Page 11 of Subchief Flander

“Hel was exhausted, filthy, and smelled bad. We sent her to her quarters to clean up and rest. No one is to bother her until she comes out on her own.”

"I'll let her rest. I'm guessing the missions are on hold," Flander assumed.

“For now. Your squad will work at the new base assisting wherever you can.”

Flander was frustrated. He wanted to see Hel but was being sent off the ship. He wasn't sure what had happened, but from the look on Ranni’s face, he didn't believe her. Flander didn't believe her either. Maybe she was protecting someone, but they had kidnapped her, so why would she do that? He needed to talk to her to find out what was happening. Instead, he had to gather his squad and head to the new base.

He knew that he should look at it differently because at least he had her back, and his squad could move forward a little bit on the new base. His guys could do construction, which would help with the work on the apartment building they were putting in first. Everything else would stay in big tents until the apartment building was completed.

It was lunchtime, so rounding up the guys was no problem since they ate in the cafeteria. He got his food, then sat down and gave out the assignment and the fact that she had been found. Everyone was relieved because they were all friends on the squad. None of the guys seemed to mind going to the new base, which would make things easier. Flander didn't mention the story she had given or that he didn't believe it. They all finished their lunch and headed to the bay.

"Load up," Flander directed.

Once they were all onboard, the shuttle took off. It would be a short day, but he hoped they would accomplish something.As soon as they landed, he sent the others to the building site, and he went to check on the trainees.

“You are checking on us?” The male, Kunos, asked.

“I am.”

“Where is Hel at?”

“She had a bad day yesterday. It’s LT to you.”

Satisfied that those two were doing fine, he went to join the rest of the squad. Construction work was hot, sweaty, and physical. Flander knew the hard work was good for him. They ended up putting in a full day before they headed back to the ship for supper. He wasn’t sure if it was a surprise that Hel didn’t join them. That was alright because he had an excuse to go see her. She would want to know how the two new recruits were doing.

Once they were done with their meal, he headed to her quarters. He couldn’t think of anywhere else she could be. Flander knocked on the door and heard somebody moving in the room. Hel opened the door and peeked out.

“Oh, it's you.”

“Yeah, it's me. The squad has been worried about you.” He wondered if she would leave him standing in the hallway, but she finally invited him in.

“Did you come by just to check on me?”

“That, and I checked on the two new recruits because I knew you would worry about them. They are fine, but they wonder why you haven't been around. I told them you had a rough day.” Flander admitted.

“Thank you for checking on them. Everything is fine now, except I wanted to rest more. I'll see you at breakfast.” Hel hustled him out of the room.

Why did he let her do that when he only wanted to pull her in his arms and hold her tight. He knew if he questioned her story, she wouldn't talk to him anymore, and there was no way to make her do so since the boss had accepted it. He shouldn't be surprised since there had to be people on the planet who were still alive that she cared about. It was probably one of them that had taken her, and he had caught a hint when her sleeves had moved of rope burn. There was no doubt what that meant.

It was obvious to him that she had been abducted and restrained. Ropes were usually one of the easier things to escape from, and it was clear that she had. What this meant was that he was going to have to keep a closer eye on her when they were on Purgatory because he was that whoever had taken her would not be happy that she had escaped, and they would try to get her again. Flander wanted to tell the rest of the squad to look out for her, but he couldn't think of an excuse unless he admitted that her story didn't ring true.

He headed for his own quarters, prepared, and eventually got in bed, hoping to sleep. That sleep didn't come easy, but eventually, he settled down and got his rest. The alarm in the morning woke him immediately, and he looked around, confused for a moment. Getting up, he dressed and headed to breakfast, where he was glad to see Hel was already there. All the guys were giving her a hard time about getting separated from them without even questioning the story she had given. It seemed he was the only one, other than the boss, who didn't believe her.

The rest of the squad was happy to have her back and didn't worry about how that happened. They all rushed throughtheir meal, knowing they would be back on the planet again today. Flander believed that all of them would keep an extra eye on her after what had happened. As soon as they were done, they headed to the small ship.

Their trip to the planet started right away. Flander couldn't help but wonder how many facilities Mercury had on this planet. Even in the facilities they owned, he had far more plans and items that still needed to be picked up. He wondered if Kasey was working on the plans that had already been picked up. It was easy to admit that the emperor was hard to please and difficult to work with. Otherwise, they would have gone about this at a much slower pace. This time, the trip went well, and other than plans, what they brought back was a small spaceship that looked like a child's toy. Hel told him that it might look like a toy, but it could shoot a beam that could destroy something of value on a ship and bring it down.

He didn't know if that was cool or horrible. The way things were looking, he would figure it out before long. It was good that there were no problems on this trip, but he's still worried about future trips. At least they will be going to the base tomorrow, and there shouldn't be any concerns about that day. That didn't matter because there were more days ahead when they would take trips down to the planet. Flander was giving a lot of thought to his mate and how he should proceed as far as claiming her. The problem was that she was much younger than him, and he hesitated to tie her to him at such a young age.

Flander wasn’t sure he could wait to claim her. Thinking he had lost her when she disappeared had almost driven him crazy. His plan was to wait and give her a little time to try new things and explore what she wanted to do. When he was young, he'd done many things. However, he couldn't stand to watch herdo the same. At her age, he'd not known who his fated mate was, but she did. Soon, a choice would have to be made.

The ship landed, and they hurried to the facility, which looked just like a house. It didn't look as much like that once they got inside. This time, they went to a room just under the roof. It could be called an attic since the building was an A frame. It took the least time, and he wouldn't be surprised to hear that it was a place where only one or two employees worked and maybe one lived. Besides a handful of plans, this one had a box full of round globes. He couldn't even imagine what something like that would do being so small.

They got back to the ship and began to load the refugees. This worried him because he was afraid, they were overloaded with people they weren't sure they could trust. A handful of enemy soldiers claiming to be refugees could cause much damage. They wanted to protect these people, but it would be hard to ensure they could as they took more and more of them. They needed a plan, but he didn't have one. Their best plan might be to stop taking refugees and worry about the ones they already had. He wasn't sure what his mate would think about that.

They headed to the other planet, where they would unload the refugees and do their best to help settle them. As soon as the first floor of the apartment was built, they would begin to fill the rooms with people. The floors would get residents as they were completed. The first floor was almost done. Once finished, the second floor would start. Another building was already being put in, but it was one of those buildings that would be snapped together. It would be built quickly and house offices and a few living areas for those working here full-time.

Flander could not deny he'd be glad when they were done. Today, they would eat lunch at the base and do as much work aspossible. Hel would not stay with them. She would help organize the refugees. The rest of the squad's hard work helped settle his busy mind. When he mated, it would settle most things. He would still worry that she wasn't ready and would resent him. That was his biggest fear. This fear may have come between them and made her doubt that he wanted her. Now, he would have to convince her that he did. First, they needed to get over what had happened with his mate getting lost and lying about it.

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