“Sounds like you’re having boatloads of fun,” Steve said. “Pardon the pun. I will dispatch a potential solution to your locale tonight, Colonel. I have a specific cat herder for this sort of thing. In the meantime, move on to the next objective as soon as you’re ready.”
“Yes, sir,” Hamilton said.
“Squadron out,” Steve said, closing the circuit.
Steve leaned back in his chair and chuckled for a moment.
“‘I was an interrogator at Guantanamo Bay,’” he said, imitating Hamilton’s Northeastern accent. “‘You sure you want to take this up with me? I’ve still got my waterboard.’” He chuckled again, then bellowed: “ISHAM!”
“You can use the intercom, you know,” Isham said over the intercom a second later.
“There are times I just prefer to yell,” Steve said. “Got to get some fun out of this job. Speaking of which… Tell Ernie he has ten minutes to pack. He’s going on a tropical island cruise…”
Faith set her tray down across the mess table from Sophia and leaned on the table with hands spread.
“‘Do you know who I am?’” Faith said, looking her sister in the eye angrily.
“Oh!” Sophia said, holding her hands up as if to strangle someone. “Do NOT get me started!”
“But I met Harold Chrysler!” Faith squealed. Quietly.
“Me too!” Sophia said, bouncing in her seat. “And he was so—”
“COOL!” they both squealed.
“Most of the rest sucked ass, though,” Faith said, sitting down.
“Oh, God, yeah,” Sophia said, taking a bite of mashed potatoes. “You might want to check on your troops, though. Christy Southard was last seen trying to find out where the Marine barracks were at.”
“I think I’m going to consider that an NCO issue,” Faith said, tasting a bite of dolphin. Which was not bad. “Although I’m not sure how the gunny will react. I’d say ‘Let ’em at it.’ They deserve some pussy after this mission.”
“Good God, Sis,” Sophia said, chuckling. “Being a Marine just so suits you. At least tell ’em to use a condom—” She stopped and gulped down her food. “Oh, hi…”
“Am I interrupting?” Anna Holmes asked.
“I didn’t think this was mess time for the civilians,” Faith said. “But grab a chair.”
“That means no, you’re not,” Sophia said. “How did you get in?”
“The guard on the door was a fan,” Anna said, shrugging and smiling. “And I told him I knew you and you wouldn’t mind.”
“Technically, I should ream his ass,” Faith said, taking another bite of dolphin. “But again, I’m gonna let it slide. I don’t mind and it has been one bitch of a day.”
“Fighting your way across the island must have been tough,” Anna said worriedly.
“Oh, that was a picnic,” Faith said, shrugging. “I’m starting to think I prefer liners to the land, though. Fricking infected come out of nowhere on the land. But it wasn’t like there was a heavy concentration…”
“You’re welcome,” Sophia said.
“Yeah, Sis,” Faith said. “Thanks. Go Navy. But it was the uninfected who were the pain.”
“‘I’m the Chairman of the Board of…’ some company I’ve never heard of,” Sophia said. “‘I’m the mother of…’”
“Rapunzel had it together compared to most of them,” Faith said.
“I have to keep stopping myself from calling Julianna Rapunzel,” Anna said, snorting in a ladylike fashion. “It shouldn’t be so funny.”
“Well, she’s a princess,” Faith said, ticking points off on her fingers. “And she was trapped on top of a building…”
“Oh, I got the reference,” Anna said, laughing. “We all did. Except Christy but it was a bit complicated for her. She’ll probably start laughing anywhere from a day to a week from now. May I bring up a delicate subject?”
“Go,” Faith said.
“If it’s the thing about…” Sophia said. “The compartment…”
“I read the brochure,” Anna said. “I am still…troubled.”
“Try seeing bleeding bodies in your sleep every night,” Faith said. “Although, I suspect you’ve got your own nightmares.”
“Yes,” Anna said quietly. “I do.”
“When you want to talk about it, come see me,” Faith said, taking another bite. “And, yes, there’s a reason. My da actually covered the omerta with us before we ever got into this.”
“The omerta?” Anna asked. “Like a Mafia secret?”
“There is a secret known only to people who have taken lives in violence,” Sophia said. “And if you’re not part of that group, you’re not let in on the omerta. Unless your da happens to be one of them and wants you prepared as you can be in case you have to. And even then he approaches it delicately. Short version: Know all those feelings you’ve got? To say ‘you’re not alone’ is an understatement.”
“Tell me about it,” Faith said. “There’s a reason I do what I do, Anna. Lots of reasons. And you know most of them, now. You wouldn’t have, literally couldn’t have, understood them back when you were a nice little famous actress from a liberal background. If I’d talked about them to you, you’d have called the cops. Now…you’re already in the omerta. Honestly, I like you better now that you’re part of the sisterhood. What you don’t know is how to cope with them. So…when you’re ready, we’ll talk. Or Soph, if you feel more comfortable.”
“Okay,” Anna said, still unsure. “When I’m ready I will. But I don’t think you really know what I’m thinking.”
“Bet you a dollar,” Sophia said, leaning over and whispering in her ear.
“I wish you hadn’t said that,” Anna said, grimacing.
“There’s ways to handle it, Anna,” Sophia said. “There are ways to deal with it. And the payment is when it’s your time to talk to somebody about the omerta, you bring them in on it.”
“Make it soon,” Faith said. “Otherwise it gets to be an issue. And you don’t want it to get to be an issue. ’Cause you may feel pretty billy badass from your experiences but you’re not. The good news is there are three billion zeds on this planet. And even if we can clear all the zeds, then we get brigands and pirates and raiders. War red war is the future of this world for a long time. You ain’t done by a long shot.”
“What’s the other delicate subject?” Sophia asked.
“I asked about enlisting,” Anna said. “And I was told that as a British subject, I couldn’t.”
“There, right there,” Faith said, grinning and knife-handing her. “That is the omerta. Reenlistment rates in Iraq were sometimes one hundred percent. And now you know why. Like I said, welcome to the sisterhood.”
“I hope it’s not that,” Anna said. “Really?”
“Don’t listen to her,” Sophia said, shaking her head. “My sister has her uses…”
“Opening jars for you…” Faith said.
“But she is fucking nuts,” Sophia said. “You’re not her. I’m not her. Take those feelings, add in a barely controlled vicious streak and then pump up the bass.”
“Oh, yeah,” Faith said, grinning ferally. “This is the only world where I really fit.”
“I’ll talk to the chain of command about it,” Sophia said. “There are waivers for everything. And you can work my boat until we get some determination. Which means you’ll be around two almost sane members of the sisterhood.”
“Wait,” Faith said. “You think I’m less sane than Olga?”