entre. As if the place wasn't smelly enough already with all those country gnomes lumbering
around the place.
Root was right. She should get up a bit earlier. But she wouldn't. Not until everybody else was
forced to.
'I know what you're thinking,' said Root. 'Why am I picking on you every day? Why don't I ever
bawl out those other layabouts?'
Holly said nothing, but agreement was written all over her face.
'I'll tell you why, shall I?'
Holly risked a nod.
'It's because you're a girl.'
Holly felt her fingers curl into fists. She knew it!
'But not for the reasons you think,' continued Root. 'You are the first girl in Recon. Ever. You
are a test case. A beacon. There are a million fairies out there watching your every move. There are a
lot of hopes riding on you. But there is a lot of prejudice against you too. The future of law
enforcement is in your hands. And at the moment, I'd say it was a little heavy.'
Holly blinked. Root had never said anything like this before. Usually it was just 'Fix your helmet',
'Stand up straight', blah blah blah.
'You have to be the best you can be, Short, and that has to be better than anybody else.' Root
sighed, sinking into his swivel chair. 'I don't know, Holly. Ever since that Hamburg affair.'
Holly winced. The Hamburg affair had been a total disaster. One of her perps had skipped out to
the surface and tried to bargain with the Mud People for asylum. Root had to stop time, call in the
Retrieval Squad, and do four memory wipes. A lot of police time wasted. All her fault.
The commander took a form from his desk. 'It's no use. I've made up my mind. I'm putting you
on Traffic and bringing in Corporal Frond.'
'Frond!' exploded Holly. 'She's a bimbo. An airhead. You can't make her the test case!'
Root's face turned an even deeper shade of purple.
'I can and I will. Why shouldn't I? You have never given me your best…Either that or your best
just isn't good enough. Sorry, Short, you had your chance ...'
The commander turned back to his paperwork. The meeting was over. Holly could only stand
there, aghast. She'd blown it. The best career opportunity she was ever likely to get and she'd tossed
it in the gutter. One mistake and her future was past. It wasn't fair. Holly felt an uncharacteristic
anger take hold of her, but she swallowed it. This was no time to lose her temper.
'Commander Root, sir. I feel I deserve one more chance.'
Root didn't even look up from the paperwork. 'And why's that?'
Holly took a deep breath. 'Because of my record, sir. It speaks for itself, apart from the Hamburg
thing. Ten successful recons. Not a single memory wipe or time-stop, apart from ...'
'The Hamburg thing,' completed Root.
Holly took a chance. 'If I were a male - one of your precious sprites - we wouldn't even be having
this conversation.'
Root glanced up sharply. 'Now, just a minute, Captain Short -'
He was interrupted by the bleeping of one of the phones on his desk. Then two, then three. A
giant viewscreen crackled into life on the wall behind him.
Root jabbed the speaker button, putting all the callers on conference.
'Yes?'
'We've got a runner.'
Root nodded. 'Anything on Scopes?'
Scopes was the shop name for the shrouded trackers attached to American communications
satellites.
'Yep,' said caller two. 'Big blip in Europe. Southern Italy. No shield.'
Root cursed. An unshielded fairy could be seen by mortal eyes. That wasn't so bad if the perp was
humanoid.
'Classification?'
'Bad news, Commander,' said the third caller. 'We got us a rogue troll.'
Root rubbed his eyes. Why did these things always happen on his watch? Holly could understand
his frustration. Trolls were the meanest of the deep-tunnel creatures. They wandered the labyrinth,
preying on anything unlucky enough to cross their path. Their tiny brains had no room for rules or
restraint. Occasionally one found its way into the shaft of a pressure elevator. Usually the
concentrated air current fried them, but sometimes one survived and was blasted to the surface.
Driven crazy by pain and even the tiniest amount of light, they would generally proceed to destroy
everything in their path.
Root shook his head rapidly, recovering himself.
'OK, Captain Short. Looks like you get your chance. You're running hot, I take it?'
'Yes, sir,' lied Holly, all too aware that Root would suspend her immediately if he knew she'd
neglected the Ritual.
'Good. Then sign yourself out a side-arm and proceed to the target area.'
Holly glanced at the viewscreen. Scopes were sending high-res shots of an Italian fortified town.
A red dot was moving rapidly through the countryside towards the human population.
'Do a thorough reconnaissance and report in. Do not attempt a retrieval. Is that understood?'
'Yessir.'
'We lost six men to troll attacks last quarter. Six men. That was below ground, in familiar
territory.'
'I understand, sir.'
Root pursed his lips doubtfully.
'Do you understand, Short? Do you really?'
'I think so, sir.'
'Have you ever seen what a troll can do to flesh and bone?'
0 Comments