Sharp Shooter

The Things We Bleieve In

Sure. I was able to get to sleep. Never really had a problem with that. Staying asleep? That was a different matter all together. I still had Raji on my mind more than anything else. Mom and Dad had punched a hole into me that I wasn't sure I could recover from, but Raji...he was a different story. I KNEW I wasn't going to come back from that one. I had known him since I was old enough to remember. The two of us used to get in and out of so much trouble together. He used to stay at our house a lot and Dad would tell old stories about dragons in the Centuries and Eons past. Raji always thought it was so cool that we were Anthro dragons and used to tell me that he secretly wished he could be one. I would always tell him that he would have to relearn how to control his body with the wings, tail and the fire, but he always laughed in my face and said he didn't care. I guess he sort of got his wish when the KA captured him and turned him into a Hellhound. Maybe it was just me, but he seemed as though he was ready to go meet God. Raji and I had our fair share of disagreements over religious matters, my family was christian and his was Islamic, but I never question what he believed in. Regardless of which one of us was right, I knew there was no way Raji was going to meet Satan, this was a kid who felt guilty if squished a bug by mistake, at least I had the assurance that he was in a better place.

I sighed as I sat up and looked at the clock above our door way.

"2:30 AM"

I sighed and whispered to myself, "no way I'm getting back to sleep, may as well look through the files."

I carefully climbed over my sleeping mate and got dressed. I grabbed my rifle and the files before I exited my room. The corridor was dimly lit by single bulbs spaced six feet apart, every other bulb was off. I could hear faint chatter above us, suggesting that there were still a few people awake, even at this time of night. I walked down the hallway until I made the stair well. There was a sign posted to the metal wall that read.

"Cafeteria, Lounge, Barracks, 1F, 2F, 4F Lab, Hangar, Captain's Quarters. Situation room."

I started up the stair well until I made the floor where the Captain's Quarters were and flagged down the XO, who looked like he was fresh out of the shower.

"Hey XO", I asked walking up.

"Yes Specialist?", he asked.

"Is Captain Chandler still awake?", I asked, "I wanna talk to him."

"Yeah", the XO said, "he's right down the hall in his quarters."

"Thank you sir", I said walking past him.

I walked down the hall and found and open wooden door. Just inside was a well furnished, well lit room. There was a bookshelf in the back of the room and the floor was covered in red carpet. There was a oak table in the middle with four chairs around it and a desk with a Windows 13 computer sitting on it. In the back was a small bed, a couch with a coffee table and a large flat screen Captain Chandler was sitting at the table in a blue tank top and tan shorts eating a slice of pizza and he had his tags around his neck.

I knocked on the door.

"Captain Chandler?", I asked.

He looked up, "Specialist Raziel. What are you doing awake son? Call time isn't for three more hours."

"I couldn't sleep sir", I said leaning in the doorway.

"Your friend's death?", he asked.

"How did you...", I started but he stopped me.

"Nothing happens on the Texas without my hearing of it", he said, "come in Specialist."

I stepped inside the room.