Chapter 150

"Alright everything is in place, so let's talk about what really happened in the Gulf of Aden." A completely different intelligence officer asked. He wasn't the only one in the room, there were three men. One was in a Navy uniform, one in a army uniform, and one in a cheap suit. Cheap suit had started it.

"Why, surely by now you have seen the statement by the Man whose mission it was?' I asked.

"Yes the great humanitarian fiction. Now we want to know what really happened. We don't care why you did it. We want to know just exactly how you did it."

"Alright," I said. Then I told them exactly what is written here. I added nothing and left out nothing, so far as I knew. Okay I didn't think they needed to know about Mary Ellen's nude sunbathing or her 'Spending Time' with me. Otherwise it was all there.

They picked it to pieces after I finished. In the end the consensus seemed to be, that it was stupid plan and never should have worked. It just didn't have enough resources invested or any highly dedicated and trained men. It was just a bunch of old men and a couple of women. They seemed to feel that we should all be dead.

"What you don't seem to realize is that we weren't fighting the Russian Commandos. We were fighting men, who most often showed their weapons, fired a few rounds into the air, and people just gave up. We obviously had all the resources we needed, and the right men for the job. They were well motivated and proven killers." I said it, then I spit on the floor and rolled the wheel chair toward the door.

"We didn't dismiss you," the one in the Navy uniform said.

"I lived up to my end of the deal. I told you what happened in detail, and I answered your question. We had a man killed, you can think what you want, but he was no amateur. Now I am going back to bed my leg is killing me."

"We will be in touch," the Navy man said.

"You can be a fairy princess or anything else you want. there is nothing more to learn from me," I said.

"Actually there is," cheap suit said. "You juggled two equally difficult stories, while you got your group ready to fight the pirates. I'm sure there is something we could learn there."

"The real death blow to them had nothing to do with me. Alex and Alex alone planned and executed the sinking of their boat." I said on my way out the door.

Nobody got up to push the chair, so I guess they no longer saw me as that helpless old lady, who just got lucky. Well to them I probably wasn't so old. All of them seemed a few years older than me.

When I got back to the room, there was a nurse standing by my door. "You better try those crutches this morning. I have been told to get you ready to leave for a stateside hospital." she said with a smile.

"No need to smile so big, a hospital by any other name still smells like Lysol disinfectant." I said...

The crutches were a pain in the butt, but they did give me some mobility. An hour after I mastered them some technician was in the room with a cart filled with odds and ends. He put together a temporary cast of air bags and Velcro. The cast was to prevent the wound from getting bumped. The padding would save me from being forced to kill the person who bumped me. It did make it appear that I had one elephant leg though.

"Your lawyer made the arrangements," the hospital administrator said. "You should look them over before we go any farther." After a moment for me to look at the paper she went on, "The itinerary is as follows: an ambulance will take you to a Civilian terminal at the airport, where you will catch a plane nonstop to New York City. You have a two hour layover there. Then you will board a plane nonstop to your home town airport. At that airport you will be met by an ambulance, which will take you to the local hospital for further treatment and evaluation."

"This is not a secret itinerary, so expect some press and some lookylews," she added as an after thought.

"Sounds like a well thought out plan," I said in agreement.

"We have been getting a lot of press calls. Would you consider a short press conference as you leave. I think it would go a long way to take the press harassment out of the equation during your trip home.

You will be leaving for the airport about 4PM. Your plane leaves at 5PM. You should be home by 1PM EST." she said.

"Sounds fine and sure get your press ready for one grilling, then I'm not answering any more questions." I said with a smile.

"Good luck with that," she said.

I tried to sleep, when I got back to the room. I knew that things were going to be complicated from the time I left the hospital in Germany, until I arrived at the Tryon regional hospital. Sleep alluded me for the two hours, but I gave it an honest effort.

"We found you some utilities in the uniform store," the nurse said with a smile. "We are going to miss you Maxine," she said.

"Why in the world would you miss me. I have been nothing but a pain to you guys?" I asked.

"We saw the press conference this morning. There aren't all that many female peacetime heroes," she said.

"I'm no hero, but thanks for missing me," I said smiling.

I waited patently for the orderly to come push my wheel chair to the conference room, then out the door to the ambulance. While I waited I searched the TV for a rerun of Alex's speech. I found it just minutes before I had to meet the news whores.

I had to give it to Alex. He managed to overcome his natural need to be macho. He told of everyone else's bravery. Then he told the world that he had stayed with the cargo. It sounded noble, but not really heroic. Then he told the story of the The Missionary and how he died. Then of the Teacher and his death. How the teacher was a real hero. He gave his life to save hundreds of starving kids. He mentioned each member of the security team by name. He included Mary Ellen in with the rest of us. I approved of that, it would thrill her and piss off her sleazy husband. He even had some glowing words for me. I appreciated it but it was probably going to complicate my life. At least he didn't tell the story of me shanking the last bad guy.