Lobo Malo

Chapter 13 - Downtime

The Theater
1623 EST

One by one, Team Peacemaker stepped into the UV tent, stripped off their gear, and stepped forward on to a rubber mat. Two of the local residents stood on either side in Tyvek painter suits, each holding a wand with a high intensity UV light. The Division agents stretched their arms out, lifting their feet one at a time to make sure the soles of their boots were properly decontaminated, and waited as the decon team swept their bodies. Once they had finished, they walked out the far end of the tent and into the settlement.

Odessa Sawyer stood near the storage area assigned for any art treasures her teams came across, watching as Lowell Ryckmen came out. She came over to him, giving him a bearhug, receiving one in turn. A low sob escaped the marksman with a shudder, causing Sawyer's eyes to widen in shock. "I heard it was bad, Lowell," she said softly.

"I could have gone my whole life without seeing something like that," Ryckmen replied shakily. "Worse than anything I saw in the sandbox."

Sawyer nodded, squeezing his shoulders. "Let's go get a drink, cowboy. Think you need a couple a lot worse than I ever did." She guided Ryckmen up the scaffolding ramp to the top, her hand surreptitiously turning off his ISAC node. The rest of the team watched him shamble up the ramp, head down to his chest.

"All right, guys," said Gregory feelingly. "Think we've earned a few days off the line. We can spend it here or back at the White House. I'll let you guys pick."

"White House," Tarvey said instantly. "Charles Douglas just decamped for there not too long ago. I wanted to pick his brain on a few things. And," he added, a blush starting to come over his face, "I'm kinda looking forward to seeing Inaya. It's fun just tinkering with stuff with her, you know? Gal would have made a hell of a SEAL."

Bundmeister smiled and shook her head. "Think I'll stick around here, let Lobo know we're on stand down for now. The White House is just not somewhere I want to be at this particular moment. At the very least, Ortega's going to get pushy about debriefs, particularly with Lowell's little 'welcome to Hell' speech going out over the airwaves."

"OK, Bunny. Kick back and relax, and I'll ping you in a few days to make sure you and Lowell are ready to get back to work."

"You and Ricky behave yourselves," said Bundmeister, gently punching Gregory's shoulder before heading up the ramps.

* * *

The White House
1835 EST

"What do you mean you're on stand down?" asked Ortega incredulously.

Gregory gave him an almost pitying look. "It's a very simple phrase, Manny, and one even a Guard guy like you should be familiar with. Hell, I wasn't ever in the military and I know what it means."

"We need you out there!"

"Yeah, and we need to not be out there for a little bit." Gregory frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not here to debate the matter with you. I'm not even here to ask permission, which you and I both know I don't need in the first place. Team Peacemaker is taking a break for a few days to get themselves right. If something big enough catches fire, I'll call in Lobo and Bunny, who will probably snap shoot either me or you when they get here. But until that happens, we're off duty. I know it will probably play merry hell with your deployments, your patrol schedules, and possibly your operational tempo. I do not give a damn." He shook his head slowly. "We need this, Manny. We have run ourselves ragged through conditions which are exceedingly adverse even for here. Our day started before dawn. Between then and now, we've trashed a missile production line, captured a bunch of machine tools, witnessed the aftermath of a chemical weapons attack, destroyed a chemical weapons plant built into a luxury hotel complex, and swore a blood oath to exterminate Ridgeway and his goon squads. We've done a full week's worth of work inside of a day. So, when I tell you we're standing down for a few days, you're just going to have to make do without us."