06:55 Cadet Barracks Dorm C4-36

The combined platoon was in civilian clothing and heading to the cafeteria. The food here at Armstrong station was generally regarded as excellent. They were in high spirits; they should be though since they just pulled off a win in the third wargame that morning. It did hurt that they were on leave five hours ahead of schedule. That was over two and a half full days to rest and unwind now. More than enough time to get into trouble or engage in a variety of different acts of debauchery.

“I’ve heard the shopping here is unusually good,” Theresa said.

“I am so looking forward to hitting up a few places this morning,” Jessica said.

“Any places you are going to John?” Andern asked.

“Yeah, I want a new watch so probably going to stop by a couple of boutiques.”

“Oh, we are coming with you to see this,” Nate and Thomas said almost in unison.

Alice smiled, “Almost sounds like the girls are going shopping and the boys are looking at toys. Kristin, you want to join us?”

Kristin was sitting at the table behind theirs. “I’m in. Are you guys cool if my roommate comes with me? They won their game too.”

“More the merrier,” Theresa answered.

With that, the plans for the morning were formed. Everyone wondered what the other platoon was doing while they ate breakfast. That prompted John to snoop. He checked his tablet and listened in at the audio feed from the room they were in. He started laughing. The group was looking at him.

“Can’t share the feed, but it’s basically a bitch session going on there with the losers.”

Kevin almost spit out his food as he started to laugh, “I mean. If that was us and some jackass on their team showed up in power armor, we’d be pissed too.”

“Didn’t the lieutenant say you were almost dead?” Jessica was debating whether or not to finish the pancake in front of her.

“They disabled the left arm servo temporarily. Kinetic barriers were fried, and the chest armor was a shot away from being rendered useless. So yeah, I was a rat’s fart away from being eliminated. Had they focused on me they could’ve won. Instead, they freaked the fuck out.”

“Well, we won, and we got this time off. It’s going to be fucking awesome,” Andern stood up and shouted.

“Well, let’s hit the station, enough sitting around here. I want to blow a shitload of money on a watch,” John stood up, took his tray, and headed to the return area.

08:00 Commercial District 3-Mezzanine Level

John and his friends were looking at the information kiosk. They were trying to figure out where all the stores were. The search function built into the kiosk was useless.

“There it is,” John was pointing at it, “Fourth Floor. Right between the Rolex and Omega Boutiques.”

“What the fuck is Richard Mille?” Andern was confused.

“It’s pronounced Re-chaar Milla, and they make some crazy watches. Mostly for rich fucks to show off,” Kevin corrected Andern.

Like John, Kevin was a watch collector. Though his collection was much smaller and more reasonably priced in comparison.

“Kevin, I gotta show you my collection sometime. I got some pretty kickass pieces, including a lot of antique pieces.”

The group of boys meandered up to the jewelry and watch section of the commercial zone. None of them, John included, looked like they belonged in any of these stores. John led the misfit squad up to the Richard Mille Boutique. A security guard was stationed at the door.

“Good morning, we’d like to enter,” John said as he approached the guard.

“Could I see your IDs please?”

The cadets got their Naval IDs out and handed them to the guard. The guard reviewed them one by one and returned them to their owner.

“Thanks, you may enter. Word of warning, you are being recorded so don’t try anything funny.

“Andern, no grab assing in the store,” John turned around and yelled at the group.

The cadets poured into the store. Andern and Thomas were looking at one wall that had several different variations of their watches. The next wall had several watches made by the company over the past two hundred years to show the evolution of their watches. In truth, the size and shape of them largely appeared the same. They still look out of this world and futuristic.

“Good morning. I’m John. I’d like to see what watches you have in stock.”

“Good morning. I’m Tim the assistant manager here, I would be happy to help you. Do you have any particular models you’d like to see?”

“The RM-3450-2T and the RM-4135-3X are the ones that I had been most interested in.”

“Jesus John, do you know how much those two watches cost?” Kevin’s mouth was agape in shock, “Either one of them could buy a couple of houses in my parent’s neighborhood.”

“Yeah, the one with three triple-axis tourbillons gets a little spendy.”

Tim smiled, “You happen to be in luck. We have the last 4135 remaining in stock. It was actually due to ship out of here today if it didn’t sell. They only made a total of sixteen of them.”

“Weird, it looks like today is my lucky day to see it in person then,” John grinned.

He had purchased a few RM watches in the past. This particular watch was announced last year, and John really wanted one. But there was no way to get one easily back on Earth since he was occupied with agent work or boot camp and could get one. He eventually learned that one more was still in the retail system, but it was bouncing from store to store. John happened to discover that it was on Armstrong station and would be leaving for the Olympus Mons relay station shortly.

Tim brought the watches out along with a couple of others for them to look at and try on.

