Page 23 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

Even with all that, he still hated the politics of the military.

“The General will be with you soon,” the small man behind the desk informed him for the seventh time.

Christian cocked his head, his smile flickering slightly. “He is, and I’m sure he’ll be happy to know you’ve been so patient.”

But that had all changed…because of him .

Taking a quiet breath, Aidan shoved the thought away quickly before images of a black-haired man with dark green eyes intruded on his mind. The last thing he needed was for one of his two greatest regrets to come back and haunt him, unnerving him before his mysterious meeting with General Winter.

Christian stirred, leaning forward to look at his computer screen and nod. “General Winter will see you now. Thank you for your patience.”

Aidan would have loved to know what was going through the receptionist’s head and couldn’t help but wonder who went through basic training and somehow ended up working as the personal assistant to a general.

Aidan also hadn’t missed the flicker of emotion that came over the man’s face when Aidan had mentioned how busy Winter was.

He wasn’t sure if that was a brief moment of displeasure on Christian’s part or something else.

It was good to know what sort of situation he was walking into, and Aidan didn’t want to go in totally blind.

Pushing himself up from the seat, he nodded at the receptionist, crossed the office, and walked through the door Christian had indicated.

It opened into a spacious room, the walls lined with bookcases and a few shelves.

From the back of the office, Aidan couldn’t see what was on the shelves, though he could make out awards, small figures of tanks and helicopters, and what looked like a gold-plated grenade.

At a glance, as he passed the bookcases, he spotted books on philosophy, war tactics, historical non-fiction, and a few biographies.

If the room gave off a generic feel, then the man behind the desk fit the expected stereotype almost completely.

The only thing that marked General Winter out from other generals Aidan had met was his age.

General Winter was easily in his mid-forties, if not a little younger.

Aidan wasn’t typically into older men, but he would have been lying if he claimed he didn’t see General Winter as a handsome man.

The salt in his pepper hair, the few lines around the corners of his eyes and across his forehead, and the somber wisdom radiating from his pale eyes only enhanced his looks.

“Sergeant Rider,” General Winter began, not looking up from his screen as Aidan approached.

Aidan snapped a salute, holding it. “General Winter.”

General Winter let him hold the salute momentarily before waving at him. “At ease. Make yourself comfortable.”

Interestingly, the two seats available both looked reasonably comfortable.

Of the handful of Generals whose offices he’d seen, all but one had stiff and uncomfortable chairs for those who came to meet them.

One, General Knox, chose to have one comfortable and one uncomfortable chair.

Aidan knew the mind game for what it was, but he didn’t know precisely what General Knox had been trying to decide when someone sat in whichever chair they chose.

He still hadn’t known, even after deciding he might as well be comfortable, and as far as he knew, General Knox had never thought of him again after sending him off.

General Winter leaned back in his seat, his shoulders stiff. “How was your flight?”

Aidan shrugged, taking a casual air the General wouldn’t. “Getting shipped across the country after being back in the States only a couple of days isn’t something I’d recommend, but I’ll live.”

In truth, he had jet lag from hell. The time difference from the Middle East to the West Coast had been brutal, and he still hadn’t adjusted by the time his new orders came in.

Aidan had barely heaved himself up from the barracks to make his flight to the East Coast on time, though the naps he’d managed on his flights had helped.

Something about the security of the plane’s cabin had helped him sleep while he was still on alert after weeks in the desert.

General Winter glanced at his screen. “I had the chance to review your record while you were still overseas. You’re exactly the sort of person I was looking for to help me with a situation I have on my hands.

I put in a request while you were still away to have you considered to join a team I have stationed here at the moment. ”

Aidan nodded, keeping his face politely interested while privately seething inside.

That was twice in one statement Winter had felt the need to mention that the consideration and the request had both been made before he returned from the Middle East. Aidan wasn’t so dense or naive as to think it had nothing to do with a tall, dark, and handsome commander at his last station.

The very same person who was the reason Aidan had been sent back to the States unceremoniously and who would probably haunt Aidan’s military career for life.

Damn him.

Aidan smiled. “Well, I appreciate the consideration. I’ve worked with various teams that specialize differently. I hope my experience and skills are sufficient and what you’re looking for, as it is quite varied.”

General Winter cocked his head, pale eyes scanning Aidan’s face. “After being thrown from team to team, outpost to outpost, doing a bit of this and a bit of that, you think you can handle working full-time as part of a team?”

Aidan held his smile. “I wouldn’t say thrown, General Winter. I enjoyed what I did and liked the variety and experience it gave me. I always knew there would come a day when I might be assigned permanently to a team.”

“I was made to understand that you requested to be placed into a long-term position rather than the short-term one you did before.”

Oh, yes, ‘requested.’

Aidan sighed. “I’ll be honest with you, General.

If you’ve read my file, you know some of the circumstances that led to my return to the States.

The request was made on my behalf, and a not-so-subtle hint was thrown my way that if I wanted to salvage what remained of my career, I should take the generous offer. ”

“So, you don’t think this is generous, considering,” Winter said, motioning to the screen that no doubt held Aidan’s record.

Aidan brought his smile back. “I wasn’t trying to say it wasn’t generous. I was simply repeating what I was told, including the exact words.”

The older man continued to watch him, eyes shifting over Aidan’s features patiently.

It wasn’t the first time Aidan had felt himself under scrutiny, but there was something strange about the way General Winter looked him over.

Rather than being left with the impression that he was being sized up and judged on his worthiness, Aidan felt the other man was trying to gauge his character.

It was an odd thought and one Aidan thought of as too noble and generous for someone in Winter’s position.

In Aidan’s assessment, a general did not become one simply by being a good leader.

