Page 27 of Viral Justice

“Yes, sir.”

“Do they drop the supplies and go or stay to chat?”

“Both. They make small talk while they’re dropping things off and getting the paperwork signed.”

Normal behavior. Ali had him seeing conspiracies where there were none. “I’d like you to look into Sergeant Stone’s military file. Check for charges brought against her or warnings.”

“Yes, sir.” Eugene blinked a couple of times, but otherwise managed to hide his surprise.

As much as Max hated to ask this, he couldn’t ignore any sources of information. “What does the rumor mill say about Stone?”

“Well, sir,” Eugene said, then cleared his throat. “There’s a few things going around. The main one is that she’s tough but usually fair on those she’s training. I’ve seen her sparring and her reflexes are unbelievably fast.”

Max nodded at him to keep talking.

“There’s also a story going around that says she was late coming to the team because she was brought up on insubordination charges. Charges that are still under investigation.”

“Do you know who brought those charges forward?”

“No, sir, but I’ll try to find out.”

“Anything else?”

“There’s a general feeling she’s gone as far as she’s going to go in her current role. People are taking bets on if she’ll leave the military or transfer out.”

“Is staying with the team included in this transfer scenario?”

“No, sir. Most people think we’re just a regular medical lab and she’s here to try to get you, uh, straightened out.”

Max shook his head and smiled ruefully. “It sounds like she’s gotten herself into a shit storm. Don’t mention this conversation to anyone. Understand?”

“Yes, sir. I’ve been doing that all along.” The private nodded and left Max’s office.

“That boy needs a raise,” Max muttered to himself. “Or a promotion.”

Putting his assistant and his bodyguard out of his mind, he went to work, sifting through the detailed reports of the current outbreaks Eugene had mentioned in his morning summary.

Akbar was there. Somewhere.

The rumble of his stomach had him checking his watch. Lunch. Well, he’d better get a move on and get to the food court.

Eugene had already gone. Max locked his office and left. He nodded at a few people he recognized from the clinic and other departments. When he got to the food court, he took a seat with Eugene and Jones. The two were in a clandestine relationship that his assistant refused to admit was happening. It was cute.

As he dug into his food, someone sat next to him.

“Hand-to-hand training this afternoon,” Stone said in a cold voice. “Fourteen hundred. Two hours.”

Wow, she was pissed. He kept eating. “Last time I checked, a colonel outranked a sergeant.”

“On the training ground, the sergeant outranks everyone,” she replied.

The conversation around them died down to nothing.

What the hell was she doing?

“Is this how you get your jollies, Sergeant? Beating people up?”

“No, sir. My job is to make sure you’re able to defend yourself and your unit to the best of your ability and to a standard set for every soldier in the United States military. A standard you can’t seem to meet.”

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