Nova: Week Six
Prompt: “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle”
Warnings/Rating: PG for adult situations and language
Word Count: 468
Summary: Tensions with RedNation and the TRA remain high and Brynn worries about the effect on her own family
It was a good thing to have well-connected friends.
As a member of the Senate Armed services committee, Brynn received regular intelligence briefings on the latest trouble spots around the world.
But that didn’t tell the whole story. Although nominally under the purview of her committee and the joint Intelligence committee, the SCIA had long been reluctant to disclose the scope and nature of its various black ops. And that was a problem.
Mind you, Brynn wasn’t naïve about the world. Nor, despite her reputation as a left-wing icon, did she have an inherent problem with black ops, even including the take-out operations the SCIA was fond of.
But she did have a problem with dealing with the constant fall-out. And as selfish as it was, she didn’t want her baby marching through some god-forsaken jungle halfway across the world fighting the latest RedNational proxy.
That’s where C.B. and Quinn came in. Before his political career, C.B. had led the agency, albeit not for very long, but long enough to get additional intelligence briefings directly from the agency. Quinn, on the other hand, was still an active agent. She was largely behind a desk now, but she was able to give Brynn some of the finer points and inside scoops C.B.’s more formal updates left out.
That’s how she learned about the pending invasion.
She didn’t believe it at first. She even mocked C.B. - “If we’re going into Twikkii, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” she remembers snorted at him. General Grunt hadn’t mentioned ANYTHING about it at the last committee meeting. But the reports were clear. SCIA had been laying the groundwork for months and it was only a short time before the 2nd Infantry and 10th Armored would spearhead an attack with the expressed goal of capturing and executing Premier Lothario and eliminating as much of the TRA as possible.
Leaving aside her incredulity that the General would keep such an important campaign from the Committee, or that organizing such an invasion force while maintaining complete secrecy was even possible was a far more personal problem.
Pollux was set to be commissioned into the 2nd Infantry. Just in time for the invasion.
It was bad enough that the boy wanted to join the damn Army in the first place but she was damn sure he wasn’t going to be put in harm’s way. Not her only child.
Thankfully he hadn’t received his commission yet. She made a few calls, a few threats, and called in a few favors and had the commission changed. Pollux would be joining the 4th Infantry. The 4th wasn’t going anywhere near Twikkii. And best of all, Pollux would never know. Brynn knew he’d never forgive her. The fool still had this idea that war was glamorous.
Nobody made her their monkey’s uncle.