chapter 22
TEAM 1, YEAR: 1200
Time Remaining: 158 Days
The story of the deer became legend over dinner.
“So I got the distinct impression that the buck did not like us being there,” said Ben. He relayed the day’s events to his captive audience around the dinner table. “It was snorting and stomping its hooves like a raging bull.”
“Yeah, it was pretty pissed,” agreed Clint. He cut a large piece off his pork chop and stuffed it in his mouth.
“Clint’s scope dot bounced all over that deer like he was watering a garden with a hose. I was frozen stiff in fear and so was Clint. Don’t believe him if he tries to tell you anything different,” said Ben. He laughed at the memory of his hunting companion’s reaction as he sipped his wine. “And before we could even think, the damn thing charged us. Here I am, this city boy in the bushes with my life flashing before my eyes as this freaking murderous beast barrels down at us at mach one. I decided that I was alright with salad for the next five months and ran for cover behind the nearest tree, hoping that that was the smart thing to do—I really had no freaking idea. I looked back to see where Clint had run to, and there he was, still standing there.”
“Omigod,” breathed Maya, looking at Clint. “What did you do?”
“In two leaps and bounds, that deer would have been on top of him. But he snapped out of it just in time, retreated backward and tripped on a rock. As he hit the ground, the gun went off.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Clint. “That shot was perfectly planned.”
“Oh, it was perfect alright, but definitely not planned,” laughed Ben. He took a bite of salad from the heaping pile in front of him; the savoury pork chops Darren had prepared were noticeably absent from his plate.
Clint picked up his glass of wine and held it while he spoke. “I should also point out that Ben has conveniently left out of the part of the story where he threw up behind a tree. He had to sit with his head between his knees for five minutes before he could walk again.”
The group laughed and quizzed the men about their success, which seemed to be more luck than anything else.
Clint turned to Ben. “So when are we going out again?”
Ben held up his wine glass. “I would like to take this moment to announce my retirement from hunting. While I have a firm understanding of the food chain and where meat comes from, that was an experience I will never forget. From now on, every time I eat meat, I will be eternally grateful to the animal it came from. But I can tell you that won’t be for a long, long time.”
“Well, it’s just as good you’re retiring,” said Jake, setting his knife on his plate. “Work’s been piling up today while you were gone.”
“Sounds good to me. Bring it on,” said Ben. “I’ll take a Mole over a deer any day.”
Thinking of the work piling up, Jake looked around the table and noticed Lexi’s absence.
Jake left the main tent and saw lights on in the work shed; however, when he entered, the shed appeared empty. As he turned to leave, he saw a pair of feet beneath the hovering machine. He walked around the front of the Mole to find Lexi leaning into one of the side engine compartments. She stood on the tips of her toes and strained to push herself further into the compartment but could not get enough leverage. Jake walked up the machine’s rear stairs, reached into the control room and held down one of the many buttons on the control panel. The Mole began to lower itself closer to the ground. He returned to where she was working, said nothing and leaned against the side of the machine.
“Thank you,” said a quiet voice from inside the compartment.
He listened to the metallic sounds her tools made inside the machine. After all his years in mechanics, the sound of tools and metal on metal was as sweet as cotton candy.
Frustration filled Lexi’s muffled voice. “I can’t…believe…how tight…this is!” She spoke each word as she pulled on something and Jake felt the Mole budge ever so slightly with each tug. The small movements stopped and silence followed.
Lexi backed her upper half out of the compartment and stood up. She glanced up at Jake briefly and brushed her hands on her pants to wipe away the oily rock dust. A streak of black grease in her blond ponytail complimented the smudges of dirt on her face. She retrieved a black drainage pan the size of a toddler’s swimming pool from beneath the mezzanine and rolled it to the front of the machine. She let it fall to the ground and the plastic thud echoed throughout the cavernous building.
“You didn’t come for dinner.”
“I wasn’t hungry and I wanted to get a jump on changing this coolant.” She reached underneath the massive, metallic monster and lined the pan up with the coolant drain.
“Working yourself into the ground won’t make things go away.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned to lean against the Mole. “Trust me, I know.”
The crack of her knee joint was the only sound she made as she stood. She crawled back into the engine compartment, this time pulling herself so deep into the machine that only her lower legs were visible, parallel to the floor. The Mole moved rhythmically as she yanked on the stopper valve to allow the coolant to drain. Despite her efforts, the valve refused to yield. Jake sensed her temper flaring, confirmed by muffled swearing coming from inside the compartment. The Mole stopped moving after one particularly violent shudder followed by the dull thunk of a metal instrument hitting the thick plastic pan below. Quiet sobs followed. Jake rarely got involved in the personal problems of his subs, but Lexi had been there for him in a way today that no one could and that meant something to him.
