Midnight Squad: The Grim (4 page)

           
I slid down my pants. Thank God, it wasn’t too cold in
here so shrinkage wasn’t an issue. Dr.
Nowitski
showed no reaction. She just kept gathering her tools. Wow, either she’s a real
pro, she’s so old she’s past caring for my manly man bits, or maybe she just
bats for the other team. What can I say, I’m a guy, and a woman ignoring my
clearly exposed junk really is a bit of a blow to the old ego. On the plus
side, while Elizabeth did her best to keep her eyes focused above my shoulders.
As soon as my back was turned she took a moment to let her eyes wander. I saw
her glancing at my wedding tackle in the reflection of one of the mirrors in
the room. She didn’t linger, just a quick look. DD didn’t even try to be
subtle. I’m just glad she didn’t have a camera.

           
Elizabeth started with the details. “Well, before I say
anything you are aware all of this is classified. There will be severe
repercussions for divulging any of this.” I nodded. “Sergeant, we are a private
organization with very close ties within the military. This complex houses all
our research, and personnel. We are independent of the government and try to
keep a minimum staff to eliminate leaks, but since the majority of our funding
comes from grants through the agencies like the department of defense, and
homeland security the government unfortunately has demanded significant input.
That’s where you come in. Funding of this nature is tough to come by, and if we
want it to continue we have to allow the military to have an increased role.
This complex houses a team of five unique individuals. You’ll be joining them,
and per our agreement with the department of defense you’ll be the squad
leader.” I turned to face Director Mann. “Ma’am, I don’t want to cause any
concern for you or your business, but I’m assuming you were briefed on my
situation?” Elizabeth frowned at the interruption. “I’m assuming you mean the
events surrounding the death of your last team, your time in a mental
institution, and your recent…shall we just call it a vacation? Yes, I’m aware
of all the details. The circumstances surrounding those events make us feel you
are the right person for the job, but I will admit you weren’t the first person
that the government wanted. They made us take someone else first. It ended
badly. You will lead the team. You’ll be responsible for security when not in
the field. We’ll go over this further in a more extensive briefing tomorrow. Do
you have any questions?” I shook my head no, but only because it was clear by
her body language that she’d told all she was willing to at this time.

           
DD moved back onto one of the chairs and took her time
eye humping me. It’s a good thing I’m not shy. The doctor walked me through my
physical. Finally, we got to the turn your head and cough part. I could be
wrong but I think I heard DD mumble something under her breath about wishing
she’d gone to medical school. Elizabeth glared at DD angrily, and I guess she
realized what she said may have been a little louder than she wanted. DD buried
her head down in the medical supplies. She popped up with a very large needle.

           
After I gave a couple throaty coughs, Dr.
Nowitski
stood up and moved back to her desk, “Daphne, you
can give the Sergeant his injection. I’m almost done.” DD popped up, “So
Grimmy
, are you right handed or left handed.” I raised my
right hand, and she jabbed me in the palm. Pride kept me from wincing. DD was
finished almost as fast as she started, and then held a tiny machine over my
palm and started typing away. “So DD, what’s this for anyway?” She kept typing
away, “well, the implant lets you have access to the computers, our files, the
armory, and it lets us get your vitals almost instantly. It’s completely
harmless. You place your palm near a reader when you need to use it. The reader
sends out a signal that powers up the implant. Without the signal the implant
is completely inert so you don’t have to worry about it interfering with
anything.” I nodded; I had to admit it sounded cool. The machine pinged and
there was a green light. DD stepped away. I started to move to my clothes when
the doctor coughed and said, “Sergeant, where do you think you’re going?”

