Friday. 10:30 – Luxury Timepieces

“I’m not going to lie for you,” Kevin said, “And me wanting to come here doesn’t mean I convinced you to come with me to help me find a watch.”

“Why do you treat me like this?” John said as he held the door open.

“Because I’m going to throw you under the bus the moment you try to shift any blame onto me when Alice finds out about this.”

“You wound me. Deeply my friend.”

“Shut up, you know damn well what I’m talking about,” Kevin remained unmoved.

John smirked as the two walked over to the Rolex display. Kevin’s dad and older brother had bought him out of the family business. When the cadets got back to the academy Kevin contacted his family and let them know he was going to be a lifer. That meant there was little to no chance that he’d come home and work for the family business.

The upside to this was Kevin was flush with money. He came to John, the local day trader and general know-it-all. John suggested to Kevin that he buy an early graduation present for himself, specifically a Rolex, and then invest the rest. He knew an investment banker that could help Kevin make that money work for him.

John and the banker both strongly suggested to not touch that money, or the dividends and interest it generates, for at least three decades. The balance could double over four times if its historical performance continues. It could be a great nest egg to have to retire on.

Kevin was looking at several GMT-Master IVs, “I love the Pepsi bezel, but…”

“It doesn’t scream that it’s a Kevin watch.”

“Right. That Pepsi does, but it’s three times over my budget.”

“Yeah, that’s a beauty though. All white gold with an absolute stellar meteorite dial.”

“How about the Batman? Personally, between the two I like that one better. Blue and Black is a more fun combo than Blue and Red.”

“I love this watch. I’m pulling the trigger. Now I’m ready to be upstaged.”

John laughed, “You can’t be upstaged, not if you buy what you really want.”

“True, what are you looking for?”

“That one,” John pointed at a watch at the top of an Omega display case.

“Seriously? Why?”

“It’s a Speedmaster Moon Phase with an open works dial and is platinum. The hands are hour markers are all heat treated to that blue color,” John was lusting over the watch, “Completely useless in the dark though.”

“The resale on them is shit though.”

“That is true but remember the rule of cool.”

The friends eventually completed their purchase. They walked to a bar down the street and lunch. They talked about watches, football, and plans for the upcoming Christmas break. Neither of them was especially worried about the finals besides just wanting to take them on Monday and be done with them.

Saturday. 09:30 Co-ed Dorm

John was sitting at his terminal typing out a report about the guns. The order was found to be legitimate, but it was only for a transfer of used rifles from the Academy to the CNS Gargantuan. That meant someone intercepted them and forged them so additional items were taken to the station. At least the tracker was in the case.

Alice walked in and transferred her call to the television, “Here he is mom. What did you need to talk to us about?”

Katelyn smiled, “Hello John, nice to see you again. So good to hear that you are healthy again.”

“Mistakes were made but at least I still have my health.”

“Unfortunately, your father, brother, and I will not be home for Christmas. We are heading to the Draconis system for merger discussions. Naturally, as you are all too well aware…”

Alice finished the sentence, “Business must take precedence. Well, good luck and safe travels. John and I will have to go to figure out a new plan for the holidays then.”

“You are obviously welcome to come home if you wish honey. Your brothers are still deployed, and I hear they won’t get a chance to come home until later summer. I’m also hearing rumors of a possible wedding.”

“Oh my god. Who is it?”

“Your father swore me to secrecy.”

John smiled. He honestly didn’t know which of the three it was. In the end, it didn’t really matter, but it would be a fun party to attend, so there was that. Alice on the other hand pleaded desperately to get more information from her mother. But Katelyn became an immovable object to the unstoppable force Alice turned into.

Eventually, the call ended with Alice pouting on the couch. John smirked and swung his chair back to face the terminal. He laughed as he began typing.

“You know, if you have some patience, you’ll find out eventually.”

Alice rolled her eyes, “John, I really do love you, but that’s rich coming from the most impatient and impetuous human being I know.”

“Fair, hopefully, it’s scheduled between training deployments so we can attend.”

John suggested that the freighter be intercepted in Alpha Centauri immediately after its scheduled jump back to real space. Suggestions were also made to track the three individuals that got the arms more closely and to track down who edited the order and where that occurred.

“So, we going to talk about that?” Alice was pointing at the new watch.

“I thought we discussed me added another one to the roster?” John spun his chair around and smirked.

“God, you can be so adorable and devious, you know that right?”

“Mhmm. Guilty as charged.”

“Well, looks like the girls and I are going out shopping, hand me the credit chit you used to purchase that. And no, you don’t get to say no to that request.”

“Fine,” John admitted defeat immediately and handed her the chit, “So where we going for Christmas.”

“First, what’s left on this?”

“Three hundred sixty-three thousand,” John paused, “Pretty sure it's around that.”

Alice got her tablet and scanned it, “You were off by twenty thousand. Good enough though. Can you go on holiday with that investigation?”

“I can work remotely. We can leave campus on Wednesday. That means we have almost four weeks off.”

“You want to be gone for that full time?” Alice asked.

