Free Wildcard by Kelly Mitchell

Forget about
me.”
    “No do. I stay, help die.”
    “I don’t need your help to die. Go.”
    “No you. Always stay if anything die. Indian
way, my tribe.”
    “What if more men arrive?”
    “No happen. I feel. You are no afraid die.
Why?”
    “Death is relative.”
    “Yes.” LuvRay thought so, too, but sensed
the Sergeant meant it in a different way.
    “I’ve set it up so that you can return to
the plane. Trident will pilot without me. Take this with you.” He
unclipped his wrist device. “Trident, initiate nanotic
decomposition on death.” He waved the wrist device over his body,
then handed it to LuvRay.
    “Ready to go boss,” Trident said.
    “I stay until you are die.”
    “No need. Please.”
    “Is not for you. Is for me. Must. I
learn.”
    “Suit yourself, but go soon.” The Sergeant
took his fingers away from the artery.

new boy
    The General scheduled the mission debrief a
few hours after LuvRay got back from America. RJ, LuvRay, and Karl
waited inside the briefing room. The General instructed them to
relax until he arrived. He walked in, the Sergeant at his side.
    “What?” Karl said.
    “That’s…but…” RJ said. “You died. You were a
grown man yesterday.”
    The Sergeant grinned. “Yeah. We probably
need to explain some things.”
    Karl was happy, although it unsettled him.
He had liked working with the Sergeant and was glad to see him
again, even if he looked like a teenage boy. He was older behind
the eyes.
    “Sergeant, voudriez vous mettre des verres
du brandy?”
    “Sir.” The Sergeant opened the wall slot,
pulled out five glasses and a bottle of brandy older than the
United States. He poured five short glasses, set one down in front
of the General. As he handed the glasses to the other men, he held
the glass until they made eye contact with him. Karl stood, took
the glass. LuvRay sat, accepting his with a slightly cocked
head.
    This was not a boy, though he looked like
one. He moved slowly, mastering the pace of the situation, proving
that the young body was not a weakening factor. It was not an act
of machismo. He was reestablishing command. He seemed more
dangerous than the previous Sergeant, able to deceive people into
thinking he was not capable if he wanted.
    “Felications, messieurs, the mission was
excellent. You have transferred the files to Juniper and we should
begin to see results within a few days.” The General raised his
glass in a toast.
    “We will tell you what this is and why,” the
Sergeant said, referring to his younger body. “First, though, I
want to congratulate you on the mission. Aside from the death of
S-1, it was a complete success.”
    “Something was wrong that mission,” said
Karl.
    “Agree.” LuvRay nodded his head slowly.
    “You didn’t need us,” Karl said.
    “No, I didn’t.” The young Sergeant corrected
himself, “He didn’t need you, I mean. He told me why, though. It
was to build the team. The General didn’t want to, it was risky and
would have been much simpler for him to do it alone. He died
because of it. Trident?”
    “We believe something detected your presence
at IKG Psinetics. It knew you were not the threat by the data you
took. It communicated, we don’t know how, with the encased facility
in Wyoming. The man arrived on the scene, and killed the
Sergeant.”
    “He included us just to make the team
stronger?” RJ asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
    “It will as you begin to understand the
greater mission,” the Sergeant said. “That was only the initial
phase. Now, another history lesson. I am a biopid.” He pronounced
it to rhyme with myopic. “So was S-1, so is the General, and so are
you, Karl.
    “A biopid is a genetically enhanced clone.
There are many variations and many things that can be done in this
arena. Many have been. The general public knows nothing of it. The
General was created to be a military mastermind. He was cloned from
Napoleon. I was created to be the perfect soldier. RJ, you,