Post by Jana Rikar on Nov 6, 2018 7:41:03 GMT
Norfolk, Virginia
Monday Evening
10/29/18
“Are you sure you really wanna do this?”
The words dripped with trepidation as Chandra handed her daughter the plate she had just scrubbed clean in the sink. The kitchen table showed the remnants of dinner as Todd walked up with the last of the dishes.
“If she wants to do it, let her do it.”
“She’s not you, Mr. I’m-the-Hardcore-Overlord.”
“Momma, I can do this. I have to do this. I NEED to do this.”
Jana takes the plate, rinses it underneath the water then places it in the drying rack. Todd, her step-father, stands on the other side of Chandra, placing the dirty dishes into the sink.
“She understands the danger. YOU understood the danger, Chantal, but that didn’t stop you from doing half the stuff you did. Or we did.”
“That was a different time, Todd. I had to make people remember me. Back then, it was doing the crazy stuff just to get noticed. And we both know you just did it because you enjoyed it, for some reason. Jana doesn’t have to. She’s been successful already, even in her short career. She’s working in so many places, even in the Middle East, and just came from the Northeast. She doesn’t…”
“She does.”
Todd puts a hand on Chandra’s shoulder as she sighs.
“I know the risks. I have to step out and this is a perfect way of doing so. It’s nearby so it’s not like I gotta travel a ton. Plus, I was there last season. I saw what went on.”
Chandra looks over to Jana, handing her another sudsy plate.
“It’s not because he’s there, is it? You can’t mix….”
“No, Momma. I know he’s gonna be there. I know there’s gonna be times that we gotta work in the same places and with the same people. The divorce is basically done, just waiting the last few days now, plus I still have to be a professional. I can’t not go for an opportunity just because he’s gonna be there too.”
Jana rinses off the plate, placing it in the rack beside the first.
“It’s nothing different than when Me, Vince, Jack and oh-what’s-his-name worked together.”
“That was different. I wasn’t married to him plus he also knew you three would’ve kicked his ass from one end of the building to the other.”
“And we would have enjoyed it too.”
Chandra smiles then looks back at Jana.
“Girl, it’s your decision. I know you came to tell us just because but you’ve made your mind up, so there’s no point in me trying to change it.”
“You get that from your mother, by the way.”
Todd pats Chandra on the butt as he walks off.
“Easy Mister! We have company.”
“Get a room you two!”
“We will when you leave, Cheetah.”
“Well… Well, I need your help at the gym tomorrow then!”
“Ok, I’ll meet you there.”
The two women look at each other for a moment.
“He’s right. I do get that from you.”
“Your dad would be proud of you.”
“I went and saw him on the way home from the airport. Had a long talk with him before coming here.”
“So your mind was made up long before you dropped that bombshell at dinner tonight?”
“Daddy approved, so… yeah.”
“You are definitely your mother’s daughter then.”
“Thanks Momma.”
The video stops with the smiling face of Jana Rikar on the screen.
“I was so naive then.”
Rustling is heard away from the camera as the voice of Jana Rikar is heard in the background.
“The riots worsened over from then to now. The destruction continued. Gangs overran everything. Momma is… beside of Daddy in the Mausoleum, the house burned because of the looters. Todd got swept up into the muck, trying to fight them. I don’t know where he’s at now, alive hopefully. The Agency took volunteers and I was the first in line. I didn’t know a thing about what the Agency was about but I just knew I had to be a part of it. Every time I turned around, I heard the same things over and over: Too small. Too little. Too fragile. That was two years ago.”
The camera switches to show a uniform on the bed and boots on a tile floor. The room is very spartan, very medicinal and drab. A small screen shows ‘30/Oct/2020/0644’ in red.
“I know most people nowadays don’t like the uniform but it stands for law, for order, for a belief in a society that has gone rogue and needs structure. The Agency works for me, even if it doesn’t work for everyone else in this god-forsaken area. It does pay dividends, like being able to capture covert surveillance videos, with a little help of course. I'd love to find out more about my family, but I don't wanna press too hard.”
The camera angles out the window, showing the waves crashing on the beach.
“And I despise having to sleep in the safe room but it’s better than waking up to someone standing over you, threatening you for what little possessions you have.”
The camera view changes and slowly adjusts to show the reflection of Jana Rikar, dressed in her Agency uniform, complete with boots, sidearm stun baton, and insignia. The personal security camera sits above her right eye, as part of an elaborate headset, complete with microphone and earpiece.
“Communications Officer Jana Richards of the Tidewater Protection Agency. Has a nice ring to it.”
She walks away from the mirror, the camera turning to show her face from the high angle, the clop-clop of her boots noticeable on the steel floor.
“First day on the job inside the building, instead of outside. Gonna definitely be something different. But that doesn’t mean the routine changes, just the atmosphere.”
She looks up at the camera, her eyes steeled and a slight sigh heard on the microphone.
“Wish me luck. Be Well.”
The camera goes to static then to black.
Tidewater Protection Agency
Outside of Building A, Square 1
A black Ram 1500, slightly lifted with a Steel push guard on the the front and riding on oversized tires, drives up to the gate. “Identification!” blares out of the speaker as the window rolls down. A feminine hand is seen, palm open. A red light rolls over the hand, lighting a small round blue nodule just above the wrist. “Pass!” blares out of the same speaker as a metal gate slides slowly. The black truck speeds through and the gate slams quickly shut. The truck parks in a designated area and out steps the driver.
“That truck has more balls than you do, non-comm!”
A tall soldier with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a similar uniform as the driver, yells across the parking area as Jana turns around. She looks at the ‘truck-nuts’ hanging down from the tow hitch then back at the soldier.
“My ovaries hope so, Gunny.”
Jana grabs an old pool cue case from behind her seat and slams the door shut. She walks over to the soldier, who stands nearly a foot and a half taller than her. He nods as the two walk towards the nondescript building. The whirl of helicopters is heard as the two pass through a secured entrance. The two stop as a halo field surrounds the two. Jana closes her eyes as the halo screens encompass the two from bottom to top and back down. She exhales as the halo field disappears and the two walk down the hall.
“First day jitters?”
“Nah, I got this.”
“The job or the stick?”
“Both.”
The soldier nods slowly as the two stop at a door.
“This is me. Lunch later?”
“Sure Uncle Jake, and thanks.”
“You’re welcome, kiddo.”
Gunnery Sergeant Jake Richards opens the door and walks through, closing it quickly behind him. Jana exhales and takes three slow steps forward to the next door. She opens it and walks into a mass of computers, closed circuit screens and a multitude of people. The door closes behind her quickly and locks.
FADE TO BLACK