CHAPTER 3


   It was quite a different experience to have something waking you up besides the alarm on your phone and, after Tony considered it, it was also far better than a rolled up wet towel being slapped on your bare ass. This sensation was definitely more pleasant than either of those wake ups. This time it was his nose that had fired off some messages to his brain that quickly put his body in motion. He rolled right out of the rack, in one of the spare barracks rooms, and let his nostrils lead the way.
When Tony reached the commissary he did not see much of anything all that unusual. The side door, that led to the porch, was still open with the screen part shut. There was a slight breeze blowing in and it was still dark outside. He could hear the distant waves crashing on the beach. All of that was as it should be.
No one but Calvin was in the commissary, at the moment, and there was definitely nothing unusual about that. He was sitting at the desk he kept in here. He was wearing slippers, cut off shorts, and a dirty T shirt. It was the one he usually slept in. The guy was playing some kind of video game on his computer and paid very little attention to Tony. All of it seemed as normal as ever but, what was that smell!?
Something happened on the video screen and Calvin must have gotten killed in game. He punched the pause button and then took stock of Tony. He then looked at the clock on his video screen and said, “didn’t expect you up for at least another twenty minutes. You could have gone to bed a littler earlier last night.”
While the smell worked on one side of Tony’s brain, Calvin’s words were slowly being sorted on the other. He became slightly more awake when he realized, “twenty minutes? It can’t be that late. It’s still dark outside!”
Calvin shook his head and picked up a piece of bacon from a paper plate that was sitting on his cluttered and dirty desk. Before chomping down on it he said, “you have to fly today. I hope you do remember that.”
All of the words were lost on Tony. He was too busy watching Calvin chew up the bacon. Then Tony’s eyes drifted down to the paper plate which was now empty but had a huge grease stain on it. Now Tony knew what that smell was. It was real food! Tony pointed at Calvin and in a semi hostile way he demanded, “where did you get that? Did you go to town or something?”
Calvin barely paid the comment any mind. After he licked his fingers he turned his game back on and told Tony, “hell no. I got it in the kitchen. Go get you a plate. You’re probably going to need it before you leave.” Tony remained motionless, stunned, and his jaw was wide open. Calvin hit pause again and looked at the guy. He shrugged, “what?”
Tony shook off his shock and asked, “did you just say kitchen? Calvin, we don’t have a kitchen.” Now Calvin looked at Tony like he was an idiot and pointed at the door right next to his desk. Tony’s eyes drifted to the door and he pointed at it and proclaimed, “that’s a broom closet. When did we get a kitchen?”
No sooner than Tony said that, the door opened. Danni Nguyen came skipping out, cheerful, fully awake, and with a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs. She poked a very stunned Tony on the arm as she walked by and said, “morning looser.” There was nothing right about this picture to Tony. Danni had been up as late as he had. She had food too! When did they get a kitchen?
Calvin mentioned, as if it were of no great importance, “glad to see one of you is awake. Too bad it isn’t the pilot.” He stopped playing his game and looked over to Danni who was sitting down at a table to eat. Calvin became very inquisitive, “exactly what were you two children doing down that hall last night. I heard you way up in ops.”
Danni gave Calvin an evil stare and said, “you have a dirty mind Calvin Brandt.” After she took a bite of food she realized something and then asked, “Cal, what time did you go to bed last night?”
He shrugged it off, “I didn’t. I had comwatch.” As he got back to his game he did mention in a somewhat angry tone, “which is what happens when a certain cheerful person swaps her job assignment with another.”
Tony blinked, “when did we get a kitchen?”
Kent came walking in from the barracks door and he also looked to be in rough shape. He was a little better off than Tony however. At least he had already had a shower and was dressed. The guy also went straight for the coffee and as he poured he nodded to Tony, who was still standing like a statue. Kent Gold told him, “Mister Tippet. If you will not avail yourself of a good meal, may I suggest that you at least drink some coffee before we have to fly out of here this morning.”
Calvin laughed at Kent and pointed to Tony as he said, “him I expect Gold. You though? Don’t tell me, they kept you up too.”
Danni shot Calvin a most definitive ‘eat shit’ look. Calvin simply smiled in return.
All the while, Kent wandered over and sat down next to Danni as he explained, “as a matter of fact, Mister Brandt, they did. I took it upon myself, last night, to stay up with them.”
Calvin almost fell out of his chair and he stuttered, “wi..with… you were in the same room?”
“As a matter of fact,” Kent said with a certain air of delight, “I was. We were playing cards Mister Brandt. I decided, early last night, that if our good Mister Tippet here, was bound and determined to fly out with no sleep then, the least I could do was to make sure he was sober.”
Danni sneered at Cal, “told you.”
A short, semi plump, girl with frizzy brown hair, came walking out of the kitchen with a paper plate full of food. She put it in Tony’s hands and then walked back in the kitchen. Tony looked down at it and then he asked, “when did we get a kitchen?”
