Without law 17, p.24
Without Law 17, page 24
I waved my arms, and I saw an arm that I presumed was Hammer’s, wave out the driver’s window of one of the jeeps.
Minji dropped anchor close to the beach, and we all piled in the rafts and made our way back to shore where Hammer and his crew waited for us.
“You think she’ll be okay out there for tonight?” Minji asked once we were back on shore.
“I think so.” I nodded.
“To be sure, I’ll send some sentries over this way,” Hammer told me.
“I appreciate that,” I said with a smile. “I think the rest of us could all use a stiff drink after tonight.”
“Make it two,” Hammer laughed.
We were alive, and we’d completed the mission, which was definitely something to be grateful for. He knew as well as I did the risks involved with something like what we’d just done. Any small victory was worth celebrating.
I clapped him on the shoulder and hopped into the driver’s seat of one of the jeeps.
Paige navigated us back home, and it didn’t take long for us to get back to base camp. We pulled up to the old soda factory, and I pulled the jeep around back to park it where we usually did.
As I did so, I noticed that there was a large fire going, and our entire group seemed to be awake. They started to cheer and call out to us as we pulled up.
“What are you all doing awake?” I laughed as I stepped out of the jeep.
“You didn’t think we were going to miss you getting back home tonight, did you?” Ben asked with a grin.
“I guess not,” I chuckled.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“We got what we wanted,” I said.
“You took down the other ships, too?” Jeff asked.
“Of course,” Paige said with a nod.
“Just as we expected,” Ben said, and he picked up a jug of the homemade sake he’d shared with us a couple nights before. “Time for a celebratory drink, I think.”
“I second that,” I said.
“You boys in?” Ben asked Hammer as he hopped out of the jeep he’d parked behind ours.
“I’m not one to refuse alcohol,” the SEAL laughed.
“Get your asses over here, then,” Ben chuckled, and he pulled out some plastic cups and started to fill them with the clear liquid.
I made my way over to the fire and took a seat on one of the logs we’d set up. The girls all sat around me, and I kicked my feet out and warmed them by the flames. I hadn’t realized how cold I was until I felt the heat on me, but being on the open water this time of night certainly wasn’t warm and toasty.
My face and hands tingled slightly as they came back to life with the warmth of the fire, and I graciously accepted the sake that was handed to me and took a long swig. The fire of the alcohol burned my throat and heated my belly in the best way, and I smiled as I looked around at my team.
Tara laid her head on my shoulder then, and I turned to kiss the top of her head. She had a cup of sake in her hands, but it didn’t look like she’d drank any yet. She wasn’t usually one to rest her head on me, though, so I figured she was probably just tired.
“So, tell us all about it,” Ben said after he passed out drinks.
The girls started to set the scene, and the civilians started asking questions in response. It wasn’t long until the SEALs had joined in as well, and it felt like we were finally all one big team instead of two separate ones.
“Tav,” Minji’s voice sounded from just behind me. I realized then that I hadn’t seen her since we’d arrived back at camp.
“Hey,” I said as I turned around to look at her. “Where have you been? Are you alright?”
“I went to update the Captain,” she explained. “He’d like to speak with you.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “Alright.”
I wasn’t sure why the Captain wanted to talk to me right then considering Minji had given him an update. He was still in charge, though, so I figured it was better to go see what he wanted rather than ignore him, even though I wanted to.
I was enjoying my time with my team, and I didn’t want to leave the warmth of the fire, but whatever the Captain had to say could be important. He might want to talk strategy now that we’d taken over the ship.
He hadn’t accomplished much since the EMP had hit, except to keep his men alive, so I figured he was probably a bit antsy to keep the ball rolling now that we’d got it started.
The poor guy had been so close to retiring, I felt bad for him. He wasn’t prepared for something like this to happen, and he’d done the best he could. Now, all I could hope was that he’d step back and allow me to do my job.
I didn’t care if he kept his title as Captain, but I needed to be able to work under him.
At this point, though, I didn’t think he’d doubt me again. Not only had we recovered a plane we could now use for large scale attacks, but we’d also garnered a ship. He couldn’t deny that we were good at what we did.
I stood up and gestured for Minji to take my spot. The beautiful Korean woman smiled and sat down, then I headed inside the soda factory. It was almost eerie being in there at night when there was nobody around. The moonlight shone through the high glass windows and illuminated the old equipment so it looked even more abandoned than usual.
Once I got to the top of the stairs, I knocked on the door to the Captain’s quarters three times.
“Sir?” I called. “It’s Tav. Minji said you wanted to speak to me.”
“Come in, come in,” the Captain said, and he opened the door before I had a chance to.
“Is everything alright?” I asked as I stepped inside the small office room that doubled as his bedroom.
“It’s fine,” he said with a nod, and he gestured to one of the beat-up chairs. “Sit, sit.”
“Minji said she gave you an update already,” I said with a small frown. “I don’t know what else I can tell that she hasn’t already.”
“This isn’t about that,” he said with a shake of his head.
“It’s not?” I asked curiously. “Is there something else going on?”
