John Krygelski - The Aegis Solution

“You said ‘most guys.’ Do you mean guys, or are you talking about both genders?”

Sweezea laughed. “It’s a good thing nobody else is around for this conversation. No, I meant guys. Women, most of them, want to talk about whatever the mess was that they made before they came here. They want to talk about it constantly and to anybody who will listen. Now that you mention it, that’s probably a good third reason why we don’t ask. If they finally do stop talking about it, we don’t want to start them up again.”

Smiling, Elias shook his head. Another thought crossing his mind, he remarked, “I imagine you get a lot of guys who tell you they were in the service, when they never served a day.”

Tim nodded. “Oh, yeah, especially Special Forces.”

“I would guess that particular line of crap doesn’t last too long.”

Sweezea laughed again. “Maybe about two minutes. I had one newbie tell me he was a SEAL, so I handed him my rifle and asked him to break it down. The only thing that broke down was him! Turns out he was an insurance salesman.”

“That would have been fun to watch.”

Pausing, Sweezea said, “Should have been, but it wasn’t. It was sad. He just bit off more than he could chew with his new identity.”

“Tim, as long as we’re talking, I do have one more thing to ask.”

“Shoot.”

“There is another guy…came in here a few weeks ago. His name is Rudy Kreitzmann.”

“Rudy Kreitzmann is in here?”

“You know who he is?”

“Hell, yes. I haven’t been in here that long. While I was outside, I read the news. Are you kidding me? He came to Aegis?”

Elias nodded. “That’s the word. I don’t know for sure. That’s why I’m asking.”

“Why would he come here? Did what he was doing finally get to him?”

“I doubt it. I think he came here because he had nowhere else to run.”

Sweezea shook his head. “Can’t help you. I hadn’t heard he was here. Why are you looking for him?”

Deciding to keep his answers vague, Elias only replied, “I have a score to settle with him.”

“From what I heard about him, you and about a thousand other guys.”

“So you haven’t heard any rumors about him, or some new arrival who might be doing some strange things?”

His eyes suddenly widening, Sweezea asked, “You think he might be up to the same stuff in Aegis?”

Elias shrugged and said nothing.

“Man, if he is, I’ll hunt him down and cure him myself.”

“Cure him?”

“Oh yeah, cure him. I hear he has an acute case of lead deficiency.”

Elias chuckled.

“But to answer your question, no, I haven’t heard anyth…wait a sec. There is something.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not sure this would have anything to do with Kreitzmann. But it’s weird. We picked up a new addition to Madison a couple of weeks ago from ZooCity.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it happens. Urban newbies check in, see that there’s a gang in here and, at first, they feel right at home and join up. Then, after a little while, they figure out it was that crap they were running away from, so they come to Madison or go to Walden. Anyway, this guy arrives and tells us the damnedest story about a man who arrived about three months back. I’m not sure about the time, but it was close to that. Anyway, he arrived with two other men….”

Feeling vindicated in his suspicions, Elias flashed back to the video of Kreitzmann’s entrance and the two men who walked through the turnstile after him.

“Apparently, they watch the entrance for each new arrival, but they don’t make their move until the first intersection. Our new guy told us that he was part of a group who jumped the three of them, or at least tried to.”

“What happened?”

“I guess the guy telling the story was the one designated to provide cover, so he was twenty or thirty yards back. Five ZooCity thugs made their move — when, according to our friend, the two men who arrived with the stranger just turned into a blur.” Sweezea held up his hands and exclaimed, “I know this sounds nuts!”

“No, it doesn’t sound crazy at all. I’ve seen it myself.”

Elias’ comment got Sweezea’s attention. “You what?”

“You asked me how I got past them, and I exaggerated a little. It seems I’m as guilty as the others who come in…wanting to make myself look better. The gangbangers had the drop on me. I was dead meat, but suddenly there was a blur, something, I don’t know what. A few seconds later the ZooCity toughs were either on the floor or hightailing it.”

“Dead?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Yeah, that’s what the newbie told us. All of his group were dead. Necks broken. I don’t know if this had anything to do with Kreitzmann, but the timing was right and it was strange enough. At first we thought the guy was feeding us a line of crap, but since then, some other people have seen similar things happen. Now you. I guess it must be true. Man, that’s a little scary.”

“It was.”

“But how would this tie in with Kreitzmann?”

“I don’t know,” Elias answered honestly.

The two were silent for a minute or so, both lost in their own thoughts, until Sweezea finally asked, “If it does, you are going against him with only a sidearm?”

His moment of honesty passed, and Elias said, “Yes.”

Standing away from the wall where he had been leaning, Sweezea unslung the automatic rifle from his shoulder and handed it to Elias. “AK-47. Not the latest gear. Not the best, either. I don’t know what good it’ll do against whatever those things are, but here, take it.”

The gesture surprised Elias. “That’s nice, man. It really is, and I appreciate it. But aren’t you going to need it?”

Sweezea simply shrugged. “We’ve got a decent stockpile. I can spare it.”

“Why me? We just met.”

A grin spread slowly across his new friend’s face as he explained, “I spent two tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan, walking down dusty side streets and waiting for some sniper to put one in between my eyes. You get locals coming up to you all the time. Big smiles on their faces. Arms out, offering gifts for saving their country. Sometimes they mean it, and one of them really is trying to hand you some trinket his wife made. Other times they have C-4 taped to their chests underneath all those robes, and if you let them get close enough…BOOM! Either you get pretty good at reading their eyes, or you become a pink cloud on that little street.”

“That works, huh?”

“I’m here, aren’t I? Anyway, I found out the same skill serves me well stateside.”

Grinning back at Sweezea, Elias said, “So when you look in my eyes, you think I’m one of the harmless guys with a trinket for you?”

Suddenly turning serious, Sweezea replied, “No, you’re anything but harmless. And maybe I’m making a big mistake, but I don’t think so. I think you and I are on the same side. So do you want the extra hardware or not?”

Elias reached out and took the rifle, slipping his arm through the loop and swinging it around to ride on his back.

Opening one of the pockets on his fatigues, Sweezea pulled out a handful of magazines. “You’re gonna need these.”

Elias took the ammunition and put it away. “You think so?”

With a tight nod of his head, Sweezea cautioned, “I don’t know what good it’ll do against the blurs, but there are some other targets out there. Aegis is not Club Med.”

They both fell into silence again until it became awkward. Breaking it, Elias stuck out his hand and said, “It was a pleasure meeting you, sir.”

Sweezea returned the handshake. “Sir, the pleasure was all mine. Hope you find your guy.”