Wholesale Slaughter: by Rick Partlow

Author:Rick Partlow
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2019-05-21T05:00:00+00:00

10

“ M an, where the hell have you been?” Marc Langella didn’t look up from folding his laundry, just threw a wadded-up sock at Logan as he stepped through the open door of the Bachelor Officer’s Quarters room. “You been MIA for three-fucking-weeks!”

Logan ducked the sock, letting it bounce off the wall out in the hallway behind him. Langella scowled, pausing in his chore to grab a slice of pizza from a plate perched perilously close to the edge of the bed.

“You could have caught the sock, at least,” he remonstrated around a mouthful.

“No thanks,” Logan said, pushing the door shut behind him. “I know where your feet have been.”

The BOQ at Laconia headquarters on Sparta had a biweekly cleaning service and Marc Langella made those poor bastards earn every credit of their pay.

“Seriously dude,” Langella got up from his bed, wiping his right hand on the front of his T-shirt before offering it to Logan to shake, “where the hell you been? You missed company training and I had to take your damned platoon!”

“That’s what I’m here to talk to you about, Marc.” Logan leaned against the dresser across from the bed, motioning for his friend to sit back down. He paused for a breath, trying to organize his thoughts. He’d been rehearsing this for days and it still sounded lame and unbelievable. “How would you like to have your own platoon permanently?”

“Well, of course I want my own platoon.” Langella shrugged, then caught the dish with the rest of the pizza before it could tumble off the bed and onto the carpeting. He set it on the nightstand instead. “Another six months in grade and I’ll be eligible…”

“I mean right now,” Logan clarified. “You could have your own platoon starting immediately, get an instant promotion to full Lieutenant. Be on the fast track to captain.”

Langella ran long fingers through tightly-curled dark hair and regarded Logan with what might have been a mix of skepticism and keen interest.

“Seriously? What’s the catch, Log?”

Logan winced. Marc Langella was the only one who he let get away with calling him “Log,” though he supposed it wouldn’t matter much longer.

“It’s a deep-cover operation, Marc. Indefinite duration, high risk.” He raised a hand palm-up to stop what he assumed was the younger man about to trip over himself to say yes. “Very high risk, Marc. No support, no backup. We’ll be on our own. And you won’t be able to tell your family, your friends where you’re going or when you’ll be back.” He didn’t bother to mention a girlfriend. Langella hadn’t been able to keep a relationship going for more than a month since he’d known him and he didn’t think the last three weeks had changed that.

Langella stared at him, arms crossed, waiting.

“You done trying to scare me off?”

“I guess I am.” Logan rubbed his eyes with thumb and forefinger. He trusted Langella and wanted him along, but he also didn’t want to be the reason his friend got killed, and the cognitive dissonance was giving him a headache.

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