Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Lisa looked at the display of her phone and sighed heavily, then turned it over and took the battery out. "What's wrong?" Brian asked.
"Damn thing crashed again, it doesn't even know what month it is," she muttered, rebooting the device. Waiting for the half minute or so it took to come back to life, she decided that the first purchase she would make with their money from the raid was a new phone. This one hadn't been the same since she'd failed to catch it when they'd first run into Taylor in her Raptaur form. Checking that it was now correctly displaying the date as February 15th, she put it back in her pocket.
"Going to check on the dogs," Rachel announced, separating from them and heading off in a different direction without ceremony. They watched her go, then resumed walking.
"That'll at least keep her out of trouble," Brian noted. "She'll be there for hours, probably."
"She'll miss the excitement," Alec complained.
"She doesn't really care about it," Lisa told him. "She's weirdly contented being here but not that interested in what we're doing."
"Whatever, as long as she's not fighting someone, that's probably a good thing," Brian grinned. Stopping outside the building they were currently living in, he looked up at the roof, seven stories up. "Should be a good view from up there."
"I think so," she replied, as they entered the side door and started climbing the stairs. "This is going to be interesting to watch."
"Bet you a hundred bucks the PRT starts something," Alec laughed.
She thought, then grinned. "Not taking that bet, I'm not crazy."
"I thought Piggot was being sensible and sort of helpful?" Brian queried, looking worried.
"Oh, she is, although even so she might get carried away," Lisa sighed. "But she has superiors, and this is going to hit the national networks minutes after Kaiju arrives, I guarantee it. I don't know if the PRT higher-ups will be as pragmatic as Director Piggot is being right now."
"Hopefully they will." Brian still looked worried. "If she's as big as you said I don't think attacking her would go well."
"It would go spectacularly badly, I suspect," Lisa smirked. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. I mean, how stupid would you have to be to attack someone who's just doing their job? And is big enough to swat you like a mosquito?"
The trio exchanged a glance, then shrugged, keeping climbing to the roof access. Behind them, they could hear other people doing the same.
Vice Principal Howell walked into the cafeteria and looked around, a frown on her face. There were about a third the normal number of students present. Stopping Mrs Adil, who had just been walking out, she asked, "What's going on? Where are all the students?"
"We've had a rash of illness and misfortune today," the woman said with a shake of her head and a wry smile. "It's horrifying. So many sudden flu cases that will probably clear up overnight, sprained ankles, cars that wouldn't start..."
"I see." The Vice Principal looked around again. "Mayor Christner's project?"
"Of course. You can't dangle that in front of curious young minds and not expect them to want to see," the teacher smiled.
"Hmm." She looked around again, then sighed. "Very well."
Five minutes later, the PA system announced, "Due to current circumstances surrounding the City project in the bay, school is canceled for the rest of the day. Normal activities will resume tomorrow morning and any students absent without good cause can expect punishment. Pass this on to your friends when you see them."
The PA clicked off.
And there was much rejoicing.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Dragon asked curiously, watching as Colin worked on his computer. She'd come to the Rig both to help him flush out any of Coil's taps that might be present, which was slightly easier locally, and to see what the Mayor's big project was, as she was very curious. Not to mention seeing her friend again in person, something he seemed to appreciate.
"I have no idea beyond the obvious conclusion it will have something to do with the water, otherwise there would be little reason to have an exclusion zone over a significant part of the bay," he muttered, apparently looking for something, file windows coming and going. Eventually he stopped on one, opening the specific image to full size on one screen. He studied it, as did she.
Indicating the high resolution sonar scan image, he pointed at a feature on the sea bed, one that had caused them some puzzlement a while ago.
"K," he said with a shake of his head. "Presumably, standing for Kaiju."
"I suppose it's the most likely possibility," she admitted. "She signed her work with her initial. So it wasn't the sea serpent Umihebi, it was another one. One that's been around for at least a couple of weeks without us being aware of it. That's four members of the Family now that we know about."
"A big brother was mentioned to Assault by Raptaur as well," Colin sighed. "I find myself wondering with some worry what is meant by 'Big' under the circumstances."
They looked at each other, then back at the image on screen. After a little more wordless thought they both left his lab to go and watch from the landing pad, along with most of the inhabitants of the Rig.
Assault was handing out baseball caps with 'I watched Kaiju at work' written on them, causing Colin to sigh and the other cape to grin.
