Gray Panthers Captain Short Blade (21 page)

“Breakfast sounds both nauseating and good. I need to brush my teeth and get rid of the crap that’s growing in my mouth first. Now that I think about it, I’d just about kill for a stack of pancakes.”

As Poland disappeared into the bathroom, Short Blade went to the living room to order breakfast for the two of them.

The food arrived at the same time the personal assistant showed up at the door. Short Blade tried to hide the fact that he was salivating from the smell of the meat. Poland entered the room as the tray of food was being put on the table.

“Now that smells good!” he said before turning to greet the assistant. “Hi there, little lady. Wasn’t expecting a girl, but that’s not a problem for me if it isn’t for you. What’s your name? Come sit down at the table with me. I haven’t eaten in over two weeks.”

Poland sat down and piled his plate with food. The young woman sat down too and tried not to stare at Poland or Short Blade. The old man’s robe was gaping, showing a very muscular physique beneath it, and the little alien reminded her of a stuffed toy from the carnival.

“My name’s Mary. I was told you needed my services. So, what can I do for you?”
I have a feeling this is going to be one strange day,
she thought.
Who knows? It might actually be fun.
 

“My friend’s wife tried to murder him, and he escaped without a stitch of clothing,” Short Blade told her. “He’s been unconscious for two weeks, so we’re not sure what size clothing he’ll need. Did you bring a measuring tape?”

Even the little lion’s voice is cute. Wonder if he’d let me hug him?
Mary thought. “I have a tape measure in my pocket,” she replied. “After I take your measurements, what sort of clothes would you like?” she asked Poland, smiling.

“I’ll just need a couple pairs of jeans and some shirts, socks, tennis shoes and underwear. I’m a simple guy,” he said before taking another forkful of pancake. He had a contented look on his face, so Mary just let him continue eating. Watching Short Blade dig into his plate of almost raw meat, she decided she really didn’t have any appetite to join them for breakfast.

“Okay, Mary, let’s get this over with,” Poland said, rising from his chair and draping his robe over the back of it. Mary watched in momentary confusion as she took in the muscular body of the old man. “Uh, Mary, the measurements,” Poland gently reminded her.

Her confusion turned to embarrassment and she quickly pulled the measuring tape from her pocket. When she put her arms around him to get his chest measurement, the fact that she was almost hugging a man wearing only boxers made her even more self-conscious. Reaching the tape from one hand to the other behind his back, she managed to regain some semblance of control.

“Forty-two inch chest,” Mary said as much to herself as to Poland. Lowering the tape around his waist, she measured thirty-four. Dropping to her knees, she began to measure his inseam. When her hand accidentally brushed his crotch, he hardened immediately. She jumped to her feet in embarrassment. She avoided looking him in the face and tried not to look at his body, instead scribbling his sizes in her notepad.

“What’s your shoe size?” she asked, mad at herself for sounding like a little girl and annoyed at him for making her feel the way she did.

“Size twelve. Oh, and please be sure to get white briefs—I can’t stand boxers.”

Mary finished jotting down the notes, wanting desperately to escape from the penthouse.

“Thank you, gentlemen. I’ll get the clothing for you as quickly as possible,” she murmured as she backed toward the door, sensing freedom.

“Wait, don’t you need a credit card or some cash to buy the clothes?” Poland asked as he put the robe back on.

Mary felt a sense of relief as he donned the robe. She felt more like herself again and more in control.

“I have an Orient credit card. The purchases will be added to your room charges. Is there anything else I can do for you?” She blushed when she realized the question could have been misinterpreted.

“Yes, Mary, please be sure to get me white athletic socks.”

She nodded and made a beeline for the door as nonchalantly as she could.

Pulling the door closed behind her, she felt foolish and frustrated. She was a professional. She shouldn’t have been affected that way by a man old enough to be her grandfather.

“That was a pretty young girl. Think I should adopt her, Short Blade?” Poland mused as he took another forkful of pancake.

“I think you should worry more about what’s going to happen when we go see your wife this afternoon. What if she tries to kill you again? Are you willing to kill her?”

Poland almost choked on his food. “She’s too smart for that. I’m just going to get my stuff and then get an attorney to annul my marriage. If she tries anything then, I’ll go nuclear on her. I’m so done with women. It’ll be nice to get back into space and get to work on the Beater.”

“Well, you won’t have to worry about women when you get to the ranch. There’s only one, and she seems more than happy to bury herself in her work—she’s our veterinarian. She made the trip here with me to pick up medical supplies for the herd. I’ll make sure you don’t have to see her on the trip back.”

“That’ll be fine with me. Since I can’t go anywhere until I get my clothes, I think I’ll take a look at the blueprints for the Beater. I actually had some ideas about improving her before, when we were operational. This’ll be the time to make those improvements.”

Poland sat down at a terminal in the corner of the room and was able to connect to his old files on the Gray Panthers’ server. Short Blade went into his bedroom and activated his virtual desktop so he could go over his business accounts. Less than an hour later, there were a few soft taps on the door.

“I’m back. May I come in?” Mary asked as she poked her head through the doorway.

Poland looked up from the monitor as she walked into the living room carrying three huge bags.

“I think I erred on the side of caution and got a few extra things,” she said as she set the bags down and dumped the contents of one on the couch. She reached down and pulled out a pair of blue jeans from the pile of clothes. Poland walked over to the couch, dropping his robe as he went. Mary tried not to look at him as he took the jeans from her.

“Yeah, these should do,” he acknowledged as he zipped them up. He reached over, grabbed a black T-shirt from the pile, and pulled it on over his head. Sitting down, he took a pair of socks Mary offered him and then a pair of black tennis shoes. Ignoring the rest of the clothes, he called out to Short Blade.

