LH Short Story: Military Musings

 Lost Humanity Short Story

This story is provided for free by H.S. Kallinger as part of the Lost Humanity universe.
Timing: directly after end but before epilogue of World of Lost Souls
Content Warnings: police, military draft

Military Musings

“I cannot believe that we hid for the entire conflict,” Lukas muttered in German as he glanced across the park to a crowd of protesters chanting next to a group of attentive police. Even five years after the demilitarization and budget slashing of police that had happened a year after the state sponsored child kidnappings, I still hadn't gotten used to the sight of them without riot gear at events like this. But we hadn't had riots at protests in just as long, either. I wondered if they were afraid of the crowd, or if they had lost the fear when police-public conflict had dropped with the those changes to the system. They were watching the protesters closely, but none of them looked especially nervous. That was strange, too. I hadn't really been to a protest since the riots back then.

“If you'd been involved, the body count would have been higher,” I teased him, continuing in German.

“Are you saying that I lack diplomacy?” He asked, a twinkle in his eye.

“Are you saying that you wanted to be involved as a diplomat?” I countered.

“I could have,” he said softly, surprising me. He switched to English. “But your criticism of my inclination to fight instead is valid. I could also have become an officer in the army, moved to a Sergeant Major, and organized rather than continued to lead my own brigade, but I did not even pursue leadership so far as to earn my diamond, become a First Sergeant. St. John did.”

“St. John outranks you?” I asked, surprised. Lukas shook his head.

“Only were we on the same unit now. We did serve together in Iraq. It was why I signed on. He was escaping the loss of his wife, and I joined him. When we fought in Bosnia, we were not together, and he stayed on longer than I. If we return at the same time to the same brigade, then he would be my commander. Which is possible with how they rarely put vampires on assignment with humans, preferring to station us together as vampire Special Forces. They do the same with dhampir who are physically exceptional, only they seldom have the Special Forces designation. It depends on if we choose the same track, however.

“Most vampires either fight other countries' vampires or do direct action, but there is also unconventional warfare. When they attempted to desegregate vampires and humans in combat, it was found that the humans relied too heavily on the vampire or vampires but also resented—why have you not interrupted me yet?” He stopped walking and turned to peer at me. I snorted.

“I was listening,” I answered, continuing to walk. We would be passing the protesters before we turned back. That was why I was here, after all. This was a potential problem zone. Lukas's restlessness had led to him following me around on patrol tonight. There was no reason he couldn't, but the guards had all been obnoxiously formal during the change, visibly nervous. They probably suspected an inspection. They had done it to me the first few times I'd taken shifts. He wasn't officially with me; he was just feeling clingy. There was no reason to announce that, though.

“Are you focused on your duty? Am I distracting you?” he asked in German. I took his hand and squeezed it.

“I can multitask, and no, you're not a distraction. I was really just listening. I've been thinking about this lately,” I answered, switching to German with him. A few cops broke from the rest and shooed away counterprotesters that had run up aggressively to the original group.

“The military?”

“That proposal to activate selective services against all registered vampires during the conflict here made me look up what I signed when I changed,” I told him, switching back to English as I monitored a skirmish between the police and two counterprotesters. “Obviously, it was ludicrous and wasn't going to matter if they tried it, but it just feels like there's been a lot of strife lately. So I was reading up on the draft and the Army and shit, too.”

“You can ask me anything you like,” he said, his expression perplexed.

“You make me more paranoid than I need to be,” I dismissed. He blew out an amused breath.

“What conclusions did you draw?” he asked.

“I'm thinking that when the kids are all moved out, when Sarah's busy with her work—or if they do activate selective services—I'm going to sign up for the Air Force.”

“The Air Force?” Lukas repeated. He looked up, his expression thoughtful. I waited to see how he responded, if he'd be offended that I didn't want to go Army like he had. “I believe that suits you.”

“Okay, obviously, I think it does, but I want to know what you meant by that,” I said, wrinkling my forehead.

“Soft, pampered, clean, lax discipline? Yes, that suits you quite well,” he answered, his face twitching as he tried to control the amusement shining in his eyes.

“Oh, thank you so much, du Arsch,” I said, struggling not to laugh at his teasing. “Not my fault I'm not just a mindless fighter.”

“When you fight, you can be quite mindless,” he countered. I raised an eyebrow and bobbed my head to the side before nodding in agreement.

“Fair.” I was happy to see the counterprotest leaving. I supported the protesters. Two of the belligerent ones who had fought with the police were being loaded up to be moved away. De-escalation. Two officers were now harassing spectators. I couldn't hear them quite yet.

“You will be a military doctor?” he asked.

“Pararescue,” I replied. Lukas stopped. Again, I ignored him and kept walking.

“I take back my jest,” Lukas said softly before catching up to me. He took my hand this time. “You are just as suited for Special Operations. Vampire PJs are not used in the Air National Guard, so you would be in Florida, Nevada, Arizona... or Okinawa.”

“Worried about me being deployed overseas?” I asked.

“Sarah may not forgive you if you do not become a military doctor instead,” he hedged.

“You're worried about me dying overseas,” I guessed. He sighed.

“Would you not if I were to return to active duty?”

“I worry about you dying going out to eat.” I waved that away with my free hand. “But if I pick my branch now, I never have to worry about being assigned to the Army, which I don't want. Sure, I could still be a military doctor—but with the Air Force, I could be an astronaut.”

