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Hidden: Chapter 14

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"Commander." Admiral Cornway hollered down the hall to get my attention.

It had been two weeks since I was official put under his command. I had adjusted rather well, getting to know the other personnel of the facility. It was touch and go at first because I was usually avoided and the most I could get out of anyone but the admiral and a few others was just a very military 'sir.' As time went on and they became used to my presence, they began to accept me. I could talk to nearly anyone without getting cautious glances anymore. I hadn't lost control of myself at any time and I felt normal again, despite my two hour morning grooming routine.

I was able to watch a live news broadcast of the mass funeral that was held in honor for the 'Special Forces members who gave their lives to retake the HMS Eurasia from terrorists,' which is what the title of the story was. It was interesting to see my own coffin, with flowers, an American flag over it to signify what country I was from and a picture of me. Sergeant Crane's coffin was there as well decorated and all. Ours remained closed at the ceremony since it was told that NATO was unable to recover sufficient remains to have them open during the showing. The others on the other hand were open and the colors of several flags were draped over the lower half of the coffins, but the bodies of several Spec Enforcers were covered so only the head could be seen. I imagined that there wasn't anything else for some of them. Ivan was mostly there, his head reattached and makeup hiding the line that would be on his neck. I was glad to see them all off.

I was put in charge of security in this section of the facility due to my impressive credentials and every weekday I would go to the main security office and just wait for something to happen. That's the thing, nothing ever happened other than a few brawls between prisoners. It would have been boring to anyone else, but I enjoyed the very monotonous normalcy that came with it.

"Ah, I'm glad I caught you." The admiral was panting a bit since he jogged down the hall to catch up to me. "One sec. I'm too old for this." He closed his eyes, a dribble of sweat trickled down his nose where it pooled into a drop on the tip of his nose. It dangled there and then dropped to the floor. The admiral pulled a handkerchief and patted his forehead and then opened his eyes.

"Sir, I mean no disrespect, but I'm very busy." It was partially true. I had to go and check all of the security logs at the beginning of each shift, but nothing had happened since the last shift so it would just be boring reports about how prisoner x got in a fight or how prisoner y tripped and now had a concussion.

"No this is important." He grabbed my arm to steady himself. Being the head security officer meant I saw the admiral several times week still to make reports and it wasn't uncommon for me to just stick around with him and talk about various things. I'd like to think of him as a good friend at this point and small things such as him using me as a support didn't bug me one bit.

"How so?" I inquired. This was the first time the admiral had come to me like this. Being an admiral, everyone would come to him.

"I'll be attending a conference on Earth. I've discussed it with my own superiors and they've agreed to let you come along as my security advisor." I perked up right there. I tried to hide my excitement for the sake of etiquette, but that damn tail gave away everything. The admiral smiled at the brown and black blur that was fanning behind me. "It will be nice to see the sun again, wouldn't you agree."

It was all I could to stop from just hugging him. "Yes, sir. Very much so." Over the past two weeks, I had taken the time to pay attention to my behavior, making mental notes of what was becoming more dog like and what remained more human. I always had a strong desire for attention and even physical contact. I didn't like the latter since I never liked hugs, they were unprofessional. When I was disappointed, a whine would always manage to escape me, it was the center of many jokes in the facility. Occasionally someone would offer me something, most of the time it was food, but take it back at the last second, I knew that was going to happen, but I whined either way. The only thing that significantly affect me was the growling that came when I was mad. Sure it shut people up, but it made me feel wrong to do it. It didn't happen often and I never lost control and barked and yet I was afraid that one day something would happen. Not this day though.

"We will be leaving at the end of this shift." He looked down at his watch. "At 1300 hours. That should give you time to pack and then I want you at my office." The 6 hour work days were one of the things about the navy I didn't understand, why not keep the 8 hour work day? There's a reason why it was standard everywhere else.

"I'll be there sir." He gave a nod and left me to finish my shift. I turned with a bit of a spring in my step. Oh how I missed the sun even if it was on dusty old Mars. Once I had access to the facility's computers, it was easy to find out that we were on Mars near its largest city, New London. The British had taken a surprising amount of interest in colonies. Something about reviving the old heritage and pride of the crown. There was even a duke who acted as the mayor of the city.

The shift passed by quickly. Once again nothing worth much attention happened. I filled out some paper work regarding the next influx of prisoners that was due next week. This shipment was going to be filled with some people who were skimming money from NATO to fill their own pockets. They wouldn't cause any trouble, I only worried about people who were here for murder or had seen combat; they were the most dangerous if they ever decided to cause trouble. Done with work, I packed away extra uniforms and my fur care kit as I called it. Brushes and an oversized hairdryer. I wouldn't need anything else, my sidearm never left my side and anything extra would be provided. Satisfied with it, I picked up the duffel bag and headed to the admiral's office.

From there, we headed to an elevator that would take us up to the surface. The ride up was short. It wasn't uncommon to have large underground complexes since money could be saved on insulation and building methods had improved to the point where it was more affordable to build down before building up. When the door opened, I stepped out into a large metal room with numerous guards to prevent prisoners t get out if they took over the lower facility. They checked out bags and I got a few stares, but no words were exchanged with the guards up here. When we were clear, we were to get on board a shuttle that would take us up to the destroyer, the NTS Defender, which would take us to Earth. The trip would take three days, nice and short. The conference would take another week as there was a lot of topics to go over. I wasn't aware of the exact specifics though.

I was disappointed when I saw that the shuttle was stored inside. I wouldn't see the sun until we got to Earth. Being underground for so long with only artificial lights and the sun on television mocking me was depressing. I whined when I saw it and the admiral laughed, which made me whine more and him laugh more.

