Resurrection of Tita

CHAPTER 7 - THE TEST

"You are not serious about recruiting him."

"No no that is not going to happen. Look at him, just look... he is on his what....sixth beer?"

"He is drowning in alcohol."

"You going to bet the whole unit on this person?"

Riyya looked at her father with concern. She knows that he is under tremendous pressure and is doing everything he could for the unit. But he is making a huge gamble now. And the stakes are high, too high. It is the existence of the whole unit that he is gambling with.

"We are looking for a way to get our hands on that mecha. And recruiting him to our unit is the cheapest and only method we could afford now"

"I don't care if he is a killer or a psychopath. If he is a team player and could act like a soldier, then it is enough for me to take him in.

"We are not looking for a nice guy to marry off our daughters. We are looking for a guy that could keep his stand while facing the predators. He has prior experience in scouting with his late unit members. More importantly, he survived that means he has good instincts."

"I know you all are worried about him.....yeah and I also know that he is a killer. I am not waving away your concerns about his shady character."

Michael knows that his team is worried about Linns character. Hell, even he is worried about it. But he has no other choice.

Michael prayed in his mind that his team members would understand his predicament.

"But..but he could not be recruited. He is part of a wiped out team, you said it yourself." Riyya's voice gained strength as she reached the last sentence.

An existing member of a unit could not be recruited by another unit. This rule is established to avoid poaching of talents.

"Not unless he resigned." Commander Russo's voice is calm and steady as he already thought about the issue.

"And he gave his resignation letter to his wing commander last week."

"He want out of the military and scout unit."

After hearing what Russo said all of the team members felt like someone clutched their throat. They know what Russo is going to say next may not bode well for them.

"I and Michael already discussed the matter. It is the only way for us to get to that mecha with the funds in our hand"

"He is asking for 80000 daily ration coupons or 20000 premium ration coupons"

That statement put a hard line on everyone's face. They know even if they gather all the pennies in their possession, it won't be enough to meet the price.

Ration coupons are the currency inside the bunker. Before the cataclysm, the currency of the word was gold, a precious metal found in the earth's crust. It really doesn't have much use apart from its thermal and electrical conductivity. It is a very soft metal.

But what made it precious was it's rarity. Similarly after cataclysm food becomes the rarity. A meal coupon would give you three meals for a day from the bunker canteens. All the government officials and military personnel get their salary paid in meal coupons.

Premium coupons are a luxury in the bunker. They could be exchanged for a premium meal with real vegetables in it. Vegetables are a premium product inside the bunker. They are very costly. Since there is no sunlight, the plants had to be grown in artificial UV lighting in hydroponics chambers.

"Every one of you should chip in and as a new member of the team he should too, that is if he is recruited. This will reduce the cost of each share."

"Shared burden and shared risk. Hmmm ....I like it." Rogers sounded out from beside the wing commander as he could see the merit of the plan.

"His file is now withheld by his wing commander, if he passes the test his file will be transferred to our unit as an absorbed member from unit 235" Russo continued explaining the plan.

"And if he fails?" Stella asked the question that is in everyone's mind. So what if he fails then what will they do. Forget about the mecha?

"If he fails his resignation letter will be processed and he will get his wish. Out of the military. And unit 37 will be dissolved and absorbed by other units."

"All of you will be absorbed into different scouting groups according to the available slots. Riyya will be going to the metal corps along with her new unit." Russo answered. This answer, everyone expected it but no one wanted to hear it. It means the end of their unit.

"Excuse me, what is the test? What is the test you are talking about?" Riyya felt that it is the crux of the matter.

"Everything is arranged. It will start soon" Commander Russo said and sat deep into his chair as if making himself comfortable to watch the show that is about to go down.

The test.... The test that decides whether unit 37 gets a psychopath as their teammate. The test that decides whether they could get their own mecha.

He saw the guys he hired preparing themselves to take action. They are convicted people. Sentenced to jail for two years because of armed robbery and unlawful breaking into private property. He jumped them out of the jail with the help of an old friend in the police department. The same friend who gave him a copy of Linn's file.

The deal is they take a hit on the guy shown in the photo, if they could pull the job successfully their sentence will be reduced to one year. Russo could make that happen. He has friends in the police department, friends that owe him favor.

No maiming, no killing just a regular bar fight at the said place and time. A bar fight that the cops could ignore as a common occurrence.

Every member of the unit looked at each other, they could see the confusion in each other's face. They were not aware about the hiring of the hit team. Michael is the only one who has prior knowledge about today's plan. He kept his face straight not looking at his team.

He knows if he looks at them now he will be facing too many questions from them. Questions that he doesn't want to hear. Questions that he doesn't want to answer. To some extent he feels guilt inside him. He hadn't discussed the matter with his team before coming here today. He made the decision without their consent.

But he knew if he had told them before they would have downvoted it, Riyya in particular.

He feels guilt but no regrets. He will make the same decision again. Anything to keep his unit intact.