“Okay, okay, come here,” he said, softly. He helped her back out of the compartment, placing his hand gently on the back of her head to protect it from hitting the frame of the access panel. Looking at her feet, she pushed the baggy sleeve of her oversized uniform up and used her clean forearm to wipe her tears away.
“Come here.” He pulled her into a hug and she sobbed into his chest.
After a few minutes, her tears stopped. She stepped back, rubbing her eyes again with her forearm. “Thank you. I’m sorry. Look at your shirt.” She rubbed the wet spots her tears had left on his shirt.
Jake looked down and chuckled. “No worries. If that’s the worst thing that gets spilled on me today, it’ll be a good day. Would you like to talk about it now?”
Lexi stared absently at the welding cart by the overhead door for a long moment, then nodded weakly. “But there isn’t much to tell, it’s not a long story.” She wiped the corner of her eyes. “It’s just a little fresh still.”
Jake walked up the stairs to the mezzanine and Lexi followed, where she fell heavily onto the couch that overlooked the shop in the makeshift living room Ben had set up. Jake grabbed two Sprites from the bar fridge in the corner and two energy bars from the box atop the fridge labelled, “Ben’s Mechanic Fuel. Hands Off!” He sat on the couch beside Lexi, handed her the two energy bars and set the cans on the makeshift coffee table. One of the energy bars was gone before Jake took the first sip of his drink.
“Not hungry, eh?
Lexi smiled sheepishly as she opened the second wrapper and tossed the first onto the makeshift coffee table. “I was supposed to get married about a month before the launch of this op, but it never happened. The day of the wedding, my maid of honour was MIA, but I just figured she was running late. It was pretty informal, just close family and friends at the Royal Flower Gardens in Metro Park. We were all waiting for Bryan, my fiancé, to show up. Fifteen minutes after the ceremony was supposed to start, the best man got a call from Bryan saying that he wasn’t coming.”
“Geez,” breathed Jake.
“That wasn’t the worst of it. He’d run off with my maid of honour. So here I am, standing in front of all my family and friends already feeling pretty foolish because my goddamn fiancé can’t show up to his own damn wedding on time, only to learn that I’d been dumped at the proverbial altar. So I know what you m
ean about getting that ‘look’ because I got it from about eighty-five people all at once.”
Jake looked at his watery-eyed sub with renewed respect. “I’m so sorry Lex. That’s horrible.”
“It was an absolute nightmare and I couldn’t seem to wake up from it. My bridesmaids took me home and stayed while my mom dealt with everything. Thank God for my mom. She was the consummate wedding de-planner.” Lexi chuckled appreciatively. “She took care of all of the guests and everything else that needed to be looked after and then spent the afternoon with me. I’m not sure where my father or my brothers were, probably trying to hunt down Bryan. She suggested that she and I take the honeymoon trip to the Bahamas. She thought the change of scenery would help me deal with the shock.
“So we went to the airport early to transfer the name on the second ticket but Bryan had already taken the tickets, changed my name to the name of my maid of honour and they’d already gone through security. So, I had an emotional breakdown in the middle of the airport. I’ll tell you though, that 200 people looking at you like you’re crazy is better than eighty-five pity stares.
“I stayed at my parents’ for a couple of days and then went back home. I had the week off so I thought I should do something productive instead of lying in bed all day feeling sorry for myself. So, I packed up Bryan’s stuff and put it by the door so when he got home, he could move out of my condo while I was at work.”
“Wow, that’s pretty decent of you. I think I’d’ve dumped it all on the lawn.”
Lexi laughed. “Don’t think I didn’t think about it. But it had been pretty rainy so I thought I probably shouldn’t. I didn’t pack it well if it’s any consolation.”
Jake was impressed. He thought she was functioning pretty well for a girl whose life had taken a 180 degree turn little more than two months ago.
“I went back to work later in the week because I couldn’t stand being at home anymore. Just when I thought life was returning to a normal routine, I got a call from my neighbour who found a bunch of stuff all over my lawn. I raced home from work to find all of my stuff dumped outside. Clothes, shoes, my art, my desk. Everything. I went to go inside and my key didn’t open the lock. The bastard had changed the locks. So I’m hammering on the door, neighbours are staring out their windows and coming out onto their balconies to see what the commotion was. Bryan walked out onto the balcony and told me very politely to remove my things from his lawn.”
