Officer's Club
Fort Hood, Texas
CONUS
26 September, 1991
2000 Hours
The room was full of clinking of silverware, the chime of crystal and glass, and the low murmur of conversation. More than a few of the officers had stared at me when I entered, and I felt like I was an imposter, like I shouldn't be there, as the high and mighty, the precious metal of the military world, all stared at me. A one-star general, with his staff and their wives, were sitting at a large dining table, obviously having some kind of staff dinner, stared at me as Captain Jane, Major Cribbs, and I were shown to a small table.
I wondered how much of it was the awards I was still wearing on my chest.
Major Cribb had ordered skinless chicken breast and salad, Captain Jane had ordered something that I had missed, paying attention to the menu. Both stared at me when I ordered two 12 ounce steaks, two mashed potatoes, a salad with bacon bits for an appetizer, with a side of cheese covered broccoli.
They both ordered drinks, Cribb asking for a name brand expensive whiskey, Jane ordering white wine.
Both gave me an odd look when I ordered seltzer water with a lemon twist and ice.
The drinks arrived first, and we were silent until the waiter moved away.
"I took you for a drinker," Cribb said, sipping at his own drink.
"I used to drink pretty heavily," I told him bluntly, honestly. "I was enlisted, and a medic, so it was kind of expected. Plus, everyone around me drank, there was no age limit because we were in Europe. We all used to self-medicate away the side effects of our medication regimen with alcohol."
Cribb frowned. "Medication regimen?"
I shrugged. "At the time they were experimental drugs to give us increased resistance to nerve and blood agent, radiation exposure, and debilitating weapons. Not to mention the massive amount of inoculations and vaccinations we received," I sipped my drink, "Those little white pills were the fifth iteration of the primary medication we took."
Have a drink. Nobody will care. You haven't had told them you were a recovering alcoholic, you could be sitting here with a glass of Jim Beam and Coke. With two cherries. You could even tie the cherry stems in knots. Remember doing that? Remember how everyone would laugh? Remember the fizz on your tongue, the slight bite of the alcohol, the feel of the ice bumping your teeth and the slick feel of the glass against your lip?
It was good, wasn't it?
I pushed the voice away. It was my own voice.
Captain Jane shook her head, sipping at her wine.
"We used alcohol to mitigate the muscle cramps, the pounding headaches, the stomach cramps, and the muscle tremors," I said, shrugging. "It's kind of funny, right now the Army is pushing abstinence from alcohol, and I spent five years being encouraged to drink."
I gave them both a grin, "It wasn't considered alcoholic behavior at the time."
"No business, just dinner and conversation," Captain Jane said after a moment of awkward silence.
I nodded, and so did Major Cribb after frowning for a moment.
"Just remember, there's some things I can not answer or talk about," I said, shrugging.
I could tell that Major Cribb was just dying to ask me questions about my old unit, about where I had earned my awards, and get details that were redacted in the records he was privy too.
Captain Jane surprised me.
"Are you single, Heather?" She asked, sipping at her wine.
That made me laugh. "Yeah. Nobody wants to date the fat girl," I smiled. I curled my arm, flexing my biceps, which strained the cloth of the BDU's. "Plus, the fact I'm a power lifter seems to deflate a lot of egos," I smiled wickedly, "As well as other, more important things."
Major Cribb looked uncomfortable at that. Captain Jane just nodded.
"I know, right? A medic that isn't married or dating seems almost unreal, right?" I smiled.
They're going to know you're faking this, that your smile is little more than pasted on that shredded excuse for a face that keeps the front of your skull warm...
I shrugged, "How about you, Major?"
"Six years now," He said, casually tossing it off. "Got married when I was a Captain."
I nodded and looked at Jane.
"Divorced, when I got orders for deployment to Desert Storm. I didn't go, ended up sitting in a hospital at Europe on the maternity ward," she said.
"Which one?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Landstuhl," She said, and goosebumps prickled my back, sweat suddenly popping out from my skin.
