ANA Reborn by Carl Facciponte - HTML preview
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Chapter 16
hett and Ana entered Francine’s office after R being summoned. “What’s up?” he asked.
Francine’s forehead creased, and her lips tightened. “I just received a call from General Coopers. He is in town and wants to meet with the two of you at three o'clock this afternoon in our conference room. As usual, he gave no topic or agenda, just the demand to meet. What a difficult man.”
“It certainly sounds like his style,” Ana said.
“Did he ask Martha to be included?”
“No, he didn’t. As I said, he gave no clue at all. Typical pretentious military ass that he is. You would think he would at least show some respect for my position as Lab Director. Jerk!”
Your meeting with him will be kept as quiet as possible. Afterward, come and talk to me and let me know what’s going on.”
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Rhett shrugged, “What? Aren’t you going to be there with us?”
“No, he expressly said it was between himself and both of you. Then he added, ‘They belong to me. They just work in your lab. Keep that straight!’ What a total pain.”
The time until three-o’clock both dragged on in dreaded anticipation, and at the same time rocketed by. Francine was at the elevators as Brigadier General Lance Coopers strode onto the lab floor.
“General, how good to see you again. Right this way. I’ll show you to the conference room.”
Lance nodded his head but said nothing as he followed her. The general looked about the room and noted no wall decorations, although several video monitors were mounted so everyone could see presentations from all viewing angles. The rectangular, clear glass conference table with chrome legs that could easily seat twelve people dominated the room.
“Please be seated,” Lance said to Ana and Rhett as they began to rise from the table to greet him. “This will be a quick meeting, so no need for formalities.” He took the seat at the head of the 148
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table, the power seat, with his back to the bare wall so he could face the door.
Rhett spoke first, visibly upsetting the General before he could make his opening statements.
“General Coopers, we are somewhat confounded by the speed at which this meeting was scheduled. Sir, may I ask the reason for the urgency?”
“Sure, son,” Lance said quietly.
Ana stiffened when she heard the seemingly gentle tone of Lance’s voice. She wi-fi’d to Rhett, Son?? Hang on. The snake is about to strike.
Lance leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “As you know, I reassigned Sgt. Ralph Thornton to short-term duty in Afghanistan. Intelligence reports indicate some of our officers might be on the take from a number of the drug lords in their area. Sgt.
Thornton will not only be serving to train the local government troops but will also act as my eyes and ears to uncover any inappropriate activities by our servicemen.”
There was a moment of silence. Ana leaned into the table and stared directly into Lance’s eyes. “All well and good, but what does it have to 149
do with the two of us?”
Lance mirrored her body language and leaned into the table to show dominance. Ana shivered slightly as she looked into his cold, unfeeling eyes.
“Well, yu see,” Lance said, trying to sound casual, “if corruption goes high enough through the ranks, it would be unwise for a mere sergeant to blow the whistle on high-ranking officers. It could be downright dangerous for him to do that.”
“And do we have a part in this?” Rhett asked.
“Yes, you do. If Ralph uncovers something big enough, I will fly over there and investigate our command myself for his safety. I will be taking both of you with me as my bodyguards. You have been proven to be very capable in a fight and were both designed for battle. I would be foolish not to have my best fighting soldiers accompany me, don’t you think?”
There was more static on the radio as Ana glanced in Rhett’s direction.
Rhett replied, “Why are you telling us all of this now? Ralph isn’t even over there yet? This 150
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seems premature.”
“Very perceptive of you. I need you to step up your game in your mixed martial arts training. I don’t want you to hurt anybody in the class, but I would like you to learn how to fight with as many techniques and styles as you can.” Lance smiled and added, “Just in case.” He paused,
“And to shoot straight. You never know what skills you may need over there.”
“General,” Rhett said, “fighting technique is one thing, but I can assure you we can hit anything we aim at.”
“Yes, I know. That’s what all the programming stuff is for,” Lance said, dismissing the comment with a wave of his hand as he abruptly stood and left.
Rhett and Ana sat for several moments as the radio continued to crackle. Just what is he really up to, Rhett? What’s his end game in all of this? He must know we are smart enough to see through his “let’s be ready to save Ralph” tactic. We both know he would throw his mother under the bus if it served his purposes. Why does he actually want to go to Afghanistan? I know it can’t be good.
Rhett nodded in agreement. “This is going to 151
require some thought,” he said. Let’s go home. I think some steamy water in the shower will help our cognitive processes a great deal.”
“Sheesh, guy! Your battery just doesn’t run down, does it? But I love you all the more for it, and I agree. Let’s call it a day and go home.”
Then, with a particularly alluring tilt of her head, Ana added, “The first one to go into convulsing circuit overload is a rotten apple.”
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