Major Liam Kincaid looked from Da'an's set expression to that of Agent Ronald Sandoval, standing flanking the Taelon. There was no way he was going to get out of this one that was obvious. In a resigned tone, Liam said, "Yes, Da'an."
Turning, he walked towards the exit of Da'an's chamber, the limp he had been sporting for the last few days was still visible but it wasn't as pronounced as it had been - he was recovering.
Sandoval turned to Da'an, gave him his usual bow and Taelon salute and said quietly, "Thank you, Da'an. Now that that matter has been settled I will go brief Agent MacMillan on his duties as your replacement Protector."
Da'an gracefully inclined his head in farewell before relaxing back into his energy shower.
Taelon Mothership
Sandoval wandered down the corridor of the mothership, lost in thought. It was past time that the situation regarding Kincaid was dealt with; last week had made that abundantly clear.
On the Monday, Kincaid had to deal with shuttling T'than about, not an experience many would relish. The Volunteer pilots were terrified of the War Minister; Kincaid usually volunteered to pilot him just to give them some peace.
Tuesday, Kincaid had been in charge of coordinating security at an event being attended by half of the seventy-nine Companions and the Security Council representatives of the UN. Tedium was the word that sprang to mind for conferences like that.
Thursday, some fruitcake had tried to commit suicide outside the main entrance of the Washington Embassy using a homemade bomb. Kincaid had successfully calmed the individual and defused the bomb with two seconds to spare.
Saturday's public appearance in Chicago... Zo'or and Da'an, both present. Anti-Taelon fanatics had rushed the podium. The Taelons had been quickly hussled out of the line of fire, but that had still left the Protectors and the rest of the Volunteers as targets.
Yet again, Liam Kincaid had put himself into the line of fire to save his life. Sandoval sighed; one of these days, he would figure out why Kincaid did that. It wasn't that Kincaid particularly liked him; Sandoval knew that - so why did he always move to protect him?
Anyway, Kincaid had taken a nasty knife wound in his left thigh while saving his life - again.
Sandoval smiled at the memory of what had followed. Dr. Park was 'feisty'. That was the word his grandfather would have used to describe her. Still in her scrubs she had cornered him in the corridor of the hospital that Kincaid had been taken to and gave him a piece of her mind concerning the amount of work that the North American Companion's Protector did and the dismal lack of downtime that he was given.
His honest confusion and promise to look into the matter had mollified her somewhat, but she had put him on notice that she would take action if he didn't. Sandoval had gone to the mothership and checked the logs. He had accessed the hours that had been logged for Kincaid ever since he had assumed duty as a Protector - and been shocked.
Apart from the mandatory day off each week, Kincaid had not had a vacation in over a year! Even he had been made to take two weeks off in the last year; all the Protectors had. How had Kincaid managed to be overlooked?!
Still feeling guilty about being the indirect cause of Kincaid's latest injury, Sandoval had contacted Da'an in his capacity as the head of the Companion Protector program. Da'an had agreed to his proposal.
Hence the meeting this morning. Kincaid was now on a two-week vacation. Non-negotiable.
Here's hoping he has a quiet time, mused Sandoval.
Liam's apartment
Liam stood staring at his half-packed duffel bag. What am I supposed to do on a vacation? I don't know what to do on a vacation! I've never been on vacation!
"Okay, Liam, calm down," he murmured to himself. "Millions of people go on vacation every week. How hard can it be?"
Now why did he get a shiver down his spine when he thought that?
Damn it! This was going to be a disaster, he could feel it in his bones...
Liam Kincaid closed his global, fighting a grin. Augur was not a happy camper. While the cyber-wizard agreed wholeheartedly that he needed a holiday, he was less than impressed about the fact that he had to break the news to Renee that she would have to cover for Liam - Resistance-wise - till he got back.