Her fists were shaking with anger and her knuckles were white. Her eyes welled up again. “It’s my condo! I put half the mortgage down over two years ago with money that I’d inherited from my grampa. He only just moved in six months ago. I’d put his name on the mortgage only the week before the wedding so we could get a jump on paperwork and stuff. So of course, the cops got involved and they removed him from my place, but now he’s suing me.”
Jake watched fresh tears stream down her face. He personally wanted to find this guy and pound him into the ground like a tent peg.
She pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, shaking with anger. “I’m still getting used to everything. I think in some ways I’m still in shock. I’ll be thinking about something and it will trigger a good memory of him—how it was when it was good. Then the horror of what the reality is comes flooding back.” She cried into her knees. “I feel so stupid.”
Jake wrapped his arm around her. “I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t feel stupid. He sounds like a real piece of work.”
“That’s just it,” she said wiping away a tear. “He was never a jerk. A little boring sometimes but he was always a really great guy. This all just came out of nowhere. I thought maybe he had a brain tumour or a stroke or something, anything, to explain his sudden change in personality. But apparently he’d been sleeping with my best friend for over six months. She had told him before the wedding he had to make a choice: her or me. He chose her.”
Jake shook his head, truly speechless. Lexi cried on his shoulder for the better part of five minutes before calming. He patted her gently on the back, unsure of what to say. He always felt awkward and at a loss for words around women when they were upset, but he had learned that, more often than not, a friendly ear and a hug worked far better than words.
After a long moment’s silence, Lexi spoke quietly. “What do you think it will be like when we get back? Do you think it will be any better?” She wiped the last tear out of her eye and stared down at the Mole sitting in the repair bay below.
Jake sighed as he thought about it. “You know, kid, I just don’t know. I try not to think about it much, and I’ve become pretty good at it. I just take things day by day and I’m having some success with that. I don’t want to mess it up by hoping for a storybook outcome only to be disappointed. Nope, I’m living for now. Whatever happens, happens—and whatever that is, we’ll adapt.”
With dinner long since finished and the plates collected, the group continued to relax around the table and chat as had become their nightly custom. Despite the awkward start, the members of Team One had meshed into a cohesive team. The friction caused by Clint’s comments and mood swings faded fast after Jake’s intervention.
Maya passed the bottle of wine down the table. The night was a celebration; a successful hunting trip ensured there would be enough meat to last a while. The team never worried about starving to death, but they feared having to resort to popping HOPs, and felt better having proven they could sustain their own food supply. Other hunting trips would be required, but between the meat left untouched by the bears, Ben’s temporary vegetarianism and the deer from the day’s hunt, the group would be set for a while.
Darren poured the last of the red wine into Tyler’s glass and set the empty bottle at the end of the table beside the other three. He grabbed the last bottle off the counter, removed the cork and topped up the remaining glasses. Silence filled the room and Clint broke it. He clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
“So who’s going to be my new hunting partner?” asked Clint. He looked around for takers. “Maya?” Maya, taken off guard by the question, said nothing.
“It’s okay. You’re probably a lousy shot. I’ve never seen a woman shoot a gun well. You probably couldn’t hit a rock if you were sitting on it.”
“Okay there, buddy,” Ben shot out of his seat and over to his trailer-mate. “I think we’ve had enough for one night.” He slapped Clint on the back firmly, slid his arm under Clint’s and lifted him up and away from the table.
“What?” Still holding his wine glass, Clint feigned innocence. He looked up at Ben standing behind him. “I’m just saying, maybe she’d have more fun out in the bushes instead of fluffing pillows all day.”
Ben closed his eyes in frustration. “Clint, that’s enough.” He wanted to remove Clint before he alienated the team again. “The night is over. Let’s go.”
“But I’m not done my wine!” He tried to take a drink as Ben pulled him away from the table and Clint stumbled over the bench. Red wine spilled onto the shoulder of Tyler’s white shirt. Ben marched Clint toward the door despite increasingly loud protestations. When they reached the door, Clint pulled himself free. He shot back the rest of his wine and threw the glass against the far wall of the dining area where it smashed to pieces. The remaining team members sat in silence as another episode of the Clint Show played out before them.
“How did that guy get assigned to this op?” asked Tyler, after Ben physically removed Clint from the tent. “How did that asshole not raise fifty flags when they did the psych eval?”
“He’s talented,” said Maya. “They needed someone with his expertise.”
“How can you make excuses for him when he treats you that way?” asked Tyler.
“I can’t let it get to me. We’ve got a long road ahead of us so I just try to imagine he has redeeming qualities.”
