Chapter 40

Rod's POV

I sat alone in a very uncomfortable armchair... waiting. Seargent Baker was not at all pleased with the incident that had taken place moments ago. I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen. Hearing talking outside Baker's office I took a deep breath. Great. I've not only embarrassed myself in front of my crush, but I've also gotten myself into trouble.

I sat for a couple moments more, grumbling to myself until finally the door behind me opened. I hung my head.

"So…" Baker said, taking a seat at his desk. "You're going to explain to me exactly what happened, and if it is not one hundred percent the same as what Valen and his squad said, then someone's losing their job."

I gulped.

"Uh, well," I started, nervously. "It had been a couple days sensed I'd showered, so I decided to go clean myself. When I got there, all four of them were already present, you know, giving small talk. I took a tap a good distance away from any of them and when I caught eyes with the one called Valen, he grew angry and threatened me."

I looked the Seargent in the eye, but his expression was unreadable. I continued.

"So I hurriedly looked away, afraid he was going to act on his words," I said, fiddling with my thumbs. "They began talking, and my eyes unfortunately made their way back over in their direction. Valen, catching my eye again, was then greatly offended and after exchanging a few words I ran to the locker room, pursued by the angry operative."

I sat awkwardly in the chair and shrugged. "And now I'm here."

Baker sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Look, you do me a favor and stay away from Valen, and I'll let this slide," he said, looking back at me. "I only have so much authority when it comes to trained ghosts, so if they decide that a recruit is antagonizing them, they have every right to beat you senseless. Don't give Valen an excuse…. kay?"

I nodded.

"Alright, you're free to go," the Seargent said, motioning toward the door. I got up and exited the room. Taking a deep breath, I headed to the dormitories. I suppose I could look for Nicky. It's getting late, so he can't be too far. Running up the stairs I made my way down the hall. I swear if I run into that wackjob again I'm going to lose my crap. I rounded the last corner and was about to step into the room, when a hand grabbed me from behind. My heart skipped a beat.

"Hey," a voice sounded. I jumped around in fright, to see a tall ghost standing before me.

"Uh… hi," I said, nervously.

"Hey, my name's Caps. I don't know if you remember me from earlier," he said, letting go of my shoulder. "I wanted to apologize for Valen, one of the ghost's in my squad. He has a bad temper and because of recent events, he's been on an even shorter fuse than normal."

"Oh, uh… that's okay," I said, suddenly thinking of Derk. Hey these guys mentioned his name.

"Yup, well anyways, I gotta get goin'. Our medivac is leaving," he said turning around.

"Hey wait," I said, quickly. Caps turned around. "Uh, real quick. I couldn't help, but overhear you guys."

"Yeah?"

"Um, Valen mentioned a man named Derk," I said, rubbing my hands together. "Do you guys… know him?"

"Derk? Yeah, he joined our squad not long ago," Caps said. "Why?"

"Oh, uh… just making sure he's still alive," I replied, panicking. Ugh what the heck am I saying?

"Oh yeah, Derk's fine," Caps responded. "It'll take more than the Protoss to kill him."

I nodded, feeling awkward.

"Alright well, I'd hang around and talk more, but I really need to go," he said, turning around and hurriedly shuffled down the hall. "See ya on the field soldier!"

I sighed and shook my head. Right… Back to finding Nicky.

It's been an entire day sense I've seen my friend. I've no idea where he is. And now I am sitting at a lunch table staring into space. On top of missing my best friend, I have a huge head ache, probably from all the information that had been flooding into my brain. I've now taken the second data selethicks, after surprisingly passing the test with Dr. Borgous. So at least I'm getting closer to leaving this place.

James approached from across the room, and sat down with his food.

"Hey Rod." James stretched his arms, and began filling his mouth with mashed potatoes. I simply nodded and rubbed my head. "What's up bro? You don't seem like your lively self."

I shrugged.

"Can't find Nicky," I said, resting my head on the table.

"What do ya mean?" James said, pointing. "Ain't that him right there?"

I turned around, eagerly. But instead of feeling joy, a horror stricken chill went down my back. Nicky was walking toward me… with his arm around Charlotte, the girl who had ridden on the Vulture with me. My jaw dropped. Oh no.

"Hey Rod," he said, with a smirk I hadn't seen in a long time. "Did you already give that announcement that you were talking about yesterday? I wanted to make sure I was here for it."