One last visual inspection of his apartment revealed to Liam that he was ready to go, no more delaying tactics available. Sighing, he raised his duffel bag to his shoulder and slipped out the door. His hand automatically went to the panel on the left hand side of the door and his palm print keyed the sequence that secured the apartment. Resolutely, he turned his back, pasted a smile on his face and walked away to begin his vacation.
An hour later, Liam was standing in a queue at the nearest Portal station to his apartment. He had walked in and scanned the domestic destinations and randomly decided on Seattle as a place to start, if nothing else, he'd get a decent cup of coffee while he thought things through.
Liam stood quietly, trading the occasional friendly comment with his fellow travellers. His mood lightened; maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. One of the Portal Authority staff that walked past the queue gave a noticeable double take as she saw him; he winced. Maybe he'd breathed his sigh of relief too soon.
Sure enough, the employee returned with her obsequious supervisor who barged right up to the place where he was standing and said, "Major Kincaid, please accept my heartfelt apologies for the inconvenience you have suffered. The staff should have immediately have placed you on priority access to the Portal. We here at the Portal Authority pride ourselves on our good relations with the Companions and their human personnel."
On the back of his neck, Liam could feel the gazes of the people he had been talking to for the last twenty minutes. Silence had fallen as the supervisor had spoken. Liam glanced around and sighed. Same as always... He was identified as a Companion employee and he received two reactions - disdain or awe; there was a mixture of both now in what had been a friendly crowd.
Refusing to give in to the urge to accept the supervisor's offer and retreat from the stares, Liam said, "Thank you for your courtesy. However, I am not on official business; in fact, I'm on vacation. I am happy to wait my turn along with these fine people."
The supervisor seemed to lose some of his bluster at the revelation that there was no official Companion business going on. Quietly he murmured some polite platitudes and discreetly retreated back to his office.
Silence remained after he had departed. Inwardly, Liam sighed. This type of reaction got old really fast. Why did people always have to treat him differently when they knew whom he worked for? Fair enough, he was good at his job, but that didn't mean he was defined by it; there was more to him than that, wasn't there?
He turned to one older lady and said, "So, Phyliss, you were telling me about your granddaughter, Lucy. How old did you say she was?"
That broke the ice and a quiet hum of conversation picked up once again.
Seattle
Liam wandered down the street aimlessly, thinking about not a lot at all. He had been in Seattle two days now and he was bored out of his mind. It had come as something of a shock to realise that he didn't really have a lot of hobbies or interests outside work or Resistance activities.
I need to get a life, he thought ruefully.
Just then, something caught his attention. He heard the faint cries of, "Stop him! He's stolen my wallet! Somebody help!"
A white youth, spiky brown hair and appalling taste in clothes, came barrelling down the sidewalk, stuffing the wallet into the inside of his jacket. He wasn't looking where he was going - he was just running. Consequently he didn't see the arm that Liam extended - at least not until he ran straight into it - and he flipped to the ground, unconscious.
The old man came running up, wheezing and gasping, and he gazed in astonishment at the thief unconscious on the ground and the imposing young man that bent down to rummage inside the youth's jacket, retrieving his wallet.
"I believe this is yours, sir?" said Liam.
Liam reached for the global clipped to his bet and flicked it open, saying, "Police, please. I'd like to report an attempted robbery..."
Later that night, Liam lay on his hotel bed and laughed quietly. The local police had been somewhat flummoxed when they realised who he was. So, for that matter, was the old guy that was the victim of the robbery.
Even the kid had reacted differently than he had expected. Apparently being apprehended by a Companion Protector was cool and was going to do wonders for his street credibility when he got back out of juvenile hall!
Liam shook his head in disbelief and turned over to turn out the light. He was leaving tomorrow; Florida was his next destination. How much trouble could he get into going whale spotting?
Back in Washington DC, Agent Ronald Sandoval closed off the communications channel he had been using. Quite deliberately, he looked around to make sure he was alone, once satisfied that he was, he started to laugh.
