Chapter 7

Mike and Kelly arrived at Quantico in uniform. Their promotions were now official: Mike was now a lieutenant colonel and Kelly was a major. When they reported in to the school they were assigned housing in married officer’s quarters and unloaded their gear. For Kelly, her gear didn’t amount to much. The next morning they went to the supply center to draw equipment. Mike had explained that rank insignia were not worn by trainees. Since many of the instructors were enlisted personnel, it avoided problems with officer and civilian trainees. Then he took her in to meet the school’s commanding officer, Colonel Peter Rogers.

Rogers rose when they entered the office and saluted Kelly. “Welcome to Quantico, Major Jackson.” He turned to Mike and said, “You’re looking good, Mike. Very good, in fact. How’s the leg?”

“It’s fine, Pete, thanks. I’ve been telling Kelly that she’s in for a rare treat here: I told her it combines the worst features of a prison camp and a trip to the dentist to have impacted wisdom teeth removed.”

He smiled and Rogers grinned. He asked them to sit down. “Kelly, I’m going to use you and I hope you won’t mind. For a number of reasons we do not encourage trainees to get to know each other’s backgrounds. All sorts of people come through here; some are civilians. Among the military personnel, most are enlisted — about two-thirds. As you probably know, no rank insignia are worn. We organize training classes as companies with three platoons. In this class there are going to be seventy-four of you. We will have three platoons of about twenty-five with a designated platoon leader and assistant.

“We’re here to train the people and test them. What isn’t so obvious is the extent of the testing. It’s one thing to have the skills to operate behind enemy lines; it’s another thing entirely to have the temperament for it. Kelly, I’m putting you in the first platoon. The platoon leader is Ken Carson and the assistant is Mary Harris. Do you mind?”

Kelly had been listening carefully and replied, “Of course I don’t mind. I’m here to learn.” She smiled at Rogers and said, “From our housing, it’s obvious that you know about our arrangement. My job is to learn enough to keep him alive to get to the altar when this is over. Am I correct in assuming our housing arrangements are nonstandard?”

Rogers smiled and said, “You’re right. They are. The other trainees live in the barracks. But you’ve raised a good point, Kelly. We need some story to explain why you’re not there. Because of the division of people and the semi-secret nature of our work, there is intended to be no interaction between the training units and the other units operating down here. My thought is to just say nothing unless you have a good story in mind.”

They left it that way.

The next morning Kelly reported in her fatigues to the training unit. Her uniform was completely unadorned except for the name, JACKSON, stenciled over the right breast. She found the first platoon and saluted Ken Carson. “Kelly Jackson reporting, sir. I’ve been assigned to your platoon.”

Carson frowned at her and turned her over to Mary Harris. Harris was a brunette, about five feet four with a good figure. It was obvious to Kelly that Mary disliked her on sight. The training began immediately. Although Kelly thought she was in good shape, by the end of the first day she ached in muscles she didn’t know she had. Although she tried to be cheerful, it was obvious that Harris had it in for her. A number of times during the day Kelly was ordered to do pushups for various infractions. Kelly was certain the infractions were imagined.

When she got back to the house in the evening she found Mike already there. She stripped off her now-filthy fatigues and stumbled into the shower. She came out with a towel around her head and collapsed face down on the bed. Mike sat down on the edge and started to massage her body. As he worked on her muscles she could feel her aches and pains slowly ebb. They had scarcely spoken a word since she came in. It was obvious to Mike what had happened, and Kelly was delighted that Mike knew where she was hurting without having to ask.

He rolled her over on her back and she looked up at him. He lowered his head and kissed her softly. She gave him a small smile and said, “Darling, it’s all I can do to spread my legs. I’m afraid you’ll have to do all the work.” The smile broadened and she added, “I think my cunt is the only part of me that doesn’t hurt. Do you mind?”

He made love to her gently. After they had climaxed, she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. When she awakened she checked her watch and jumped up. Mike was still sleeping. Thirty minutes later he was awakened by the smell of broiling steak. He got up and padded into the kitchen. Kelly had prepared a beautiful dinner for them in spite of being so tired. After eating they went back to bed, made love again with Kelly taking a much more active rôle, and finally went to sleep with his hand cupping her breast.

Kelly was angry. Her performance in the exercises put her at the top of her class, but the better she did, the more Harris rode her. It was apparent that Mary Harris and Ken Carson didn’t know what to make of her.

This added to the irritation Harris felt and resulted in her riding Kelly even more. Mary Harris was puzzled. She had tried to find out more about the young girl in her platoon but hit a stone wall. She had even tried to sneak a look at Jackson’s service record but found it wasn’t in the usual file. Nevertheless, she concluded that Jackson was enlisted. She didn’t know how old she was but estimated she wasn’t more than twenty.

