Chapter 13

Flashback – Mira – Day eight of spook school

Ohhhhhhh – My poor painful cranium! What was my location and why did my cranium resonate like a massive membranophone? I painfully opened one ocular unit and perceived my corporeal self to be in bed, in my pajamas with ... the two katanas!!! How in Hades did I arrive in this locale?

The katanas reminded me of shopping yesterday and my wonderful and silly boyfriend! I rapidly rose to a sitting position ... Ohhhh too rapidly!!! My cranium attempted to detonate!!! Locomotive vibrations resulted when I even commenced to think this morning ... Where was my boyfriend and what time was it?

I finally fought the other ocular unit open and perceived his items were housed in our room. I carefully studied my watch after my ocular units finally focused and realized it was very late. However, my boyfriend was not here. Then I saw it! One of his dreaded notes was perched on the desk adjacent to two glasses, some pills and a large amount of paper money! I hated his unpredictable notes!

I attempted to move but my whole corporeal self complained as if driven over by a Kamaz¹! My remembrances of last night were mostly the consistency of mist. I remembered silly shopping with my boyfriend at the mall store ... I additionally remembered, and questioned if he would really have purchased for me an engagement ring ... Then real shopping in a wonderland and the two katanas ... priceless presents which I could never hope to repay ... Then our trip to the Marine bar where ... Ah ha! What was that vile brown liquid which we consumed and then barked like dogs?

¹ Kamaz – The largest producer of Russian heavy trucks.

I crawled off the bed and advanced to the desk to acquire the note - the mere act of moving elicited a wave of nausea which I aggressively restrained. Wait, I remember that last night I spent time paying tribute to ... what did my boyfriend call it? Oh yes a 'yawn of technical colors at the semi-round office'! I tried to giggle but it just increased my cranial discomfort.

Three times I tried to acquire the note and finally succeeded. But the price was too great so I ran quickly into the bathroom and once again tried to recreate the 'yawn of technical colors at the semi-round office', but nothing evacuated from my self. Today I was alone in my massive misery unlike last night when my boyfriend held and comforted me!

I unfolded the note and read:

Mira,

I'm sorry about last night, I should have stopped you from drinking so much bourbon. I wish I could be there to help you this morning but something came up which Jack and I need to take care of.

I called the school and left a message which said were sick today, so don't worry about missing the classes. Just take it easy today and rest. On the table you will find a couple of aspirin, a glass of water and a shot of vodka (hair of the dog) - use them if you need them.

We hope to be back tonight for dinner but don't worry if we're not.

You should be proud of yourself because you set a new record at Gunny's!

Ben

I reviewed the note because my brain could not believe or comprehend the words. Finally the mist slowly cleared - my boyfriend and Sgt. Reynolds had 'something' to do and I was not included! This 'something' sounded like 'something' the malodorous Major forced them to do! And I needed something to regain the status of being among the living ... Ah ha! Mira's magic hangover cure. With that I would be fully functional ... But what was this 'new record' my boyfriend was so proud of?

Flashback – Jack – Night seven of spook school – Gunny's bar

I was having a great time at Gunny's blowing off steam, swapping lies with the best of them and also picking up some useful information on Major M. I determined: He was one slippery as snake oil bastard; had his own plans and agenda (which mostly coincided with the Corps); and once you were on his team, he'd do anything and everything he could to keep you safe. It made me feel better, but he was still an officer and I couldn't really trust any officer.

The pickings were pretty slim here tonight (after all it was a Sunday) so most of the 'ladies' were already at home getting ready for work tomorrow. So, I was content with just drinking and bullshitting.

That immediately changed when Banzai walked in with Mira plastered to his arm! The bar became amazingly silent as all the Marines lusted after Mira. I leaned over and told my table, "See her, I tapped that." They started giving me shit but I didn't care...

Banzai waved, came over to my table, and grabbed a couple of extra chairs as he and Mira sat down. I looked at Mira and asked, "Mira, why are you so happy tonight?"

Well that was a fucking mistake because she then droned on and on about 'the shop'. By the time she was done, she actually had me and all the Marines at the table and the others who had gathered around the table believing in 'the shop.' I was jealous as hell since I didn't get to go. The bell rang, we all barked (except for Mira) and drank our shots. Banzai explained, "Mira, in this bar we are Pavlov's Devil Dogs. Every time the bell rings you have to drink a shot."

She grinned at Banzai, kissed him on the cheek and downed her first of very many shots. Then she said, "Boyfriend, I would like to challenge to you a contest of pointed projectiles."

Banzai responded, "Mira I can't figure out what you're saying."

Mira pointed at the dart board and responded, "Sorry my boyfriend, that I do not recall the proper terminology. But I would like to challenge you to a contest of pointed projectiles."

To his credit Banzai didn't insult her and he said, "Mira that game is called darts. I'd love to play a game of darts with you."

I said, "Shit! I'd like to play a game!"

