THE MOMENT
"Oh, that can't happen," Commander James shook his head with a personable grin. He was trying to make a sale, after all. He was in his office at mid-day with a client named Freya. She was interested in some personal guards and concerned about how they might spend their off-hours. "All our super soldiers are sterile. It's an intentional side-effect of the process... our boys and girls are proprietary," he said. "Can't have them sneaking in a new generation."
"That's delightful!" Freya smiled with a nod. "I think your soldiers might be exactly what I need. Do you offer extended contracts? I'd prefer knowing I'll have the same group for years."
"We'll offer four years at a time, and give you priority on those soldiers for their next assignment if you want to continue... and if they want to continue with you."
"I'll be taking excellent care of them, and money won't be an issue," Freya giggled in utter amusement. "I don't foresee any reason why they wouldn't." Commander James shrugged. He was in the middle of business, but he always put his soldiers first.
"A lot could happen in four years and none of my soldiers are here for the money."
"Then why are you charging so much?" Freya asked. It was a playful challenge. She was beyond wealthy and she enjoyed being able to afford anything or anyone.
"Well, I'm in it for the money," Commander James nodded. He had the distinct honor of running his own black ops military group as he saw fit, and he chose to become a mercenary. He wasn't running an elite squad of tactitians, he was baby-sitting people learning how to use their powers and training to use them. He didn't have any grand government objectives beyond 'ship shape' and he took full advantage of that.
"Very well," Freya nodded. "I would like a squad of six to start with, for the full four years. When can I choose the lucky ducks?"
"BOSS!" the door flew open and a woman soldier froze as she entered mid-stride with a loose sheet of paper. "OH! Sorry!" she started to back out, but James shook his head and waved her forward. He thought he had an idea of what Alice wanted and he wanted a reason to make Freya wait anyway.
"Damnit, Alice," he shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you? My door is always open for my squad. What did you need?" he asked as he reached forward, assuming she wanted to give him the sheet.
"Everything's ready!" Alice had dark hair, green eyes, and she seemed to be about to burst with joy, despite her best efforts to mask it. "Just one last detail!" She crossed his office and slammed the paper on is desk. "Sir, I'm requesting Maternity leave!"
Commander James was well-versed in the lives of his squad, and he'd seen the signs as she tried to keep everything behind the scenes. He'd been expecting her to ask, 'any day now', and he was thrilled it happened during this meeting. He always did favor Alice, and her impeccable timing only heightened that favoritism. But, he was ready, and as soon as she slammed the sheet down with the question, he stamped it with a red rubber stamp.
"Granted. Now go on and take care of yourself or whatever, I'm in the middle of a meeting," he said.
"Thank you, Sir!" Alice beamed as she collected the sheet again and glided out of the office walking on air.
"Is she available for this contract?" Freya asked. She didn't want to jump straight to accusing him of lying; she needed to make a case first.
"I'm afraid not," he shook his head with an even broader smile. "You just saw me grant her maternity leave, and you're asking if she's available to guard your mansion 24/7? I have to admit, that leaves me mildly concerned about the welfare of any of my soldiers." Commander James liked money, but there was always more of it.
"So, did you lie, or what?" Freya couldn't handle his response and cut right to it.
"No...?" Commander James shook his head. "...what do you think I lied about?"'
"You just finished telling me that all your super soldiers are STERILE!"
"Uhuh," he nodded. "They are. What's the issue?"
"You approved MATERNITY LEAVE for that soldier!"
"Well, she's about to have a newborn to deal with...," Commander James nodded.
"HOW!!?"
"How... what?" The commander asked. He had his dim moments, but at some point he decided it would be more fun to play along, even if he did start out genuinely confused. It took him a few moments to make the connection that she jumped to, but that was because he knew the whole story. He was just enjoying the interaction now. "Do.. you..not know where babies come from??"
"How is she pregnant if she's sterile?" Freya was not going to be made a fool of and managed to restrain her response.
"She wasn't always sterile...," the Commander shook his head. "I told you, it's an intentional side-effect. That means they knew about it before they signed the contract. Some of them, like Alice, made preparations," he said.
".. What preparations??" Freya asked. At that point, it was her incomplete world view that hindered her. At least, Commander James assumed a normal person would've been able to figure out the answer by now.
"Sweetheart...," Commander James smiled as he shook his head. It was more patronizing that way. "We have functioning, perfected super soldiers....," he said. "Did you think none of that technology would also overlap with things like fertilization? I feel like I have to make it obvious, she had her eggs frozen. Husband had his samples too. They've been planning this for a while."
"What?" Freya was too rich to be particularly offended, but she certainly arrived with expectations that now seemed to have been misreprsented.
"I was told they were genetically-engineered super soldiers, completely sterile from birth! Or at least they're supposed to be!"
"Oh yeah," Commander James nodded. "You just told me you wanted 'super soldiers' to guard your home now that super powers are becoming more common. You didn't actually specify 'genetically-engineered' ones; that's a different squad that I had. You asked for super soldiers, and I've got those. Unfortunately, if you want any of the genetically-engineered ones, there's a waiting list."
"Are they on other contracts?" She needed to know if she could somehow outbid their current assignment.
"Nah," He shook his head as he wondered what version of the truth to tell her for maximum discomfort. "Defective batch. One of them got pregnant, so we had to scuttle the whole squad. New ones are cookin' now."
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