“3450 is an awesome watch, but man, this 4135 is bloody perfect,” John was seriously impressed with the 4135.

The twin-tourbillons rotated the dial inside the case constantly. It was almost mesmerizing how everything worked on the watch. And it was ridiculously thin, it didn’t feel overly large on the wrist either.

“Yeah, no way I can pass this one up. I am definitely going to buy this.” John smiled; he was in love with this watch, “Say, do you have any lady's watches in white?”

Tim smiled, “I do, but first let me get your information and I’ll be back with some lady's watches in a moment,” John set both the watches back on the tray.

“Dude, you do realize that if you try your tactics that are like mega felony level, right?” Kevin whispered.

“We’re good, everything is on the level here. Besides, he wouldn’t normally be able to sell that watch to some random jackass. Lucky for me I’m a repeat customer,” John grinned.

“John, Andern, and I have been looking at these watches and they are like stupid expensive. Like expensive for admirals expensive,” Thomas said pointing at a few of the watches.

“Hah, should see what I am buying,” John laughed as he looked at Kevin, “The trick now is whether or not my buy history is sufficient for these assholes to sell me that watch.”

“How much buy history do you need for that one?” Kevin stammered.

“Lots. Like a ridiculous amount. Honestly not sure if mine matches the required level.”

Just then Tim came out of the office with three watches, “Mr. Lief, apologies for not recognizing you. We didn’t know you’d be shopping here with us today.”

“It’s all good, I don’t really announce when or where I’m shopping. Hell, I didn’t know I was shopping for anything until this morning. Kevin, which one of these do you think?”

“For Alice? Hmmm,” Kevin looked at three similar, but slightly different watches, “The middle one isn’t her thing. Leaning third but not sure.”

“Agree, the middle one is out. I think she’d like the dial on the first one more though. I’ll get this one too. I’d like to wear the 4135 though, my wrist is a bit naked at the moment,” John held up a watch-less wrist in front of Tim.

“Not a problem at all, sir. How would you like to pay?”

“Wire, if you have the info and the amount, I’ll get it transferred to you now.”

John saw the bill, Kevin did too, and it was a truly staggering amount of money. Four million two hundred fifty thousand credits were wired to the watchmaker’s account. John asked for the box and papers to be shipped to his dorm address. He was told they’d be shipped out in a month or two. Tim confirmed they had received the money and thanked John for his continued patronage. John walked out of the shop wearing an incredible piece of horology and couldn’t stop smiling. In his coat pocket, he had a present for his girlfriend.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The group went down a level and walked by an arcade. Then they pulled a U-turn in unison and went right back into it. Boys will be boys. They completely lost track of time. One more game turned into thirteen. Everything they did was a cutthroat competition. Kevin, John, and Thomas all beat out the rest in a handful of games they tried. John eventually noticed the time and corralled the group and got them to Chongo’s mere seconds before their reservation.

12:59 Chongo’s World View Restaurant

Chongo’s was a famous restaurant on Armstrong station. It was one of the first commercial buildings that opened eighty years ago when the station began operations and hasn’t been closed a single day in all that time. It didn’t serve any one particular type of food, it catered to virtually all the different cuisines across Earth and typically served two or three dishes from each cuisine.

There originally was only going to be eight of them, but that grew to twelve. Kristin and her roommate joined the girls shopping so they were invited to lunch as well. Terry and his boyfriend had reservations there at the same time and joined the group as well.

Everything from pasta to chicken tikka marsala to cheeseburgers to sushi was ordered by the group. The girls had plans to do some more shopping after lunch. The guys opted to go to a sports bar that had golf simulators. John hadn’t been able to swing any golf clubs in too long, so he was overly excited about that.

“John, have any ideas about the last wargame?” Terry asked from the far side of the table.

“Not a damn clue, hope it doesn’t turn into a clusterfuck like this last one. Hoping for something that’s a little more open and more difficult to maneuver,” John took a bite of his food.

The chicken tikka marsala took on a bright orange hue to it when it was cooked in its sauce. And it was absolutely delicious.

“Do you know where we are ranked compared to the other platoons?” Kevin asked.

“No clue, but the winners of the games play each other, so don’t expect any easy rides for the last one,” John placed some rice and chicken on a piece of nan bread, he absolutely loved this dish.

The conversation switched between a few different topics. Relationships were the current topic the group was discussing.

“Wait, Thomas, your gay?” Andern asked.

He had no idea. None at the table knew either for that matter.

“Yeah, never really got brought up in conversation. Didn’t really seem necessary to talk about,” Thomas just shrugged the question off.

“So do you have a boyfriend?” Theresa asked.

“Did before boot. Broke up because he didn’t want to try a long-distance relationship. Can’t really blame him, that usually doesn’t work.”

