The five of us stood at attention in the 'at ease' position and waited as both CO Sandra Rivers and Colonel Ellen Rivers read over the revised plans. We had divided it up into stages, very essential stages that needed to be completed for the next part to work, and so on and so on, with the final stage being inside a new garrison that was less than a mile from the Eastern Empire's border. It took them a while to go through it all and they didn't ask a single question the entire time.

“Is this it?” The Colonel asked. “This is all?”

“Yes, Ma'am.” Gary said. We had agreed that it was better for him to speak, just so the Colonel wouldn't start screaming at me for being honest about how stupid she was.

“This is going to take half as long again as the original plan and it's a thousand people less.” The Colonel said, her face only slightly angry.

“Yes, Ma'am.” Gary said. “Not only that, each section of the plan has to be done perfectly for the rest to work. Otherwise, it all crumbles into dust.”

“I don't like it.” The CO said. “Your margins for error are way too thin.”

“That's my worry as well, Ma'am.” Gary said and he felt a small finger poke his side.

“Say it.” Gillis whispered.

“At least it has a margin for error...” Gary said and his face went a little red from both anger and embarrassment. “...unlike the original plan.”

Both the CO and the Colonel gave him pointed stares.

“This version will ensure that the most people will survive the journey. It would take even longer if we tried to enact all safety protocols.” Gary said. “We've cut out a lot of normal army procedure as well. Each part has the revised regulations needed for that part of the plan.”

“Yes, we've read them.” The Colonel said and looked right at me. “I assume this is your doing.”

I glanced at the others and Alex sighed with a small nod. “Yes, sir. Most of them will only hinder the troops from progressing, to the point that they will be ineffectual during a long deployment. I removed them and only quoted the essential ones needed for order.”

“Is this what you all think?” The Colonel asked the others.

“That line of thinking isn't helping us.” The CO said and touched the Colonel's arm. “It doesn't matter what they think on an individual level, since they had to agree if they submitted the plans together.”

The Colonel glared at each of us. “Do you think so little of the army?”

“You said that this is an emergency situation and we are treating it as such.” Gary said, resuming his duty to speak for us. “If we didn't ease regulations during this trying time, nearly everyone you send into the marsh will die.”

The Colonel put a hand on her forehead and leaned her elbow on the desk as she sighed. “It's not enough.”

“What?” Gillis asked.

“It's not enough. We won't have enough people to sustain a prolonged engagement with the enemy.” The Colonel said. “It's also going to take too long.”

“We cut it down to the bare minimum safety standards for people.” Donna said. “There's no way, no physical way, to take more than that without causing unnecessary deaths.”

“That's not what I meant.” The Colonel said. “I gave you a month to implement the plan. As in, get it going and have it done by the end of the month.”

I felt the others take in sharp breaths and didn't react myself.

“You've used up two weeks of that month by coming up with this thing.” The Colonel waved at the piles of papers on the desk. “That means, you have only three weeks left to get it done.”

“You can't be serious!” Gillis asked. “We barely... barely... worked out these bare bones logistics this quickly! Our estimate of six weeks is the fastest it can happen!”

“It should be spread out to eight weeks, except that we cut out two staging and resupply areas.” Alex said. “It puts a strain on everything else; but, they aren't quite essential to have the whole plan work.”

The Colonel sighed. “Even if I let these two weeks go, your plan is still too long. This first stage...” She picked up the folder and put it on top. “...are you really suggesting we do what this says?”

“We have a lot of troops that we can't take with us, so why not use them?” Gary asked.

“You mean kill them.” The Colonel said.

“They'll be in minimum danger...” Gary started to say.

“It's not minimal danger to fight a goddamn dragon!” The Colonel spat.

“I'd say it's three, possibly four now.” I corrected. “One to two adults, one teenager, and probably a baby.”

“You shut up!” The Colonel said, angrily. “You've already disobeyed the orders I've given you!”

“No, I haven't.” I said and Donna touched my arm.

“You're not helping by antagonizing her.” Donna whispered.

“She needs to understand that nothing she does in the marsh can happen if the dragons aren't dealt with.” I said. “Even if she waits for winter and the dragons slow down for a few months, travel in the marsh is impossible over long distances.”

“We put all of that in the report.” Donna said.

“She didn't read it all the way through.” I said and both the Colonel and the CO looked surprised. “She's going to cut it from the plan and believe she's going to save a week, maybe two.”

