Perifidy

Chapter Twenty-Six: Building Up

1000 Hours

March 17th, 2018

Herefordshire, England

Hereford Base, Woman's Dormitory

          Kade stood outside of Dokkaebi's door, facing somewhat of a predicament. He wanted to meet with her to discuss the intel breach Kali had hinted at in their conference call. The only problem was the pair of boots sitting just outside the door. They were most definitely William's, the greenest recruit on Rainbow squad. The humble southerner had ingratiated himself quickly with the squad. Even quicker with Dokkaebi by the looks of things. Kade sighed. He wished he'd brough Ela along, but Zofia had invited her to a "family breakfast." He'd been invited of course, but still had far too much on his plate for the day to attend. With reluctance he knocked on the door. No response. He knocked a little harder, sudden shuffling and hushed voices coming from inside. He almost felt like a LT checking on dorms filled with privates again. The door opened, a very disheveled Dokkaebi opening the door partially. Her blurry eyes instantly came into focus when she realized it was Kade standing at her door.

"I-um-good-what can I do for you, Doctor Summers?" she said, her desperate attempt at sounding normal failing utterly.

"I was hoping to have a meeting with you. I apologize for the sudden intrusion. I can come back another time if necessary, but I must stress this matter is quite important," Kade said, holding back a laugh as her desperation was plain on her face.

"Aw to hell with it, Grace. I accidentally left my boots outside last night and there's no way Doc Summers doesn't know," a voice from the back of the room called. William was picking up fast. Dokkaebi looked down at Will's boots then back at Kade. The jig was most certainly up. "I'll meet you in the common room, Grace," Kade said, a knowing smile on his face as he left Dokkaebi standing in the doorway, red-faced and embarrassed.

He hadn't waited five minutes when she emerged from the hall of dorm rooms. She wore a simple yet stylish, white, collared, fuzzy sweater with black athletic pants. Her signature beanie still covered her eccentrically black and white hair. She had her tablet in one hand and fidgeted with her bands with the other.

"Hi. How are you?" she asked. Kade could see her attempts to shift the focus away from the embarrassing situation and decided he wouldn't tease her about it. He'd save that for the next time he saw William.

"Well. This discussion may take a while. Is there a place we can go you'd feel most comfortable?" Dokkaebi walked past Kade,

"Follow me, Doctor. I have just the place."

She'd brought them to the base's library, a place Kade had surprisingly little time to visit up until now.

"So, what did you need, Doctor?"

"As you may have heard, I had a conference call with Kali yesterday. It was amicable, but she mentioned getting ahold of information in my file, information she shouldn't have been able to get to. I wanted to give you a heads up, as well as what are options are to make sure a leak like that doesn't happen again," Kade explained. Dokkaebi nodded slowly, immediately bringing up her tablet and tapping away. She was a gem when it came to her prowess with technology, and she knew it. It was her passion that had elevated her career and proved her worth to her superiors. Like many things in life, her skill was a double-edged sword. She didn't fit will in between the lines and the military was often unsuited to those unwilling to conform. Rainbow was different, only know there were so many egos in the place it could be stifling to most. Especially one as talented as she.

"Hm. Well that is embarrassing," Dokkaebi suddenly said. Kade raised his eyebrow.

"What?" She chuckled, almost to herself.