The Valkyrie’s Ghost

Author's note:Welcome back to part 7. For the few and brave who waded through the poor grammar, Microsoft's not-so-intelligent-AI (wrong word is spelled correctly but is the wrong stinking word). I just read a comment from that very busy Anonymous."I am done!"I am so sorry. If it counts, I had to take remedial English twice. I passed, but failed the test. So, I already feel like an illiterate twit. OOyyiee. I wish it would click, but after [cough**lots***cough] of years, it just won't take. The first editor read through chapter 8 and plans on continuing. ***sighs in relief***

For those more traditional romance readers, the crossdressing aspect is complete. Lysandra is in a better place because someone cared enough to support her in her time of need.

Warning? You know them by now. My grammar's so bad, even autocorrect waved a white flag and joined a book club. My grammar's so bad, even AI asked for a firmware update before reading my draft. I fed my writing to an AI. It didn't correct it--it just quietly applied for retirement. As you can tell those were complete sentences so yes, AI helped with the jokes! PHD.

Chapter 31

Saturday, December 27th

The Five House

8755 Ridgeline Hollow Road

Grants Pass, OR

Riley---------------

Lysandra stood next to the front door to Riley's Five. The Aegis security team showed up 45 minutes after the conference call ended. The vehicle seemed to be the product of an unfortunate mating of an RV and HUMVEE Riley called an Aegis Sentinel V8. The massive vehicle must have been the size of a semi-truck, but its engine was strangely quiet.

Riley waved them to follow him, as he jogged to the back of the property. He stopped and yelled, "Don't you want to meet the famous Vanguard Six?"

"Sure!" Lysandra shouted back smiled and quickly caught up to Riley,

"Stinking short legs!" Riley mumbled to himself, "had a lead and everything, but noooo.." Riley looked over and winked.

They followed a gravel pathway and about a quarter of a mile found a large green and brown metal building. Riley pulled out his phone and pulled up an app. Lights embedded in the eves came to life and two large doors started to slide open. Riley looked at Lysandra "If you have millions in the bank, splurge. Right?"

Lysandra laughed and laid her hand affectionally on his shoulder. "Right." She looked over, "How big is the building and the Frankein... er Sentinel?"

"The building is 100 long, 50 feet wide and 20 feet tall." Riley reported. "I have mad intentions of filling the place with a classic car collection." He noticed the driver exploring the layout around the building. "Excuse me."

Riley jogged over and climbed the steps to the truck, RV, err, thing. He grasped the door and started to wave with his off hand, providing directions on how to turn the rig and back it into the building.

Riley hopped down and jogged back to Lysandra. "Do you want a peek at a few of my past projects?"

"Sure!" Lysandra said as they walked into the large building. The floor was sealed cement with a dark grey with a pattern of a deep red and bright blue worked into the floor. The lighting was indirect, but she found some large halogen lights that were not in use. At the far end of the building, she found six set of headlights and chrome front bumpers and grills reflecting the red from the stop lights of the Aegis rig.

Lysandra herd doors shut and found five people emerge from the rig and were scattered around the opening of the building.

"Major!" A Latina female with shoulder-length dark brown hair yelled, "nice digs!"

In a posh British accent, a man with fair complexion and his brown hair in the classic crew cut yelled "Wraith, that is Lieutenant Colonel Ghost to you!" The leff-tenant suggesting he knows the King's English.

"Breaker, bite me!" Wraith laughs back. Turning to Riley. "Sorry," she stresses "Lieutenant Colonel Rivers" she snaps to attention and then she drops into a dreadful imitation of Breaker's accent "You've a lovely home o'chum. Quite charming, really."

The sixth and final soldier drops from the left driver's door and trots on over. They line up in a perfect line, with equal distance between each other. Perfect parade rest posture washed across the six and Riley smiles. "Wow, Major Vex pulled out the big guns," turning to Lysandra. "Ms. Lysandra Vale, may I introduce you to the legendary Vanguard Six. They are the top of the top."

"Ahh... maybe don't say that around the all-male squads," Wraith said softly, a hint of amusement in her voice. "They can be... how do you say... a little delicate sometimes." The remaining two women turned to each other, shook their head once in affirmation and then gave each other a high five and then resumed their parade rest, facing the front.

Riley turned to the first soldier in line, a muscular Latino male that was a shade under six foot, his short black hair was in a fade and his dark brown eyes scanned the room. "Lysandra this mountain is Technical Sergeant Dante "Grim" Alvarez. He is a deadly shot, a quiet as cotton on snow, and has several medals for his combat medic work in the US Air Force. Got a bug bite? Grim is the man. Got a bullet wound? Grim is still the man."

