28
“You ready to get him?” Rev asked.
“Yeah, I guess. You sure he’ll come?” Rice asked.
“No, not really. But I think he will. He’ll want to see what’s up, and, arrogant asshole that he is, he’ll figure he can handle anything that happens.”
She didn’t seem so sure, but she nodded her head and left the small conference room.
“You really think he’ll be here?” Bob asked.
“Fifty-fifty. But if he doesn’t come, I’ll think of something else.”
“And if things don’t go as planned? He can be, well, you know,” Toshi said. He wasn’t completely on board with this but was there to support Rev.
And Rev understood some of his reticence. Toshi was a Mezame Naval Infantryman, and like Bob, had no overt augments. If things got ugly, he’d be outmatched. Which made it all the more meaningful to Rev that he was there.
“OK, I think we’re ready,” Rev said, checking the room one more time. They’d moved the conference table aside and placed four chairs in a row facing a fifth chair. It looked a little like an interrogation was being set up, though definitely it wasn’t, but they didn’t have many options for this.
“Does anyone else know about this?”
Rev shook his head. “Not exactly, but I got tacit approval earlier.”
That’s stretching the truth just a bit.
It wasn’t a lie, and he could prove that, but still, it wasn’t exactly as he’d inferred.
“Let’s get ready,” Rev said.
The three took their seats. Now it was a waiting game. Either this would go down as planned or not, and Rev was anxious to see what was going to happen.
They sat in silence for a few moments before Toshi said, “I can’t believe you sprang for a new chair.”
“All in the cause of the mission, Tosh. Besides, what else am I going to do with all those extra CoH credits sitting in my account? Hard to spend it while we’re on alert.”
“What did it put you back, anyway?”
“Nine-sixty-nine.”
“Shit? That much? You really are a dedicated son of a bitch.”
“We are what we are,” Rev said with a smile.
I just hope it wasn’t wasted.
The time ticked away as the three sat waiting. After twenty-five minutes, Rev thought it was a bust. He’d wait for Rice to confirm it, but it wasn’t looking good.
Four minutes later, Rice opened the door and stuck her head in.
Ah, hell. Back to the drawing board.
But then she stepped inside and motioned. Over Sergeant Lincoln Kvat walked into the room. He hesitated just the slightest bit as he spotted the three but continued until he was standing in front of them. Rice squeezed past and took the fourth seat.
“What the fuck is this?” Kvat asked, hands on his hips.
Bob was on deck. “As you are well aware, there’s been tension between you and Rev here. As fellow staff sergeants, we want to see if there is some way we can even things out a bit.”
“I’m an over-sergeant. You’re a who knows what color thing. Gant is a Mezzie . . . hell, I don’t know what. Pelletier and Unifora are the only two staff sergeants I see here.”
OK, so he’s going to play asshole. Like I expected.
“Regardless, we need to work together, so we were hoping you’d sit down with us and discuss what we can do to get both of you to an even playing field without bringing in anyone higher up.”
Kvat stood there for a long moment, and Rev could see the gears turning. He was assuredly weighing his options and trying to determine which one would give him the best advantage.
He finally turned to look at the chair set up for him. “Nah, I think not. You can play your touchy-feely kumbaya-whatever with someone else. If Pelletier stays out of my way, I’ll let him be.”
He turned to stalk out when Rev said in a low voice, “I told you he’d be too chicken to do this.”
Rev knew that might be too obvious, but the karnan stopped. He stood facing the door for a good ten seconds, then, almost as if he really didn’t want to, asked, “And why would I be afraid of you?”
“Because there’re four of us. You’re a soldier. You understand the advantages of picking your terrain. You sit down, and you’ve given up your advantage, and, like I said, there’re four of us.”
Kvat slowly turned around, the sneer on his face looking awfully forced. “I wouldn’t be afraid of ten of you,” he said, pushing up a cuff so that the metal bars embedded in his arms were visible. “You remember last time you challenged me, Pelletier?”
It was you who challenged me, asshole.
But all Rev did was flip a hand to indicate the chair, his eyebrows raised. This was a challenge.
Kvat stared at Rev, but finally, as if it were no big deal, he took the seat, then said, “OK, you knew I would stay to listen to your spiel.”
Rev nodded. “You got me by using my ego against me. Bravo to you. Know your enemy, as Sun Tzu kept telling us. But, I’m not the only one with an ego here.”
Kvat actually laughed at that. “Touché, Pelletier. I guess you aren’t as dumb as you look.”
Rev wasn’t going to rise to any taunting.
“So, what are we going to do now? Sing songs and pontificate on the brotherhood of man. Woman, too, so don’t get all human resources on me,” he said to Rice.
“Well, now we are going to leave,” Rev said.
“What?” For the first time, the karnan seemed confused.
“We’re leaving. As for you, you can leave if you want, or you can sit here. Frankly, I don’t care.”
