Memories and Batteries
Disclaimer: Same as before...
From Conrad's Notebook: Six days have passed since being assigned to work with Agent Todd from the Secret Service here at the Pit.
Almost a month ago a boy was found in the swamps not far from the Pit, having been beaten and thrown out of a jet by none other than Magneto. Of course this was right after Mystique had administered a savage beating. If I ever get the chance to put a knife into the woman's gut I will take it.
Violence against children is abhorrent. In my own case I at least meted out violence because it was in war. I digress, however, as I am as likely to be judged for my own actions at the Gates of Saint Peter when my time comes.
Tolansky seems to be making progress, that much is clear to me. He has clearly bonded with Sergeant Marvin Hinton, a.k.a. Roadblock and in my assessment it is the boy's best hope. Every one of my daily reports to my team leader at ACME states as much.
There also appear to be other mutants here at the Pit. For one, the two children of Shipwreck that I've seen so far appear to be mutants. This environment is best for Todd, since he has people close to his own age to bond with...
The Pit, Officer's Quarters
Caitlin Todd and Conrad Hart
19 February 2002, 0655
Kate stepped out of her bedroom, to the small kitchen/dining area where she noticed Conrad was busily writing something in a medium sized leather bound notebook with graph-lined pages. Beside the notebook were three photos next to Conrad's right hand, clutching a pen as he wrote in the notebook's pages.
She was careful to come up from the right side, since she knew his hearing came and went in his left ear.
"Conrad?" Kate said softly.
The ex-Legionnaire turned and said, "Yes?"
"Want to chance going to breakfast, or should we break into our food supply?" Kate asked.
"I had a look at the breakfast menu when I went out for a run earlier." Conrad replied, "Are you partial to green eggs and ham?"
"No way..." Kate groaned.
"Yes way." Conrad replied, with a snicker.
"You're making this up." Kate accused.
"I don't have that good of an imagination." Conrad countered.
"As in actually green eggs and ham?" Kate asked, incredulous.
"Todd was lugging around what appeared to be industrial sized plastic containers of green food coloring." Conrad replied, "And under BA's supervision to boot."
"Ugh..." Kate replied, "That settles it, I think a nice breakfast in the apartment is in order."
"My sentiments exactly." Conrad said as he rose to head over to the coffee pot and took out a filter and put some coffee grounds into it, "Not sure how strong you like your coffee."
"Surprise me." Kate replied as she opened the refrigerator, rummaging around inside for a bag of bagels, some cream cheese and some sliced smoked salmon.
"Suit yourself." Conrad replied as he put water into the coffee pot and took out two mugs and two plates.
Kate offered, "Bagel?"
"Sure, thanks." Conrad replied.
Kate sliced two bagels and stuck them into the toaster as the coffee brewed. Once the bagels and coffee were done Conrad handed Kate a mug before filling his own mug with coffee as Kate handed him a plate with a bagel on it.
After breakfast was ready they walked back to the dining room table and began to eat. As they did so Kate's glance moved to the three photographs near Conrad's notebook. Conrad noticed as well.
"I didn't mean to be nosy…" Kate replied.
"It's quite alright, they're personal photos, not private ones." Conrad replied. He gathered the three photos, each of them 3.5" by 5" and laminated, and handed them to Kate.
Kate wiped her fingers on a napkin before handling the photo.
The first photo was of Conrad and eight other men clad in camouflage uniforms. Four of the men wore black kepis with the gold seven flame grenade insignia of the French Foreign Legion. The other five wore white kepis, indicating lower ranking Legionnaires. They carried weapons and were posed in front of three French armored cars.
Conrad stood up and standing to Kate's left side, and slightly behind her he began to point to the different men in the picture.
"I could tell you something about each of the men in this photo." Conrad replied, "We were selected from units all over the Legion to form these advisory teams."
He pointed to a lean bodied, almost gaunt fellow with a black mustache, in the center of the picture "That was Capitaine Bernard Depuis from France, our team leader, whom our unit was named after. The man was quite possibly the biggest triathlon fanatic I'd met, always wore the biggest GPS watch."
His finger moved to the man's right, landing on a fellow with a graying near handlebar type mustache, "That's Sergent-Chef Hans Van Pelt, from the Netherlands. He was a hard as nails sort, widely rumored to have never smiled at his own mother. Always smelled of cheap cologne and cigarettes when in garrison."
Kate, despite herself, couldn't help but chuckle at the remark, then she stopped herself. Aside from Conrad the other eight men in that picture are dead. Way to go, Kate.
As if sensing her mortification Conrad replied, "It's quite alright. That was often something we made jokes about anyway, the cheap cologne and Galouise brand cigarettes stench being his trademark."
