Chapter 14

Flashback – Captain M – waiting for Sgt. Reynolds' MRI

Sgt. Blaine surprised me, humiliated me and handed me my ass when I tried to palm strike his face. The problem I have is I wasn't really sure exactly what he did to me because it was so damn fast. I read Sgt. Blaine's personnel file and it alluded to the fact that he was excellent in martial arts, but whoever wrote that was full of shit! He was much more than excellent, he was formidable! I looked forward to the day when we could 'take a walk' together.

I continued to watch Sgt. Blaine and realized that he also watched me. Then I came up with an idea and ordered...

Flashback – Ben and Jack – waiting for Sgt. Reynolds' MRI

I was sure Captain M was going to try something when I released the arm bar on him so I was ready and took him down hard - so hard it surprised me because I had read he was a real son-of-a-bitch when it came to martial arts. He kept an eye on me and I kept an eye on him because I sure as hell didn't trust him further than I could throw him, which I figured was only about 1.5 meters.

He also kept eyeing my rifle case until finally he declared, "Sgt. Blaine, I would like to see this rifle of yours."

I balked at the idea and replied, "Sir! I would prefer to not open the case here in the hospital."

The Captain gave me a nasty grin and replied, "Well then let's make it an order..."

Shit the Captain just ordered Banzai to open his rifle case and if the Fucking Captain found the bourbon in the case, our asses would be grass. I needed a distraction so I began to moan and swore, "Fuck my back feels like shit!"

The Captain ignored me and continued, "Sgt. Blaine, are you going to disobey a direct order."

Banzai gave him a smile and answered, "No Sir, let me open the case for you."

Oh well, if we did get caught at least we would be shipped back stateside and I could be with Masha.

Banzai put the case flat on its side, pulled the key from his pocket, opened the lock, loosened three catches and...

Flashback – Captain M – waiting for Sgt. Reynolds' MRI

Damn, I was finally going to see what else was inside Sgt. Blaine's rifle case. I hoped it was some sort of contraband so I could burn his and Sgt. Reynolds' asses. The only thing which bothered me was Sgt. Blaine was a bit too accepting of the order to open the case.

He opened it. I looked over his shoulder and saw a hell of a nice rifle with several magazines - and nothing else. He asked, "Sir, would you care to inspect my rifle?"

I affirmed, "That's a nice rifle, you bet I want to inspect it."

Sgt. Blaine advised caution but I could tell from the tone of his voice it was more of a threat, "Sir, please be careful with it."

He picked it up and handed it to me while I carefully took it and admired it. Yeah, I may not care for either of the Sgts., but I am a Marine and appreciate the hell out of a nice rifle. I ask, "Where is the bolt?"

Sgt. Blaine took a small box out of the case, opened it and the bolt rested inside. He said, "I prefer to transport all my bolt action rifles this way."

I carefully handed the rifle back to Sgt. Blaine and remarked, "That's a hell of a rifle, it must have cost a few dollars."

Sgt. Blaine put the rifle and bolt back into the case and locked it. Then he leaned closer and whispered, "I request Sir that you don't tell anyone else, but I have about six grand in the rifle and another four grand in the ammo."

I smiled at Sgt. Blaine and wondered how in the hell he could afford to drop ten grand on a rifle because I knew how much his Sgt.'s pay was. Then it came to me: He must be running some sort of illegal side business. Well, well, well, things might just be looking up for me.

The technician came out and called, "Sgt. Jack Reynolds, you're next."

He walked over, took Sgt. Reynolds dog tags and made sure he didn't have anything else metal on him.

Sgt. Blaine looked at me and requested, "Sir, would it be possible for you to guard my rifle while I go into the MRI room with Sgt. Reynolds?"

I replied, "Yes Sgt., I will keep it safe."

The technician also took all the metal items from Sgt. Blaine. He accompanied Sgt. Reynolds into the MRI room while I watched the rifle case and tried to figure out what sort of illegal shit Sgt. Blaine was doing to earn extra money...

Flashback – Jack and Ben – waiting for Sgt. Reynolds' MRI

I about shit my pants when the fucking Captain ordered Banzai to open the rifle case since I was sure that the 'jig was up'. I should have known when Banzai didn't give him too much shit about opening the case that things would be fine.

I was even more shocked when Banzai let the Captain touch his rifle – hell, I hadn't even touched the rifle yet. And what a beautiful rifle it was! I understood why Banzai was so protective of the rifle when I heard he spent six-fucking-thousand dollars on it and another four-fucking-thousand dollars on the ammo. Banzai really did have more money than Carter had Little Pills.

Shit that made me think about Masha and I suddenly realized I had royally fucked up before we were deployed! Hells Fucking Bells, we hadn't gone to the bank and added her to my account (not that there was much in it) but I left her fucking high and dry. The only thing I did leave her was my computer, with which she could log into the accounts.

We got into the MRI room they begin to unstrap me from the gurney and I remarked, "Shit Banzai, I thought our gooses were cooked when the fucking Captain ordered you to open your rifle case."

Banzai gave me his almost patented shit eating grin and replied, "Hell Jack, after what the Colonel said to me I knew it was coming so while you all were busy I removed the other items from the case and put them in our footlockers."

I laughed, "Damn that's my boy." Then I confessed, "However Banzai, I think I seriously fucked up. I forgot to add Masha to my bank accounts before we left and I also didn't leave her any money."

Banzai teased me, "Jack what fucking bank accounts? I know you tapped your savings dry in Russia buying the engagement and then wedding rings for Masha. And don't fucking worry about it, once again I covered your ass."

I was going to ask him what the fuck he did this time, but the technician handed me some hearing protectors and ordered, "Put these on because it's going to be loud."

I put them on, Banzai and the technician left and the damn bed moved into a small as hell hole while it sounded like someone was beating the fuck out of the machine with a hammer...

Flashback – Masha – back again to the market

It was the weekend. I woke up and performed my normal routine in the morning to prepare for my trip back to the market. It was a mystery to me why I had become slightly obsessive about the young girl in the market but I decided I felt compassion for her. She seemed all alone in the world and needed someone to help her. Normally my extensive training demanded I ignore feelings such as this but for some reason I was captured by my emotion.

I made my way to the market, the manager saw me arrive, he walked up and I said, "I need to apologize for being so impolite and never asking your name."

He smiled at me and answered, "Don't worry about that, my name is Michal. More importantly how did you like the lasagna?"

I knew that American's smiled all the time, not something that happened in Russia. So I forced a return smile and replied, "It was very good and there was only one problem with it. The portion was too great. So I ate half last night and will eat the other half for lunch today. I did however have one question. When I reheat it in the oven today, must I follow some specific directions?"