Kombat Kids - 44. Eagletooth's Dental Plan

It was the 29th of July; sixteen days after the recovery of Jacky Hoffman by the members of Unit One, aided by the covert support of the United States Air Force and the not-so-covert assistance of the Denton County Sheriffs Department. James had been in and out of consciousness for the better part of two days. As was the pattern for the last two and a half months, at least one person from the Unit had been present in James' room watching over him, talking to him and praying for him. During those sixteen days, several things had occurred and most of them were good. The best thing to happen was that James came out of his coma; the worst was that Don Prince had disappeared before he could be arrested. Jacky was released from the hospital two days after being admitted for hypothermia and the minor injuries he had suffered at the hands of his captors.

The corporation that owned the truck that crashed into James’ HUMVEE, and their insurance company, had settled out of court, with Matt as James’ court appointed guardian. The unprecedented amount of the settlement, 212 million dollars for James and 7.3 million dollars for Mitch, was prompted by the thorough investigation conducted by the Washington State Patrol, the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Denton County Sheriffs Department. The three agencies conducted their investigations independently of each other and all three came to the same conclusion; the trucking company had allowed their driver to operate his vehicle outside its own, as well as State and Federal regulations, concerning driving time and crew rest requirements. The Corporation, after reviewing the investigations had decided to bite the bullet and pay up, knowing that if they went to court, they would lose.

Jacky Hoffman was seeing Erick Bettus four times a week; Erick was the counselor that Phil Martin and David White had been consulting with, after their rape at the hands of Launy Prince and his friends. While he was still a little depressed, Jacky was bouncing back and was not suffering the same problems Phil had about sex with his boyfriend.

The problems with the authorities over the Unit’s rescue of Jacky never materialized. The seizure of three point two million dollars worth of cocaine and the discovery of the drug lab in the basement of the Prince cabin drew the spotlight off the unorthodox manner in which Jacky was rescued. The death and capture of four illegal Mexican Nationals and their association with Don Prince also had a lot to do with the lack of official concern over the Unit's part in the rescue of Jacky.

The Denton County Sheriff, accompanied by six of his Deputies and the three DEA agents that just happened to be in his office when the drugs and the drug lab were discovered in the Prince Cabin, raided the Prince home. The Sheriff, was not really surprised that Don Prince was not at home, nor anywhere in the Twin-Cities. Three computers, five filing cabinets and the contents of four desks were confiscated by the police for the drug ring investigation. It would later be discovered that when the three different law enforcement agencies had shown up at the Prince Cabin, Jackson Eagletooth had placed a call to Don Prince.

Jackson Eagletooth was under serious scrutiny by State and Federal authorities over his possible connections with the Prince organization. Two days after Jacky had returned, his father, Bill Hoffman, was waiting for Eagletooth when he arrived at the Yakima Nation Tribal Police Department. As Eagletooth was getting out of his Escalade, Bill walked up to him, and without uttering a word, started to wale on him. By the time three Tribal Policemen were able to pull Jacky's irate father off their boss, Eagletooth would have been better named Eagletoothless. Bill Hoffman had knocked out six teeth, blackened both eyes, broke his nose and caused severe bruising to a large portion of Eagletooth's body. While the Tribal Police Chief was pissed after he woke up in the hospital, he later dropped all charges against Sergeant Hoffman at the suggestions of his and the tribal lawyers, as well as the urging of the Bureau of Indian Affairs representative.

Larry Alcorn and Bill Jordan survived their gunshot wounds, thanks largely to the care they received from Doctor Davidson and Unit One's newly designated Senior Corpsman, Jesse Stevens. Larry Alcorn was recovering and had just been removed from the ICU to a room that was guarded by a City Police officer twenty four hours a day. Alcorn would remain in the hospital until such time as he was released, and then be booked into the County Jail to await trial. Bill Jordan remained in the ICU due to complications suffered during subsequent surgery, he was not expected to regain the use of his leg, as they say, "Oh well, shit happens."

