — strenuously,” he finished with a grin.

After conversing with Arlene and Ann for a moment, they, with the rest of Jeff’s wives, went on to the Retreat. When they were out of earshot, the General motioned Jeff to come over to him. “I just watched the whole thing go down on the Sergeant’s phone. In addition, every member of the Wing witnessed what happened. Colonel, there is a preponderance of irrefutable evidence to substantiate your wives’ actions. The investigation will proceed, but the resulting findings will undoubtedly be that your wives both fired in self-defense. The Sergeant tells me that Adrienné and a couple other alien women also saw the whole thing. I don’t know how that will turn out.

“As you know, all the cameras, even the ones out here in the open, record sound as well. Worthington’s voice came through loud and clear when he told them to, and I quote, ‘Get ready to die, Bitches.’ As you know, we have to conduct an investigation, and do it as thoroughly as possible. That said, only a fool would think that those two young women did anything wrong.

“Nevertheless, I would be amazed if Arlene and probably Ann won’t be double thinking themselves by now. Could I have done something to avoid this? That sort of thing. You and I have been there more than once. Was my planning off? Why didn’t I expect that? On and on. But ... they’re young — very young. Do not let them get started on a ‘maybe I could have,’ sort of thing. They responded to the threat in the only way they could and survive.

“From what the Sergeant tells me, all the aviators — without exception — say that Arlene is an excellent supervisor. In addition, they all seem vehement that both Arlene and Ann did what they had to do to live. Have them take the day off. That goes for the rest of the Wing as well. Once they give their statements, they are on their own until tomorrow morning.

“Oh, before I forget. When I watched the recording, Adrienné and the other alien women were behind and to the side of Worthington. I suspect they got a good view when the rounds blew the back of his head open. From their reaction on the video, it scared the shit out of them. Come to think of it, they might never have heard a pistol fire before, let alone seen, first hand, what it can do to a person’s head. Consequently, you might want to sit down with them and discuss what happened and why. Your call. I just wanted to give you the information.

“Colonel, since your wives are involved, you, of course, will have nothing to do with the investigation — period. So, you need to take off as well. I don’t want some do-gooder to claim you intimidated involved personnel into falsifying their statements.”

When Jeff acknowledged, the General stood there thinking as his expression gradually changed.

“Sir?” Jeff asked as the General began to smile.

“Oh, a thought just crossed my mind. Early days, we were both concerned with Arlene in charge of the Wing with Ann as her assistant.” When Jeff started to say something, the General motioned for him to wait. “To state the obvious, everyone knew that Arlene was put in charge of the Wing because she could fly rings around anyone else other than you and Ann. With her in charge, the Wing excelled during the alien war, but now, things have changed. Time has happened, and I suspect that people have tended to forget just how good she was — they both were — and still are.” Whitworth didn’t bother hiding his chuckle as he went on. “Ironclad! You can bet your ass that no-fucking-body will dare give either of the two lasses any backtalk after this. And, you know that stories tend to grow over time. Yep, it will be a long while before anybody grows a set of balls big enough to backtalk either of them.” With that, the General walked away chuckling.

Filled with apprehension, Jeff turned toward the Retreat. With his unit, since they were already the best of the best before they even tried out for his team, he had not been faced with his teammate’s reaction to his/her first kill. A seasoned warrior didn’t lose their breakfast when they killed a man or being, as the case may be. They had already had their “cherry busted,” probably on a far distant world, long before they became part of an elite team. But ... they all had a first time, and thinking back, Jeff remembered his. He hadn’t embarrassed himself by puking, but he realized it had not happened only because he was too busy trying to stay alive to dwell on what the man looked like as Jeff’s bullets tore the mercenary’s body apart. By the time that mission was over, he had added more to the total that he refused to keep track of.

Both Arlene and Ann had killed — repeatedly — in the alien war. However, those kills were, for the most part, associated with destroying the Paladin the aliens were crewing. That isn’t to say that the two young women escaped having to see some of the gore they created with their fire. Sometimes, when their Paladin disintegrated around them, the alien bodies would be ejected, quite often in pieces. Because of the superb viewing system in Ship’s interceptors, this could be quite distinctive and realistic. Even with that, a shootout in your own backyard was ... different.

Before going inside, Jeff sat on the back steps of the Retreat, took out his own phone and patched into Security. After choosing the outside camera system, he picked a camera facing in the proper direction but at least a hundred yards away from the outside designated meeting area for the aviators. After checking his watch, he estimated the time of the gunfight and began the video from five minutes prior.

There had not been any unusual activity that he could detect. The aviators eventually came out, first one, then shortly, another, and then a flood of them all wearing fatigues and their weapon rigs. They had loosely grouped in the area, obviously talking and laughing, but the system was too far away for any clear recording of their conversations. As their meeting time neared, they gathered in the meeting area to await their Commander.

Upon Arlene and Ann’s arrival, the aviators turned to greet them just as Worthington called out his challenge.

Jeff ran the shooting section over and over as he unconsciously critiqued his wives’ response to Worthington’s screamed-out warning/challenge. Although the camera was well away, the challenge was loud enough to be picked up by the mic. Amazed, in spite of himself, he watched the two spin and fire, each weapon coming out of its holster in perfect synchronization with the other wife’s weapon.

After choosing another camera, this one much closer, he again spent time critiquing his wives’ responses. They spun while drawing their weapons and fired, then waited, their weapons ready, until Worthington’s body hit the ground with his weapon several feet away. Even then, their attention was not totally focused on Worthington, but both had scanned their surroundings for further danger. Apparently satisfied that the threat had been nullified, they had holstered, again almost as if they were automatons, and the scene which had frozen for a few seconds seemed to erupt around them. One of the interceptor pilots said something, and they immediately formed a circle around their Commanders, all with weapons drawn, but pointed toward the ground a few feet in front of them — the Ready Gun position, he noted. Training drove them, not hysteria, no overly reactive response, just the proper thing to do at the time to protect their Commanders. He was aware that not all of this was the result of his wives training the people under them. This, in large part, was due to the accumulated training they had received throughout their time in the General’s army.

We have some good people, he thought with pride.

For the next ten minutes, the Colonel had checked other cameras to see what had been going on when the shooting went down. After a time, he became satisfied that this was not a diversion for something else, perhaps, more sinister to be happening.

He had delayed going into the Retreat, not only to view what had happened but to allow time for his wives’ emotions to settle a bit. No matter how tough they were, they were home now, and when he pulled them into his arms, they didn’t have to be those seasoned aviators anymore.