Page 38

Zeke was just about floored when he saw an admiral walk into the room.

And this wasn’t just any admiral. This was the legendary Admiral Morrow, who was in charge of all the extra special units that were part of the Special Forces.

Basically, he dealt with all the weird shit.

The shifters, and the magical folk like Hal and Zeke, and their entire unit.

They hadn’t even known this admiral before everything had changed for them in Babylon.

But once their chain of command became aware of the freaky stuff going down with them, they’d been moved over to Admiral Morrow’s command with all due haste.

They’d had one group meeting with the man before being stationed here, though Zeke supposed Hal was in more regular contact with the guy, since he was the one calling the shots for their unit and everyone on this base.

Zeke hadn’t expected to see him here though. What he’d thought was going to be a routine after-action debrief had just turned into something else. What that turned out to be, he was curious to find out.

“At ease, everyone,” Morrow said, motioning for everybody to sit down again as he stood at the front of the room, bracketed by Lester on one side and Hal on the other.

“First, let me congratulate you all on the outstanding work you did this morning, and my condolences to the master chief and his granddaughter. I’m very glad you were able to achieve justice for your loved ones, all while uncovering so much vital information that we didn’t have before. ”

Here, the admiral nodded to Celine and her grandfather, who were sitting nearby. The master chief nodded back, looking very comfortable with the admiral. Zeke wondered if the two of them had history. He’d just bet they did.

“Unfortunately, the secrecy of this base is blown. You neutralized the immediate threat, but the enemy is now aware of this place, as we expected would happen sooner or later, so we’re going to have to execute the evacuation plan.

I’ve already begun that process over on the administrative side on my way to this meeting.

They’re packing up and will be out of here by tomorrow.

The rest of you will be given your duty assignments once we leave here, and there will be a planned period where the shifter troops will be split up among several bases around the country, and a few of the larger ships.

If we get away clean, we can begin reconvening at another location in due course.

I’ll be coordinating that directly, and you will all be notified when and where to move later this afternoon. ”

There was a bit of shuffling among the shifters, but nobody objected.

Not that they really could. This admiral held power over everyone in this room, except maybe Celine, Zeke thought.

He wondered where she would end up. A sudden pang of trepidation went through him at the thought.

If he had anything to say about it, he hoped she would come with him, wherever he ended up.

The admiral had yet to say what they were going to do with the Army contingent.

“As for the Army unit, we’ll discuss your options after this meeting. You’ll stay once the shifter troops are dismissed,” the admiral ordered, looking directly at Hal, who replied immediately.

“Yes, sir.”

Hal was probably just as curious of the rest of them about where they might end up after all of this, but he managed to hide his impatience. The admiral would get to them in his own good time, but at least he had promised to get to them. They just had to get through the rest of this meeting first.

The rest of the agenda went as Zeke had expected.

They examined the action of the morning step-by-step, and each group outlined what had happened in their area of the estate.

The admiral surprised Zeke with his astute questions and quick grasp of the situation.

Admiral Morrow was rumored to be no slouch, and Zeke was pleased to see that his reputation was accurate.

As the meeting began to wrap up, Admiral Morrow had a few more things to say.

It was clear that everyone in the room respected this man more than almost any other officer Zeke had ever seen.

There was also a rumor that the man had magic of his own, and now that Zeke had seen him again, he suspected that rumor might have more than a grain of truth to it.

The shifters all seemed to be in awe of the guy, that was for sure.

“Look, although you had a victory today, we all know the danger isn’t over.

Kettering is still out there. So are the other two mages and Salazar.

And the entire damned Venifucus , when it comes right down to it.

Not to mention the Destroyer, herself. But those are all battles for the future.

For tonight, we have peace, and you people have brought that about.

Embrace it. Celebrate it. Enjoy it for all it’s worth.

Tomorrow, things are going to change, but we all know change is inevitable, and hopefully in time, you’ll all be together again. ”

Admiral Morrow impressed Zeke and everybody in the room with that speech, and as he dismissed the shifters, they all saluted him with respect before leaving the room.

Celine went with them, escorted out by her grandfather.

Zeke caught her eye briefly and hoped she realized he would look for her later.

He wanted to see her tonight more than ever.

Especially if she was going to be leaving the island tomorrow.

He had things to say to her. Questions to ask.

Discoveries to make. Most of all, he needed to know if she loved him or not.

Tonight might be his only chance to find out before everybody was scattered all over the place.

She acknowledged him with a brief nod and a sweet smile as she walked out of the room.

He would hunt her down later. He had to.

He had no other choice. He couldn’t leave things unsaid between them.

At the very least, he had to tell her how much he loved her.

Even though the thought of doing that gave him the heebie-jeebies.

Once the room had been cleared of all civilians and Navy personnel, the admiral got right to the point. They had reshuffled the seating so that everyone was at one big table, the admiral seated next to Hal.

“When we made our contingency plans, you guys were not taken into account. I didn’t have command over your unit, and frankly, your unit hadn’t undergone the change that makes you so valuable and different,” the admiral revealed, sighing.

“As a result, we don’t really have a plan in place for you.

What we do have, are options. I’ll be honest with you all.

Nobody quite knows what to do with you. You’re not shifters.

You’re not the regular sort of magic users.

You’re not really anything any of us have ever dealt with before, but you are proving to be incredibly resourceful and useful.

