By Any Other Name

By Daniel R. Robichaud

Chesnee Krueger (code name: Looker) had the looks and luck to make a go of a career as a supermodel, however she left that career in order to be all she could be in the military. Few understand the life she has lived and fewer still understand the trials and challenges she has faced in her career choices. As a member of Kinetic Force, Looker has a rep for being a beautiful ballbuster. Why did she choose such a code name, if she wasn't rubbing people's faces in her awareness of her own good looks? In "By Any Other Name," prepare to learn about Looker's origin. The answers may well surprise you.

Kinetic Force: Vignettes are short stories and novellas that target a single Kinetic Force character and provide a look into their lives and the drives that define them. These vignettes might build on elements from the thrilling Kinetic Force adventures, but they are intended to provide satisfying standalone stories to give a clear look at what makes these individual characters tick.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Twice Told Tales II
• Release date: Sep 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463373620

Daniel R. Robichaud

Daniel R. Robichaud has lived in southeastern Michigan, central Massachusetts and southern Texas. He is a Rhysling Award nominated poet and the author of over one hundred stories, articles and poems, which have appeared in such markets as Shroud Magazine, Rogue Worlds, Goblin Fruit, Rage of the Behemoth, Green Prints, and WritersWeekly. Daniel holds degrees in both Physics and English, and his career path has reflected these passions. In addition to his numerous writing opportunities, he has been an Igor For Hire (aka a freelance research engineer), a substitute teacher, an automation engineer, and a neurophysiology lab manager. Daniel enjoys entertaining people with his words and stories. If you enjoy a good read, why not try one of his works? You might just love them.

Book preview

Looker: By Any Other Name

A Kinetic Force Vignette

By Daniel R. Robichaud

Dedication

To Warrant Officer Bridgette Brenmark:

One hell of a soldier,

one hell of a musician,

and one hell of a talented collaborator.

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act II Sc. ii

Chapter 1

The motor pool was large enough to fit several tanks, AT-AVs, copters, and motorcycles under a single roof, and it was stocked with tools and replacement parts aplenty. Looker liked the place because it was spacious, she could really move around her Logan missile tank without fear of banging her elbows or knees against some other knucklehead's ride. The missile tank required quite a bit of routine maintenance, grease she was not at all worried by but which required room to move. The problem with the motor pool's space, however, was in the echoes. Or, to put a finer point on it, the way the room echoed certain people's voices when they decided the time to crank some shafts was done and holding some court had begun.

Take as a fine example, Gearbox, the AT-AV driver. He was a good Jersey boy and therefore had two volumes: ballgame shout or schoolyard yahoo. Both of them had that the loudest is the winner quality, but one had a rah-rah-go-team spirit, which could prove infectious, while the other was caught in an eternal game of king of the hill. Gearbox wasn't a complete jerk, but like many men in Looker's experience he sometimes could not help but drive off the rails and put the pedal to the metal as he jumped a cliff or a shark. Guys, the motto went and never more accurate than when opined by Gearbox himself, sometimes gotta be guys, amIright?

This afternoon, with a cluster of FNG mechanics on hand to tend the motor pool vehicles, Gearbox was in rare form. First, he established himself as a friendly alpha dog, taking them under wing. All right, gang. Gather round, and let old Gearbox give you a few pointers about working this job.

Of course, the little birds eager for crumbs and worms from a big, strong parent bird had set down their socket wrenches, their calipers, and their irons and come scurrying. Gearbox gave them a pretty good run down of the Pool's Rules, a big placard on the wall to help the worst knuckleheads to understand things like common courtesy as applied to one big garage. He had offered the same insights to Looker herself, when she came onboard – as though she might have difficulty reading them for herself. She had taken this in stride. Whatever, it was a guy thing to make sure his territory was kept in the state he preferred.

However, someone must have glanced her vehicle's way because Gearbox went from ballpark rah-rah voice to his more intimate schoolyard shout. I'd stay away from certain rigs around here, and away from certain people. That was not too bad. People keeping friendly distance until invited in was always welcome. It connoted respect.

Looker considered stopping what she was doing, and joining the crew. However, practicality won out. She had a date with the firing range, a few more hours of practice to improve her chances at nabbing this year's marksmanship prize. The team's crack shot commando Aces & Eights had decided not to participate, this year, so the rest of the group actually had a chance.

Getting to the range meant putting the maintenance panels back, and that meant torqueing bolts – sure a drill could start the efforts, but the proper torqueing required application of metered wrenches slowly incremented over a series of four to five tightening cycles. It was the only way to guarantee proper fits and