The Recruit: A Jack Noble Short Story Read online

  “What the hell did you just call me, Noble?”

  “You heard me.”

  Kaszlaski held his position. The other two D.I.s started moving out to surround me. One slipped past my peripheral vision and the other stopped at the edge of it.

  “You don’t want to do this,” I said, moving a few feet away from the wall.

  “This is even better,” Kaszlaski said, his face breaking into a smile. “You see, we found the two of you,” he pointed at Bear and I, “outside fighting. You wouldn’t stop. So we had to get involved, and once we did, you two started swinging at us. We had no choice but to fight back.”

  I said nothing. Didn’t move.

  “Yeah, now you’re not getting rolled. You’re getting court marshaled.” He looked toward the other two D.I.s. “Hit each other a couple times. Make it look like we got into it with them.”

  Bear quietly got to his feet. Looked over at me. Nodded.

  Kaszlaski must have spotted my slight nod back. He swung his arm and caught Bear on the side of the head. Followed it up with a blow of his fist.

  The other D.I.s were busy trading blows to make it look like we attacked them.

  I decided to make my move. I moved toward Kaszlaski. He squared up to face me, his arm drawn back, waiting to swing at me with the weapon clutched tightly in his hand. I led with my head and waited for him to bring his arm down. I ducked, slipped to the side, and came up next to him. Delivered a blow to his back, just under his ribs. His body twisted and he dropped his weapon. I grabbed the back of his head and slammed my knee into his face.

  Kaszlaski grunted and went limp.

  The other two D.I.s stopped trading blows and ran over.

  I glanced at Bear. He struggled to get to his feet.

  The D.I.s split up. One headed toward Bear. I tried to land a blow on him, but the second D.I. tackled me. We hit the ground hard with him ending up on my back. I felt my head and neck pulled back as he wrapped his arm around me in a choke hold. I watched as the other D.I. stood over Bear, kicking him in the chest and head. The big man swayed on his knees.

  I reached up and found the face of my attacker, pressing my thumb into his eye. It didn’t take long for his grip on my neck to loosen and I managed to swing him over my shoulder. I scrambled to my feet and lunged at the man standing over Bear. My shoulder connected with his midsection and I lifted him into the air and then slammed him into the ground. A few feet away I spotted the weapon Kaszlaski had used on Bear. A black, hard rubber sap, or blackjack as it is more commonly referred to. I scooped it up and got to my feet, my back against the concrete wall of the barracks.

  Bear used the wall to get to his feet. Blood ran down his face from an open wound on his forehead.

  Kaszlaski and the other two drill instructors grouped up.

  We faced off like gunmen at the OK Corral.

  I looked over at Bear. He turned and met my stare. A wicked smile crept across his face and he nodded.

  Kaszlaski and the D.I. to his left moved toward Bear. The other D.I. came toward me. I charged Kaszlaski and swung the sap, hitting him in the abdomen. He dropped to the ground in a ball. His buddies followed suit quickly. We stood over their limp bodies like triumphant gladiators.

  I turned to Bear. “You OK?”

  He nodded. “Sorry, Jack. I misjudged you.”

  I shrugged. Said nothing.

  “You had nothing to gain by helping me out here.” He held out his hand. “I got your back now.”

  I shook his hand, nodded. “We should get inside.” I started to toward the stretch of grass between the barracks. “Got a feeling we’re going to be visited very soon.”

  ***

  We cleaned up and sat on Bear’s rack, waiting in silence for the MPs to arrive. It took longer than I expected, but once they entered the barracks, it went exactly as I expected.

  “Noble, Logan,” a voice called from outside the barracks. “On your feet.”

  We stood in the empty space between the two long rows of racks where our platoon slept. The lights flicked on. Groans erupted throughout the room. By this point in recruit training, we were well aware of how long our seven hours of nightly sleep lasted.

  The MPs entered, handcuffed us, and led us out of the barracks. We were marched across base. Four in the morning and it was shaping up to be another scorcher. The air was still and thick. My bound arms prevented me from wiping the sweat from my brow. It ran down my face and burned the cuts and scrapes from the two fights. I looked up at the sliver of moonlight light penetrating through silver clouds.

  “Stop here, recruits,” the lead MP said.

  We stopped. I looked over at Bear. He shook his head.

  The MP walked out of earshot with his handheld radio.

  “What you think they’re gonna do with us?” Bear asked.

  I shrugged. “Promotion?”

  Bear laughed. “Stop messing around. We’re in deep shit, Jack.”

  “Guess we’ll find out.” I nodded toward the MP walking toward us.

  “Let’s go, recruits.”

  We continued and stopped in front of the main administrative building. It looked dark and deserted from the outside. The MP led us into the lobby. Another MP met us halfway, led us to an interior set of doors and unlocked them.

  “What’s back here?” Bear said.

  I shook my head. I had no clue.

  They led us through a maze of halls. We stopped in front of a glass walled office. On the door was a sign that said Brig. Gen. Keller, Parris Island’s Commanding Officer.

  “Sit,” the MP said.

  We sat on a bench, arms cuffed behind us, and waited.

  “We’re in deep shit, Bear,” I said.

  He laughed.

  “Shut up, recruits,” the MP said. The short bastard had the gumption to place his hand on his pistol as he said it.

  I sat back. Sighed. Looked down the hall and at the office across from us, but there wasn’t much to see.

