Greer was understanding his error. “I’m sorry, sir, I thought you understood.”
“I didn’t understand shit, Private, because you didn’t say shit. And now you’ve dosed two criminal investigators.”
Taylor laughed. Off Brodie’s surprised reaction she said, “C’mon, Scott. It’s a little funny.” She said to Greer, “How long have you been drinking this tea?”
Greer looked at her nervously. “I don’t know, ma’am. It’s hard to tell.”
She said to Brodie, “He’s already on his way, Scott. It wasn’t malicious.”
Brodie looked again at the young private, who stared back at him kind of bug-eyed, and Brodie could tell that the thrusters on this guy’srocket ship had already started firing up. He said to the man, “It’s all right, Tom. A misunderstanding.”
Greer seemed to relax. “Thank you, sir.” He looked at both of them. “I think you’re both good people. I can sense that.”
That was nice. If only someone had brought a bongo up here, they could have had a drum circle. Brodie said to Taylor, “We need to get down this mountain before the effect kicks in.”
She replied, “I wouldn’t risk it.” Then she took another sip of tea. “Good flavor. You wouldn’t even know.”
“Maggie.”
“It’s already done, Scott. May as well meet Tom where he is and see what comes of it.” She added, “Be a palm tree.”
“Excuse me?”
“Bend with the wind, and you won’t break.”
Brodie said to her, “You’ve lost it.”
“No.” She pointed out toward the distant Camp Hayden. “They’velost it. Infighting, backstabbing, psychological torture, killer machines. Up here… I mean, look around you. People come to places like this to think. And to listen. So let’s do that. Let’s engage with the private on his terms, and we might be glad we did.”
“Or we might wander off the edge of this mountain thinking we can fly.”
She smiled at him. The sun’s rays illuminated her blond hair and sparkling brown eyes. She was stunning, a fact he generally tried to ignore. “Just say ‘fuck it,’ Scott. You used to be good at that.”
“I still am.”
“Are you sure?”
Scott Brodie was being goaded by a beautiful woman, which always led him to interesting and reckless choices. He took the cup from Maggie’s hand, looked at the steaming cup of tea, said, “Fuck it,” and took another drink.
CHAPTER 34
THEY SAT ON THE GROUNDlooking at the view. The sun rested atop the horizon now, beginning its slow descent to dusk. Greer finished the rest of the tea by himself. Brodie hoped that he and Taylor might have a relatively brief psychic jaunt while the private set out for interstellar space.
Taylor, always thinking ahead, removed the mag from her SIG Sauer and checked that the chamber was clear, and Brodie did the same. Then she took both mags, along with Greer’s combat knife, and walked off. She returned a moment later and said, “I secured them.”
“Where?”
“Under a rock.”
“There are a lot of rocks here.”
“I marked it. Trust me.”
“I trust your intentions,” said Brodie. “And until recently, your judgment.”
“You’ll thank me later.”
“Can’t wait.”