"Must you?" the Tinker asked with a small shake of his head.
"Yes, I must," Assault chuckled. "Here you go." He plopped one onto Colin's helmet.
Dragon stifled a laugh, but couldn't keep in it when he turned to her beseechingly and stopped, staring at the cap she was wearing perched on her armored head at a rakish angle.
"Oh, for..." He trailed off, radiating mild irritation, and walked away to find a good view. Dragon and Assault exchanged a look of amusement, before he was dragged away by Battery, who seemed to see less of the funny side than even Colin did.
'Humans,' Dragon mused, watching the goings-on with fondness. 'So odd, but so much fun. Most of the time.'
The AI shook her head, going to stand beside the man she loved, and noticing with an internal smirk that he hadn't removed the cap, which looked nearly as ridiculous on top of his helmet as hers did.
"You're sure this will work?" Randall watched his friend put the finishing touches on a small device, the case of which he closed then screwed down firmly.
"Yes, it'll work," Kevin assured him, smiling at his device. "It should do the trick nicely. Some of this is my tech, we used it for the background music on that Mario-themed race through the city we had last year. I've added in some bits and pieces I got from Toybox and some of the tech we recovered from one of Squealer's ugly-ass cars when Miss Militia blew it up." Lifting the device, he flicked a switch on it, watching with approval as it hung in the air when he took his hand away, then flickered a couple of times and faded from view.
"Her invisibility tech is pretty fucking good. Shame her vehicles are so butt-ugly and she's hooked up with that asshole Skidmark."
Picking up another device, he fiddled with it for a moment, then both of them clapped their hands over their ears as a horrendously loud burst of music roared out of nowhere, emanating with perfect fidelity from all around them.
"AAGH! TOO LOUD!" Randall screamed.
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! IT'S TOO LOUD!" Kevin screamed back, before grabbing the control unit from where he'd dropped it and frantically poking icons on the screen. The music suddenly stopped, leaving the room still resonating to it, various things in the large space humming and rattling.
Slapping the side of his head a couple of times, Randall tried to clear the ringing from his ears.
"It works, anyway," Kevin said with a certain amount of embarrassment on his face. His friend glared at him.
"Yes, it does. I hope it's not going to be that loud outside."
"No, once it's in place over the bay, it should give a nice volume level everywhere within about six blocks of the shore for a couple of miles," Kevin smiled. "The audio inducer field will make everyone hear the same thing at the same time with perfect quality. It's fantastic."
Prodding a control on the main unit made the remote fade back into view, then drop into his outstretched hand.
"Not bad, my man," Randall complimented his friend. "Not bad. Now, all we have to do is hope the girl works it out and plays along."
"She's smart, I bet she gets it instantly," Kevin grinned. "This is going to be great."
"What about the audio pickup at the other end?"
"That one is here," the Tinker replied, showing another device to the taller man. "It's not invisible, just really small, so I doubt they'll see it." Randall took the little machine and held it up, admiring the deceptively delicate structure of the thing, which was vaguely insect-like and about half the size of a sugar cube. When Leet flicked an icon on his controller the tiny wings began beating at an enormous rate, making a very faint whine, the device lifting into the air. His friend piloted it around his head for a moment.
"I think that should do for the Mayor's end. At her end, if she's anything like as big as we expect her to be, we won't need any audio pickup, she could probably make herself heard in Boston if she wanted to," Kevin grinned.
Retrieving the flying microphone he put it, along with the control unit and the audio projector into a padded hard case and snapped it shut. "Now all we have to do is work out the right music..."
"Ah, way ahead of you there," Randall stated. Grabbing a laptop computer from the sofa, he opened it up and began showing his friend his choices, which soon had a lively debate going along with considerable laughter.
"Hello, Brad," Max said softly, as he glared at the other man, who was looking somewhat shame-faced, a very unusual expression for him. Unprecedented, in fact. "I think I'd like an explanation now." Moving closer he held out a hand in which a steel knife grew, which he used to gently prod his underling's face under his eye, leaving a small bead of blood. "That explanation being on why you decided, without telling me, to attack the DWU facility. You know I said they were off limits for now."
There was no answer for a moment. Max prodded him again, producing a little more blood, but not even a wince otherwise. Whatever else he was, Hookwolf was a stoic.
