A Soldier’s Passion Page 16

  We started back by mid afternoon. The sun was setting and it was getting cold by dusk. Bobby talked to Ms. Kramer most of the way down. Vincent and I talked about inconsequential things as we strolled behind them. I was really just enjoying how my lover looked in the waning sunlight.

  Ms. Kramer left us at the Market. Bobby shyly asked if we would see her again. I was sure we would. She promised that the report would be something to be proud of. I hoped she was right.

  ***

  We saw a couple of previews about the feature story that was to air on a Sunday news magazine. I didn’t see anything that alarmed me, and no one called to warn me about what may be revealed in it, so I put it out of my mind.

  The weekend was about cleaning the house and readying for the winter. Cleaning up Bobby’s room exposed a lot of dust in the rest of the house. Then there was Vincent’s determination to rearrange the kitchen. I don’t think he was happy with Remak’s familiarity with how things were arranged. He wanted to make that room his own. Thus, all of Saturday and most of Sunday was spent in a cleaning and organizing frenzy that ended with chopping several cords of wood.

  By nightfall, we were a good kind of tired and full of a nice chicken dinner and befuddled under blankets in front of the TV. Vincent and I had cognacs. Bobby had tea. I thought I might need something stronger than our usual spiked cocoa.

  Eloise Kramer looked lovely in her TV anchor suit. Her hair was sleekly coiffed and she wore stylish makeup and jewelry. Bobby was riveted. I held Vincent close and breathed in the scent of his hair to center myself as she began speaking.

  “This week, Joint Military Command followed up it’s promise of openness by granting the media with extraordinary access to men they have called their most valuable assets. On Friday, I spent a day the Colonel Rik Heron and Major Vincent Greven.”

  The background image was a picture taken two years prior. It had been the last formal squad photograph. I happened to be standing next to Vincent and that was the only section of the photo used. We looked aloof and hostile. That’s how we felt then.

  “Joint Command portrays Altereds like this...”

  To my great chagrin, clips of our last recruiting video blazed across the screen complete with slow motion and blaring rock music.

  “Awesome!” Bobby exclaimed.

  And it was, I had to admit. There was Maximilian basically beating up a tank with his bare hands, Raden seemed to be able to walk through explosions of his own creations, Vincent was shattering huge battle bots with a slap of his hand and I seemed to be controlling great bolts of lightening.

  “That is one reality for Altereds. This is another...”

  There was telephoto footage of Vincent and I just after the behemoth exploded and disappeared. I held him in my lap while leaning against a broken wall. We were clearly injured and obviously trying to breathe through great pain, helpless against anything that might come next.

  “Somewhere between the dashing and daring and the brutal pain is a complex story of two very human soldiers,” Ms. Kramer said.

  The report was quite good. Interviews with our neighbors, Auerbach and Braun were inter-cut with footage from the picnic. Having Bobby along was fortunate. His playful interactions with Vincent were endearing. And his questions to us underscored just how little we spoke about our ordeals. There was a balance between the pain and joy in our lives, and it was very clear that we had no regrets about our condition or our service. It was also clear that we were intent on continued service to the military and the country. Our relationship was handled beautifully. She never mentioned it, but she captured the way we looked at each other and some of the subtle touches. Anyone viewing the piece could see that we were devoted to one another.

  “The military and the citizens are lucky to have such men in their service. They have given up their youth and risked their lives in battles that no human should have to face over and over. They have suffered as many ways as a human can suffer. At this time in their lives, they have the right to walk away from the military and have a quiet life together. But the Colonel and the Major will do what they always have, serve this country. It was a singular honor and pleasure to spend time with them.

  The piece ended with a few seconds of Vincent and Bobby on the ground laughing and me reaching down for Vincent’s outstretched hand.

  “That was great!” Bobby exclaimed. “I want a copy.”

  “What do you think?” I asked Vincent.

  “It was great. Much better than I thought it would be,” he replied softly after taking a sip of his cognac. He tilted his head back to look at me. “But I don’t think I like everyone seeing how good you look.”

  I smiled and squeezed him close. “Just as they saw you with your flashing, golden eyes and your tawny skin. Others will see...”

  “Like you’ll let anyone near either of you,” Bobby muttered. “Can we invite Ms. Kramer to dinner?”

  “Sure...Doc Auerbach’s angling for one, too,” I said.

  “Hey, I’m the one who cooks here!” Vincent retorted lightly.

  “We’re making a case to improve training food,” I replied. “And you love to cook.”

  “Yeah, yeah...you’re both helping.”

  I kissed my lover on the temple. He relaxed into my embrace.

  “What are we doing this week?” Vincent asked with a sigh.

  My first thought was to say that I was going to keep him naked in bed all week, but would be impractical with the skirmish coming up.