Conrad's index finger moved to Van Pelt's right, it settled on a tall, wiry man with a slightly grown in flat top haircut just slightly visible beneath the brim of his black kepi, "Sergent Ian Laposte, from the United Kingdom. He was an ex-corrections officer at Borstal prison who had undergone a nasty divorce before joining the Legion. He was always regarded as the complete legionnaire, a professional soldier through and through. Didn't have the best regard for his ex-wife but loved his two daughters like nothing else."
"I can't think of very many divorced people who have much regard for their exes." Kate commented.
Conrad's index finger moved to Depuis' immediate left, landing on a stocky man in a black kepis. His face was almost cherubic in its appearance. "Sergent Henri Leboulletier, from France. We always called him 'Baby Face' because he looked so damn young. He was from the Legion's 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment, a formation that rides about in wheeled armored personnel carriers."
"I was wondering why he looks on the round shaped side." Kate replied.
Kate recognized Conrad standing on the extreme left of Depuis, and followed the movement of his index finger down to a black man wearing a white kepis. The man was on the leaner side of the fence.
"That's Caporal Putman Livingston, from the British Virgin Islands we called 'Chocolat'. He used to be a tennis instructor at a resort before he left over a woman. He had a year left on his contract." Conrad replied sadly.
"Did he ever get the chance to tell her anything?" Kate asked.
"Honestly I don't know, but I do have the last letter he wrote to her. He wanted me to deliver it if he didn't make it." Conrad replied.
"Did you deliver it?" Kate asked.
"I haven't yet. I intend to do so, but I'm just not sure what to say. I do want to honor Putman's last request." Conrad replied.
Conrad's index finger moved to Putman's right, settling on a tanned Latin fellow with a slight stubble on his face. "Legionnaire Lorenzo Rocha, from Brazil. We called him RR or Renzo. He taught me some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu."
"I'm sure he would've appreciated that triangle choke you pulled off yesterday." Kate replied.
"He actually pulled that maneuver off on me several times." Conrad chuckled, "When we'd train in hand to hand combat."
Conrad's finger moved to Rocha's right, where a stocky fellow with a nearly shaved head stood.
"Legionnaire Radoslav 'Ski the Pole' Wiersbowski, from Poland. We also called him 'Ski Pole'. He never really spoke much, which led people to sometimes think he wasn't an especially intelligent sort." Conrad replied, before adding with a wry grin, "Off duty he was always challenging any comers to a game of chess where he often trounced said comers."
"The hidden chess champion, nice." Kate commented.
"He always had a small travel chess set on him." Conrad replied, "and he'd always have it out next to the radio set he would be manning."
Conrad's finger slid to the right, settling on a lean, suntanned fellow with a mustache. "Legionnaire Leon Peralta, from Argentina, rounded out our team. He was an adept scrounger, capable of finding damn near anything."
Kate saw a slightly ironic grin on Conrad's face as he spoke again, "I still remember the trip to Africa, when our aircraft was delayed. We were stuck out on a runway in Sigonella, sitting under an awning. Laposte grumbled about how he could've used a drink then I saw Peralta grin suddenly and excuse himself. A half hour later he came trotting back with nine bottles of cold Kronenberg. God knows where he managed to find them."
With a sigh Conrad intoned, "Resquiescant In Pace."
My God. Kate thought before she replied, "I'm so sorry."
"You didn't kill any of them, but I do appreciate your sympathy." Conrad replied gently.
"I can't imagine how you must feel." Kate replied softly, "There are quite a few people in the Secret Service that are almost family to me."
"In many ways rank and nationality among my teammates in Commando Depuis was transcended in ways bigger Legion formations never did." Conrad replied, "Almost all adviser teams have similar stories."
"So why did you join?" Kate asked.
"You mean the adviser teams? I volunteered because where else does a relatively junior man get such an opportunity to lead forces many times larger than a Caporal-Chef is generally entrusted." Conrad replied.
"No, I mean the French Foreign Legion." Kate replied.
"When I was enlisting in Fort de Nogent, in Paris, the cadre showed us a short video. In it one recruit asks another his reason for enlisting, and the second recruit pulls a knife and stabs him to death. The video concluded with a warning to respect the privacy of ones mates." Conrad replied, "It educated recruits, even if most of us didn't speak French at the time, that it's best not to inquire too deeply on a fellow legionnaire's past unless the man volunteers the information."
Ok. The past is definitely a sore subject for this guy. Kate thought to herself. Better to switch topics.
"Your family?" Kate remarked at the second photograph.
"Yes."
Kate looked at the photo, recognizing a younger Conrad straightaway. The family was wearing their Sunday best, suits and ties for the men and dresses for the women. The photo showed Conrad was standing beside a dark haired, stocky middle aged man with graying black hair and a black suit, a small gold US Navy SEAL trident was visible on the man's right lapel.
