CHAPTER 23

   
They kept very silent on the move. Patty was actually thankful for that much since she had no great desire to talk to anyone at the moment. Even Mike seemed as if he were never going to broach the subject that was foremost in Patty's mind. Patty had figured if anyone would, it would be him. That was why she was a little surprised when it was as operator, the American one, who sat down beside her during a break  and said, “not what you thought, was it?” This guy, Hoop, seemed polite enough. It did not sound to Patty as if he were rubbing anything in. He sounded almost disinterested and, with just a hint of curiosity, he noted, “I remember training you during Wind Storm. You were competent enough. I figured if you got enough time under your belt you'd make a descent soldier.”
That raised an eyebrow as Patty pulled out a canteen and took a long drink. She was covered in sweat and was probably not doing enough to replace the sea she was loosing on this hike. She then asked, “what do you mean training me?”
Hoop looked like he wanted to laugh but did not, “I'm ether a bad instructor or you're a pretty shitty reporter. Don't you remember? I was the guy teaching all you, about the Hurt, back at Merlin.”
Patty honestly did not but she did remark, “I thought you looked kind of familiar. I didn't know you were with this crew. I thought...”
“That was my crew doing all the instructing,” Hoop motioned to the others who were around them, “same crew as we got here, well, mostly anyway. Some of the guys you'd probably remember ain't with us no more.”
Once again, Patty raised a brow, “they left?”
“They're dead,” Hoop said with a hint of disgust that Patty picked up on. She was also pretty sure that it was not due to any remorse because he did not volunteer any other comments on that subject. He got right back to Patty's attitude, “that little elf would have split you in half if she had the chance. You ain't nothing to her. That's the way they're raised.”
Patty did not believe that. She had seen that little girls eyes, her expressions, and if Patty did not know any better, the girl was not doing anything out there more harmful than the same thing Patty was, fleeing the insanity. Patty did not bring it up. She was seasoned enough to know that a direct approach would never work here. She also knew that talking about this was not going to make her feel any better so, she did her job instead, “is that why they attacked those people? I mean, for god's sake, they were their own people.”
Hoop looked like he did not even understand the question and then he shook his head and tried to correct Patty, “they wouldn't call that no attack lady. Them elves, they just wanted the dragon's car. They was trying to get the hell out of here, like us. As far as they was concerned, they were entitled to it. Course now, John had other ideas.”
“Wait a minute,” Patty waived her hand in confusion, “what did John have to do with it? Why were... I don't get this.”
“Aldo ain't no genius but, he ain't stupid enough to go toe to toe with a Faeyu patrol,” Hoop told her. “I mean, they might have taken that crew but, then Aldo runs the risk of the elves figuring it out later. Since we did it, not much chance of it happening. If we're lucky, they'll think the Orcs did it. If we're not so lucky then, well...”
Patty was a little worried about her own part in all of this, “what happens if they figure out it wasn't the Orcs?”
Hoop could see her concern and he shrugged it off, “don't worry, they won't come after any of us and, you in particular. You're protected, anyway, cause the emperor won't let them do anything to piss off the US Army. Not right now anyhow. If they figure out it was us, they'll blame the Olyan Notae. They're always looking for an excuse to fight them.”
“This makes no sense,” Patty grumbled. “I mean, why did you guys fight them? If they're afraid of you then... what? Did they want some of your stuff?”
“No, they weren't that stupid,” Hoop replied and then added, “or that scared just yet. We needed Aldo's help, so, we did him a favor. He gets to keep that car and for his little village, right now, that's the difference between life and death. Then we got some supplies and the intel that we need.” After thinking about it for a second, Hoop went on and noted, “and that motherfucker better clear my bar tab like he said he would.”
Patty acted a little depressed and it really didn't take much of an effort, “so the elves can steal from whoever they like?”
“Naw,” said Hoop, “they don't see it that way. The way they run things in these parts, if you ain't an elf, you can't own anything no how, not by law. So that patrol figured they was in their rights to grab that car so they could run off and leave those people defenseless, and stuck. Non elves are replaceable. Car's ain't.”
