Chapter 2

Flashback – Jack and Ben – A new mission

I couldn't fucking believe it! We barely got back, Masha and I didn't even get the house completely setup and the Old Man was sending us out on a new fucking mission – no, mission wasn't the correct word, it was more like a mass fucking deployment. Rather than taking a commercial flight, we were in a huge fucking jet that was nothing but fucking row upon row of seats, five in the middle with an aisle on each side and then two seats on each side. That's fucking right, each row sat nine Marines and the flight was full! Hell, it was like being a sardine packed in a can. Thank God Banzai and I sort of had a reputation (from Russia) and we got to pick our seats. We naturally took one of the whole middle rows in the back of the plane. We had the luxury of three extra seats because Banzai had some sort of new rifle in a hard case that he refused to let out of his sight so it occupied the middle seat while we stretched out in the other four seats. He was so in love with his new rifle that I was surprised he didn't take it to the head with him. Oh yeah, that was the other problem on this flight, not enough heads for the number of Marines so the lines for the heads stretched down the aisles.

Thank God the flight was scheduled to be about fourteen hours with a short layover, then a one hour flight to Baghdad and then another short hop of about 100 klicks. I do have to say one thing, the Marines could certainly teach the airlines how to board a plane since we were all on the plane in no time at all, the door was shut and the flight was on its way. I tried to see out the window but some other fucker was in the way. I missed the hell out of Masha...

I could tell Jack missed the hell out of Masha but we barely had time to catch our breath and were headed to Iraq. It made me realize once again that my dream was more of a premonition. My time having Jack as my spotter was limited so I needed to figure out what the hell to do when the time came and the old fart retired. Thank God I got Jack and Masha a place off the base because it insulated them from the constant harassment I got about our time in Russia. Marines are sometimes a hard headed bunch and our trip to Russia, the women we were seen with on TV and the medal I received from Putin rubbed many of them the wrong way. Especially since many of them were in the sandbox fighting with the towelheads during our time in Russia. I don't know how many times I'd been called a 'Ruskie' or a 'Commie' since we'd returned because I lost count – but I had kicked a bunch of asses and taken many names over it and for the most part they now left us alone. The great news was nobody wanted to sit beside us on this flight so we had the whole middle back row to ourselves and my new rifle.

And she was a real beauty: A Sako TRG rifle in .338 Lapua with a Nightforce NXS scope (5.5x22x56). I barely had enough time to get her setup and sighted in with the available ammo and made sure to buy as much ammo as I could because there was no way, other than doing reloads, to get the ammo in Iraq. Hell, she was so new Jack hadn't even seen her yet.

Jack of course complained that I put the rifle in the middle seat until I shut him the hell up by asking if he'd rather sit in the middle. The old fart was trying to look out the window to hide the fact that he missed Masha but he finally looked my way and asked, "So did the Old Man tell you anything about this mission?"

I answered, "He sure as hell did - we're headed to Ramadi to take it back from the towelheads."

Jack looked at me and wanted confirmation, "Hell, isn't that in the Al-Anbar province and didn't the Marines just fight a hell of a battle for Fallujah in the same province while we were in Russia?"

I nodded my head and answered, "That's right, it was some of the worse urban fighting the Marines had seen since battle of Huế City in Vietnam."

Jack whistled and being old as dirt he said, "I remember that battle. So we're heading out of the frying pan into the fire."

I scolded him for his lack of situational awareness, "Jack that analogy is fucked. Russia certainly wasn't the frying pan for us, it was more like Club Med. Yeah, more correctly it should be out of Club Med and into the fire."

A Marine walked by on his way to the head and whispered an insult, "Fucking Commie bastard."

I reached my leg out and tripped the fucker. He fell into the rest of the Marines in the line for the head and all hell started to break loose. Of course that attracted the attention of one of the officers on the flight. He came back by us and I was shocked when I saw who it was...

Flashback – Captain M – A new mission

I couldn't fucking believe it, not only did the Old Man send my ass back to Thule with the boney bitch, the fucker demoted me to Captain – yeah, fucking Captain. A demotion to an officer in the Marines meant that any chance of advancement again was most likely gone so I would be stuck a fucking Captain now for as long as I was a Marine.

Thank God this deployment came up so I could get the hell out of cold-assed Thule. I did hate having to fly on this fucking bus but with the hit my career took, the days of cushy arrangements were gone and I was now stuck with babysitting these fuckers.

There was a hell of a commotion in the back of the bus and the boney bitch traveling with us (that's right the Old fucking Man assigned her to be over me) ordered, "Captain, go see what the hell is going on."

I jumped up, headed to the back of the bus and God must have smiled on me: Sgt. Blaine was in an altercation with several Marines. As I walked up, one of the Marines noticed my approach and announced, "Ten hut."

