Third World by Louis Shalako Read Free Book Online

relieve
his feelings at all, although the sight of her bedside light and a
reader laying there on the night table was somewhat reassuring. As
to whether anyone was standing just around the corner of the room
and out of his sight, he perhaps preferred not to know.
    “ Yes, sir.”
    “ You’re not in trouble.”
This seemed to shock her into wakefulness. “I would like you to
witness a little conversation I am about to have with one of our
people.”
    “ I’ll be right there,
sir.”
    Without a word, he turned and stalked
off down the hallway. He had been going down to the hotel bar,
which was his prerogative, but it did make him wonder about
himself. Was he in that much of a hurry to return to civilian life,
where you could just do what you wanted when you wanted
it?
    That was a hard thing to
determine.
     
    ***
     
    Faber’s face was carefully composed in
a mask of indifference. He stood, ram-rod straight, in front of
Newton and the Ensign, both seated in plush chairs by the window at
the end of his room.
    “ I want a list of everyone
in that room.” Newton, as tired as anyone after the day’s patrols,
tried to keep a note of dejection out of his voice.
    And this was only day one.
    The Ensign remained silent.
    “ Yes, sir.”
    “ There will be no
disciplinary action. It will remain suspended, it might be more
accurate to say.”
    “ Yes, sir. Thank you,
sir.”
    Newton waved him off.
    “ What’s that red-haired
girl’s name? The one with the big…the one with the big
chest.”
    Faber blushed.
    “ Grimaldi, sir.”
    “ I like you, Faber.” This
was the sort of thing that was often left unsaid, but in these
circumstances…
    Faber said nothing. What did Newton
expect? He didn’t give a damn what Faber thought, when you got
right down to it.
    “ How old is she?” The Ensign
spoke up now, although Newton hadn’t had much time to brief
her.
    Faber reddened, swallowed.
    He was unable to look at the
Ensign.
    “ Twenty, sir.”
    “ I see.” She jotted
something on a pad. “Thank God she’s over eighteen, eh, Faber?
You’d be up shit creek without a paddle, wouldn’t you?”
    “ Er…yes, Ma’am.”
    “ Mister Faber.”
    “ Yes, Ma’am?”
    “ How old are you?” The
Ensign was quietly relentless.
    Faber was a good soldier and probably
capable of breaking either one of them in half in the physical
sense. He flushed even redder.
    “ Thirty-eight,
Ma’am.”
    Newton made no further comment on that
score. He spoke up again after admittedly enjoying the
performance.
    “ Faber, I need these people
clean and sober, first thing tomorrow. How many drinks did you
have?” Newton wasn’t looking for trouble, but when it came to him,
he had a few skills.
    Faber thought about lying, Newton could
see it go through his mind.
    “ Four or five,
sir.”
    “ Yes.” Newton waited a long
moment.
    The air got very still and the room
must have seemed very warm to Faber, as beads of sweat glittered on
his forehead.
    “ All right, Mister Faber.
That will be all.”
    “ Yes, sir.” Faber turned to
go.
    He paused at the door and turned back.
His mouth opened, perhaps to offer some word of explanation or
apology.
    The look on Newton’s face stopped him
cold.
    “ I don’t want to hear it,
Mister Faber.”
    “ May I say something?” The
Ensign looked over inquiringly.
    “ By all means.”
    “ Mister Faber, there is a
great gulf between officers and the enlisted personnel. There are
gaps, social gaps if you will, between officers and
non-commissioned officers. But your job is to bridge that gap
between officer and enlisted ranks.”
    “ Yes, Ma’am.”
    “ You have a tough job. No
one is questioning that. As long as you do it well, very few
questions will be asked.”
    Newton put in an oar.
    “ Just take care not to get
caught in the middle, which might be very uncomfortable for
you.”
    “ Yes, sir.”
    The Ensign had more to say.
    “ You have to be their
friend, their buddy, sometimes like a father or