Destroyers were mid-sized warships. They averaged 500 meters long with six decks. The Defender was a newer model that was more aesthetically pleasing than the ships that had been dominating space for hundreds of years. It had more curves to it and instead of looking like a giant metal box, it looked like a giant metal pillow sporting engines on its back and two large batteries, one on top and the other on the bottom. They didn't have a hangar only airlocks that were evenly spaces along its hull.

The inside of the ship was just more halls and doors, the military had no imagination. My room was a few doors away from the admirals, since my job as the security advisor was to just act as a body guard. Shortly after coming aboard and setting up, the captain of the ship invited us onto the bridge for introductions.

The captain had been in charge of one of the ships that was at the Eurasia when the operations to clear it out took place. He knew that I was with the admiral and had been one of the Spec Enforcers on the ship and not much more than that.

"Admiral Cornway." The man bellowed in an Italian accent. He was fat, which was the first word that came to mind. Not just a bit of a belly, but a full blown gut that caused his uniform struggle to hold it back. HE had multiple chins and jiggled with each step. The receding hair line did nothing to help his looks either. I was surprised that a man could let himself go and still hold a high rank. My guess was he was well connected or very good at his job, probably connected.

"Captain Norton." The admiral replied with a small and very fake smile. "Thank you for taking us onto your ship." He shook the blubbery hand. I looked away when the waves began to travel up the arm.

The captain looked over and noticed me for the first time. His eyes narrowed a bit as if he wasn't sure what he was looking at. "And who might this be?" He walked over to me. I looked straight ahead and answered. I kept everything still, only my tail moved as it slowly swayed back and forth.

"Lieutenant Commander Anderson sir."

"Anderson." He murmured. "Ohhhh. Yes I remember." His jolly personality returned. "You were one of the Spec Enforcers who got off that ship. Very disturbing place. Yes, very disturbing." He gave me one more look and went back to the admiral. "You should join me for dinner tonight, we have much to discuss."

"Dinner would be nice. We will await your call." Like that, the meeting was over. We left the bridge and returned to our quarters. I took some time to go over the ship schematics. The armory was close by and I was had been given access to it, if there was an attack, the armory was also the best place to fall back to if the ship was taken. It was armored, full of weapons and easy to defend. The next best place was the bridge is that was an option. I planned for every boarding scenario I could think of, how much time we would have, were to go and how to get there. I got so absorbed in it that I barely heard the knock at the door.

"Enter." I said.

The door opened and a young boy stepped in.

"Who are you?" I got up a bit too fast. It caused the boy to sweat a bit.

"I was sent to tell you that dinner is ready and it is being held in the war room." I had heard about programs that were designed to get the younger generations interested in joining the military. The navy must have a study abroad program if this child, who couldn't be older than 16, was traveling from planet to planet.

"Thank you." The boy stared a bit too long for comfort before making a hasty retreat. I was a sight. A large walking and talking German Shepherd wasn't an everyday sight. I wonder if he was supposed to see me. They had locked me away for a time and faked my death. Whatever, it was the NATO's problem to work out.

I left my room and saw that the admiral was leaving his room. I walked over and took my place slightly behind him where I would be able to protect him the best. I wasn't used to guard duty and the sound of it almost seemed insulting to me.

"I hope the captain didn't get into his shape on bad military food." The admiral joked as we walked down to the war room. "I've been eating the stuff for decades and it never gets better, especially on a ship."

"I wouldn't know sir. I've spent most of my time on the ground. We were able to go out and stuff ourselves at whatever restaurant was closest." I smiled remembering all of the fast food that was only a short walk away from the base in Berlin.

"You're lucky then. There aren't any burger joints in space." He looked back at me. I enjoyed the small talks that we had. More of that dog behavior that wanted nothing more than to have constant attention. Always wanting to talk and please. I hope he wouldn't ask me to roll over or anything, I'm afraid I would oblige if he caught me off guard.

"Well, you should work on getting command of a dreadnaught or a carrier. I hear they have restaurants on them."

"Maybe I will." He mused, rubbing his chin. "Maybe I will." We arrived at the war room then. It was really just a large room with a projector on a table. The projector had been moved off the table and replaced with a candle. Plates were set up and too many forks and spoons in my opinion. This was a warship not a starliner.

"Please take a seat." Captain Norton was just across the room in a dress uniform. He gestured towards the chairs.

The admiral took a seat and I stood behind him. I looked around and noticed a large amount of guards in the room, too many. Something wasn't right.

"You too commander." He took a seat. The chair creaked under his weight.

I looked back at the guards and then him who was now frowning at me. I was taking too long and he was sweating profusely. A fat man sweats a lot, but he doesn't turn into a waterfall. "I don't think so." I placed a hand on the admiral who looked at me confused. "Admiral, I think we should go back to our quarters."

"Well, fuck." The captain said. "And I didn't even get to start to eat." He nodded to the guards who drew their weapons.

"What is the meaning of this captain?" The admiral stood up and pointed at Captain Norman who still sat where he was. I had my sidearm drawn and was aiming it at one of the guards. My fur bristled and a low growl was coming from my chest.

"Well, I met certain people." He played with a fork on the table, twirling it in his fingers. 'Rich and powerful people who have taken an interest in your dog there." He picked up the fork and used it to accusingly point it at me.

"Why me?" I growled, still keeping my gun aimed.

"Well when you have one part of a collection, you might as well get the other part." He smiled at me. "Never thought it would be this easy. They put a pretty penny on you."

"What do you mean collection?" Something about how he said it got me really worried.

"Oh, why don't I show you? They want you so bad, they sent the other one to ensure this went smoothly." He waved at the door.

In stepped something I thought impossible. A heavily built corgi stepped into the room and aimed a pistol at me. "Hello cap."