Family Betrayal

[l3wt]

James was in Suffolk's rec room, lounging in the sofa and watching a BBC news screening as his PDA made a small hum in his pocket. As he read it he frowned and muttered.

"All work and no play makes James a dull boy..."

Then he got up and started moving, heading for his own quarters. It was the size of a walk-in closet compared to the cabins higher-ranked officers got, but it was his. He quickly changed into his civvies. Blue-gray jacket. T-shirt, plain black. Black trousers. It'd do.

He reached for his security locker, punching in the code on the keypad. There were a few things in there, but only one thing was really relevant right now, and that was his L18. It had been cleaned and oiled since its last use. He knew it wasn't loaded, but he pulled the charging handle back and checked the chamber anyway, which was basic safety practice.

Satisfied, he let the mechanism snap shut with a sharp clack, pulled the trigger to decock it and packed it into a duffel-bag along with five magazines and all the accessories he figured would be useful. Suppressor. Dot sight. Long-range optic. Tac-light. Laser-sight. He was typically against the practice of loading guns up with all kinds of crap at once, but all of this stuff had practical applications if this was going where he thought it was.

Slinging the bag over his shoulder he headed for the hangar bay and waited for Goodman. He didn't get any looks from the ship crew - people came and went all the time. The civvies might have gotten him some odd looks but most people on the HMS Suffolk knew his face, so nobody stopped to question him.