Army of One

2

End of week 3

Ethan hadn't let up on Emma one ounce. In fact, things only got worse.

During a locker inspection one afternoon, he got his first glimpse of 'that pansy, Gavin' from a photo she had taped to the inside. He regretted making that little discovery because now he had a face to associate with what he'd read in her letter. Oh, he'd tried not to think about that, but whenever his mind had a chance to drift or he was looking at her, the image filled his head. It aggravated him to no end that he didn't have a legitimate reason why it bothered him so much and the need to vent that spirit of vexation led him to misplace his anger by focusing it on the source... Emma. And unfortunately for her, this was happening with increasing frequency.

If things weren't bad enough from the stress he felt over his unmentionable thoughts about Emma, Kira had 'approached' him several times over the last two weeks in her own 'unique' way about getting together some night for drinks. It would have been all too easy to take her up on the offer, break the long bout of abstinence he'd imposed upon himself and get rid of some sexual frustration. But the last thing he needed was to catch something from her and have his dick rot off. She finally backed off two days ago much to his relief. It seemed when she couldn't seduce him she'd moved on to Elliot, who didn't put up a fight.

And just as surely as bad luck comes in threes, he also had a new Drill Sergeant added to his cadre, Sergeant Trent Jackson. He came from a sister unit and under mysterious circumstances. No one knew exactly why he'd been pulled out in the middle of his own cycle to be placed here, and Ethan felt uneasy about the whole ordeal. When he questioned his commanding officer, he was merely told that there were rumors that couldn't be proven, and Jackson's own commander had him transferred. Trent appeared to be a 'regular guy' who performed his duties flawlessly, but there was something about him that didn't sit right with Ethan from the moment they'd met. He hated that feeling just as much as not knowing why he'd been transferred so he decided to watch him, curious to see what, if any, odd behavior would clue him in.

In the meantime, he asked Grayson to see if there was anyone he could find that might be able to 'dig up' some dirt on Trent without being found out. After a couple days, Grayson came back with some disturbing news. A friend of a friend that used to work with him had this to say... 'Watch him around the females'.

"The guy didn't want to say anything more, but after I bought him three more beers he was singing like a lark. Check this, Ethan, apparently Trent fancies himself a sly enough playboy that he 'may' have entered into a sexual relationship with one or more recruits under his care. Seems he has a knack for always having an alibi that CAN be confirmed, which was why he was transferred here."

They found all this out only after they'd already heard him make a handful of casual comments about their own female soldiers. They hadn't thought much of it at the time because they were so few and far from being blatantly lewd. Now that they knew, however, Ethan and a few select of his most trusted staff watched him like a hawk, particularly because Emma happened to be the main subject of those comments. He felt like he needed to watch her more often too, fearful she was the slime-ball's target and that he might decide not to give up on his more than illegal behavior. If anyone caught anything that could be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, Trent was gone; Ethan would make sure of it.

oOo oOo oOo

At the chow hall, Emma sat across from Amanda, pushing her food around her plate.

"I swear if I have to swallow another bite of this rubbery substance they call cheese I'll puke. I've gained so much weight I feel like a cow and he STILL won't back off from making me eat all this fattening junk. I may as well tape it to my thighs."