Richard drove towards the military HQ in silence. He tapped his index finger against the steering wheel in tune to the music he was listening to. He was relaxed.
It has three days since the break in at Base 52 and since then things were going back to normal. He and his team members were training and there was great improvement in the team. The many exercises had helped him to judge the team member's strengths and weaknesses and it was left for him to find out how they would complement each other. Things were really going well except for the investigation about the theft at the base. The investigation had hit another stone wall. Obviously those guys were well prepared and competent.
No one could just wake up and want to break into a military base to steal an exoskeleton suit. This proved that they had been planning for some time and that they had competent members in their ranks. The issue about the mole was yet to be resolved but the soldiers and most of the scientists at the base had been relieved of active duty till the investigation ended. It was sad.
Despite this, Richard felt that things were going back to normal. As expected, the incidence had been suppressed by the military heads. If news got out that the military were building a nuclear exoskeleton secretly and that it had been stolen by unknown people then chaos would surely break out.
However, no matter how much interesting the trainings got, he still felt a little unhappy that Priscilla hadn't come to the HQ for the past three days. It was understandable that she needed time to recover from the near death experience but her absence really made the HQ boring.
Richard soon arrived at the Military HQ and diligently scanned his identity. The door opened and he walked in. he scanned the area and nodded to a few soldiers who saluted him as they passed by. The screen opposite him lit up and words outlined themselves before Maya's feminine voice followed.
"Good morning Colonel Richard Brad. General Gordon wants to see you in his office."
Richard nodded and walked down the corridor and took the stairs. The General's office was on the upper floor. He soon arrived there. He knocked on the door and hoarse voice answered. "Come in."
He pushed the door open and gave him a salute. During this time, Richard couldn't help but observe the man who was sitting behind his desk. He had eye bags under his eyes and his face was haggard with a tired look.
Everything about him spelt stress and insomnia.
General Gordon waved his hand. "Colonel, here."
Richard stepped forward and took the file that the man was holding up. He flipped through it and nodded gently.
"As you know the new recruits will be going on field training in a few days' time and well…how do I say this?" Gordon paused and tried to arrange his words. "Most of them are very inexperienced so I figured you could take over for the field training."
Richard nodded. "When do I start?"
"You can go over there in the afternoon."
"Yes, sir!"
"And Richard?" he called back and Richard turned to him. "This is an individual task not a team mission."
"I understand, General." Richard closed the door behind him as he walked out.
General Gordon sighed and covered his face. His eyes were beginning to sting and felt like he had sand particles in them. He massaged his jaw while thinking. 'I can't bring myself to admit that I want Richard to take over of the training because I hope he can at least spark something in Edwin.'
….
Richard returned to the training centre and to his surprise Priscilla was there, sitting at the corner. He smiled at her and walked over. "I didn't think you'd come today. You still have four days of leave."
"It got so boring and I missed watching the training." She smiled warmly. Richard studied her reaction and facial expression and concluded that she was mostly fine. She was a doctor after all and has seen many deaths and near death situations.
"That's good. I would feel guilty for taking you there."
Priscilla chuckled. "Maybe I needed the experience so I would understand what I signed up for." In her mind she was beating herself up for having such a great cover story.
Richard nodded. "I'll go back training then."
….
Training ended by noon and Richard packed up his bags. He noticed Priscilla approaching him.
"Are we going to exercise?" she asked.
"Not today. I have to be somewhere." Richard said with a shake of the head.
"Oh, okay." She said dejectedly and stepped back a few steps. "I will see you tomorrow then?"
"No," Richard smiled. "I'm going for field training and might have to spend up to a week give or take."
She nodded though she felt a little wistful. The HQ would be so boring without Richard. She sighed nonetheless and said, "Good luck then. Be safe."
"I will. Thanks." Richard brought his bag to the washrooms and took a quick bath before driving towards the training camp which was also in the capital city—Misthill.
It was a one hour drive from the HQ. He arrived there and quickly asked for whoever had been in charge till that moment. He was shown to Lieutenant Marco Daniel.
"You're here, Colonel Brad!" Marco saluted and Richard returned the salute as well.
"You've been briefed about my arrival?"
"Yes, General Gordon himself called to inform me about it." he said and added, "I even postponed the morning training till the afternoon. I feel you should familiarise yourself with the recruits."
Richard nodded. "Is there anything I should take note of?"
"There are a few," Marco nodded and they began to walk out towards the training ground. "Most of the recruits are doing well but there are a few issues of laxity."