Chapter 14: Sunday 07 October - Monday 08 October

Afghanistan & NALTS — Sunday Day Thirty-seven — Monday Day Thirty-eight

Jens slept like crap last night, and because she didn't sleep well, I didn't sleep well either. She tossed, turned and moaned all night long. I was up before dawn, long before anyone else. I slipped out of bed, pulled on my clothes, turned on my flashlight, and gently woke Liz and the crew.

I whispered, "Get your cameras and follow me."

Liz whispered back, "What the hell are you going to do this time?"

"Follow me and find out," I answered as I found my guitar and amp and went outside to the top of our bunker.

I checked my watch - it was about half an hour to sunrise and gave me just enough time to setup my surprise. I wandered into the barracks, found all the amps I could and rousted their owners. I told them my plan. They laughed and helped me haul all the amps to the top of the bunker. When we hooked up the power, I wasn't sure that we weren't going to blow a breaker. Then we daisy-chained all the inputs together.

I tuned up the Fender Strat and plugged into the amps and waited ... just as sunrise started, I pulled on my ear protectors and waited. The other Marines nodded. When the morning call to prayer started, I played the opening notes of The Star Spangled Banner - Jimi Hendrix style.

The sound level was so extreme it shook the whole top of the bunker and I could feel the notes vibrate my guts! Even with the ear protection it still hurt my ears. The Marines in front of the bunker plugged their ears and grinned. The whole base awakened! Jens ripped out of the bunker and plugged her ears too. Marines poured out of the barracks thinking they were under attack, but once they realized what was happening they started clapping. The BCO and second ran up, plugged their ears and were yelling at me - but I couldn't hear them. I finished the song, shut things down and pulled off my ear protectors. All the Marines, except the brass, started clapping and cheering.

The BCO said something to the second and stormed away. The second came up to me, "SM Blaine, you have ten minutes to be in the BCOs office!"

Jens ran up, "SM Blaine, that was a hell-of-a-way to wake me up. You scared the crap out of me."

I handed her the guitar and asked, "Sgt. Donaldson, will you pack this and the amps away for me? I need to get my ass to the BCO's office."

"Do you think you're in trouble?" She asked.

I looked at the brass storming away and answered, "Oh yeah! I'm in big trouble this time."

Jens turned and yelled, "Liz, I need you!"

Liz ran up, "What's wrong?"

"SM Blaine's little stunt has gotten him into trouble and we're going to the BCO's office together. Can you take care of his guitar and amp?"

Liz looked at me, "It was a great stunt and we caught all of it on video. I can only imagine how much the brass was not impressed. Let's get someone else to take care of things and I'll come along and see if I can smooth things over."

I looked out and saw Gunny Horton, "Gunny, get your ass over here."

He runs up laughing, "SM Blaine, that was a hell of a prank! I was wondering what you would pull this time. What can I do for you?"

"It seems that the BCO wasn't amused and wants me in his office in ten minutes. I need you to take care of my guitar and the amps. This is my amp and the others are borrowed. Their owner's will come and get them." I said as I handed him my guitar.

"Damn Banzai, won't you ever learn. It seems like every time you're assigned to a new base you do some prank that gets your ass in trouble." Gunny told me.

"I just want to make sure they know I'm here."

"Well you'd better haul ass. If you're late the BCO will chew your ass so bad that you won't have anything left."

"He's going to have two asses to chew because we're a team and I'm coming too." Jens said.

Gunny looked at Jens, "Damn Banzai you're right - she's a real hellcat."

Jens grinned and I said to her, "I think you're crazy Sgt. Donaldson. But if that's what you want to do, then let's go."

We broke into a trot and headed to the BCO's new office. I glanced over and saw Liz and one of the crew following us. As we ran to meet with the BCO, the other Marines were still clapping and cheering.

"That was fucking awesome!"

"Way to go SM!"

"For once we didn't have to listen to that mooslim crap."