           
“Sorry I thought we were done.” I turned back to her just
as she was changing her latex gloves. This couldn’t be good. It only got worse
when she squirted some lube into her palm. “Elizabeth, Daphne, if you could
step outside. Sergeant, please bend over and try to relax.” I really wanted
them to stay. If they stayed then what was about to happen wouldn’t.
Unfortunately, there was no stay of execution. The door closed behind them, and
that just left me, the doctor, her lubed up hand, and my very unwilling
butthole. It’s times like these when you have to evaluate your situation. I’m
in the middle of a desert out in God knows where, on a secret base and the last
poor loser in my shoes “ended badly”. This was probably my last opportunity to
save my military career. If I screw this up, there won’t be another chance. I
rested my elbows on the table. “The things I do for my country.” I was still
grumbling when the
Dr
stepped behind me. I did my
best to relax, but frankly the more I tried to relax and not think about it,
the more it made my butt pucker.

           
I’ve never been so glad to leave a room in my life. A
clean bill of health is highly
overrated,
I walked out
to the two women waiting on me. DD was still snickering while Elizabeth tried
to maintain a rigid professionalism, but the quivering bottom lip gave
Boss-lady away. I turned towards them and tried to stand at full attention. It
was then that I realized I hadn’t quite gotten all the lube out of a very
personal, very private area. Therefore, there was squishing, and a decidedly
unwelcome, slippery sensation working its way out of my butt crack. I did my
best to ignore it, but I must have had a pitiful look on my face. DD stepped up
to me and took me by the arm. “Poor
Grimmy
, it’s been
a rough day already. You look like a puppy that got left out in the rain. Let’s
get you to your room so you can get some rest. Come on let Double D take care
of everything.” DD tucked her arm in mine and put her other hand on my chest
before turning to guide me. She’d moved from groping my bicep to rubbing my
chest. At this rate, I’d be fighting off a hand job by bedtime. I guess I
shouldn’t complain. She was extremely sweet, and friendly, but her touchy feely
approach made me uncomfortable.

           
I walked alongside DD. Between my shoulders and DD’s
broad hips there just wasn’t much room left in the hallway. We stepped around
Elizabeth, and walked off. As I rounded the corner, I glanced back towards the
boss and saw her head shaking with her hand on her forehead. I could see her
smile peeking out between her hair and her arm. I’m sure I heard her snort, but
then again I just had a finger in my ass and I could be hallucinating due to
the trauma.

           
DD walked me to the security office. I raised my hand to
a rectangle on the wall. There was a quick beep as the security system unlocked
my door. With a quick whoosh, the iron door opened into the wall. When we
walked in, she started showing me around. She pointed to a wall. There were
several small screens surrounding one giant screen. “So
Grimmy
,
these are the security cameras. They cover the entire complex. All you have to
do is dial in the number for the camera you want. The folder is in the desk
over there. It has all the codes. The cameras are offline until after you meet
everyone. Ms. Mann thought that would be… safest.”

           
“Safest? What are
ya’ll
doing
down here?”

           
“
Grimmy
, you’ll know everything
soon enough. In the meantime, she thought it best for you to get your rest, and
not get tied up in everything until after you met everyone else.” DD was being
nice. She definitely believed what she was saying. I relaxed a bit. DD was one
of those people you just knew you could trust. She was honest to a fault. I
couldn’t help but think of my Dad’s advice.
Everyone deserves a little
mistrust. It shows you respect them enough that you don’t take them for
granted, even their good behavior.
Of course, this is the advice from a man
raising six daughters on an army base filled with horny young men.

           
“Maybe I’m just paranoid, but I don’t like it. I get the
feeling your boss is trying to hide things from me.” DD gave a nervous smile.
“I’m not going to lie and say you’ve got an easy road. You have a hell of a job
ahead of you. The last person didn’t make it. He… died. With what you’re doing
this can only end two ways. Either make it, or you’ll be chewed up, spit out,
and another person in here before your body’s even cold. I’m not saying this to
mess with your head, or scare you. It’s just a simple fact. What you are going
to do is dangerous, but I’ve seen your file. I think overall, you will do well
here. The things you’ll see. They are amazing, beautiful, terrifying, and yes…
very deadly. That’s why Elizabeth wants to keep you separate for now. She wants
to let you have a chance to get your feet under you before things get serious.”