“Maybe come back on the second which is a Monday. That gets us back here five days ahead of schedule.”

“And let us be gone for seventeen days. I am totally down for that.”

“Sweet. Have any destinations in mind? Someplace warm would be nice. Cancun, Australia, Hawaii, Philippines?”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“I really want to go to Scotland and Japan, but I’d like to avoid them in the winter.”

“Agreed.”

“I’m leaning Hawaii. But can you go there? With all that going on?” Alice gestured at his terminal.

“Yeah, no problem with that. The downside to Hawaii is a long-ass plane ride.”

Alice smirked, “Along with waiting at the baggage carousels forever.”

“That’s not funny.”

“It is though,” Alice got up and hugged John, “Plus side to Hawaii is nice weather and the beach. Can I trust you to arrange everything?”

“Sure thing,” John turned and smiled at Alice, “I’ll get it done before lunch.”

Monday. 09:15 Naval Academy

John was humming to himself as he exited the room. All three of his finals were in the books. Only four more semesters remained, and he’d be graduated. But that was still a very long way away. For now, though, he had a couple of things to follow up with his investigation.

He continued walking out of the room and headed back to the dorms. John was heading back to his dorm. It was a gorgeous day out; John was a little disappointed that he couldn’t enjoy the weather. He needed to change his clothes and get his sidearm from his room. Then he’d be heading to another military warehouse that was halfway between the Academy and the space elevator.

John pulled out his tablet and requested a cab to pick him up in fifteen minutes. He’d drive to the warehouse on his motorcycle. He was six steps ahead in his mind though. The door to the co-ed dorm was right in front of him. John walked in and jogged over to the elevator. He was able to get into the elevator before the doors closed.

Ten minutes later John was waiting outside for the cab to show up. He sent Alice a message saying he likely was going to miss lunch today but should be back in the early afternoon. John looked up for a moment and saw his cab. He opened the back door and sat down.

“Warehouse district,” John pulled up his tablet, “Drop me off here please.”

“Got it, sonny, how’s your day been?”

“No complaints since I got my finals done. Have a couple of things to do, then I need to pack my bags. Heading to Hawaii for the break with my wife.”

The cabby smiled, “My son is based in Hawaii, planetary militia. He served eight years in the marines, then came home and joined the militia.”

“How’s he like it?”

“He hates it,” the cabby laughed, “To be fair, the base he’s on is shit. The militia took over an old navy base on the big island. But didn’t bother to renovate it.”

“Militias are notoriously tight on money. Not all that surprising that the base isn’t in the greatest of shape.”

“He’s hoping to get a transfer at the end of the year.”

The cabby and John spoke casually for the twenty-minute ride to the warehouse. John handed the cabby a pair of hundred-dollar bills and thanked him for the ride. He walked into the warehouse and headed towards the red container. He finished the scan and stepped into it. He grabbed a backpack, a couple of spare magazines, a compact submachine gun, and a scanning device.

The door closed and locked behind him. He opened the blue container and pushed the motorcycle out of the container. He started the motorcycle and rode it over to the door he entered the warehouse in. He rode out over the sidewalk and hopped down onto the street and drove off.

11:20 Naval Space Elevator Warehouse

“Needle in a fucking haystack,” John muttered to himself as he was scanning rifles, “Sure, let’s look at a couple of things. You’re a fucking idiot John.”

John was tired and bored of the repetitive task. On the plus side, the inventory was managed much more tightly and neatly than at the academy. But even here items were missing. He made the appropriate notes and moved on to locate where the next container of rifles ought to be stored.

“Cadet, anything I can help you with?” a petty officer second class asked.

“Thanks, but no, I’ve got three or four more things to check out then I’m going to head back.”

“Alright, I’ll be around here if you need me.”

“Thank you, that’ll be all.”

John kept on walking. He was annoyed that another person had crept up and caught him unawares. That was a feeling that John hated. While he had accepted the loss of his abilities as a consequence of his actions, it didn’t sting any less. He cursed himself for letting his situational awareness slip so much. Or rather, that he never built it up as much as he should have and simply relied on his psychic abilities originally.

He was standing in front of where the containers should be. John looked at his tablet and noticed that they were supposed to be stored on the fifth rack. He climbed up the ladder and checked and confirmed that the case was missing. He shook his head, climbed down, and wrote some notes.

That process repeated itself three more times. John was beyond frustrated. He finished typing some notes and was about to put his tablet in his backpack. Something made John’s hair stand on end, so he logged into the security system, using his intelligence login, and noticed that the cameras had been recently shut off.

John switched them back on. Six men were walking down a hallway towards the warehouse he was in. They all had pistols in a hand as they walked. John cursed at his luck, but then dropped to a knee and opened up his backpack. He pulled out a suppressor for his pistol and screwed that on, then he racked the slid and loaded a round into the chamber.

The pistol was pressed onto the holster to lock it into place. John typed a quick message to base security about hostiles dressed as soldiers heading to the warehouse he was in. His best guess was he’d need to fight for at least ten minutes, if not more.