  Lights flickered on and footsteps echoed through the hall.

  Brig. Gen. Keller appeared. He glanced at me, then Bear, then lifted his eyes up toward the MP. “See them to my office.” He turned and walked past us.

  “Get up,” the MP said.

  We stood and he let us into the office. He unlocked the handcuffs and removed them from our wrists. “Sit.”

  We did.

  He waited in the doorway.

  “That’ll be all, Corporal.” The glass door shut and Brig. Gen. Keller took his seat across from us.

  It sounded like Bear had stopped breathing. I looked over at him. Sweat covered his wide face, which had turned red.

  Keller looked down at the papers on his desk, sighed, and looked up at us. “Recruits,” he snatched the papers up and straightened them out by tapping them against the desk, “what the hell happened tonight?”

  I sat up straight. “Sir, we—”

  “Shut up, Noble,” he said. “Am I to believe that the two of you got up in the middle of the night, left your barracks, went behind the building and started fighting?”

  We said nothing.

  He stared at us for a moment, then reached into this pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “Smoke?”

  We both nodded.

  He lit three cigarettes, handed one to each of us, then took a long draw on his. He exhaled and sipped on his coffee. “Did either of you need coffee?”

  Bear nodded.

  “Yes, Sir,” I said.

  “Corporal,” Keller said.

  The MP opened the door.

  “Get these two some coffee.” He turned his attention back to us. “Kaszlaski’s a piece of shit.” He paused. Pointed at us. “Don’t quote me on that. But he is. He blamed this whole thing on you, Noble.”

  “Sir, with all due respect,” I said. “He’s a friggin liar.”

  Keller shook his head. “I know.” He leaned back in his chair. Took a long drag on his cigarette. “I served with your father and uncle, Jack. Know w
hat kind of men they were. Know the kind of man your dad raised you to be.”

  I nodded. Said nothing.

  “The news of your uncle's death hit me pretty hard,” Keller said.

  “Me too, Sir.”

  Keller smiled at me. “Was excited when I saw your name on the recruit list. Been watching over you, so to speak.”

  “How so?” I said.

  He continued without acknowledging my question. “Probably why Kaszlaski hated you so much. He certainly wasn’t doing it to make you a better Marine.”

  “What’s this got to do with me then?” Bear asked.

  “You just got in the way,” Keller said. “He must have figured of all the recruits, you were the one who could beat Jack down. He might have been right. He just didn’t know enough about Jack.”

  Keller winked.

  I smiled.

  “Got that right,” Bear said, rubbing his forehead.

  A knock at the door startled jarred three of us. The MP stepped in and placed two cups of coffee on the desk.

  Keller nodded at him and waited for the door to close. “I’ve got a problem now.” He leaned forward, placed his elbows on the desk and steepled his hands together. “I’ve got to figure out how to solve this problem without sending you two to court marshal and without pissing off my D.I.s. No matter what I say, most of them will believe Kaszlaski.”

  “So you know what happened tonight?” I said.

  “Yeah,” Keller said. “They attacked Bear. You stepped in to help him. Then the two of you kicked their asses.”

  The room fell silent, save for the occasional sips of coffee. Keller lit three more cigarettes. Handed one to each of us and then turned his attention back to the papers on his desk.

  “Does that have anything to do with us?” I asked.

  He nodded, his cigarette dangling from his mouth. The smoke wrapped around his head on its way to the ceiling.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “I don’t want to roll you guys back. You’re halfway through recruit training,” he paused, his fingers working against pronounced jaw muscles. “Makes no sense to put you through this again. You’re ready.”

  I leaned forward. “Sir, are you saying—”

  He waved me off. “But I can’t just graduate you. Not with this group, at least.”

  “The papers?” Bear said.

  “Yes, the papers. Someone wants me to loan them a couple of my Marines. Only, they don’t want Marines, not true Devil Dogs. They want a couple of promising recruits.” He shook his head. “Apparently they want to take what I’ve begun molding and shape it to what they want.” He grimaced and looked to the side.

  I looked at Bear. His eyes narrowed as he soaked in Keller’s words.

  “Who is it?” I asked. “Who wants us?”

  “Can’t say,” Keller said.

  “Why not?” Bear asked.

  “I’ve had my eye on you for this, Jack. Since you arrived.” He looked at Bear. “Turns out I have your perfect partner now.”

  I sat back in my chair and interlaced my fingers behind my head. Took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Don’t we have a say in this?”

  Keller looked at me. Cleared his throat as he fidgeted with the papers. “No.”

  “Just tell me who it is,” I said.

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  “NSA?”

  Keller said nothing.

  “DEA?”

  He chuckled.

  “CIA?”

  He cleared his throat. “Lt. Col. Abbot heads up our side of the operation. You are two are leaving at oh six hundred hours. You’ll be taken to Virginia, where you’ll be briefed by him and then begin your training.”

  “Langley?” I asked.

  “I honestly don’t know, Noble.”

  I turned to Bear. “What you think? Partners?”

  “Works for me,” Bear said.

  “We’re good to go, General.”

  Jack Noble Books

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  Noble Beginnings: A Jack Noble Novel (Jack Noble #1)

  A Deadly Distance (Jack Noble #2)

  Noble Intentions: Season Three (Episodes 11-15)

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  Never Go Home (Jack Noble #3): September, 2013

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