Chapter 66

Morning saw stretching and limbering followed by lots of exercises, breakfast, then a call to Dr. Weir's office. When he arrived he saw one of the Marine teams there as well as Colonel Sheppard; the Colonel asked, "Feel up to a reconnaissance mission, Sergeant?"

Felix perked up immediately at hearing such a question and he replied with a question of his own automatically, "Are the Kennedy's gun shy?" and upon seeing the weird looks he quickly added, "I can be ready in five minutes, boss." He hesitated and asked further, "Over-watch or recce?"

Sheppard replied, "Area recce – grab your gear."

In just under five minutes he was back with all his gear, then Sheppard started the briefing. "Okay folks, today you will be travelling via Jumper Airways to M5R-411, where you will be conducting separate area reconnoitres by day," as he nodded at the Marines, "and overnight," nodding at Felix.

That was when Felix asked, "You want me to do this alone or with a partner, boss?"

Sheppard replied, "I'll leave that up to you – they're still a bit shaken up to me." Then he explained that both recces were going to link up with allies of theirs and help check certain areas, and as soon as Felix heard 'area' he made up his mind to take Meach with him. When Sheppard was done his briefing, Felix called Meach and told her to gear up for three days and nights, and to meet him at the Jumper Bays soonest.

Just as Sheppard was about to interrupt him, Felix told him, "I need a partner on this one, boss – it's better odds this way."

Sheppard nodded and replied, "Sure – I just figured you'd work alone again – that's all."

Felix was finishing donning his ghillie suit then started applying the facial camouflage while he told the Colonel, "I've got to get my Marines trained up to standard and I see this as a good opportunity for them to learn, so I figure why not."

Once the camouflage was done Felix rechecked the map, scanner, comms, link-up points, LZ's, alternates for most everything, then finally it was off to the Jumper Bays to RV with Meach and brief her. He met her at the back of Jumper One, where the ramp was already lowered, checked her camouflage while she did the same with him, and then had her sit next to him in the rear while he explained the mission.

Meach gave him a small frown and asked, "So why us? Can't these people patrol their own area?"

Felix answered casually, "We can operate at night, and these allies – Rokatans I believe they are – don't have much night fighting capabilities, and they have been taking losses. So we go where the boss man sends us."

They spent the next few minutes trading map info, then sat back as the other Marines and the Jumper pilot entered the craft.

There was a quick confirmation as to who was departing when and where, then Felix settled back in the seat and closed his eyes.

After going through the Gate it was then about a ten minute flight to their LZ: about 2 minutes out the pilot called Felix up front. The sensors had lit up to show what looked like 2 large groups fighting right at the LZ; Felix suggested cloaking and pointed out a safer LZ and asked for the pilot to do a touch and go for the drop-off.

Felix went back and told Meach, "Hot LZ – I changed the LZ, so ... be ready for a bit of fun," then had one of the Marines standby the hatch release. Felix and Meach loaded their rifles, screwed on their sleeve silencers – this was the first time for this group of Marines seeing the crazy guy they had heard about as he was readied for the mission.

Felix slung his Bergen on his back, Sasha across his shoulders, and then nodded at the Marine to lower the ramp. As soon as they touched the ground he was gone like a dart leaving a startled Meach on his heels trying to keep up with her crazy boss before he left her behind. She caught up just as he was placing his Bergen into low scrub – she did the same, and then followed him as he low crawled up the backside of the knoll.

She was still amazed at how fluid his movements were and how easily he blended into the surrounding terrain; her mind wandered back to her tour in Iraq with the S/SGT that had been her squad leader, and how he had treated her with utter disdain. Then she caught her laugh before it erupted from her mouth when she realized that she had learned more about field-craft and first-aid in the short time under the Crazy Canuck as she had begun to understand him.

The next thing she knew he was motioning for her to move up next to him; he already had the bi-pod out in low profile, netting over his gun, sight caps off and the butt of his rifle into the meaty portion of his shoulder. He said her in a low voice, "Tell me your read of this situation, Stacy."