We made it to the office with time to spare and I leaned over and said to Jens before we walked in, "Thanks for coming but this was my prank and this is my fight. Do me a big favor and keep your mouth shut."

She whispered back, "I love and live to serve you!"

We walked into the outer office and taken right into the BCO's office. He was sitting down and the second was standing beside him.

The BCO looked at Jens, "Sgt. Donaldson, you were not part of this and you are excused."

"Sir! We are a team and as a team if one of us is in trouble, both of us are in trouble." Jens replied.

"Suit yourself. SM Blaine, what the hell were you thinking you would accomplish with this stupid stunt of yours! You woke up the whole damn base and offended all the Muslims in the whole damn city. Do you know how many complaints we have already received? That was one of the most idiotic stunts I've ever seen anyone pull. I would have expected better behavior from you. So what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sir, I don't know what I was thinking. Sir!" I answered.

"That's right! You weren't fucking thinking were you?"

"No Sir! I was not thinking. Sir!"

He looked at the second, "Cpt. Kast you're dismissed."

Cpt. Kast left the room and after the door closed the BCO said, "Shit Banzai and Sgt. Donaldson, sit down. That was one hell of a stunt and while I have to reprimand you in public, I can tell you I'm proud as hell of what you did."

"It's great to be under your command again Colonel Rowe," I replied.

Jens was blinking her eyes as if she couldn't believe what had just happened until I looked at her and said, "Colonel Rowe and I go waaay back."

Colonel Rowe continued, "I've know Banzai since he joined the Corps. And I knew he was going to pull some sort of stunt - he always does."

"Excuse me Sir, but isn't SM Blaine in trouble?" Jens asked.

He laughed, "Well, I will have to reprimand him and I guess you also since you're a team. But what he did was great for the morale of the troops and he has my thanks for that."

I looked at Colonel Rowe, "So, office time¹?"

¹ Marine's equivalent to article 15.

He laughed, "Normally you'd have a good dose of office time. But you lucked out because you two leave on a mission tonight and you won't have the opportunity to serve office time."

Colonel Rowe made a call on the intercom and a spook and the Commanding General of the theater were escorted into the office. Jens and I both snapped to attention.

The General said, "At ease. This is Sam and he's going to brief you on your mission."

"Is this office secure?" Sam asked.

Colonel Rowe looked at him with distaste, "As secure as it can be. You can either brief them here or forget about it."

Sam went on to tell us that they needed some recon on an al-qaeda base located in an Arabic country that wasn't our friend and didn't allow our military to operate within its borders. They had satellite photos of the base, but couldn't prove enough with the existing photos. We were supposed to reconnoiter the base and take pictures of any high ranking officer we saw. They felt this base was the major training base for the towel head troops attacking our soldiers. It was a damn important mission.

Fuck! I hate spooks. I looked at Sam and said, "What are the rules of engagement on this mission?"

Sam smiled and answered, "You are to take pictures and that is all we are authorizing. However should certain targets of opportunity appear, it wouldn't bother us if they were dispatched." He slid a folder across the table to us. We opened the folder and started looking at the pictures. I looked at Jens because we both recognized all the pictures in the folder.

"I know you already have an entrance plan, but I want to make sure that we have an exit plan. We're not going on this mission until we're both sure we can get back out." I said.

The General cleared his throat, "I will personally guarantee that unless you are captured, we will do whatever it takes to get both of you out of the country."

"How about the ability to resupply if we need it?" I questioned.

"It's too risky to run flights in to resupply you two. You will be dropped in the country with all you can carry and one pallet of supplies." The General said.

I didn't much like this mission, and I said as I looked a Jens. "Sir, before we decide, I'd like a chance to speak alone with Sgt. Donaldson for about five minutes."

They stood up and left the office, "Well Jens, what do you think about this mission?"

She bit her lip, "It's an important mission but it's dangerous as hell. I want to run some simulations on my laptop before we decide."