"You're in Landstuhl Air Force Medical Center, soldier," a nurse said, her face covered by a white surgical mask. I could barely see her in the bright white lights, "Easy, easy now. Are you in pain? It was a long flight. The doctor will be in soon to talk about how long it will be until you're moved to Walter Reed."
gurgling, trying to talk, nothing but pain from my shattered jaw.
"Don't try to speak, your jaw is still packed and wired," she looked at my chart, "Let's put pads on your eyes, honey, ease some of your pain. Then we'll sedate you again."
darkness
a cold feeling up my arm, spreading into my chest
"What happened to them?" a voice I didn't recognize. Male. Mid-30's. Clinical. Must be a doctor.
"Nobody is saying," the nurse said.
the urge to vomit
"How long were they at King Fahad?" same man
"A week just to stabilize them," the woman.
"Call plastics, let's see what we can do for what's left of her face," another man. Male. Indeterminate but middle age. Worried. Doctor?
fuzzy feeling.
"She'll need dental too," the nurse. Her voice was redecing.
my brain is disconnecting...
how could you?
dreams...
"Heather?" Captain Jane was saying my name, touching my wrist. When I looked at her, smiled. "Are you all right?"
"Just," I shivered, "I spent a week at there stabalizing before they moved me to Walter Reed."
She nodded slowly, and I knew she was trying to place me.
"Why aren't you moving off post? Or at least into the BAQ?" the Major asked.
"That's a complex story. Short version is; I've never really had a barracks room, which is an integral part of being a soldier," I sipped my drink. "The long story is much more complex."
Captain Jane nodded, setting her wine glass down. "I'd like to hear the long version."
I shook my head. "It's too complex to get in over dinner," I smiled at her even though I didn't really feel it.
Captain Jane nodded. "All right. Any family?"
I shook my head, "Parents died when I was kid. Lived with my grand-mother for a spell, but after she passed away I went back to foster care for another year," I held up my glass, "My turn."
Neither looked thrilled. I pointed at Major Cribb. "Why no combat patch? It was a pretty big deployment."
He looked uncomfortable, his eyes flicking to my patch and back. "I was at Fort Lewis, working with First Special Forces, handling classified material. When they deployed, I was left behind to liaison with the military intelligence at Fort Lewis and assets on the ground."
I nodded at that. "Vital position, mission essential, all that," I sipped at my glass. "Up to date and accurate intelligence made all the difference."
I pointed at Captain Jane and she visibly winced, "Did you attend ROTC or West Point?" I asked her.
She held up her hand. "ROTC, I was at Brown, Patriot Division, graduated 25th in my class of eighty."
I nodded.
"What was your class ranking, Chief?" Cribb asked.
I smiled, "First in my class at Chief Warrant Officer Candidate School, Distinguished Honor Grad at Fort Meade," I told him. "It's what was expected of me," I tapped the two winged patches, "Tenth in Air Assault, fifth in Airborne, landed in the inner ring."
They looked suitably impressed.
"Why the muscle car?" Captain Jane asked.
That made me laugh, "Our last CO was a man of singular vision and will, he had us all take up hobbies," I chuckled, "If we couldn't come up with one, he had us draw hobbies out of softcap. I drew car mechanics. When I got it out of the POV (Privately Owned Vehicle) wrecking lot, he was a wreck, blown engine, stripped tranny, dented quarter panels, rust. I learned how to work on a car when I wasn't at the site. Lots of us were assigned hobbies because we couldn't think of one."
They both frowned. "He... assigned hobbies?"
"To Maggots like me."
"Maggots?" Cribb asked.
"Separate questions," I told them with a grin, "Maggots is what the people in Headquarters, Support, and Motorpool called those of us who were in the Magazine Platoons or worked at the Magazine Sites."
They both frowned and I pointed at Major Cribb. "How long have you been S-2?"
