Watching Yute (10 page)

“
I think I loved her still.
I mean.. I never saw her, but as long as she was out there, and we
hadn’t broken up..”

“
Then you weren’t
alone.”

“
Yeah.” Cassidy slumped,
siding down the wall until she was in a crouched position. She
could have sworn that the crumpled letter had reached up and
dragged her down. “But this thing..”

“
Last nail in the
coffin?”

“
That came a while ago.
Maybe I hammered it. This is the last shovel of dirt.”

Cipriana sighed. “Go to bed. Calvert’s
coming to inspect tomorrow.”

“
Yeah, in a bit. Go on
ahead.”

“
Cipriana gave Cassidy a
tired stare. “No, Cassidy. Now. You don’t need a cry, you need
sleep. I could make it an order.”

Cassidy smirked, and patted Cipriana’s
shoulder. “Kay.”

~~~

The next day, everyone not at a station
during the morning shift were preparing for inspection.

“
Really, it’s gonna be more
of a visit.” Marcus said to Cassidy while she shined her boots. “I
don’t think the Colonel’s going to be bouncing quarters off our
beds or anything. He just hasn’t been here before, and since we are
under his jurisdiction,”

“
Yeah. He’s new in his
position, he’s got to go show his face around.” Cassidy gave a last
flair of a buff on the toe of her boot, and started putting it on.
“So, what, we’re going to make formation, salute, then you take him
on a tour?”

“
Something like that. You
wanna be my assistant in the tour?”

“
Me?” Cassidy pointed at
herself. “I mean, I guess, Sir. I don’t really see why
though.”

“
You just answered my
question by calling me ‘Sir’. Colonel Calvert is apt to show up
feeling very official. I’m not gonna hide how casual we are around
here, but it might help him to have someone around who… who has the
perspective of someone who recently came from his base.”

“
I’ll be translating from
‘casual’ to ‘brass’?”

“
Good way of putting it. His
chopper’s due in just under an hour. Meet me at the pad in about
half an hour.”

“
Yes Sir, Major Douglas
Sir!” Cassidy exaggerated the full military protocol, with the
stiffest posture she could summon, and the snappiest salute. “Sir!
Shall I alert Alan to have cookies ready for the Colonel?
Sir!”

Marcus snickered. “Already taken care
of, Leftenent. And finish tying your boot, before I toss ya in the
stockade!”

~~~

When the time came, Cassidy headed
towards the helipad, passing the twenty or so troops there for the
customary inspection. “Get in formation!” Wanda called at
her.

“
Nuh uh, hosers!” Cassidy
answered, directed more of less at everyone. “Marcus wants me to
help play tour-guide!”

“
Teacher’s pet!” Wanda
teased.

Cassidy laughed her off, and continued
on her way. It was moments like that which made her glad she came
here. Not necessarily because it was so casual, but also because
the whole place was like a fresh start for her, devoid of reminders
of Brandy. Remembering the letter, which by now may have blown
clear across the desert, she felt that ugly little pang return, but
these feelings were getting easier to get away from. Bit by bit.
Maybe the letter was a necessary step in that direction.

She approached the pad where Marcus and
Cipriana were chatting idly, facing the horizon. Cipriana had tied
back her hair in order to be a little more regulation. It seemed
criminal that her hair should have to be imprisoned. It seemed to
weaken her aura of serenity somewhat.

Cassidy announced herself. “Hey guys. I
mean, Sir! Reporting for duty, Sir!”

“
Yeah, yeah,” Marcus moaned,
“you don’t have to lay it on so thick. No yelling. And cut those
‘Sir’s by fifty percent or so.”

Cassidy stood down the lineup from
Cipriana, and rocked forward and back on her heels.
“Oki-lee-doki-lee then, Sir.”

“
That’s better.”

“
Cassidy.. ah, perhaps I
should say Leftenent,” Cipriana’s voice maintained it’s constant
easing tone. “Have you met the Colonel before?”

“
Not really. I was in
formation when he came to Yute central, and I saw him up close, but
I didn’t have cause to speak with him.”

