Chapter 17 part 5

"What the holy hell do you think old Drusus is up to, McGill?" Carlos asked me loudly.

Everyone looked at me. They'd seen my special trip to the observation tower, my day off from exercises and my trips to the blue level. They knew something odd was going on with me, but they didn't know what it was. In particular, Carlos was going mad with curiosity.

"Carlos is right," said Kivi, jumping into the pack. She'd taken every opportunity to snipe at me since our break-up. She wasn't too fond of Natasha, either. "You know something. I want to hear it. We've got a right to know."

"No," I told them both, shaking my head, "you're in Varus, remember? None of us have rights of any kind. But it doesn't matter because I don't know where we're going. Even if I did, I wouldn't be at liberty to say."

"You're such a kiss-up all of a sudden," Carlos complained. "You were such a tough-guy down in the steel tunnels. What did they do to you? Do you feel bad inside now?"

I actually did feel rather off-balance, but I wasn't going to admit it to him. I knew that Carlos and the rest were half-joking and half-serious trying to browbeat information out of me. I struggled not to get angry with them.

"I'm fine," I said. "But it's time for you to shut up unless you want a fresh lesson in hand-to-hand."

I'd started off untrained, but over the last six months I'd become known as one of the best with primitive weapons. Right now I didn't feel good, but they didn't know that. No one wanted to challenge me after a grueling day on the field. They broke up their circle and wandered off grumbling.

All of them, that was, except for Natasha. She lingered and stared at me with narrowed eyes.
"What? Are you suspecting the worst, too?" I asked her.

"You know something," she said. "I can tell that. We all can. You really don't want to tell me?"

I wanted to all of a sudden. "What's in it for me?" I asked.

She smirked and gave me a small kiss. I reached for more, and she pushed me back.

"I'm not Kivi," she said.

I laughed. "Okay, sorry. I can't tell you anything, but I suspect we'll all find out very soon."

We left it at that and headed for our bunks. I'd been asleep for less than an hour when a whooping alarm went off. It was the emergency klaxons. Bewildered and half asleep, I tumbled out onto the steel deck, scrambling with my kit.

All around me, recruits were doing the same.

"Is the ship under attack?" Kivi asked.