"Why don't you run and get your laptop and bring it back here. Then we can tell them what we need and modify their plan so it will work." I answered.

Jens gave me a big hug and said, "I'll be right back - entertain the brass while I'm gone."

Everyone walked back in and I said, "Sgt. Donaldson would like to run some simulations of this mission and needs to get her laptop. Does anyone have problems with her leaving to go get it?"

Sam started complaining until the general told him to shut the hell up and Jens took off to get the laptop.

We all sat down and the general said, "That was a hell-of-a reveille you played for us this morning."

"Thank you Sir. I don't know what I was thinking when I did that stunt."

"I've read your service record and I know exactly what you were thinking and I know that you planned this. So cut the crap and let me tell you we all appreciate the morale boost you gave the troops. And I've made sure none of this goes in either of your records."

There was a knock on the door and Jens came in with the laptop. She sat it up on the table and fired it up.

"I don't know if I trust Sgt. Donaldson with running a simulation of this mission on a laptop." Sam complained.

Jens looked at him, "You're not military so that's Dr. Donaldson to you. I either get to run the simulations on my laptop and refine your half-assed plan or we don't take the mission and you can go find someone else to be your cannon fodder."

He shut up and everyone watched as Jens entered all the parameters and ran the mission simulation. With their plan, the mission failed over half the time and the computer was playing the funeral dirge. Jens looked at Sam, "I thought so. This is a half-baked, half-assed bogus piece of bullshit tactical plan. We die half the time, and a fourth of the time we don't even get into the country without dying first. Are you trying to get us killed!" She was pissed off.

"Do you really trust this computer to tell you if the mission will be a success or not?" Sam asked.

"I sure as hell do! I wrote this program for my doctoral thesis and it's way more accurate than anything the military or you spooks have. I promised SM Blaine that we never go on a mission unless the computer gives us a ninety percent success rate. Anything else is suicide." Jens said.

"So this means you're refusing the mission?" Sam continued.

"Hell no! If we refuse this mission, you'll just take this piece of shit tactical plan and use it to get others killed. Leave me the hell alone while I modify this shitty plan into something that will work." Jens ordered.

I looked at the others, "I think we need to go and get a cup of coffee and let Sgt. Donaldson do some work."

"I'd like a cup of coffee too, please." Jens requested.

The colonel had his aide bring in a cup and a pot of coffee for Jens while we started to leave the room. "Just remember we can't say anything about this mission outside of this room," Sam said.

I gave him a dirty look, "I should kick your ass for even thinking we would be that stupid. You've looked at my record and you know the missions I've been on - that's why you chose us. We're not amateurs and we refuse to be treated as such." I turned to the general, "If he says one more stupid thing I'd like your permission to kick his ass and refuse the mission."

The general laughed, "Sam, you'd better just keep your mouth shut or I'll let him do it."

We went over to the mess and grabbed a cup of coffee. You should have seen the surprised look on everyone's faces when they saw all of us together. I was busy running lists of equipment through my head so I didn't say much. Since I was hungry, I grabbed a plate of food and continued with my planning while I ate. I finished and said to the three, "I'm going to grab some chow for Sgt. Donaldson and then we should head back over." I loaded up a plate, threw a cover on it and we walked back to the BCO's office.

As we knocked and walked in, Jens turned and smiled at me, "Thank you SM Blaine for bringing me some food. I'm starving."

"So how did the simulations go?" I asked.

She looked at us and said, "I've got the success rate up to ninety-one percent."

"Good, let's see your plan." Sam asked.

She gave him a dirty look, "There's no way in hell that I'm letting you or anyone else not directly necessary for the mission see this plan. I don't want anything to leak out. The only thing I need from you is the camera equipment. General, we request that Sam be isolated until we return from our mission."

He was going to complain when the general put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Look, they're going to take your mission and that's really all you need to know. I'll call some MPs to escort you and the camera gear over to the ready room."

