petty officer dubbed as the green door.
The young man picked up the phone and waited a few seconds.It rang audibly through the handset; an answer came after three rings.
“Sir, I have them both at the green door and—”
The yelling from the obnoxiously loud handset blasted across the passageway.
“Yes, sir. He insists that they both—yes, sir.”
After replacing the handset the scorned petty officer said, “A SCIF escort will be here shortly, sir. Sorry to leave you here in the passageway but I’ll need to be on watch in two hours and I haven’t slept in twenty-four.”
“No problem, hit the rack and have a good watch,” Kil said, mostly to send the young man off on a positive note.
“Aye, aye, sir. Thanks.”
Just as the man left their field of view, Saien asked, “What’s aye, aye mean?”
“It means . . .”
The green door flew open and out of it sprang an older man wearing thick birth-control glasses, tennis shoes, and a blue set of coveralls with navy commander rank on his collar. His nametape said Monday .
I hate Mondays, Kil thought.
The man approached Kil nearly toe to toe and seemed to scan him with his massive convex lenses.
“What’s this I hear about you insisting your foreign national friend come with you into my SCIF for mission briefing?”
“Sir, Admiral Goettleman allowed me one partner from the USS George Washington for this mission. I chose Saien and if I’m going to potentially trust my life to him, I damn sure want him to know the score. Besides, I’m going to tell him what you tell me anyway, so what’s the difference?”
Monday chewed on that for a second. “I figured you’d say that. I was ordered by Captain Larsen to read you and your man into what we are up against. Knowing what you are about to be exposed to, I wanted to see if I could somehow persuade you to come here alone. It just goes against my grain having him inside the SCIF. I’m sure you understand.”
“Saien, would you mind stepping around the corner for a minute?”
“Sure, Kil. Don’t be long, I have a massage appointment.”
Kil laughed and then proceeded to use his best diplomatic candor to express his point to Monday. “Yeah, I understand, but you gotta understand, too. I’ve vetted him. True, he’s a foreigner, but he’s come through for me, and he’s the only one on this ship I trust at this point.”
“Okay, Commander. We’re square. I just want you to understand the sensitivity and the severity of what you are about to hear after we go through that door. The four operators you arrived with are also waiting inside and about to be briefed. It’s never pleasant to reveal information of this nature.”
Skeptically, Kil blurted, “How goddamn crazy can it be? The dead started walking last winter and now they try to eat anything that moves.”
Monday replied rhetorically, “How far down the rabbit hole can you fit?”
Saien returned to the hallway and stood alongside Kil.
Monday continued his sermon. “This shit is heavy. This is far beyond flying around in your little spy plane during the war, listening to enemy phone sex and making up SIGINT reports. Before I go on, I gotta ask you both one final question.”
Both Kil and Saien said almost simultaneously, “What?”
Licking his lips, eyes squinting behind his Hubble glasses, Monday began, “Once we go through that door and I tell you two what I’m about to tell you, I can’t un-tell you. Is that clear? We don’t have Men in Black mind erasers. It will affect you for the rest of your lives.”
“I’m ready,” said Kil.
“Me too,” muttered Saien, although not sounding as cavalier.
“Okay, gentlemen. Follow me.”
Monday turned to the green door leading into the SCIF and reached his hand into the cipher lock housing that covered the keys. Five button clicks resonated. After a brief pause the sound of magnetic locks releasing cued Monday to push the green door into another world of possibility. All three men
The young man picked up the phone and waited a few seconds.It rang audibly through the handset; an answer came after three rings.
“Sir, I have them both at the green door and—”
The yelling from the obnoxiously loud handset blasted across the passageway.
“Yes, sir. He insists that they both—yes, sir.”
After replacing the handset the scorned petty officer said, “A SCIF escort will be here shortly, sir. Sorry to leave you here in the passageway but I’ll need to be on watch in two hours and I haven’t slept in twenty-four.”
“No problem, hit the rack and have a good watch,” Kil said, mostly to send the young man off on a positive note.
“Aye, aye, sir. Thanks.”
Just as the man left their field of view, Saien asked, “What’s aye, aye mean?”
“It means . . .”
The green door flew open and out of it sprang an older man wearing thick birth-control glasses, tennis shoes, and a blue set of coveralls with navy commander rank on his collar. His nametape said Monday .
I hate Mondays, Kil thought.
The man approached Kil nearly toe to toe and seemed to scan him with his massive convex lenses.
“What’s this I hear about you insisting your foreign national friend come with you into my SCIF for mission briefing?”
“Sir, Admiral Goettleman allowed me one partner from the USS George Washington for this mission. I chose Saien and if I’m going to potentially trust my life to him, I damn sure want him to know the score. Besides, I’m going to tell him what you tell me anyway, so what’s the difference?”
Monday chewed on that for a second. “I figured you’d say that. I was ordered by Captain Larsen to read you and your man into what we are up against. Knowing what you are about to be exposed to, I wanted to see if I could somehow persuade you to come here alone. It just goes against my grain having him inside the SCIF. I’m sure you understand.”
“Saien, would you mind stepping around the corner for a minute?”
“Sure, Kil. Don’t be long, I have a massage appointment.”
Kil laughed and then proceeded to use his best diplomatic candor to express his point to Monday. “Yeah, I understand, but you gotta understand, too. I’ve vetted him. True, he’s a foreigner, but he’s come through for me, and he’s the only one on this ship I trust at this point.”
“Okay, Commander. We’re square. I just want you to understand the sensitivity and the severity of what you are about to hear after we go through that door. The four operators you arrived with are also waiting inside and about to be briefed. It’s never pleasant to reveal information of this nature.”
Skeptically, Kil blurted, “How goddamn crazy can it be? The dead started walking last winter and now they try to eat anything that moves.”
Monday replied rhetorically, “How far down the rabbit hole can you fit?”
Saien returned to the hallway and stood alongside Kil.
Monday continued his sermon. “This shit is heavy. This is far beyond flying around in your little spy plane during the war, listening to enemy phone sex and making up SIGINT reports. Before I go on, I gotta ask you both one final question.”
Both Kil and Saien said almost simultaneously, “What?”
Licking his lips, eyes squinting behind his Hubble glasses, Monday began, “Once we go through that door and I tell you two what I’m about to tell you, I can’t un-tell you. Is that clear? We don’t have Men in Black mind erasers. It will affect you for the rest of your lives.”
“I’m ready,” said Kil.
“Me too,” muttered Saien, although not sounding as cavalier.
“Okay, gentlemen. Follow me.”
Monday turned to the green door leading into the SCIF and reached his hand into the cipher lock housing that covered the keys. Five button clicks resonated. After a brief pause the sound of magnetic locks releasing cued Monday to push the green door into another world of possibility. All three men
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