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“She’s meeting me down here in a few minutes.”
“Paperwork is ready for her signature.” Nutsbe pointed to the chair across from him, and Halo sat down, signaling Max to lie under the table.
“You’re new with Iniquus,” Nutsbe said, “and I know you were told this in your initial training, but I’m going to do you a favor and hammer it home while it’s just the two of us.”
“Okay.”
“Iniquus has a firm keep your zipper zipped policy. Command is serious about that. If Mary goes to the bog, she is under your protection and, therefore, your subordinate. There can be nothing physical that transpires between you. No kissing. No handholding unless you are offering assistance. There is a zero-tolerance policy. It will get you canned quicker than most anything.”
“Yes, I quite understand,” Halo said.
“No extracurricular activities of any kind. That is, no extra-curricular activities unless sanctioned as a part of the mission.”
Halo’s brow drew together. “When would that happen?”
“It won’t,” Nutsbe said emphatically. “So this is any physical contact that you would not have engaged in when you were on a task force to protect the Australian prime minister. Stabilizing, lifting, carrying, palpating as a medic, yes. Any other reason a zero tolerance.”
“Right. Zero,” Halo said.
“There will be no reason under any circumstances that there would be room for a complaint or sexually inappropriate behavior. Could an individual give you consent, and you act on it? Negative. Why? Because they are yours to guard.”
“Bloody hell, mate, I can cancel and just tell her it won’t work.”
“Not necessary, I don’t want Mary disappointed. If she wants to go out to the bog with you and Max, we just need her signature, and I’ll time-stamp it correctly. And you will explain to her the change in your demeanor. Look,” Nutsbe leaned back in his chair, “you two were locked in on a very difficult and dangerous mission with children’s lives on the line. I’m not unaware of the effects. Honestly, four men on my team met their wives or got engaged under such circumstances. It’s the intensity and trust.”
“Yes.” Yes, that was precisely it. And others on the team had been through this, too. Interesting.
“No matter what happens around you,” Nutsbe continued, “just like in the Commandos, it is put aside for the safety and wellbeing of your precious cargo. She goes into the bog one hundred percent; she comes out of the bog one hundred percent. We’ll put an end time on the contract with her return to the hotel. So She needs to arrive at the hotel, get out of the car, and walk into the hotel alone. The contract ends.”
“You’re being very granular about this process.”
Nutsbe leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Command ended a contract recently with a man who thought perhaps the strict rules of non-engagement didn’t apply to him. While the woman made no complaints and attested to her consent, that was entirely beside the point. He knew it. He chose to ignore the consequences. The men who can pass through the vetting stage at Iniquus are few. We can’t afford to have such departures. And since you’re new, I want to hammer this home. Strict discipline is required, as is befitting a special operator. If you think you’ll be tempted to lean in and kiss her, I’d leave her home, man. My best advice.”
“Understood.” Halo decided to take the tension down a peg. “I’m guessing this kind of little talk is why your team calls you mum?”
“Good morning, Mary!” Nutsbe smile.
Halo looked around, and his heart skipped a beat as Mary came closer.
“Good morning, Nutsbe. Did you sleep well?”
***
“Nutsbe’s a very nice guy,” Mary said as they moved through the automatic doors toward the rental car.
“I think so.” Nutsbe was right. Halo was going to have to keep a tight rein. His hand automatically reached for hers, and at the last second, he drew it back.
“He has a different patch on his uniform.”
“He’s on Panther Force, that’s a tactical team. I’m Cerberus—that’s a K9 team.” Halo reached past her to open the door and held it as she climbed in.
With Max in the back seat and safety belts cinched into place, Halo set his phone—GPS open—into the ashtray, but that was for verification. He would try to rely on his shirt’s directions.
One interesting thing Halo learned was that right now, Russians have the capacity to hack Ukrainian drones and alter their GPS information. And likewise, it was possible to hack their shirts if the shirts were being routed via satellite. But if his shirt was offline, gathering the data from the device he carried with him, then he was safe from any interference.
They were silent as Halo got onto the highway, heading south out of the city.
“Tell me about Iniquus. You said that you were just hired?” Mary asked.