I, personally, don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose you, because I think there was a reason that sneaky old djinn gifted you with your special powers.

And I think you all are going to play a crucial role in the upcoming battles against evil.

The thing is, I’m not sure you can continue to do that under the auspices of the Army. ”

The admiral let that thought sink in for a minute.

As Zeke looked around the table, it was clear nobody really knew what to make of that statement.

What would they do if they couldn’t be in the Army anymore?

And how would they still be available for use as a unit—especially to a Navy Admiral—if they were no longer in the military?

“My Army counterpart is in favor of letting you all go. Honorable discharges with all due thanks of the U.S. Army and all that. He’s a bit, shall we say, shortsighted.

He also doesn’t understand the whole magic thing and has not been made aware of the ongoing battle between the followers of Elspeth and those who serve the Light.

He’s a good soldier and a brave man. Don’t get me wrong.

But he doesn’t believe in the unseen world and doesn’t seem likely to embrace the fact that magic exists. ” The admiral shook his head.

“I’ve been advocating for keeping you on, but since you’re Army and not Navy, the money comes out of his budget, and he’s not happy about it.

Especially when I’m the one in command of your unit.

So, if the Army decommissions your unit and you’re all cut loose, we lose a valuable asset in the fight against evil.

And, I suspect, if you’re all cast out on your own, you won’t find an effective way to use your special talents, even if you wanted to continue the fight.

However, there is an alternative. I’ve been in discussions with the Wraiths about you.

I know some of you have a bit of experience with Major Moore and his band of mercenary shifters based out of Wyoming.

They are willing to offer you and your families shelter on their mountain.

I can say, unequivocally, that recent events have made their location one of the most secure, magically speaking, in the country.

I sincerely doubt any foreign agents would be able to get to you, or your families, if you decide to live there.

” The admiral paused, looking at each of them in turn. Then, he leaned back in his chair.

“This isn’t something you have to decide immediately.

I can float a bit of my budget to keep paying you, and keep you on the books for the next few months, at the very least. However, I would suggest you take that time to check out Wyoming.

I don’t have another secure base to stash you at right now.

It’ll take some time for the shifter troops to go through the various waypoints and then regroup at another location.

Months, not weeks. Just so we can be sure that the next location is as secure as possible.

I’d advise you all to take a little vacation in Wyoming for the next few months.

Get the lay of the land. Meet the people.

See what life is like up on that mountain. Then, make your decision.”

“Question, sir,” Hal asked, when the admiral paused and looked around again. The man nodded, and Hal went on. “I understand you’ll keep our pay going, but what about the study group that’s been helping assess our new abilities? Do they come with us? And will we be tapped to go out on missions?”

“The study group will have to be cut back a bit,” the admiral admitted.

“You’ll still be able to have a few scientists and other specialists helping you discover your abilities, but I suspect Major Moore will want to vet them before allowing them into his territory.

He may also have some resources that could help you better, which is something worth considering.

He has a lot of contacts in the magical world that aren’t available to Uncle Sam.

As for missions, I will definitely have need of you.

I also have need of the Wraiths, from time to time.

I have a discretionary budget to pay for such things, though we don’t come straight out and call it hiring mercenaries .

I prefer to describe them as special consultants.

Speak to them about it. You may find that working through them will be more profitable to you all in the long run.

I can keep you on your regular pay for now, but as of this moment, by the end of the year, we may have to change that up.

If you find working with the Wraiths acceptable, I can hire you through them.

Unlike my regular troops, you would have a choice over what missions you accept and what missions you turn down.

Though, I’ll be honest, the Wraiths never have reason to turn me down.

I know what they’ll accept, and I know enough not to ask them to do anything that would go against their core principles.

Frankly, I don’t deal in those kinds of missions.

At all. Ever. I’m firmly on the side of Light, and now that you guys are aware of what that means, you’ll understand that you’ll never have reason to turn down a mission I send you. ”

“Good to know, Admiral. Thank you,” Hal replied when the man eyed him.

“I have open lines of communication with Major Moore. I’ll extend the same to you, Hal, until you and your men decide what works best for you.

As you may realize, we need to clear this space as quickly as possible now that the enemy is aware of our position.

Major Moore is awaiting your call tonight to begin a transition plan.

At the very least, you can have that little vacation on his mountain for the next few weeks.

It’s a beautiful place and extraordinarily safe.

He can explain it all to you, but it’s safer, by far, than even this island.

And your ladies won’t be alone. There are many families living there.

Women, children, and an entire werewolf Pack farther down the mountain, headed up by Major Moore’s brother.

It’s a real family place that just happens to have an elite mercenary group quartered there alongside their families and friends. ”

“Sounds interesting, sir,” Hal said, a quizzical expression on his face. “I’ve heard about Moore and his men, and I think it’s a good plan, if we can’t stay here. Thank you for setting it up.”

“If you decide, down the road, to sign up with the Wraiths, it could be very beneficial to you financially. That’s something else to consider, now that quite a few of you have mates and growing families. Just a thought.” The admiral smiled and stood, and everyone in the room snapped to their feet.

Just like that, the meeting was over, and everything had changed. Hal dismissed them without further ado, and Zeke went out the back door, heading toward the beach. He needed to find his girl. They had a lot to talk about.