Launy Prince, after some minor surgery, was placed in a maximum security cell at the County jail to await trial for kidnapping, assault, illegal imprisonment and accessory to distribute proscribed substances.

Delbert Prince was under guard in the hospital recovering from multiple gunshot wounds suffered after he fired on a duly deputized Matt. He would be placed in the County Jail under the same charges as Launy and additional charges of resisting arrest, assault with a deadly weapon, and the use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

The Mexican Government was shooting nasty grams to the United States Secretary of State about how three Mexican Nationals had been killed and a fourth had been arrested. The Secretary of State, in an unusual turn of events, answered the letters politely, but was basically telling the Mexican Government to "Blow it out their ass." After realizing he wasn't going to be deported to Mexico and that he would stand trial in Washington State where the death penalty was still in force, the fourth hitman rolled over on his boss and Don Prince, copping a plea for a reduced sentence. He told the entire story of how he and his deceased friends were smuggled in to the States, flown to Yakima, how they had been given orders to eliminate everyone present in the cabin and then to initiate a forest fire to cover up any remaining evidence of the drug operation as well as the murder of the cabins occupants. He considered twenty years in Walla-Walla Federal Penitentiary a whole lot better than a permanent dirt nap.

Mitch Babcock did get his ass chewed out by his father, after George hugged him and cried over the fact that he almost lost his son.

Doctor Allyn could only be described as looking like the cat that got the canary; he had already been working on powered prosthetics for James and was overjoyed to be able to try out some of his new ideas on Mitch. The leg that Doc Allyn was building had more endurance, was stronger, completely waterproof and less prone to damage from outside forces (bullets and shit). While he was modifying the leg to fit Mitch, Mitch was using crutches instead of his old non-powered prosthesis. Although this slowed him down a little; it was less time consuming then putting on and taking off his old outdated 'leg.'

On the July 28, Mitch, along with his father and Matt were sitting in James' room at the hospital as part of the continuing vigil the Unit performed. The three were talking softly when Mitch heard a very softly spoken;"Oh Mitch, I'm so sorry you had to go through another accident."

Struggling out of the chair he was sitting in, Mitch crutched his way over to the bed and gently grasped James' right hand before saying;"James, James, you’re awake, thank God I was so worried, you scared the living shit out of me. Oh James please say you’re OK, please."

James started;"Me, I was afraid you had been hurt and they weren't telling me the truth. What happened to your leg Mitch, and are you really OK?"

Mitch wiped the tears from his eyes before saying;"I'm fine James, really. My leg got kind of bent and twisted in the accident and the new one Doctor Allyn built me got damaged and doesn't much work right now. No problem, Doctor Allyn is working on a replacement for me, it's going to have computer controls, actuators, all kind of neat things and he said it would be waterproof. He said I was going to be the new improved model of the 'Six Million Dollar Man,' whoever he is."

James laughed for the first time since waking up; Mitch's exuberance infected him with the boy's happiness.

Matt and George were standing behind Mitch and smiled when they heard James quiet laughter.

James heard the door open and saw Doctor Bahari and Derrick Bettus enter the room and he stopped laughing.

The Doctor moved to the side of the bed and looked James in the eyes;"Are you ready to continue James, I think it's important that we get this out of the way now?"

James took a deep breath and nodded his head;"OK Doc, how bad am I hurt?" Then he steeled himself for the answer.

Doctor Bahari reached out and grasped his right hand before he started to talk;"Very badly James, we tried our utmost, but we were unable to save your left arm and left leg. There was such severe damage done to them that they had to be removed in order to save your life. For a while, we weren't sure we were going to be able to do that, but your good physical condition proved to be enough to keep you going. Your heart stopped twice while they were flying you to the hospital; three more times during the operations you underwent and once more while you were in the recovery room. You suffered trauma to several of you internal organs, but nothing near as bad as that which was done to your arm and leg. You suffered a fractured skull and we aren't sure how well the sight in your left eye will be, you will have a long period of recovery and much pain before this is all over. You should recover to the point where you will be able to lead a full life, with certain exceptions. It's going to be up to you to do decide the level of your recovery."

