A New Era

Chapter 5

The group went to a tent right in the middle of the clearing. A green haired woman saw them entering and disappeared to the back of the tent. Bill heard some clattering and then she came back carrying a tablet with coffee mugs and a very very good smelling huge pot of coffee. Bill immediately felt a bit salivating. He loved coffee, it was one of his traits. His staff always laughed when he was grumpy because he hadn't his coffee.

A mug full with the liquid from heaven was passed to him and everybody sat down. Bill looked around, shrugged with his shoulders and sat down at the floor like the others. He wasn't picky with his places to sit.

Rebecca looked at him intently. He felt like he was weighed and may pass - or not. Finally she smiled. "Welcome to the team, General Bill Chaplain." she said and it felt like an official welcome.

Bill cocked an eyebrow. "We'll see. All I know about you is what our secret service told us. Which wasn't too much. Your lines are pretty tight." He heard a light chuckling from the dragon behind him and smiled himself. It was almost funny how the almighty services pissed themselves because even they didn't see that coming. They had no clue that something like "supernaturals" even exist. Some heads already rolled, in one case literally. And more would roll, he was pretty sure of that.

Rebeccas smile broadened. "So, then ask and you shall get an answer." she stated. Bill sighed. "Where to start?" he thought a bit but decided to go with the most obvious one. "Okay, let's sort this. I got a little message at my doorstep that the human government was planning to rain nukes over the areas where they thought supernaturals were hiding. How come that you knew so much earlier than me? I am a high ranked General, I should've known this." Rebeccas smile was now a fine one. "And what would you have done, my dear General?"

Bill sighed. "Trying to talk them out of it, of course. No, not trying. Doing." Rebecca shook her head. "You really don't know it, do you?" she asked him. Bill cocked his head. "What?" The red haired woman nodded in Yanniks direction, who got up and fetched a thick file out of a box. He passed it to Bill who started to read. For a long time there was silence in the tent, while Bill skimmed through his personal Service file. He had no clue where they got it from, but he knew it was the real document. It summed his life up to every point. And he was shocked how detailed it was.

Rebecca cleared her throat. "The last two pages are the important ones." she decleared, indicating that she read the file thoroughly. He opened the pages and stiffened. In sober words there was his killing blow not only to his career but to his freedom also and maybe his life. The Service Informations clearly stated that he wouldn't carry the decision to nuke the homeland to get rid of the Supernaturals and that he would change sides as soon as he realized that he can't change this decision. He was declared a security risk and a potential traitor, illoyal to the government.

Which no longer served the people but itself.

Slowly he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge between his eyes. He could felt a headache coming. He smiled tiredly at Rebecca who gave him the space he needed to process everything. "My family. What about them? They can take them as hostages." he said anxiously. Rebecca shook her head. "Already taken care of, your family is in one of our inner sanctuaries. No threat can reach them there. I promise this. Those places are our most protected places."

Bill knew he couldn't do much more than to trust the words of the woman in front of him. He stood up and went to the entrance of the tent, deep in thought. He thought of his men he tried to protect in all those wars. He thought of his family, who may or may not are staying in a safe haven. He thought of is friends, of his job, his staff members. And of his life long friend. The feeling of betrayal was that great he felt like suffocating. All the years, all the lives gone. For a man who was barely the caricature of the man he once was. Was he? At this point he started to doubt everything.