"Ma'am." Grim said with a smile, "We are glad to be assigned with you and the Lieutenant Colonel."

"Next up is our cousin from across the pond, Seargeant Major Cole "Breaker" Maddox of the United Kingdom's SAS." Riley introduced, "despite is cultured ways, he is a deadly close-quarters combat specialist."

"Ms. Vale," Breaker said with a respectful dip of the head.

Riley stepped to the right and stood in front of a 5'7" to 5'8" Latina woman with striking hazel eyes and luxurious shoulder-length dark brown hair that gleamed in the lights. "This is Staff Sergeant Talia "Wraith" Moreno," he introduced, "while scary in all aspects of combat, she can shoot the stinger off a bee at thousand yards. Wildly inaccurate speculation is that she is driving a nice electric blue Corvette based on a bet with a chauvinistic misogynist who thought he was the best sniper in Delta."

"Baseless speculations, sir!" She smiled, "Ms. Vale."

"Although I have also heard she is not as strong of a poker player as shot with a Barret MRAD." Riley winked at Wraith.

Breaker coughed what sounded like That is cold ghost! Moreno just blushed but her smile filled her face.

Lysandra smiled at her, "Nice to meet you..."

"Sarge works." Riley offered.

"Nice to meet you Sarge." Lysandra said as she noticed Talia's eyes following Riley with a hint of affection.

"All the way from Nigeria, this is Captain Zara "Nyx" Okoye." Riley stepped to stand in front of a 5'10"ish woman with a deep brown complexion, striking amber eyes, and black hair sculpted into a complex braid. "Nyx is lethally quiet, walking through the thickest jungle without a single sound. She hears everything but says little."

Nyx respectfully lowered her chin in greeting and smiled kindly. Her eyes also seem to focus on Riley.

Riley stepped to the right and introduced the next Vanguard-ian, "The baby of the six at the ripe ole age of 27 is Miko "Shade" Tanaka, a Lieutenant from Japan's Special Operations Group. We feel she is 4/6ths Ninja and 3/6th hacker." He smiled, "I know that doesn't add up, but she is more than one mortal body can hold."

In perfect English, Shade steps forward and in a soft voice, "Ms. Vale, it is our pleasure."

"Last, but definitely not least is our resident explosives specialist, Gunnery Sergeant Jack "Torque" Reed, who is surgical with the SAW."

"He is the only one willing to lug 15 pounds in gun and 30 pounds in ammo!" Wraith barked.

"Ma'am," Torque stepped up and did a half salute, "it's an honor."

Riley stepped back and smiled, "It is good to see each of you. Lysandra and I are going to take a pair of bikes to a fairly lonely but flat stretch of trail. Magg's shared your inventory, I need four to grab the Trek Fuel EXe 8 GX AXS. Two ride shadow on prime, one take 500 foot point, and the last 600 foot six."

Turning to Lysandra, "If you don't mind, we are going to have you wear a vest and special bike helmet that will offer some protection in case you forgot how to ride a bike!" He winked. He returned his attention as Breaker and Torque stood ready for their orders. "Breaker and Torque, if you could get the Sentinel settled. You will find water and gray port at the base of the wall where the power is. We should be gone about 2 hours, so if you want to sack out for a couple, we can give you the Grave Watch."

"Roger." The two men moved quickly to accomplish their assigned duties.

Lysandra turned and looked at Riley, "Wow, you just took over," the basketball said in awe.

Riley looked a little confused, "Well, ummm" he looked around and whispered, "I am the CO. Once voice, one mission, one outcome."

I need to grab the Defender and Sankey trailer so we can get people and equipment to the right trail before we lose light.

Chapter 32

Saturday, December 27th

Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Grants Pass, OR

Dante--------------

Dante Alvarez smiled as he piloted Riley's mostly restored 1978 Land Rover 109 Series III. The modern 5.3L powertrain provided punch and power. While the interior looked as if it rolled out of the factor with gleaming green paint, stitched leather seats, and like-new gauges glistened in the deepening dusk. His eyes scanned the cabin and found Wraith and Nyx sitting upright, eyes were scanning every feature of the road. Hands on their knees but itching to reach for their weapons in the slightest sign of trouble.