They all snapped to attention while Sgt. Blaine recognized me and looked like he was going to crap his pants. I glared at him and hoped I could take advantage of the situation, "Don't tell me, did Sgt. Blaine precipitate this mess?"

A Corporal who had been fighting questioned, "Permission to speak?"

I gave affirmation and he answered, "Sgt. Blaine tripped me as I was getting in line for the head."

Sgt. Blaine began to open his mouth and I ordered, "Sgt. I didn't give you permission to speak."

Sgt. Reynolds interrupted, "Captain M, I was watching the whole thing and the Corporal must have two left feet because he tripped over his own damn feet."

I glared at everyone and threatened, "I'm going to have my eyes on all of you so unless you want to face 'office time' when we get to Iraq you had better stop the fighting."

I turned and left to plan my revenge against the two Sgts...

Flashback – Masha – At home

I never dreamed that life with Jack could be so terrible! I guess I was naïve and dreamed that all his missions would be like our time together in Moscow. And I terribly misjudged what being a soldier's wife would entail. We had a very few days in the new home, that luxury thanks once again to Ben's generosity, and now Jack was 'deploying' and he couldn't even tell me where. I made a call to my 'company' and discovered he was going to Ramadi in Iraq, one of the worst places that they could send him.

I had no idea what I would do here in America since I had no friends, now no husband and there was no public transportation here as there was in Moscow. It was almost like I was a prisoner in our wonderful house.

I also didn't really know how poor Jack's financial position was! We were essentially bankrupt. I didn't tell Jack but Ben gave me ten thousand dollars in cash right before they left. He called it a 'wedding present' but I could tell he knew that Jack didn't have any money and wanted to make sure I would have money while Jack was gone.

Why, oh why didn't I think about things more comprehensively before I married Jack...

Flashback – Jennifer – At home and wondering

What in the fricken-fraken heck was happening to me? It seemed like ever since mother had been home, I had stomach problems! I had gone between having terrible gas and diarrhea to being constipated. I walked into the den where Daddy had parked, I looked at him and started, "Daddy, I have something a little embarrassing to ask you."

Daddy looked at me and said, "Jennifer, there's really not much that you can ask me that will embarrass me."

I shook my head and replied, "Daddy, it's embarrassing for me, not for you.'

Daddy embarrassed me some more when he commented with a grin, "As long as it's not about any monthly issues it shouldn't embarrass you."

I countered, "Daddy, I don't need to talk to you about that!" I held my stomach with both hands and said, "Daddy, I am having stomach problems..."

Daddy interrupted, "Hells bells! You too? I am either shitting like crazy or I can't shit at all. I thought it was something I was doing or taking."

I nodded my head, "Yes Daddy, I have the same problems. And they started when mother began to cook for us."

He motioned to me, I moved closer and he whispered, "Tomorrow, come to work with me and we will both have a doctor check us. But this needs to be our secret."

I felt better and said, "Thanks Daddy." Then I rushed off for the bathroom...

Flashback – Alexi – At 'home'

It had been some time since I had been home. At first my 'parents' were happy I was 'home' and things were different since they treated me like I was special. Then ever so slowly, things morphed and became exactly like they were before, except for one thing. I realized that the love that my 'parents', especially my 'mother', lavished on Chow Mein should have rightly been mine. This greatly angered me so I retaliated by making Chow Mein's life a living hell.

However, I was very careful about how I did this because I didn't want my 'parents' to determine I was the cause. I observed Chow Mein and every time that she went to use her litter box, I would take a spray bottle and squirt her. It only took a couple of days until Chow Mein refused to use her litter box and began to make a mess out of the house. 'Mother' was aghast, was certain that Chow Mein was sick so they took her to the veterinarian who suggested that my 'parents' were not cleaning the litter box often enough so now 'father' had to clean it daily, which of course did not help.

Next I attacked Chow Mein's food. When my 'parents' were not watching, I put 'father's' spicy hot sauce on the food. Chow Mein would now stand by her bowl and yowl. 'Mother' was certain that Chow Mein didn't like her food so they kept changing brands of food - of course without good results. When they would switch to a new food, I would add laxative to it for a few days to exacerbate the litter box issues, then I would switch back to the hot sauce.

The most entertaining was when they left me alone at home with Chow Mein. I loved to put tape on her feet and then chase her around the house with the spray bottle. One time I even gave her a bath (she hated baths). She was still wet when my 'parents' came home so I lied and told them she had diarrhea and got it all over herself. Chow Mein finally started to yowl at the door whenever my 'parents' were leaving so they would take her with them in the car...

Flashback –Mira, Ira and Safia – In Japan

We had a most excellent adventure traveling through Japan with Sensei Kwan. Each day had presented us with new challenges and new techniques to learn. But now with much sadness the time arrived for us to leave. Kostia's grasp was significant and even though we were well hidden here, he finally found us and ordered our return.