She slowly eased her rifle into the shoulder and scoped the area below them; what they saw was a running battle being fought, and it took almost a minute before they positively identified that the troops being pursued were the allies they were supposed to link up with.

Felix glanced at Meach and softly told her, "Make sure we don't get surprised or compromised – I'm going to even the odds a bit." He checked the range dial, adjusted it, then placed his cheek along the butt and brought the sight picture into focus.

The leaders were picked out and he decided to start with them; windage was minimal, body alignment – good, sight picture perfect, breathing relaxed and in the groove, aim – on the front leader. A slight adjustment then a squeeze of the trigger followed by the short recoil into the shoulder, and emphasized by the 'thut' as the 300-grain match grade bullet left the barrel.

A quick realignment and #2 was down as he flew backwards; Meach could hear Felix muttering, "Not today – not on my watch."

Down in the battle area the Rokatans noticed a sudden shift from the enemy – there seemed to be confusion starting among their foes, and they could see the occasional soldier being violently thrown backwards or off to the side by some unknown force.

Every time it happened they heard a faint buzzing sound followed by a distinct splat as another of the enemy died. Finally the enemy broke off their attack on the Rokatans and left them in their wooded area they had been defending at the edge – the Rokatans were finally able to start tending to their wounded.

Felix and Meach pulled back from the knoll, shouldered their rucksacks, and then made their way carefully but quickly through the scrub into the distant tree line to where the Rokatans were down the way. The pair approached cautiously, weapons at the ready just in case these weren't the people they were supposed to link up with.

He brought them within 15 metres before a branch snapped under Meach's foot and gave their position away. A number of the Rokatans turned towards the sound with their weapons trained at Felix, who was standing with his rifle aimed right at them.

Even though the big gun was intimidating to see from the business end, a female voice called out, "Identify yourself!"

Felix lowered his rifle slowly and replied, "We're from Atlantis – I'm looking for Captain Sengale."

The female voice called back, "Stay where you are and don't move suddenly – it could be bad for your health." There was a pause as subdued talking occurred then another voice said, "How do we know you speak the truth?"

Felix replied, "I have a certain medallion around my neck that I am to show Captain Sengale – that is supposed to verify allies."

Three very tall soldiers approached Felix cautiously, weapons trained on him the whole time; as they closed in Felix noticed all three women – really tall women. The one woman reached into the neck of his ghillie suit where a string held the medallion and slowly pulled it out – she let it drop when she recognized it. She straightened up and said, "You wouldn't have this unless you were allies. I'm Captain Laura Sengale, 4th Rokatan Rifles," as she held out her hand.

Felix took her hand with no hesitation, shaking it firmly as he replied, "Sergeant Grey, and behind me is L/Corporal Meach," as he waved Stacy up towards his position.

The tall officer motioned for all weapons to be lowered and then she added, "I have heard of you from other allies of ours – they call you the Bush Man, and it was spoken well of you."

Felix shrugged the compliment aside as he asked, "I saw you were in a battle a short time ago – we can offer medical assistance if you'd like."

She was pleasantly surprised by the offer then she replied, "Yes – please. By all means any help is appreciated."

Felix looked over his shoulder as he said, "Okay Meach – let's get to work," and walked to the area where the wounded were laying and sitting, removed Sasha and set her on the bipod. Next he removed his Bergen and ignored the strange looks of the Rokatans as he removed his medical pouch and set about triaging the wounded.

Just as Felix started an IV on an injured woman, a group of about 12 Rokatans came up, apparently having missed the battle by the sounds of the conversation. One woman went up to the Captain, whispered in her ear while pointing at the area where the enemy had been nailed in the crossfire.

Captain Sengale came up to Felix and asked firmly, "My Sergeant-Major tells me there are enemy who were not hit by our weapons – did you have anything to do about that?"

Felix gave a quick glance at her while he continued to work on the wounded woman and answered, "I lent a bit of assistance if that's all right."

