Hawke's Nest

Walking through the ship’s corridors, I was wondering what I was doing here. Well, of course I knew what I was doing on the ship. I was here because the Marines decided that they needed a surgeon who also happened to have a PhD in psychology. Kill two birds with one stone so to speak, and since the war had been going on for two years, they had begun to offer high ranks to anyone who may have added skills.

In my case it was my mind that was worth more to them than my training in the medical field. I was considered a secret weapon. So secret that only the Commodore knew why I was assigned to the Saratoga. The real reason. And also the real reason I was to conveniently meet the 58th squadron.

They called them the Wild Cards. They were our ace in the hole in this God-forsaken war. Made up of young Marine Lieutenants who trained together to be a squadron and proved their worth in their first real battle among the stars.

They flew the fast attack vehicles nicknamed Hammerheads. Being nothing more than a civilian Doctor with an honorary commission in this arm of the military, I had no idea what their real classification was. All I knew was, like their inter-atmosphere counterparts the F-18 hornet, they took no less than an amazing amount of skill to fly, especially when you got into what the boys liked to call a “ big hairy fur ball”.
Besides their by the book squadron commander Col. T.C. McQueen who was a former member of the Angry Angels. He was considered tough as nails and a loner who also had a reputation for being acutely protective of his “people”; the one I had to impress was Captain Shane Vansen. Promoted after only eight months of service; she was hard nosed and suspicious of just about everyone. I had been provided with her file as well as the rest of the squadron’s files. The powers that be felt that would be enough to enable me to infiltrate their ranks. I had my doubts.

I was worried. They were supposed to be very protective of one another. Not that I was going to hurt any of them but, since they seemed to be the ones who were always around when the enemy showed up, they were considered my best chance to get close enough to see if they could be read. That was why I was here after all, why I was given the rank of First Lieutenant and the promise of a military pension equal to that of someone who had been in for thirty years. I didn’t care about the money personally, but it was going to a good cause. I have the ability to read emotions, as long as the person to be read has them. A-Is are a mystery to me because they are completely blank. And Invitros... well, the ones I ran across have so much anger in them because of what Natural Born humans have done to them since the A-I wars, I guess they have never tried to feel anything else.

The enemy, the best description I could get was that they kind of looked like white hairless humanoids almost like a fetus only without a nose and with a mouth that looked kind of like gills. They say they have empty eyes, black like giant marbles. The latter came from a report given by the afore mentioned Col. McQueen, based on an observation made when one of the “ Chigs “ surrendered to the Saratoga and then blew up the interrogation room in a rage. A rage brought on by the president of a corporation that had its hands so far into government, military and space exploration that it practically controlled all decisions coming from earth. He knew information that was even classified form the leader of the free world.

In that explosion, Col. McQueen suffered the loss of a leg, but with medical technology being the way it is now, he was back on board the Saratoga in a month’s time and back in command of the 58th.
Later on the squadron would go on to rescue a shipload of prisoners brought forth by the enemy envoy and lost three of their members. Or so they thought. Lt. Paul Wang, who was caught in a firefight during the rescue, was thought blown up with the cargo section of the transport he was defending, only to be found in a prisoner camp a few months later. He had been picked up by the Chigs and resuscitated by some amazing alien technology. The poor man had to withstand months of tests and prodding before he was allowed to return to his ship and inform his family and friends that he was still alive.

Lt. Vanessa Damphousse, along with Capt. Vansen, was thought lost on the surface of the planet below where the rescue had taken place. They were found by a ground team a week later. They were ragged and hungry but otherwise happy to be back among friends.
As for the other two members of the team; well, words can’t describe what they went through after their friends disappeared. And what they did when they found out that they would all be reunited. Well, lets just say that Lieutenants West and Hawkes used up a week’s worth of drink tickets each in one night.

Now that they are all together again and under the command of the man who made them a team, they were once again the undefeatable Wild Cards. During the larges engagements of the past year, everyone on the Saratoga thought the commodore's favorite saying was, “shuffle up the Wild Cards, and deal ‘em.” It came to be assumed that, if the Wild Cards were leading the way, our side could be assured to gain something from the conflict. Even if we had to turn tail and regroup at base, we would have learned something of value. They all had keen observational skills and each one had proven essential out in some way.

