Chapter 14 - I Could Be a Freaking Detective

— Mishka —

I was sitting on a bench in a plane with a small battalion getting ready for battle. Alpha Devon—the other Alpha Devon—was in the office with the captains preparing for the take-over and occupation of Nubinero.

I had my head against the wall of the cabin, with my eyes closed. It would be nice if I could get a nap, but we were so cramped up together that it would take a small miracle for me to fall asleep.

Someone shook me awake.

“Man, could you droll on someone else’s shoulder,” whined a guy named Dodson next to me.

I wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand and got my head up, blinking a few times.

A couple of guys sneered in my direction. I wiped at my mouth again, then tried to take the gunk out of my eyes with my pinky finger.

The plane had initiated it’s decent now, the change in pressure discernable on my skin, the engines roaring.

“Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty,” said a big black dude by the name of Georges. “We’re nearly there. Better get your dress on because we’re about to party.

“Good,” I said. “I was so bored I nearly fell asleep.

That got me a few more snickers.

Dodson wiped at his shoulder in disgust.

“You’re not nearly as cute as you think you are,” he told me.

“Oh, I’m not cute,” I said. “I’m absolutely adorable.

More snickers.

I love an audience.

It’s like a drug.

“Isn’t Mishka a girl’s name?” asked a blond guy named Noah.

“It’s whatever you want it to be, Blondy.

“Man, don’t you have any shame?” asked George.

“What is this thing you call ’shame’?” I said.

Noah snickered and shook his head.

“I don’t know from what rabbit hole you popped out of, but you’re one strange rabbit,” said Dodson.

“Aaaaah,” I said to him in a mock girly voice as the plane hit the tarmac. “That’s so sweet of you darling, but I’m not that kind of rabbit. You’re gonna have to work harder for me.

That got me more jeering.

Dodson looked at me as if I was a moron. Because I’m not, obviously.

“You do know I’m married, right?

I put my hand against my heart and mocked shock. “You mislead me, you scarlet fiend.

“Okay ladies,” said one of the captains coming into our cabin, holding himself on the handles on the ceiling, as the plane wasn’t stationary yet. “That’s enough, for now, let’s get ready, there’s gonna be a few Brotherhood envoys and their team waiting for us.

“But Daddy,” I whined in a child’s voice. “Dodson keeps being a tease.

I heard a few more snorts. George threw something in my face which turned out to be a dirty towel.

I took it off pinched between my thumb and forefinger and held it at arm’s length. “Beeeeeeurrk.

The Captain gave me a pointed look. “Now if the kids can behave, I’m gonna give you the run down.

And he did.

It was fairly simple really. Mostly we had to cover the brotherhood boys’ ass, secure the location, comb through everything to make sure they didn’t have bad surprises hidden somewhere for us, no stolen artifacts either, or Machiavellian plans pinned on a murder wall with a bunch of red yarn linking it all up, or any other shenanigans. Also, there have been reports that some people might appear as dangerous but turn out to be victims, so we had to be on the lookout for it, and some possible kind of sucker punch. Secure the place, and civilians, and let the Brotherhood go through everything safely and make their decisions, and support them all the way.

Again, fairly simple.

Simple doesn’t necessarily means easy, but I least you don’t risk too much to trip on the specifics of the job.

We got out of the plane in disciplined order.

I’ve been training with these guys for nearly two months now, and though I’m the new guy, my past experience has allowed me to keep up with them pretty well. I knew the codes now, the formations, and everything. I’ve been working particularly hard on the teamwork. That as always been my greatest weakness.

But hey, look at me, I’m a team player now. Who would have thought?

“Now, Alpha Devon,” said a Brother to the Alpha. “If there are any more artifacts, they are going under the aegis of the Brotherhood, understood?” Alpha Devon raised his eyebrow at him, and looked like someone had shoved a lemon on his gums. He also turned back to look ahead and didn’t answer the guy.

We were walking in formations towards the vehicles that would take us the rest of the way to Nubinero.

Sebastian Devon was nearly sixty, I haven’t seen that many Alphas at this age look this fit. And from what I’ve seen too, pretty sharp. He was also, not taking much shit from the Brotherhood. Good for him.

I could see some resemblance with his son. He was nearly as tall, broad shoulders, had obviously quite a collection of scars himself, and the little grey that he had in his hair gave him more of a wise look, than incapable withering one.

Quite frankly, if I could look this good at that age, that would be impressive.

Nothing in his demeanor made us feel like his was weakening with age. I haven’t seen him in the past, but I don’t have the feeling he’s out of his prime yet.

Most Alphas in that shape would not consider giving power away to their heir, but then again, if your son is the Hellhound, then I guess it’s an idea that can gain traction. Besides, he gave away power, to be instead given another pack to rule, so, I guess, win-win.

