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SODF Chapter Twenty-Nine

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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE // BATTLESCARRED
0700 HOURS // CLASSIFIED LOCATION, PLANET EARTH
Prowling the dark corridors alone, Cat kept one hand on her combat knife. She still did not trust this building, although the ERSPF had been using it as a base for quite some time now. Days, perhaps weeks, even months. It was impossible to tell. Everyone else trusted their surroundings, at least here, but Cat held a distinct loathing for these halls. Perhaps because this was where – no, she refused to allow herself to think about it. But try as she may to forget, her mind kept wandering back to the subject. Stubbornly denying herself the emotions she so craved, she forced herself to think of other things.

The sun was yet to rise above the mountains, so for now the base was enveloped in darkness. New iridescent blue armour glinted nonetheless, in sharp contrast with the glossy dark brown hair cascading down her back. The Admiralty were getting lax in the upkeep of regulations; Cat’s hair reached nearly to her hips now, far longer than the regulation fifty centimetres. In wondering how much longer she could get away with this, she allowed her mind to again touch on the subject of-

“Stop thinking about him,” Cat told herself, oddly aware of how loud her voice was in the silent building, “It’s against the rules, you fool.”

A helmet-clad head poked out of one of the many doors lining the hallway, “Keep it down, willya, we’re not all nocturnal.”

“Shaddup. It’s oh-seven-hundred, soldier,” Cat yawned widely, changing tone in a heartbeat from matter-of-fact to vicious, “But you’re right, we’re not. You lot kept me awake all last night with your wild parties.”

“Parties? What parties?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, soldier. I heard the fireworks,” Cat lied, her nasty streak showing through, “If you’re not careful, I’ll report you.”

“Fireworks?!”

Cat turned and stalked away down the corridor. Her job was done. She knew the Admiral was only a few rooms over from the soldier who was now staring after her and scratching his head.

In the mess hall an hour later, she sat still alone clutching a mug of hot chocolate with both hands. Smith was late. Late. How dare anyone be late, she thought, for a meeting with her? She sighed and took a sip from her mug, yelping when the hot beverage scalded her tongue.

“Where have you been.”

Smith pulled up a chair, shocked at the way one of his SODF had spoken to him, “Stuck in a room with the Admiral and the royal family.”

“Serves you right,” Cat said.

“You don’t still blame me for what happened, surely? That was his fau-!”

“How dare you talk about him like that! He was practically family,” she yelled, her voice cracking, “How dare you?”

“When,” Smith sighed, “Will you realise that he made one mistake too many?”

“Don’t,” Cat sobbed, “Just don’t. I’m supposed to be strong. I’m their leader now, you have to realise that! It’s my job to raise morale back to where it was a week ago! Do you think I can do that if they see me like this?”

“Some of them,” Smith said gently, “Won’t understand because they’ve never lost anyone that important to them. That’ll be Green Team and perhaps Red Leader. The others, however, have all lost friends and ‘family’ who were just as close to them as he was to you.”

“You have no idea, sir. You- You’ve never lost your sibling, your best friend and the one you love all at once.”

“I have, girl. My wife-.”

“You know what? I don’t want to hear about your WIFE! I don’t care! At least she was ready for it!”

“And he wasn’t? Don’t be stupid, Cat,” Smith said quietly, “He knew what was coming. He was not an unintelligent man. In fact, I’m surprised he never told you his results in the IQ test.”

“Oh yeah? WHAT then? Tell me!”

“He scored very highly. Your score was only one point above his.”

Cat nearly fell off her chair, “What?!”

“James was a smart man, Cat. He could match wits – and plans – with the best of High Command,” Smith nodded, “Yes, he could. Now, do you have anything to confess?”

“Well,” Cat searched for security cameras and found none, “Now you ask…”
x_x

It's the cliffhanger from hell. Oh, and say hello to the second-last chapter of SODF. I might write a sequel, but then again maybe not.

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