Page 5 of Vapor
The VP laughs. “Bet you can tell me what they’re wearing and their gender.”
That stops me from following through the next door because I can.
Aaron isn’t having it and pushes me through. “VP Kyler freaky. Indian mind read, crazy fly no suit.”
I look for the most normal person left and the swirling eye is on a smiling pro wrestler sized Badass President with the body armor.
The mind reading VP laughs loud. I roll my eyes and repeat what I thought, getting the President laughing too.
Aaron nods seriously and pulls a chair out from what looks like a conference table. “Freaky new to Alpha-Bit. We see, happy to have no freaky.”
Now I laugh. “I’m right there with you, Buddy. The flight suits were enough to convince me of the Badass crazy.”
The president is a happy guy. “You get used to it, but I’m wearing some of that Badass crazy and can move, walk and see un-aided. Well, I do have Champ.” He points at the giant dog.
I can see the crazy being a blessing and say it. “Seems like an all-around win and you’re smiling to prove it.”
He laughs. “Yeah. Freaky is a little different than Badass but I view that the same way. Different doesn’t mean less to us. Because of that freaky, we know you needed help and assisted without stepping on anyone’s toes. We have better Ops IT than the military and they told Cort your team is more than qualified for rescue but you don’t have Ops controls or what you call central command running it.”
I nod. “I just got back yesterday and told Aaron I’d meet him here, so I haven’t had time to deal with more than telling the navigator and engineer we need Ops command help.”
The President nods.
“Jinx or Pres. I’m called VP but we’re bikers and simplify everything. Aaron calls you VA Vapor, I got Virginia. What is your preference?” VP is cool but I’m not saying the word.
“Virginia was like a challenge in the military. I’ve heard all the virgin jokes and don’t mind Vapor or Kwolek.”
“Kwolek…Kevlar.” Pres pauses finding the name in his memory. He is a smart guy.
“Boss Vapor mom invent.”
I laugh at the little guy answering offhandedly. “It’s true, she worked for DuPont looking for a better solution when oil prices were projected to be too high to make tires.”
“Future R&D unit. Boss Vapor mom give kevlar to company, keep other patent she work consult job.” The little guy is, again, offhandedly throwing out my life’s memories.
“Right again, Aaron, but I don’t have a problem answering.”
His eyes snap to mine. “Roger, Boss Vapor. You same to Officer to Badass. I show respect.” He looks embarrassed and a little nervous.
I nod for him, not wanting to drag this out, but my life isn’t an open book to the entire world.
Pres nods. “I’m glad you said it. The Alpha-Bits have limited experience with outsiders. Badass sees classified and we bury it. It’s not ours and not meant for us. You tell what you want us to know, otherwise we use what you show as character.”
My eyes go right to the mind reading VP who smiles. “Unless you show it, or what we call open to us, your thoughts are yours. You’ve heard or dealt with readers and blocked your thoughts.”
Again, the man is cool. “Military called it a sense and yes we block that. Only one tour was with that company.” It was really black ops jobs over five years but he wouldn’t get it. He nods but doesn’t throw my classified business out. I turn back to the President. “The help from Badass, what does that entail?” We have a bunch of kids that need help.
“Ops control when you need it. We run FBI Ops with their teams, or ours when needed. Badass is international so we can safely park you in over a hundred countries.” That sounds good but basic.
“The cost?”
He nods. “Aaron has billing for aerial and then Ops control cost per hour. Surveillance seems to be a specialty for you so he doesn’t have that. We’d pay the same as we charge if we have a rescue out of country for you.”
I nod feeling hopeful about the job we have coming up. “Can I see how your Ops works and the briefings with reports of what help was given?” The job in Libya could be made easier to get kids out. Sarah and Moss agreed to the cover job because it was in Libya, otherwise they’d have left the cheating ass and his assistant with the Libyan guerrillas. For me, it’s a way to pay for the kid rescue so I’m good but we need supply storage that’s secure out of the country to stretch the rescue dollars.
He nods with his swirling eye stopped and feeling intense on my eyes. “Yes. Cort said he can be here at five. Can you have your people at Veritable for five. I have an Op room with the virtual connection to Phoenix. Your Ops would be based out of Phoenix. Jack Decker was a warrior and explained your teams without specific jobs and all the classified shit but Cort always has a million questions. My twin, Brinks, was Delta Force and said to tell you to get him your operations book. Everyone else gives him the book so they aren’t answering questions.”
I smile at that with a nod. “I know Captain Decker.”