"You lost us nearly thirty soldiers. More than half were arrested, at least eight ran and have completely disappeared, and two are still in hospital. They were cannon fodder, true enough, but they were my cannon fodder!" He shouted the last few words from close range. "I let you use them for your own purposes, but you do not take them into battle against an opponent of the level of the DWU without asking!"
"I thought they were only a bunch of normals," Brad said in a surprisingly quiet voice, although his cheek was twitching. "All they were supposed to have was maybe Saurial. I wanted her head on a stick."
"At least a quarter of their members are ex military one way or the other and have serious combat training, you idiot," Max growled. "I told you that years ago. There's a damn good reason my father left them alone. They were even more dangerous back then, there were nearly a thousand of them. Far more than us and the ABB put together. If they'd wanted to take over, we'd have had a major battle on our hands. Sure, we'd probably have won in the end but we'd have lost a lot of people. Normals, yes, not dangerous…? No, not at all. Don't forget, most capes aren't bulletproof. You put a nine millimeter round in Victor's head, for example, he dies. You can get away with that sort of thing, most can't."
The CEO of Medhall tapped his subordinate between the eyes with the end of his blade. "Right there will do for most people, cape or not, if they don't get out of the way. A sniper two hundred yards away with a good rifle could wipe out almost every Parahuman in Brockton Bay. The DWU have at least eight people I know for a fact were trained as snipers, and they'd do it, because they're not capes. The Rules mean fuck-all to them. Get them mad enough to kill, and we'd be looking over our shoulders for years. Wipe them out and the PRT would finally lose patience and put kill orders on all of us. Do you understand me? Until we can grow large and strong enough to finally do what should be done, we exist on a knife-edge. You put all that at risk. Why?"
His voice had become very patient and reasonable now. Stepping back he waited, while Victor and Krieg watched from a couple of chairs, the latter with a glass of brandy he was intermittently sipping from and a thoughtful look on his face.
"I got information that Saurial was in the DWU building," Brad finally said, staring at Max with a scowl. "I wanted to get her for what she was doing to our people. My people..."
"My people. Never forget that, Brad," Max interrupted with a dangerous look in his eye.
"OK, but they were working for me at the time," the other man stubbornly insisted. His superior let it go although he was frowning slightly. "She had gotten involved in over a dozen operations and cost me… I mean, us… close to forty people. And a shitload of weapons and cash. An informant approached me and said he knew where she was, so I went after her."
"Let me stop you there for a moment, Brad, if you would?" Max asked politely, raising a hand. "A few questions while I think of them. One, who was the informant?"
"I don't know, I've never see him before and I didn't get a name," Brad admitted.
"Ah. All right, then, two, why did you believe him?"
"He had a photo of her in the DWU yard doing some freaky sort of martial arts or something. Said that they let her use it."
"OK. And three, why the fuck did you think you could take her in the first place?" Max raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I've heard rumors that she's been shot in the face with everything from handguns to hunting rifles and she doesn't even notice. Even you would feel that. That creature is tough. And fucking fast, not to mention she can make unbreakable weapons from nothing and by all accounts knows exactly how to use them. Did you think for an instant that it might be a bad idea to try and attack her in what may well be her own territory?"
Brad looked torn, making Max sigh. "No, of course you didn't. Idiot. All right, go on, what then?"
"We attacked the DWU, from both sides, but the people I sent around the back got taken out by Raptaur as far as I know. I'd never heard of her before then."
"No one had, that was her debut," Krieg put in from over by the window.
"When did she turn up?" Max asked.
"She was already there. That Hebert kike was standing in this dark workshop or something with her standing behind him like something out of a fucking horror movie," Brad replied with a shudder. "I've never seen anything like it. Those eyes, glowing in the dark… creepy as fuck."
"Did Mr Hebert, who by the way is not Jewish to the best of my knowledge, happen to suggest you should turn around and go away?" Max sighed, half sitting on the edge of his desk.
Brad nodded. "But I wasn't going to back down just because he had some scaled freak standing behind him."
"I see. The same scaled freak that basically beat you senseless while making it look like she was a little bored and had expected more of a challenge?" Max raised an eyebrow. Brad looked at his feet like a schoolboy caught breaking windows.
"You fucking idiot. I'd have thought even you would have been a little more cautious when you came across a new cape no one had ever heard of before, especially one eight feet tall and looking like that. Saurial is bad enough. Raptaur is a fucking nightmare. I've seen the videos, she could have killed you from the first hit but she was just playing with you, to make a point. I assume that you now know this?"