“You’re crazy. I’ve had enough of this bullshit. I’m out of here.” The karnan started to get out of the chair, but something held him back. “What the fuck?”
He tried to stand again, with the same result. “What did you do to me, yootie?”
“To you? Nothing. Oh, I played to your ego, but I haven’t done anything to you, actually. I promised Gamay that I wouldn’t.”
“Bullshit,” Kvat yelled, his face getting red. “Why can’t I get up then?”
Beside him, Rice started snickering, then had to turn her head. The plan had been for the four of them to act serious, but seeing the karnan struggle was funnier than Rev had imagined it would be. He had to squash his own laughter.
“I didn’t do anything to you. Your overalls, though, I did do something to them. Molecular bonding. I’m sure you’ve heard of that. I used Wokefield Platinum. I always did say you Mad Dogs make really good products. Your bonders are the best, and Wokefield is at the top of the heap. Really the best.”
A look of horror took over Kvat’s face as he realized what Rev was saying.
“That’s right. The Platinum doesn’t work on organic substances, so your body is safe. I’d be a little bit wary of those tin bars you’ve got running through your body. I’d hate to see those, you know, get stuck to that chair.”
“You fucking squirmy!” Kvat screamed, spittle coming out of his mouth.
“And, like you were bragging the other day, your singlets, or whatever you call them, they’re pretty tough. So tough that you don’t want to use Home Guard issue. Tough or not, though, we know you’re a big strong guy, and you can probably break through them, but I’ve got to ask. Is it true you like to go commando?”
“You son-of-a-bitch, Pelletier,” he said, but in a voice bordering on defeat. He took a deep breath, then said, “Ha-fucking-ha. You got me. So, can you just give me the debonder now?”
“I don’t know,” Rev said, making a show of looking at the other three as if for advice. “I guess you didn’t listen to my friend here close enough. What was it he said?”
He turned to Bob. It was his turn to speak. “I said we had to even the playing field. I said we should try to even things out.”
Rev had feared using the word “even” would blow the plan, but it was something he just had to ask Bob to say, making the cut that much deeper.
“I’m not sure we’re really quite even. You got me in front of thirty or forty people. I only see four here. No, I don’t think you get the debonder,” Rev told him.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Like I asked, do you go commando?”
Kvat’s eyes got big. “You want me to run back to our billets naked?”
“You can walk if you like.”
“You asshole,” he said, but this time totally in defeat.
Nudity wasn’t a big issue with most people, especially in the close confines of the military. When people pissed, shit, and showered in the field, not much was left to the imagination. But him running back through the company area stark naked—and Rev made sure that the conference room was where there was no back way to their cells—would let everyone know that something was up, and Kvat had been had. They might not know by who, but they would know it was someone. It was the embarrassment that Rev wanted.
Rev was tempted to push further, but he’d won. No use going overboard.
“And with that, we’ll be leaving you. Have a great day.”
“Really, Rev. You won. You got me back. So, please, give me the debonder,” Kvat pleaded.
Rev was tempted for a moment until Rice said, “Don’t even think about it, Rev. Harden up.”
She’s right. Even Lieutenant Vreemish said he needed a lesson. It’ll be good for him.
He led the other three out the door and closed it. They managed to hold it together until then, and they broke up into laughter and back-slapping.
“I never thought it would work,” Bob said.
“Yeah, no thanks to you. Two ‘evens,’ not just one?”
“I realized that when I said the second one. I was sure he’d figure it out. Makes it sweeter, though, right?”
“Come on. We’ve got to watch.”
Rev led them to the adjoining room where a monitor had been set up. The bonder wouldn’t bond to the karnan’s flesh, but his warning about the bars running through and outside his body was a valid one. If he touched one of those to the affected parts of the chair, he could be stuck for real, and they’d have to go in and free him. Or he would. He wasn’t going to risk the other three if Kvat was in a fighting mood.
And after Kvat left, they had to go in and retrieve the chair. With the MDS singlet attached, it was good for only the trash. But Rev had bought it, so he couldn’t be accused of destruction of government property. Well, the singlet, but he didn’t think the MDS government was going to try and press charges. It wouldn’t be just Kvat who would be embarrassed if it all came to light.
“You think he’s going to come after you?” Toshi asked as they watched to see what the karnan would do.
“No, I don’t. First, the Mad Dogs have their own sense of honor. I’ll give them that. He knows he deserves this. Second, if he does, people are going to put two and two together. They’ll wonder if it was me who got him to streak the company area, but if he comes back at me, they’ll know I did. We did.”
“I hope you’re right.”
They only had to watch for a couple of minutes. Kvat had made up his mind. With a grunt, he tore right through the singlet, an impressive feat, especially as he didn’t let his arms or legs touch the chair. He stood there regretfully for a moment, looking back at his destroyed clothing.
He walked to the door and stood facing it. Finally, with a sigh, he opened it and ran out. They could hear his footsteps outside their door as he ran past and headed for berthing.
For the record, he was going commando.
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