After about two hours, the room was empty except for Matt and James, James had become more and more depressed as the Doctor, Erick Bettus and his other visitors attempted to encourage him and assure him he'd be able to live a normal life.

James took a deep breath and nodded and then turned his face away from Matt so he wouldn't see him cry. Without looking at him, he asked;"Can I get something for the pain, it's getting worse and I'm really starting to hurt. Matt quickly contacted Bobby Winston who injected medication into the IV line that was slowly dripping fluid into his vein, and in just a few minutes, James was asleep.

Bobby looked at James for a minute or so and turned to Matt;"How's he taking the news about his injury, Matt?"

Matt shook his head and looked worried;"I don't know Bobby, I just don't know. He was okay up until the doctor explained about the loss of his arm and leg, then he seemed to shut down. I'm really worried that he's going to have problems coping with the whole thing; I've never seen him this depressed, even when we lost our parents.

Bobby nodded her head;"Well we'll just have to make sure he gets over it, there's enough people around here who love and respect him who will help get him through this. You especially have to keep your shit together, don't you go wigging out on him or it'll be all over”

After leaving James' room, George Babcock dropped Mitch off at Doctor Allyn's Lab. The new 'leg' the Doctor had been assembling was still giving him some trouble with the negative feedback loops and the actuator controllers used to make the leg movements appear life like. As the doctor was making small adjustments to the electromechanical systems, Mitch studied the mechanical arm on the test stand that was mounted on the counter of the work bench. It seemed so lifeless sitting there; Mitch remembered the first time the Doctor demonstrated it to him. The wrist, elbow and all of the joints of the hand mimicked his perfectly, unlike the leg Mitch was being fitted with, the arm actually had two 3.2 gigahertz processors built into it. The processors were used as a buffering system to allow the user to "train" the arm to respond to the muscles of the biological portion of the arm (the users stump), direction of movement and to the gravitational pull of the earth, no matter what position the users body was in. Mitch gasped the first time he had seen the hand flex, spread its fingers and make a fist, he couldn't believe how an inanimate object could come alive and move like a flesh–and-blood hand, it was like something out of Spielberg movie. The sound of Doctor Allyn's voice broke him out of his reverie. "Okay Mitch, I think we're ready to test the leg, start the exercise routine slowly and gradually step up the tempo."

Mitch stood up and started the standard warm up routine that all athletes performed before commencing a strenuous workout. For the next three hours he performed squat thrusts, jumping jacks, sit-ups, pushups and then moved to the tread mill. Starting out at a slow walk with the tread mills deck parallel to floor, after fifteen minutes of slowly increasing the tread mills incline, he moved to a fast jog with the mill giving him a twenty degree hill to climb. After another ten minutes, the Doctor slowly reduced the angle of the deck until it was once again parallel with the lab's floor. After a short break, the doctor had him repeat the whole sequence again.

Looking away from the computer monitor Doctor Allyn smiled at Mitch;"It looks like this one's a keeper Mitch, power consumption is down by ten percent over the Mod 0 leg and you have more range of motion with this one. When you get back to the Bateman house, get someone to go swimming with you and test out how it functions in the water, if you have any problems, give me a call. If I don't hear from you tonight, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Mitch got dressed and followed Doctor Allyn out to his red Corvette. He got in and arranged the pair of crutches so they would be out of the way. As the Doctor drove west on SR 240, they talked of many things; Mitch's new leg, James coming out of the coma, the big settlement the trucking company had agreed to, and Mitch's boyfriend, Justin Stanton. Pulling up to the Bateman property entry gate, Doctor Allyn punched in his access code and the gate opened. Driving to the front of the house, Mitch climbed out of the Vett and thanked the doctor for the ride and once again for his new 'leg.' As the Doctor drove back down the driveway, Mitch turned and found himself engulfed by his boyfriend. Gasping a little at the surprise greeting, Mitch exclaimed;"Go ahead, give me a fucking heart attack, see if I care!"

Justin laughed as he embraced his lover;"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you beating your gums, but your dick says you're glad to see me."