Brad nodded again, looking worried. "She gave me a message to pass on to you," he said after a moment.
"So? Pass it on!"
"She said that if the E88 ever moved on the DWU in any way she'd kill everyone. All of us. I think she meant it."
"Oh, I have no doubt of that." Max sighed. "None at all. Whether she actually could… Now, that I'm not sure about."
"She was," Brad muttered.
"Was this before or after she took you swimming?" Victor asked snidely, sounding peeved. When the other man glared at him, he shrugged. "I heard about it. You were still soaking wet when you got to the PRT."
"All right. Start at the beginning and go over everything, leave nothing out. I want to know who this informant was that pointed you at the DWU, and why. Someone was testing something but I'm not sure what yet, whether it was us or them, or perhaps both."
Max went back behind his desk and listened, taking notes, as the other man went over the entire story in much more detail. It was clear to him that Brad had been deliberately wound up and aimed at the DWU, probably to see what would happen in the face of a major threat. They certainly knew that now. As did more or less anyone who read PHO. He was very curious to know who it was, and what they stood to gain from it.
When Brad finally finished his explanation, Max stared at him for some time. "You really are an idiot sometimes." The man flushed a little but made no response. "I assume that you are disinclined to try again?"
"I'm never going near that fucking place again, trust me," Brad said fervently. "She made me promise and I'm going to stick to it."
"Good. I think that would be for the best, all things considered. We can move around them. Now that this… 'Family'… is officially linked to the DWU it's far too dangerous to do anything directly to them. Next time, if there is a next time, come and tell me before you do anything that stupid. If you don't, I'll kill you myself, assuming whatever you take on doesn't. You got lucky this time, if she hadn't needed to use you as a message to us, you probably wouldn't be standing there."
"You think she'd have killed him?" Krieg asked in a curious voice.
Max glanced at him. "She clearly could have done any time she wanted to. I'd say she left him alive as a warning."
"Interesting." The other man pondered the idea. "And worrying."
"And she caught the informant who was watching you two fight, as well," Max noted, turning back to Brad, who nodded, looking angry now. "Intimidated the information out of him as to who he was working for, I'd guess, then told him to disappear. Which if nothing else proves you were set up."
"I worked that much out," Brad growled. "When I find out who it was I'll..."
"Do nothing. I will be having words with this person when we find them. Not you."
About to say more, he was interrupted by Victor who tapped his watch. "It's nearly time."
"Already?" Max checked his own watch, seeing it was nearly two. "So it is. Let's see what the Mayor's big project is. Brad, sit down and shut up, this isn't over."
Hookwolf moved to a chair next to Victor with ill grace, slumping into it and rubbing his neck, which had become something of a habit since the restraints that Raptaur had bound him with had finally disappeared. Max sat in the most comfortable chair, holding a pair of binoculars, which he pointed out the floor to ceiling windows that formed two walls of the corner room, aiming them at the helipad on top of City Hall, some hundred feet lower than his top floor office. It was about half a mile away and he could see everything very well. Beyond that point, the entirety of the bay was visible all the way to the exit to the Atlantic, with the Rig off to the side a mile or so offshore.
Curious, he turned his glasses that way for a moment, seeing that there were a lot of people on the landing pad looking this way. He could see a tall figure that looked less than entirely human which he recognized as Dragon in one of her reptilian-themed power suits.
After studying the Protectorate base for a moment he moved the glasses back to the tiny figure of the Mayor who was apparently talking to a number of people, wondering what was being said.
"Are you ready for this?" Amy asked, watching Taylor look towards the mouth of the bay from the rear door of the BBFO office. Her friend glanced at her, then nodded.
"I think so. It's weird thinking that so many people are waiting for me to do it, though. Look at them all." She pointed, Amy squinting along her finger. She could make out hundreds, possibly thousands, of people congregating in one of the waterfront parks near the Downtown area, even in the chilly sunlight apparently enjoying themselves.
"I wonder if Mandy and the others are there?" she asked with a grin.
"It wouldn't surprise me," Taylor laughed. She looked at Amy's wrist. "Any moment now."
"Make it spectacular, but not over the top," Amy commented.
Turning to face her, Taylor looked quizzical. "Over… the… top… Hmm. No, don't understand that at all. I mean, I know the words, but in that order..." She shrugged.