“How do you know that?” The CO asked.

“It's the only part that anyone would assume won't affect the rest.” I said. “If you skip it, all you'll do is make parts three and four impossible to complete.”

“Troop movement and ingredient gathering.” Gary reminded them. “You read the report of what happened when Alex and his team encountered the baby dragon.”

“I also read how you got out of there.” The Colonel said. “Just do that again.”

“I can't.” I said and she squinted her eyes at me. “We had barely touched what the dragons believe is their territory and that was when they found the baby.”

Alex took in a breath and let it out. “We made them expand their area.”

“It's all immaterial.” The Colonel said. “I can't delay the mission to let a few squads of soldiers die in the mouths of dragons for no reason.”

“Ma'am, you don't understand.” Alex said and she turned her squinted eyes to him. “If the dragon followed us along the path we took over the last few months, which was almost a straight line...”

Donna gasped. “Our route goes right through their area!”

“That's not in the report.” The CO said with a bit of a frown.

“Yes, it is.” I said. “Third page from the back. Map addendum 2.”

The CO opened the report and flipped to the page and read. Her eyes widened and she looked at me and then at the Colonel. “He's right. It adds the dragon's path and potential territory expansion.”

“I said it doesn't matter.” The Colonel said and plucked the report from her hand and tossed to the side of the desk. “I am ordering you to skip it and to start with part two.”

_______________

You have a critical choice to make. Will you bow to the whims of the tyrannical Colonel or tell her to shove it?

A) Agree. B) Refuse. C) Laugh. D) Lie. E) Negotiate. F) Tell her she's crazy. G) Leave. H) Choose two.

Ha ha. Okay, these are great choices. I thought sarcastically. I don't want to die and I don't really want my friends to die, either. So, I'll choose two. F and then B.

_______________

“I'm glad that I have proof that as a Colonel, you are as crazy as you are as a princess.” I said and everyone in the room gasped. “I refuse your order. I won't be a part of killing so many people for no reason.”

The Colonel frowned and stood up. “You are a conscript in the King's Army and you will do what you are ordered to do!”

“As a conscript, I am supposed to be useful to the army for the rest of my life. If you send me out there, you'll kill me long before my usefulness can be of benefit. Therefore, I refuse to allow you to deny the army my services.”

“Guards!” The Colonel spat and two men came into the office. “Escort this man to the stockade.”

“Colonel, don't do this.” Gary said. “We need his skills to...”

“Do you wish to join him?” The Colonel asked and Gary shut up. She nodded and the two men motioned for me to leave.

I walked out of the office and went right over to the building with the holding cells in it.

“Back again.” The guard there said and I saluted with the petrified hand. “You still have the best room in the place available.”

“Thank you.” I said and walked by him.

“I'll let Diane know.” The guard said and the two guards just stared at me as I entered the first cell.

I sealed it on three sides, to save the hinges, and laid down on the cot. Now it was time for me to wait. I hadn't told the others that this was a part of my plan. There was no way that the Colonel was ever going to approve the revised plan, until she admitted her own fault for trying to rush it through in the first place.

Her plan was much different and looked to be better for everyone if it was executed. On paper, anyway. The problem was, she had assumed a lot of facts, like the travel times, the terrain, the imminent threats, and even the amount of food someone needed to cross that distance. She assumed normal walking and normal food consumption, which was the worst thing a leader could do.

People needed more food when exerting themselves, which I had learned at boot camp. It was the same amount of food that I normally ate, so I didn't really notice. Gillis on the other hand, had been cleaning her metal food tray by the end of the first month. She had started losing weight as the exercises and running became more intense and they added weights to everyone to get them to perform better.

By the end of the second month, I was loading their meal trays with almost double their normal food allotment and they all cleaned it completely. Of course, making the food taste a lot better helped with that, too.

I smiled as I remembered that first time the head cook tasted my spiced lamb and saw the look on his face. I wasn't sure why I was smiling, since it was just food. It's not like he hadn't eaten it before and he definitely ate it after that. He ordered it, though. He said that he didn't want to wait for me to catch another one and we cooked it up together. The kitchen staff and the officers ate really well that week.

I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths as I relaxed and let the vigilance technique lapse. I expected the Colonel to set a trial date to charge me with the built up charges I had against me and I was fully prepared to face them. I chuckled for a moment and then fell asleep, sure in the fact that no matter what happened next, I was much too valuable to be hanged.