The more he tried to stop, the harder he laughed. Only Kincaid. His ability to take a seemingly normal activity like a vacation and end up getting involved in 'outside the norm activities' like stopping a petty crime was amazing.
Three days down, another eleven to go. This is going to be interesting. I wonder what he's going to fall into the middle of next?
Liam grabbed his rucksack off of the chair and headed out of his hotel room with a smile on his face. Three days in Florida had put him in a much better frame of mind; he felt relaxed for the first time in months.
His hotel - while unfortunately being a popular destination for young twenty-somethings - was spacious, comfortable and had a friendly atmosphere. More importantly, it was located conveniently close to several cruise lines that operated one and two day whale spotting excursions.
Happy and relaxed, Liam wandered through the hotel foyer and towards the exit with a grin on his face. Eyes followed his every step and he sighed quietly, mood dampened slightly. It was ridiculous! Didn't they have anything better to look at? Surely there must be other guys that they found reasonably attractive!
The 'they' in question were several of the single female women currently staying at the hotel. He'd met them the day he arrived. They'd sized him up like a plate of meat as he had gone to the front desk to check in and he'd been bumping into them ever since. He'd had more accidental encounters in the last three days than he'd had in the last three months! Exasperated, he quickly exited the hotel.
Inside, Barbara grabbed the glossy magazine that her friend Shona had been reading and theatrically fanned herself, saying, "Thank you, God, for putting that man in our hotel."
Shona smiled and agreed, saying, "It should be illegal for any man to look that good in a T-Shirt and cut-off denims.
"He will dance with me at least once before I leave. He can't dodge us forever."
Five hours later
Liam Kincaid leaned over the side of the boat and had to contain the urge to whoop in delight. The day excursion that he had selected had been a fabulous experience. Along with about twenty other tourists of all ages, he had been treated to the majestic sight of Orcas and dolphins roaming free in their natural environment. They were awe-inspiring.
A shout distracted him as he heard Jane call out, "Hey, Liam!" He looked over to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed little girl, smiled and waved. She had latched onto Liam as her new friend the minute she and her parents had stepped on the boat. They had apologetically tried to rein in her exuberance but Liam had just smiled and waved away their worries.
He and eight year old Jane had explored every corner of the deck, her hand in his, dragging him along behind. The rest of the tourists and the crew had watched their antics and smiled. Jane was adorable and it had got Liam to thinking about Renee; he had pictured her at eight years old, with blonde pigtails and skinned knees and he had smiled.
His attention returned to the present as he called out in concern to the little girl. "Janie! Not so close to the edge, sweetie."
At his tone, her parents looked over in worry and her mother literally went about three shades paler as she saw her leaning precariously over the edge of the boat.
Unexpectedly, the boat bounced as it battled the crest of a wave and almost as if in slow motion, the horrified passengers and crew watched as the little girl fell screaming overboard.
Liam moved immediately, he sprinted across the deck and scanned desperately around till he spotted the tiny thrashing form over the little girl.
"There! One hundred feet to the starboard!"
The crew had immediately begun the laborious task of stopping the boat and attempting to turn it back. Liam knew they didn't have time to wait. He quickly kicked off his canvas shoes and dove cleanly over the side and into the water. Desperate with worry about Janie, he didn't allow his mind to dwell on the possibility of failure.
He eventually reached her position and saw her weeping little face as she struggled to keep her head above the waves. "Janie, it's all right. I'm here." He reached out and clasped her safely in his arms, turning onto his back, floating, her form cradled protectively by his.
"Ssh, sweetie. Don't cry. See? The boat is coming back. They'll pick us up soon and you'll be able to give mommy and daddy a big hug. 'Kay?"
"'Kay, Liam. If you say so."
Liam closed his eyes briefly at the absolute trust expressed by her tired little voice and then he settled back to wait on rescue.
The rest of the day was a bit of an ordeal. Janie's parents and the rest of the passengers and crew had quickly sung his praises when they got back to shore. His protests that he did what anybody else would do were waved aside as irrelevant - he had been the one to act - he was a hero.