The one that I was most interested in meeting was Lt. Cooper Hawkes. An Invitro; an artificially gestated human; but one who by all accounts has broken the mold and managed to fit in with his natural born counterparts. Even Col. McQueen had sat apart from his squad mates when with the Angry Angels. I have been told that Hawkes is considered part of the team, and a friend to everyone in the 58th. I wanted to see if I can pick up anything from him. Not because I’ve been ordered to but because an Invitro is a challenge, as I’ve mentioned before.

I turned toward the dining room, that’s probably not what they call it but I’m new to military life so my use of their slang gets mixed up with my more natural civilian. , and took my place in line. I have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food served aboard ship. I was always under the belief that military cooks were just GIs who couldn’t fire a weapon without getting in their own way. Therefore the “Chow” was supposed to be barely edible. Don’t believe everything you hear. It was no worse than a cheap restaurant back home. At the end of the line I turned and saw them sitting at a table all together. They were all hunkered in toward each other, like what they had to say to each other was classified and they didn’t want anyone else to hear.

It was time; the powers that be wanted me to get close soon. So I took a deep breath, swallowed hard and walked toward the table. I came within about five feet and stopped, I looked around like I was trying to find a seat somewhere, all the while knowing what my next step would be. I never got there.

“Hey, Lieutenant, you want a place to sit?” The voice came from directly in front of me. I looked at the soldier standing up and offering a chair at the one table I thought I would have trouble getting too. He was definitely of Asian decent and could only be Lt. Paul Wang. He was standing there smiling and I decided I should move forward before he or the others thought I was uninterested.

“Thank you, I don’t know anyone here yet and I was kind of having trouble finding a vacant table.” I said as I put down my tray and sat in the proffered chair. “I’m Tarin Savage. “ I held out my hand and shook Wang’s.

“I’m Lt. Paul Wang; this is Lt. Vanessa Damphousse. “ He gestured to his left at a pretty black woman with a big smile. “Captain Shane Vansen. “ I smiled at her then and saw the reason why I was told she would be a challenge to my part in this group. She was beautiful, even with her hair pulled back harshly and dressed in military green, but she also had a suspicious look in her eyes that said, ‘I haven’t decided if I like you yet so back off.’

The next to be introduced was Lt. Nathan West, handsome in a boyish way; he looked like he barely had begun shaving. But he had a ready smile and was probably the one who looked least affected by the war. He also had blue eyes that could make a girl want to do anything to keep the sparkle in them.

That could only mean that the only one left would have to be Cooper Hawkes. “And this is Coop, I mean Lt. Cooper Hawkes. “ He looked up at me and gave a slight smile, then looked down at the table again. I made a mental note that he seemed to be uncomfortable with strangers, or was it just women? I looked back at Wang but had committed Hawkes’ face to memory. “We’re the fifty-eighth.” He looked proud but not boastful. They knew their reputation but they didn’t act like superstars.

After swallowing a mouthful of potatoes, I sat back a little. “I’m a medic. I’ve only been on the ship for a few days and I’m afraid that I’m not used to the regimen yet. “I looked from face to face to try and determine which of the Wild Cards would be he most reachable. But I kept settling back on Hawkes. His eyes were bright and searching when he looked at his friends when they were talking but when I spoke he looked at me for a moment and then looked down at his tray.

“The regimen on board ship is the same as any base. “ Vansen said, obviously a little distrustful.

“Mmm. I sort of went through accelerated training. I was sort of drafted. They needed more surgeons, and they asked me.” I said. “I was more than happy to lend a hand; unfortunately the powers that be decided that I needed to have some rank. So honestly, I feel a bit strange when people call me Lieutenant. If you want to just call me Tarin, that would be fine with me.”

“Sounds good to me.” Said Paul. “After all, we’re all the same rank here, except Shane of course.”

I looked at Capt. Vansen, waiting to see what she would say. She held out her hand, “Shane, nice to meet you Tarin.”

Smiling, I took her hand and looked at everyone else. Cooper looked up and grinned a bit. His eyes were gentle but uncertain. I smiled at him. “I heard that Cooper…. Is it ok to call you Cooper?” He nodded once and smiled a bit more. “I heard that you are a crack shot. One of the best on ship.”

Paul laughed, “Yeah, Coop here can hit a Chiggy at 500 yards with his eyes closed” At this everyone chuckled a bit but Cooper sort of blushed.

“I’m good with a gun. And I can fly, that’s about it” He shrugged.

Well, considering where we are, “I said, “You don’t have all that much chance to do much else do you? I mean, it’s not like you can go skiing or surfing. You may be great at those things as well. You can find that out after all this is over.” I winked at him and he flushed a bit.