The Captain looked at her fellow Rokatans and rebutted, "Quite all right," she paused and then added, "I should like to look at your weapon later – maybe we can trade something."

That brought his head up as he gave her a very pointed look as he replied firmly, "Look yes, trade – no, ma'am," and went back to fixing up the wounded woman. Once he was finished he moved along to the next wounded soldier – a man this time and got him patched up in quick order.

Suddenly one of the Rokatan medics cried out, "Somebody help me – I'm losing her!"

Felix was two people away so he grabbed his medical pouch and went over to lend an immediate hand. The wounded woman started choking so he quickly rolled her into the recovery position; he got her mouth open and did a quick finger sweep – found the obstruction and removed it immediately. He knew it wasn't the correct way that hospitals or paramedics would have done it, but these weren't normal times.

All the while he had been working he had seen Meach working diligently and very professionally on her patients – he was quite happy with her progress since coming to Atlantis.

With the assistance of the Rokatan medic Felix managed to stabilize the woman and she was breathing normally on her own. As he was about to get up, the injured woman grabbed his arm in an iron grip and pulled his face down to hers as she managed to say, "Thank you," and let go of his arm.

He looked at her with a comforting smile as he clasped her hand and told her, "You're welcome."

The injured woman closed her eyes as she laid back; Felix told the medic, "If you need a hand again – just call either Meach or me and we can help." With a reassuring nod and a friendly pat on the shoulder, he did a quick check of the remaining casualties and saw that everything was under control.

The senior medic went to Captain Sengale and told her, "We should move out while we still can, ma'am – our casualties are stable and we have the advantage for now," as she glanced in the direction of Felix.

The tall Captain nodded her agreement and replied, "Call up the transports then," and left the woman to carry out the necessary orders. As Felix went to his Bergen and packed away his medical pouch, Captain Sengale followed him with her personal guards and asked, "Sergeant Grey – a word if you don't mind?"

He stood up and faced the much taller officer and waited for her to continue; a moment later she said, "You are obviously not familiar with our ways so I will tell you this. Normally a man of our society does not lay hands on a woman without her consent, but obviously you were not informed of this before coming to our world."

Felix didn't like where this was headed and made a point of biting his tongue while the Captain then told him in no uncertain words that men were classed as second-rate, and there was nothing he could do about it.

By now L/Corporal Meach had joined the group and was also getting upset because she didn't like the way her boss was being treated; she could also tell that he was royally pissed. She interrupted to defuse the situation, "Permission to speak freely, ma'am," which was put as more of a request than a question.

The tall officer looked down at Meach and finally replied, "Granted."

That was the cue for Stacy Meach to explain politely but adamantly the differences between their two societies as she saw them.

While that was happening Felix had finished packing his Bergen, shouldered it and picked up Sasha to be placed over his shoulders, then stood off to one side and deliberately blended into the afternoon shadows. He tuned out the conversation but was very proud of the way Meach stuck to her firm opinions and societal differences. He had become so tuned out that he started having a flashback, and it wasn't until Meach shook his shoulder and said firmly, "Sergeant – I've got things all sorted out for us. Sergeant?"

Felix snapped out from his brief bad flashback to see the concerned face of Meach peering at him. He shook his head vigorously to clear the cobwebs and asked, "We heading out?"

Stacy waggled her head and answered, "Yeah, but we're staying with the Rokatans – I managed to get them to see our ways a bit. But you should try to be on your best behaviour tonight – I think we have a good chance of changing their minds about us."

Felix looked over at the tall Rokatans then back at Meach with a raised eyebrow as he asked, "And you feel I'm a good candidate for changing their minds? Some of my insanity must be rubbing off to you Meach. All right – we'll stay, but the first wrong thing and we are gonzo – clear?" With that he adjusted his Bergen and rifle then said, "Lead on," and waited for further direction.

They were directed to the rear vehicle, which looked like a bigger M113 APC but had angled sides just like the SADF Rhinos.

