Chapter 15: Space Available

17 December 1988 – Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina

Jeff stood in the Space-Available waiting area at Pope Air Force Base, which borders Fort Bragg. He watched while the crew of a C-5 cargo plane on the ramp loaded a wrapped pallet through the huge maw under the aircraft’s nose. Jeff wore his Class-A uniform today, which was unusual for him. His usual uniform on flights out of Pope were his BDUs; of course, he jumped out of those aircraft.

“Private,” came a voice from behind him, “are you the soldier flying to Westover Air Force Base this morning?”

Jeff turned from the windows. There was an attractive blonde in a flight suit looking at him. Her flight suit bore silver oak leaves on the shoulders and ‘Lt. Col. DONNELLY’ on the name plate.

“Yes, Ma’am!” he barked, coming to attention.

“At ease, trooper,” she replied with a smile. “Grab your gear and come with me.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he repeated, this time at a lower volume. He hustled to collect his duffel bag.

The colonel led him out onto the tarmac and towards the huge C-5. He fought the urge to put his beret back on. You don’t wear covers on the flight line. Loose objects get sucked into engine intakes; this generates much hate and discontent among the aircraft mechanics. Not a good way to get noticed.

The colonel showed him where to drop his gear when they stepped onto the plane. She walked over to her crew chief. He nodded at whatever she told him, then came over to grab his duffel.

“I’ll stow this for you, Private,” he told Jeff. “You follow the Colonel.”

“Yes, Sergeant!”

He hustled so the colonel wouldn’t have to wait for him. She motioned for him to follow her. They were soon on the plane’s flight deck. It was hard work climbing a ladder while trying NOT to look at the colonel’s backside in her flight suit.

“You’re our only passenger, Private, so it doesn’t make sense to have you sit in the aft seating area all by yourself. Here, you’ll at least have a headset to listen to things and someone else to talk to.” She smiled at him again.

“Thank you, Ma’am. I appreciate it.”

“We’ve got about fifteen minutes of pre-flight, then we’ll be off. Hang your uniform blouse in that corner there with our jackets; you’ll be warm enough up here without it, and it won’t get wrinkled that way. We’ll get you on comms before we lift, so get yourself strapped in at the navigator’s station,” She motioned to the station behind him. “There’s no navigator on this flight.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Thank you.”

He noticed another headset like the ones the flight crew wore; it hung from a strap on the unused console next to him. He figured out how and where to plug in. Jeff heard the flight crew going through their checklists. He remained quiet so he wouldn’t annoy the officers doing their jobs. Someone tapped him on the shoulder, snapping him out of a daydream. He pulled off the headset and turned.

“You got yourself on comms already?” the co-pilot asked. The captain double-checked the radio interface Jeff connected to was on the inter-crew communications channel and set for voice-activation.

“Yes, Sir. It seemed straightforward.”

“Good deal, Private. We get trainee pilots who can’t figure it out, so it’s nice to get a problem-solver once in a while.” The captain turned back to the colonel. “Ready to go, Ma’am.”

“Roger.” The colonel put her own headset back on. “Pope Tower, Victor Zero-Three requesting permission to taxi.”

“Victor Zero-Three, Pope tower. Take Taxiway Alpha to Runway Two-Three and hold short of the active,” came the reply from the tower.

“Roger, Tower. Alpha to Two-Three and hold short. Victor Zero-Three is rolling.”

Five minutes later they were in the dark, early morning air heading northeast; Jeff could feel the flight deck relax after another five minutes of climbing and course adjustments.

“So, Private First Class Knox comma Jeffrey Andrew?” the colonel’s voice asked through the headset. “What gets you to the Space-A waiting area at 0500 to get on a 0730 cargo flight going to an Air Force Base in Western Massachusetts?”

“My family’s annual Christmas party is this afternoon, Ma’am. I’m trying to surprise them. No one knows I’m coming home.”

“Ambitious,” she muttered, looking over her shoulder at him. “Where’s the party?”