Mitch turned red, he had responded to his boyfriend by immediately boning up;"What do you expect, when all of a sudden you plaster your body all over mine, I mean shit man, I'm only horn . . . I mean human."

The two boys laughed, then arm in arm entered the house and made their way to the berthing compartment. Once they were in Justin's room and had locked the door, the boys quickly removed their clothing. Justin knelt before Mitch and encircled the head of Mitch's dick with his lips. Slowly, with great care, he ran his tongue around the glans, while applying light suction to his lover's dick. As he slowly moved down Mitch's cock until his nose was nestled in his pubic hair, he moaned softly, sending vibrations through it and causing Mitch to shiver. Mitch grabbed the back of Justin's head and started to fuck his mouth gently with long smooth strokes, on each in-stroke he paused with the head of his dick in his boyfriend's throat. After about ten minutes or so, he sped up until he was ramming his cock in as far as he could, he suddenly froze and his whole body stiffened as shot after shot of cum raced through his dick and down Justin's throat. Mitch slowly pulled his dick back until only the head was sill in Justin's mouth, Justin continued sucking while he ran his tongue over and around the head, until there was no more cum to be had.

Mitch all but collapsed on the bed behind him. "WOW, if you keep doing that to me, you're gonna kill me, you just keep getting better and better."

Mitch smiled at him and kissed him again, the boys battled it out to see whose tongue would win. Mitch pulled Justin down and laid him flat on the bed, and spread himself on top of Justin. After kissing Justin for a few more minutes, he felt Justin's cock lengthen and harden once again. Slowly he started to grind his dick into his lovers, speeding up until both of the boys were leaking pre-cum and moaning in mutual ecstasy. After only five minutes or so Mitch started breathing rapidly, and Justin could actually feel Mitch's dick expand just before he started cumming. The first shot of cum hit Justin on his chin, exciting him and causing him to cum also. When both boys finally stopped cumming, Mitch collapsed on top of Justin, breathing hard and sweating profusely. When their beating hearts and heavy breathing returned to normal, Justin said;"That was great, we haven't done that in a long time and I forgot how much I really liked it."

Mitch nodded and hugged Justin to him. After placing a final kiss on his lovers lips, Mitch crawled off of him. Still holding Justin's hand he sniffed the air in the small room before saying;"Phew, it sure does stink in here, one of us needs to remember to get some air-freshener, or maybe an industrial size can of Lysol." Laughing, both of the boys grabbed a towel and headed to the showers to clean up before dinner.

The four adults and the six boys occupying the Bateman's kitchen that night were all subdued. What was worse was that both Matt and Keener were visibly morose. Keener had told everyone that James had asked him to get his Baby Eagle for him that afternoon; they all knew he wanted it for one reason and one reason only. The Gunny looked around the table before speaking;"We just won't let him, I mean he's been there for each and every one of us when we needed him, so we got to be there for him." Looking at Justin, he said;"I want you six to get on the phone and contact all the Squadies in the Unit, tell them to muster at the hospital tomorrow afternoon at 13:00. Matt, I want you to be in his room the rest of tonight and all day tomorrow, Keener and I will contact the Unit adults to be there also. We just have to show him how much we all think about him and what he means to all of us." Turning to Mitch, he asked;"How's your leg doing, any problems with it?"

Mitch shook his head;"No, Doctor Allyn got all the bugs out of it and its working great, I haven't had a bit of trouble with it.

The Gunny exhaled slowly;"Great, maybe if he sees how well your doing with it, it may give him hope, and I think that's what he needs most of right now. I've seen this kind of reaction before, when a guy loses a limb, all he can think of is that he's no longer a whole man."

Mitch looked at the Gunny and nodded;"I didn't think that way when I first lost my leg, but the older I got, and the way the kids in school and on base treated me, I started to feel the same way. Then I joined the Unit and besides finding out I wasn't the only one with problems, everyone treated me like I was just a normal guy, minus my leg." Mitch looked thoughtful for a minute before continuing;"I think everyone in the Unit took their lead from James, right from the start, he treated me with respect and worked with me to overcome my weaknesses. He made me feel good about myself for the first time since I woke up in the hospital after the car accident."

