"Jesus, your heart is beating so fast. Please try and relax."Daniel was currently seated shirtless on a metal bench that also served as a bed if you threw some cloth over it.
"I know you must be nervous or even excited but you need to relax for me to complete your physical evaluation." The doctor looked more annoyed than concerned as he spoke, "Maybe just take a seat at the side and when you"re ready you tell me."
"Ah no. I"m ready, just give me a minute please."
Daniel was certainly nervous and he had all right to be more nervous than the usual army recruit. He wasn"t just going to fight the enemy; he WAS the enemy. The slightest slip-up and he was done for. He didn"t even hold much worth as a hostage, not to his government, not to the d.a.m.n Fatah brothers. He and his companions were all alone in the deepest parts of enemy territory.
It wasn"t all doom and gloom for him though. If he did his job well and everything went smoothly enough that he escapes with his life, he"d be a legend in Schelar if not the entire world. The spies who infiltrated the enemy"s military.
He let out a small chuckle thinking about how he"d retire and write a book about the experience. Movies, serializations, doc.u.mentaries, book deals, if he made it out this could be the foundation for the start of the laid back life he"d always wanted.
But his big dreams would remain dreams if he f.u.c.ked up the mission. With that in mind, he beckoned on the doctor to carry on with his check-up, feeling much calmer now but still pressured as ever.
After a long minute, the doctor spoke again, finished with his examination and Daniel felt relieved to be free of the man"s prodding and incessant questions. "You"re all good…for now anyway, pick a towel, a pair of shoes and one uniform that matches your dimensions, head back out and wait a bit more, there"ll be someone to take you your quarters."
Daniel nods, carrying out his instructions and picking up a brown towel, brown pair of laced boots and a brown jumpsuit from the organized pile. "Thanks," he murmured as he began his exit.
"Wait," The doctor called back. "It"s not safe out there, take this."
As Daniel looked back he saw in the doctor"s hand three little squares packages with a circular outline protruding at the middle. His mouth fell open. Lost for words and filled with questions.
The doctor stepped forward and stuffed the three little squares between his towel and jumpsuit. "No need to thank me, I"m just a bit tired of seeing fine men and women being dismissed from the army because of a simple mistake. I do this for everyone too, but I know you came in to apply with a female friend. I can"t guarantee things will work out the way you plan but one can hope."
With two light pats on his shoulders, Daniel shook out of his stupor and again gave thanks, albeit a bit louder this time.
As he walked out the room and into a hallway with bright fluorescent lights and long metal benches on each side with men both younger and older than he, he let out a sigh and wondered where he was supposed to wait.
"Ah, h.e.l.lo," he stretched out his hand to get a handshake from the unsuspecting man waiting in the hallway but had his things threaten to tumble off the single-arm now carrying it, "Ah sorry about that," he said again, this time arranging his things on his hands so he can afford an awkward handshake that involved him bending his knees to reach the man"s low hanging hand, "My name is Daniel, I"m new here."
"I can tell."
A bit thrown off by the man"s lack of decorum and rather stern look, Daniel wondered if he should have perhaps approached someone else.
"Uhm, sorry to bother you but where am I supposed to wait to be taken to the quarters?"
"You WERE told to step out and wait weren"t you?" Seeing Daniel nod he continued, gesturing at the main door, "Well, step out."
Alban felt like cringe. He uttered another apology to the man who"d gone back to literally twiddling his thumbs and promptly began walking out of the hallway and subsequently, the entire building.
Once out, he is greeted by the night sky and a crowd of men set up just like he was. Casual clothing with a towel, jumpsuit and boots in their hands or somewhere next to them.
"Finally! We"ve got our latecomer boys! Follow me!" a short but obviously well-built man called out with a large scowl directed at Daniel.
He shudders at the man"s stare and his mind races to the worse but he calms down as he hears a familiar voice next to him.
"Hey, Daniel didn"t think we"d see each other again."
"Alban!"
"Hey not so loud now." Alban shushed, shuffling along with the crowd of men following the short man at the front.
Daniel was elated. The moment they"d been accepted into recruitment; the trio had been separated. It was then Daniel"s anxiety picked up, he"d thought for sure the military had somehow found them out and was taking them to separate interrogation rooms. But he kept his cool, despite wanting to trash around and run away screaming. This was because his companions didn"t flatter, as much as they must"ve wanted to.
He later realized that even if they were caught, he would simply be wasting his energy by trying to run away, it"d be futile.
"Have you seen Marina?" Alban whispers as they trotted on.
Daniel shakes his head, "No, I honestly thought they were going to interrogate us all when we got separated."
Alban shook his head almost disappointedly, "No, she was probably taken to the female side. They require different facilities you know? We"ll see her once we get settled."
Alban had taken the leadership role quite seriously and was doing really well at it. Before they"d come in, they had a detailed map of the base they were currently being inducted. He"d directed the preparation of their infiltration, ensure they knew when and where to meet for their regular updates and reports with HQ.
They had spent a total of three days preparing for the infiltration, this included signing up for the army and carrying out the heist of the little microchip that their government wanted for some reason, the heist had been fairly easy too, IT companies didn"t pour much funding into security. Although Daniel and even Alban felt they weren"t fully prepared with the little training and code rehearsals they had, it was the best they could do with such a huge time constraint.
"We"ll have to meet this night, at that place. We have a lot to discuss and time is running out." Alban continued, a look at his face was all one needed to tell he was under a lot of pressure from the Fatah"s. Even without them contacting him to remind him that he still hadn"t delivered the package to them he still felt the overbearing pressure of the mission.
Not to say Daniel wasn"t. The continued existence of his entire country rode on his shoulders. He felt proud to hold such responsibility even more scared that he was completely essential for its success.
"Alright greenhorns!" the short commander shouted out, his back facing a large half-circle of a construct, "This here is where you rest your pretty little heads. I will be your Patron, you may address me as Sir, Lord, and Commander if you wish. Training begins the moment the sun comes up so you better get a head start with sleep or don"t sleep at all!"
He salutes and angrily marches through the huddle of men in the direction they came, purposely b.u.mping into some as he pa.s.sed.
The previously silent and humble murmurs burst into loud conversations as the men filed into the large, weird half-circle of a building.
Daniel and Alban made sure to get set on the same bunk. Daniel took the top and Alban took the down bunk. On each bunk, there was a bar of soap, a packaged toothbrush, toilet paper and the littlest bottle of lotion he"d ever seen.
"Hey, Alban?" Daniel called out all settled but holding in his hand the most curious thing he"d ever been gifted.
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"What?" his voice drawled, obviously having drowned the racket of what was about thirty other men in the room to fall asleep.
"Did you get…" Daniel paused, lost for words at how to describe it without drawing the perky ears of the other men around them, "Did you get the square-circle?" he said, at last, looking up at the top of his bunk with expectant eyes, hoping Alban would decipher what his message meant.
Alban let out a chuckle and so did the closest man beside their bunk, word quickly pa.s.sed around and soon they all were laughing loudly.
"Well, Daniel," Alban said, struggling against aching cheeks and tears in his eyes, "There"s your answer."