I also noticed, as I got into my own designated humvee, that the Alpha didn’t much enjoy the idea of giving anything to the Brotherhood. It’s probably my astute sleuthing skills talking, and the fact that whenever he looked at the guy he made a face like he just puked a little in his mouth. That or the fact that I heard him mutter to one of his Captains as he went around his humvee—the brother inside the vehicle with the doors closed.

“Keep everything you can away from the Brotherhood. I don’t trust them. He wants something, I don’t know what, but he’s not gonna get it.

I know, I know. With skills this evolved, I could be a freaking detective.

Besides, I’ve never really trusted the Brotherhood myself. They’re too engulfed in politics for my own liking.

Politicians are all about the popular vote, or middle grounds, or economic downturns, or whatever. They were technically created to care for their people, but they lost that purpose a long time ago. The people are just one more pawns on the chessboard now, one more tool on their tool belt.

Them and Batman.

It’s not that this really bothers me, it’s that they pretend to still be all about the people that annoys the hell outta me.

I have a thing against hypocrisy.

And authority figures.

And bigots.

And clowns… God, I hate clowns.

And yeah, the irony is not lost on me.

Once we got to the peripheral of Nubinero, we moved into formations. And did our thing.

Quite frankly, it was pretty much as smooth an operation as the one we did a few months back on that island.

God, it’s good to work with professionals.

We got the first signs of something being fishy halfway through.

Quite frankly, if we hadn’t been warned beforehand, I might not have realized it quick enough. At least, not to spare civilians.

Actually, once we secured most of the territory and moved to the village, a lot of attack points from their resistance factions came from the houses. It rapidly looked like guerrilla warfare. As if it was the residents attacking.

But once a few houses got secured and we moved in, we found people cowered in corners, inside cabinets and closets. We also found a few men on chairs with a mask on and a gun in front of them, to realize they were tied to the chair, and gagged under the mask. They were distractions. Easy targets to focus on while other assailants got us from behind.

It’s pretty cowardly if you ask me.

Sadly, a few of those worked, but most didn’t, and once the word got around, we pretty much got them at their own game.

The surviving attackers were pretty much all rounded up now—at least those that survived, which at first were a few captured enemies, but later as they realized they were done for, most of the rest raised the white flag and dumped their guns on the ground.

We were inspecting houses one after the other.

As I moved to one of my designated houses to inspect, I saw some dirt tracts lead to a small woodshed in the back. Which I went to inspect.

I got my gun out, took the safety off, and pushed the door open slowly.

It was empty.

In one corner, the dirt floor had been disturbed.

I looked around, there was no one outside, so I closed the door and dig with my hands at the ground. I found a small metal box covered with maybe nine inches of dirt. I took it out.

It contained a small notebook with scribbles in there, and a cloth wrapped around a small knife.

When I touched the blade, it felt something akin to a vibration against my skin, only it was not physically vibrating, it was a feeling deeper than skin-deep.

I’m not an expert, but I’ve seen magical stuff a few times. Given that this weird vibrations-like pressure on my skin was strong enough for me, a non-magical geek, to feel, meant it was significant. I pocketed the notebook and knife, careful for them not to be visible.

I’m gonna have to investigate those.

I closed the metal box, put it back in its little hole, and pushed the earth back on top.

I went to the house.

On my fourth house inspection, I found a little girl, maybe two years old inside a kitchen cabinet. A few pots and pans were on the floor, so it didn’t take a genius to figure something had disturbed what was inside that cabinet.

“Mama,” she said as I opened the cabinet door.

“Hey there little one. Your mommy is not inside the house. How about we go find her?” I told her.

“No,” she said firmly.

Sheesh, kids are so adorable.

I extended my arms to reach under hers.

“You can’t stay here sweetie, mommy is looking for you all over. Let’s go find her.

I really hope it was the case.

She didn’t fight me and I picked her up and put her on my left hip as I moved out.

Everyone had been evacuated from the houses and I wasn’t sure how long it would take for people to have access to their home again, so I wasn’t sure about leaving the kid there. It could be for hours, maybe even more. So it wasn’t a great idea.

I walked out on the road and went back to where civilians were being held.

I walked around for a while, unsure how to track the parents when a woman’s voice rang above all the murmurs.

“Give me back my pup,” she told me firmly from the middle of the room.

Everyone was strewn on the floor, sitting in disarray, but when the kid saw her mother she pointed and said, “Mama.

I moved to the middle, slowly, walking over people’s legs and everything. The mother got up. She looked half-scared of me and half ready to attack.

I picked the kid under the armpits and extended my arms, so the mother could grab her.

She did so cautiously, looking at me strangely.

“Bye bye,” said the little girl to me, waving her hand clumsily.

I waved back and smiled. I’m not sure my smile was very friendly-looking because a few people looked at me really weird.

I guess scars, military gears, and weapons can make any guy look intimidating. I guess the smell of blood didn’t help me either.

I guess I’m not a kid person.

I would probably make a horrible babysitter.

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