Birds of Prey

Chapter VII: Headquarters

Jyromir, Ukraine

Maya’s POV

I slowly closed the commander’s door after one hour of our great and mighty discussion. My decision was extremely spontaneous and impuslive but i couldn’t help it. He said he would give it some thought and then tell me his final answer. He also warned me about all the tests that I have to go through and all the additional paperwork. Half of me feels bad for wasting these people’s time but the other half says that it’s way better than being lost in some random city somewhere in Romania. If it was possible, then why not give it a shot? Who would have thought I, a bio-chemistry student who is forced by her parents to take over the family business, would become a soldier overseas? Well, not yet. I hope I’ll survive in this place 'cuz I ain’t got a plan C.

The commander sent me to get the captain because he wanted to have a word with him. Now this place looks like a combination of a hospital and a communist school. I don't think I'd be staying here for long anyway. Where the hell am I supposed to look first? Third floor, sixth room on my left. That’s what he said, right? If I knock on the wrong room I swear i’m gonna throw myself out of the closest window.

The hallways were full of american and ukranian soldiers who glanced at me like I had six legs. There are literally no women in the military? What about the short haired lady who bandaged my wounds in the helicopter? Is she a nurse or something ? This is a man-ruled world anyway but here I stand, walking on hallways swarming with male figures only. One more thing I should get used to.

Once I found the stairs and got to the third floor, the hallway seemed pretty clear. I guess most of them went down to eat to whatever cafeteria they might have here. If the captain is with them then I’m wasting time here but at least I did as I was told. I counted six rooms to my left and faced an old dark door with a "913" engraved on it. I inhaled deeply and knocked three times.

Silence. I leaned my head closer to the door to see if I can hear any movement. I knocked again. Still no response. Maybe If this floor wouldn't be so deserted I could ask soneone about him. I sighed and looked out on the big window behind me. There was the courtyard, benches and posts here and there and a couple of soldiers taking a stroll. They seemed pretty exhausted after everything that's been going on lately.

I turned around and raised my hand to knock again as if someone would magically appear behind that door but a voice at the end of the hall caught my attention.

"What do you want?" the captain asked as he was coming closer, being followed by the same black haired man from the helicopter, both now dressed more casual.

"Commander Hood sent me to get you. Said he wanted to have a word with you before the shutdown." I explained, trying to look confident. As he stepped closer, I could feel the strong distinguished aftershave smell around them. He let out an exhale and then gave the other man a small nod as a goodbye.

"Alright, come on now, how did you find my room?" he said in a bored tone.

"He told me where to find you"

"Fair enough" genius.

"But on my way here I figured out you might have gone to grab something to eat or something"

"I already did that. I was starving" I am starving as well but I don’t wanna go into a men-only restaurant right now. I would knot my bowels if that was humanly possible.

"So what did James say?" he questioned as we descended the last flight of stairs. With every step he took beside me I took in his impressive height that only made him more intimidating.

"He wanted to talk to you before his final decision" I believe he is a pretty important factor in the ecuation but I haven't thought it through yet.

"So you finally convinced him?"  Excuse me?

"Convince is a strong word, I prefer reasoning" I replied trying not to annoy him more than he's annoyed me by now.

"Same shit to me" we finally arrived back at the commander’s door.

"Wait here" he gestured to one of the chairs nearby for me to sit down. I didn’t have anything better to do so I just did as he asked.

He must be quite important since nothing here happens without him having the last word. Sounds like the commander's right hand man. Wait- I never got his name. His full name. A Turner something. Only his call sign- Hawk. Was it? I wonder where he got it from. I also wonder why is he wearing that half mask everytime. Is it from the cold, maybe? Most of the soldiers wear it to look more intimidating like in the movies but he surely doesn’t need it.

After a good couple of minutes, the office door opened and the captain stepped out, as he stared blankly at the celling and said with a big exhale.

"Congratulations, you’re in." His expression was something I couldn’t quite read and the mask made it even harder to. Was he dissapointed? Annoyed? Sick of me already? All from the above? "But be advised. There will be LOTS of paperwork for you so you’d better be worth it." Now that was extremely fast. I could believe what I was hearing. They- They accepted me! I wanted to smile and hug him only because he was the only person in sight but I didn’t. He was my superior now after all and it would have looked stupid.

"Let me show you around now so you don’t get lost around here. This isn’t our main base and we won’t stay here for long but still" I'm just hoping that back in America they have better conditions than... this place.

"Where is it then?" I questioned trying to make small talk and avoid the fact that I was on cloud nine as much as possible.

"Texas, America" it made more sense. They were americans after all. And they hated the cold.

"Here is our game room, well living room. Whatever you call it. We have something similar back at fort Hood but ours is more…" He opened a door to an empty bright room with a pingpong table and a small bar in the corner. Behind them were a sofa and two worn out cushion chairs facing an old tv.

"Used?" I suggested, peeking my head from behind his shoulder.

"Exactly" he turned off the lights and then took a few steps towards two big doors that he didn’t open. We heard indistinct chatter inside.

"This is the cafeteria. I don’t know their schedule or if it has one but they should be open 24/7 for a snack." Apparently there were people inside eating right now. "Now, James told me about some separate showers for you and Yun. By the way, Yun is the one who treated your wounds."

"There are no other women in the army?" It was my biggest curiosity and I’m not gonna let that slip again.

"At this moment, not really. Most of them retired or moved to the marines or the navy. Why you askin’? You wanna move too?"

"What? No, no, no. I don’t know it just seemed… odd. The military being male only seemed a little old fashioned for... people like you" his question caught me off guard since I just joined the military.

"People like me?" He asked, raising a brow.

"Advanced civilization"

"You sure did some research on the west, didn't you?"

"You could say that" I replied with a slight smile at his dry humour.

We walked a while and passed by a warm enough room to tell me that was the men’s showers. We arrived in front of an old steel door that looked ripped out of a science fiction movie.

"This is your bathroom, miss. Showers, sinks everything you want it’s in there including spare clothes. Hope they’ll fit ya cuz’ you’re pretty small." Was he sarcastic now or just being nice? How does 'nice' look on this man? Why is he so hard to read?

"Thanks… I guess I’ll just-« i hand gestured a 'imma keep going now' thing and he understood.

"Alright then, I’ll leave you to it. I’m gonna see if we can find a spare room for you, girl. Whenever you’re done just knock at my door, okay?" God, does he have a kink with nicknames?

"Yes sir. Wait-" he stopped in his tracks. "I never got your full name, sir" he let out a small low chuckleand said.

"Jacob, Jacob Turner. But for you it’s Hawk or captain for now."