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Pallas turned his head to look at him when he set the seatbelt. “Good?”

Buck nodded and then they were off.

Buck knew the men at the gate.

He’d seen them many times, but not outside of a car. He sat down on the edge of one of the planters outside of the visitor’s office and saw them looking over at him.

He nodded to acknowledge that he’d seen them and they turned away.

If he was lucky, they didn’t recognize him and know that he was one of the Marines who’d gone down in the Osprey. He didn’t need or want another person expressing their sympathies.

He didn’t need that.

He just needed…

Buck frowned, the skin between his brows pinching.

He just needed…

“Uh, ma’am?”

Buck looked up and saw a car stopped, halfway into the parking lot.

One of the guards had stepped up onto the curb, his arm held out across the windshield.

“Ma’am? Where are you going?”

The window rolled down on the driver’s side of the car. “I’m picking up a friend.”

Buck pushed away from the planter and stood up, groaning under his breath at the pain that moved through his leg.

Not now.

“Ma’am, you need to talk to us first.”

“OH… I’m sorry. This is my first time coming to the base.”

“Ma’am-”

“She’s here for me.” Buck saw the guard’s head come up and reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

By the time he reached the car, he had his Military ID out and ready for the guard. “Here’s my ID.”

The guard took his ID and looked it over. After a few seconds he handed it back and gave Buck a salute. “Sir.”

Buck gestured at the car. “She’s here to give me a ride. Can we just pull around and leave?”

The guard hesitated for a moment and lowered his salute. “Sir, with the lockdown today we’ve been on a heightened security alert.”

Buck nodded. “I understand. I didn’t tell her about the precautions. All she knew was to pick me up here.”

The guard’s shoulders relaxed a bit, and he took a half-step back. “That’s fine. We were just-”

“Doing your jobs. I understand.” And he did.

Security was important.

Lives on a military base were also under threat. The great job that the military did in protecting bases around the world meant that the danger was minimal usually, but there were still times when it was necessary to be more stringent in their duties.