Code Name: Camelot (Noah Wolf #1)(45)
Sarah reached for a bottle, and Neil took advantage of the moment to lean close to Noah’s ear. “Did you catch the eye roll?” the boy asked, and Noah tossed in a chuckle, right on cue. Sarah came over and sat down in another chair.
“So,” she said, “secrets of the universe, huh? I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that I think that was probably a pretty short conversation. Am I right?”
“Ouch!” Neil said. “Do you always have to keep your claws out and sharp? Has it ever occurred to you that some of us might just want to be friendly?”
Sarah glanced at Neil, then flicked her eyes to Noah. “Sorry, Neil,” she said. “That wasn’t necessarily directed at you.”
Noah looked her dead in the eye. “Okay, so what is it that I did to you in a past life that makes you so determined not to be friends with me in this one? Any chance you can let me in on the secret?”
Sarah shrugged and looked away. “Let’s just say I know your type, and my experience has not always been a good one.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” Noah asked her. “Just because someone else has done you wrong doesn’t mean I would. And if this is some sort of relationship problem, let me make something very clear. I’m not in the market for a relationship, not of any kind. I don’t mind being friendly, but my focus here is for us to be able to work together. That’s all.”
Sarah looked at him, and Noah suspected that if eyeballs had laser beams, he’d have a couple of holes bored through him at that moment. “This isn’t any kind of relationship problem, because this isn’t any kind of relationship. As you say, we have to work together. I can assure you, right now, that’s all it will ever be.”
Noah shook his head. He didn’t have the slightest idea what he might say to make things better, so he decided to say nothing at all. After a moment, Neil spoke up just to fill up the silence, and he and Sarah began a lighthearted conversation.
Moose showed up at seven, right on time. He parked his car and walked over to the table, grabbed a bottle of beer, spun the top off of it, and took a long pull. He glanced at Noah, then pulled up the chair beside Sarah.
“So, great leader,” he said. “What made this meeting so all-fired important?”
Noah shook his head again, and leaned on the table as he looked at Moose. “Actually, I was hoping we could try to work out some of our differences. I’ve got a feeling we’re gonna be looking at a mission sometime in the not-too-distant future, and I’d really like to get some of this crap out of the way before we end up out in the field ready to cut each other’s throats.”
Moose glared at him. “Let me tell you something, Mr. Team Leader,” he said. “I do not like you, and I don’t have any problem with you knowing that. On the other hand, I, unlike you, know how to follow orders and respect the command I’m under. You don’t have to worry about me cutting your throat, because I’m quite sure you’ll find a way to do that yourself before too long.”
Noah looked at him for a moment, and then got to his feet. “Moose, let me explain this to you. One of the standing orders that every soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere else like that is given is the order to avoid any assault upon a civilian, because such an assault can be taken as an act of war. My platoon leader, who was supposed to be on a routine patrol, stumbled across five young girls and decided that he and his men should have some fun with them. Unfortunately, that would mean that there were five young girls who could talk about what they did, so he then decided that these girls should also become casualties, and he ordered them all shot. I had been assigned as cover fire, a sniper position on a hill some distance away, and when he finally called me down to let me know what was going on, only one of those girls was still alive. Lieutenant Gibson asked me if I wanted to join in the fun, and I declined, so he shot that girl and killed her, right in front of me. Now, you tell me which one of us was actually obeying orders that day, would you?”
Moose sat there for a moment, and then took another drink from his bottle. “That’s the story you told when they court-martialed you,” he said. “How come the story never came out before you were arrested and charged?”
“It did,” Neil said. “If you could use a computer half as well as you can drink that beer, you could go right online and read the original transcripts of Noah’s case. He actually made that report the very day it happened, but his commanding officer decided to ignore the evidence and go along with a few men who told other, conflicting stories that made our illustrious team leader out to be the bad guy. Since Lieutenant Gibson’s daddy happens to be a congressman who’s being groomed for the next presidential election, a lot of pretty powerful people decided that our boy here needed to be swept under a big rug. Imagine how it would’ve looked for the congressman if the truth had come out.”
Moose sat there for a long moment without saying a word. When he finally did speak, he wouldn’t look at Noah. “So maybe you got the shaft,” he said. “If so, then I’m sorry. Just don’t expect me to suddenly become your best buddy. No matter what your reason, you still shot your commanding officer.”
“Oh, and you only punched yours in the eye,” Neil blurted out. Moose spun around, glaring at the kid, and started to get to his feet.
“You don’t know anything about it,” Moose said, taking an ominous step toward Neil. “I got passed over, despite the fact that my scores were higher than three of the men who were accepted. The captain knew damned well what he was doing, and there was no excuse for him to pass me over. All I did was ask him why, and the next thing I knew, I had two guys holding my arms. I didn’t swing at the captain, I was just trying to get myself loose from them, and he got in the way.”