Three am, the good Sargeant walked in, still looking like a greek statue in camouflage, a bucket of water in hand. Of course when he realized I was awake, and actually seated at the table and doing something, he set it by the door as if that had been his plan all along.

"What are you up to, Ma'am?"

"Just going over these maps." The maps were far more low tech than I thought we should have, after all America was the country who invented satellite mapping and cheap satellite communications, but there was a certain charm to them. Holding an actual heavy grade piece of paper in your hand and pouring over keys, finding where the mountains and valleys lay....

The Sargeant pulled up a chair, quietly, since I had a few housemates now, pleasantly sleeping the night away. "Why?"

"Trying to plan possible routes. I don't know where my new boss will want me to patrol, but I want to have at least some idea of the best way to get there before we leave."

Come to think of it, the Sargeant was here to help me plan. "what kind of load out should we be looking at? Has the standard changed at all in the last six months?"

"Nah, you should be okay with the standard kit, and the squad already has what they need. Standard small arms, ammunition, some explosives, silver weapons absolutely covered in that weird writing you guys do, a week of food, water, the whole nine yards."

Well I had all of that, even the small arm. The weapons wouldn't be worth anything against demons, but there were other dangers running around. The same dangers the squad was supposed to watch my back for.

"So what time are we supposed to meet the boss?" I knew it was after three, but not the exact time.

"Oh, right about now," the Sargeant answered airily. "No rush."

One of the summoners stirred, and he lowered his voice. "We've actually got about ten, but you're presentable, and going early couldn't hurt."

Well, I had taken the time to dress. I wasn't sure about presentable though, there was only so much I could do in the dark.

I grabbed my bag and followed the Sargeant out the door. As soon as I closed it, he turned to me. "So, any weaknesses I should know about? Before we go see the Colonel or meet up; is there anything we will need to cover you on?"

Interesting question. "Why do you ask?"

"Our last summoner had an issue with salt. Couldn't stand it, was allergic. Because of that we couldn't use certain circles, and had to do other things."

Hm, that would almost have to be a contract promoted allergy; I hadn't heard of anyone having a natural allergy to salt; it was in all things, after all. I wonder if their own bodies' salt caused them issues?

I motioned for the man to keep going. "No, nothing like that. I might not be in the best shape ever, but I've no known allergies or other issues. Well, I might burn in the sun if not covered, but that's it."

I was far from the worst in respect of weaknesses, even if I wasn't the best.

"Huh. Good. I think we can work around that."

"I've already got scentless sunscreen. Just not sure how long it'll last," I told him. I didn't want him thinking I wasn't capable of dealing with things. Now to sweeten the pot. "In fact, I have a pretty good advantage on other summoners to make up for it."

"I'd expect nothing less from a Numens. Your family is something of a legend among summoners."

Because of course it was; family names were bogus for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was living up to the hype.

"You shouldn't read too much into my last name, I'm not all that special."

The Sargeant shrugged. "We will see. Special or dead, that's usually the choice."

Well, that was... bleak.

We arrived at the office, and were waved on through without a single issue. The Colonel was outside his office in the hall, a key in one hand, coffee in the other.

"Lieutinant Numens, you're early." He sounded like he wasn't all that happy about it.

"Sorry sir, I had issues sleeping." Oh, that was apparently the wrong thing to say.

The Colonel schooled his features with effort. "Quadrant F, Lieutinant. That's where you're going. Make sure your team is ready to roll by sunrise. Dismissed."

Thanks to the map, I knew where quadrant F was. I saluted. "Yes, sir."

The Sargeant followed suit as the Colonel dismissed me with a wave, almost fumbling his coffee.

He hadn't asked me if I knew where that was, which was kind of an issue. I thought we were going to go over map coordinates and the like. Speaking of, I should make sure the map I'd found was up to date. The war room would probably have the most up to date information, so I headed in. The guards there didn't stop me either.

The map on the wall was a digital one, and according to the timer in the lower right corner, updated in thirteen minutes. According to it, quadrant F was southwest, towards Germany. Straight into the greatest danger, not that it mattered; I was up for it. I hoped.

A quick look at the other screens show current demonic engagements, by location and time and outcome (some not favorable to us) and the time of our last patrol into quadrant F. Hm, the last patrol in some regions of that area were yesterday, and some other regions were almost a week ago. That just wouldn't do.

We had time, I supposed. "Coffee, Sargeant?"

"I should be waking the troops then."

I grinned. "Don't bother just yet; let's share the wealth."

HE grinned back. "You're a cruel woman, Lieutinant."

Yeah I had to nip that in the bud. "Just call me Snow, everyone else does."