As soon as they had said that word he knew it was time to leave. He'd lost his anonymity in this place; time to move on.
He went to the hotel room being used by Janie's family to say goodbye to them. She hugged him fiercely and handed him a little stuffed bear. He tried to tell her that she could keep it but she was adamant. Gravely, she looked at him and said, "His name is Mr. Bear. He's going to look after you for me."
Liam smiled at that. He took the bear and held out his hand to the little girl and said goodbye. Primly, properly, she shook it and said, "Bye, Liam. I love you."
One hour later, he'd checked out and was already on his way to book his trip to his next stop on his vacation.
Sandoval read the report from the coastguard and smiled. Kids and ladies in distress. Kincaid can't resist them. What next?
Liam pulled the car to a stop inside the parking lot of the small diner. It was early evening and he decided that he might as well stop for something to eat. The past four days had been busy and all the driving was beginning to catch up with him. He'd decided by day three of his Texas sojourn that he was pampered. Having portals and shuttles easily available he had had no true conception of how big America was - especially if you were driving through it.
After the incident in Florida he'd decided that he was going to go solo. Cities seemed to attract trouble to him; he'd try the country. It had worked. He'd driven through some of the most beautifully remote scenery that he had ever seen and wondered at the sheer majesty of the vistas in front of him.
One exception to the no cities had been Dallas; he hadn't been able to stop himself from visiting the sight of President Kennedy's assassination. Whether it had been a lone gunman or a conspiracy the sheer impact on modern American history of his death had always fascinated him.
Tomorrow he would be in Houston, the last leg of his vacation in front of him; it had the nearest Portal access that could get him to where he wanted to go. Dinner first.
Liam walked in the diner and the noise level dimmed noticeably. The locals - and by the looks of them, they were locals - eyed him carefully. He pasted a neutral grin on his face and headed to an empty booth. The quiet hum of conversation that his arrival had interrupted resumed as he glanced at the menu.
He ordered a steak and salad from the petite red-haired waitress that came to take his order. She smiled at his courtesy; it wasn't often her patrons actually said more than two words to her except about their order. The stranger was nice.
Twenty minutes later, Liam was finishing off what was quite possibly the best steak dinner he had ever eaten when he heard a heated discussion coming from the other end of the diner. Looking across, he saw his waitress being pawed at by some guy that was almost twice her size. His lips twitched in laughter as he watched her toss a pitcher of water down his front.
The guy angrily pushed her back and she went sprawling on the floor. That did it! Liam was across the room in less than a second. He squared off against the man and snarled, "Back off, now!"
The idiot didn't seem to want to listen to reason; he aimed a punch at Liam's head. Liam sighed and blocked the swing. Using the guy's own momentum, he flipped him to land on his back with an audible, bone-jarring thump. He then - using just enough force - punched at the man's chest with the palm of his hand and knocked the wind out of him.
Liam then turned, intending to help the waitress to her feet, and that was when two of the idiot's friends launched themselves at him. The waitress scrambled out of the way and Liam found himself in a furious melee that quickly got out of hand.
Naturally, that was when the local cops showed up. They took one look at the three guys unconscious on the floor and the rumpled stranger that was still standing; naturally, they arrested the stranger. The waitress tried to talk some sense into the two deputies - after all, she had gone to high school with them - they refused to listen.
They cuffed Liam, read him his rights, and stuffed him into the back of their cruiser. Liam was fighting hard to control his temper. The deputies had made no attempt to take statements at the scene and had blatantly ignored the waitress as she tried to explain what had happened.
He knew he could end this nonsense by identifying himself but he decided he'd let them find out for themselves when they ran his prints. He had his global but his ID was in his jacket and that was back at the diner. Once they figured out who he was, then he'd have a few pointed words with them.