Felix climbed in last and sat at the rear as the ramp closed up and locked; he closed his eyes and relaxed for the trip. He was oblivious to the wide-eyed looks from the women – to them he was old, a seasoned veteran, and an old hand – even if he was a stranger to them.

The vehicle moved out and even Meach could tell that the troops in the back were a bit scared of the moving vehicle – the few view ports may have been why they seemed bothered. She asked the female next to her, "How long have you had these transports?"

The soldier replied, "About ten moons or so – why?"

Meach answered with a grin, "Because me and the old goat across from you could help you folks get used to these vehicles – that's why."

She watched as a smirk slowly came across Felix's face and one eye opened slowly to look at her as he replied, "Old goat, huh? We'll see about that," and the eye closed but the smirk stayed.

About ten minutes later the vehicle came to an abrupt halt, jostling the passengers and eliciting a loud curse from up front, then the ramp was lowered. Felix opened his eyes, exited the APC and then stood off to the side waiting to see what was next.

He looked around and saw they were inside a huge walled compound that appeared to be part of a very large city. When Meach joined him he glanced at her and said, "You do realize this isn't exactly what we were tasked to do by the Boss man – right?"

She nodded and then the tall blonde who had arrived with the second group that afternoon spoke to them, "Captain Sengale's compliments – you two will accompany me to see the Commander of the 4th along with the Captain."

Felix was getting a little irked with all this hoopla but was willing to play along a short while; he really didn't like being 'in the rear with the gear' as he thought of bases. So they followed the soldier inside a building best described as a modern day castle, through hallways, up two levels of stairs, then pointed to a bench outside a set of huge ornate doors.

There were two tall well-muscled Rokatan females guarding the door, one of who gave Felix a sardonic snort with a dismissive shake of her head.

Meach picked up the brief exchange and noticed Felix's breathing had become slow and deliberate; she figured he was working on keeping his control. She asked their escort, "How long might we be waiting, Sergeant-Major?"

The reply was an almost snooty, "When the Commander is ready to see you," and then a blatant turning of her back to them as an insult. When a few minutes had passed and Meach could tell that Felix was about to walk out, the doors opened from within and yet another tall woman nodded at the CSM, who then said, "Follow me."

They were led into another big room and pointed to a weapons rack and told, "Place your weapons there along with your packs – they will be safe here." Felix and Meach removed their rifles and making the safety was applied while placing them in the rack, along with their pistols and various knives – then looked to the CSM for further direction.

As the inside of the castle was quite warm to Felix's blood he unzipped the top of his ghillie suit, then followed the CSM into the rather large office of what was apparently the Commanding Officer. Felix and Meach stopped when the CSM did then braced to attention when the CSM did, and listened as Captain Sengale introduced them.

"The woman is L/Corporal Meach – her I do not know of. The short one is Sergeant Grey – him we have heard of – they are from Atlantis, Major."

There was a pause as the tall blonde behind the desk stood up, straightened her tunic and then said, "I am Major Andreya Terhazi, Commanding Officer of the 4th Rokatan Rifles. I gather we have you to thank for helping our troops this afternoon, for which we are grateful." There was another pause and then she added, "And you," as she nodded at Felix, "Laid hands on our warriors without permission. Now I gather you were unaware of that law so we shall ... overlook that it happened."

Felix finally had enough and asked, "May I ask a couple of questions, Major?" She nodded her agreement so he continued, "I was told by my boss Colonel Sheppard that this was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission – is that true, ma'am?"

She looked at Captain Sengale with a raised eyebrow then back at Felix and replied, "That is true – yes."

He immediately carried on, "So when is this supposed to occur, ma'am? Because personally I feel this is total waste of time and resources, standing here being politely insulted – but that is just my opinion."

Meach tried to hide her face as she rolled her eyes and prayed they would live to see the morning.

Major Terhazi's face took on an outraged look, and then Felix felt the Sergeant Major's hand on his shoulder. He glanced towards her with a pointed look and told her softly, "You might want to remove that."