Egypt stormed out of the room, not caring she was going to be punished for insubordination later. She walked through the Pentagon, ignoring looks she gathered from the office workers. While military looking people weren't uncommon here, angry military looking people certainly were. She hated the fact that she could read this language. She wished this talent had never been discovered. She remembered when it had. When she had just turned twenty-two and entered the army, she had been in a cryptologist's office as they tried to figure out where she would be used best. Despite never having an interest in cryptology, Egypt sat the test. They gave her a series of encoded pages but she had absolutely no way to decipher it. As she had placed the files back on the desk, she had noticed another one stamped with "Top Secret."
"Really?" she remembered saying. "You stamp something with "Top Secret" and expect people not to look at it?" She had reached out and grabbed it, ignoring the protests of the man in front of her. Strangely, the symbols began to form a pattern in her head.
"Now this is what I'd call ironic. I can't read those other things but I can read this." That one sentence had changed her military career. The man had grown very excited and contacted his entire office. Egypt had translated the entire page of writing under the eyes of all of them, feeling very uncertain and very special at the same time. They wanted her to stay in their department, to hone in her skills. Egypt had refused, something that wasn't considered wise by many.
"It's called the Word of Thoth," was the last thing she said before she walked out of the office to fly to San Diego and learn how to be a marine.
And now, it was coming back to haunt her. Every operation she was chosen to take part in, she felt it was hanging over her, as if Thoth was going to have a key part in it. And in this operation, she was actually told it was her reason for selection. Egypt didn't understand why they didn't look at her previous operation records. She leant against a wall in a secluded area of the Pentagon.
"Lieutenant Reacher?" Egypt turned from where she was leaning to see Schofield, his face impassive. She took into account his reflective silver glasses, something she'd noticed in the office but not actually noticed. She knew what lay beneath them; the reason for his call sign. She had never seen the scars that ran vertically down his eyes but they were legendary.
"Yes, Captain Schofield? Suppose you're here to drag me kicking and screaming back to the office," she asked wryly, finally standing straight. Schofield's face remained impassive but Egypt thought she saw a slight twitch of a smile.
"No, I'm here to drive us to the airport." Egypt stared at him, not comprehending. "We're due in Camp Pendleton. That's where the rest of my team is located." There was a long pause before Egypt nodded.
"The rest of our team," she corrected and this time, Schofield actually did smile. It was enigmatic, that smile. It reminded Egypt of the Mona Lisa; Schofield definitely did have a secret behind it.
"They haven't accepted you yet," he replied before continuing on his way out of the penthouse. In that moment, Egypt decided she could grow to like him and respect him as a Captain. But she didn't feel either yet.
They departed from a private airstrip from a nearby airfield rather than flying on civilian airlines. They arrived in Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton six hours later. Schofield and Egypt disembarked from the plane quickly, only to be greeted by a tall woman with a shaved head. She clearly knew Schofield from the way she pulled him into a hug as soon as she saw him.
"Scarecrow!" she hooted with joy, a grin cracking her tough face. "I was wondering if you were going to return to us or if I'd have to fly all the way to D.C to yank your bony behind back here." Schofield chuckled lightly.
"As if I could leave you, Mother." Egypt watched the exchange curiously. Schofield had chosen not to divulge anything about her future team on the plane ride and so she was in the dark, as she had been most of her life.
"Is this her?" Mother asked Schofield, not bothering to lower her voice. "She looks a bit native." Schofield chuckled again.
"Mother, this is Lieutenant Egypt Reacher of the 13th MEU. Reacher, this is Mother, your Gunnery-Sargent." Egypt saluted the other woman, as custom dictated. She might be prone to insubordination but she followed the strict army routines most of the time. "Everyone else is at the barracks, I assume?" Schofield asked before Mother nodded and clapped hand on his shoulder. They made their way over the barracks immediately.
"Do you have a call sign, Reacher?" Mother enquired pleasantly. Egypt stopped for a moment, not knowing how to respond. She had had a call sign but she refused to be associated with it anymore. This was rare but not impossible in the army.
"It's Relic," Schofield replied instead, noticing that Egypt seemed to flinch when he spoke the name. This was peculiar for someone who seemed to keep her emotions – except for anger – invisible most of the time. "Isn't it?"
"No, I don't have a call sign," she said, her voice low like it had been when she was talking to Stone in the office earlier that day. "And if you ever call me that again, I will shoot you where you stand." Mother let out a great raucous laugh, figuring she was joking.
"She's definitely a native, Scarecrow. A bit of a barbarian it would seem. Where are you from?" asked Mother as they walked through the entrance to the mess hall. "And please don't say Egypt because that would be too cruel." Egypt laughed, unable to help herself.
"Actually, I'm from here but I was born in Egypt. My father was Egyptian, I believe, but I never knew him. I've lived in D.C. since I was five." She finished talking to realise a small group of soldiers were looking at her. This must the group that Scarecrow had been talking about.
"This is Lieutenant Egypt Reacher. She will be assisting us on our next Operation. Reacher, this is Book II," he said as he walked along, pausing behind each of the men. The first man was serious with a pug nose. "Rebound." He looked to be in his early twenties, the same as Egypt. "Astro, Bigfoot and Alice. And of course you know Mother," he said, gesturing to the last three men in the line. Egypt took their names in; committing each one to memory, wondering which of the men had the peculiarly female name of 'Alice.' She didn't particularly enjoy the way he was giving only their call signs. It made her more separate than all of them, even more of an outsider.
"This is a smaller reconnaissance team than most of the ones I've seen," she remarked.
"That's because we go for quality not quantity here." The comment came from the first man Schofield had introduced, Book II. Egypt stopped herself from raising her eyebrows at the cliché before Schofield spoke again.
"Team, my orders were to 'assemble a team and acquaint Lieutenant Reacher with them.'" A light chuckle ran through the group as Schofield mimicked General Stone's deep set voice perfectly. "We're leaving in two weeks. We need to train. We need to select tactics. We need to be ready."
"Some of us are ready," Egypt couldn't stop herself from commenting. She had just finished her last Operation and hadn't been expected to go on another for at least six months. She was in peak fitness. "Sir," she added, managing to make the honorific sound insulting. The group looked on curiously at this new, arrogant soldier.
"I think what Reacher means to say is some of us think they are ready. When, in actual fact, you're anything but. This isn't just an ordinary operation, team. This is an extraordinary operation," he said, pausing as he met everyone in the room's eyes, lingering on the brown eyes of the woman who so openly opposed him. "In every sense of the word."