Mitch's eyes started to tear up and his voice got raspy as he tried not to cry. His boyfriend Justin slid his chair over to him and pulled him into a hug, whispering softly in his ear, so that he was the only one to hear him. Mitch used the heels of his hands to wipe his eyes, sniffed loudly and looked at the other people around the table. "We’ve got to make sure he knows how much we love him. I remember how much pain I had when I woke up in the hospital, how confused I was, how mad at the world I was. If we can get him to think about something else, like my dad did for me, I think we can get him to try, instead of just wanting to end it."

George looked at his son, realizing he wasn't just a young boy anymore, and that he had matured both mentally and physically over the last six months. Joining the Unit had been the start of his maturation, working with Matt and James, the boys of the Unit and the Marines assigned to it had shown him that it was okay to be different. Mitch was still an adolescent, but he was growing in to his manhood. The epiphany hit George suddenly, he realized that he only had a few years left of Mitch's childhood. All the years of his oldest boys' childhood that he missed for one reason or another grabbed at his heart as he sat in the Bateman kitchen. It took all of his inner strength to keep from breaking down then and there as he stared at his son. "God," he thought to himself, "How could I let all those years go by with out seeing what I was losing?” George's eyes started to tear up. Sliding the chair away from the table he hurried out of the room and then ran to his bedroom on the next level down.

As George hurriedly left the room, the Gunny followed him with his eyes and then sighed. Matt looked at the Gunny and asked;"What's wrong Stan?"

The Gunny sighed again;"I think George just found out how much he's missed over the last thirteen or fourteen years." Turning to Mitch: "Mitch, I think you need to go talk with your old man, he's in pain and he needs you."

Looking confused, Mitch not understanding what just happened, just nodded his head and went to find his dad to find out what was wrong.

After Mitch left, the Gunny explained to the assembled men and boys what he knew had happened to George.

In a soft gentle voice, Keener asked;"How do you know that's what happened Gunny?"

Looking at Keener, he asked;"Do you remember when you and Tim came to me after you got out of the hospital? That's exactly the way I felt about Tim that night. It's got to be one of the hardest things a father can go through, when their son becomes a man and no longer needs them."

Keener got up from his chair and walked over to the grizzled old combat vet and wrapped his arms about him, hugging him tightly to him. The Gunny encircled Keener and gently patted him on the back before saying;"Thanks Kee, I needed that."

Fifteen minutes later, George and Mitch entered the kitchen. The men and boys sitting at the table looked at the two and knew that a new, stronger bond between father and son had been created. After joining with the others at the table, George and Mitch contributed to the plan that would help redeem James.

A week later found the same group at the kitchen table discussing how they would help James once he was released from the hospital. The discussion was going good when the fence line security alarm sounded. Keener ran to the nearest system terminal which was located in the Game Room. With quick key strokes, he called up the property schematic and saw that a breach had occurred in the fence line on the south side of the property. Before he could say anything, Matt looking sheepish said;"It's okay, it's okay, I forgot to tell you that Masterson Construction is starting on a project today. I'm sorry about the hassle; I was going to deactivate the alarms in that section of the fence, but I got involved with setting up James' recovery plan and I forgot."

George, Keener and the Gunny all looked at Matt, the Gunny took the lead by saying;"Thanks a fucking bunch, you trying to give me a heart attack a month before I retire? What the fuck are they building out in that part of the property anyhow?"

Once again Matt looked a little sheepish;"Sorry guys, OpSec, it's something I'm doing for James and I don't want any one to tell him about it before it's done. I know none of you would tell him, but someone may let it slip and would ruin my surprise. I'm asking you all to just trust me on this and not try to find out what's going on, please?"

The boys and the adults looked at each other for a few seconds and shrugged, the six boys all agreed and the adults grudgingly agreed also. Everyone wondered what Matt was up to and why so far away from the main house. The Gunny summed up everyone's feelings by saying;"Fuck it."