To this, Darren raised an eyebrow but said nothing as Jake entered the common area and sat down next to Maya. He looked from one face to the
next and got the distinct impression that he had walked into the middle of something. Tyler uttered one word when Jake looked at him inquiringly. “Clint.”
Tyler’s answer and a glance at the five wine bottles on the table told Jake more than he needed to piece together the room’s awkward silence. He sighed heavily. “What happened?”
Tyler relayed the events of the last five minutes.
Jake shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
“You should talk to him now,” said Tyler angrily. “I’m sick of Maya being this guy’s verbal punching bag.”
Jake eyed Tyler for several wordless seconds and it had the effect that Jake wanted—to remind Tyler that despite the casual nature of the op, there was still a chain of command to respect. Tyler apologized and Jake explained. “I will talk to Clint tomorrow because if he’s been drinking, nothing good will come out of it. If Ben’s with him, that’s the best scenario for now. I’ll deal with him in the morning.”
Time Remaining: 157 Days
Clint opened the door to the trailer he and Ben shared and quickly shielded his eyes from the morning sun. He stepped down each step heavily as he adjusted to the daylight. Jake intercepted Clint and motioned toward the tool shed. Jake never manhandled his subs; in all his years of supervising, he had never encountered any conflict he could not resolve by a good conversation, though, sometimes a good scare helped.
Clint walked nonchalantly down the nearest row of shelves. He turned to lean against one of the shelves and was startled to find Jake so close behind him. Clint’s five-foot-ten, medium build resembled a toothpick in comparison to Jake’s massive frame leaning over him.
“Clint, this shit’s gotta stop. I don’t know what your problem is, and if you care to share it with me that’s fine, I can help. If you don’t, that’s fine too. But you’ve got to get it together and start being a full-time member of this team instead of a part-time asshole.”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. I guess I had too much to drink,” said Clint, looking genuinely remorseful. He looked across the shed at the different crates, unable to meet Jake’s eyes.
“I’m not the only one you need to apologize to.”
As Lexi and Ben pushed Mole1 across the camp toward the drilling site, they watched Clint and Jake leave the tool shed. Clint beelined for the work shed and Jake walked toward Mole Control.
“What’s the deal with Clint?” asked Lexi, as the work shed door closed behind Clint. “I mean, I know what he’s like, trust me. I spent more than enough time with him at orientation. But I just don’t get him. You have to bunk with him. Has he ever said anything? I know he’s divorced, that’s about it.”
Ben hesitated, feeling that to speak would betray his bunkmate, but Clint’s erratic behaviour was alienating people. “I don’t know exactly. I mean, it’s not like we sit around and talk about this kind of stuff, but he has told me a bit. He was married and you’re right, he’s definitely divorced. It sounds like it was a while ago, when his kid was about two. I think he’s six or seven now. He said that they were having problems before the boy came into the picture. I get the impression he might have clued in a little at one point, like maybe he realized he had something to do with the problems, but by then too much resentment had built up.” Ben flicked several small stones off the rear deck as they walked. “I don’t know. These things are rarely one-sided. Apparently she took him to the cleaners, or so he said. He says she was out to get him and that she was doing it to punish him. I think financially he’s just starting to recover from it. Emotionally, it doesn’t sound like he’s ever really gotten over it. I mean, it’s been about four years so he’s moved on, but just from what I’ve seen of him, I don’t think he gets it.”
Lexi got the impression that Clint, in fact, did a lot of talking. “That would be hard on a person,” said Lexi, trying to remain unbiased.
“A lot of this is what I’ve pieced together, so I can’t say for certain. What I do know is that despite his shortcomings, he is really a decent guy. He’ll give you the shirt off his back if he doesn’t feel threatened by you. It’s just unfortunate though because of what’s happened, he doesn’t seem to trust women. It’s like he thinks that they’re all out to get him. I won’t even get into some of the things he’s said about some of the women around the base that outrank him. The man is pretty smart when it comes to his work, but beyond that, he seems denser than the rocks he’s paid to drill through.”
“I’ve noticed,” said Lexi. “But that explains why he seems to have such a hate on for Maya. What is he, level three? Four? If he has to answer to a female level two, that’s gotta get under his skin.”
“I would think so, but I think there’s another reason. Clint has a picture of him and his kid tucked into the frame of the dresser mirror. The other day I accidentally bumped the mirror and the picture fell onto the floor. I picked it up to put it back in and part of the photo was folded over. On the other side, there’s a woman who I can only assume was his wife. The kid looked about one-ish maybe, I don’t know. But what I do know is that the woman in the picture looks damn-near identical to Maya.