  “We’ll have to lay low this week. I bet Fritz will be mobbed after that TV coverage,” I said. “Everywhere else we go, too, for that matter.”

  “Yeah, that sucks,” Vincent said. “I’ll have to make breakfast.”

  “I can do that,” I said. “We can work on our combined skills when we’re not prepping for our next staff meeting.”

  “Can we work on mine?” Bobby asked.

  “Yes, we’ll work on using your speed with consistency,” I said.

  “But only here, Bobby.”

  “I promise,” he said. “I don’t want anyone changing me when I’m not ready.”

  “We have to rest as well. That skirmish will be brutal,” I said.

  “Yeah, I can do that. Frickin’ Nitro,” Vincent muttered.

  “He won’t try to hurt you?” Bobby asked.

  “He always tries,” I chuckled.

  Vincent laughed. “Yeah, but we have some big surprises this time.”

  “Don’t train too hard. I want you to have some energy for me,” Bobby said.

  “You may regret that, young Greven,” I said with an evil grin.

  10

  Our routine for the next couple of days was simple. We took Bobby to school, and then we worked at the crater site, showered, ate, napped then picked Bobby up. Before supper, we’d spend the remaining daylight working with Bobby in the yard. He was slowly gaining more control over his skill. With each workout, he managed a few good moves of lightning speed. After supper, Vincent and I worked on our Altered development proposal.

  On Wednesday night, Remak and Maximilian came by for supper and a staff meeting. It was an affable evening of good food and conversation. While Bobby did the dishes, our guests formally interviewed Vincent and me.

  “A general came to parent/teacher night when I was in fifth grade,” Vincent said quietly. “The behaviors he described matched the problems I was having in school. I just couldn’t be still, and none of the hyperactivity therapies worked. My teachers and classmates were freaked out by my speed. I was angry that everyone was either angry with me or frightened by me. I was tired of the principal’s office and my parents’ disappointment. The Altered Program sounded cool, and it made my parents happy that I wanted to try, so they signed me up.”

  “I was living in a State-run group home when a general came to visit. That place was one step above a hellhole. The general was so quiet and orderly,” I said. “I really needed some order in my life. I had also been hiding my manifestation
, and it was getting harder and harder to do. So I asked the general to test me.”

  “They didn’t tell me that I couldn’t see my parents while I was being Altered,” Vincent said in a small voice. “All I knew for weeks was this small, chilly room with a narrow bed, lots of needles and unbelievable pain. I saw Mom and Dad once after entering the program. And then they died.”

  “It was a good day for them, Brother. Mom and Dad were so happy,” Bobby said from the kitchen.

  Vincent smiled weakly. “I tried hard to really seem happy, so they wouldn’t feel bad about signing me up. And I didn’t want them to worry.”

  Our stories about the Alteration and training were remarkably similar despite being nearly a decade apart. We told of isolation, loneliness and of physical and emotional pain. During that time we both became avid readers. Ironically, Vincent finally became a good student.

  “The instructors were very good at helping me develop my skills, but they were not mentors,” I continued. “If we had problems adjusting, they sent us to military counseling. That wasn’t much help. Their mindset amongst those therapists was that their patients were simply malcontents, not unique individuals with unique problems.”

  “We were all busy being invincible. No way you’d admit to having problems,” Vincent said. “No one wanted to be seen as weak. If you were weak, no one wanted to be with you in the field.”

  “And the field was all we had,” I said. “It was our only reason for existing.”

  “How did you learn meditation?” Remak asked.

  I smiled at that memory.

  “A guest instructor in martial arts thought I would benefit from the practice,” I replied. “It was a godsend. Sensei Hayata taught me how to stop the howling in my head and find peace. I learned that meditating helped me fight better. I could sleep through the night. That whole class he taught advanced through the ranks faster than any other before it. While he taught us, Sensei Hayata got to know us as individuals. That attention made me feel connected to someone in authority and made training easier. I decided that when I had a squad of my own, I would instruct and lead the same way.”

  “I didn’t want to learn meditation,” Vincent admitted. “I knew how to breathe. It sounded stupid to learn how to breathe. But that saved me as well. Sleep was easier and deeper. I could get past pain. I was a faster and smarter fighter. And looking back, I realize that I needed the Colonel’s patient, individual attention. When he spoke to me or actually, yelled at me, I knew he was dealing with me, Vincent, not some soldier.”

  “Believe me, I always knew it was you I was yelling at,” I chuckled.

  “Anyway,” Vincent said, glaring at me. “The other difference about Rik’s command was that he never gave us assignments that he wasn’t going to do himself. That made a difference for me.”

  “I never liked taking orders that could mean my life from someone whose ass never left a desk chair,” I muttered.

  “That was important for me as well, Sir...Rik,” Maximilian rumbled.