Marcus made a sound, and pointed his
chin towards an approaching blur in the sky. “Alright then, ladies.
Attention, I guess.” The three of them stood at attention, looking
darn near military. The helicopter made its way in and settled
softly on the pad. The engines could already be heard to be
powering down when the door opened.

Two soldiers popped out first and stood
on either side of the doorway. The full-brass uniformed Colonel
emerged soon after and looked around the terrain, taking in the
scenery just in time for a dust-up of sand. He shielded his eyes,
and moments later when the sand died down, he put his arm back
down, and there was Marcus, smiling and saluting.

“
Welcome to Yute Temple
base, Sir!” Marcus said, loud enough to be heard over the slowing
chopper blades.

The Colonel returned the salute, and
put out his hand for a shake. “Thank you Major. Good to be
here.”

Marcus turned to introduce Cassidy and
Cipriana. “Colonel, this here’s my right hand, Captain
Reichenbach.”

Cipriana saluted. Not a regulation snap
salute, but it was hard to imagine Cipriana going anything without
some degree of ‘flow’. “Sir.” She said. The Colonel saluted back,
and Marcus turned to Cassidy. “This is Leftenent Stanton. If you
remember, she’s the one I recently stole from you.”

Cassidy snapped her salute, with a
“Sir!”

“
Cassidy,” Marcus said,
breaking protocol. “Permission to speak freely. Please explain to
the Colonel why you’re here, instead of in the drill
formation.”

Still in full attention stance, Cassidy
proceeded. “Colonel, Sir! Protocol around the temple base is
extremely casual, and Marc- uh, Major Douglas suggested that I
should be here to… uh Major? Why exactly was it again?”

“
At ease, Leftenent.” The
Colonel chuckled. “I get the idea. So, Leftenent, you don’t find
the lax protocol to be inappropriate?”

Cassidy shrugged. “The nature of the
post is pretty relaxed, Sir. Protocol or not, everyone here seems
to respect each other, and things seem to flow smoothly.
Sir.”

The Colonel took a relaxed look at the
three of them, and glanced towards the base. “I suppose that can
work in a small unit like this.” He turned to Marcus. “What’s next,
Major?”

A short walk later with the Colonel’s
two escorts trailing behind, they were at the drill formation,
which was already at attention. “You all clean up pretty good when
you wanna! Darn near looks like a military operation around here.”
Marcus said to them. “Colonel, care to inspect?”

Prompted primarily by routine, the
Colonel walked along the front row, giving a casual look at the
troops he passed, with Marcus at his side. Cipriana and Cassidy
stood at ease at the front, near the Colonel’s escorts. “Looks
plenty good to me, Major.” The Colonel said when he reached the end
of the front row. “That’s enough.”

“
Just as well. I don’t think
anyone in the back row has seen deodorant in a week. Biological
hazard.” Marcus turned to the drill formation, and casually said
“Okay, all of ya, dismissed. Scram.”

The group fell apart, most of them
heading back into the base. “That’s how orders are usually given
around here?” The Colonel asked.

“
Yeah. Yelling gets the
ghost upset. We’re his guests here after all.” Marcus gestured
towards the temple.

“
The gh-“ The Colonel
stopped himself. “Oh. Heh heh. How about we head over there, and
check out the main attraction?”

“
Sure thing, that was my
next suggestion.”

Cipriana stepped up. “Marcus,
permission to attend to duties inside?”

“
Yep, sure, go
on.”

Cassidy thought that Cipriana made for
a great reason to stay casual. It was hard to imagine Cip barking
orders, or doing anything… un-Cipriana-like. As Cipriana walked off
she let her hair loose, much to Cassidy’s quiet satisfaction. That
was much better.

The Colonel and Marcus walked on with
Cassidy directly behind, and the two escorts following behind.
Marcus waved for Cassidy to walk beside him. “Say, Leftenent
Cassidy, you were back at Yute Central yesterday. Saw some old
chums?”

“
Yeah, saw my old patrol
partner.” Her voice trailed off a bit, raising Marcus’ curiosity.
“What’s wrong? You sound like I just brought up an ex-boy, er,
girlfriend or something.”

