CHAPTER 17


    You could hardly turn on your television set without hearing about this place. If you wanted to look it up on the internet you would not be disappointed either. There were websites that ranged from bizarre conspiracy theories to others that claimed to have pornographic pictures of people doing funky things with elves. Nate reflected that in this, he and the Coven Hill International Embarkation Facility had a lot in common. He had wanted to see this place again and for no other reason than the fact that the last time he was here, as a US Army Ranger, he was on what amounted to house arrest. His unit had been confined to the hotel like barracks, probably for political reasons, and you could see that at any stateside motel. They had also not finished as much of the place back then. Nate had heard of it's posh facilities and, just maybe, this time, he might get to utilize them. He was supposed to be some kind of VIP wasn't he?
The reality turned out to be something else entirely different but, then again, what else was new? There was so much military activity going on that, in some ways, Nate had to figure it really was not all that different from his last visit, save the fact that there was a lot more of it now. Didi Compton was certainly taken with that. She noticed the moment she got off the plane and did not sound all that thrilled when she mentioned it to Nate. All he could tell her was, “why are you asking me about it? Last time I checked, I been with you this whole time.” She had made a gesture to his uniform after that but, Nate suddenly realized something else, “you've never been here before, have you?”
“We can't all be other worldly travelers,” Didi replied with a certain amount of resentment, “like you.”
That rebuke sounding comment stuck with Nate for a while. He had never really thought about it before or, more importantly, never thought about himself in that light. That was kind of strange to Nate because, he remember something about her running some germ team, or whatever they called it, at the Centers For Disease Control. That had been the team that initially went to Feyland to see how safe it was. Nate had just figured the woman had went there, so, he put that to her. Didi did not sound so happy when she explained that she had only run the program but, not the field work. Nate now came to see that she was more the REMF type or, to be more specific, others thought that of her. When you put it all in perspective, Nate now understood Didi's passion for her current project. It was as close to the real thing as she had managed, up till now.
This showed because, apparently, others were far more aware of this situation than Nate had been. Nate had resolved that he was going to keep his mouth as shut as possible during any business they conducted here but, the people they talked with had other ideas. That started with their very first appointment. It was some woman that Nate had never heard of, named Mary Moore. She was supposed to be important but, you could not get out of Nate as to why. He had no clue. She seemed to know everything about him even if that was not a big mystery as to how. Nate instantly recognized the guy with her. It was Colonel Phil Conner and Nate had served with the man in Feyland. That might have been a bad thing for Nate and, even after they left the meeting, he was not sure if this was the case. It was hard to get a read on Conner who, for lack of a better term, always looked terminally bored.
Mary Moore had directed quite a few of her questions towards Nate, even when Didi wanted to be the one answering. It did not stop there. Nate even told her, between appointments, “sorry.”
“For what?” Didi did seem to be genuinely asking that question but, not because she was unaware of Nate's unexpected celebrity. It was just more like she did not realize he noticed as well. When Nate explained it to her she blew it off with, “it's not your fault.” That tone in her voice kind of said she believed it, even if she was not all that happy about it. The reason for that proved to be something Nate had not considered but, was definitely on Didi's mind, “if what they say is true...”
“Which 'they' would that be,” Nate asked, “and about which if?”
“The Dell,” Didi replied with serious frustration in her voice, “if they can't get it reopened then I'm not sure what they'll do with our program. Hell, they won't even have to worry about Fairy Dust anymore.”
Those were the two big pies that Didi had her fingers in. Nate was starting to see more of the bureaucrat, in his boss, than he had realized even existed. That made him think back to their first meeting and he realized that Didi's comfort with Moore was more than just a performance skill. “You knew that woman didn't you? Mary Moore? Who the hell is she?”
Didi was busy organizing her notes for their next meeting and the question caused her to pause before answering, “oh? Mary? I used to report to her. She's been running everything related to the Dell since, literally, day one. Her and this guy named Arbuckle, they're the ones who blew the lid on it. I knew her before that, though. In fact, she's the one who brought me in.” Didi remembered something and then said with surprise, “you don't know her? I thought you would. Her husband was your boss guy in Feyland.”
Suddenly the presence of Conner made sense and Nate gulped, “Isaacs? That's his wife? I didn't even know the guy was married.”
Now Didi snickered, “he doesn't like you very much, does he?”
Nate became somewhat fidgety and then replied, “probably not.”
They reached the conference room door and Didi snickered even more, “well then relax. I get the feeling Mary does. Probably because she divorced the General.”
As they entered the conference room, Nate let his boss know, with a certain lack of enthusiasm and no small amount of sarcasm, “oh that is all too comforting, Didi.”