  The interview lasted a couple of hours more and drained us both. I knew Remak was shaken. So was Bobby. Maximilian understood. He had lived his own hell. My new staffers said they had enough to focus their interviews. By the time they left, Vincent and I were ready for some relaxation. I ran a bath while Vincent locked down the house and activated the alarm. He entered the bathroom with our robes a few moments later.

  “Bobby’s in his room,” he said quietly.

  “Is he okay?” I asked. “He seemed shook up.”

  “He says he’s okay,” Vincent replied as he joined me in the tub. “I’ll check on him before he goes to bed.”

  “Hmmm. Just tell him everything we experienced has made us who we are,” I replied sighing into Vincent’s skin.

  He was silent for a time, languidly caressing my skin under the water.

  “Were you and Sensei Hayata lovers?” He asked softly.

  “Huh?”

  “It’s the way you say his name and the expression on your face when you remember,” Vincent replied. “I know those both well, now.”

  “Ah...yes, we were, but not until well after he was my instructor,” I replied as I caressed him. “I sought him out a few years later when I was on leave. Are you okay with that?”

  “It’s long over,” Vincent murmured with a shrug. “And you are mine, after all.”

  “Completely. You are, in fact, my first love,” I admitted, kissing his neck. “My only love.”

  “You are mine as well.”

  As always, the bath drained us of not only our stress, but our energy as well. We were asleep shortly after Vincent joined me in bed.

  “Bobby’s fine. He’s going to sleep,” he mumbled cuddling close.

  “I’m glad. Night, love...”

  ***

  Thursday was very lazy. We did nothing but eat and lay about after dropping off Bobby. Remak told me that the skirmish would be rough. Thus, we took our own advice and did nothing but rest. But this was different from a typical battle eve. It was easier not to dwell on what was coming with Vincent in my arms. We didn’t make love that day either. I just held him or he held me. We read, ate, watched and a little TV news. There were only two interruptions of our peace. One was a call from Remak setting the exact hour of the skirmish. The second was a surprise.

  “Oh, hello Ms. Kramer,” I heard Vincent say. “Yeah, we liked it a lot. Bobby wants a copy. Yeah, we’d like one, too. Sure. Oh, you are? That’ll be interesting. See you there.”

  “Ms. Kramer is coming to the skirmish,” Vincent informed me once on top of my body once more. “She’s a guest of Dr. Auerbach.”

  “That should be interesting,” I replied absently. I realized that Vincent was well and healthy, yet seemed content to stay still with me all day. That was uncharacteristic behavior for my most volatile squad member. “Aren’t you bored?”

  He raised his head to look into my eyes. The sunlight brightened his blonde locks and gave a sparkle to his golden eyes. “Of course not. I love being with you.”

  “I apparently love being furniture, but you used to be so incredibly active,” I said.

  Vincent kissed the side of my throat. “What did I have other than my missions or the training? I hated base housing. Freakin’ Nitro was my neighbor. And I was alone there. So I was always going somewhere or wanting to go somewhere.”

  “Yeah, base housing was not great,” I said.

  “Now there is a reason to be home and to be still,” Vincent replied. “I love to read, but I couldn’t live in the library. I like reading like this.”

  “Me too,” I said with a smile.

  The evening was lazy as well. The only interruption was another phone call from Remak.

  “I was calling to see if you needed a ride to the exercises,” she said in her usual, crisp tone.

  “No, Lieutenant, we’ll make our own way after dropping off Bobby,” I replied. My frown caught Vincent’s attention. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I rung off then stood rooted in place thinking.

  “That was odd,” I muttered. “Why would Remak ask me if we needed a ride when she knows we’ve been taking Bobby to school?”

  “That is strange,” Vincent agreed. “But the Lieutenant is never strange. That’s a constant in my life. Raden is insane and Maximilian is weird, but Remak is never strange. What does it mean?”

  I thought about that for a moment.

  “Bobby, how early can we leave you at school?” I asked.

  “The library opens at 6am,” Bobby replied.

  “Let’s be in bed within the hour. We move out by 0530,” I said. “We’ll leave the car at a lot near the school and get to the training grounds on foot and wait for them.”

  “We evade surveillance and wait in a sweet spot,” Vincent said with a wicked grin. “I like it.”

  “It’s always best to pick your own stand,” I agreed with a smirk of my own. It was a good plan, but there was something happening that worried
me.

  Vincent took in my expression with concern. He walked over and hugged me close for a long moment.

  “Don’t worry,” he murmured. “Trust us.”

  I felt like we were invincible like this. “I do.”

  Vincent and I reached the training grounds by 0630. Dawn had just broken. Normally, the exercises would be starting right then, but the Generals preferred a later hour. They liked to have a leisurely breakfast. We easily cleared the perimeter. I fuzzed out the cameras there as I had with all the cameras in route from the high school. It was easy to evade the patrols while we considered where to wait for the action to begin.