Rogue Elements

Bolan followed his shot with a pull on his beer. “Doesn’t Rampart have some kind of training film about that? Or someone in Human Resources you can talk to?”

The town was silent as a new gunfighter walked out into the street. Bolan had made his decision when the man had walked in and he had seen his teammates’ reactions. The soldier had won over Big Abe and the rest of the team with charm. The man before him would not be swayed by any charm offensive. He would take it as ass licking, and kowtowing to Hyram would ruin any chances of furthering the mission. The big man leered in false amusement.

“Well, now, you must be Blue. Heard about you. Read the report. I’d call it bullshit, but then again, Sifuentes isn’t known for brains, much less imagination.”

The Latino bristled but said nothing.

Bolan reached into the beer bucket and twisted the cap off. “Sifu saved my life last night. Two of us with knives, five of them with Uzis, and he was Johnny on the spot. Played hot potato with a live grenade, dropped it on the asshole climbing up the drainpipe, then he commandeered one of their weapons and turned into a human wall of lead.”

“Yeah, and what were you doing during all that?” Hyram said, sneering.

“Cutting lunch meat.”

“Well!” Hyram threw back his head and laughed. “All right, white boy!”

Abe slammed a hand on Bolan’s shoulder in warning. The Executioner smiled and ignored it. “That’s white man to you, honey gaze.”

Hyram stopped laughing.

“What’s your claim to fame again?” Bolan asked.

“Forgive me, old man.” Hyram leered again. “You’re new. So I’ll explain it to you. Once. I’m your supervisor. Though these days I feel more like a yard duty at a Montessori School. As a Viking associate, you may disport yourself as you wish while on R & R, as long as you don’t endanger the reputation of the company or your fellow associates. When waiting on station on an arsenal ship or on a mission, there shall be no intoxication. Which, if you had read your contract, puts you in violation, and subjects you to being given a verbal warning, being written up or, should the situation warrant—” Hyram cracked his knuckles in happy expectation “—being subjected to disciplinary measures.”

Bolan nodded. “I get it.”

Hyram seemed almost disappointed. “You get it?”

“Yeah, I get it, but my signing bonus was short, the five connecting flights sucked, and did I mention me and Sifuentes? Our R & R in Salalah was neither restful nor relaxing.” Bolan tossed back the rest of his beer. “So fuck you.”

Hyram stepped forward. “Oh, Blue...”

“No!” Bolan rose and pumped feigned rage as he pointed an accusing finger. “Fuck you! Me and Sifu had knives and liquid soap. They had grenades! Now you want to give me a public dressing-down? I am too old for this shit! Put a weapon in my hand and point me in a direction or send me home with a severance check! You wanna dance?” Bolan took the khanjar dagger from behind his back and slammed it on the table. “Helideck! Knives! Right now!”

Bolan figured he could beat Hyram in a fight—he’d taken down bigger, badder guys than him—and he sensed it had been a long time since the man had been confronted like this. The mood of the mess had gone from cowed persecution to the Roman Coliseum. They wanted to see Bolan open Hyram like a letter, and they wanted to watch the big man bleed out on the big letter H up top. Namzi clasped his chest and gasped like the female lead in a silent movie.

Hyram slowly held up his hands and suddenly turned on the warmth. “Like I said, Blue. You’re new, and I did read Sifuentes’s report. It was a page-turner. And I’ll tell you something for nothing, and I don’t care whether you believe me or not. I told the higher-ups that R & R should be in Mombasa or Mumbai. None of our guys should be unarmed on the Arabian Peninsula with all the shit going on right now. Some bean counter looked at a ledger and figured closer was cheaper. I am going to have that talk with them again.”

Bolan slowly sat down. “I believe you.”

“Well, good.” Hyram walked up to the table and took a beer from the bucket. “Closing time, kids, last call for alcohol. Big day tomorrow! Jobby-job time!” The Rampart Group enforcer of discipline walked out of the mess whistling.

Ibarra shuddered. “God I hate that guy.”

“I was kind of hoping you’d kill him,” Ketch said.

“You know you have mad skills, Blue.” Sifuentes sighed. “But I wouldn’t have bet any pay on you.”

Ketch shook his head. “No.”

Big Abe looked at Bolan in awe. “You were really going to go up on the helideck with Hyram? With knives?”

“Naw.”

The mood around the table deflated slightly.

Bolan produced the other, Russian-made F1 hand grenade he had taken off the dead assassin in Salalah. “I would have just fragged him.” Bolan grabbed a fresh beer. “You don’t give assholes like that a chance.”

Big Abe smiled with childlike delight.

Sifuentes’s morale resurged through the ceiling. “Fuckin’ ay, Bubba! I love this guy!”

Chapter Four (#u11f59329-cc40-5af7-bf13-a805005f1517)

Bolan lay in his bunk reading files the Bear had sent him. Hyronemous “Hyram” Yard was a bad dude. He had taken the unusual route of joining the United States Marine Corps, reaching the rank of sergeant in Force Recon, not re-upping, and then enlisting in the Navy and becoming a Navy SEAL. He had the almost unheard-of distinction of having fought on two different continents in two different branches of the United States military. He had failed the Navy SEAL Officers Course, finished his stint and gone into private security.

Bolan looked up at a knock on his door. “Open.”

Ibarra peeked in. She was wearing a T-shirt and her camouflage bikini bottoms. “Blue?”

Bolan looked over at Sifuentes. “Sifu?”

“Yeah?”

“Get out.”

“Right!” Sifuentes grabbed his tablet and scrammed.

Ibarra closed and locked the door behind him and immediately spooned into Bolan’s side. She smelled nice. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“I get the idea.”

“You do?”

Bolan threw a blanket over the two of them. “You don’t want to be alone on this ship, much less alone in your room, when Hyram Yard is aboard.”

Ibarra snuggled closer. “You are a surprisingly sensitive man, Blue.”

“I can be. What happened with Hyram and Big Abe?”

“You can imagine. Hyram shows up and fires everybody. Those he didn’t fire he treated like dog dirt. Big Abe wasn’t having it. They had it out, publically. Big Abe is a brawler. Hyram is a fighter. He went all MMA. Beat Abe bad and bloody. Then he made him submit, and then he choked him out for good measure. Made an example out of him.”

“What a dick.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t go up on the helideck with him.”

“Me, too. It’s nicer in here.”

“Hmm.”