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Operation: Yukon
- Язык: en
- Формат: fb2
- Размер: 149.2 kB
- Жанр: боевая фантастика, ужасы и мистика
- Год печати: 2021
William Meikle
OPERATION: YUKON
- 1 -
So there I was, newly promoted Sergeant Wiggins but with no time to celebrate. We’d only been back at base a day when the Canadian distress call had us in transit faster than shite off a shovel. I had a plane to catch, a squad to get kitted out, a best man’s speech to write and, to cap it all, I found that my newly appointed corporal was a right tosser.
Let’s deal with the tosser first. The colonel passed him on to the cap who passed him on to me. I didn’t know anything about him beyond that he’d come up from Edinburgh that morning and that he’d done a recent tour of duty somewhere in the Middle East. It didn’t take me long to learn most of what I needed to know though. It wasn’t love at first sight. He had one of those supercilious grins that set my teeth on edge straight away, his handshake was too warm, too soft, and his first words to me in the locker room were, “Are those two privates going to give me any trouble? I’ve never worked with a darkie and a poof before.”
It took him a wee while to catch his breath after I’d smacked him against the wall a couple of times but at least I’d managed to wipe the smile from his face. He tried to say something but I had him by the throat and only a thin whistle came out, although his eyes told me he wasn’t particularly happy.
“Listen, lad,” I said. “This is my first day as full sergeant and you’re new here, so I’ll cut you some slack, just this once. Both of those privates have saved my life several times and I’ll put my arse on the line for them any day of the week. Davies is black because he was born that way, Wilko is gay for the same reason. But you’re a big-mouthed shite because nobody’s ever taught you any better. So this is me teaching you now. Disrespect those lads and you’re disrespecting the squad. I don’t stand for that. See this grip on your throat here? It could just as easily be your balls. This is your one and only warning. You hear me?”
He only nodded so I got in his face again although I released my grip on him just a tad.
“What did you say, Corporal Jennings? I didn’t hear you.”
“I hear you, Sergeant,” he replied. At least he had the balls to look me in the eye this time.
“Good lad,” I replied and patted his cheek none too softly. “The first round’s on you when we get back, and I’ll be having a double.”
I left him to it and headed for the stores where Wilko and Davies were waiting. Jennings followed me, keeping his distance behind which was just fine by me. I made sure everyone was kitted up—winter gear was what the cap had said, then we went through to the mess for some breakfast and a briefing. The cap kept it short, we all ate enough to fuel a small army, then it was down to Glasgow by chopper to catch our connecting flight to Canada.
Jennings at least had the sense to keep his mouth shut for most of the journey. He had a face on him like a skelped arse all the way though and he hardly spoke a word on the long, long flight out of Glasgow to Edmonton.
When I wasn’t trying to get some kip, I spent most of the flight playing three card brag with the lads. Neither Wilko or Davies mentioned the new corporal but neither paid him any attention either, which told me that they’d already had a run in with him and had already made up their minds as to his character.
As for Jennings, he was still quiet by the time we transferred to the shorter haul flight up into the Yukon. After that a chopper took us north over increasingly bleak landscapes and came down in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. The captain took me aside as we disembarked at what passed for an airstrip in these parts. There were no buildings apart from a small cabin that had a black SUV parked beside it with the keys in the ignition. There was no one around. Snow was already swirling around us in a stiff wind and the cap had to shout to be heard.
“Yon new lad’s a bit quiet,” he said. “Is everything okay?”
“He’ll speak when he’s got something useful to contribute,” I replied, and there must have been something in my voice for I got the