A young man wakes up in the desert. The wreckage of an ambulance lies smashed against a boulder and charred to a crisp. By the stitches on his head and face, he assumes he was the patient. But why was an ambulance driving through a desert? Where wa...
"Close your fist," said the nurse after pressing the ligature into his forearm.
"Do it fast," replied Norton, diverting his view towards the drip.
"Don't worry. Doctor Clausich designed this serum specifically for you. You should feel better right away."
"That ain't saying much right now. And it's already bright and early, so I shouldn't be in bed."
"I know, but we can't be throwing time down the drain while you are in critical condition. You're having a hard time sleeping because of the pain. Yesterday, you could barely rest for two hours at a time. The sooner you get cured, the sooner you'll sleep without sedation."
The nurse rubbed a cotton ball soaked in alcohol on his forearm and grabbed the catheter firmly, with the needle projected towards the freshly emerged cephalic vein just before Chambers suddenly showed up.
"Mr. Norton, Ethon's given the order to Rayforce to depart for Afghanistan immediately."
"What!"
"He's taken for granted some info we got less than seventy hours ago from our double agents in Moscow who said Landau was there. Kauffman's already filled our mujahideen allies in, and rolled out a battalion there commanded by General Reiner and Lieutenant Colonel Barthez to find him in secret. But Ethon says that the leak must be real, and that Rayforce has to move ASAP before the Russians beat us to the punch."
Norton sat up at once, throwing the catheter on the floor.
"Have you lost your fucking mind? Why didn't you tell them to pull the plug?"
"Sir, as you expressly ordered, Ethon only responds to you regarding Operation Prometheus. I have no authority to prevent him from anything."
"What are they doing now?"
"They're already embarking."
"Oh, shit."
Norton pushed the nurse aside, loosened the ligature from his arm, rose to his bare feet, and put on his trench coat and sunglasses.
"Wait, Norton," said Chambers. "I'm gonna get the wheelchair."
"There's no time," objected Norton as he grabbed a crutch and held on to Chambers. "We gotta hurry."
*****
"Come on, get in!"
Ethon knew he had to enforce his newly given title early on to be respected right off the bat. He stood at the top of the ramp of the troop transport jet as Sirin, Cetan, Garasu, Tengu, Cygnus, and Izulu, all dressed in their sharp tactical gear, passed him in single file line. The last to go up was the second in command, Sykes, aka Habrok, with whom he exchanged a long, challenging gaze. Ethon knew that, if not for him, Sykes would have been named first in command, and he'd never forgive Ethon for that.
"Sir." A worker from the aerodrome approached him. "All the airstrips are spoken for right now."
"When will we be able to take off?"
"About fifteen minutes."
Ethon accepted reluctantly. He looked straight ahead, watching a distant tactical transport aircraft taking off, when he saw his boss leaving the station, his only boss, hobbling over to him while assisted by his most loyal lackey. His sunglasses barely covered the visceral hatred his eyes projected. The white lights of the airstrip spotlights engendered in both men a homogeneous mixture between their silhouettes and their increasingly elongated shadows.
"Hey! May I ask where the fuck you're going?" yelled Norton, trying to be overheard over the engines.
"Afghanistan," replied Ethon, going down the ramp rapidly and approaching them. It was evident a storm was coming, and the last thing he wanted was for his subordinates to listen as Norton publicly scolded him. Norton pointed at the cockpit.
"Chambers, tell the pilot to turn the plane off right away."
"Yessir." Chambers stepped immediately away from them, not so much to follow his orders as to avoid becoming a collateral victim of Norton's wrath.
"And you," Norton pointed a judging finger at Ethon, as if intending to shoot him with it, "why the hell have you even thought of going to Afghanistan without matching up that fucking intel from Moscow?"
Ethon raised his back all he could, attempting to project an authority he knew he didn't have.
"We cannot allow the Soviet Union to be ahead of us."
"Didn't you stop and think it could be from some counterintelligence?"
The Rayforce kept his trunk straight to reaffirm his position.
"It's a risk we need to take."
"My ass! I didn't bother to line up the best men in the Army so you could send them all to hell. The operation's aborted, and you're relieved of command. Tell Habrok to go to Chambers' office immediately."
Norton turned around and staggered back to the facility, helped by a crutch, leaving Ethon alone and in silence on the runway, surrounded by the white light of the bulbs and the humiliating glances of his subordinates in his neck as they stepped quietly off the plane.
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