Construction continued on Matt's secret project on a 24-hours-a-day, seven–days-a-week basis. James was due to be released from the hospital on August twenty second. His bedroom was retrofitted to allow him some modicum of privacy and self reliance. A voice activated intercom system was installed that allowed him to summon aid by just calling for it. The hospital had fitted him with a temporary prosthesis for his left leg and he was working with the physical therapist to build up his strength and endurance. After being in a coma for two and a half months, his muscles had degenerated to a much weakened state. James pushed himself harder than the PT did, earning him admonishments from them to slow down. Matt knew there was no "slow down" in James whatsoever and constantly accompanied him to his therapy sessions to rein him in so he wouldn't over do it. During the time James was making his recovery in the hospital, Matt made several one and two day trips out of town. When he wasn't there to keep an eye on James, one of the other adult members of the Unit was.

Doctor Allyn had taken a furlough from his job at Symonds Electronics in order to work full time on James' arm and leg prosthesis. James was already using the 'Leg' during his physical therapy sessions, the rest of the time he was still in a wheel chair. The stump portion had healed almost completely during the time he was in a coma, but was still tender and he had to limit his use of it until such time as it toughened up. The 'Arm' prosthesis was still being perfected, using much of the same technology that had been developed for the 'Leg,' Doctor Allyn was moving quickly to complete the 'Arm.' The problems he was encountering were mainly the computer control modules, while the processors were fast (3.2 GHz), he needed still more speed. Working closely with both the Intel corporations and AMD, he had hopes of acquiring a 1.2 THz processor in the very near future. Once he had that, he'd be able to make the 'Arm' function very close to a biological arm.

While the construction at the south end of the property, James therapy and the development and assembly of James' 'Arm' continued, the Unit got a new opponent who wanted to play.

Just after James awakened, an Army Lieutenant Colonel arrived at the front door of the Bateman house. Justin T; Jap, Jacky Hoffman and Tyler English were the only ones present. Justin and Tyler had been working on GhostRyder 25, performing preventative maintenance and Jacky and Jap were cleaning and inspecting the Unit's firearms in the arms room. Justin followed closely by Tyler, after hearing the front door bell walked out of the garages personnel door and saw the Light Colonel standing at the front door. Walking up to the man while wiping theirs hands on some rags, Justin asked;"Can I help you sir?"

The Colonel started slightly, turning to the boys he smiled;"Yes you can, I'm here to talk to James and Matt Bateman, are they here?"

Justin looked at the Colonels ribbons and badges and saw the guy was an REMF (Rear Echelon Mother Fucker) and signed softly before saying. "Sorry sir, James is still in the hospital and Matt, The Gunny, Sergeants Webb and Babcock are with him. Is there something we can do for you?"

As Justin was saying that, the front door opened and Jap and Jacky came outside to see what was happening. The first thing Jap and Jacky did was look at the Colonels decorations and came to the same conclusion that Justin and Tyler had; REMF. His name tag on the right breast of his Class A Greens said he was LtCol. Thomas P. Jasper.

The Colonel looked at the four boys and smiled again;"I don't think so son, I need to talk to someone about some adult business."

Jacky could see the back of Jap's neck and ears turning red, so before his pintsize lover could give his impression of a full scale nuclear detonation Jacky quickly said;"Sir, Matt and the others are due back in about a half hour, if you'd like you can wait in the lounge or you could come back later, your choice."

The Light Colonel looked at his watch and then back to Jacky;"Thank you, I'd like to wait."

Jacky nodded and beckoned the Colonel to follow him in to the house. Offering the Colonel a seat in the lounge and inquiring if he would like some coffee or something else to drink. The Colonel accepted the offer for a cup of coffee and while Justin was getting it, Jacky dragged Jap into the computer room.

As soon as the door was closed, Jap looked at Jacky and asked;"What the fuck did you drag me out of there for?"

Jacky chuckled at his boyfriend;"You know as well as I do, that if I left you there, you woulda spun him up good. I don't know what this clown wants, but I don't think it would be a good thing to piss him off before we find out."

