Crash & Burn

[Cassie Granger 0]

Crash & Burn

 

"Can it, Granger! You got your head so far up your backside it's comin' out the other end!" The rest her DI said didn't bear repeating in polite company... or impolite company, for that matter. But it sure as hell played back in her mind as Captain Calestorm purposely ignored her in the conference room. What the hell was she on this bucket for, anyway?

 

"You know how close you are to crash and burn, Recruit?" His face was so close she tried not to breathe, remnants of his garlic and onion snack rank on the air. "Drop and give me fifty and then through the course five times before I kick your ass across the sector and back again!"

 

Cass repeatedly clenched her jaw to shake off the memory, but she couldn't shake the feeling. Here she had the Crash, and she was -that- close to burn. So she stood behind the conference table, clenching... clenching... clenching..., her gut fairly bursting as the good Captain Calestorm poignantly ignored her.

 

"Granger?"

 

Her attention jerked toward the commander. Only then did she realize the Orion second had been watching her the whole time, probably taking in her reaction with inward glee. So she canned it and did the best she could to make her point. Point made, she still didn't feel much better.

 

Then came the burn, and a well-deserved one at that. She'd made a stupid call, one that could have cost the lives of the team. The captain had cause to ream her out, and more. Hell, if someone had pulled a stupid like that on her watch, she'd have 'em on a pike with no quarter. But not Calestorm. She had better things in mind.

 

Clamoring up one of the steepest inclines on Neural, hill tribesmen behind her, Cass had been tasked with what the captain called "evasive maneuvers." How to hide, how to hit and run, where to go, where not to go, gauging range and staying beyond it, spotting snipers - though a sniper using a flintlock was more than absurd, it was downright laughable.

 

Not so strangely, it involved a hell of a lot of PT. So her assignment was half training the hill tribe - following through with her idea voiced in the conference room - and half "Drop and give me fifty, then five times around the course, Recruit!"

 

But it worked. When she was finished with them she could truthfully say they were trained the best they could be under the circumstances. On top of that, she was worn out, down a few pounds, and not about to pull any more stupids.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Cassie Granger