“Dana, Ma’am. It’s about twenty miles east of Westover.”

“I’m originally from Greenwich, trooper, so I know where Dana is.” She looked back over her shoulder again, and gave him a small smile. This let him know she wasn’t upset with him. “Is that where you’re from?”

“Almost, Ma’am; I’m from Enfield. My cousin is hosting the party at her house in Dana. When I tell most people that I’m from Massachusetts, though, they expect me to have that accent. It doesn’t matter that I grew up about one hundred miles from Beantown; I mean, who calls Boston that, anyway?” He chuckled.

“There ah times, ya know, when I can turn on that wicked pissah accent an’ drive people frikken crazy when I ask ‘em tah go out tah my cah an’ grab the beeahs I gaht at the packie. I sound like a wicked Masshole when I wanna.” Jeff coughed. “Um, pardon my language, Ma’am.”

The flight deck broke out in laughter.

“Hell, trooper, that was perfect!”

The four-hour flight time passed before Jeff knew it. The flight crew involved Jeff in a discussion of the book he brought with him, Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising. The debate over the book’s accuracy and overall premise was quite interesting; Jeff felt the officers listened to and considered his comments and opinions. He’d been studying military hardware and capabilities for some time, which helped him present strong arguments.

Their landing at Westover was an unremarkable one. They soon taxied to their assigned spot on the ramps. Jeff shrugged into his blouse when the aircraft came to a stop and got himself squared away. He made his way down to the cargo deck and found his duffel. Lt. Col. Donnelly approached him while he was collecting his gear.

“Come on with me, Private. I’ll escort you over to the Space-A waiting area here.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

“How are you getting to Dana?” she asked him as they made their across the tarmac. She had waved off his offer to carry one of her bags for her.

“Since I’m apparently too young to rent a car, I’ve made arrangements with a car service, Ma’am. The service said to call from the waiting area if the car’s not already here; it’ll only be a twenty minute wait in that case. Their drivers are cleared to come on-base.”

They entered the waiting area. Jeff immediately spotted the pay phones. The colonel appeared to be looking for something or someone, so he stuck close.

“Private, my daughter’s supposed to be meeting me here to drive us home, but she hasn’t arrived yet. Would you watch my large bag while I take this one and clean up?”

“Of course, Ma’am. I’m going over there to call the car service, then I’ll be in those seats there. Do you want me to watch for your daughter while I wait, Ma’am? In case you’re not out before she arrives?”

“Thank you, Private,” she replied with another genuine smile. She withdrew a picture from her flight suit and showed it to Jeff. “Here’s what Heather looks like; she’s a little taller than I am.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Jeff muttered before Lt. Col. Donnelly put the photo away. Heather Donnelly’s image was burned into his brain. The young woman in the photo he’d just seen was even more beautiful than her mother.

Wow!

Jeff got to the phones without hurting himself and dialed the number of the car service he made arrangements with. A short, disappointing conversation later, he made his way back to the seats where he’d dropped the bags. The fog he’d been in on his way to the phones was due to Heather Donnelly’s picture. The fog he was in returning to his seat was due to the car service having to cancel on him.

The driver who was supposed to pick him up, the service’s owner who’d been covering for another employee, wasn’t coming. He’d been in a serious accident after leaving the garage, and had been taken to the trauma center in Springfield. The dispatcher, the owner’s wife who was about to leave for the hospital, tearfully apologized to Jeff for leaving him stranded. He hung up after expressing his sympathies to the distraught woman.

He dropped back into his seat; his grand scheme for today was coming undone. While Jeff looked around in disbelief, the front door opened and a beautiful, young, blonde woman entered -- Heather Donnelly had arrived. Jeff pulled himself out of his seat and intercepted the young woman.

“Excuse me? Miss Donnelly?”

Heather stopped and regarded the young soldier. The darker green of his Army uniform looked out of place compared to the colors she was accustomed to on an Air Force Base; the Air Force wore uniforms of sage or blue. Most of the soldier’s dark hair was shaved off, leaving only an airborne-approved ‘high-and-tight.’