Amy shook her head with a grin. "You're nuts."
"Says you."
"I do."
"Great." Taylor sighed. "Some friend. Casting aspersions on my sanity. Or lack thereof."
They grinned at each other, then went back to waiting.
"Hello, Danny," Roy said with a broad smile. "I'd like to introduce you to Governor Scott, who has joined us for this event." Turning to the senior politician, he added, "Governor, this is Danny Hebert, DWU representative and the main architect of this project. Without his ideas and hard work it wouldn't be possible."
Danny held out his hand, shaking the one the other man offered. "It's nice to meet you, Governor," he said.
"Likewise. I've heard of you, Roy has mentioned your name once or twice before in the past." The Governor looked at his colleague. "I have to admit not with such admiration."
"We've butted heads many times before, sir," Danny smiled. "Usually cordially although there have been strong words used. But it generally works out in the end."
"I see." The other man looked mildly amused. "From what he's said you believe strongly in your union and your people."
"I have to, sir, if I don't, who will?"
"True enough, yes," the Governor nodded. "Hopefully this will all work to plan, then. From what I'm told it could save a lot of jobs. I'm very interested to see how it works out."
"I think everyone is, sir," Danny grinned. He looked around the helipad, which had a good sixty people spread around on it, all of them keeping clear of the edge, although the safety fence around the building's edge would stop anyone falling more than about six feet. A suitable number of chairs were set up near the edge facing the bay but only a few of them were occupied, most of the other guests wandering around chatting and sipping drinks from the small portable bar that had been set up near the elevator.
They were all well fed from the buffet downstairs and in the main in a good mood. Roy noticed one face that wasn't precisely grinning with joy and headed over, leaving Danny explaining something that the Governor wanted clarification on. "Hello, Emily," he said when he was close enough. Director Piggot turned and fixed him with a gimlet stare, the two PRT troopers with her watching him curiously.
"Roy. Quite the little show you have here. Very theatrical. I assume the main act will be suitably excessive?"
"Hopefully," he smiled. "I think you'll find it interesting, in any case."
"I'm sure I will," she said in a tone that suggested she'd quite like to punch him in the mouth. "You really are an excessively irritating man at times, you do know that, I hope?"
He raised his glass of wine, smirking a little. "I do my best, Emily. Do try some of this wine, it's excellent. I must say you're looking very fit these days." Nodding to her, then the two PRT people, he wandered off, feeling rather amused. Even the sight of his wife looking at him with a resigned smile couldn't alter his mood.
Walking back to Danny, he stood next to him as they watched the Governor get buttonholed by a reporter from a Boston TV station, her cameraman moving slightly to get them both in shot with the Rig behind them. "Seems to be going pretty well so far," he said with a smile.
"So far, yes. I'm just hoping that no one does anything silly when they realize what's happening," Danny replied in a low voice.
"It'll be all right, Danny, don't worry." Roy grinned at him. "Come over here, there's someone I'd like you to meet."
Danny followed as he headed towards the edge of the crowd.
Looking around at all the guests, most of the important people in the city, with the notable absence of Max Anders who Danny knew the Mayor hadn't invited as he couldn't stand the man, he smiled to himself. Overall it was an impressive turnout. He watched the Governor, a man he felt was doing a pretty good job all things considered, get interviewed by a reporter he recognized from her enthusiastic style and almost white blonde hair, which as far as he could see was natural.
Glancing in the direction of the Rig he could just make out tiny figures congregating on the flight deck, and hoped that they'd stay out of if. Armsmaster seemed a pretty sensible guy from the contact he'd had with him and if Dragon's reputation was anything to go by, she was also very down to earth. He'd seen her transport land out there earlier and hoped that between them they could keep things sane.
Looking towards the Docks and the DWU yard, he wondered if Taylor was ready. Probably, the girl seemed to take this very seriously. He smiled a little, adding to himself that for the team of her and the Varga, serious was a matter of opinion at the best of times. Lifting the binoculars he wore around his neck to his eyes he scanned the horizon, stopping on the tanker, which was slowly beginning to disappear beneath the waves as the tide rose. They'd have to start soon to take advantage of it.
When he reached the Medhall building he saw several figures looking back at him, including Max Anders, who lowered his own binoculars for a moment, then nodded to him. He returned the gesture. He didn't like the man at all but there was no denying he was a good business man and deserved a modicum of respect for that if nothing else.
