Journey of an Evil Henchman (5) Part One

The clerk stopped outside a large oak door and rapped on it respectfully. 'Colonel? A new recruit.'

    A voice from beyond the door called, 'Bring him in.'

    They entered a room paneled in wood, floor to ceiling. It was paneled not vertically, but horizontally, and looked as if the people who'd built it had said 'screw it' and left the bark on. There was one, rather small window, a large desk, and a chair, in which sat a man who was, presumably, the colonel. He was big and tall and intimidating. Also he was sunburned, pale, and angry. The Colonel had been trying to acquire a masterful tan, but parts of his north-lander skin just couldn't cope with that kind of workload and had sent in their letters of resignation, leaving Haddock looking like a mottled shaved bear. This somehow served to make him even more frightening than he otherwise would have been, with only his crewcut and angular face expressing the torturous cruelty in which he steeped himself. Benjamin had seen worse, and he stood up to the aura of general hatred as if he had dealt with it his whole life. Because he had dealt with it his whole life.
    The clerk closed the door and took up a stance beside it, an impartial observer. Ben, deeply conscious of the military nature of the man before him, stood at rigid attention directly in front of the desk, keeping his eyes fixed on the window frame.
    Colonel Haddock glowered at him from beneath eyebrows so light they were almost nonexistent, and looked him up and down. '...Just how old are you?'
    Benjamin stared straight before him as he lied through his teeth. 'Twenty-one, sir.'
    'Really.' The one word encompassed every shade of disbelief. 'Can you shoot?'
    'Yes sir.'
    'Ever killed anyone?'
    'Yes sir. A few people.'
    'Do you enjoy it?'
    Startled, Ben glanced at Haddock, but dragged his eyes back to the window-frame a fraction of an instant later, and swallowed, nervously. The Colonel was smiling a terrible, torturous, terrifying, T-THEMED-ALLITERATION smile.
    Ben swallowed again. He had to make this convincing. 'Shooting people, sir? Nothing better.'
    'You're hired.' The Colonel sat back in his chair, a much more bearable expression on his lips.