"When we leave and there aren't any butt-hurt officers around to bust me for it. We do try not to out our officers and summoners in the field."

Right, both he and Clay had mentioned that yesterday. "I'll probably be pretty hard to cover for, but maybe."

There were some people who had my condition naturally, and some that were demon touched without a pact, but a random demon wouldn't care about any of that; they would target me for looking different.

Not that I really cared; I had my own ways of dealing with that, and in this case, it might well work out for the best if they came at me first. I was more worried about the humans running around out there; those were far more dangerous to me.

We stopped by the mess, and there it was; not one, not two, not even three, but four different kinds of coffee! The sheer decadence of it all! I picked the one that wasn't Folgers or decaf and or Folgers decaf. No I knew how this game was played. Sugar and cream packets were right there, and I used them on the steaming cup of pitch black liquid, then took an experimental sip.

It tasted as if someone had used twice the normally recommended amount of coffee to make it, and was somehow a little on the stale side while being freshly brewed. A major feat requiring great skill.

The Sargeant helped himself to the same pot. "Oh, that face you're making is priceless, Lieutinant. This is the best coffee you'll have this side of the Atlantic."

That just could not possibly be true. "Isn't France known for their coffee shops and bistros?"

The good Sargeant took a long drink of his black coffee, uncaring of it's heat, then looked me dead in the eye. "Yes."

Well, at least now I knew which side of the fence the Sargeant stood at. There truly was no accounting for taste.

At least we both agreed the oatmeal being served was slop. We both ate it anyway; the Sargeant in a greater hurry than I was.

"Well, with your leave Ma'am, I'd like to go wake the troops."

"Certainly Sargeant. Don't forget your bucket."

He grinned, saluted, and left while I finished up. Just as I bussed my dishes, my squad decided to join me, along with several other noisy squads. They all parted around me like a red sea, complaining so loudly I was sure they were waking people up. The bleary-eyed breakfast cooks managed a defeated look at the influx before they were too busy to do anything else; I hoped they would get some bunk time soon, they looked like they needed it.

"Youre a cruel, cruel woman, Lieutinant," Corporal Miller informed me, with an exaggerated hangdog expression.

"Tell me you all weren't chuckling at the idea of me getting soaked at three in the morning, and I'll apologize."

Yep, I thought so. At least he didn't waste breath with denials. "You got us. We'd have paid the sarge for filming it, too."

I turned to see Sarge trying to whistle... badly, his eyes on the ceiling. A phone? I hadn't seen one.

"Whatever. Get breakfast in a hurry, because we're moving out as soon as the sun rises."

Night was the domain of demons. Sure, I could handle it, but running patrols with normals in the dark was a wonderful way to lose those normals. Such suicide or bait patrols were run anyway, but I hadn't been told to run one. Only the inside of the fence was truly safe in this area, and in the dark anything could be waiting.

The sun was coming on quickly though.

"Yes Ma'am." my minions chorused, and broke to do my bidding.

I grabbed another cup of what I could only describe as burnt tar, and walked out, watching as the base started to come alive. Ugh, early morning calisthenics, headed by a drill Sargeant. I really hoped they didn't want me to do all that crap again; the first time was enough.

It felt odd to be out of robes and into fatigues again. I kind of missed being able to hide in them, but they would have been hard to walk in; robes of any kind aren't really built for nature hikes.

Of course, what I'd miss even more was the protection; none of my uniforms had runes of any kind sewn in. The very act was frowned upon, for some reason. It was wierd, you would think they'd want summoners to survive longer.

Well, false dawn - the sun was close enough. It will start to rise as we hit the gate. I went back inside; the Sargeant was watching the door, and he started the squad moving while ignoring how they stuffed their faces or packs last minute on their way out the door.

I tossed my cup and let them pass me, and fell in the center. If I were ahead or behind, any demon observer could decide I was the leader for certain. To his credit, the good Sargeant seemed to have no such worries as he led us all to the parade green.

Then he turned to me. "Lieutinant, if you would."

He didn't really expect me to... shit, he did. An officer was supposed to check the troops under their command before a patrol or sortie, to make sure they were in uniform, in good health, and hadn't forgotten anything. But I hadn't done this sort of thing before; if anything, they should be checking my gear.

I gave them all a quick once over; everything looked like it was in the right place. I wasn't about to check each backpack though. Right, no bleeding wounds, they were all standing straight and looking ahead, past me, and in formation. Works for me.

"Alright, if you've forgotten something, it's on you. Let's go."

There were two guards on either side of the gate, both in armored bunkers. They didn't bother saluting, keeping their gaze outside.