There was a part of what Hoop had said that did not really surprise Patty. She had seen the rampant poverty that existed outside of Cheau-Gan. She had never really thought too deeply about it since you could find similar situations back on Earth where it was only one species doing it to itself. She had never bothered to ask that golden question of why? On the next stop she decided to probe the Canadian. Jamie Jones seemed reluctant to talk to her on any meaningful level, despite the fact that he was probably the most polite of the three. Then Patty seemed to have found his button and, apparently, that was because he was amused, “well yeah, Balfour probably has more deals with the elves than he does prostitutes in his bungalows.”
Patty acted amused, right along with Jamie, and then she noted, “there's a 'but' in there somewhere.”
Jamie thought about it and then said, “you got it kind of backwards, sort of, not sure how to put it.” Patty had to egg him on to get him to complete his thought, “Ian's not a saint, not by a long shot but....”
“Please do not come out and tell me the part about how he's a good old boy despite being a slum lord,” Patty replied.
“We don't exactly get along with Ian,” Jamie mentioned, “John and him, in particular, are not so... and, hell, I think Ian outright hates Hoop. There's a long story behind that one.”
Patty had him talking at least, “still a but there Jones.”
“Look,” Jamie broke down, “I'm not going to defend the guy and, here's the but, if it wasn't for him then most of the people that lived in Kalean-Erc wouldn't have a roof over their heads.” Then Jamie thought about it and amended his statement, “at least not as good as the one they have because of him.”
Patty was not so convinced that was a good thing, “I've seen those hovels and, what... what do you call those shacks that Aldo and his people live in?”
“Well,” Jamie corrected her, “Aldo's village is different. They aren't in the city, so, they're kind of at mercy of the elves. They're best hope is they don't get noticed. Down here, you'll find a lot of little villages like that, set up on bodies of water, like the swamp. They eek out a of living on the waters edge. They take odd jobs in the towns to supplement their incomes.”
Patty rolled her eyes, “if you can call that an income.” Then she asked, “so the farmers... they're like...”
“No,” Jamie explained, “setting up a farm is to high profile. You need the elves permission to do that stuff. You have to get your seed from them, sell your crop at their prices, and that's after you hand most of it over in taxes. I mean, you can't exactly hide a patty duct, you know?”
That made Patty think about what she had seen around the area and then she commented, almost rhetorically, “I've never seen an elf farming.”
“They don't do that,” Jamie told her as if to confirm, “they can't spare anyone for that.”
“I see,” Patty really didn't but, she took a stab at it, “so they restrict all the technical jobs to their own race?”
“Uh,” again, Jamie looked unsure how to answer. Patty was starting to suspect that his earlier ambiguity had less to do with an attempt to be vague and was really about trying to avoid a long winded conversation about something that was not so easy to explain. He gave a half and half gesture with his hand and told her, “sort of. It's more like they need most of their people to keep everybody else in line. That's the Readers Digest version of it anyway.”
On their next stop, Patty was a little surprised when it was John who initiated the conversation. When Patty tried to act surprised he told her, “I already know you were pestering everybody else. I had to figure my turn was coming. I also had to figure you're just trying to find something to make you feel better about that little elf.” That was not exactly true and John saw the reaction he got so he added, “you figured work would keep you from thinking about it.”
Patty deflated and earnestly admitted, “you read people pretty good, don't you?”
John waived the notion off with a, “whatever.”
With that in the open, Patty decided to go for broke, “what the hell are you people doing out here? I know you said you're with the UN but, I'm not buying that. At best that's an excuse but, I'm thinking it's really camouflage. You're Camelonian's, aren't you?”
“I'm not,” John said bluntly, “I'm married to one though. Jamie is but, he's a newcomer.”
Now Patty almost wanted to giggle, “and Hoop?”
“Yep,” John admitted and it made Patty nervous. She was starting to wonder why this guy was suddenly so open. He had to have an angle and, for the life of her, she could not figure it out. Her next impulse made her think that John was just lying to her and, again, he seemed to read her because he added, “Hoop doesn't know it. His grandmother did but, the sense I got of it was that her little clique never amounted to much.”
Patty put her hands on her hips and was a little accusing when she said, “and you haven't bothered to tell him.”
John took that with a grain of salt, “it's none of my business.”
“Ok, fine,” Patty was still disgusted and did not hide it when she asked, “so what exactly is your business? Since we're laying our cards on the table.”
John seemed almost amused, “I think you got a first hand look at that one lady.”
