The morning was like any other morning. Boring. God-awfully, dreadfully boring. No missions, no targets, no word from command. Just the slog of the alert planes and the Combat Air Patrol.
Today, Burn joined the daily prison cell coffee cafe with her, Jackal, and Dagger. Well, she thought, I'd rather lose a few days of coffee than let him blab to the rest of the squadron. His love of coffee, apparently, surpassed his seemingly boundless hatred for her, and she didn't mind that. The chatter had gotten a lot more awkward, though.
"Wait," Burn said, raising an eyebrow. "How the hell did you get the guard to cover this up? You'd think he'd want in, too."
Nicole shrugged. "I asked him if he wanted any. He says caffeine isn't good for you."
"I had to go to the vending machine at 0300 once, and I saw him doing rounds in the hallway," Jackal scratched his head. "Does he… ever sleep?"
Nicole put a hand to her chin in thought. "Now that you've mentioned it… I've never seen him sleep."
"But he's gotta sleep, right?" Dagger stared into the mug of instant coffee. "He has to. No coffee, no Wired… well, he's probably better off not drinking that."
"I just… assume he sleeps standing up, or something." Nicole shrugged. This was starting to eat away at whatever last vestige of her sanity still existed. I am in hell, aren't I? Everything about this base is designed to fuck with me. "Alright… meeting's coming up. Hit the mouthwash by the sink, can't have coffee breath and let the others find out."
The morning meeting around the ping-pong table was the same as usual. There wasn't much to discuss, and for the most part, the pilots stood there in silence.
Zip raised an eyebrow. "Uh… did I miss a directive on dental hygiene, or something?" The smell of minty-fresh mouthwash wafted through the air.
"No, sir." Burn gave his XO a toothy grin. "The fight against gingivitis is just as important as the one against the Feds, sir!"
Zip shook his head. "I mean, it's important, but last I checked, we weren't planning on biting the Feds to death-"
Nicole crossed her arms. "You don't know me."
"Y'all are weird." Zip shrugged, shaking his head. "How did I even wind up in charge of you fuckers?"
"Well, Zip, your squadron got its shit kicked in and you retreated here. Same as the rest of us." Dagger shrugged.
"I… wasn't actually asking." Zip sighed. "Whatever. Major, this meeting's pretty much over anyways, can we end it?"
"Sure thing, XO." BASH had been too busy chuckling at the previous exchange to join in. "This meeting is adjourned, you're all dis-"
A pilot from Cygnus sprinted down the hallway, grabbing the edges of the doorframe to catch his breath before shouting, "The internet's back! The internet's back!"
One of the enlisted men, a maintainer sitting on the couch with a controller in his hand, rolled his eyes. "Oh bull-shit, Butterbars. You're still tryin' to get back at me for the shavin' cream thing, aren'tcha?"
The Lieutenant in the doorway caught his breath long enough to stammer out a reply. "Not… not fuckin' with ya, Chief. The briefing software… it fuckin' worked… internet's back!"
"Really?" The crew chief raised an eyebrow, and held up the controller. "Then why don't I try to hop on Live? Huh?"
Nicole watched as the game on the TV connected to the online servers, and within seconds, a prepubescent Magadanian voice started screaming over the speakers.
"Uhh…" Nicole's eyes widened. "I spent enough time in Magadan to know that the twelve-year-old just called your mother a whore."
"Wait," somebody said.
Nobody did.
The room exploded into chaos as everyone rushed for the nearest available computer.
The base was in chaos as people rushed to their barracks, quarters, or lockers to retrieve long-abandoned phones. Nobody had been let away from their post, but nobody seemed inclined to listen to the few who maintained discipline. Parents, children, siblings, and friends were once again in reach, and the steady drip-feed of news on the state of the war had in an instant turned into a torrential flood.
"Holy shit…" A pilot looked up from his phone. "The Feds… they're… losing?"
Bluejay looked over someone's shoulder. "No way, he stole what? That dude and I fished together!"
Nicole didn't pay attention to the chaos around her. She ran down towards her cell, the guard close by. She pulled up her cot's bedding, looking for something that wasn't there.
"Hey, uh," she turned to the guard. "What happened to my laptop?"
"Oh, that?" The guard shrugged. "Intel took that ages ago."
Nicole's face went pale.
"Ah. Okay! Ah, well, I remember you took my phone, too. Do you think I could have that back?"
The guard shuffled around uneasily. "Well… I think I'd have to ask the Lieutenant Colonel… but I guess just for a few minutes."
"Thanks," she said, as the guard handed over the glass-and-metal slate. She powered it on, punched in her passcode, and pulled up the phone.
She stared at the contacts list, and went for the keypad. She knew this number. The phone rang, and rang, and rang.
Shoulda known he wouldn't pick up. Figured he'd at least give me the benefit of the doubt-
A click from the other side. "Hey, Nicole." A familiar voice greeted her, and he didn't seem happy. "You've got some fucking nerve."