Mira coyly looked at the table and announced, "I would bet almost anything I could beat everyone at this table in a contest of ... darts."

Well that was all it took and the next thing we knew the whole bar was betting against Mira ... And I of all people should have known better! Mira wasn't just excellent at darts, she was devastating!!! She never fucking lost the whole night!

I lost a shitload of money to her and I was sure as hell others lost even more ... Shit! All the shots she consumed didn't even bother her. She was the dart board diva destroying everyone. I sat at the table with a defeated Banzai and asked, "How much money did you lose to her?"

He laughed and said, "Shit Jack! I figured out really quick I wasn't going to beat her so I only lost a hundred. How much did you lose?"

I checked my wallet and said, "Damn! She took me for three-hundred. How the hell did she get so damn good at darts, especially because she holds and throws them in such a crazy fucking way?"

Banzai replied, "Jack, Mira's got a hell of a lot of martial arts weapons training. And some of that had to be in martial arts darts because she's holding and throwing the darts like a martial arts competition. I thought I might be able to beat her, but I didn't stand a chance."

I watched as Mira easily beat another Marine. The bell rang, I took a drink but Banzai didn't. I complained, "You're not drinking?"

He answered, "Jack, I'm driving tonight and I'm done with drinking."

It sure as hell didn't stop Mira. I watched as she slammed down another round. I remarked, "Don't you think you should talk to Mira about all the shots she's had?"

Banzai said, "Yeah Jack, you're right. I lost count of how many she's had."

Banzai jumped up and headed to the dart board...

Flashback – Ben – Very Early Morning eight of spook school

I walked up to Mira as she got ready to challenge another Marine. She saw me and said, "Boyfriend come did you here to play another contest of darts?"

I shook my head, Jack was right Mira was drunk as a skunk! I answered, "No Mira, it's time for us to leave."

The Marine she planned on challenging complained, "Hey, I wanted a chance to win back my money!"

Mira giggled, quickly threw all three of the darts, hit the bulls-eye with every one and claimed, "That beat you!"

I gently reminded her, "Mira, weren't you supposed to be my arm candy tonight?"

She giggled, stumbled to my side, latched onto my arm and gave me a hell of a kiss. When she finally let me up for air she answered, "Boyfriend, sorry I am remembered not I did."

I motioned to Jack and headed towards the door. Gunny stopped us on the way out and said, "Banzai, thanks for bringing Mira tonight, she really livened up the place. Here's a signed t-shirt for her, she set a new record for the number of shots by a woman tonight."

Jack walked up and Mira surprised the hell out of us when she hugged and kissed the hell out of Gunny, pulled away and slurred, "Sir who kind you are, you I thank." She latched onto my arm again, and I barely caught her as she passed out...

Jack offered, "Banzai, I could drive tonight."

I griped and replied, "Like hell you can, you've had too much to drink too. But you can unlock the car doors for me while I carry Mira." I tossed him the keys and we headed out to the car.

Mira was light so the hard part of carrying her was making sure I didn't let the whole world see her assets. And because she was limp dead weight it was even harder. I sure as hell didn't know what had gotten into Mira since this was now two nights in a row that she'd tied one on.

Jack unlocked the car as I carefully set her on the front seat and leaned her against the center console. Jack jumped in the back and we took off. It wasn't even five minutes until both of them started snoring like crazy. This was fucking great - snoring in stereo...

I turned on the radio to drown out the snoring. A new song came on which I liked and I tried to figure out the guitar parts when I had an evil idea ... I would put both of them in bed together tonight as a prank to see what would happen in the morning. But this time my better judgment and concern that Jack might actually nail Mira set me on the straight and narrow path. While I wanted to nail Mira myself (but I knew I couldn't) I sure as hell didn't want anyone else, especially Jack, nailing her.

I pulled up to the barracks stopped the car and yelled at Jack, "Wake up you drunk snoring old fart!"

He sputtered and asked, "Where are we?"

I replied, "We're at the barracks and unless you're sleeping in the car you need to wake up and get to your room. I've got Mira to take care of tonight and don't have time to put your drunken ass to bed – again."

He laughed, "Damn for once someone's drunker than I am!"

I complained, "Shit! Getting drunk is easy, staying sober is the hard part. Now if you sleep in the car tonight I don't want to listen to your whining all day tomorrow about your back being sore.

He said, "Okay, okay, I'm headed to my room." I watched as he staggered out of the car and toward his room.

I started to carry Mira to our room. She stopped snoring but cuddled the hell out of me and smelled pretty damn good for being so drunk. She was one hell of a woman, and if only we'd met under different circumstances...

We got to our room - it was hard as hell unlocking the door and holding her at the same time. I took her inside, laid her gently on the bed and turned her head in case she vomited. Mira would be fine for a few minutes; I needed to make sure Jack got to his room. I ran down the hallway, opened his door and he was in his bed still in his clothes. I turned his head in case he vomited and decided he was fine. Now to take care of Mira...

