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“Good morning, Staff Sergeant,” Christian called to the man.

The Staff Sergeant in question stomped up to the desk. “I need to speak to General Winter.”

Christian opened a file on the tablet with a speed Oscar could hardly believe. “Hmm, you don’t seem to have an appointment. Would you like to schedule one?”

The man grimaced. “I know how long that could take, and I don’t want to be cooling my heels.”

Christian sighed. “Look, Sean, I know you’re going through a hard time right now, but General Winter is a busy man, as you know, and I can’t just slap you into a spot. If you’d like, I can fit you in the next available slot and let you know when that will be.”

“I...sure, fine. Just tell him it’s important.”

Christian nodded. “You and I both know I’ll tell him.”

It looked like Sean might argue, but whatever anger and frustration he held onto dropped from his face, and his shoulders sagged. It looked like he hadn’t known what sleep was for several days, and from the looks of it, there was one hell of a weight on his shoulders.

“Yeah, alright, thanks,” Sean muttered before turning back to the elevator.

Christian shook his head, waiting until he was gone before speaking. “Welcome to your introduction to the sort of thing you’ll be dealing with in the future.”

Oscar raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“That was Staff Sergeant Sean Harris, leader of Team Maelstrom.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard of them.”

“It’s alright. They’re one of our current...problem children.”

Oscar let out a snort. “I take it you have a few of those?”

Christian’s eyes twinkled. “Yes, we...we have a few.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess they’re going to be my problem too.”

“Well, General Winter is working on fixing them, so maybe you’ll be spared dealing with them. Right now, they’re having some growing pains as they adjust to a new team member. And let me say, those are some bad pains from the sounds of it. But the general has a plan he’s put in motion. I’m sure the Staff Sergeant won’t be too happy with it, but that’s his problem.”

Oscar nodded, at a loss as to what to say. Christian thankfully saved him the trouble by resuming explaining the system Oscar would have to use. True to what Christian had said, the system seemed simple, though there was a lot of information he’d have to juggle on a daily basis. It was no different than managing a team or three out in the field and needing to keep in mind every detail about the terrain, their enemy, and the men being sent in.

“I think you’ll get the hang of it in no time. The people become the biggest hassle, but leave them to me for now.”

A notice popped up on the screen, and Oscar frowned at it. “What’s that?”

Christian laughed. “A reminder. We get those whenever something important to General Winter comes up. They’re not often, as he does them himself most days, but there are some things we have to handle personally.”

“Like?”

Christian smirked, opening the notice. “Our dear general is a good man and takes good care of himself. But one of his flaws is he’s not the best at getting regular check-ups, so I have to take a more proactive approach.”

Oscar nodded, hoping the uncomfortable flip of his stomach didn’t show on his face. “I take it you bring someone here then?”

“Bingo. If he doesn’t remember to go to his appointment, we bring his appointment here. I’ll clear his afternoon to ensure there’s time for it.”

“Do you know, uh, who it will be?” Oscar asked as nonchalantly as possible.

Christian shrugged. “No, they don’t warn me ahead of time. So long as it’s someone with the medical credentials, I don’t really care.”

“Right,” Oscar said, returning to the screen and looking at the time.

Great, right in the middle of his shift, and he knew the universe’s sense of humor all too well to have any doubt about who would be showing up.