WE ARE THE RISEN

Happy Birthday, Erica. (Part Four.)

     As they walked side by side, she couldn't help but notice how much Duke seemed to be fidgeting. Of course, this would be only his second Spec. Op. with the A-Squad, but Snake had watched the man stare down the worst situations without breaking a sweat. Why was he so nervous now?

     Suddenly, Duke stopped, making her collide with his back.

     "Duke?" she asked. "You good?"

     He had looked panicked for a moment but was now trying to smooth over his facial expression. "Sorry, I-I think I zoned out there for a moment. I'm fine."

     Snake narrowed her eyes. "Duke, seriously, what's wrong? You've been acting off all week."

     "It's nothing, don't worry," he said, looking around.

     "Do I look like an idiot?"

     "I didn't say I thought you-" Duke started before cutting himself off. "That's not what I meant, you know that."

     "Then talk to me." She crossed her arms, ready to sit through another excuse.

     Duke looked over his shoulder as if he were looking for eavesdroppers. Apparently being satisfied with their location, he leaned in.

     "I overheard something the other day between a couple of the crew members," he whispered, "but I can't talk about it out in the open like this." He tilted his head at the sound of conversation in the room down the hallway.

     She nodded, turning to go into the empty room down the east side of the narrow hallway. "What about the meeting?"

     "Meeting's canceled," Duke said grimly. "Check your comm."

     She had forgotten that she had turned it off after last week's incident with Shifter. According to Mailman, she had gotten into the video and audio feeds of the whole ship's comm system, and used it to monitor everyone's whereabouts. Shifter claimed that she had nothing but good intentions, but it had sounded alarm bells for the Council, giving her a month's probation. It wasn't really fair if she thought about it; had anyone else done that, they would have gotten maybe a week, maximum. But, with the rumors of Shifter's past coupled with the fear of mass surveillance, Snake didn't have much room to argue in her favor.

     Sure enough, once her watch was activated, a notification popped up, marked URGENT. It was from Davis. Apparently, Wiles had gone on an emergency Op that required her presence there; she would return and hold the meeting next week.

     Snake frowned. "Great."

     "Would've told you if I thought you didn't have your comm on, you know," Duke said as he moved down the hallway, practically dragging Snake into the empty room with him. "Sorry about that."

     She shook her head dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Should've had it turned on anyway. So." She paused as he closed the door. "What's eating you?"

     Duke sighed, running his hand through his long, dark hair absentmindedly. "Remember the last Op we went on, where you got injured?"

     Snake nodded. "Thanks for having my back there, by the way. I probably would've died if you hadn't reacted so fast."

     "Yeah, well, once we got back onto the ship, I was waiting outside Med to make sure you were alive, you know? And, a few minutes after I had sat down, there were these two guys talking on the other side of the wall I was against. I don't think they realized that I was even there."

     "Anyway, they were talking about the usual, complaining about seasickness and whatnot, and then all of a sudden, one of them said something along the lines of "At least we don't have to deal with Braun."

     "Who?" Snake asked, confused.

     "Exactly!" Duke said, relief evident on his face. "I know every man and woman on the Georgia, and I don't recall one person having the first or last name of 'Braun.' I even looked through the registry to see if they were a maintenance worker or something along those lines, and nothing turned up! It's been freaking me out, but I was afraid if I said anything to Shifter or Davis, that I might get in trouble for sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, you know?" he finished in a rush.

     Snake looked at him, concerned, as he leaned back against the wall. "So you thought you'd get sent off if you ever said anything," she ventured.

     He nodded. "Then I thought, 'If I can tell anyone about this, it'd be Snake.'"

     She smiled, partly out of gratitude for her friend, and partly to calm him down. "I won't say a word, but I promise you that you aren't going crazy. Just relax, okay?"

     "Yeah, yeah, quit motherin' me," Duke mumbled, already reverting back to his old self.

     "Hard to do when I'm younger," Snake said jokingly.

     He shook his head as he got himself up off of the floor. "Let's get out of here before Mailman finds us."

     She bit back a laugh as he fumbled with the brass door handle for a moment, then started back towards the barracks with Duke following closely behind.