Jens looked at Colonel Rowe, "Sir, no offense but I would prefer that you didn't know the details of this mission either."

He laughed and said, "I can take a hint." And then he left the room.

With everyone gone except for the General and me, Jens outlined her plan and told the General what we needed in the way of support from him. She then ran the scenario on her computer. The General laughed when he heard the wedding march as the mission succeeded.

"Glen told me about you two and I really didn't want to send you on this mission. But I figured that with your smarts and Banzai's luck that you were the only two that could pull this off. It's going to take some work to get everything that you need setup but this mission is important enough that I'll personally make sure that you get everything you need. Go to your bunker, grab your gear, and requisition everything you need. Then get your asses to the ready room and stay there until the mission starts. No talking to that news reporter of yours." The general ordered.

We stood and shook hands, "You two be careful and get us the information we need."

"Sir, we and my Father will be counting on you to get us out when we call you." Jens said.

"We'll come and get you when you call. Just don't get captured." He ordered.

We left the office and ran into Liz talking to the BCO, "Hey where have you guys been. I've been trying to get you out of trouble with Mike, I mean Colonel Rowe."

"We've been busy but we can't tell you anything about it." Jens said.

Liz started to complain and I grinned and said, "NALTS!"

We headed to the bunker and Liz tagged along, "So you really can't tell me anything?"

Jens answered, "That's right. All you need to know is we are going away for a while and we don't even know how long. You'll have to entertain yourself here on the base."

I gave her an evil grin, "Just don't use our cots for your orgies. I don't want to have to burn them when we get back."

"I would never do that!" Liz grumped and Jens and I both laughed.

We got to the bunker and I looked a Liz and said, "You and the crew need to stop taping us and make your selves scarce."

She didn't like it but she did leave. Jens ran over, jumped into my arms and gave me a huge hug and kiss, "Wow! There's never a dull moment with you around and it looks like we're going on our first mission together." We spent about five minutes getting reacquainted and then I said, "We need to get moving, there's a bunch of gear I think we'll need."

We started comparing notes and came up with a list of equipment and supplies. I looked at Jens, "You know we're only bringing enough supplies for a week. Any longer and we're screwed."

She cuddled up close to me, "If it lasts longer than a week we'll just have to live on love. Besides you're getting a little fat and could stand to lose a few pounds."

"Look who's talking!" I shot back and we ended up wrestling for a couple minutes.

We checked and double-checked the gear from the bunker and headed out the door. Waiting outside for us was our chariot - a Humvee and two MPs. "We're here to escort you to supply and then the ready room," One of the MPs said. We humped the gear into the Humvee, headed over to supply and told them what we wanted. The General was there making sure we received everything without any hassles.

"The rest of your gear will be here in two hours, it's being choppered in from Kabul." The general told us. "Good luck and God speed." He shook our hands and the MPs took us to the ready room.

Sam was in the ready room when we got there and showed us the camera gear. Jens took one look at it and said, "We're not taking your gear because we have our own gear which is comparable. I can't trust that your gear hasn't been bugged."

Sam blew a gasket and said, "Why you snotty little bit..." He never finished the last word because I knocked his ass out.

"Damn! That felt good! I never did like the little bastard." I said.

Since we were alone Jens came over and gave me a hell-of-a kiss and squeezed my butt, "I love it when you protect me."

I went to the door and yelled for the MPs. "Call the General and tell him Sam had an accident and needs to be kept in solitary until we get back." Ten minutes later they hauled his ass off to the brig.

There was nothing to do but wait, so Jens decided it was a great time to cuddle. We shared a bed and fell asleep holding each other. We awakened when they brought dinner to us, "Enjoy your last meal, after this it's MREs until we get back." Jens smiled and prayed.

I even bowed my head and silently said, "God I don't know you and I don't know how to do this. But please keep my Jens safe on this mission."

