Page 22 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

“Sheis a highly intelligent piece of equipment.”

“We’re guarding equipment?” Scottie asked.

“Scottie Thacker—” Cash started.

“Scottie Dog!” the rest of them shouted, pounding on the table.

I grinned at their raucous behavior. “You will be working close protection. You’re in the air.”

“Where to?”

I clicked the screen on, showing them the small plane that would be taking flight in just a few days. “This is a Cessna Caravan. You’ll be riding shotgun while they test out their new equipment. Attached to the bottom of the plane is a new AI tracking system. It’s a combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and computer vision.”

Lock raised his hand. “What the fuck does that mean?”

I cleared my throat, staring down at the table. “Uh, well…it means…” I cleared my throat again when Rae walked in with a smirk on her face.

“Basically, it means that the facial recognition on your camera is now being used to identify weapons and combatants on the field. And through the artificial intelligence and machine learning, it quickly processes the videos from the cameras. Machine learning teaches the computers to spot trends and anomalies in the data for us to understand.”

Edu leaned back in his seat. “So, basically a bunch of technological bullshit none of us understand.”

I nodded. “Yeah, basically.”

“Good, just say that next time.”

“Anyway, Lock, you’ll be on point. Rock, you’re my eyes in the skies. As you know, small aircraft aren’t required to file a flight plan. I want you in the tower, watching over those assholes and making sure the plane doesn’t crash and burn with Scottie Dog inside.”

“I would appreciate that also,” Scottie raised his hand. “Not much for crashing and burning.”

“And me?” Edu asked, lounging back in his seat.

“Perimeter security. We aren’t anticipating any problems, but be vigilant as usual.”

Rae sidled up to me, tucking her hand through my arm as she stared up at me with pouty eyes. “I don’t suppose there’s room on this security detail for me.”

“Where do you we suggest we stash you?”

“Stash? Boss, I’m insulted. I would be there to serve and protect. You know I’m more than capable, and as your head of IT, it’s imperative that I oversee all details that involve my area of expertise.”

I glanced around the table at the guys smirking at me. “Any objections to Rae tagging along?”

“Tagging along? Should we head to the ring and see exactly who is tagging along?”

The guys all shoved their chairs back, gathering up their folders.

“I’d better get on planning,” Lock said quickly.

“Yeah, and I have to practice jumping out of a plane,” Scottie Dog added. “You know…because I’ve never done a HALO jump out of a Cessna.”

I really expected Edu to stand up to her, but the big black man almost seemed the most skittish of any of them. “I got…” he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, then cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m out.”

“Rock?” I asked, sure he wouldn’t back down.

He smirked at me, looking between the two of us. “Yeah, have fun with that one.”

He laughed as he walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Rae, who looked ready for the challenge.

“So, what’s it going to be? Is the big, bad boss up for the challenge?”

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