           
“The boss doesn’t seem like the type that worries too
much about the welfare of others.” DD ran her had along my chest. “She’s not
that bad. Elizabeth is…she’s just…well…she’s….Elizabeth has a good heart. She
just doesn’t show it very often.”
           
“So you’re saying that she’ll
warm up to me in time.”

           
“Oh God no.
She’s a fucking ice
queen, but she does have moments when she’ll really surprise you. This project
is her baby. She put her whole life into it, and she’s going to do whatever it
takes to see this project succeed… even if that means a few of us get run over
along the way. Lizzie doesn’t want any of us to get hurt, and she’ll do her
best by us, but she’s not going to sacrifice the project for the people.”

           
“Lizzie huh?”
I was betting that
was something she never said to the boss’ face. I couldn’t help but tease DD a
bit. Right now knowledge was power, and if I could keep DD talking, I’d have a
better chance of knowing what I’ve become involved with. DD giggled,
“Definitely not, I love my job. I want to keep it, but if you get some liquor
in her she turns into a party girl faster than you can say
pina
colada.” Mental note… I absolutely have to be here for the Christmas party.

           
“Okay, back to the tour. This door goes to the armory. We
keep it here so that in an emergency you’ll have access to whatever equipment
you might need. It’s on lockdown until after the meeting tonight. Through that
door over there is your bedroom.” There was an extra bounce to her step as she
led me to my room. Once inside I had to say I was impressed. The room was
exceedingly large, but otherwise very generic. The bed looked very nice. I must
be more tired than I realized. I’d woken up on a hard jail cot this morning,
and so I really appreciated this nice, soft mattress. DD patted me on the back,
“We go into town once a month to get supplies, and by
we
,
I mean you and me. Next week we’ll be headed in and you can get anything else
you might need like clothes and stuff. We don’t really require a uniform. So
you can wear what you want, just keep some uniforms around for when the general
shows up. He gets cranky when he sees individuality.” I had to chew on my
tongue. My dad wasn’t any better. He was a walking stereotype. The hard ass
Colonel that would stomp a mud hole in a cadet’s ass and then walk it dry just
because it was Tuesday. I guess that’s not entirely fair. I had two sisters
that were cheerleaders, one Goth sister, two nerdy sisters, and of course my
youngest sister. She was just adorable. Dad’s hardly been gone, and I was kind
of missing him already.

           
“Well anyway. The closet is over there. We have some
clothes for you there. Not a lot of options, but it’s just until we go
shopping. Then you can pick something more your style. The bathroom is over
there. Unfortunately, the toothpaste that Lizzie buys in bulk is like brushing
your teeth with sheetrock. It cleans your teeth, but tastes terrible. I know
the room looks somewhat bland, but we can pick up some paint and redecorate if
you want. As far as entertainment, there’s a recreation room, a gym, and a
whole lot of other stuff on the level below us. You’ll be able to access it
after tonight. I’ll let you get some rest.” DD started moving to the door. “DD,
why are we having the meeting tonight? It’s the middle of the day.” She stared
at me, clearly trying to think how she could answer my question. Her green eyes
looked around, trying to avoid looking at me. Finally, she took a deep breath
and then said, “Ok this is as much as I can say. We work at night. You’ll find
out why later, but you’ll need to get used to a night schedule. I know it’s the
middle of the day for you, but for everyone else here this is the middle of the
night to us. Now we have a lot to do tonight so you need to get some rest, or
would you like Double D to tuck you in.” Her green eyes glinted mischievously
while her eyebrows playfully danced. Surprisingly, it was a little tempting.

           
I thanked her and walked her back to the door. I think
she was a little disappointed that I didn’t go for the whole tucking in thing.
She hugged me, and then pranced down the hallway. It’s a good thing she’s so
nice, because otherwise I’d never be able to stomach all this touchy-feely
stuff. I made my way to the bathroom. After a quick shower I made my mind up on
the first purchases I‘d be making. First some decent toilet paper, it was like
wiping with sandpaper. The second were new towels. The towels I had were so
thin I could almost see through them, and then toothpaste, DD was absolutely
right. It was like brushing with sheetrock.