I looked up and Jens was smiling at me, she had sensed my feelings, "Thanks dear for praying for me."

We finished the meal, cleaned up, put on fresh clothes and continued cuddling until we heard the chopper arrive. It was pitch black when we jumped up, grabbed our gear and headed out the door. The general handed us the rest of the gear we requested, "We'll be monitoring this continually for calls from you."

I checked and the gear pallet was loaded aboard the chopper so we sat down and took the short ride to the airport.

All the gear was loaded on board a modified Boeing 727 and we took off. I looked at Jens, "I figure we have about three hours flight time so I'm going to catch a nap."

"I think I will too." Then we both fell asleep.

Two and a half hours later, we were awakened. "Time for you two to get ready for your jump," the crewmember said.

We geared up, put on the chutes and headed to the back of the 727 near the rear exit.

Jens looked at me and said, "I hope the ECM² boys did their job, and the stealth fighters took out the power grid in this area. Otherwise this is going to be a short mission."

² Electronic Counter Measures.

I was thinking the same thing as I felt the 727 slow and saw the back stairs start to lower. The wind was whipping around and blowing bits of crap out of the back of the plane.

The jumpmaster was watching us. When the green light flashed, he dumped the cargo pallet. Jens went out next and I was right behind her. We were coming in low and slow and had to deploy our chutes immediately. I had on my NV and saw the cargo pallet floating down below us and Jens was already chasing it down - I was right on her ass. I looked back and saw the 727 booking it back in the direction it came from. We were truly on our own.

The ground was coming up so I dropped my rucksack, let it hit the ground, flared my chute and lightly touched down. We quickly hid our chutes, opened the pallet and geared up. Then we covered the pallet with a camo net.

I dropped us over five klicks from the camp because if these guys were like the ones I'd fought at the base they were pretty good and would probably have patrols and sentries. The base was located in a very large and wide box canyon and we planned to get on a ridge where we could keep an eye on things without revealing our position.

"Okay Jens, we need to beat feet for about three clicks and then g-up (ghillie suite). We'll crawl the rest of the way. I want to be in position one hour before sunrise."

"Lead on Ben and I will follow you."

We set off at a good lope across the rough ground. Since there was just enough light from the waning moon for us to see, we could make pretty good time without having to worry about breaking an ankle. Jens was right behind me matching my pace step for step. We were getting close to the g-spot when she grabbed my shoulder and pushed me down. She fell right beside me. From her signing, I knew she saw a patrol with two terrorists just ahead of us. Damn, I missed them completely! I pulled out my NV and sure enough, there they were setting in a little depression as if they were expecting us. I knew that if Jens hadn't pushed me down, our mission would now be over. We both g-upped and crawled towards our objective, leaving a wide berth around the two fucking towel heads. When we were far enough away I said, "What the fuck were they doing out in the middle of nowhere?"

"I don't know, but I don't have a good feeling about this." Jens answered. I didn't have a good feeling either.

It was going to be light soon so we moved into a rocky area overlooking our target. Our ghillie suites allowed us to pretend to be bushes. I took out my rifles and made sure they were ready. Jens unpacked the camera gear and spotting scope from her pack and set everything up. She reached into her pack and threw me a square of Hudson Bay Bread, "Here's your breakfast for today."

"Thanks Jens, you always take such good care of me."

Jens pulled the scrambled sat phone out of her pack and made a call, "This is Bravo Juliet reporting, we are in position and have eyes on the target." Then she killed the call.

We both lay down and started watching the base. This was sure different than any Taliban base I'd ever seen. This looked more like a secure factory. They had concertina wire and a fence around the whole base, guard towers with machine guns and sentries walking the perimeter. I was trying to determine if they were trying to keep people in or out of the base.

"This place looks like a fucking secure factory." I whispered to Jens.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. I've never seen anything like this." She replied.