"Seen anything?" I asked the nearest. An ambush right outside wasn't unheard of, after all.

"No Ma'am."

Private Wilbourne broke first, taking the lead. Private Heiman was right behind him. Wilbourne opened the small pad on the fence, tapping in a number, and the gate swung open. Heiman rushed through. staying low, with his assault rifle out and scanning for threats. With the sun cresting behind us, it was certain that anyone watching for us would have a hard time picking us out.

I wasted no time, and I still wasn't the third one out. Private Lenko swung the gate shut behind us, and it locked with a buzz.

And nothing. I blew out a breath. "Alright, away we go."

Just a bit longer, and ironically, I'd be even more safe than I was in the compound. Well, maybe; If he'd been turned...

The good Sargeant was giving me a look, as if he knew what I was thinking. but it didn't matter.

"Grex, veni huc!"

His embrace was tender, almost as if he actually cared. Well, at least it answered the first question; if the big L had managed to turn him, I'd already be dead or on my way back to the states.

The Sargeant - Golem now, I must remember - grinned and held a hand out. "Pay up."

There were sighs, and bills exchanged hands, ending up in his.

Okay, what was this? "What's going on?"

"Most newbies summon their demon at the first opportunity," Corporal... Burrows, yes. informed me. "It's like a security blanket thing. Most of us bet that you wouldn't, since according to scuttlebutt you'd seen some action stateside."

"We all thought you'd know how important it was to save the time you can have one out before going under from the strain," Eve clarified, a look of disdain plastered over the worry on her face.

"Oh, is that all? Well, allow me to put your minds to rest. There isn't any need to worry about me failing at a critical time, or going insane. I can actually have Grex out twenty-four seven, three-sixty-five. That's in my file. Only reason I didn't summon him before is the standing order designed to save the effort you spoke of; but out here, there is no reason not to."

It took them awhile to digest that one. "That's... that's one hell of a secret weapon, if true."

"Indeed," Grex agreed, smirking widely so he could show off all his teeth. "And if desired, little Maeve here can summon more than just myself, and just as easily. You meat-bags stand in the presence of greatness."

"Grex, be nice. they are here to protect me against nazis. Or zombies. Or nazi zombies." Did they have zombies? I guess not in the classical sense, but humans conquered and controlled by demons was a thing. I guess thralls could be considered zombies, if you squinted."

Grex squinted, taking my new squad in, gaze by gaze. There were only a few takers to the obvious staring contest and he pronounced his judgement: "They are unworthy; can we not go back, and exchange them for real warriors?"

Ouch. I held up a hand to cut off any retorts. "No, we get what we get. Now shut up, Grex, we're trying to be stealthy."

I could tell he wanted to say something, likely something witty about how much noise we were making, but I had ordered him. I turned back to my audience. "Any questions?"

"How is your mind not mush?" Golem asked, his eyes narrowed. Yeah he knew what he was asking; I wondered how long he'd been here.

I shrugged. "Part of my contract, I assume. A side effect of what I asked for, but I haven't really asked because it doesn't really matter. I can hold out up to three demons for hours at a time, even while asleep, with no recorded ill effects. And that is one hundred percent confirmed, you don't need to take my word for it."

"Well, now you getting assigned here is even more mysterious," Rigger muttered.

"Not really, but I don't think you're cleared for that, private. Suffice to say, there is a reason I wasn't assigned to a front first, and a reason I have been assigned now." I didn't want to claim our chances of survival were better with me; I wasn't sure if it were true or not yet.

I did think it though.

"The Numens family have always been hot stuff for summoners. I'm sure you all can grasp the implications of having a permanent demon, who is in fact one of their more powerful ones, running around us permanently. As well as the implications of letting her die to something that ain't a demon. So guess what we won't be doing?"

I was touched. Well, a little, at least.

"Grex, you know this drill. Check for dangers, and warn me if you find any, no matter how small."

That way my demon couldn't pull that crap where he ignored a danger that wouldn't kill me but would my men. I really didn't need a miss like that on my conscience. I opened my own senses wide, just to make sure. Grex saluted just to piss everyone off, then vanished like a mirage in a heat haze.

"Right, well we aren't getting anything done here, and I'd rather not have to explain to the Colonel why we're still just outside the gate. So, lets go; Lewd, you're on point."

Lewd was very small, and seemed to be making the least noise. That was good enough for me.

She sighed. "Yeah, sure. Watch me hide with the best of them."

I looked to Golem, who shrugged, then tapped his wrist in the time honored signal and held up three fingers. Right, give her three minutes, then follow.

This was all a little surreal.