Free Watching Yute by Joseph Picard

military
installation? I’d have to agree there. First names all the time,
for one thing.”
    “ It’s… it’s not just that.
That’s no big deal. I guess it’s nothing really, I guess I’m just
going to enjoy getting back to the rest of the world.”
    Cassidy wrote it off at that, but a
thought crossed her mind that provided opportunity for a dumb joke.
“Is it the ghost of the statue? OoooOOOOoooh...”
    Eliot coughed, and looked at Cassidy
with a surprised expression. “Well…! Now that you mention it. It’s
that, partly.”
    “ Oh, come on, you don’t take
that seriously? Marcus really seemed to like the story and
all..”
    “ Oh no, Cassidy. Make no
mistake. It’s real. I have no cause to think it's bad or anything
but it’s there.” He suddenly sounded more like an aging teacher
than a soldier.
    “ What….?” Cassidy paused.
“You’ve seen it? Must be one damn big ghost.”
    Eliot sighed. “It’s not important.
You’ll know what I mean eventually. You don’t see it. You feel it.
Sometimes when you’re in front of the statue, sometimes other
places.”
    Cassidy tried not to sound belittling.
“Well, Marcus said it likes our company.”
    Eliot looked at the floor and nodded.
“I suppose it does. It just… creeps me out. I kind of wish it would
just speak up for itself.”
    Unsure of what else to say about it,
Cassidy left it at that. The rest of the flight went with very
little conversation. They landed at Yute central, and started
getting off.
    “ Well, I guess this is
goodbye, Eliot!’
    Eliot smirked. “Good luck, Leftenent!
Don’t forget we’re back in the land of ranks, here!”

    Cassidy strolled her old turf on the
way to the office. It hadn’t been long since she’d been here, but
somehow, it felt unfamiliar. Not so far as to say ‘hostile’…. But
it didn’t feel right. Why was that?
    She checked in to find out where this
hearing was. “Canceled?”
    “ Yeah,” the clerk said,
leafing across a couple sheets for the day’s activity. “He gave a
guilty plea. They don’t need you anymore.”
    “ What... So I flew out here
for nothing. Nobody figured to call me? Or my C.O.?”
    “ Sorry, Sir. I don’t know
what happened, I just got on. Maybe the news reached the office
while you were airborne?”
    Cassidy huffed. Well, maybe she’d go
see how McKinney was surviving without her.
    “ Sir?” The clerk said,
grabbing Cassidy’s attention before she left, “You’re Leftenent
Cassidy Stanton?”
    “ Yeah?” She found herself
feeling a little defensive. Somehow, the clerk seemed... off.
Something about him agitated her for some reason. The whole base
was a little agitating. Were the walls always this annoying shade
of grey?
    “ Well, if you can hang on a
sec, I think I have something for you. It was going to be sent out
to you in a couple days, but as long as you’re here…”
    Cassidy nodded, dismissing the clerk to
run off into the back room. In the back of her mind, Cassidy
suspected the truth, but didn’t want to be right. So she stood
there, denying the thought until the box was put down in front of
her. As she signed for it, she stared at the return address. It was
from Brandy.
    It didn’t look like roses. She ripped
the corner of the tape, and opened it up. It was filled with the
stuff she used to have at Brandy’s. Clothes mostly. A bracelet she
had given Brandy once. And a letter.
    She couldn’t face this now. Part of her
just wanted to burn the whole box, but serenity prevailed for the
time being. She sighed, closed the box, and stowed it under her
arm. Suck it up, go say hi to McKinney, and go home.
    It was around shift change, so she felt
she had a good chance catching him at his locker. As she walked
there with her box full of rejection under her arm, the
uncomfortable feel of the central base crept up on her again. She
found McKinney easily enough.

    “ Hey, stranger.” Only as she
said it, did she realize how true it felt. She’d never been