THE WEREWOLVES OF WONDERLAND

RABBIT HOLE

CHAPTER 1

The room filled with the sounds of chairs sliding as everyone that had been sitting in them rose to their feet. All sound had ended by the time the reason for this was at the podium. This reason, this person, then told all of these newly arrived junior officers, “at ease, be seated.”

As the room of young kids, all dressed in their field uniforms that were colored a solid greenish tan, came to their seats, the speaker continued, “I am Major Katherine Mack. I am the operations officer for the first of the five-oh-sixth infantry. Today, here at N.I.KA. I have the duty of giving you all your initial briefing. It will be one of many as you are in processed. Welcome to the Hundred and First Airborne, welcome to the Feyland Empire, and welcome to Operation Broom Stick. I don’t know how many of you actually volunteered to be here but, as a warning between officers, if you did, then keep it yourself because it will not reflect too well on my estimates of your intelligence. Now, if you will open your folders, let’s get started shall we.”

This particular duty was not a favorite of anybody who was on the rotating list to do it. Katie handled it like she did all of the rest of her assignments, with dispassionate precision. It did not mean she liked it though. She got through it, paying it the normal amount of detail she would any other job she had. Then she felt relieved when it was over with and she could pawn the new arrivals off on somebody else. She felt some relief when she left the building and began her journey down the neatly groomed sidewalks that ran between the processing center, and the office building that housed most of the headquarters units of the 101^st Airborne Division and even a few from 18^th Airborne Corps. The latter of which were just some of the support units that the one-oh-one didn’t have itself. The rest of Eighteenth was still sitting comfortably back at Fort Brag, North Carolina, and quite literally in a different reality from Katie.

This little small cluster of buildings was sitting on the US Army side of what was a facility that housed the administrative center for all the armed forces of the US, and a few foreign ones to boot. The entire facility was collectively called N.I.K.A by almost everyone. It was a joke name that stood for “Not In Kansas Anymore,” and it was one that Katie did not find particularly funny. The Army’s part of this facility had been named the Captain Evan Capps C.M.H. Forward Army Depot and the building that Katie had just left was called the Master Sergeant Richard Breathed Processing Center. Katie could never look at either sign because she had known both men. As the name suggested, Evan had won the Congressional Medal of Honor and, while it did not say so on the sign for Breathed, he had won a Silver Star. Both of them had received their awards posthumously and that was why Katie never used those names.

The entire base, not only included the administration center but, it had a little bit of everything. The most prominent of those was Masterson Air Force base, next door, that was also named after someone Katie new. It depressed her at how many familiar names were down here. She watched the F-16’s fly in and out almost constantly and, she always blocked out Masterson’s name when she did. She couldn’t block out his face though. She couldn’t block out the faces of those children at the funeral. She couldn’t block out the memory of an empty casket either. Katie had attended several of those at Arlington, when she was temporarily back at the Pentagon.

That’s why Katie never liked coming down here but, as her duty required, she showed up anyway. Now she was briskly heading towards her next assignment and that was personal. She did not quite make it out of the office park when a certain First Lieutenant found her and fell in step beside.

Lolita Vega was dressed for the field, hunkered down with all of the gear, that you slapped all over your body, every time you ventured into the Hurt Again Forest. She looked pretty chipper and happy about it. She pointed to Katie’s hair, “what’s up with the whole fucking dumb blond routine there bitch? If I’d had that jet black you were sporting, I’d be damn sure not to go messing it up with peroxide.”

Katie gave Lolita a strange look and noted, “what’s got you smiling today? Did you get a care package with an inflatable doll in it, or something?”

“Oh that’s just so fucking funny Katie,” Lolita shot back. “Naa, I’m just feeling the shit today. That’s all. No reason.”

Katie wondered about that. She knew Vega was coming off some leave time, “the MP’s didn’t haul your ass out of Kalean-Erc again, did they? I’m not covering for your ass next time, you know that, right?”

“Hey,” Lolita was only playfully defensive, “that ass hole started it. I told you that.”

Katie rolled her eyes, “Lolita, not many people think it’s wise to pick a fight with a Yangani. He was an eight hundred pound gorilla, literally!”

“They ain’t so tough,” Lolita replied with a laugh. Then she thought about it and added, “and he was more like three hundred.” She then changed the subject while elbowing Katie, “so what’ up with you anyway? Don’t tell me some guy is on your call list tonight? That’s it isn’t it?”

“No Lolita,” Katie protested, “I’m not saying, ok? That’s my business and I know how you are.”

“That’s it, ain’t it,” Lolita said with excitement, “that’s why you’re going all legally blond on me and shit.”

“Oh right,” Katie protested, “like you know about picking up guys?”

“Hey!” Vega shot back, “you said we were never going there bitch.”

“Fine,” Katie replied putting up her hands. Lolita always made her laugh. Right now, Katie did not feel like laughing but, then again, when did she ever these days? That’s why Lolita was usually a relief even if it was un-welcomed most of the time. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

Katie was definitely smiling as she walked down to the curb and got in the passenger side of a waiting staff car. Lolita ducked down so she could see who was driving and the face she got a glimpse of surprised her, even put her in shock. Her jaw waggled and she managed to get out, “fuck me.”

Lolita was still wondering if she had seen that right when her ride finally dropped her off at the airbase hangar. She saw her platoon lingering around their gear, in the middle of the floor, and she stomped her little five foot two frame right over to them as she yelled out, “all right you sick little bitches, stand too, already.” Most of her people knew how to take their platoon leaders moody little act. None of them, except for the three new guys, were in much of a hurry to line up. Lolita noticed that, unfortunately, one of the new guys was now the Platoon Sergeant. She would have to deal with that poor bastard later. He looked pretty confident and Lolita wondered if that meant he was stupid.

