Forty

Within an hour the Betas were back together with two exceptions. Thirty-Seven had been badly injured and would probably be assigned to Manufacturing.

Worse… Lieutenant Beta had died saving him.

The Captain didn’t seem all that broken up about losing one of our best guys. I wasn’t sure why, until I saw who was being promoted. Forty was now Lieutenant Beta and she looked positively gleeful.

“We have two Deltas coming to join Beta… hey, no snickering guys, they’ve been here a while and they’ve earned their places,” she advised with a stern look.

Two people approached us wearing what looked like freshly dyed blue shirts. One was a boy I’d never met, no more than seventeen.

The other… it was her. The blond girl that gave me the shivers. She looked pretty unhappy about something.

The boy replaced Thirty-Seven, while the girl was made the new Forty. The new leader of our squad, when she’d been part of Beta for all of ten minutes. The rest of the squad was no happier than I was, and they made a point of making sure the captain heard about it, but he told us to suck it up.

“The former Delta lieutenant has proven herself… she’s been here for years and she’s earned her position. Just stay alive, do as you’re told, and maybe someday you’ll be good for something besides gathering trash and kissing ass,” Captain Beta told us firmly. “If I hear another word of complaint, you’ll get the box, understand?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” we shouted in unison.

“Dismissed.”

We were released just before the dinner hour. I caught up to Forty-Five, who was starting a very visible boil. “Unbelievable,” he muttered. “That little… of all the… this is disgusting.”

“Uh, yeah, I agree, but… what’s the box?”

He glanced at me. “Pray you never find out. It’s a dark metal box, basically a sensory deprivation chamber, except that it’s colder than the dark side of Horus.”

I nodded. “It seems so harsh.”

He stopped, staring at me. “Dude, what rock have you been living under? Yeah, I know you’ve been sleeping with the Cap’s girl, and life probably seems like a dream, but-”

“Wait… what?”

He rolled his eyes. “You really are dense… Forty… or Lieutenant Beta, now… she’s the Captain’s girl. Always has been. Crispin asks her to bed any newbs with brain fog to make them wanna stick around. You hadn’t realized she was playing you?”

I shook my head slowly. Even though I’d known it, I didn’t want to admit to spying on the command staff. I hadn’t wanted to believe it… even worse, the entire team had been laughing at me behind my back. They all knew I’d been used, and they’d let it happen.

I heard a low chuckle and turned to see the new Forty watching us. “Typical,” she drawled, sauntering up to us. Unlike the old Forty, this one was nearly as tall as I was, and she could look me right in the eye. “That’s all guys ever process. Sex and Fighting. And food, of course. Which reminds me… get going if you want dinner. We have training tonight.”

Forty-Five frowned. “Since when?”

“Since I took command, so watch your mouth. You marshmallows are going to learn a thing or two if you want to live. Or you could go the way of Thirty-Seven.”

She leaned in close with a faint, predatory smile. “Don’t give me a reason to make sure that happens.”

She skirted us and moved along, still chuckling. Forty-Five watched her go with a glare. “Unbelievable!”

“What?”

“Captain Beta has a rule: the time after dinner is free time unless your squad leader has something for you to do. We’re good… we wouldn’t be Betas if we weren’t, and that neck-snap you pulled is probably the only reason you’re still here. That was pretty damn impressive. But now, we have a squad leader who’s basically the spawn of the devil. I wouldn’t count on having any more free time for a while.”

It just kept getting better. Not only did I lose the girl I thought I loved more than life, the girl that was probably my only reason for living, I’d also lost my freedom. I wondered if the night could get worse, then I quickly discarded that thought.

The answer was probably yes.

* * *

I was right. Forty ran us half to death that night in a training room I’d never seen before. I saw dozens of Deltas, about ten Gammas, and our squad of Betas, but there wasn’t a single Alpha.

When she was done with us, she sent us to our rooms with orders to go straight to bed, and no screwing around. I wasn’t sure if she actually cared, or if she just wanted to boss us around. “Can she tell us what to do after lights-out?” I asked Forty-Five.