Using the mirror, he noticed the trailer obediently following with the six bikes strapped down. The red lights of the Rover washing over the Sankey trailer and bikes. Shifting his eyes to the road, he repeated his scan. He found Shade sitting to the right, Vale in the middle, and the Lt. Col, err call sign dummy, Ghost tucked right behind him. Shade was rotating her head to scan across her side.

His eyes found Vale eyes closed and she was scrunched down, with her knees almost touching the ceiling and her head nestled into Ghost's shoulder. His eyes went wide when he noticed she had pulled his CO's hand into hers. Eight pairs of eyes found him and tracked back to the backseat. Riley looked seriously forward, sending the message to return to mission. Four smiles appeared on the faces of the world-weary faces of professional soldiers.

Grim returned, the smile danced on his lips. The afternoon of the two riding mountain bikes as if they were trying to qualify for the Olympics. The well-matched athletic abilities pushed the functionality of the e-Bikes. The beauty of the trail interfered only twice as they stopped, drank from their water bottles as they watched the magnificence of a waterfall and a small herd of deer. The shared smiles and encouragement sprinkled with good-natured jibes, that made the two-hour ride fly bye. They constantly found each other's eyes throughout the ride. His smile percolated into a light chuckle.

He looked to the right and found Wraith and Nyx with their own smiles. Well, crap. Ghost and a Valkyrie, who would have guessed.

Chapter 33

Monday, December 29th

The Five House

8755 Ridgeline Hollow Road

Grants Pass, OR

Riley--------------

The remains of four hand-tossed pizzas covered the kitchen island, Torque and Grim standing with their plates balanced in their left hand as they good naturally jostled for the last few pieces. Lysandra with still damp hair sat at the dining table with Shade, Wraith, and Nyx in soft conversation. Breaker brought his plate over to attempt to rescue one more slice from the machinations of the two sergeants.

Riley leaned against the door frame, taking in the scene. He was surprised that Lysandra engaged with the team as the first two weeks of the protection detail she was... aloof. Kept her distance from her staff and other people. He smiled as he thought it was that she felt safe.

Wraith pipped up, "Ghost, I may have stumbled upon a video from ESPN that has this hot chick that looks just like you with Lysandra in Chicago."

"You do, do you." Riley asked.

"The legs on that creature made me want to switch teams, if you know what I am saying." Wraith added with a suppressed laugh.

"You do you, Talia." Riley winked, "We will love you for your clever repartee." He turned to Lysandra, "there are no sacred secrets are there?"

Lysandra held up her hands, "Riley, I swear I did not say a word..."

Riley eyebrows rose in disbelief.

Lysandra continued, "...until she asked." Her face went a bit serious, "I confessed I was a bitch when I first met you and took all the blame."

Riley kicked off the door frame and went over to Lysandra and laid his hand gently on her shoulder. "Your apology has been accepted. Not a... well you know. You needed control and it gave me better access when we thought this was a group of drunk rednecks sowing their seed."

Riley seeing the Wraith's look of guilt winked at her. "If you need some tips on how to carry while in a ball gown, just let me know."

The room exploded into laughter. Lysandra moved her hand and laid it protectively over Riley's subconsciously.

"Now that I fed the beast," Riley smiled, "let's discuss New York."

All six members of the Vanguard sat still and focused on Riley standing behind Lysandra.

"Even though we will have continuous surveillance of the Five, we are returning here on the 1st, so I would like to have a pair remain and secure. " Riley looked around the table.

"You're the CO," Torque observed.

"So, CO." Wraith finished.

"In that case, Shade, Wraith, Breaker, and Nyx you four follow the package. Torque and Grim, you two secure the Five." Riley said with confidence. "Maggs has some additional sensors inbound, getting those dug in and tested would be aces."

"Mission?" Nyx asked.

"I am the shadow. Wraith is eagle, Shade is Oz, and Nyx and Breaker are wolves." Riley said succinctly.

Lysandra looked around, then turned her head and looked at Riley with her eyebrows raised in question.

"Sorry," he smiled. "We have formed a sort of short-hand. Shadow is that I am always within 5 feet of you. Eagle is a place that Talia will be able to survey the entire room. She will have a silenced long-rifle that in the most urgent case could be used to subdue a threat. Miko will be using advanced technology surveillance in a space 90 seconds from the ballroom. She can coordinate the Van, NYPD, and hotel security. Finally, Zara and Cole will be roaming the room and in direct coordination with Miko and Talia to locate and escort to a NYPD team who will process anyone who is not authorized to be at the event."

"Oh." Lysandra said and then grinned, "When do you repel down from the ceiling avoiding touching the floor so the CIA will not lock you up?"