Saying that, Jacky got on the phone and called his father at the Army Recruiting Office;"Hey Dad, its Jacky . . . . . Fine . . . . . listen, we got a Light Colonel by the name of Thomas P. Jasper out here wanting to see James or Matt . . . . . . No he wouldn't say other than it was 'Adult Business . . . . Yeah, Jap's here . . . . . . He turned a little red but I was able to keep him from blowing up . . . . . Naw, we got him in the lounge and gave him some coffee . . . . . No, he's some kind of a REMF . . . . . Sorry sir, but he is . . . . . he only got three ribbons and no qualification badges . . . . . No, none higher than a National Defense Medal . . . . . Okay Dad . . . . . Yes I'll keep Jap away from him . . . . . Okay, I love you too, bye."

Jacky turned to Jap and said;"He'll be here in about ten minutes, he says you're to stay away from the asshole and not to spin him up."

Jap looked indignant;"Now why would I even think about trying to spin up ole Colonel Asshole?"

"Because you're the best spinner upper we got in the Unit and you already don't like him, that’s why." Jacky pointed out.

Jap laughed;"Yeah you're right. Okay, I'll leave him alone till we find out what he wants."

Jacky picked up the phone and speed dialed Matt's cell, when he answered, Jacky filled him in on the Colonel and that his dad was coming out. After assuring Matt that he'd already promised his dad that he'd keep Jap away from him he hung up.

Jap looked at his boyfriend and asked;"Why is it that everyone thinks I'd do something to piss this guy off? OH, damn, I don't get to have any fun."

Just after Jap and Jacky returned to the lounge, Justin said;"Me and Tyler are going to go back to the garage and finish the PMS on 25, yell if you need us."

Jap smiled and looked at Jacky before saying;"Maybe we should go and finish up what we were working on too?"

Jacky nodded and turned to the Colonel: "We have some firearms we were working on; you can wait here or come down to the arms room with us."

The Colonel smiled, thinking the boys were talking about some single shot .22's or maybe a break action .410 he said;"Sure, maybe I can help if you're having problems."

Jap put a childish smile on his face and said;"Gee would you, that would be great, I been having a problem with one of the guns, maybe you could help."

As they headed sown the steps to the third floor, Jacky elbowed Jap in the ribs and warned him;"Watch it asshole you know what Matt and my dad told me."

Jap giggled;"Okay, okay, I'll be good." He made the last statement with an evil glint in his eyes, causing Jacky to groan.

The Colonel had been taking in the construction and the size of the building as the three descended to the third floor. When they got to the arms room door he started to think that maybe there was more going on here than he knew about. After Jacky worked the combination and opened the door, the Colonel got a look at the firearms and gasped before saying;"Holy shit, what the fuck is going on here, what are you doing with all the weapons?"

With a straight face, Jap hit him with a line Matt had used on Keener the first time he had seen the arms room and all of the fire arms;"It's actually a secret CIA operation, and we're going to invade Canada."

The Colonel got a startled look on his face and looked at Jap, and then he heard Jacky groan and turned his attention to him. "Would you please tell me what's going on here?"

Before replying, Jacky swatted Jap on the back of the head and said;"Jap you promised me." Turning back to the Colonel;"Sorry sir, Jap's a bit of a Joker now and then. These are the Unit's fire arms that we use for training evolutions and practice." Looking at Jap and then turning back to the Colonel, Jacky continued;"Jap, me, and three other boys in the Unit have been certified to perform PMS and make repairs on all of the long guns in here."

Jacky stopped talking when he saw the disbelief in the Colonels eyes and the sarcastic patronizing tone of voice he used when he said;"Of course you are son, it's not that hard to do and someone of your age, what are you seventeen or eighteen? You shouldn't have a problem doing it; I can see where you might be able to do what you say you and your friend here can do."

Before Jap could throw his ten dollars in to the pot, Jacky quickly continued;"Yes sir thank you sir." Turning to Jap he suggested;"Jap, why don't you get Bert and tear him down and check him out?"