“Get used to it… the old Forty was nice. This one… your squad leader owns your soul, she can make us do anything. The only thing she can’t do is take away Pit night, the seniors are the ones that can do that.”

I had to get out of here. The feeling was stronger than ever… there was something I was supposed to be doing. If I didn’t escape, I’d end up dead before I could do it.

The next morning, we had just a few minutes for breakfast before Forty dragged us out the door. “Captain wants us to do some recon,” she said. “We have a new target… and he’s going to be tough. Let’s move, I’ll explain when we get there.”

I glanced sidelong at her. My first order had been to stick to her like glue as the new guy. I didn’t know why, but it looked like her usual mocking, condescending attitude had vanished behind a mask of laser-sharp concentration.

When we arrived, she pointed at an office tower across the street. All but the top three floors of windows were gone. “Up there… he has a cache of gold and a lot of other useful stuff. Trouble is, we have no idea what kind of security he has. It’s our job to find out. It won’t be easy, but we need those resources, one way or another.”

This wasn’t going to go well, and we knew it. She gave instructions to everyone else and sent them on their way, then faced me with a wicked grin.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten you, little man,” she said softly. “If you hadn’t gotten me in trouble with General Case, I’d be Lieutenant Beta right now, not that little waste of skin.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I kept my face blank. Something told me she wouldn’t care what I had to say.

She pointed. “That hole, right there… that’s the main entrance. I want to see what happens when someone approaches, and you’re the fastest on the team. So… go find out.”

She was sending me on a suicide mission after the team had worked all week to keep me alive. Great. I couldn’t argue; I’d have to try to run away, and that seemed like a bad idea.

I saluted, masking my expression like her order didn’t bother me at all, then slipped through debris until I was at a sharp angle to the door. Taking a breath, I bolted out and ran… I just ran, weaving like a drunk, and I heard the snap-crack of gunfire on my heels.

For a miracle, I made it back into the ruins without injury. I climbed through them and returned to Forty, who stared at me in disbelief. “How the hell…?”

I shrugged. “I did as you asked. Offhand… a frontal assault is a bad idea.”

She stared, then smiled. “You’re pretty ballsy. I like that. Okay, come this way.”

I followed, wondering what had just happened. She’d gone from hatred to admiration. What was with her?

We found another entrance. “Now, this one.”

Ah… I got it now, but did she really think I could do it twice?

Orders were orders. With a grimace, I repeated my move, though from the other direction. I felt a shot so close, it tugged at my shirt, but I made it without any blood.

Forty wasn’t so lucky.

She’d been so intent on me, she’d exposed her position. I heard a yelp from her, then saw a couple of enemies come out of the building, moving toward her.

Something inside of me shifted. She was a jerk, but she was my commanding officer, and aside from a knife, she was unarmed. Only the Alphas and seniors had guns.

I ran. I was a lot closer to her, and I barely made it to the pile ahead of them. I spun and kicked, knocking one to the ground while dodging the gun of the other, then I snap-kicked him on the chin and sent him to the ground.

Hopping off the pile, I grabbed their guns, gave one to Forty, and slung the other around me. I checked her over… there was an obvious bloody spot on her leg.

“Can you walk?” I asked.

She just stared at me. “You… came to save me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked.

For a moment, she didn’t answer. “I… just… you could have died. Why…?”

I sighed. “We can debate morality and sanity later, right now, we gotta get outta here. And… the squad.”

I looked up and spotted Forty-Five. Forty sent him a hand signal, one I sorta recognized. Fall back to regroup at the nearest Underground entrance. He nodded and vanished.

Forty stood, then stumbled, wincing as blood streamed from her leg to the ground. I dug into my bag and pulled out a long roll of fabric stashed inside, one I suspected had been put there for bandaging. I wrapped the wound and tied it off, then picked her up.

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

“Saving you,” I told her. “If you try to walk, you’ll bleed out.”

“Saving me? Or humiliating me?”

“You wanna make it back alive?” I countered.

Her head dropped. “I… honestly, sometimes I think it would be better not to,” she murmured.

I didn’t know how to answer that, so I didn’t. Sometimes, the best answer is none at all.