"Oh hell!" muttered Deputy Randall Johnson. He was staring at the information that had been returned on the prints of the man that they had arrested at the diner.
"What's wrong, Randall?" asked Sheriff Morris.
Randall swallowed nervously; he and Pete had already been warned about a couple of previous screw-ups in the performance of their duties. This one was a doozy.
"Uh, the guy that we brought in from the diner. His ID's come back in. His name is Major Liam Kincaid and he's a Companion Protector - he's Da'an's Protector.
"Our query reached the attention of the Companion Protector Programme in Washington DC and they want to know why he's been detained. His boss has already left to come down here personally; Kincaid's on a mandatory vacation while recovering from an injury in the line of duty."
In a tone of voice that promised later retribution, the sheriff said, "Are you telling me that you boys didn't check his ID at the scene? That you didn't check to see that he was the aggressor or merely defending someone else before you brought him in?"
Randall flinched and Sheriff Morris sighed. "Does it say when this boss of Kincaid's is due to arrive?"
Just then a booming sound was heard outside the sheriff's office and there was a flash of light. The sheriff, deputies and clerks all rushed to the windows to look outside. A Taelon shuttle was sitting in the middle of the parking lot and two uniformed Volunteers exited the shuttle along with a dark-haired man in a fancy suit.
"Um, now?" squeaked Randall in a tiny voice.
Sheriff Morris glared at him.
All eyes were on the door as the dark-haired man entered the building and scanned around with an assessing gaze. His voice was soft but deadly.
"My name is Agent Ronald Sandoval, I oversee the Companion Protector Programme and am the head of security for the Taelon legation on Earth. I understand that this department has arrested one of my colleagues for assault during the course of a brawl. Is that correct?
"Major Kincaid does not normally participate in brawls so you will forgive me if I seem a little perplexed."
Sheriff Morris cleared his throat. "Agent Sandoval, I'm Sheriff Morris. My deputies have made a grievous error in judgement and procedures and I assure you they will be disciplined for it.
"Major Kincaid will of course be released as soon as we can confirm that he did not instigate the fight. He is currently in one of our holding cells. Deputy Sanchez will take you back through to see him while I call the owner of the diner where the brawl happened and get this mess cleared up."
Sandoval nodded his head and said, "That is a reasonable idea, Sheriff."
Liam looked up as he heard footsteps approaching, and blinked in astonishment as he saw Sandoval.
"What are you doing here?!"
Sandoval raised an eyebrow. "Really, Major. We get notification of a search on your background and find out that you've been arrested for participating in a brawl! Do you really think I wouldn't be interested in the latest escapade of your vacation?"
Liam blushed and Sandoval could have sworn he heard a mumbled, "It wasn't my fault. I didn't start it."
Sandoval shook his head and grinned. "Only you, Liam. Only you. You do know that you're supposed to relax on a vacation?"
Kincaid shrugged.
Just then, the sheriff came stalking down the corridor. "Agent Sandoval, Major Kincaid, this department offers full and sincere apologies for this incident. The staff at the diner has confirmed that the Major only moved to aid a member of staff that was being attacked.
"You are free to go. If you wish, you can make a formal complaint against the deputies though I do plan on disciplining them anyway."
Liam jumped to his feet and grinned. "They're your people, Sheriff. I'm sure you know the best way to handle them."
Thirty minutes later, Liam's belongings and car had been retrieved from the diner and he was standing next to the shuttle talking to Sandoval.
He extended his hand to the Implant saying, "Thanks for coming down to check on me."
Sandoval grinned, surprising Liam. He said, "To be honest, I was curious as to what was going to happen next. You're having the most unusual vacation in Protector history. You do realise that, don't you?"
Liam blushed and muttered again about 'it being not his fault.'
Sandoval turned to step into the shuttle when Liam surprised them both by saying, "Wait! Don't go."
Sandoval looked at him inquiringly and Liam gazed at his feet, muttering, "My last destination is Ireland. Dublin... I was going to go visit her grave while I'm there. Do you want to come with me?"
