Chapter Five #3
I close my eyes and take a breath. “I’m trying to decide whether I should ask. I’m not asking. I need to eat before I’m on.” My feet move again.
“We have an hour and a half.” She’s good with time.
“Yeah, I need a shower and to dry my mop.” The mop takes forever. “Alder has us booked for the show later,” I explain.
She gets it and heads to the stairs.
§*§*§
Cruise ship
Hud
She was right. The wave sucked me in and my balance was off but moving my arm forward a few inches gave me a center that balanced my braced foot and weighted my other for turning the board.
The woman does everything like she knows exactly how it feels.
Her old-fashioned red suit with the silver outlined red arrow head that has a sword over a silver maple leaf on her right chest and hip made holding her eyes hard.
Once I was up and steady, she dropped out.
I missed getting a better look. On my way back for another run, she had the T and shorts that are standard issue covering that suit.
She wasn’t just army; she was elite and that does cover a lot more than army.
“You brace work.”
I smile at the little President that never misses anything. “Yeah, with the tips it worked great.”
“Tip for brace?”
I nod. “Moving my arm forward centered me so my other foot was navigating. The different way the pool works was helpful too.” I shrug. That covers all the tips she told him and me.
He freezes. “You autistic.”
Shit. I can’t lie to a President. I give a quick scan noting Citiali, Jordan and Stella here with Barber and Silva.
Fuck. “Not that I know for sure but Ranger’s said they’d test me.
I’m different and never talked much. I liked being a loner or joining in with what I liked doing.
They said probably Asperger’s but I never took a test.”
Alder nods once. Stella puts her hand out and Silva hands her money.
“Steve Knight is my uncle, he’s autistic too and sent to BUDS then a SEAL Satellite.
FBI had Alexia, she’s Webs ol’ lady. She’s got Asperger’s but now it’s just called autism spectrum, like that matters.
Her dad, the Director, let her go to the Ops office in Providence.
She was second to their top IT, a profiler and other shit I didn't pay attention too. She’s smarter than me about people.
She lived at Quantico for a few years and studied the agents.
The government is fuckin crazy but singular focus means you never forget the objective. Uncle Steve and Alexia don’t.”
She’s a Prince. “Knight from Mass?” I met Alexia with the babies on a ride I joined in with the Bits going back up to Phoenix.
She nods. “He was VP of the original Badass Chapter until my Uncle Ricky married his daughter Elizabeth. Now she’s VP and Ricky is President.”
Now I freeze. Ben and Elizabeth Knight, I say it seeing it on the tree.
It struck me when I saw it. Ben is POT in the north who started the Princes of Prophecy and put the first woman on his Security.
That was Stella’s mom. Ben Knight is Teller, his IT twin, Phoenix and the woman President, Aylen’s dad. Steve has an impressive line.
“He does, Brother, and his wife was Axe’s daughter. Let’s get in, the instructor is getting impatient.” Citiali gets me moving with a stutter step.
That’s really an impressive line. Knights are part of Thunderhawk and Blackhawk lines. Shaking it off, I hand the little President a small board that should work for him and take the board I just dropped on the rack. The Knights... Alder gets me out of my head.
“Tip to me?”
I look down. “Keep your shoes on. Stay low and do the coffee cup stance to help you navigate the board. When you pop up, I’ll move to your left flank and stay with you.”
He looks at me for a good ten seconds then nods once.
Jordan asks, “Why the shoes?”
“For me, so the brace won’t slip on the board. For Alder, he’s new to this and won’t know how to hold the board with his feet. He’s light and probably hasn’t been skiing or boarding.” I shrug.
He turns to Citiali. “Shoes or not.”
“I surf, so no. New to it, I would wear them for the same reasons LP should. Second time I’d lose the shoes; your feet will do the gripping naturally. First run is to learn how to pop up.”
Jordan loses the shoes; Stella keeps them on. Silva and Barber are on the wall and I see Moss at the end of it watching the stairway.
I paddle, noting how Alder mimics me before he moves up to my right side. I slow and paddle until he’s up, the LP is like the Charlie’s Angel and pops up on his second try without looking back. I push and stay on his left flank hearing his little giggle.
Stella and Jordan are up on the other side of the pool. “Boss Hud, picture to my Web.” Alder acting younger is cute.
“They had pictures in the brochure, from the front, it looked like.” Cruises have pictures for everything, like Disney. I’ll buy his for him. His Web is like his dad or older brother. Tats says he’s still like a kid with stuff like that. It is cute.
He turns toward me while his board is facing forward and it looks like he walks off the board more than falls. I dive right for him and lift him up, so glad I stayed close.
“I lifeguard certify.” He doesn’t sputter or even look like he was holding his breath.
I look up, then back at him. “I didn’t get a bio on you, I think even if I did, I’d pull you out. Why’d you walk off the board?”
“I go ask where picture…” He looks at the top of the wall where Security moved to see that he’s okay. “Boss Moss, ABSZ IT get drone for picture, I surf.”
Moss puts a thumb up and pulls his phone.
I shake my head. “Just get a drone here for all of them and the workings of the wave pool so he can build one.” He’s got a body cam on and Asa sent pics of the surf pool to Citiali, but I leave it alone.
Moss nods like he needs the direction. Silva pulls his phone out. Whatever.
Fuckin’ kids and seconds.