Cassidy gave a soft chuckle. “Naw,
nothing like that. Things just felt.. different than I remember. My
ex partner for example.. it was almost like… like we didn’t know
each other.”

“
Hm.” Marcus lowered his
head a bit as they continued walking. “I guess it’s true what they
say sometimes. Ya just can’t go back home anymore.”

The Colonel was mainly looking at the
temple as they got closer, but was not tuned out entirely.
“Leftenent Stanton, you haven’t been gone from central long, have
you?”

“
Not long at all,
Sir.”

“
Colonel,” Marcus jumped in,
“I think Cassidy’s suffering a little from the… Well.. I wouldn’t
say bias… but a lot of troops outside this base have a certain…
perception of us at the temple base.”

Cassidy wondered why, but it was the
Colonel who asked. “What perception is that?”

Marcus sighed. “Hard to put a finger
on. Maybe they think the temple is creepy, or maybe a waste of
personnel. Maybe it’s because we’re noncoms. Maybe it’s a mix of
all that. Anyone with that attitude can go sit on it as far as I’m
concerned. I’m darn proud of what we do here, and what it shows
about the government’s relationship with the Aguei.”

The Colonel nodded solemnly. “Well put.
Maybe if more people were allowed to come here, they might
understand.” He gestured at the temple as they neared the bottom
step. “This... This is hard to write off as trivial, at any
rate.”

They climbed the first set of stairs,
and stood before the gap in the floor, looking across to the upper
stairs. The Colonel looked at the doorway on either side. “I can
understand this sort of gap as a defence… force any intruders to
the smaller doorways.. but why not just have a wall
here?”

Marcus shrugged. “You’d have to talk to
the guy that built it. Got a time machine? If you ask me, he just
likes to let the breeze flow.”

The Colonel smirked at how Marcus liked
to refer to the statue and its ‘ghost’. It definitely gave Marcus
character. They walked over to the left door, to find two guards at
full attention. These troops made the drill formation look like a
high school photo shoot. The same uniform, kept to the same
specifications, but somehow different being on duty at a temple
post. And not just the spear. “Proud to be at your post, soldier?”
The Colonel asked.

“
Yes, Sir.” Came the reply.
Soft, but confident. Casual, but dignified.

“
This is our duty, Sir.”
Marcus added with quiet pride. “This is why we’re here.” His tone
let the Colonel know... and reinforced in Cassidy that yes, this
was important. The Colonel nodded at the guard and continued in. It
felt a little like being in church. It felt disrespectful to behave
otherwise.

They climbed the inner stairs and
passed the guards at the inner door. “Good lord.” The Colonel said
quietly. “That thing’s incredible.” The statue rested as it ever
did, staring forward majestically. Its incredible craftsmanship
sometimes, like today, could almost convince you that it had a
twinkle in its eye. “Is it carved from one piece of stone? Jesus,
No way. Carrying such a block.. heck, even it’s existence would
be…it's formed from sections, right? You could carve a decent sized
house out of it!”

“
Heheh, no Colonel. As far
as anyone’s been able to see, it’s all one piece. Some people think
it was found here, and the temple built around it.” Marcus has a
twinkle in his eye as well. He was definitely fond of it. Cassidy
could understand that. Sure, it was a huge horned dog, but like
many dogs, it wore an expression of calm and content. “Also,
Colonel, he would not like to be carved into a house.”

The Colonel chuckled and stepped
closer, trying to get a closer look up into the statue’s mouth. “I
suppose he wouldn’t. Probably wouldn’t let anyone get away with
that, hm?”

“
Probably not.”

~~~~~

:::C /12

~~~~~

“
We’re here” The Aguei
driver told Kirison and the other Aguei man. The rattling old beige
van finally stopped. It had been a long ride from the bar. The sun
was well into its crawl across the sky.

Kirison was tired, but didn’t feel
confident enough to sleep on the way. He considered sleep
seriously; after all, if they were going to hurt him, they had
plenty of chance already. But this was not the time to think like
that. Put the drunk act behind now, it was time to start seeming
like he knew things. It was time to start taking control, or at
least getting the right position to have authority over these
people. Falling asleep in the back of a van wasn’t going to present
that image of authority.