He shrugged, "Since May. I arrived here the same time I made Major."
I pointed at Captain Jane, "When did you make Captain?"
"Six months ago."
The waiter showed up with the appetizers and I dug in with a gusto, enjoying the salad. When I finished I watched the two of them fiddler around with their appetizers.
They still wanted to ask questions.
"Just ask," I chuckled, sipping on my refilled seltzer water. They'd given me a twist of lime this time, and it cut through the Italian dressing taste left in my mouth.
"You're throwing Charlie company into an uproar," the Major said.
"Ah ah ah, no business," I smiled.
He looked disappointed, glancing at Captain Jane.
"It's my nature, my personality," I said, shrugging, "I served under hard men and women, at hardship posting, under extreme conditions," I set down my glass and stared at him. "Captain Jane tasked me with getting Charlie into fighting shape, and if it makes some people uncomfortable, even if it makes people hate me, I don't care," I set my left hand on the table, and was honestly surprised to see that my nails were painted OD Green still, "I didn't join the military to make friends, all my friends are dead, and I don't intend to have these soldiers deploy and then die because I could have stopped it by simply ensuring that they were properly trained."
The Major looked uncomfortable. "You seem a bit implacable, Chief," he said.
I snorted. "I am what my leaders made me by their examples," I said. I sipped at my seltzer, "I am a pale shadow of my mentor."
He frowned and I looked around. "I should tell you who my mentor was, but everyone's enjoying dinner right now."
Major Cribb glanced around then made a scoffing noise, "Surely you're exaggerating, Chief."
I give him a vicious smile, then tugged my wallet out, setting it on the table, the chain running to my belt loop. "The man who sent me to Warrant School was Chief Warrant Officer Henley."
Silence rippled out like a wave. At least three people dropped their cutlery, and the general eating dinner snapped his head around to stare at me.
Captain Jane and Major Cribbs looked around, staring at everyone.
I watched as the general made a chopping motion then stood up, moving around the table. I unsnapped my wallet with one hand, watching him move toward our table. His face was stormy, and I knew he was going to call me out.
He stopped in front of our table, staring down at me as I unbuckled the clip and set the chain down on the table.
Staring at him I opened my wallet, which was one of those long leather folding ones that only folded in half, not along the length. I flipped open the pictures, and tapped one of the pictures.
He looked down, at the picture, then up at me.
I knew he could see both pictures.
"Chief," he nodded, "Glad you survived."
"Thank you, General," I said, standing up and holding out my hand. He shook it, and turned away, heading back to his table, giving his men a nod.
"What are the pictures?" the Major asked.
"May we see?" Captain Jane asked.
I turned the billfold toward them as I sat back down. They looked and frowned. The Major inhaled sharply at the sight of the pictures.
"That bottom one is Christmas, 1988, taken while I was on leave, at Fort Lewis," I smiled at the Major, who had gone pale looking at the picture. "I take it you're familiar with him."
He nodded jerkily.
"The top one is Chief Warrant Officer Three Henley and Sergeant Major Tiernan Stillwater pinning my medals on me in Walter Reed," I said. I folded it back and put it away, clipping the chain back to my belt loop. "I'd rather go back to other questions," I shrugged, "As you can tell, talking about my past, just mentioning some of the names, causes waves."
Captain Jane looked at Major Cribbs, who was shaking his head. "I take it the Sergeant Major is a big deal?"
The Major nodded, "He's been part of SOCOM since before it was SOCOM," he said. "The man's a legend."
I stared at him.
...and his son died on my watch...
STAND AND DELIVER, ACTUAL!
The waiter was leaving the kitchen, and I spotted our food on the tray. I tapped my glass with my fork, bringing their attention back to me.
"Dinner is here," I smiled, "I suggest we eat and let the air clear."
They both nodded.
"Just remember, Captain Jane," I said as the waiter approached, "You tasked me with getting Charlie fit to fight."
I smiled at her.
"And I intend on it."