The Demon Drivers BOOK IV - Ch. 14 Memories
The Demon Drivers BOOK IV
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General Ramsey couldn’t breathe.
The bead of laser light glowed behind Parker’s left ear.
Parker’s hand slowly withdrew from the Battle-suit canopy.
The boy turned away from the Battle-suit and slowly descended the yellow-and-black steps of the service platform.
General Ramsey blew out a long breath and collapsed backward into his chair. “Stand down, Bud. All personnel stand down.”
“Roger, sir,” said Bud, and General Ramsey vaguely heard Bud relaying the order as he turned his attention back to Parker.
He watched the boy retrieve the black cover from the floor of the hangar, climb the steps again, gather up the cover in his hands, and fling it up and over the Battle-suit like a fisherman casting a net. Parker adjusted the cover here and there, making it even. Then, slowly, one step at a time, he clomped down the service platform until he was once again on the shiny hangar floor, where he stood motionless, looking down at the ground. He seemed so small standing there in front of the suit. So alone.
“Shall I have him arrested, General?” Bud asked.
“Negative. You will let him go and we will pretend this never happened. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir. Let’s pack it in, everybody.”
General Ramsey saw the tip of the sniper’s rifle withdraw and the door close without a sound. He imagined everyone going back to their posts, hurriedly grabbing coffee and cigarettes along the way, desperate to ease their nerves.
And what about Parker?
Parker stood where he was, staring at the ground. The General saw a thirteen-year-old boy standing in the hangar, alone, and realized Parker wasn’t an ace fighter pilot and the gifted Flight Leader of the Go-Kids. He was a child. Sure, he probably had thousands of hours in the Go-Boy simulator, but simulators were merely that: simulators. They were perfect for teaching procedures. But they couldn’t teach what it meant to be in combat. They couldn’t teach what it was like to fire live rounds, actual bullets, nor to have live rounds fired at you. And they couldn’t teach what it was like to watch your friends and fellow aviators be shot down or blown out of the sky.
What it meant to watch your friends die.
Especially when they were following your orders.
Memories of dogfights flashed through General Ramsey’s mind, memories of combat, memories of losing members of his squadron. Memories he new would haunt him forever. He wondered what was going through Parker’s mind as he stood there, what memories were haunting him, and what events would unfold in the coming days and weeks, the memories of which he already knew Parker would never be able to forget.
Parker turned away from the Battle-suit and toward the same small door through which he’d entered. He reached the door and pulled it open. Before he stepped through, he looked over his shoulder, and General Ramsey locked eyes with him. It was difficult to discern from so far away, but Parker’s face and eyes appeared wet.
Then the Flight Leader of the Go-Kids stepped through the door and was gone.
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