Tenzin woke from his reverie when Viktor leaned over and tapped him sharply on the forehead. “You awake in there, droogan?”
Tenzin smiled at the tall blonde. They’d fought side by side against thugs and raiders alike long before they joined Minerva. Since Viktor never let Tenzin’s rank get in the way of their friendship he was one of the only people Tenzin felt comfortable with.
“Barely. I was just wishing that I wasn’t the captain.”
Viktor laughed. “What, you don’t like the fancy suit and tech? Or is it having to avoid meeting with the beautiful lady scientist that gets you so down?” He winked and leaned back into his seat. “Perhaps she wants to test your endurance. Maybe take a DNA sample, eh?”
Tenzin snorted in disbelief. “Not likely. No, there’s just a lot of pressure being responsible for the whole squad. It gets lonely being in charge.”
Tenzin checked to make sure none of the other men were listening before continuing. “It makes me miss the days when it was just you, me and Jorge out on our own.”
“That’s why I’m glad they chose you for squad leader, and not me,” Viktor said with a smile. “Better to just be a soldatiki. Just follow orders and don’t get killed. Easy.”
Tenzin laughed, feeling his stress and loneliness seep away. “Viktor, old friend, you always know how to cheer me up. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Then give good orders, so I don’t die,” Viktor countered.
The two laughed together briefly until the transport abruptly came to a stop. Tenzin’s intercom lit up with Sven’s face from the driver seat.
“Captain, we’ve arrived.”
Tenzin looked at Vitkor, and the big man gave him an encouraging nod. The momentary mirth passed, and Tenzin grimly looked at the rest of the men in the transport. “Let’s move out, men.”
——-
The Keleres unloaded from the two transports with all the speed and efficiency Tenzin had drilled into them. Tenzin saw Viktor and Jorge take their pentads and establish a defensive perimeter around the trucks, while Cowboy’s four started helping the engineers unpack their gear. The four soldiers directly under Tenzin, however, stood nearby, looking awkward and unsure.
“Come on, boys,” Tenzin barked. “You may be green, but this isn’t your first mission and you don’t need me to tell you what to do. Self-doubt and delay like this will get you killed one of these days.”
The four blushed briefly before going to join Cowboy’s pentad in helping the engineers. Tenzin shook his head as they hurried off.
“Don’t judge them like that,” Jane said in his ear. “They just want to please you.”
“They aren’t babies,” Tenzin replied. “They need to learn to take care of themselves.”
“I still think you could be less gruff and grumpy with them.”
Tenzin tried to shrug off Jane’s comments. It’s not like I want to be distant with them. I just don’t want to be responsible for their deaths.
One of the engineers approached interrupting Tenzin’s thoughts. “Captain Dorje, I’m Journeyman Lucas Smith.” He stuck out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to work with the famed Keleres. It seems almost every other week we hear about another perfect mission. How long has it since you’ve sustained any casualties?”
Tenzin reached down and gently took his hand, taking care not to crush it between his gauntleted fingers. “Nearly a year now, Journeyman Smith, thanks to improvements from you folks in Glaucus. Hopefully we can keep that record today.”
The engineer laughed. “Agreed. No need to be formal though. Just call me Lucas.”
“Alright, Lucas. Our orders were unfortunately brief this morning.” Jane laughed, but Tenzin ignored her. “Other than keeping your team alive, what’s the plan for today?”
“I appreciate that. The keeping us alive part, I mean.” Lucas gestured towards the rest of the soldiers performing their duties. “Well, first the headman will probably want to treat us all to Arkjut’s hospitality, so I hope you and your men are hungry.”
Tenzin’s stomach rumbled, earning another laugh from Jane. “They did the same thing a year ago when we cleared out a raider enclave from the hills nearby. Shouldn’t we get the power grid back up first?”
“That will depend on the headman,” Lucas said. He stepped around Tenzin’s armored frame and pointed towards the city. “He said he would meet us at the outer gate, but I don’t see him yet.”
Tenzin frowned and took a closer look up the valley. The walls of the city were intact, with hardly a scratch marring the new fortifications Glaucus had installed after the raiders struck the previous year. No smoke larger than a simple cookfire was visible, or any sign of damage on the buildings visible over the wall. Other than the noise from the Keleres and engineers behind him, Tenzin couldn’t hear anything. The normal noises of workers and families going about their days was absent.
It’s too silent, Tenzin thought. “Jane, signal the town please.”
Three sharp blasts from the horn of one of the transports shook the air, causing some of the soldier’s to curse in surprise. Tenzin kept his eyes on the town, look for any sign of movement. When several seconds passed by without the headman appearing, Tenzin began to worry.
“Where is he,” he said aloud. “Something’s not right.”
A ‘be’ is missing when Tenzin is barking at his troops at the beginning of the second scene.