TO SERVE AND OBEY

Chapter 4

'You are kidding!' McDouall protests.

'I believe it was you that requested this training, Captain McDouall. Now get to it!'

'Yes ma'am,' he grits his teeth as he dives into the river.

Twenty five minutes later, Aleska completes the training session for the first team.

'Carry your sacks back to our starting position.' Again more collective grunts. They are soaking wet. Their legs feel like the sack of lead they need to haul down the steep bank.

'Dismissed ... till tomorrow,' she announces.

She picks up her own sack and leads the way down back to their camp site.

Aleska does not hear the heated debate being whispered behind her back.

'This was a waste of my time,' McDouall grumpily mumbles.

'Different from our own training methods,' Scott grins.

'I ache all over,' Harris moans.

'I still don't trust her. I swear I'll put my knife into her, the first sign I see of her disloyalty,' McDouall vows.

'You're over-reacting,' Harris shrugs off McDouall's threat.

'She's just a pain in the butt,' McDouall rants. 'She has not captured that drug cartel. All she likes doing is pulling rank and yapping orders. Do you know what I think? She has tipped them off, man! That's why they're still out there on the loose. Isn't she supposed to be the expert? Expert of this jungle and expert on profiling that drug lord! But we all know where her allegiance lies.'

'Cut the Major some slack John. She has a strategy,' Scott comes to Aleska's defence.

'The only strategy she has is to keep the cartel informed. She's not one of us. She's not human man! She is a cold hearted ---!'

McDouall does not get to complete his description. He was physically and violently hauled by the scruff of his collar and pinned against a tree.

'You watch what you say about an Officer, Captain!' The muscles cord at Stone's throat. 'I don't like your accusations and be advised they are ill-founded,' Stone's eyes are fierce with blazing anger.

'Yes sir. Sorry sir!' McDouall is embarassed. Stone's grip around his throat is tight. He is barely able to breathe. McDouall knows his colonel expressly does not tolerate dissention amongst the ranks.

'If you are not happy on this mission Captain, I can arrange for you to be transferred,' Stone loosens his grip, drops his hands and walks away.

'That won't necessary sir.' McDouall murmurs to Stone's back.

Later that afternoon, Aleska is sitting on the low river bank. It has become her favourite place. Water is gushing down the river, so vast like a little ocean. The intricate path the water cuts is like a maze. Once one embarks upon the river, there is no way out. One must continue until the end, where it joins the Atlantic.

As the sun climbs over the forest, the surface of the water becomes painted in shades of gold and blue. Huge branches of great Hyacinth trees are bowing towards the river's edge. Aleska is dismantling and wiping down her pistol. She hears footsteps behind her and looks over her shoulder. She raises an eyebrow questioningly.

'Permission to sit, Major,' Scott asks with a grin on his face.

'Granted,' she continues wiping down the barrel of her gun.

Scott sits down. He says nothing, neither does Aleska. She assembles her pistol again, slips it into her holster and starts the same process with her knives.