"Why don't you range me on some targets so we will be ready if it's needed?" I asked.

She looked through the spotting scope and gave me some ranges, I checked them through the riflescope and we were ready.

I was thankful it was fall because we wouldn't bake quite as much in the ghillie suits and under the camo netting. Jens was busy taking pictures of everything and said, "Ben, why don't you take a nap while I keep an eye on things."

"Thanks, wake me in two hours and I'll let you sleep," I said as I lay my head on my pack and quickly fell asleep.

"Psst, Ben it's time to wake up." Jens whispered.

I blinked my eyes and got them used to the light, "Anything exciting happen yet?"

"Well, it definitely isn't a factory. You should see these fricken bastards train, it's almost like they're Marines," she said.

"Let's trade places and you can nap while I watch." We rolled past each other and I copped a little feel of her butt. "Hey, I'll give you about a hundred years to stop that." Jens grinned.

"Sorry, I guess all this waiting is getting me a little horny." I replied.

She put her head on the pack and was out like a light - damn she was tired. I watched the camp with intense interest. Jens was right they were training the hell out of these poor bastards. I took a bunch more pictures, concentrating on the men in charge of the training. Something didn't seem right about them. I cranked the zoom all the way up on the camera and I understood why: Those bastards weren't Arabic, they were Oriental. I took a bunch more pictures, trying to catch their faces.

I looked over at Jens, she was peacefully snoring and I decided to let her sleep longer. I wasn't tired and this was fascinating. It looked to me like they combined the best of all the services into the training on this base. I watched when one trainee must have done something wrong. The trainer pulled his pistol and shot him. The other trainees didn't even flinch and two of them drug him off.

I noticed some dust and pointed the camera towards the motion. A convoy was approaching the base. I started taking pictures as it stopped at the gate. The security was high and they searched all vehicles, one by one, before they entered the base. I made sure I documented all of it.

The motor pool was off to the right of the gate but the trucks didn't stop there - they headed over to another set of buildings. I followed them with the camera. When the trucks stopped, the trainees ran over, started unloading crates, and hauled them into some buildings. It was too far away to tell, but they looked like weapons. After they unloaded the crates they went back to their intense training.

I took the aerial map of the base and started making notations. I heard a siren sound and the next thing I knew everyone hid and the base looked empty. I noted the time on the map and figured that it must have been a satellite fly over. Thirty minutes later, they were training again - this time it was a live fire obstacle course. I watched as a couple of trainees failed the exercise and died for doing it.

Jens started yawning and stretching, "Hey how long did you let me sleep."

I looked at my watch, "Most of the day. You didn't sleep well the night before and I knew you were tired."

"You doin' okay?"

"Not bad. It's been fascinating watching the training. I've seen them kill three men today. I could use a break and some food." I replied.

"Okay, let me go take care of a couple of things and then I'll whip us up some food and take over." She crawled out the back of the net and around behind some rocks. A few minutes later she was back, "Whew, I feel much better now."

She gauged the wind and said, "Looks like no hot food tonight. The wind is blowing towards the camp and they'd smell it if we heated it up." She threw me a PBJ MRE, "This is about the best one to eat cold." Then she dug into hers.

I was hungry and it was better than nothing so I wolfed it down. "You need to learn to eat slower or you'll get sick some day." Jens chided.

"I wanted to get this into my stomach before my mouth could taste it and complain."

I slipped out the back and took care of some business, came back and put my head on the pack. "Wake me when you get tired or if anything happens."

We alternated through the night taking turns watching the base. Nothing much happened and it was boring as hell. Early the next morning we were both awake.

I looked over at Jens, "This is the worst part about being a sniper; waiting for something or anything to happen."

"You could always recite some poetry for me." Jens said.

I looked at her as if she was crazy and I figured what the hell.

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

Jens looked at me and a single tear went down her cheek, "Robert Frost, I should have known. I don't know if I can listen to another one like that."