I gulped and looked over at James, who in turn gave me a confused look.

"Announcement?" James set his fork down and wiped his mouth with a paper towel. Not wanting to lose my cool I agreed.

"Yeah, didn't you know?" I asked, motioning Nicky to the side.

"No, what's it about?" James replied.

"Eh, you'll have to see," I said, walking away from the table.

"Where are you two going?" he questioned, looking to get up from the table.

"Oh don't worry, we'll be right back," Nicky said. Once we had gotten a good distance away, I turned frantically to Nicky.

"There's got to be something else I can do!" I said, grabbing his shoulders. "Please! Don't make m—"

"Ah ah aah, we made a deal," he responded, folding his arms.

"Well yeah, but that's not fair! I didn't know you could go ask someone you already knew?"

"Hey, ya didn't specify who it had to be," Nicky said, shrugging. I sighed, dropping my shoulders in defeat. "Look, just go do it now."

"Ugh, what the heck am I going to say?"

"I don't know, just make something up about Seargent Baker." Nicky handed me a microphone and then pushed me toward the front of the cafeteria. Pff, he even has a mic all ready for me. I approached the front, cautiously, glancing back at my friends. Nicky went back to sit with James. After James exchanged a few words with him, he smiled brightly and raised his glass toward me.

I took a deep breath and turned toward the entire room, microphone in hand. I cleared my throat and nodded toward the group.

"Excuse me everyone," I said, giving them a small wave. Soldiers from left and right turned, giving me all kinds of annoyed looks. "Sorry to bother you all, but I have a quick announcement I've been asked to make."

After pausing a moment to think, I took another deep breath.

"You see… the other day a few men had been caught fighting in the locker rooms. Seargent Baker is just concerned about the reputations of his men and asks that you all save the naked brawling until after you're dressed."

A rupture of laughter exploded from the group. I couldn't help but smile at the attention. Wow… They actually thought that was funny! Once the noise had died down, I continued.

"He also would like to keep the making out to a minimum, you know the select few of you," I said, listening to the people laugh. I smiled and nodded. Okay, there ya go Nicky. My "announcement". "Thank you for your time."

Alright that went well. I thought walking back to my table. I scanned the room excitedly; watching the troops give me courtesy nods and grins. As I was about to take a seat next to my friends, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I stiffened.

"So… I'm concerned huh?" Baker's voice sounded from behind. I quickly pointed to Nicky.

"He made me do it," I said, getting a nasty look from my friend.

"You two will have to come along with me," Baker said, leading us out of the cafeteria. I glanced back at James, who in turn gave me a thumbs up, clearly not understanding my circumstance. He still thought I was supposed to give the announcement.

Baker pointed to the two chairs opposite his desk.

"Take a seat boys," Baker said, sitting down as well. We complied. "Alright, you have five minutes. Start talking."

Nicky gulped. So I spoke up.

"Well… The other day Nicky challenged me to a dare..." I said, glancing at my friend. "It all started out with me making fun of him. I told him he couldn't get a girlfriend."

"To which I objected. I told him that if by today I had a girlfriend, he had to give a fake announcement." Nicky twiddled his thumbs and stared at the ground.

Seargent Baker sighed. "Still in high school are we?"

Both me and Nicky remained silent.

"You two better be great full I am a patient man." Baker began writing something down on a piece of paper. "But this will not go unpunished. You both will be spending the night with Dr. Egs and Bakun. They need a couple extra hands down in the lab."

I let out a sigh of relief. And I thought we were going to be strung up and killed. Baker looked up, clearly hearing me relax.

"Heh, don't get excited. Sometimes working with those two is more dangerous than being on the field," he said, handing us a couple signed documents. "This is your protective gear. Lose them and our mad scientists can do whatever they want with you."

I took the parchment and read through some of the writing. It was gibberish to me.

"I'd keep a close eye on your papers. Egs and Bakun are very good at getting rid of them." Baker opened the door and pushed us out of his room. "The laboratory is on the very bottom floor of this building. Now get moving!"

I jumped, at the sudden raise in tone. Grabbing Nicky, I led the way down the hall.

Haha! Finally! YES! This chapter has given me soooooo much grief! IT'S FINALLY HERE! Please enjoy, even though its crap. Like I've said many times in the past: Next one will be better.

P.S. Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY! (for those of you in America)