“Well, that sucks bud,” John said kind of nonchalantly, “Owww, dammit.”

Jessica kicked his shins under the table, “You could show some more empathy about his breakup.”

“Agreed, you weren’t being sensitive,” Alice elbowed John’s side.

“Thomas, were you expecting me to be sensitive?” John took another bite of his food.

Thomas was laughing, “Good god no. Warm and fuzzy John would be terrifying to be around.”

The group laughed and continued to bounce from topic to topic as they were eating their meals. Alice reminded John about their reservations at the Ritz Carlton hotel on the station. Cadets had the option during a leave of either staying at the dorms or getting a room at one of the many hotels on the station. Most opted for the dorms as it was free. But John and Alice wanted some quiet time together where no one would bother them. Check-in began at 16:00 and they had a dinner reservation at 19:30, so there was no major rush to get to the hotel.

14:00 Perfect View Sports Bar, Armstrong Station

The boys got two bays to split between the seven of them. Andern and Kevin had also golfed in the past but weren’t active golfers. John was destroying everyone though. But it didn’t really matter who was winning or losing. Everyone was having a good time. That is until John noticed the message Alice sent him: ‘Store is being held up; they’re holding us hostage.’

“Fuck,” John said as he jumped over to the information terminal to locate the store that the girls were in.

He tossed a small stack of bills on the bar, “Keep the change. Girls are in trouble, time to move.”

They all ran out of the bar following John. John shouted directions to them about where the girls were. It was three floors down and on the opposite side of the shopping district from them.

The group split into two. John, Andern, Kevin, and Thomas hit the stairs and went down a level. The others were staying on the top level, they’d have to find another way down elsewhere. The second group ran into Terry and his boyfriend, who joined them when they found out why they were in a hurry. It only took ten minutes of running, but it felt like an eternity.

There were several MPs and station police officers outside the store that were walking the perimeter they had set up. John noticed the one who appeared in charge and decided to try something.

“Morning sir. I’m a former field agent for Naval Intelligence. If you can shut off the lights, I can take care of the three idiots in there.”

The Station Chief of Police turned around and looked at John, “Look kid, you look well built, but we’re in control of things, let the professionals handle things and fall back to a safe distance.”

“Useless motherfucker,” John muttered under his breath.

He was annoyed. John was in fact a professional and could end this hostage situation in about two minutes.

“Dude, I could’ve told you that wasn’t going to work,” Kevin just shook his head.

“Worth a shot,” John shrugged as the others just showed up at the crime scene.

John was looking over the situation. They weren’t going to listen to him at all. They didn’t exactly exude confidence in their abilities to resolve this situation safely. He reached out with his mind to test the minds of the criminals and that gave him an idea of how to solve this situation.

“Let’s go over to that bench. I want all of you to form a two-person deep semi-circle in front of me. No one is to look at me until I say so.”

Terry and his boyfriend looked at each other than John. They weren’t the only ones confused.

“You want us to make a human wall in front of you?” Terry asked to clarify.

“Yes. Please do it now,” John was sitting down on the bench as he took a deep breath.

The rest of the group complied. John hadn’t given any of them, except for Terry’s boyfriend, any reason to say no to his requests. There was a certain method to his madness, and he hadn’t let them down in the past, so they complied without questioning.

John reached out with his mind to probe the mental resistance of the three robbers. One appeared to be an ex-militia member that had the training to close off his mind to telepaths. Brute forcing this one was possible, but it would be risky. This one would be constantly fighting him throughout his attempt to control him. The fat robber didn’t have many blocks up but wasn’t overly compliant. His heft and lack of agility would make it more difficult to use him. The lanky one though had no mental blocks and should be easily manipulated.

‘Alice, the lanky robber, when he starts to act weirder than he does now, hit the deck. Spread the word quietly.’

John then reached out with his mind and overwhelmed Richard’s mind. Richard was still there, but he was no longer in conscious control of his body. He was a guest in his own body, an incredibly uncomfortable and unpleasant feeling for one to feel. Richard was in a waking nightmare of John’s creation.

Richard was looking around where John wanted him to look. Because John was in control, Richard’s marksmanship abilities would more closely resemble John’s than his currently. John forced Richard to walk over to the wall to his left. This would mean that any missed shots would go into the wall that separated the store next to them.

Richard began attempting to fight back, but the reality is without any training there was very little he could do to subvert John’s control over his body in the near term. He was subservient to whatever John wanted to do. He forced Richard to shake his arms and legs. Alice noted that and the cadets hit the floor. The fat robber noticed that and was confused. The confusion didn’t last long though. John forced Richard to aim his gun at and shoot the fat one. The first shot struck his chest, the second went through his jaw. Richard then swung the gun over and aimed it at the leader of the group and pulled the trigger three more times. Two shots went through his chest, and another went through his neck.

