Team Building with Jack Landors (SPD, A Squad, #16, K+)
characters: SPD’s A Squad (Cruger)
prompt #16: king
word count: 850
rating: K+
summary: "Cadet. Is everyone on this base unhinged?"
Team Building with Jack Landors (king)
by Starhawk
The way he saw it, there were two possibilities: either everyone on the base had gone completely insane, or he had unknowingly crossed into an alternate dimension on his way back from Galaxy Command. It probably said something about his history that he thought either was equally likely. Both were more plausible than what was currently masquerading as SOP at SPD Earth.
He had nominally left Jack in charge. He had expected Kat to keep an eye on him. He hadn’t expected Sky Tate to take over, and something that once would have filled him with a deep satisfaction now left him feeling vaguely unsettled. Jack had been the face of SPD for so long, he told himself; it was natural to question his absence.
If it had only been that, though, if Jack had quit or simply vanished, he wouldn’t have been so surprised. It was Jack, after all. But Kat was gone too, which alarmed him on any number of levels, and neither of them were answering their morphers. No one else on base seemed worried, and that was indicative of an alternate dimension right there.
The first argument for widespread insanity came in the form of messages left for him while he had been away. Collins had submitted a transfer order for Kat, authorized by Jack Landors, with the explanation: Dr. Manx has been requested by the head of the Mexico base. Since Cruger wasn’t aware of the existence of any Mexico base, he could only stare at the orders to follow: Dr. Manx requests Jack Landors’ presence at the Mexico base. Authorized by Schuyler Tate.
There was a separate and hopefully unrelated notification from Drew’s parents, who wanted permission to sponsor a New Years party for their children on SPD grounds. That they put Sky’s name in the private communication was not unusual: Kylee Drew was a powerful woman, and she had supported both Catherine and Sky after her ex-husband’s death. What was unusual was that Jack’s name was listed right alongside Syd’s and Sky’s.
If they had been married in the last 24 hours, he thought irritably, he was demoting one of them. He didn’t care what the tradition was with promotions. He hadn’t gotten any notice, and the day Kylee Drew knew something about his cadets before he did--
He made an executive decision to ignore the rest of the messages. The way things were going, he didn’t want to know. At least with a serious cadet in charge of the base, he should be able to get a real report. Maybe it would tip the balance toward one quasi-plausible explanation over the other.
He harbored this delusion right up until he found Sky huddled in the B Wing lounge, arms around Charlie Carrera and a baleful glare for anyone who interrupted them. He didn’t consider himself someone who was intimidated by glares, but the shock of Tate and Carrera together was enough to give him pause. Mass insanity? Or alternate dimension? Who knew?
Unfortunately, the answer to that question was usually Kat. Who was at a base that didn’t exist, with the one cadet who, appropriately enough, also didn’t exist. Which meant that the next best place to turn for answers was either Sky, who was “busy,” or Dr. Felix, who was annoying. Or Collins, who frankly terrified him.
Before he could make a decision, he was ambushed by B Wing’s newest member in the hallway. “Sir,” Dan said crisply, snapping to attention. In Cruger’s experience, such formality was atypical of B Squad and usually meant that they had done something wrong. “Cadet Drew dared me to ask you what you think of my nail polish, sir!”
He stared at B Squad Green, who slouched into a decidedly non-military posture: one hand on his hip, the other extended to display what looked like perfectly ordinary human nails. Maybe a little pinker than usual. “Cadet,” he snapped, about to dismiss him.
Then he changed his mind. They messed with his head; he could mess with theirs. “Is everyone on this base unhinged?” he demanded.
“Sir!” Dan replied, saluting. “I think that’s a distinct possibility, sir!”
“Or,” he continued, “am I in some sort of alternate dimension?”
“Sir, I personally find that less likely,” B Squad Green informed him. “Sir!”
He was aware that he was setting himself up for something. He just wasn’t sure what. “And why is that, Cadet?”
“Because blaming your environment is kind of a copout, sir,” Dan replied. “Believe me, my parents hear it to this day.”
He had no idea what they were talking about anymore. And wasn’t that just the way his day was going. He decided to try the direct approach. “Where is Cadet Landors?”
“Mexico, sir. With Dr. Manx.”
“And what is Dr. Manx doing in Mexico?” he growled, frustrated beyond reason.
“I don’t know, sir.” He wasn’t an expert at human expressions, so it might have been his own paranoia that made him think Dan sounded vaguely amused.