“Minji told me you all took the ship quite easily,” he said, and he completely ignored my question.
“I wouldn’t say easily,” I chuckled. “There was still a lot of work involved. And your SEALs were a great help.”
“Right.” The Captain sighed and rubbed at his bald head.
“Sir?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
I was growing more suspicious by the second. There was clearly something going on. He just needed to open his damn mouth and spit it out.
“Well, you see,” he said as he continued to rub his head nervously. “You got the plane, and now the ship, and it just got me thinking… I want to ask you something.”
“Of course.” I nodded. “Ask away.”
He obviously wanted my team and I to do something, which was fine by me, he just had to get it out already. I only hoped it wasn’t something stupid like finding him a Twinkie.
“I want you to think long and hard before you answer,” he said, and he looked me dead in the eyes. “Take as much time as you need, it’s a big ask.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it won’t be a problem,” I assured him. “What do you need?”
“Won’t be a problem,” he muttered with a half chuckle, then he looked up at me seriously. “I want you to take charge.”
Well, that wasn’t what I had been expecting.
Chapter 16
“Sir,” I said with a shake of my head. “You don’t mean that. I apologize if we overstepped, but it was never my intention to come here and take your command.”
“No, no, no,” he said, and he held his hands up and shook his head. “I’ve thought long and hard about this. I know you didn’t come here to steal my command, but I’m offering it to you of my own free will. In the last four days you’ve been here, you’ve managed to accomplish more than I have in months. Those troops arrived in late spring, and we’ve been dealing with them ever since.”
“I hadn’t realized it had been quite that long.” I frowned.
“Look,” he sighed. “I loved my time in the service. It was good to me. For the most part, at least. I was able to serve my country, and I felt proud of that. But now, I’m tired. I mean, I’m really, really tired. Fighting wars is a young man’s job, and I’ve just gotten too old to be any good at it. And hell, even when I was younger. I’m a sailor, not a general. I can take care of a boat, but this is just way bigger than me, Tav.”
I smiled softly at the Captain. I knew it was less about his age and more about his mentality. He had been ready to retire when the EMP hit, and he probably wished someone else would have taken charge from the get-go. Hell, he probably wished he would’ve taken off anyways, but even though he didn’t want to be in charge, he wasn’t a deserter, I could tell that much about him.
“Are you sure about this, sir?” I asked. “You could keep your title, and I could just work underneath you.”
“I’m sure.” He nodded.
I thought for a moment. If the Captain wanted to step down, the next logical choice to take over would be Hammer. The SEAL had been with him since day one, and his rank as Lieutenant trained him to deal with a disaster such as this one. The Captain had only known me a few days, and here he was offering me his position.
I didn’t know Hammer well, but I didn’t want to step on any toes.
“I’m not sure I can take the position,” I said.
“I see.” The Captain pursed his lips. “May I ask why?”
“Hammer should be next in line,” I said. “He’s a lieutenant. I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. We all need to be a team if we want to get out of this alive.”
“You’re right,” he sighed. “Hammer is the obvious choice, but I can’t offer him the position.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, and my eyebrows furrowed together with confusion.
“It was my call to keep us here, and to keep the SEALs from doing their job,” the Captain said seriously, and he looked me in the eye. “Hammer is a great sailor, but he could have chosen to disobey my orders at any time, and he didn’t. That’s part of what makes him a great second in command. But following orders doesn’t win wars. Taking risks does, and that’s what you did. You came here to win, and whoever stands in your way be damned. That’s what we need right now.”
I sat stunned as I stared back at the Captain. It was hard to argue with his logic. I’d wondered myself why Hammer hadn’t said to hell with it and led his SEALs the way he saw fit. I couldn’t imagine idly doing patrol work while the enemy pranced around in my territory.
“So,” the Captain said, and he raised a bushy eyebrow at me. “What do you say, Ranger? Are you in?”
I grinned and held out my hand. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
“Atta boy!” the older man laughed, and he gripped my hand hard. “Thank you.”
“I should be thanking you,” I chuckled.
“Oh, no,” he said with a shake of his head. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could handle this. I love my crew, but this is all too much for an old man like me.”
At that moment, he reminded me of Rolly. He had to be nearly the same age, and though he looked nothing alike, I thought of how hard he’d probably worked in his career. I couldn’t imagine he felt good about wanting to give control to someone else, but he was strong enough to admit that he had met his limit, and I respected that.
The old man may be tired of battles and war, but I was sure he’d seen a few things in his day that would make me shudder. Just like Rolly, he deserved to sit back and let us younger men get the job done.
“You should inform the others,” the Captain told me with a smile. “I’m sure they’ll be happy for you.”
“I think it would be better coming from you,” I said. “Just in case they think I killed you to take your position or something.”
“Oh.” The Captain’s eyes widened slightly.
“I’m just kidding, sir,” I chuckled.
“Right, right,” he laughed and shook his head. “Let’s go inform the group, then.”
“There’s booze down there, too,” I told him.