Jap had his game face on now and just nodded as he went and pulled the big Barrett down from its storage rack. Moving to the work bench, he quickly stripped it down into several parts groups and started to inspect and then clean the .50 caliber behemoth. The colonel just stood there watching, not believing that a boy as physically small as Jap could perform the work he was observing. After the gun had been disassembled, inspected, cleaned and re-assembled, Jap attached a card to the trigger guard and returned Bert to his rack.

The Colonel shook his head before saying;"I understand you have a Marine armorer attached here, will he check that firearm over when he gets back?"

Jap turned red, you could almost see the steam venting from his ears, Jacky knew his lover was just about to go high order, as in explode, big, big bang. Jacky moved in front of the slowly advancing Jap before saying: "Colonel, I think we're finished here, we should be moving back upstairs to the lounge."

The Colonel, not understanding what was transpiring, nodded his head and left the arms room followed closely by Jap. After closing and securing the arms room door, Jacky pushed Jap ahead of him and led the colonel back upstairs to the lounge. Jacky heaved a sigh of relief when he entered the lounge and found his father in full uniform with all of his decorations and qualification badges waiting there.

Jacky moved quickly to his father and hugged him before saying: Sergeant Hoffman this is Lieutenant Colonel Jasper, we were just showing him the arms room."

Bill Hoffman smiled as he saluted the Light Colonel and then held out his hand before saying: "It's nice to meet you Colonel, I'm the lead recruiter for the area here and Jacky is my son. I hope he and Jap took good care of you while you were waiting."

The Colonel nodded;"Yes they showed me about a bit and told me some rather incredible things. Some were rather hard to believe.

Jacky saw Jap stiffen up and said;"Jap give me a hand and we'll put some fresh coffee on for dad and the Colonel." Jap shot daggers at his lover with his eyes but nodded his head in assent.

While they were in the kitchen putting on the coffee, Matt and the Marines returned and went immediately to the lounge. All of the men were in their civvies and that fact took the Colonel by surprise.

Matt strode up to the Colonel with his hand out;"Afternoon Colonel Jasper, I'm Matt Bateman; I understand you wanted to talk to me?"

"Actually Mr. Bateman, I wanted to talk to both you and your brother about assisting the United Stated Army with some training problems we are having. Will your brother be available to consult with us soon?"

Matt looked at the Colonel and could see why Jacky had called him an REMF, he certainly was pompous enough. Choosing his words carefully Matt said;"James just got out of intensive care and won't be released from the hospital until the twenty second of the month. Now if you tell me what you need, I'll confer with my staff and see if we can help you."

The Colonel mulled over what Matt had just said and didn't appear to be happy about it. Sighing a little he said;"I guess that will have to do. We, that is the U.S. Army, would like to bring in some of our smaller units and use your property for training. We would be glad to pay you for the use, and promise not to damage anything."

Matt smiled;"Why would the Army want to use my land for training, I'd expect you'd have bigger facilities available to you than what I can provide?"

The Colonel looked a little put out that Matt didn't agree to let the Army come out immediately and asked what the problem would be for them to allow the use of their property. The Colonel failed to give any kind of explanation as to why the Army couldn't train at one of their own facilities.

Matt started to get pissed;"You see Colonel, we're already committed to two other organizations for use of our facilities and personnel. I can't just tell them 'Sorry, I got to help the Army, your gonna have to wait, now can I?"

The Colonel got huffy;"I don't know who, or what, these other two organizations are, but I assure you the Army's need is paramount. If you tell me who they are, I'm sure I can talk them into going someplace else and do what ever they do."

Matt could tell the Marines standing behind him were getting pissed. He looked at the Colonel and said;"This conversation is finished Colonel Jasper, please leave."

The Colonel turned pale then red as he stammered;"But, but, you, you don't understand . . . . ."

Matt repeated himself;"Talkins over, please leave my property immediately."

The Colonel picked up his hat and left the lounge, the house and the property.

Keener summed it all up with one word;"Prick"