Piranha

“Yes, sir,” said Dog.

“Map out a plan to look for the subs. If we find one, Indian or Chinese, we’ll still with it. The others are bound to show up eventually,” said Woods. With that, he turned and walked quickly out of the trailer.

The girl’s breathing and heart rate were normal, and though unconscious, she didn’t seem to have been severely injured. They brought her to a small tent at the far end of the base, letting her rest on the air-cushion stretcher that carried her. Liu and the others had turned from warriors to mother hens, watching for signs of her revival.

Bison had told Da

Ordinarily, Da

However, besides heading the Whiplash ground team, he was responsible for Dreamland security, and this many people ru

“Okay, sergeant,” he told Liu. “Keep me posted on the girl while I sort the security stuff out.”

“Gotcha, Cap.”

Da

“Colonel’s looking for you,” said Bison. “He’s headed your way.”

“Good. What’s our status with the Megafortresses?”

“Our guys’ll watch ’em after they come in,” said Bison. “Marines know they’re out of bounds. Colonel Bastian kicked the admiral’s staff out of the trailer.”

“What staff?” said Da

“Uh, Captain, did you want Pretty Boy to shoot them?”

“Damn straight,” said Da

“I told you the admiral was going there.”

“Just the admiral, you said.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I thought you meant the whole staff could wait there.”

“Bison. Shit.”

Da

“Girl’s waking up,” said Liu.

“I’ll get back to you.” Da

The Filipino jerked straight upright on the cot, disoriented and angry. Liu put his hand on her shoulder. She pushed forward, and his grip tightened just enough to stop her from moving any further. The anger on her face changed to fear, then something like curiosity, then back to anger.

“Are you okay?” Da

She frowned. Her reaction convinced Da

“You’re okay,” he said. “Does your head hurt? You may have a concussion.”

“Captain Freah?”

Da

“I’m Freah.”

“Name’s Petersin. Justin Peterson.” He held out his hand, which Da

“Not exactly,” said Da

“I’m in charge of securing the base area,” said Peterson. “I understand you guys have some high-tech gizmos set up.”

“The sensors themselves aren’t that high-tech,” said Da

“Oh?” Peterson’s tone was somewhere between a challenge and genuine puzzlement.

“Yeah, I know. It’s a pain in the ass, but I’d like to get some compartmentalization,” said Da

“A company. We can get what we need, though.”

“Company’s fine. I’ll go over the perimeter with you, and you can decide how you want to handle it. We had a similar arrangement with some guys from the 24th MEU (SOC),” added Da

Da

“Okay. I heard a little about you,” said Peterson.

“Me or my unit?”

“Both. You sure you’re not Marines under those black vests?”

Da