“Then we should definitely go inform the group,” he chuckled. “I could use a drink after the year I’ve had.”
“I’m sure you could,” I chuckled.
As the Captain and I walked down to the fire, I thought about what his role would be now that he’d handed over his command. Part of me wanted to send him to Campus, but we didn’t exactly have any vehicles to spare at the moment.
If we could figure out a way to get him there, though, I thought that would be the best place for him. He didn’t want to fight anymore, and he’d fit right in with Rolly, Betty, and Henry.
“Hey, Captain!” Hammer exclaimed, and he held his cup up as we approached the fire. “Good to see you out of your hidey hole.”
“Yes, well, I heard there was booze down here,” the Captain laughed.
“Right here,” Ben chuckled and poured the Captain a cup of sake.
I started to make my way over to the girls, but the Captain held out his hand to stop me, downed the entire cup of sake in one go, and let out a long breath.
“Whoa, there,” Rivers laughed. “Take it easy, Cap’n.”
“He’s in charge,” Ben said with a smile. “I think that warrants him another cup.”
“I appreciate that,” the Captain said, then he looked around at the group by the fire. “Actually, that’s the other reason I came down here. I wanted to talk to you all about something.”
The SEALs immediately turned their entire attention to the Captain. They watched him intently as they waited to hear what he had to say.
“What is it, Captain?” Hammer asked, and he narrowed his eyes on the old man.
“I have a bit of an announcement,” he said. “I’m officially retiring.”
Everyone was quiet for a few minutes as the SEALs looked around at each other curiously.
“Captain, are you alright?” Hammer finally asked with a laugh.
“I’m better than ever,” the Captain chuckled.
“Okay, then.” Hammer nodded. “Care to explain what you mean by you’re retiring?”
“Connor here has agreed to take over command,” the Captain said seriously. “I think he’s earned the position, and I trust him to lead you to victory. Far more than I trusted myself to.”
“So, you’re giving him the position of Captain?” Bailey asked.
“Can you do that?” Michael, one of the Westpoint Cadets, asked. “I mean… Tav is army, and you are Navy and--”
“Young man, I can do whatever the fuck I feel like,” the Captain said, and he raised an eyebrow at the Cadet, who immediately went wide-eyed and looked away with the swiftness of someone who knew they’d just spoken out of turn. “I’m the highest ranking officer here, and now I’m passing that title down to Connor here.”
Hearing the Captain use my first name made me cringe slightly, but Tara caught my eye, and the wide grin on her face was enough to bring a smile to mine. The platinum-blonde blew me a little kiss, but she couldn’t keep the proud smile off her face for long.
I glanced around to see all the girls were smiling.
Anna had a cocky half smile, and she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned slightly back as she regarded me cooly. It was obvious that she’d expected this, and her smug smile suggested she was ready to be second in command to a much larger group.
Paige’s mouth was open slightly, and her eyes were wide as she glanced at the other girls with excitement. Unlike her redheaded friend, she looked genuinely surprised to hear the news.
Bailey had her hand up to her mouth, but I could still see the sweet smile hidden behind her fingers.
Even Minji had a small smile on her face as she looked at me.
I realized then that it was dead quiet.
Shit.
I glanced around quickly to see how the SEALs were taking it. They were the ones I was most concerned about.
Most of them looked more confused than anything, and they kept looking at Hammer, who had his tongue pushed to one side of his mouth as he looked down at the ground and shook his head.
I wasn’t sure exactly what to make of that, but it didn’t seem good.
“Hammer,” I said. “I--”
Before I could continue, the man looked up at me, and a toothy grin spread across his face.
“Tav, you sonofabitch,” he laughed. “Congratulations.”
“You’re not mad?” Anna asked, and her red eyebrows furrowed together. “Because a second ago you seemed mad.”
“You did.” Tara nodded.
“I’m not mad,” he chuckled. “I was a bit surprised, but definitely not mad. He’s earned it.”
The rest of the SEALs looked relieved at his words, and they started to smile at me and vocalize their own congratulations.
“We’ve been here over a year,” Hammer said, and he interrupted the rest of his group. “And we’d accomplished diddly squat. You got here, and in just a few days we now have a plane, a ship, and a shit ton of plasma fuel. I’m happy to serve under you. Like the Captain said, I trust you to lead us to victory.”
“I appreciate that.” I grinned, walked over, and held my hand out to the man.
“Nah,” Hammer said with a shake of his head, and he grabbed my hand as he stood up and pulled me into a hard hug.
“Oh,” I laughed. “I didn’t realize you were a hugger.”
“Most people don’t,” he said as he patted me on the back and pulled away.
“Just how much sake have you had?” I teased.
“Enough to feel like hugging ya, apparently,” he joked.
“Speaking of sake,” Ben said with a smile, and he held up his cup. “A toast to our new Captain.”
“To Captain Tav,” Anna added.
“Ranger Captain Tav,” Bailey added.
“Captain Ranger Tav,” Paige whispered.
“Captain Ranger Tav,” Tara laughed and rolled her eyes. “To the badass in charge now.”