The next round of meetings were really no different than the first few, only these were no longer for Americans. They were having to be conducted through interpreters. They were also not important people and Nate could tell this by Didi's reaction to them. He even got the impression that some of them were even professional rivals. A lot of them had the title of doctor, after all. They were no different than the VIP's in one respect. They all seemed to want to talk more to Nate than his boss. Most seemed genuinely interested in the Orcs they had back in Atlanta but, the interpreter for one Chinese guy did ask, “the Doctor wishes to know if the web site is true?”
Didi's face turned beat red before she forced a smile and stated, “we don't have any websites.”
After the Chinese doctor got the reply, from his interpreter, he pulled out his phone and then called up a website that he showed to Nate. Naturally Nate recognized his own picture, along with the one of Angie in her cheerleader outfit. He cleared his throat and then said, “um, no, that one is what they call fan fiction. It's false, you know, not true, somebody's... uh no.”
Fire shot out from Didi's eyes as she tried to play diplomat and lead the guy away from Nate. It was one of those times that he figured that Didi had her uses. He was more than happy to let her take the guy off his hands. Nate was actually breathing a sigh of relief when someone with an English sounding accent commented from behind him, “he speaks perfect English, you know?”
When Nate looked for the source, he found himself face to face with a slender looking Chinese woman that wore a business suit but, quite casually. She smiled at Nate and waited for him to put it together. He pointed towards Didi and her guests and asked, “you mean the doctor over there?” When she nodded in the affirmative Nate had to ask, “then why the middle man?”
The Chinese woman smiled and winked, “because he is under orders not too speak English.” She gestured to Nate's uniform, by running her finger down his chest, and then she noted, “I'm sure you can appreciate following orders.”
“Actually,” Nate stumbled with his words, “I never was all that good at it. That's why...”
“Oh yes,” the woman replied, “your file did say something about, used cars was it?”
His file? Who the hell was this woman? Nate decided to find out and he picked his angle of attack, “if the doctor over there can't speak English, then why are you?”
“Oh,” she was not taking the bait, “because I'm not in the same line of work.” Then Nate discovered that his coy and subtle fishing expedition was all too obvious to this woman who kept nudging even closer to him. She just came right out with it, “I'm what you would call, a spy?”
“Uh,” Nate did not back up but he was not all that comfortable either, “it's kind of been my experience that spy's don't usually go around telling people who they are.”
“True,” the woman admitted before she whispered in his ear, “but then all I want to do is fuck your brains out.” She slipped a plastic room key in his pocket before grabbing his ass and then slinking off.
Nate huffed, wondered why he had quit smoking, and then decided he needed some different kind of air anyway, preferably of the fresh variety. He wasted no time finding a back door to the conference center. Nate was a little surprised to find that there was someone waiting on him. He was equally surprised as to who it was. He asked Phil Conner, “didn't know you smoked?”
“I knew you did Major,” Conner replied in his usual bland way, “that's why I figured if I waited here long enough you would show up.”
“You almost got disappointed,” Nate replied. “I quit a while back. Course, that doesn't answer the real question. Why would you be looking for little old me? I'd figure that I'm not on your favorite person list.”
“You're not,” Conner replied in such a matter of fact way that it almost did not sound like an insult, almost. “I'm here about a mutual friend and, it's not for your benefit, Major.”
“I can live with that,” Nate replied before he followed Conner to the building next door. It proved to be a hospital of sorts and, an international one at that. It was currently very busy. From what Nate was seeing, it appeared as if the reason for the extra business was the current mass movement of patients that were lined up in the hall. A good number of them were in beds, hooked to IV lines, and were definitely getting prepared to be moved.
What really got under Nate's skin was the lack of order in all of this. It was clear that most of these kids, and that is exactly what they looked like to him, were military. Nate recognized the combat wounds as well. Very few of them were taking it well and that was despite the pain medication that was obviously being handed out like candy. The general sorrow was as infectious as any disease. The medical staff was obviously being rattled by it, along with the chaos. It was clear that no one here had ever thought that they would have to deal with something like this. They were definitely not taking it well, except one.
The short girl with the blond hair, pulled back in a ponytail, was wearing scrubs like most of the staff but, when she spoke, Nate was a little surprised by the fact that she was an American. Conner had tried to get her attention but, she waived him off till she was finished with her patient. The girl was trying to comfort a young boy who was still worried about his leg. Apparently it was the one that was no longer there. Nate had never seen an Army doctor that showed as much concern as this girl did. She actually managed to get the kid calm before the drugs took effect.
