{"id":95,"date":"2016-07-20T17:40:55","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T17:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/?p=95"},"modified":"2016-07-20T17:40:55","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T17:40:55","slug":"fangs-of-the-ss-chapter-6-what-a-putz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/fangs-of-the-ss\/fangs-of-the-ss-chapter-6-what-a-putz\/","title":{"rendered":"(Fangs of the SS) CHAPTER 6: What A Putz"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A Definite Influence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mirsky\u2019s on autopilot.<\/p>\n

He walks through the camp, dodges around people, avoids Jeeps and trucks, salutes when required. He does all of this without seeing. He\u2019s not totally divorced from his surroundings, that cunning survivor beast in the back of his mind won\u2019t allow that. But everything but his survival instincts are bent on planning how to get to Leah.<\/p>\n

He pauses in the shadow of the gate to Camp Cuckoo. He spares the monster skull a considering glance. Puts the last pieces together. Nothing too complex at this stage. Too early. But the general outlines seem to be solid.<\/p>\n

The survivor instinct taps him on the shoulder. He turns at the sound of his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cSergeant Mirsky! Sergeant! Hold up a minute, there!\u201d<\/p>\n

The man calling his name wears Major\u2019s rank, so Mirsky snappily salutes. \u201cYes, sir!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Major\u2019s a tall man, uniform\u2019s tailored, looks like he\u2019s got Intelligence pins on his collar. Mirsky checks his hands and they\u2019re soft and clean. He\u2019s desk, not field. Probably never seen combat. Then he gets close enough and Mirsky sees his eyes. Cold liar\u2019s eyes and Mirsky automatically makes him as a dangerous man.<\/p>\n

The Major gestures at ease and Mirsky relaxes, though his next words make Mirsky tighten up inside.\u201cSergeant, we need to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do? I mean, yes, sir. Whatever you say, sir.\u201d Mirsky puts on a professionally blank face and a tone of polite obedience. He’s been sweated by everyone from the Ohkrana to the Soviet secret police to the FBI. He’s not going to give this putz anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re not in any trouble, though, given your background, I imagine you’re in trouble somewhere.\u201d The accent is East Coast American and the tone is aristocratic.<\/p>\n

Mirsky keeps his tone level, his face blank, completely hiding his opinion that the Major would look very nice shot in the face. \u201cSir.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Major gestures through the gate, towards Camo Cuckoo. \u201cLet’s walk while we talk. No need for people to listen in on our little confab.\u201d
\n\u201cSir.\u201d Sooner or later, this shitbird will come to some sort of point, and Mirsky will be free to get on his own business. He probably wants in on some of the hustles that Mirsky\u2019s been running. Easy enough to grease his palm, especially now that Mirsky doesn\u2019t care about his black market deals anymore. This Major, he wants something, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n

The two of them start walking aimlessly through Camp Cuckoo. The Major absentmindedly returns salutes with a patrician flourish that sets Mirsky\u2019s teeth on edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me introduce myself. I\u2019m Major Duvall, Army Intelligence. I understand that you had an encounter with some of the more… unorthodox elements of the Army last night.\u201d<\/p>\n

That puts a different light on things. Is this Duvall going to interfere with what he\u2019s got to do? But it might also be an opportunity\u2026 \u201cYou mean that rabbi and his statues? Yeah, I guess you could say that we had an … encounter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s good that you recognized him, this Captain Maccabbee, as a Jew. You’re a Jew, yourself, aren’t you, Sergeant?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only a lifetime of experience of dealing with anti-Semitic assholes who hold the power of life and death that keep Mirsky from rolling his eyes so hard that they fall out of their sockets and keeps his voice level and noncommittal. \u201dYes, sir. I’m a Jew.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood. That’s very helpful to what we have planned.\u201d Duvall stops and looks at Mirsky directly. \u201cAnd you knew what those walking statues were? The other men in your unit said that you called them golems and talked to Maccabbee about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he wasn\u2019t planning on leaving at the first opportunity, Mirsky knows that he\u2019d have to have words with those blockheads in his unit. Teach them about what not to say when people come asking. But right now, he doesn\u2019t care and this conversation keeps going in interesting and useful directions. \u201cYes, sir. Before last night, I just thought they were folktales, not real. But with all the weird shit that’s part of the Army now, I shouldn’t have been surprised.\u201d He nods in the direction of the looming giant walking tank soldier that\u2019s been a fixture on the horizon. It stands there, motionless, and every once and a while, a spray of sparks come from inside it where it\u2019s being repaired.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201dAnd it’s all that weird shit, as you so accurately call it, that has us concerned.\u201d Duvall returns the salute of a wolfman who walks by, carrying a heavy machine gun in one clawed hand. \u201cAnd that’s why we need you, Sergeant. We need you to be our eyes and ears into a part of this “weird shit”.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ah. Things start to become clear. It\u2019s a rat they want. Mirsky\u2019s hand, the one on the other side of his body from Duvall, clenches into a fist. That\u2019s the only sign of his rage that Mirsky allows himself. He keeps his voice calm and questioning, curious, since this shitbird is being so generous with information. \u201cEyes and ears? But I’m just a dogface with the 9th Infantry. I’m not part of them over here in Camp Cuckoo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that’s why you’re valuable. Your observations won’t be tainted because you aren’t part of them. Part of all these Camp Cuckoo Weird War units. The fact that you\u2019re a Jew is an added bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s possibly the first time anyone\u2019s ever said that to me, sir. Thank you.\u201d He doesn\u2019t give Duvall a chance to respond. \u201cSo I’m getting re-assigned?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. You’ll be detached for special operations, a liaison between headquarters and Captain Maccabbee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there any reason to suspect Captain Maccabbee of anything?\u201d Mirsky pays close attention to Duvall\u2019s answer to that question. He\u2019s got to know for sure if the Major is lying or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all! Command would just feel more comfortable with another set of eyes in this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A little bit of a lie there. Good. Another part of his plan starts to take shape. \u201cYou can count on me, sir! Glad to do my part!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mirsky\u2019s on autopilot. He walks through the camp, dodges around people, avoids Jeeps and trucks, salutes when required. He does all of this without seeing. He\u2019s not totally divorced from his surroundings, that cunning survivor beast in the back of his mind won\u2019t allow that. But everything but his survival instincts are bent on planning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions\/97"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}