“Now you are attempting to make me jealous,” Lukas sulked. “Do you even want to be an astronaut?”

“What kid from my generation didn't want to be one?” I said and laughed.

“If you become the first vampire astronaut...”

“You'd leave me from jealousy?” I teased.

“I am trying to decide if my excitement and pride would outweigh my envy,” he said, laughing. I joined him.

“You there!” One of the cops that had been harassing spectators ran up to us. He glared suspiciously into our eyes. I glanced over at Lukas. He was casting eyeshine. I probably was, too. He turned to Lukas. “Who are you?”

“Master Sergeant Lukas Ritter,” I answered before Lukas could, testing a hypothesis I had. The officer's eyes widened as Lukas continued to stare at him evenly.

“Ah, sorry, sir.” The cop wandered off to bother another gawker, and Lukas's eyes narrowed.

“That is the trick? Drop my rank, and off they fuck?” Lukas swore in German. “How many times could that have been used in my favor?”

“I can't believe you never thought of it yourself.”

“I... It did not occur to me that anything could dissuade them from their prejudice. Not even that.” Lukas had let go of my hand when he saw the officer running up to us, and he took it back now. “Will they forgive this as well?”

“I love you,” I said and leaned over to kiss his cheek. I could feel his tension increase momentarily, and then he let go and slid his hand into my back pocket, like he used to do years before. He was on my right, so I had to decide if it would slow me down too much to mirror him for a second before I did it regardless. Maybe he was distracting me a little.

“Are you going to medical school?” Lukas asked. I sighed loudly. “You should look into AFROTC and become an officer so that we need not worry about fraternization. Though, we are married, and I do believe that cancels the rule? But that was only cross-sex marriage when I last read a regulation guide.”

“Only heterosexual marriage was allowed when you last read a regulation guide,” I pointed out. “But if I'm in a different branch of the military, does it matter?”

“Yes,” Lukas answered. “As I was saying, though, after you graduate as a physician, you would automatically have a higher commissioned rank. I believe you would begin as a captain, but it might only be a lieutenant junior grade.”

“That's a first lieutenant in the Air Force,” I corrected him. He raised his eyebrows at me. “I told you I did my homework. I already have the credit for that. Pararescue officers still jump, so I'm fine with that. I've never let my paramedic certification lapse, just kept it going as inactive since school kept fulfilling my continuing education requirements and I had to keep my CPR license active for work. Which cuts out twenty-two weeks from the program. But all of this is for later, so who knows what might change by then.”

“If you are only signing on for fear of a draft—”

“You know I'm not,” I stopped him quietly. We didn't say anything for a few more minutes. “I can't believe Keavy is dead.”

“It always affects me deeply when a vampire who has survived centuries falls, even if it is at my hand,” Lukas told me. “These nights, it feels even worse. I am uncertain why.”

“Probably because you have so many vampires that you love right now,” I suggested. He pulled me closer by the pocket. “Give me your real feelings on my thoughts about becoming a PJ, please.”

“I am conflicted. I am always proud of you, mein Schatz, but moments like this see my pride warring with my selfish desire for you to stay home, stay safe, and stay mine. I want you to grow, to be happy, to explore that which is available to you. I never, ever want harm to come to you, in any form. I do not think a draft likely. I see our country moving quickly further away from the dystopia it could have been had the wrong political candidate taken too much power. This new concession gives me hope—more hope than I had after the Truce.”

“Holy shit, really?” I asked, stopping us both and pulling back to grab his arm and meet his eyes. He nodded. I stood there, stunned, my eyes starting to burn. He frowned. “Zack?”

I shook my head, unable to speak. He'd been a pessimist as long as I'd known him. I had never expected him to say anything so optimistic. His lips parted, but before he could say anything, I pulled him into a tight hug. Paranoia, I expected. He had said that peace was but the lull between wars. Hope? Hope, from Lukas, for peace?After the hell we had been through? How could he make me believe in it?

“Zack!” Lukas rubbed my back vigorously, trying to get me to let him go. I shook my head against his shoulder before wiping my eyes on it. He started murmuring in German, confused. I finally let him go and stepped back so that I could kiss him. When I pulled back, he still looked concerned. “Did I resolve some conflict you were facing?”

“I don't think I can really put it into words,” I said. “Or I don't want to. Just... You give me hope.”

“I feel you are not saying something that you believe would upset me,” he said, frowning. I shook my head.

“You don't know how much you mean to me, I think,” I told him as I quickly looked around to make sure nothing had happened while I was distracted.

“Hmm, I had thought that it was more than life itself. Can it be more than that?” he asked.

“Told you I couldn't explain,” I said as I resumed my patrol. “I feel better about a lot of things. I'm glad you came with me tonight, even if you're just worried about me in light of everything...”

“That is not my only motivation at all,” Lukas said. “I have no other way to spend enough time with you right now. If I could follow you to the hospital, then right now, I would. I have finished... clinging to Sarah. It is your turn, but you will not be still.”

“You can always come have lunch with me,” I invited him. My heart was swollen with happiness.

“Then I will,” he said. We looked up at the sky together and rested our heads against each other. I tried to see the same future he saw in those stars. After a few moments, I felt like I could see it. In that time, the future looked beautiful and infinite