John pulled out the sub-machine gun, slammed an oversized magazine, and hooked a suppressor onto the barrel. He set the gun on the ground and slipped the tablet in his back pocket. He then flipped the backpack over and wore it over his chest. It did have an armor plate in it, which should protect him from two to three rounds, but not much more than that.

Just then John could hear faint voices from the doorway, “You two guard the door, kill anyone that isn’t us. Let’s head down the aisles and kill the rat.”

John picked up the gun on the floor and slowed down as he got to the end of the row. He was about half a step inside the start of the row. The hostiles weren’t going to see him first, so he was hoping to catch one by surprise and incapacitate them. The guards were going to be plan B, but John told himself to focus on the immediate threat first.

He didn’t have to wait long. John slowed his heartbeat and focused on his hearing. He could hear the guards go down every other aisle. He smiled at that. He could hear footsteps come closer to him. But then they veered off down the aisle next to him.

John moved silently to the other aisle and crept up behind the first hostile target. They were completely caught off guard when he grabbed them from behind and squeezed his arm across his neck. The man put up a feeble but silent attempt to fight back. Fifteen seconds later John let him down on the ground quietly. He rolled him over and grabbed his cuffs and quickly cuffed his arms behind his back.

John crept back to the end of the aisle. He peered down the aisle and saw no one. He walked over to the other aisle and checked. The man was thirty-five feet down the aisle, scanning up and down the racks. John drew his pistol and cocked the hammer slowly. He waited for the man to look at the far racks when he aimed.

Two and a half pounds of pressure was applied to the trigger while John controlled his breathing. The sound was muffled but a distinctive sharp crack noise was present when the bullet left the suppressor. The round was true and struck the man in the back. He crumpled to the grown in shock as the stun-round shocked him into unconsciousness.

The size of the warehouse saved John, no one appeared to notice what was happening. He ran toward the man and jumped down into a slide. The slide ended with John’s knee on the man’s back and his right arm was right next to his cuffs. He cuffed the man to the rack and took his pistol from him. John set the gun on a rack as he ran back down the aisle.

John was heading toward the entrance. He holstered his pistol and brought the sub-machine gun to bear. He flicked the safety off just before he turned the corner. Fifty feet away the two guards were talking amongst themselves. John pulled the gun tightly against his shoulder and took aim. Four three-round bursts were fired.

Both men crumpled in a heap. John quickly ran over to them and kicked their guns away. He handcuffed the men together. He looked down the hall and saw a security team. He signaled to them that there were two more hostiles and four men incapacitated already, then ran off back into the warehouse. The reinforcements were clearly expecting him.

Subtlety and stealth were no longer John’s concerns. He was heading towards the first aisle. When he got there the man was nowhere to be found. He flicked the safety off and put the gun into the fully automatic fire and spun into the second aisle. About a hundred feet away the man saw John and was about to say something.

John squeezed the trigger which send a ten-round burst went flying down the aisle. The man was struck multiple times. He peeked around the corner and saw the last hostile walk out of the aisle and head to the fourth. John ran down the aisle and hopped over the man he had just shot. As he did that, he made his sub-machine gun safe and let it hand by his back.

He drew the pistol and shot the final man in the back. John kicked the pistol down the aisle and handcuffed him. He turned around and headed back toward the leader but was caught unawares by the man standing five feet away from him.

“Mother fucker,” he said as he shot at John.

The round traveled true and struck John in the chest. Thankfully, the armor plate did its job. John was responded quickly and responded with a stun-round that struck the man in his shoulder. He dropped his gun and lunged toward the man, knocking him over as John’s shoulder struck the man’s sternum. John grappled the man and took him to the ground. He threw one punch, but it ended with a sickening sound as the man’s jaw was broken.

“CLEAR! You alright son?” a grizzled veteran was running toward John.

John tossed the backpack to the ground and pulled up his shirt. He sighed as the adrenalin in his system began to level off.

“Yeah, feel like a newbie again these days but all’s well that ends well, right?”

The old man chuckled, “You youngsters are too damned reckless.”

“Guilty as charged. This one is going to need medical attention. Pretty sure the rest are going to be fine. I want them placed in individual interview rooms with guards. I’ll coordinate the Intelligence Agents to interview them.”

“Never seen a cadet do all that, sir.”

John walked by the man and slapped his shoulder, “You never seen a cadet that was a spook before.”

He pulled his tablet from his back pocket not sure if it would still work but thankfully it wasn’t damaged. John sent a message to Director LeCroix and General Mizrahi about the assault in the warehouse and that there were six men that needed to be interviewed.

Lastly, John called Alice, “Hey honey, so want the good news or the bad news?”

Alice didn’t like John’s flippant attitude, “Good news first.”

“We fly out at 19:30 tomorrow and I’m all packed. Was able to get permission to leave campus ahead of time. Boo yeah.”

“Very nice and I saw that. Good boy, you’re learning. The bad news?” Alice asked apprehensively

“Well turns out my situational awareness is a bit shit, and I was shot, but don’t worry. I should only end up with a wicked bruise. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”