A number of things didn’t add up, though. When they were introduced to enemy weapons, Jackson handled them with ease and familiarity. At the range when they were shown the AK-47, Jackson picked it up, cocked it, and devastated the targets with a series of short bursts. The platoon went to a group of tables behind the range where AK-47s were lying disassembled. They had manuals to read which covered various weapons. This was a test to see how much they had learned. The assignment was to assemble the weapons and fire them. Jackson had hers together and firing while Harris was still working on her breech mechanism.

She seemed to be comfortable around demolition charges. Harris couldn’t understand why, but the instructor seemed to listen carefully to this young girl. The more it happened, the madder Harris became. It isn’t right, she thought. I’m an officer — a West Point graduate — and this high-school dropout is deliberately trying to make me look bad. She had been taking her complaints to Ken Carson who had been a class ahead of her at the Point.

Finally, she could take it no longer. She saw Carson at the end of the day after two weeks of training and said, “Ken, we’ve got to get rid of Kelly Jackson. She’s not making it. She has some technical skills, but she could never operate successfully behind enemy lines. Do you agree?”

Carson had left Kelly to Harris because they were both women. He didn’t have much direct contact with Jackson but he did know her scores were very good. He agreed, finally, to go with Harris to see Colonel Rogers on Monday.

They went into his office early on Monday. Harris asked for the immediate dismissal of Jackson. “Colonel, she has some technical ability but lacks the temperament and the broad knowledge required to operate behind enemy lines. She will be a danger to herself and to her team.”

Pete Rogers lifted his eyebrows slightly. “You’re confident of this, Lieutenant? You don’t believe she can make it? I must tell you, her scores are very good and I get good reports from the instructors. You’re certain?”

“Yes, sir. I am sure. She couldn’t possibly operate behind enemy lines.”

Rogers nodded. “I’ll think about it. I will talk to you both at the end of the day today. There is a meeting of the full company scheduled at that time. Let’s see what happens.”

That afternoon the training company assembled in the auditorium. Mary looked around and saw that Jackson wasn’t there. She smiled to herself, convinced that the colonel had acted on her recommendation. Kelly Jackson was history.

When the company was seated, Rogers went to the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have now completed two weeks of our ten-week course. The results are good ... so far. I have decided to make a change organizationally, however. You are organized into a training company with three platoons, each with a platoon leader and an assistant. As many of you noticed, there is no company commander nor company staff.

“I am naming Ken Carson, platoon leader of the first platoon, as assistant company commander. Mary Harris will take over as platoon leader of first platoon and a new assistant will be appointed. This leaves us with the question of who will command the company. In this class, we are extremely fortunate. We have a student who is qualified to be an instructor in virtually every subject area. She will be the company commander.”

Rogers turned to the side of the stage and said, “Major, will you come out and meet your command?”

Kelly walked briskly across the stage. Rogers had told her to wear her service dress uniform and wait offstage. She shook hands and took a seat behind him. Rogers continued, “Many of you already know Major Jackson. What you do not know — although it is visible for those of you with sharp eyes — is that she wears the ribbon of the Medal of Honor, along with a Silver Star and a Purple Heart. I don’t have to explain to you the meaning of the Medal of Honor.

“You may have noticed that many of the instructors defer to Kelly. In languages, she has been spending some of her very limited off-duty hours with our language instructors in German and Russian improving their pronunciation and teaching them the latest idioms.

“She is as good with small arms as anyone we have ever encountered. The Silver Star resulted from wiping out an enemy patrol. She fired eight rounds at ranges up to 150 meters. There were eight men dead, each with a bullet in his head. She is similarly deadly with a 9mm automatic. That was five rounds, and four dead. She is very considerate with the taxpayers’ money. She doesn’t use expensive bullets just to put holes in the foliage. The reason for the fifth round was she had just been beaten and was annoyed at the Russian who had been wielding the whip.

“There’s just one more thing. There have been comments that Kelly appears to be very young ... much too young for the work we do. The fact is she turned nineteen last month. This command is now rather unimpressed with age as a qualifying characteristic for our work.

“Major Jackson, would you please take over your command.”

Kelly got up from her chair and saluted the colonel. She went to the microphone and said, “We’re not nearly finished, but I think we’re off to a good start. I would like to see this company set records for proficiency at this command that will last awhile. Let’s do it!”

She stepped away from the microphone and said in a very strong voice that reverberated from the corners, “Company ... Atten ... TION.” The trainees jumped to their feet at attention. Kelly dismissed them, after saying she wanted to meet with Carson and Harris immediately following dismissal.