Continued from Part Fifteen

On Monday, he sat back at his desk. Dread had pulled the plug on Emergency Ops after screaming like a crazy man about the department’s budget. Snyder stared at the boring screen, trying to think of something to do between false alarms.

Amanda stood at his desk, “Snyder, come with me.”

He stood up. “Yes, Ma’am.”

She led Snyder several cubicles down to the Corporal’s desk. “Say hello to your new cube.”

Snyder blinked. “You’re promoting me to Corporal?”

“Not exactly. Corporal Jimenez got in a car accident this weekend. He won’t be back to work until mid-October. However, he’s still on our budget. We need somebody to run this section, but we can’t afford to pay another corporal. Therefore, I’m designating you as Acting Corporal until the end of the fiscal year.”

“When does the fiscal year end?”

“October 1. By then, there will be an opening for a corporal. Since you’ll do a smashing job, it’ll be hard for Dread to justify not letting you keep it officially.”

Snyder beamed. No way. “Thank you, ma’am.” He whispered, “I could kiss you.”

Amanda gave a gentle shove. “Save it for the weekend.” She stepped back. “Enjoy your first command, private.”

Snyder stared at the desk. A holographic gold nameplate read, “Acting Corporal A. L. Snyder, Senior Information Technician.”

Well he could stand to get rid of the acting, but he had the job for five months and a chance to make it permanent.

Continued…Next Thursday

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