Would the mass insanity explanation, he wondered, necessarily include him? In the absence of any evidence one way or the other, he should probably go with the alternate dimension, just in case. He was clearly the only rational person on this base.
prompt #16: king
word count: 850
rating: K+
summary: "Cadet. Is everyone on this base unhinged?"
Team Building with Jack Landors (king)
by Starhawk
The way he saw it, there were two possibilities: either everyone on the base had gone completely insane, or he had unknowingly crossed into an alternate dimension on his way back from Galaxy Command. It probably said something about his history that he thought either was equally likely. Both were more plausible than what was currently masquerading as SOP at SPD Earth.
He had nominally left Jack in charge. He had expected Kat to keep an eye on him. He hadn’t expected Sky Tate to take over, and something that once would have filled him with a deep satisfaction now left him feeling vaguely unsettled. Jack had been the face of SPD for so long, he told himself; it was natural to question his absence.
If it had only been that, though, if Jack had quit or simply vanished, he wouldn’t have been so surprised. It was Jack, after all. But Kat was gone too, which alarmed him on any number of levels, and neither of them were answering their morphers. No one else on base seemed worried, and that was indicative of an alternate dimension right there.
The first argument for widespread insanity came in the form of messages left for him while he had been away. Collins had submitted a transfer order for Kat, authorized by Jack Landors, with the explanation: Dr. Manx has been requested by the head of the Mexico base. Since Cruger wasn’t aware of the existence of any Mexico base, he could only stare at the orders to follow: Dr. Manx requests Jack Landors’ presence at the Mexico base. Authorized by Schuyler Tate.
There was a separate and hopefully unrelated notification from Drew’s parents, who wanted permission to sponsor a New Years party for their children on SPD grounds. That they put Sky’s name in the private communication was not unusual: Kylee Drew was a powerful woman, and she had supported both Catherine and Sky after her ex-husband’s death. What was unusual was that Jack’s name was listed right alongside Syd’s and Sky’s.
If they had been married in the last 24 hours, he thought irritably, he was demoting one of them. He didn’t care what the tradition was with promotions. He hadn’t gotten any notice, and the day Kylee Drew knew something about his cadets before he did--
He made an executive decision to ignore the rest of the messages. The way things were going, he didn’t want to know. At least with a serious cadet in charge of the base, he should be able to get a real report. Maybe it would tip the balance toward one quasi-plausible explanation over the other.
He harbored this delusion right up until he found Sky huddled in the B Wing lounge, arms around Charlie Carrera and a baleful glare for anyone who interrupted them. He didn’t consider himself someone who was intimidated by glares, but the shock of Tate and Carrera together was enough to give him pause. Mass insanity? Or alternate dimension? Who knew?
Unfortunately, the answer to that question was usually Kat. Who was at a base that didn’t exist, with the one cadet who, appropriately enough, also didn’t exist. Which meant that the next best place to turn for answers was either Sky, who was “busy,” or Dr. Felix, who was annoying. Or Collins, who frankly terrified him.
Before he could make a decision, he was ambushed by B Wing’s newest member in the hallway. “Sir,” Dan said crisply, snapping to attention. In Cruger’s experience, such formality was atypical of B Squad and usually meant that they had done something wrong. “Cadet Drew dared me to ask you what you think of my nail polish, sir!”
He stared at B Squad Green, who slouched into a decidedly non-military posture: one hand on his hip, the other extended to display what looked like perfectly ordinary human nails. Maybe a little pinker than usual. “Cadet,” he snapped, about to dismiss him.
Then he changed his mind. They messed with his head; he could mess with theirs. “Is everyone on this base unhinged?” he demanded.
“Sir!” Dan replied, saluting. “I think that’s a distinct possibility, sir!”
“Or,” he continued, “am I in some sort of alternate dimension?”
“Sir, I personally find that less likely,” B Squad Green informed him. “Sir!”
He was aware that he was setting himself up for something. He just wasn’t sure what. “And why is that, Cadet?”
“Because blaming your environment is kind of a copout, sir,” Dan replied. “Believe me, my parents hear it to this day.”
He had no idea what they were talking about anymore. And wasn’t that just the way his day was going. He decided to try the direct approach. “Where is Cadet Landors?”
“Mexico, sir. With Dr. Manx.”
“And what is Dr. Manx doing in Mexico?” he growled, frustrated beyond reason.
“I don’t know, sir.” He wasn’t an expert at human expressions, so it might have been his own paranoia that made him think Dan sounded vaguely amused.
Would the mass insanity explanation, he wondered, necessarily include him? In the absence of any evidence one way or the other, he should probably go with the alternate dimension, just in case. He was clearly the only rational person on this base.