She exchanged salutes with the guy and then he moved to the rear of the formation. After that Lolita put them at ease and then said, “form a circle and take a knee.” As her people did it she pulled the little note pad out of her vest and referred to it, “ok people, today’s little hop is going to be,” she emphasized the words, “milk run city!” There was actually some clapping and cheers. Lolita let it die down before she said, “we’re headed up to Jungle Jim on some baby sitting mission, all courtesy of Division and our most favorite guy, Major General Hammond? How’s that for a score?” When the applause began again, Lolita pumped her arm and said encouragingly, “yeah give it to me baby! Now all you bitches get kitted up, we’re ramping up in fifteen mikes, ooh-uh!”

Before her platoon could even disperse, she heard a very unwelcome and annoyed call that sounded much like her name. Lolita put on her official face and ran right over to the guy with her name on his lips. She saluted the man and said, “sir, Colonel Hogan, sir. How may I help you today, sir?”

The Lieutenant Colonel was not very happy with her almost sarcastic tone when she said the word, ‘sir.’” Lolita really did not care and, more important, Hogan knew she didn’t care. He almost did not return her salute and, when he did, he was not so precise with it as he might have been. Then he simply pointed to the guy next to him and said, “this is your passenger. This is Doctor Michael Greene and you will stick to him like white on rice, is that clear Lieutenant?”

“If you say so, sir,” Lolita replied. She waited for the man to dismiss her and walk off before she stuck out her tongue and shot him a bird. She also included the comment, “dick.” Then she realized she was being watched by a civilian and suddenly became defensive, “uh, that’s a military thing…”

Greene told her in his gravely sounding voice, “I didn’t see shit.”

“Maybe we’ll get along,” Lolita told him before pointing out her platoon that was loading up on a Chinook helicopter that belonged to the IAF. “That’s our ride. Don’t freak out when you see the pilots. They’re dragons and, oh yeah, and if you think one’s about to sneeze, don’t be in front of him.”

This Doctor looked like anything but a doctor. In fact, if Lolita had bumped into him, in a bar, she would have figured the guy for a biker. Still, he definitely had some redeeming qualities about him. For one thing, he had only one bag and that told Lolita volumes about the guy. Most of the civilians that had been escorted up to the Hertegan Forest, usually came with tons of suit cases that had to be ditched. What was even funnier was that the bag looked as shabby as he did.

Then Greene proved once and for all that he was an ok guy. As he walked towards the chopper he told the Lieutenant, “oh and by the way, he is a dick.”

Lolita let him walk off and then she scurried over to one of the side doors and gave a big hug to the two guys waiting there for her. She poked the first guy, “Mat! What the fuck are you guys doing down here?”

It was the other guy, the English one, John Snow, who replied, “oh I have to bring him down to get washed once or twice a year.”

Mathew “Hoop” Hooper acted almost like he took the Englishman seriously. Hoop also replied with a kind of twang that sounded pretty hick, even if the guy was supposed to be from Indianapolis. He tossed his thumb at John and said, “I get fleas real bad if he don’t.”

Suddenly Lolita developed a scowl, “oh you dirty muther fuckers are going to Phvengs ain’t ya? I got an op to do and I don’t know when I’m getting back!”

John simply chuckled and replied, “we’ll save you some beer.”

“Hey,” Lolita poked at John this time, “serious shit here, you guys heard about that dude up in the Hurt Again? They say he comes out of the triangle.”

John just shrugged, “what dude would that be?”

Hoop waived it off, “come on Lolita, don’t tell me you done gone and believing in ghost stories.”

Lolita scorned the hick, “what mother fucker? You going to tell me elves ain’t real nether?” She poked Hoop again and this time hard, “I hear tell you got some personal experience in those matters.”

John remained cool about it, “I wouldn’t go believing everything you hear. Just cause elves are real don’t mean Santa Claus is, or this Werewolf you’re talking about, and it sure don’t mean Hoop can get laid. We all know that’s a fantasy.”

“Fuck you John,” was all Hoop had to say on the matter.

Snow nodded in appreciation and said, “see what I mean. No way that’s ever going to happen.”

Lolita remained unconvinced, “I don’t know what you two slack jawed operators think but, I done seen some shit up there.”

John just shrugged, “we all do. Course that’s not what I was wondering about.” When Vega looked confused he told her, “I was wondering about maybe, you seeing some of the same shit we do?”

“Really?” Vega was surprised and even excited. “You mean like, me joining that little UN outfit you guys work with?” Then she kind of deflated, “I don’t know guys. I got the battalion scout platoon right now. Things are kind of going along smooth for the moment. Can I think about it?”

“It’s not a pressing issue,” John told her. “So yeah, you got plenty of time. I don’t even know when they’re going to open it up. Just keep it in mind for right now.”

Lolita skipped off in a near daze and John had to laugh as he watched. At the same time, Hoop was just a tad skeptical, “what the fuck was that all about John? That girl is fucking crazy.”

John sort of agreed in tone, “she’s colorful but, just remember, so are you.”

Hoop still wasn’t done, “you ain’t got enough amateurs hanging around as it is?”

“Well,” John replied thoughtfully, “I can think of one particular pebble that pisses you off. You afraid we might get saddled with another?”

“Sometimes John,” Hoop said with a snarl, “I wish like hell you’d mind your own damn business. Now come on, we got work to do.”

John only laughed and followed.