The arrival of Roy beside him made him look away from watching the interview with the Boston reporter, to glance at the other man, who indicated he wanted him to meet someone. Following him, he was led to one side of the platform, to a small group of meticulously arranged chairs surrounding a round glass table with perfect symmetry. The plates and cutlery on the table were likewise arranged artfully, as was the floral centerpiece. It looked like the sort of thing you'd find in a high end restaurant that charged a month's wages per meal.
Sitting at the table were a man and a woman, while behind the man were two others, who Danny immediately pegged as security. They were watching everything, especially him and Roy, and there was something about their immaculate suits that made him suspicious that they'd been tailored to hide concealed weapons without anything as unsightly as spoiling the cut of the jacket.
The woman was fairly tall, blonde, and extremely good looking, again dressed like she was at a very exclusive party. Most people would have had difficulty pulling that off even with the good looks but she wore it with poise and elegance, making everything seem like it was completely natural, although he thought it likely that she spent hours achieving the look.
The man, who stood up with economy of movement, put his napkin down on the table having folded it so neatly that it looked like it was machine pressed, then stepped forward, bowed very slightly. "Danny, this is my old friend Philip Trent, we went to college together. He's... a consultant. For me, among others, although his work has been used all over. Phil is based in Boston and operates extensively there, very successfully."
Danny glanced at Roy, pondering the words, then looked back to the man. "Phil, this is Danny Hebert, the DWU representative and the architect of the proposal you improved for us."
Phil studied him intently, then held out his hand. Danny carefully shook it, gripping firmly but not too firmly. He had a pretty shrewd idea that this man was a stickler for the protocols. With a small bow of his own, he said, "It is an honor to meet you, Sir. Your improvements to our plan were masterful and have increased the overall efficiency and long term results considerably. As I'm sure you expected."
"Thank you, Mr Hebert. It is a pleasure to meet someone who fully appreciates the benefits of a detailed and well executed plan. I trust you have made no modifications to my suggestions?"
"No, that would be completely unnecessary. As far as I and my people could work out, you thought of everything. We were very impressed. Thank you for the aid."
"No thanks are necessary, but it is pleasing to hear nonetheless." Phil smiled a very small amount. "I would be fascinated to explore your work in more detail at some future point but I believe we are nearing the time when the plan must begin."
Danny checked his watch, which was now showing quarter to two. "So it would seem. Roy, I believe now would be a good time to start your speech, while I make sure there are no last minute surprises." He noticed that Phil looked slightly discomfited by the suggestion. "From outside sources, of course. My people know the plan and will stick to it." The other man relaxed slightly while the woman who was still sitting looked very slightly approving. It seemed clear to Danny that this guy was a little anal about his work and anything he was involved in.
Nodding politely to both Phil and the unnamed blonde, he smiled briefly at Roy, then headed off to somewhere private to call everyone on the radio he pulled from his belt.
Mark peeked around the corner, then pulled his head back, holding up three fingers. His team nodded, all of them getting ready. Counting down on his hand he indicated sharply and they burst around the corner, kicking the partly open door wide and whipping black cloth bags over the heads of the three people sitting in chairs in the Emergency Siren control room before any of them could do more than yelp in surprise. Pulling the bags down his people quickly tied them up, binding the prisoners to the chairs and pulling those chairs back from the consoles in the process. In under thirty seconds it was over. Looking around with satisfaction, he nodded. "Good work, everyone."
"Who the fuck are you assholes?" one of the now-anonymous people shouted from under his hood. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Our jobs," Mark laughed, "don't worry about it. You're not in any danger. We're just taking precautions, you'll be released in about half an hour. Just sit there nice and quiet and we'll all get along fine."
There was a lot of swearing and struggling, which eventually necessitated more rope.
Going into the hallway he raised his radio. "All teams, Team F leader. Objective secure."
"Team A leader. Objective secure." All the other teams reported the same over the next minute. Pleased, and rather enjoying himself, he changed channels. "Anti-Overenthusiasm Team reporting all objectives secured, sir."
Danny's somewhat annoyed voice came back. "Stop enjoying yourself so much. Thank you."
"You're welcome, sir," he laughed. "AOT out."
"Idiot." There was no heat to the word, which made him chuckle, picturing the long-suffering look on the face of the other man. Going back into the control room he looked out the window towards the bay, wishing he was high enough up to be able to see the fun that would soon start.