John could tell that Richard was freaking the fuck out. He had no idea how or even why he just shot his compatriots. He was a prisoner in his own body. John sent him a message to let him know what was happening.

‘Richard, you endangered someone very dear to me. You and your friends paid for that mistake with your lives.’

Richard was desperately trying to turn to face the store exit but could feel that his arm was raising the gun to his head. All it took was five pounds of pressure to pull the trigger. Blood and brain matter were sprayed over some designer clothing that was on a rack near him. His body crumpled to the floor.

John grimaced with pain; it was never a pleasant experience to be in the mind of someone else when they died from physical trauma. Doubly so when you are the one that caused the death of the individual. The bright blue glow his eyes were giving off was dimming quickly. He was holding his head with his hands as he was bent over. Even for a telepath of his power, it was still a taxing experience.

“Let’s go get our friends,” John winced as he spoke.

When he stood up, he was a little wobbly on his legs. He steadied himself by placing a hand on Andern’s shoulder.

“What did you do?” Thomas looked back at John confused.

“Let’s go,” John said ignoring the question.

“You know what, don’t even care what happened. I just want my girlfriend back,” Kevin said to the group and when the girls walked out of the store, he ran over to hold Theresa.

Andern ran over to see how Jessica was feeling. Alice noticed that John looked haggard. The rest of the men comforted the women from their platoon. They were making sure everyone was fine and ok. Alice walked up to John and hugged him.

“You look like hell,” Alice whispered, “I’m not sure how you did that, but thanks for saving all of us.”

“I feel like hell. That took a lot out of me. I’m glad y’all are safe.”

The MPs cleared the cadets after taking statements from them. They then all left and headed to a coffee shop and talk and decompress from the situation. The guys all knew John did something, but they didn’t know what. The girls knew something was up too since Alice told them to hit the ground just before the skinny tall one started to shoot the other robbers. It was just a weird situation all around, that had signs pointing at John but none of them were really willing to broach the subject.

John was still feeling the effects of controlling someone. He reassured Alice he’d be fine sooner than later but that wasn’t enough reassurance for her.

“Are you sure?” Alice was still worried.

“Yes. Trust me, that wasn’t exactly my first rodeo,” John took another drink from his quadruple espresso as he was downplaying the pain he was in, “Oh yeah. Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Please.”

Alice reluctantly complied. John zip down his pocket and pulled the watch out.

“Hold out your hand,” Alice opened up her hand slowly.

John pulled out the watch and set it in her hand keeping his hand over it, “Ok, open your eyes.”

“This is weird John,” Alice looked down at her hand, when she did John pulled his hands away, “Shut up. You didn’t seriously buy me this.”

Alice punched John in the chest.

“Yeah, I did. See!” John showed his wrist to Alice.

Alice looked closer at the watch. She was trying to process what that name meant. Then it clicked for her. Her eyes get big and then she couldn’t figure out how to accept this gift.

“John, I can’t accept this, this is just excessive. You didn’t…”

“No, come on. Ok yeah, I mean it was a legit purchase. Yeah, yeah it is excessive, but I want you to have it. Besides, it looks cool as hell, right?”

Alice gave him a look he was accustomed to seeing, “Ok, I will accept your gift, but you have to promise me something in return.”

“Fire away.”

“No more expensive gifts until after we get married. I will not accept any more like this.”

“Fair enough, hope you like the watch,” John was just smiling.

“I do love it. So, how are you feeling?”

“Well better now since you like it. I won’t be back to normal for a few hours,” John looked at his watch. “What time are we checking in again?”

“16:00 is the earliest we can check-in. That’s still half an hour away. I was kind of wanting to check in around 18:00. Dinner reservations are kinda late tonight.”

“Yeah. Hey, I think I got a good plan. Give me a sec,” John pulled up his tablet, “Yup, I think that’ll work. How would you and the girls like a trip to the spa here?”

“That would be lovely. And its price appropriate, isn’t it?” Alice was a bit annoyed by that thing John does but a trip to the spa would be perfect.

“Sent you the details. Yes, it’s not excessive. I paid for y’all too.”

“So, what are you boys going to do?”

“Head back to the arcade probably.”

Alice just rolled her eyes. Of course, the boys would do something like that. Alice would never understand how an arcade could be relaxing to the boys. In truth, it wasn’t relaxing, but it was fun. It let them compete with one another and that was what they mostly craved. John especially so.

So, with that, the girls headed off to the spa to help them unwind and forget the store holdup. The boys were heading back to the arcade again to get their fix of violence and competition. Their first day of leave since getting to the station was an odd mix of fun, exciting, relaxing, and mildly traumatic. The worst part of their leave was likely behind them now. The platoon still had two full days of rest and relaxation ahead of them. And they were going to make the most of it.