Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 134: It’s Not a Soap Opera, it’s War!

Delphi and Feifei took their breakfast trays and sat beside Alton, as was their usual practice.

"Good morning," Delphi said tentatively to the man.

He nodded cooly at her and kept eating.

Not his usual morning greeting or look, but she could live with it, at least he wasn’t ignoring her entirely.

"Bill’s heading out this morning too," she told him. "He might travel with us some of the way."

"No point," he said shortly. "We’re heading south-east, and he needs to head due south."

"I was thinking that instead, we can go with him to Port Fairy, commandeer his boat to take us to Phillip Island, then sail back together. Safety in numbers and all that. Plus we’ll save time. With the horses we can make Port Fairy in a day and a half and then use the water to cut our travel time in half."

Alton considered the proposal and nodded. "It’s not a bad idea. We should be able to cram the horses on his boat, and at least one dragon for protection."

"I was thinking the same thing. I’ve already discussed it with Bill, and he thinks it’s doable on Pittman’s military boat."

"Good," said Alton professionally, focussing back on his breakfast.

So that’s how it was going to be, was it? thought Delphi.

She would have to try and find some time alone with him today to have a difficult conversation that needed to be had.

"While I’m on the Island I’ll get you some pregnancy vitamins, Feifei," said Delphi. "Don’t you go getting too big without me. I’m the godmother so I need to be part of the whole process."

"I’ll do my best," laughed Feifei. "I can’t make any promises though."

"Listen to Han and do as he tells you like a good girl. He has your best interests at heart you know."

Han had been a bit overbearing, ordering Feifei not to do this and that, and making her eat certain foods. He seemed to think he needed to step in for Bo. It was kind of sweet, but Delphi knew Feifei found it annoying.

"He’s exhausting Delphi," complained Feifei. "He’s like an old Grandma."

"Speak of the devil," whispered Delphi as Han strode up to their table and sat down.

He picked some pork off Feifei’s plate and put it on his own. "No undercooked meat remember, Feifei? I told you that already. This meat is too pink for you. Make sure you ask Winter for the well-done pieces next time."

Feifei nodded crankily, her lips pursed.

"I’m probably going to lose my breakfast again anyway, so what does it matter?"

"It matters because when you’re pregnant you’re at higher risk of food poisoning and that can affect the baby too."

Feifei looked at Delphi with her eyebrows raised in a ’see what I have to put up with?’ look.

Delphi giggled.

"Ready to go, General?" asked Han, turning to Alton.

"Yep. We’ll ship out in an hour. Are the packs all ready to go?" he asked Han.

"Yes, General. Everyone’s pack is finalised and sitting with their name on it."

Han had been very busy in the lead up to the mission, getting the ham radio ready and supporting Baer and Feifei with the making of the bomb, which would be carried in parts and put together on site.

"Good man," Alton nodded.

Loveday, having finished her breakfast quickly, sighed and approached the table where the two Generals sat.

"I might need to talk to you both," she said to them, looking sheepish.

Good grief, what now? thought Alton. He nodded at her to continue.

"In private," she said apologetically.

Alton scraped his chair back and walked out of the dining room without looking back, clearly expecting Loveday and Delphi to follow him.

He entered the small gymnasium next door and held the door open for the two women.

"What’s up, Loveday?" he asked her, settling onto a weights bench and forcing the two women to stand while they talked. "Don’t tell me you’re pregnant too?"

"No!" she cried, offended.

She didn’t want to say in front of him that she was still a virgin, but she was!

Actually, her news didn’t seem so bad compared to that! She felt suddenly cheerful.

"Look, I had a bit of a run in with Baer this morning. Nothing unmanageable, but the long and the short of it is, he’s refusing to be my partner on the mission now."

"What the fuck?" growled Alton. "This is not a soap opera, it’s war! Hard luck. He doesn’t get to choose his partner; he gets who we allocate to him. He’s a bloody soldier not an opera singer."

"What’s happened with him, Loveday?" asked Delphi, more sympathetically.

"He and Arrie are dating now, which is fine with me," she hastened to add. "I knew about it."

Could have seen this coming a mile away thought Alton, wiping his brow in exasperation.

"But Baer seems to have a problem with me now. He says I’m his ex and we can’t be friends, and he won’t be my partner," she rushed this bit, letting the words tumble out with embarrassment.

"This is not kindergarten!" roared Alton, whose fuse was particularly short this morning, most particularly where the shenanigans of this bunch of flirtatious women were concerned...

"General, we do need all of the pairs to be functioning at the highest possible capability," said Delphi. "I would have some concerns about Baer working with Loveday now. We can’t have any pairs working against one another."

He knew there was some truth in what she was saying, he just didn’t like it.

"What are you suggesting, General Chastain," he said formally.

She sighed. "It’s sub-optimal, but I think the best solution is to pair Brenner with Loveday and Opal with Baer. I don’t think Arrie and Baer are a stable enough couple yet to risk putting them together and pairing Loveday with Wolf."

"I agree," said Alton immediately.

He liked this idea enormously! It was a humdinger of an idea.

Loveday was very beautiful, had a smoking hot figure, and from Baer’s descriptions, was not backwards in sharing her charms.

He couldn’t think of a happier thought than putting Brenner in close quarters with this charming seductress. And he completely agreed that the Araminta-Baer pairing didn’t have much hope of longevity. There were tears to come there before too long.

This is why there were no women in the military! What a bloody disaster all round...

"Private Espey, go and tell the soldiers impacted about the change."