The invitation came as a complete surprise to Sandoval and he was not sure if he'd ever understand the emotion in the Major's eyes. It was almost wistful but not quite that alone.
Easing the tension of the moment, Sandoval grinned. "Why not?! I'm beginning to think that you need a keeper!"
Liam mock glared at him and then gave up and laughed. On basis of this vacation, Sandoval could well be right.
"I'm booked in a hotel in Houston, I'll call and arrange another room."
Sandoval nodded, turned and instructed the Volunteers to head back to DC and then climbed into the passenger side of Liam's car. As soon as he was inside, Liam started the engine.
This was going to be interesting...
Liam cast a surreptitious glance at his father as they walked down the path of the cemetery. It had been a strange experience just hanging out with him. They had arrived in Houston early enough that they still had time to kick back a little - Sandoval had suggested they visit some clubs and Liam had literally had to concentrate to prevent his jaw dropping in shock. His father in a club?!
Much to his surprise, it had been an absolutely great evening. They'd wandered in to one club and immediately found that they were extremely popular with the ladies. They'd mingled, danced and had a few drinks - Sandoval's CVI controlled sobriety putting a little bit of a dampener on the fun but not by much. In the quiet moments they talked about life, general interests - anything except work - and had found that they shared many of the same tastes in art and music.
The fun had started when Sandoval had headed off to the bar to get the latest round of drinks and a couple of the female patrons of the club - slightly tipsy female patrons - had decided to ditch their dates and latch on to Liam. He'd done his best to politely dissuade them but naturally enough their defection hadn't gone down to well with their dates.
A shadow had fallen across the table and Liam had looked up into the angry faces of the two men that had been unceremoniously dumped. They were big, muscled and extremely irritated. Liam sighed and silently thought, Why me?
His protestations of innocence had been met with glares and threats. His polite comment asking them to leave was met with a demand for him to get up and get away from the women. Liam's irritated comment that this was his table and he couldn't help it if the ladies were bored with them resulted in one of the pair grabbing his arm and literally dragging him from his chair.
Liam stood there being shaken by one and threatened by the other. Enough is enough! he thought. He used one leg to kick out at the one threatening him and during the commotion this caused he 'dealt' with the other one too.
Sandoval had chosen this moment to return, carrying a couple of beers. He'd calmly stepped over the groaning pair and completely ignored the stunned and suddenly slightly less giggly females. Placing the beers on the table he had looked at Liam and raised an eyebrow. Feeling like a recalcitrant schoolboy, Liam had glared at the pair of idiots on the floor, and the female idiots that had caused the mess in the first place and muttered his new mantra, "It's not my fault. I didn't start it."
Sandoval had laughed out loud at that. Blushing furiously, he had eventually seen the funny side and joined in.
They had returned to the hotel and the next morning had made the trip to Dublin. After checking in to their hotel, they had both tacitly understood what their first stop was going to be. That was why they were here now; it was time to pay their respects to Beckett.
The cemetery was in a quiet, secluded corner of Dublin and its grounds were immaculate. The staff that looked after it obviously cared a great deal about their jobs and respecting the resting places of the people that were buried there.
Neither Liam nor Sandoval had been there since the funeral and at that time they had not really been in the frame of mind to notice the simple beauty of the place. The trees and flowerbeds that bordered the rows of graves seemed to create borders of beauty and colour that instead of detracting from the solemnity of the place actually enhanced it.
Beckett's grave was a block of simple white marble. Her will had clearly specified her wishes for a simple burial and those wishes had been observed. Standing side by side, Liam and his father looked down at the simple words that Beckett had requested be carved on her headstone and they both had to fight to hold in their emotions. In this place and at this time, they dropped their barriers to her memory and to each other.