To the man's left was a slender woman with jet black hair in a white and blue sundress. And to the woman's right was a tall, lean bodied youth with dark brown hair in a gray suit. To Conrad's left side stood a shorter boy who stood to the right of an old woman in a floral print dress. A large German Shepherd, sitting up between Conrad's mother and father finished the picture.
Conrad's finger slid to the stocky middle aged man first, "We took this photo in Easter of my senior year of high school. That's my Dad. He was a Navy SEAL in Vietnam and served as a Navy Diver after the Vietnam War. He retired as the Master Diver of the Mayport Dive Locker while I was still in the Legion."
Conrad pointed out his mother next, "That's my Mom. She's an ER physician by trade. I remember she was actually considering joining the Navy as a physician before I was born. The running joke in the family is that Dad didn't want to salute her."
Kate couldn't help but laugh.
Conrad's finger slid to the tall, lean bodied boy, "That's my brother, Michael. He's five years younger than me and from his last letter he's working in the corporate world for Anheuser Busch. He's an avid outdoorsman, surfer, and skier."
"Didn't know you could ski in Florida." Kate quipped.
"He works in New York now, from the last email I got from him." Conrad replied.
His finger slid over to the boy, about ten years old, "My younger brother, David. Like you he's the baby of the family."
"Hey!" Kate protested.
Conrad chuckled, "I thought that would get a rise out of you."
Kate fixed him with a mock glare.
Conrad pointed to the old woman, "My grandmother. She immigrated from France in 1957 and she worked as a journalist till she retired in the 1980s."
"Your grandfather was ok with her working outside the house?" Kate asked, "That's unusual for the 1950s."
"She was widowed when my grandfather didn't return from Indochina." Conrad replied.
She saw Conrad slide the third photo to her. This one was a black and white photograph of a dark haired man wearing a beret and the three toned camouflage uniform of the French airborne forces. Slung over his right shoulder was a MAT-49 submachine gun.
"My grandfather on my mother's side, Capitaine Emil Renard." Conrad replied.
"Handsome fellow." Kate remarked.
"He was part of the GCMA in the 1950s." Conrad replied.
"GCMA?" Kate asked.
"It's a French acronym that stands for Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés," Conrad replied, before adding, "Roughly translates as Composite Airborne Commando Group. Basically they were French military personnel sent into the hills and deltas to train and arm local tribes against the Viet Minh."
"He was killed in action?"
"Not that simple." Conrad replied, a stony growl in his voice, "After the 1954 battle of Dien Bien Phu several of these men, stranded in the northern regions of Vietnam, were simply abandoned. With dwindling ammunition and fading radios they were condemned to slow deaths as Communist hunter-killer teams closed in."
Conrad took a deep breath before continuing, "I recall hearing a story of a pilot flying along the border with Vietnam two years after Dien Bien Phu hearing the radio call of a French soldier from the jungle below cursing them for not dropping ammunition so he could die like a man."
Kate sat in stunned silence as Conrad continued, "Grand-mère never forgot the loss, nor the betrayal of the French government. It's why she left France behind with my mother and uncles in tow."
Like grandfather like grandson. Kate thought as she mulled over Conrad's last tour in the French Foreign Legion. The French advisor teams working with local forces in different African countries helped blunt several COBRA actions, but they also took some losses.
The rest of breakfast passed in a relatively peaceful silence. And afterward Kate went to her room, intending to listen to her portable CD player for a couple of minutes before a tour of the G.I. Joe motorpool.
She went to listen to the compilation CD that Tim had made for her as an early Valentine's Day gift only to find her CD player wasn't working. She checked the battery compartment only to find it empty.
What the heck? Where did my batteries go? Kate thought.
The Pit, Headquarters Building
Roadblock, Beach Head, Cross Country
19 February 2002, 0845
"Roadblock!" Beach Head said as he stomped out of his office, heading over to his fellow Joe in a manner just slightly reminscent of an enraged grizzly bear.
"What's going on Beach Head?" Roadblock asked.
"I need to talk to you...now!" Beach Head glowered.
"I can see that without a doubt. But what is it you want to talk to me about?" Roadblock replied.
"It's that kid of yours." Beach Head began, without preamble, "He's a menace. A menace I tell you!"
"What has the kid done?" Roadblock asked.
"I saw him near my CD player. Do you know what he did!?" Beach Head demanded.
"He switched your CDs from the Spice Girls to Metallica?" Roadblock quipped.
"Ha ha ha ha." Beach Head snapped, "No, he didn't. He swiped the batteries from it. And from a flashlight as well as an electric pencil sharpener."
