Page 106 of Homecoming

“How’s it going?”He folds his arms and stares out over the course.

“Slow.” Digby sighs with a shrug.

“And Kat? How’s she doing?”

There is a momentary pause and Digby hesitates to answer as he stares at the times he's written clearly on the scoring sheet. “She’sgettin’there… slowly.”

“Getting there? What the hell does that mean? Is she good to go or not?”

“Probably… well, not exactly, no. Bein’ honest, she could do with acouplamore weeks.”

“She doesn’t have a couple more weeks. Edwards said Command is kicking his nut sack on this, so we need it sorted this week. I’m going to book the training set and call up a helo for Thursday.”

“Thursday? Darius man,c’monthat’s only two days away. She won’t be ready.”

“Well, she needs to be ready. Digby, I can’t give her any more time. I’ve let it go as far as I can. I had to pull a lot offuckin’strings just to get her back on this damn course.” He takes a breath and drags a hand through his hair. “Can she carry weight?”

“Kinda. We’ve been practicing. On our runs, I’ve had her do it. I don’t know if she can do the full course, though. I didn’t wanna push her too much.”

“Find out. Get her to run it again.” His hand gestures to the course. “How’s that shifter doing?”

“Yeah, he’sdoin’great—unfortunately,” Digby snarls. “He’s even beat Zak’s time.”

“Really? Then get Zak to run it again too.”

“What? Oh Darius,c’mon.” Digby gasps. “Seriously, you want me to tell Zak to run the course again. Fuck… man, you arebein’a completeass—”

“Or perhaps you just have a problem with orders, Senior Chief? Zak’s off pace, get him to step it up.”

“Yeah, but to be fair, his time’s only out because he stopped to help Kat.”

“That’s not my problem. The idea of the course is to get his best time—not play hero.”

“Alright, I’ll get him to run it again but man, is he gonna be pissed with you.”

“Do I look like I care? Digby, this unit is getting sloppy. You need to up their game.”

“Dee, what the hell is the matter with you? I don’t know, but recently you’ve been… well, more pissy than normal.”

“I have to go. I need to speak to Edwards and book that extract helo. Digbygetthem ready to go. If Kat can’t make the weight, then you need to pull the plug on this.”

“Me? You wan’ me to tell her she didn’t make it? Darius… Dariusc’monman. Oh fuck.” Digby sighs as Darius strides away. “You’re afuckin’asshole, you know that?”

He takes a breath, throws down the clipboard, and strides across the course. His face has an intense authority as he addresses the rest of the team. “Alright, wind it up and hit the showers.”

Bud puffs and pants, breathing hard as he gets up from the floor and guzzles down his canteen of water. He’s sweating profusely as he rubs his hand on his brow. “Are we… uh… done here?”

“You are. Go. Oz… QT… hit the road too.”

“And what about us?” Zak’s hair is matted with sweat, his body covered in dirt and his brow crumples as he looks at Kat. “Digby, what’sgoin’on?”

“Rocky… Rocky man, you too—hit the water. Go freshen up.”

“Oh… Okay. What, don’t you want me to run again? I figured you’d be reaming my ass by now.” The large man sips water and smiles. “I’m cool if you do.”

“No man… you made the time,” Digby smiles.

“Okay, that’s coolcuzboy, am I hungry. Zak, I’ll catch you later, buddy. Kat, it was really nice to meet you.”

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