His blue eyes were fixed on her own green ones, they weren’t raking up and down her body. There was no sign of the arrogant sneers she’d become accustomed to seeing around Amherst. He had a respectful tone in his voice and addressed her as someone who’d been taught proper manners.

“Yes? Private ‘Knox’ is it?” she replied, reading his last name off his Class-A nameplate.

“Yes, Miss Donnelly. Your mother asked me to watch for you while she cleans up.” Jeff motioned to the colonel’s bag next to his. “Her bag is here, as you can see. Would you care to sit? I was about to get something to drink from the machines over there. Would you like something?”

Heather smiled at the earnest young man in front of her. She got a good feeling from him already; her drive from Amherst was slow and difficult due to the snow squalls she encountered on the way.

“Yes, please. Thank you. If they have something resembling hot chocolate?”

He nodded with a small smile and walked off to accomplish that task. Jeff made his way back to the chairs after collecting the beverages. He managed not to spill either her hot chocolate or his coffee.

Heather Donnelly was even easier to talk to than her mother, and not just because she wasn’t a senior officer. She was one of those rare women he didn’t already know that he could talk to right away. Either that, or his relationships with Pauline and Allison in high school had helped get him past his lingering shyness. Heather learned that his ride to Dana fell through, and that he hadn’t yet made alternate plans.

“We’re headed home to my grandparents’ place in Greenwich; we can drop you off on the way,” Heather stated with finality.

“I can’t ask you to do that, Miss Donnelly,” Jeff protested. “Your drive home is family time, and I’d be intruding on that. Plus, Dana’s not really ‘on the way’ to Greenwich.”

“First off, I told you earlier that my name is ‘Heather,’ not ‘Miss Donnelly.’ I’m barely a year older than you are. Second, you didn’t ask, I offered. Third, it’s not negotiable; you came all this way to surprise your family and we’re going to make sure that happens.”

“You’d best go along with what she’s saying, Private,” Jeff heard from his left. He tried to come to attention, but Lt. Col. Donnelly waved him back down. “Heather’s even more stubborn than I am at times. You mentioned your cousin’s house is just off of Route 21 in North Dana, right?” Jeff nodded. “And the party starts at 1300?” Another nod. “Then let’s get moving!”

The colonel insisted that Jeff sit in the front of the SUV with Heather. The colonel stretched out across the back seat and was asleep before they drove through the base’s main gate.

Jeff learned Heather was studying history at UMass, her goal to become a history professor; she was also minoring in Spanish.

This girl is scary smart, he thought to himself, and beautiful, funny, sarcastic... He was intrigued.

Heather was surprised to find Jeff able to keep up with her in a conversation about history; most people her age she met were unable to do that. She saw Jeff loved history as she did, and he’d educated himself very well despite ‘just’ being a soldier.

Heather frowned when he referred to himself in that way, even if it was in jest. Her Grampy Cavanaugh, her mom’s dad, served as a soldier for many years. Heather thought the world of him. Both men were clearly much more than ‘just’ soldiers.

They approached Dana and the end of their ride together. Their conversation dropped off while Jeff guided Heather to his cousin’s house. It was only minutes before the 1300 start time when they pulled in front of the house. Jeff saw his Uncle Fred’s car already in the driveway. The man was more than punctual; Jeff was sure he’d already been there thirty minutes.

“Well,” Heather said sadly when they pulled to the side of the road, “here you are.”

“Yeah,” Jeff replied in the same manner. He had a thought, and his mood brightened. “Hey, do you and your mother want to come in? To stretch your legs and maybe have a quick bite before you head home?” Heather brightened, too, and turned to look at her mother.

“Can we, Mom? Can we?”

Jane Donnelly smiled as she shook her head in amusement. She wasn’t picturing her twenty year-old daughter asking that question, but instead saw the pig-tailed six year-old she’d once been.

Jane knew she couldn’t say no.