Kara Discovered: Episode 19, At the Gate
Jeffries begins acting as a captain
Jeffries found a small conveyor belt dumping boxes across the gate where hands waited to take them away on the other side. “What is this?” he asked the four men working there.
“Stuff for Doctor Artland’s projects,” said one of the men in the station’s uniform, as he set another box onto the belt.
In the changing room next to the gate, Jeffries tapped the video screen, activating it. “Colonel Lipton,” he said in a loud, clear voice for the pickup.
A moment later, Lipton’s face appeared. “Forget something Captain?”
Being called Captain still bothered him. Using his calm, measured voice of command, he spoke. “From this point on, I don’t want a soul over there that isn’t under the Legion’s authority as either contractor or as a legionnaire. That includes the university people. If they want to continue their research, they need to do it as a contractor to the legion. Please post legionnaire guards on this gate to enforce no more crossing.”
Lipton raised an eye at that. “That won’t go down well, nor with the station manager, nor with the University.”
Still keeping his voice dead even Jeffries replied, “Frankly, I don’t give a damn. No unauthorized civilian is going to endanger a single person under my command. Our personnel are damn near helpless as it is. We have no idea how close those hostiles are or if they have gone for reinforcement to hit our base camp. I am asking you to post guards instead of posting them myself because I don’t want the guards on this gate to be part of my training command.”
Lipton actually grinned at that. “I will post them, but you might get overruled. We need that research done, and the University hired us, and the Armstrong government is debating what to do about your prisoners.”
“Of course, we need that research. I am not putting an end to it. If Armstrong wants those prisoners, I will be happy to send them there. But until we know we are not going to be attacked, the legion decides who researches what, over there, and the prisoners stay under legion guard as long as they have friends near that might be tempted to make a rescue. And I will send anyone who gets in my way getting my men trained, endangering them in any way, packing. You know as well as I that someone else is underwriting this besides Armstrong University. There is no way in hell they can hire the First. You can tell Dawson that if he overrules me, he can damn well replace me, too.”
He swiped his hand across the screen, turning it off, before Lipton could reply.
Major Wilson gave him a measuring look, then said, “You might make it as a Captain after all. You didn’t ask to restrict people’s access over there, you made the decision and acted. You only asked that someone else handle guarding the gate. I know Dawson. Unlike Lipton, even if it puts him in a difficult position, he will like that you handled it instead of passing the problem on to someone else to handle.”
Jeffries eyed the man, as did the two lieutenants present. Wilson rarely offered an unasked opinion on anything to anyone. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
**
Jeffries eyed the boxers they handed him with the newer, thicker gray-green coveralls in the changing room next to the gate.
“Doctor Artland came up with both. This Uniform won’t tear as badly over there but is a real bitch on the skin here. It is machine knitted, rather than woven. That liner is made of a substance that turned in to a powder on crossing the gate. Artland and his team have come up with a lot of things.”
Before putting it on, he turned to Lieutenant Tompson. “These monochrome coveralls need some modification. They are our uniforms over there and need to reflect that. Each needs the legionnaire’s name, rank, squad and division. Whenever a legionnaire gets within my visual range, I want to know who he is and who he reports to, even if I have not met him before.”
“Yes Sir, I’ll see to it.”
Even with the boxers and being careful, Jeffries and every officer with him managed to abrade their skin in a few places before they finished dressing
Episode 1, —- 18 ←→ 20
Vikings Of Asgard Chapter 1 Welcome to Asgard
Don checked the darkness before his eyes focused on his companion, DC, whom the cops knew as Douglas Carter. He watched DC slide his pry-bar into the old padlock holding the warehouse side door shut.