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.Frank turned to see Lt.Hill walking up to the platform, dressed in Unification informal attire.It was the kind of thing Frank had seen the slimier Academy instructors wear on a Friday night at the bar, thinking they'd squeeze free drinks out of the bartenders and maybe pick up a few girls.Hill's shirt was a tight-fitting short sleeved, collared, shirt, buttoned all the way up to his neck.He wore it tucked into a pair of tan tactical pants, and the pants were stuffed into his tall black combat boots.The boots weren't brand new, Frank decided.They just didn't look like they'd ever been worn in the field.Hill must have seen Frank looking him over and returned the favor by saying, "So much for representing Unification.Is this a joke or is that really all you brought to wear?"Frank looked down at his faded jeans and Knobgoblin concert t-shirt and said, "Nobody mentioned anything about attire.I don't have a uniform yet.""Did you ask?" Hill said."Or did you just decide for yourself?"Considering I've been deciding what to wear since I was five years old, yeah, jackhole, that's exactly what I did, Frank thought.The words were bouncing around the tip of his tongue, but he somehow managed to keep them from spilling out.He bit his lower lip and waited a moment.Hill was a Lieutenant and Frank was still just a Specialist.Furthermore, Hill appeared to be in tight with General Milner, the commander of Grendel Unit.There had to be more to the guy than he was seeing, Frank decided.Frank sucked it up and said, "Do you need me to get changed, El-tee?""No," Hill sighed.He looked upwards and lifted his hand over his eyes, saying, "The ship should be here any second.Just remember, you are a representative of Unification anywhere you go and in anything you do.We have standards, even if some people don't seem to think so."Frank was about to ask who didn't seem to think so when he heard the pop of engine thrusters kicking on from above and saw four jets of flame lowering through the clouds, coming down directly in front of the edge of the platform.The ship was smaller than Frank expected.It had a long neck and two wings that were cocked back like a hawk positioned to swoop down on unsuspecting prey.The cockpit looked big enough for just a few people, and there didn't seem to be many cannons equipped to the underside.There were guns, a few missile bays, but nothing Frank expected for a field unit in one of the most elite special ops units in existence."What is this, the shuttle?" Frank said, watching the ship's airlock door open several feet from the edge of the platform."I wish," Hill grunted.There was nothing but empty air between the platform and the ship."Why is he hovering out there when he can just land here?"Hill scowled and said, "And mess up the General's flight deck? Are you nuts?""Stupid me," Frank said."They couldn't get us a bigger ship?""You're quickly going to discover that things aren't exactly done the way they ought to be in this unit.General Milner is a great man, but he's stretching himself too thin by trying to run Grendel and still attend to all his other responsibilities.I don't want to say anything to jinx myself, but if everything goes according to plan, someone else will be running this unit in the near future.And then you are going to see some major changes."Major changes," Frank said."Those are always just the kind everyone always hopes for." He tossed his bags across the divide, into the airlock with a crashing thud.Frank leaned back and took a running leap, jumping off the edge of the platform and hurling himself through the opening to land on top of his bags."Make some space," Hill shouted, waving for Frank to clear out of the way.When he ran, his tall, perfectly shined boots squeaked across the deck's surface.Hill leapt awkwardly into the ship and grabbed for the side of the door, but his hand slipped.For one brief moment, he teetered on the airlock's edge with his hands flapping in the wind, just inches from a thousand foot drop to the bottom of the academy's entrance.There wouldn't be enough of him left to fill a trash bag.Frank stepped in front of him and reached forward, grabbing Hill by the belt.He held him there for a few seconds before pulling him in.Hill knocked Frank's hand away and gasped as he clutched his stomach, wobbling as he reached for the wall."I-I slipped on something before I jumped.Some stupid bastard forgot to mop the damn deck."Frank peeked over the edge of the ship to look down at the steep drop and thought, If you fell they'd have more than enough mopping to do.Hill waved him on and panted, "Go ahead, I'll catch up to you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]