When the girl turned her attention to Phil she wasted no time looking Nate over, from head to toe, and then commenting, “so your Caldwell, huh? I thought you'd be, um, I don't know, taller?”
Before Nate could reply, Phil asked her, “how is she doing?”
“Well,” the girl doctor replied, “as you can see, we're moving as many as we can back to Walter Reed. She's not ready yet though. Maybe in a couple of days. I've still got to go back in on her.”
Nate decided he did not like being in the dark here, “uh, excuse me but why... who are you?” Janet Isaacs put her hand out and Nate shook it as she introduced herself. He also caught the last name and had to note, “is your entire family...”
“Yeah,” Janet almost laughed, “you met my Mom earlier today. She mentioned it.” Then Janet snickered, “she didn't see what all the fuss was about ether.”
“Uh,” what did Nate say to that? “Thanks?”
When Nate's face advertised the obvious question, Phil told him, “she mentioned you.”
That was not the answer that Nate was looking for and Janet could see the question that was written all over his face. Janet nodded for him to follow as she told him, “she mentioned you more than once in fact. When I found out you were here, I convinced Phil to go find you.”
The colonel had stayed behind but, Nate looked back like the guy was still there. Janet Isaacs had answered one question in Nate's mind. Conner had not found him for his own reasons. It was of no great surprise but, who was waiting for Nate in a semi private room was. One bed was currently empty but, Nate knew the half sleeping patient in the other. Janet shoved Nate in the room and closed the door behind him. He barely noticed. Nate just pulled up a chair next to the bed. She looked at him and actually managed a smile through the drug induced haze. Her hand reached out and Nate gently took it. The only words he could manage was, “what happened to your hair?”
Katie Mack tried to laugh but it hurt. She did manage a reply, “what happened to your clothes?”
The first thought that ran through his mind was that this was yet another reference to those stupid porn sites about him. Then he suddenly realized what he had on, “oh, the uniform. I guess I am a little short for a storm trooper, huh?”
After a fit of coughs, Katie told him, “would you stop making me laugh, Nate. It hurts, ok?”
“Katie,” Nate was really at a loss for words, “what the hell?”
Finally, she managed to make eye contact, “what do you think happened? Dumb ass. I got hit. I...” Her words trailed off before she managed, “always knew it could happen but..”
“Katie, I...” Now it was Nate's turn to let his words trail off.
She managed to pat his hand and then grasp it once more as she said, “it's ok. They said I'm going to live. Phil already talked to my dad. He's already headed to DC. I guess... I...”
Katie tried to talk after that but she was no longer speaking in words. She finally fell asleep and Nate stayed by her side for a while. He would have probably done so even longer had Janet not come back in to get him. This time Janet closed the door with both of them in the hall. Janet actually told Nate, “thank you Major. She needed that.”
That was something that Nate did not quite understand and, apparently, the doctor thought it was amusing. Nate doted over his words before asking, “how long is it going to be before she's back on duty?”
“Back on?” Janet sighed and then was obviously wrestling with a serious issue before she relented, “Major Caldwell, she's not going back on duty. I guess she didn't tell you. She's lucky to even be alive. If I hadn't been there then...”
Nate interrupted and was quite concerned, “wait a minute, doc, I know her really good. Katie has to go back on duty. The army is her whole life. She doesn't...”
Janet was quite adamant, “no way in hell.” Again the doctor wrestled with something but, again, she obviously reached the same nervous conclusion, “I'm not supposed to talk about this. You know it's the doctor/patient thing but...”
“But you are,” Nate filled the emptiness with.
After a sigh, Janet told him, “this isn't the movies Major. You don't take a hit to the gut like she did and walk away. She's going to be dealing with this the rest of her life. It's probably going to be years before she even walks again.”
Nate's expression was one of complete revulsion, “from a gut shot?”
Janet did not feel like giving a medical school lecture right now. She continued with, “with therapy and a lot of work, she can have something of a normal life but, she's going to need a lot of support. That's why I...”
“What?” Nate had to wonder why this little doctor was so hesitant now.
Janet gave a short laugh, “oh the way she talked about you, under the influence but, oh I recognized the tone. You can help her if you want to. I hope you do.”  Janet heard her name called from down the hallway and excused herself.
Nate was not ready to let it go just yet, “what was that supposed to mean?”
Janet yelled back, “sorry Caldwell, I already violated one or two medical ethics already. Can't violate the sisterhood code. You figure it out.” Nate was completely lost and, when Janet stuck her head back around the corner and yelled, “oh, and remember, they don't have the internet in Feyland.” It did not help.