“You know Commander,” Patty replied, “I'm not a soldier but, I know a lot about war. You guys aren't just here to kill. If you were, you wouldn't be in such a big rush to go north. You could do plenty of that right here in bean town. It's pretty obvious you're looking for something.”
“If you know so much about war Miss Walsh,” John replied politely enough, “then you'd know that you don't ask a guy about his mission unless you're on it. Right now, you're just baggage. I think you might keep this in mind. We're only saving your ass because if you get greased out here it's going to make our lives more complicated, and that is the only reason we're letting you tag along.”
“Don't hand me that bullshit Snow,” Patty shot back and she did not take the polite tone that John did. She drove her point home, “this isn't the kind of war where you got double agents. Who am I going to tell that it's going to matter, huh? The last time I checked, the Orc's don't get cable. What you're doing out here is playing with the survival of the entire human race. I think everybody has a right to know.”
John mulled I over and then replied, “yeah.”
Mike drifted over to them and then mumbled, “you know, you two are making way too much fucking noise up here.”
John was amused, “then why don't you tell her, Doc. At least then, she'll be quiet.”
Patty looked Mike in the eye and he seemed more irritated than anything else. He finally just mumbled again, in that gruff voice of his, “they're literally on a witch hunt.”
“Huh?” Of all the things that Patty expected, that did not make her list, “what the hell does that mean?”
“The Polmarij, Miss Walsh,” John said in an even tone, “the Orc's can't be the only species of them.”
Mike added, “they sure as hell didn't plan this attack.”
Patty scratched her head and then asked, “you mean somebody else did?”
“More like,” Mike corrected her, “something else.”
Now, Patty studied the look on John's face and realized exactly how serious he was, “you know this for a fact?”
“We do,” John volunteered but, nothing else. When Patty looked to Mike for more information, John stepped back in with, “he doesn't know any more than you do. He just figured it out on his own.”
Mike asked the commando, “you found one, didn't ya?”
“Yeah,” John admitted. “We need a live one now.”
Now Patty suddenly became nervous and asked, “and why do you think I'm going to sit on this information? Why are you?”
“Miss Walsh,” John went back into his polite mode, “you're not going to tell anybody, anything, about us or this mission.”
Patty had to admit that he scared her. She watched him kill that elf without a moments hesitation and now had visions of him doing the same to her. Even so, there was a space in the back of her mind that said he never would. Not only did that come with practical problems but, Patty just suspected that John Snow was not that cold blooded. Still, it was an obvious threat and Patty decided to repay his blunt attitude in kind, “you going to shoot me?”
“I don't have too,” John replied. “You go public with all of this and then I think it won't be long before the elves put two and two together. I think they'll start asking some hard questions of their own, you know, about what happened to their patrol?”
“I really don't think they'd want that kind of incident on their hands,” Patty shot back, “not right now.”
John chuckled, “it's more like, you wouldn't want the kind of incident, that they'd create, on yours. You might consider, Miss Walsh, you've already gotten on somebody's bad side. You can't piss everybody off and think you can still do your job. Even if the elves don't screw you over there's others that would be more than happy to knock your credibility right out from under you. All the elves have to do is suggest they'd like that to happen.”
When Patty looked to Mike all he had to say was, “hell woman, don't look at me. You know he's right.”
“Thanks a lot Mike,” Patty sneered, “thought you were on my side.”
“Miss Walsh,” John told her, “the only side you got is the one we protect. You might consider that.”
Patty crossed her arms and sneered, “another threat commander?”
“No,” John remained calm, “a fact. I'm not out here because I like this shit. I have a family to protect and that's why I do it. It just so happens that it protects you too. You can ether think about the bigger picture and help us or, further your own career and turn our planet upside down.”
The strange thing that crossed Patty's mind was that she remembered having a similar conversation with her boyfriend, about this very thing. She had eventually managed to come to an arrangement with Bob, a truce of sorts, and they were treading a thin line between their personal and professional lives. Was this really the same thing though? Patty could not make herself believe it, “there is no excuse for keeping secrets, particularly one like this!”
Oddly enough, John's reply surprised her a little when he calmly admitted, “maybe. Doesn't make it any less true though. Now come on, we got some more walking too do. We've already wasted enough time here.”