"Why would he take batteries?" Roadblock said, brow furrowing with confusion.
"Because he's a menace, that's why!" Beach Head countered, "A menace that should be locked away!"
"Look, Beach Head, the boy needs to be with someone who will care for him and guide him." Roadblock replied, "Someone who will accept him for who he is. Someone who will keep an eye on him every second of the day."
"He's still a menace!" Beach Head snapped, arms snapping into the air.
"Hey guys..." Cross Country began as he headed their way, his Game Boy held in his left hand, "Have you seen Mainframe or Dial Tone around? My Game Boy's busted."
"Check the batteries." Beach Head grumbled.
"That can't be. I just put new ones in yesterday." Cross Country replied, then snapped the compartment open, finding it empty, "Hey, you're right..."
"I'll have a talk with the kid." Roadblock replied, before walking back to their quarters.
The Pit, Officer's Quarters
Roadblock, Conrad, Kate, and Toad
19 February 2002, 0904
Roadblock headed back to the quarters he and Todd shared, running into Conrad and Kate who had just returned from a tour of the G.I. Joe motor pool.
As Roadblock hurried past them, Conrad turned to Kate and said, "Is it just me or was Roadblock unusually terse just now."
"It wasn't." Kate replied, "I noticed it too."
Both agents promptly followed Roadblock into the building, up the stairs and to the apartment he and Todd shared. The trio got inside and to Todd's room just as the boy was putting something into one of the drawers on his dresser.
"Todd, I want to talk to you." Roadblock began.
"Okay." Todd replied.
"What did you put in your drawer?" Roadblock replied.
"This drawer?" Todd asked.
"Yes, that drawer." Roadblock replied, pointing at it.
Todd complied and Roadblock couldn't believe his eyes. And neither could Conrad or Kate. The drawer was filled to capacity with batteries of various kinds.
"Is this where you've been putting the batteries you've been stealing?" Roadblock asked.
"I didn't steal them," Todd protested, "I borrowed them."
"Oh, so you borrow the batteries and stick them in this drawer?" Roadblock replied.
"No," Todd replied. As he spoke he pulled a shoe box from under his bed, crammed to capacity with batteries. He did so again and again. Then he opened his closet which had several more shoe boxes full of batteries.
"There must be hundreds of batteries in this room." Roadblock commented.
"More like thousands, and from all over the base. Impressive scrounging." Conrad replied. Peralta would've turned green with envy at that feat.
Roadblock shot a glare at Conrad.
"Five thousand." Todd said proudly.
"You borrowed five thousand batteries from all around this base?" Roadblock asked.
"Give or take a few dozen." Todd replied.
"Todd, you and I need to have a little talk, I think." Roadblock said sternly, "Namely about why you're taking batteries from all over the base and storing them in your room?"
"Because you and Psyche-Out talked to me about taking money and you told me it was bad for me to take money," Todd fidgeted, "You told me not to do it anymore and I haven't! I've been real good about that!"
"I see…" Roadblock began.
"I haven't taken any money, Roadblock! I swear! Not one dime!"
"Yes Todd, I know." Roadblock replied.
"No money. None."
"I believe you."
"Zero. Nada. Zip…"
"Ok, I get the message. Now why is it bad to steal money?"
"Because...because you don't need me to steal money for you. You can take care of me without me stealing money." Todd replied, regarding Roadblock with wide eyes.
"I see…" Roadblock replied, "Let me get this straight, you don't take money because I don't need money. But you do take batteries?"
"Right! You don't need money!" Todd replied, before grabbing a handful of batteries from his pocket and held them up before Roadblock, as if they were an offering, "You need batteries!"
What a crazy kid. Kate thought.
"Okay…" Roadblock began, head in his hands, "I see your logic, flawed as it is. Just out of curiousity...why do I need 5000 batteries?"
"Because you can be prepared when disaster strikes!" Todd replied, "There are horrible dangers in this world! A typhoon could hit us at any moment! What if there's a typhoon or something?"
"Oh boy," Roadblock groaned, "Todd, I think it's time for you and I to see Psyche-Out. I think we should have another nice little chat."
"I did something bad, didn't I?" Todd said, crestfallen.
"Oh yeah," Roadblock sighed, "And a bit disturbing. Let's go have a nice talk, shall we?"
"Do you want me to bring the batteries?" Todd asked as they left.
"No, I think we'll leave the batteries here for now." Roadblock replied.
"I put some in my pocket just in case." Todd replied.
"That's nice." Roadblock said.
Kate took the time to mouth the words, "Psyche-Out?"
"Our base psychologist." Roadblock replied.
Note to self, get Psyche-Out to describe some of his sessions with Todd, at least in general terms. Kate thought.
To Be Continued...