The Replacements- 5

I kept myself busy the next day, while I waited to hear that the Chief had returned with a possible new recruit. It almost gave me butterflies in my stomach to think of the overwhelming responsibility I had to Jason and Tiny, and now to someone I hadn't even met.

I always took my responsibilities seriously. Something my father obviously didn't do, when he abandoned me and Mom many years ago.

Since I couldn't reach the Chief, I raised my communicator to call Jason.

"Jason…"

"Ears on, Mark."

"Have you heard anything from Anderson yet? He was supposed to be back this morning, and it's getting late." I was almost beginning to wonder if something happened to the Chief en route.

"Nothing, Mark. I tried him earlier, and it almost seems like he turned his communicator off."

I winced. It really did seem suspicious. "Well, if we don't hear from him in the next half hour, we may need to go out and look for him."

"I agree with you, Mark. He should've at least brought one of us along with him, just in case." Jason sounded worried, too.

As soon as we ended the conversation, my communicator lit up. I guessed it was Tiny, with the same concerns.

"Come in, Mark."

Aha! Not Tiny…

"Yes, Chief? We were beginning to worry…"

"I'm sorry, Mark, I arrived back this morning, but I had some urgent business to attend to."

"We're just glad to hear you're ok…" I breathed a sigh of relief. I really wasn't in the mood for a rescue mission.

"Mark, I'd like for you to round up the team and meet me in my office…immediately."

Now I was even more curious. Did he bring someone with him?

I was so busy contemplating, I forgot to answer the Chief.

"Mark?"

Anderson's voice quickly snapped me back to reality.

"Oh, yeah…big ten, Sir."

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The first thing I did upon entering the Chief's office was to scan for a new face. There were no new faces, only Tiny and Jason, looking just as confused as I was.

I was almost disappointed that the Chief hadn't found what he was looking for. What would become of the team?

"I'm glad you all came so quickly." The Chief stood at his desk, leaning forward and propping himself on his hands as he spoke.

"You are all about to meet the fourth member of G Force. Come with me to the observation deck."

He walked toward the door and motioned for us to follow. I had a strange feeling in my gut that told me my life was about to change forever.

We walked over to the glass and peered down into the training area.

As I looked down, I saw the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

"This is Princess. She will be known as the Swan. She possesses great agility, explosives expertise, and is a technological genius."

"Princess? You're replacing Don with a little girl??? Why don't you give us all some Barbie dolls to play with, too? Is this a joke, Chief?" Jason scowled as he regarded the Chief skeptically.

"I dunno. She doesn't look that young to me. What is she? Sixteen, maybe?" Tiny scratched his tangled brown mane of hair and then blushed. "She's got a nice figure. Maybe the Spectran army will fall all over themselves when they see her."

I just stood there, mouth gaping. I was so shocked, I didn't know what to say.

I could really understand both Tiny and Jason's viewpoints.

I just watched her. She really was a vision, brilliant white wings and… was that a pink miniskirt? What was the Chief thinking?

She went through the paces effortlessly…a real natural. I could tell that she had ballet and martial arts experience. I wondered, how did she know all of this at such a young age? Had the Chief planned on having her join the team all along, and trained her for this?

Wait… she just threw something…was that a yoyo?

"Man, Chief…what did you give her? A toy to throw at her enemies? They'll die laughing first…" Jason was boiling inside.

I almost wondered if we should beg Don to come back. This could get nasty.

"That's not just any toy, Jason…watch…" The Chief watched his new recruit with pride in his eyes. He seemed to be sure of his decision.

I supposed as Commander, I had to back the Chief up.

We all watched in amazement as she wrapped her yoyo cord around three robot goons. She flipped over them, and then plucked the cord, sending a shockwave toward her enemies. As the wave hit the robots, they exploded in a shower of sparks.

"You've got to admit, Jase, that was pretty good." I elbowed him good naturedly, in an effort to bring him out of his funk. He just glared back at me.

The training session ended, and Anderson spoke to Princess over the loud speaker. "That was just fine, Princess. Please transmute back into your civvies and join me on the observation deck."

Anderson turned to us as we awaited her arrival. "She's been training in birdstyle all day. I wanted to have her put a sequence of her skills together to show you all this evening. That's why you didn't hear from me earlier today."

"Aha, " I nodded. "Makes perfect sense to me."

"Girl, or no girl, I'd trust her to back me up any day!" Tiny grinned.

"Down, boy!" Jason chided. "Stop letting your hormones do the talking!"

"Enough, you two!" The Chief intervened. "You are to treat her as an equal. Yes, she's a girl, but she's also your teammate, and you will maintain proper conduct around her at all times. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" We all self consciously straightened up and saluted.

It was then that she walked in.