Each man knelt to place a bunch of white flowers at the headstone - it had never mattered to her what type of flower she received - as long as they were white she liked them. Liam rose and walked away, leaving Sandoval alone at the graveside. He wandered off to read some of the other ancient grave markers, feeling the weight of history bearing down on him as he did so.
It was about twenty minutes before a silent Sandoval walked up to him and placed a hand on his arm. Liam looked at him, smiled softly, nodded and headed back to her grave. They both had things to say to Beckett, things that were personal. Things that they had to say alone. Neither of them had ever discussed the nature of their relationship with the Irish woman that had played such an important part in their lives but they both knew that they had loved her - and that she had loved them both. It was enough.
Their last day in Dublin, Liam made a suggestion on something for them to do. Sandoval had eyed him in askance, it sounded a bit dull. Kincaid had turned one of his pleading expressions on him and he had relented - big, bad Protector that he was - he couldn't resist the pleading green eyes. Kincaid was evil, sneaky and at times reminded him of a child that knew damn well if he pleaded long enough that he could wheedle anything.
They arrived at their destination and Kincaid was grinning excitedly and practically exuding enthusiasm. God, sometimes he makes me feel old! The line to view the Book wasn't that long - after all it was only about 10 am, most sensible people on vacation would still be finishing breakfast.
The pair entered the Old Library of Trinity College and came face to face with the most amazing book Sandoval had ever seen. Kincaid murmured, "I told you," before moving off to examine some of the glorious pages of the exhibit.
Sandoval stood and marvelled at the two volumes on display. One was opened to show a major decorated page - the other displayed two pages of script. The Book of Kells; he had heard about it but had never really paid it much thought.
Sandoval read a bit of the background to the book, for once grateful for his CVI - he'd be able to recall this moment whenever he wanted. 'Written around 800 AD, it is one of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts in the world and also one of the oldest.
'It contains the four gospels, preceded by prefaces and summaries, as well as canon table or concordance of gospel passages.
'It is written on vellum and the text is inscribed in Latin. It contains many pages of intricate and magnificent decoration, with many smaller decorations present throughout the text. It was presented to Trinity College in the seventeenth century and has been on display in the Old Library since the nineteenth century.'
Sandoval looked at the colours, decorations and sheer beauty of the pages and was awestruck. He never thought he could be so moved by simply viewing the pages of a book.
Making their way back through the college campus after their visit, Sandoval and Liam were flung to the ground when there was a huge explosion. Stunned, they scrambled to their feet as they tried to figure out what was going on.
Liam moved to assist some people that were obviously injured as Sandoval quickly opened his global and called for immediate assistance.
Ten hours later
Liam Kincaid wiped dirty hands on his jeans and looked tiredly about for Sandoval. He spotted him talking quietly to the commander of the bomb disposal unit that had arrived on scene after the explosion.
Things had not turned out too badly; the bomb was the work of a small group of extremists that had been targeting the college for supposed inhumane experiments. The claims were nonsense and the bombers had mis-timed the detonator sequence and had killed themselves when attempting to plant it for later detonation - they were the only fatalities.
Sandoval walked towards Liam, an enigmatic look on his face. Liam had just mumbled, "This is not my fault."
Sandoval muttered, "When I find the trouble magnet that is attached to you, I'm going to..."
Back in Washington DC
Sandoval smiled at Liam as he walked into his office. Liam looked up from the report he was reading and saw the look on his father's face. In a suspicious tone, he said, "What?"
"Major, I'd like advanced warning the next time you take a vacation. I'll need to put Companion forces worldwide on full alert to be ready for anything."
"Ha, ha, Sandoval! Very funny!"
Grinning, Sandoval turned to walk away. He stopped at the entrance to Da'an's chamber and turned. "I had fun, Liam. Thanks.
"I'm going to check out a new club on Friday. Want to come?"
Liam grinned, "Wouldn't miss it."
Sandoval mock groaned. "Try to avoid another fight this time."
He blinked in astonishment. Had Kincaid really just stuck out his tongue at him?!