Equal Opportunity Mercs

Chapter 5

When Levi returned to the hotel suite, he was surprised to find the entire team sitting in the shared living space.

"Welcome back, Levi," Hector remarked. "Or should I say Corporal Zestfeldt?"

For a moment, Levi balked. Then he collected himself, and strolled over to a vacant chair, where he sat, folding one leg over the other.

"Wait a minute," Grant said. "Did you just say his name was Zesty?"

Will grinned. "Zesty!"

"I knew I'd seen you before!" Ryder exclaimed. "You've been on those soap commercials!"

Levi rolled his eyes.

"I guess ad campaigns are as good as any campaign when you need work history," Will observed.

"You could say he's a cleaner," Ryder quipped.

"Full of zest for life," Grant added.

Evelyn sighed. "Is there a reason you dragged us all out here to wait for him, Hector? Other than poking fun at his last name?"

"Yeah," Hector said. "Look, we'll heckle him more later, y'all. We have to be serious for a minute."

The other men sobered up. "Let's hear it," Ryder said.

Hector turned to Levi. "Why don't you tell them which army you served as a corporal in?"

Levi's blank expression was accentuated by the faintness of his blue eyes.

"Uhh," Will said. "Iraq? Afghanistan?"

"No," Hector said, shaking his head. "He fought for the States. Specifically in the Continental Army."

It took a minute for everyone to recall what that was.

"Continental Army," Ryder said. "In the Revolutionary fucking War?"

Levi tented his fingers.

"Holy shit," Will breathed. "Then you're like... ancient."

"He didn't stop there," Hector said. "Old boy also fought in the Civil War. For the Confederacy, until he saw how the tide was turning and jumped ship to the Union."

"For fuck's sake, Hector, stop talking," Levi snapped. "I can't tell if you're really this ignorant or just trying to goad me into talking, but congratulations. You won."

Hector grinned and folded his arms.

"So talk," Evelyn said.

Levi reclined. "I was born in the middle of the seventeen century. No, I wasn't at Salem. I joined the local militia, learned to fight. Revolutionary War, served alongside Lafayette himself. Don't know of him? You've been to a town that was named after him. Held some petty positions in the Army. Then, Civil War. I worked as a double agent for the Union."

"Uh-huh," Ryder said.

"The World Wars, and everything since, I've served in technical roles. Worked as a mercenary in between wars. I've also fought in places you think aren't real. Faerie, Avalon. Atlantis is real nice."

"Bullshit," Grant said.

"You should find yourself a hot mermaid," Levi said. "Anyway. I started consulting for PMCs in the 1980s. That more or less brings us up to today. Any more questions, or can I go to sleep now?"

"You're forgetting something," Hector said.

Levi raised an eyebrow.

"The US military has known what you are since before there was a US, basically," Hector pointed out. "How the fuck have you not been Salem'd?"

Levi's lips curled into a smirk both amused and mocking.

"He just said he fought for Lafayette," Will said. "Clearly he knew people."

Evelyn looked at Levi. "You've ingratiated yourself. Wormed yourself into the very heart of the military complex."

"Among other places," Levi said.

Hector demanded, "How'd you do it?"

"How?" Levi rolled his eyes upward. "As a reminder, I am a warlock. This is not a business of fighting wars. It's a business of winning wars. And men will turn to any tool at their disposal to make sure a win happens."

"Still don't know the difference," Will muttered.

"To your misfortune," Levi told him. "Three terms: Witch, wizard, warlock. One is a catchall term that covers most specializations—regardless of gender, by the way. One is often a researcher and practices white magicks and alchemy. And one is about gaining and wielding power through the use of black magicks."

Grant shrugged. "And all of them creepers."

"Don't be a dumbass," Hector snapped at Grant. "I enjoy mocking the shit out of this pretty boy as much as the next Coffee Drinkin' Cowboy. But this particular creeper kicked our asses six ways to Sunday. I, for one, do not wanna get turned into a frog."

Levi sighed.

"And you." Hector turned to Levi. "Reason I called this meeting was to get us all on the same page. There's no way you get to keep that kind of bullshit from the team."

"You're absolutely right," Levi drawled. "So why don't you each tell me about your work histories? I don't mind staying up to listen."

The humans all blinked.

"Uhh," Evelyn said. "None of us are centuries old and could kill someone with a thought."

"I can't kill someone with a thought," Levi returned. "Stifling a life-force with no channeling medium, or preparation for that matter, is Moynahan-levels of power. Meanwhile, you could open my throat from end to end with your switchblade in about two seconds from where you're sitting."

Evelyn folded her arms.

"Don't start a measuring contest with the only woman here," Grant said. "That's unseemly."

"Fuck off," Levi said. "Are we done?"

"Got any more secrets we didn't dig up?" Hector needled.

"Here's a secret," Levi replied. "I'm the fucking boss here. When you run off by yourselves, doing whatever you jolly well please, you endanger all of us. So let's talk about tomorrow. I assume y'all found some kind of actionable evidence as regards the spaceport."

"We've been invited to tour the place," Ryder replied.

"By whom?"

"Mikayla McGovern."

"Who the fuck is that?"

Ryder shrugged. "She's in charge of Antemyst's aerospace program, and by extension the spaceport."

Levi frowned. "Let's hold off on that until we're clear on that. Tomorrow, research. We don't have any time constraints for once, so let's take the time to do it right."

There were shared glances throughout the room.

"Copy that, Commander," Evelyn said, getting up to leave. "See you in the morning."

The others followed her example.