It was almost always the people you knew that got you a high position.

Winter’s gaze turned back toward the screen. “Do you have anything you’d like to say about what I’ve read?”

Again, Aidan was struck by an idea that seemed far outside his expectations of someone in Winter’s position. Could the older man be asking him in order to give him a fair chance? Or was General Winter simply better at evincing the magnanimous and noble air that most people thought generals had?

“I don’t think there’s anything I could add that would change anything,” Aidan said honestly.

Winter snorted softly. “You might be surprised.”

Aidan said nothing, not sure what he could say. There was no way in hell he would believe the unspoken invitation to trust the general. Trust wasn’t a commodity Aidan traded in regularly, and after recent events, he would not trust someone in charge.

Aidan took a breath, deciding to take a small risk.

“I think everything before...recent events speaks for itself. I also think my record led to my being allowed to come here, instead of being shoved off to some far-flung base, sitting in front of a computer, and working there for the rest of my career.”

It was honestly the only reason Aidan could drum up to explain why he hadn’t been tossed in a hole and forgotten.

He’d worked hard, suffering through Basic, then busting his ass to make sure he nailed his intel training.

When it came time to put his training to good use, Aidan had gone above and beyond to ensure he was noticed for his effort and in the best way possible.

Eventually, politics had become involved, and while he’d hated having to say the right things, know the right people, and make sure not to make too many waves with those in charge, it paid off.

That was until he pissed off one person, only the one, and now he was teetering on the edge of losing everything he’d worked so hard for.

General Winter’s shoulders relaxed slightly, laying his arms gently on his desk. “I certainly hope so. Your experience and the versatility it spoke of brought me to my decision to request your placement here.”

“Here, or with this team?” Aidan asked, careful not to sound apprehensive.

“Team Maelstrom is currently stationed at this base until I deem them fit to return to service. In order for me to do that, I needed someone I felt would be a good fit for their missing member,” General Winter explained.

Aidan sighed. “And by missing?—”

“Killed in the line of duty approximately four months back. The remaining four team members have...well, they have understandably taken the loss hard. As much as I would love to give them more time to mourn, we’ve just about run out.”

Aidan frowned, letting that sift through his mind for a moment. “Someone over your head is stepping in.”

General Winter snorted, the wry amusement on his face bringing life to his stony features.

“Not yet, but they will. I assured them I would find someone I felt was the best replacement for the fifth member of Team Maelstrom. So far, I’ve not had much luck, and seeing your record and talking with a few others, you seemed the best fit. ”

“Seemed,” Aidan repeated.

“I won’t lie to you, Sergeant. I have my reservations, but not necessarily in the way you might think.

At its most active, Team Maelstrom was an effective force, and their skills are wanted again.

With the precarious state of the team at the moment, I’ve tried putting their deployment off as long as possible.

It’s been made clear to me that if I didn’t find a replacement, someone else would. ”

Aidan understood. It had probably been made clear in the same way his own ‘choice’ had been made clear to him.

When those higher than you made up their minds, there was no arguing.

You could evade, cajole, and try to bribe, but in the end, if a decision was made, you snapped a salute, gave a yes, sir, and did your job.

“But having chosen someone does not magically put Team Maelstrom back on their feet. It also doesn’t change the demand for their skills.”

So he was being thrown into a team that was still aching over the loss of one of their own, and he was going to take this teammate’s place.

Only someone so eager regarding their own fortune of being put into a sought-after team would be looking forward to what Aidan would face.

Everyone grieved differently, but Aidan had no doubt he would be treated as an intruder by at least one of the four team members.

“Meaning I need to get up to speed as quickly as possible and make the team whole again before Command decides they want to throw us to the wolves,” Aidan said.

General Winter nodded. “And I can’t give you a time estimate. They’ll have us move when they want us to, and that’s all I can say.”

And since it sounded like those above General Winter wanted Maelstrom in the field as quickly as possible, Aidan guessed they wouldn’t have long.

Perhaps that was one reason Winter had dragged him to the other end of the country on such short notice.

Fresh from the field, Aidan might be stressed and worried about his prospects, but he was still honed and ready to work.

The only real problem facing him was getting himself into the team’s dynamic without throwing everything into upheaval.

And he did not envy himself.

General Winter leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “My intent is that you will serve in the position of the last team member. You will serve as both intel and second in command.”

Aidan blinked, unable to withhold that brief moment of surprise. “Second?”

“You assumed you would be leading?”

Aidan shook his head, knowing better. “Even second in command is more than I thought.”

“Team Maelstrom operated under the belief that as a team focused on recon and extraction, the intel member should have a say in how the team was run. Not exactly a novel idea, but they have proved it works quite well for them. Command wishes to see the same basic structure here as well, and so that’s what it will be,” General Winter told him, eyes again searching Aidan’s face.

“Does the team leader know?” Aidan asked.

“Staff Sergeant Harris has been made aware that the fifth member, serving much the same role as the previous member, is due to be placed in his team soon.”

“Meaning he doesn’t know I’m here,” Aidan said.

“You weren’t due to arrive back in the States before now, and when I was alerted you were back, I put the request in quickly. The wheels moved faster than I thought, and now you’re here.”

Great, so he was probably dealing with a bunch of angry, mourning soldiers who would see him as a usurper of their former teammate, and they didn’t know he was even here.

General Winter looked him over again. “So, considering the recent...events in your career, you can see why I might be wary.”

“That has nothing to do with this,” Aidan said.

“Not directly, but your life has gone through a great deal of turbulence.”

“You don’t have to worry about my ability to do my job, sir. I promise you I can do what needs to be done.”

General Winter leaned back again, his face impassive. “I certainly hope so. Because you’re meeting the team tomorrow.”