Looking to Wraith, "Is that scheduled for Tuesday or Thursday?"

"Tuesday." Talia deadpanned, "I think we have to save the NATO leaders from assassination on Thursday."

Torque nodded enthusiastically, "That stinking Dr. Evil and his cat!"

They all looked around, and Lysandra was the first to burst into laughter. Riley squeezed Lysandra's shoulders. Stood up and moved around the table, touching each member of his team with a kind word or question about a mother or pet.

"Maggs has dropped the mission brief in your Aegis platform. Sign in tonight and review all details. We will do a light PT tomorrow at 0445," the team groaned, but Riley continued, "debrief at 0600 and head to the airport 0645, with wheels up at 0707. We good?"

The six barked in unison, "Affirmative, sir"

Shade and Grim stood, moved to pull on their gear, sling weapons into place. "We have Drift Watch," Dante announced. He turned to Wraith and then Nyx, "we will see you at 2000."

"Roger that," the two women said, turned to Riley. "We are going to grab a few winks before the Forge Watch," she turned to Lysandra, "especially if we have physical training at 4 stinking 45 in the stupid morning" but then smiled. "Although, Ghost is getting old and I have been working my ass off, so I might be able to take him."

The rest of the team chuckled. It was quite Miko who said "Ten on the Lieutenant Colonel." Soon the rest of the group had chimed in.

Wraith laughed, "I said might and I am not fool enough to bet against the Ghost on his home turf!"

Chapter 34

Monday, December 30th

The Five House

8755 Ridgeline Hollow Road

Grants Pass, OR

Riley--------------

Riley, in dark slacks, shirt and blazer walked aboard the Nike Gulfstream 280 company jet. The supple light tan leather welcomed the passengers. Riley chuckled at Lysandra, who wore jeans and a thick wool sweater followed him, but had to hunch over to move through the cabin.

"Did I hear a chuckle?" Lysandra mocked glared.

"Me, chuckle?" Riley asked in shock. "I would never celebrate the gift of shortness to my taller passengers."

She fell into the chair and Riley took the chair across the aisle. "Well, that is excellent news," she said with a warm smile, "it is tough being tall in the small world."

"What a burden to bare," Riley agreed as he buckled in. He looked over to her lap, then back to his, tapped his fore finger on the buckle, and looked back at her lap.

"It is difficult to read you, Riley." Lysandra sighed and fastened her belt.

"I am just an enigma wrapped in a secret." Riley whispered, "My call sign is Ghost after all."

Riley looked to the back of the plane and noticed Wraith and Shadow smiling as their eyes scanned the interactions. Wraith lifted her right eyebrow in a suggestion. Riley just rolled his eyes.

Lysandra leaned over and whispered, "Did your scary soldiers just giggle?"

Riley closed his eyes and shook his head yes. "Please don't tell the domestic terrorist." Riley said long-sufferingly, "Aegis wants us to project a sense of professionalism."

Lysandra used her hand to mime locking her lips and throwing away the key. She smiled a then without thinking of it, laid her hand on his arm and leaned forward. "They are so nice, but I really miss the Super-Secret Healing Spa."

Riley moved his reached across his body and did a hybrid pat/caress. "I am in almost total agreement."

"Almost?" Lysandra asked.

"I know panty lines are important when wearing tights, but the thong had some chaffing going on." Riley reported seriously.

Lysandra exploded in laughter. Riley looked back to find all four Aegis operatives' heads turned towards him and the 'package.' He lifted his eyes and stared back and four set of eyes dropped to their laps, with what Riley could imagine four knowing smiles appearing.

"I appreciate you allowing me to tag along for the run this morning." Lysandra said as she got herself under control.

"It was my pleasure." Riley said, "it was funny to see the Van working through the mental gymnastics. 'O, crud, the package is pushing the Ghost and kicking our tails' only to switch to, 'she is a gold metal track star, why am I trying to keep up with this cheetah?'"

Lysandra smiled, "I must agree with Talia, you are freaking fast."

"Can't hurt if you can catch mentality." Riley offered but then smiles as he notices Lysandra connecting some of his scars with when he was caught, "Each experience made me stronger. Now, I am almost good enough to guard the Valkyrie."

The pilot announced that everyone should fasten their seat belts, which Riley just tapped his buckle with a content grin.

Chapter 35

Wednesday, December 31st

Presidential Suite

1335 Avenue of the Americas,

New York City, NY

Riley--------------