“I got my clothes. Let’s go visit my wife now, before it gets any later.”

Mary stormed out of the room, angry at being ignored and embarrassed at the realization that the old man was married.

Short Blade came out of his room just as Mary slammed the door behind her.

“Why did she leave? I was going to thank her and give her a tip.”

“Who knows with women? She’s probably behind schedule or something. Let’s get a limo and go visit my wife so I can get my stuff.”

Short Blade nodded and picked up the house phone to request a limo.

“The limo will be out front in five minutes with my security detail. Better safe than sorry,” Short Blade said after he hung up.

He went back into the bedroom to get his jacket. Clicking his belt buckle closed, he adjusted the way the holster hung around his waist and made sure the flap was snapped shut.

“Let’s hope everything goes as well as you expect,” Short Blade said on the way to the elevator. As the elevator made its way to the lobby, he began to wonder if he were to marry the dancer, Flower, where that would take him.

Sitting in the back of the limo, he rode in silence, thinking of the dancer. Why had she left him before he woke up? Was she a whore, or had he stolen something most valuable from her? As he thought about the task ahead, he feared that he and Flower could end up the same way Poland and his wife had. He would have to investigate Flower and her family line closely before he committed in any way.

“You can stay here, Short Blade. I should only be a moment.”

Poland was out of the limo before Short Blade was fully aware that they were back at the little house again. Poland’s stride as he closed in on the house was full of purpose. He stopped and pounded on the door instead of bursting in like he wanted to do.

“Go away! I gots nuthin’ here fo you!” the woman shouted from behind the closed door, her voice trembling in fear.

“Maria, they found the poison you were using on me. You open the door now, or I call the police. You’ll go to prison, and I’ll burn this house down!” Poland’s voice dripped with venom.

The threat finally registered with Maria. The door seemed to creak more loudly than usual as she slowly opened it just enough to poke her face out. An unexpected rage came over Poland when he saw the woman he had called his wife looking at him like he was an insect or some other sort of vermin. He kicked the door open the rest of the way, breaking a hinge and knocking Maria to the floor. The old wheel gun fell from her grip, clattering as it bounced along the floor. The sight of it infuriated him even more. As she crab walked backward to get to the gun, he entered and kicked it out of her reach.

“You stupid bitch. If you had tried to shoot me with that antique it would have killed you. I don’t need that on my conscience. I’m here to get my stuff and be gone. I’m going to have our marriage annulled. If you keep your mouth shut, you can keep what you stole from me and I’ll be gone, but just one word from you and I’ll see to it that you go to prison for attempted murder.”

Maria looked up at him with a mix of fear and hatred on her face. Her body shook so hard, Poland couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or because she was overdue her fix. When he walked into the bedroom the stale smell of unwashed bodies and filth took his breath away. He realized there was nothing he wanted enough to expose himself to the disgusting odor. He began to withdraw from the room when he remembered a few items he had to have. Going to the closet, he reached up to the top shelf and pulled down a cardboard box. Rifling through the contents, he was satisfied that the photos of his previous wife and family were all in there, along with a small wooden jewelry box. Opening it, he found his Gray Panthers-issued wrist computer. Slipping the computer on his wrist seemed to transform him. Memories of his time in the Gray Panthers came flooding back and he stood up straighter. All he wanted was to get out of that house and back to space.

As he walked out of the room, Maria intercepted him, the wheel gun once again in her hand. Only sadness showed on her face as she raised the pistol until it was just under his face and dropped it into the cardboard box he was holding. She turned away so he wouldn’t see her cry. When he walked through the front doorway the front door fell to the ground he, stopped and used his free hand to pull down the American flag and its small pole. Dropping them into the box, he proceeded to the limo.

As Short Blade jumped out and held the car door open for Poland to get in, he decided it was time to leave. Pressing behind his right ear, he activated his comm device.

“Phoenix, prepare for departure. We will return to Namid’s farm to pick her and her supplies up and then head for home via the wormhole. Notify Namid that we will be en route soon.”

The limo driver pulled away from the house and Poland just sat quietly staring at the box in his lap. After several minutes Short Blade broke the silence.

“We’ll make a quick stop by the Orient to pick up our belonging and then head for Nellis Air Force Base. From there, we have to pick up Namid and the supplies she purchased, and then we’ll head for Glory. Does that meet with your approval, Commander Poland?”

Poland looked up, startled at hearing his name, and then nodded as he began poking through the cardboard box that represented his past. He was starting to feel melancholy when he heard Short Blade speaking again.

“When we get back to the ranch, I think you’ll be happy to see that everything from your cabin on board the Beater is there waiting for you, just as you left it.”

Poland showed no emotion as he put the box on the seat next to him and stared out the window.

The gate guard at Nellis recognized the limo from the day before, when the wing commander had given Short Blade a lift in his car. The airman immediately called the command post to announce the arrival of the little alien. The chauffer lowered the back window as the guard approached and Poland held out his retired Navy ID card. The guard took it back to the guard shack to report the additional visitor.
This is the wrong day to be working the gate,
the airman thought when he was advised that both the base commander and the wing commander were en route to greet the limo’s occupants. After advising the limo driver to pull into the small parking lot to await further instructions, the guard returned the ID card to Commander Poland and explained that the wing commander and base commander were on their way. Moments later, a staff car pulled up. Inside were the wing commander, dressed in his flight suit with brigadier general stars and unit patches, and the base commander in his casual short-sleeved blue uniform bedecked with an eagle emblem on his shirt’s epaulets, representing his rank as a full colonel, and four rows of ribbons above his chest pocket.