Danni slapped her forehead, “oh god Tony. You don’t recognize April? The girl from the…”
Tony’s mind snapped into reality, “oh I thought I recognized her.” He pointed at his plate and asked, “when did we get a kitchen?” Now that his brain was finally working a little faster he suddenly realized a few things that had escaped him before now. The most important was how Danni was dressed. She had on thick long pants, good boots, a plaid flannel shirt, a clearly visible undershirt, and a thick puffy vest. It was hardly the kind of thing one wore in the Arch where the coolest of days could break you out into a sweat.
Then Tony remembered what Calvin had said about being up all night. Danni was supposed to have been on comwatch. That had practically been her exclusive job since she had been shot. Finally, Tony put it all together, “Danni why are you going with us today? I can’t haul everybody up to Valley. Even if I had enough seats, and I don’t with Maxine’s fat ass, we couldn’t take the weight.”
Danni remained quite perky, no matter how sour Tony sounded, and she wrinkled her nose at him as she said, “don’t worry. Amy’s not going. I switched out with her.”
Tony shivered suddenly and then, suspiciously, he asked her, “and does Barbara know about this?”
Danni got up from her seat and collected her trash now that she was finished eating. She remained as happy as ever, “course she does. She approved it.”
That drew a very nasty look from Tony and it was directed right at Kent. He had been fully expecting it too. He simply raised a hand and calmly told Tony, “do not put this one on me. It was not my call Mister Tippet.”
Calvin did not look away from his computer screen and he sounded quite distracted as he added, “he’s telling you the truth Tony. Barbara made the switch on the duty roster last night. I saw her.” He then looked over his shoulder at Danni, who was dumping her plate in the trash, and with a wink he said, “it would seem that our little Miss Daniealla got her badge, officially, back yesterday. Good going kiddo.”
Danni gave a quick smile to Calvin but, now, she acted nervous and was most definitely ready to get out of here. She told everyone in a very quick way, “I got to go pack a few more things.” Then she almost fled out of the room.
Tony barely noticed. He was still standing in the exact same spot that he had stopped at when he first came in. Now he was no longer so concerned about the food. He even set the plate down on Calvin’s desk. Cal shrugged, picked it up, and began eating it. Tony barely noticed. Instead, he turned towards the hallway door and began to walk in that direction. He only stopped when Kent said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Mister Tippet.”
Surprisingly, Tony did stop. Then he looked back at Kent, “it’s none of your damn business.”
Cal almost got out of his seat when he realized where Tony was headed. He put his hand out, “I think Kent is right, um,” Cal almost had to spit, “I still cant get used to saying that.” He recovered enough to add, “look, Barbara is flying up there too. She’s down there getting ready right now.”
“What?” Tony winced in a fury, “why didn’t anybody tell me any of this?”
Kent casually mentioned, “you were playing cards.”
That did not calm the situation down, so, Calvin took another crack at it, “Tony, the weather changed last night, we got some extra weight in the birds. I had to map out another flight plan for you guys. It’s not a big deal, ok.”
“No,” Tony replied with a bit of anger, “that’s where you’re wrong Cal. I’m the pilot. I’m supposed to be updated when something like this happens. I got the final say with anything that happens on my bird.”
Kent interrupted because it was quite apparent that Tony was going to keep right on, “Mister Brandt will not tell you so I will, Mister Tippet. It wasn’t Miss Nguyen who requested the change, it was Miss Hiller.”
It felt like someone had just slugged Tony in the gut. He almost wanted to bend over. It took a second for the shock to start fading and the anger to return. Before he could have a melt down though, a very stern voice called his name. It came from up the stairs, in Operations. Tony shivered and looked at Calvin as he pointed up the stairs. The question did not have to be asked. Cal answered it, “Amy relieved me about a half hour before you came stumbling in.”
Tony gulped, fought down his emotions, and then energetically took off up the staircase. That left Calvin, standing around, giving Kent a very nasty look. Kent took it in stride and then pointed out, “he needed to know Mister Brandt. If he did not find out now then surely he would have later.”
“Yeah,” Calvin snarled, “preferably much later.”
“Like when,” Kent remained civil and polite, “say when he’s over the ocean, piloting a helicopter? You really don’t believe that Miss Nguyen is going to somehow fail to mention it, do you?” What could Calvin say to that. The exact words almost made him spit the last time so Calvin didn’t bother. He just grumbled in frustration. Kent, on the other hand, did prefer to point something out, “you know, I’ve never been one for profanity but, in this particular case, I believe it aptly applies.”
Calvin huffed and said, “you mean Tony needs to pull his head out of his ass. Right?”
Kent raised his coffee mug as if making a toast. He stated, “thank you for saving me the trouble. I must also say, Mister Brandt, it does sound so much more natural coming from your lips, as opposed to mine.”
Calvin raised a brow to that. He thought about it. Then he finally said, “thank you. I think.”