“So,” he asked, “was that true?”
“That she was upset?” the man asked. “Sure it was. Her dad had her incarcerated in a private finishing school inside a week and engaged inside two.”
“Seriously?”
“High society. Those posh bastards still make marriage alliances.”
“And she allowed it?”
Jimmy snorted. “I did some asking around. And had my ass handed to me for it, too. Trust me, boss. It’s better he never knows.”
“Knows what?” Todd pushed.
“Exactly,” the man finished for him. He glanced at their overt shadows. “Don’t we have some sparring to do?”
He followed his gaze and let the matter drop. “Yeah. I guess we’d better entertain the monkeys.”
Ka returned in time to hear him say that and responded with a short laugh. “I hate to tell you, boss, but it’s usually the monkeys that do the entertaining and not the other way around.”
“Well, today, they get a treat. Didn’t I already announce we had a match?”
“Ugh. Yes, Sergeant, you did,” she admitted and looked none too happy. She glared at the other team and leaned closer to his ear. “We so have to get rid of them.”
He smiled as though she’d made a joke and slapped her on the back. “It’s time we made a start then,” he told her, ditched his plates, and led the team out the door. “Move your asses.”
“And I thought we had leave owing,” Gary grumbled.
“That was yesterday,” Todd told him, “before we were lumbered with the babysitters from hell.”
They spent the morning sparring—and watching the Marines watching them.
“Any ideas, Sarge?” Ka asked as she toweled the sweat from her face and neck.
“Yup,” he told her. “We’re gonna work out what’s really up their asses and why they have such a hard-on for us. And we’re gonna start with a little recon.”
“Yeah?” Ka arched an eyebrow. “Do tell.”
“Tomorrow,” he told her blandly. “Tonight, we’re gonna have some of that R&R Gary and Reggie keep reminding me about.”
“We’re gonna get drunk?” Piet asked as he came to join the conversation. He eyed their observers. “Drunk would be good. How many glasses do you think it will take to make these jokers look attractive?”
“Ew!” Ka wrinkled her nose and made no attempt to hide the direction of her gaze. “I don’t think there’s enough alcohol in the universe to make me think they look good.”
Todd clapped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t make me come over there, Corporal.”
Her muffled retort might have been her pointing out that he was already there.
He ignored her and looked at the rest of the team.
“Stromo’s?” he asked and didn’t care that the other Marines could hear their plans.
The team followed his lead. “Stromo’s,” they replied and injected that single word with all the reverence they could muster.
"For lunch?" Gary asked hopefully.
“And dinner,” he replied. “We are gonna make a day of it.”
“What kind of training is that, sir?” Darren wanted to know.
“R&R Recon!” Todd roared and the others replied in kind.
Todd didn’t give a damn what the shady Marines thought, save that they thought he and his team too stupid for what they were about to pull.
An hour later, they were being seated by the same maître d’ who had served them the night before the admirals had called to debrief them.
“And what can Stromo’s do for you today?” the man asked, guided them to the table, and pulled Ka’s seat out for her.
He addressed Todd but his gaze roved the faces of the rest of the team and paused briefly on Piet’s.
“The same as last time only today, we want the beer to last longer,” the sergeant declared and the man’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“The beer…” he murmured and sighed. “Exactly how much longer does sir require the beer to last? Stromo’s remembers that the party became very rowdy the last time you came to visit. Things were broken.”
This much might have been true of what happened when the other Marines had discovered he and the team were no longer in their seats.
Todd immediately grew serious. “I trust you were appropriately compensated,” he stated and the man nodded. “Yes, sir. The Navy made appropriate compensation. “
“Then I don’t see what the problem is,” he told him. “My team’s been under considerable pressure and needs to unwind—starting now if you would.”
He made his tone imperious but gave the maître d’ a questioning look. The man studied his expression carefully and pursed his lips. “Of course, sir. If I may take your orders?”
The team gave him the same orders as the last time and watched as their followers did the same. This time, the other Marines eyed them warily but they ordered as well and continued to keep an unconcealed watch on their group.
Their host returned fifteen minutes later. “We will have to take some extra precautions today,” he told them, and Todd sighed.
“How much extra?”
The man handed him a menu, which he opened cautiously.
“Well, fu—ehem. This is an interesting alternative,” he told the waiter. “I’d like to try it.”
The procedure took another half an hour with another “extra” added when it was discovered that Captain Smith’s Marines were resistant to the initial attempt. Todd kept the banter flowing around the table until he saw the first one clutch his stomach and bolt to the bathroom.
When the second one followed, he raised his hand. “Check, please!”
The instructions were inside the folder and he tried not to pull a face at the horrendous amount the afternoon and evening’s service was costing him.
“You know, if you have a heart attack now, we’ll never get our R&R, boss,” Ka interrupted and he grinned.
“It’s easy for you to say. It’s not your wallet.”
“Really?”
Before he had time to react, she’d taken the bill from his hand and looked at it. Her lips pursed in a silent whistle and she passed it back.
“Rather you than me, boss, but are you sure it’s worth it?”
What she was asking was if he thought there was a genuine problem or if they were all jumping at shadows.
“It’s worth it,” he reassured her and led them out.
They were followed into the street before the two who had managed to do so made a sudden about-face and sprinted to the restrooms.
“Now,” Todd commanded and they walked briskly across the corridor and into a maintenance hangar, where they were picked up by a worker within seconds.
“Master Stromo sends his compliments. It’s right this way.”
He nodded and followed and the team moved swiftly in his wake. Despite the sense of urgency, he wasn’t going too fast to notice the repair team working on the surveillance cameras.
“What happened?” he asked and indicated the techies.
“Power surge, sir. Quite sudden,” the worker replied, and Todd had to wonder how much of the Star Base’s security could be as easily compromised.