I ran back to our room, opened the door and heard Mira throwing up in the bathroom. I ran in and she was leaning against the toilet. I sat beside her, pulled her hair back and said, "Sorry I was making sure Jack got back to his room okay."

Mira turned towards me, gave me a goofy as hell drunk smile and said, "My wonderful boyfriend! I perceive I imbibed more alcohol than was prudent..."

She didn't finish her sentence because she puked again. I replied, "Mira the best thing you can do right now is to 'Technicolor yawn at the oval office' until you're done and then have a good night's sleep."

Mira turned toward me and asked, "Boyfriend I can not comprehend your recent words."

I hugged her and explained, "A 'Technicolor yawn' is a euphemism to vomit or expectorate. The 'oval office' is a euphemism for the toilet."

She giggled then puked again. I started to get pissed at myself for not stopping her sooner.

This went on for a good half hour until finally Mira was all puked out and passed out again. She was a fucking mess and it was time for me to clean her up. Unfortunately this was something I had too much practice doing: First with dad and then with Jack. But this would be the first time I had to really clean up a drunk woman. And it proved to be much more difficult (especially because she was 'out of order') than it would be with Jack or my dad. But I did my best while preserving Mira's modesty. I could only hope she didn't get too pissed at me in the morning, but I bet she would be too busy dealing with a world class hangover.

I just started to get ready for bed when my mobile phone rang. I checked Caller ID and ... shit it was Major M! There couldn't be any good come of him calling at this time of the night.

I answered, "This is L.Cpl. Blaine."

Major M said, "I need you and Jack ready for a mission in thirty mikes."

I replied, "Sir, what equipment will we need?"

He answered, "Just your weapons and ammo. Now move your ass, the chopper will be there in thirty."

He hung up the phone and I scrambled. I ran down to Jack's room, woke him up and told him to get his ass in gear because we had an emergency mission. Then I ran back to our room, wrote a note for Mira, got into my full combat gear, grabbed my small go pack already setup for a three day mission. I loaded my M-40 in one scabbard, grabbed my M-4 for the other scabbard, my drag bag of various uppers² and ammo for my M-4 lower and my Kimber pistol then I ran down to Jack's room. Thank God he was almost ready too.

² Upper – The M-16 or M-4 has matured into a complete weapons platform. You can purchase an 'upper' (barrel, bolt assembly and sights) which can be assembled onto the 'lower' (the butt stock, trigger and mag well) in seconds. So you can have a rifle that goes from .458 SOCOM all the way to .22 LR

I helped him and he asked, "What the hell is going on?"

I replied, "Major M called me, told me we had a mission and that a chopper would be here in thirty."

He questioned, "Did he give you any information?"

I answered, "Hell no, just that we only needed our weapons and ammo. But I don't trust his ass so I decided to go in loaded for bear, that's why I'm bringing my drag bag. We can always drop whatever we don't need, but because we don't know what we do need or if they'd even have everything we might need, I thought we'd just take everything possible."

Jack said, "That's damn good thinking on your part. Listen I hear the chopper let's haul ass outside."

Flashback – Major M – Mission flight

I was impressed as hell with my Sgt. and L.Cpl.! The chopper barely touched down as they ran over in full fucking combat gear, weapons, packs, a huge drag bag and jumped right in. Shit! The pilot didn't even get a chance to spin down the rotors.

The door slammed, I looked at them smiled and said, "Looks like you two are dressed for a war."

Sgt. Reynolds said, "Yes Sir! We weren't sure what we'd need so we brought everything just in case."

I smiled and wondered which one of them thought of this and answered, "Other than the uniforms it was a wise idea. However you two need to change into these black BDU's and combat armor."

I tossed them a couple go bags and watched them start to change. Yes they were an impressive as hell team! The L.Cpl. was first into his gear and helped the Sgt. then the Sgt. checked the L.Cpl.'s armor and the L.Cpl. returned the favor.

I added, "This is a covert mission, so you need to sanitize your packs of anything which would identify you as a Marine."

L.Cpl. Blaine replied, "Sir our mission packs are generic and only contain items which civilians could purchase, so they should be fine. However I think you will need these." I watched as he pulled off his dog tags and his HOG tooth and handed them to me. Sgt. Reynolds did the same.

I answered, "You must have read my mind, because I was just going to ask for those. They will stay on the ship along with your other personal belongings. Now here's the SITREP. As you know, it's spring break. A Senator's college aged daughter was celebrating spring break in Bimini and she's been grabbed by a group of OPFORs. We are one of several teams which have been sent in to first to take out the OPFORs and second secure her release. I have better intel than the other groups, because a Marine was on Bimini, saw the abduction, tailed them and knows where she's being held. I will go in with both of you and provide support at our ORP while you two complete the mission. Do you have any questions?" I handed a picture of her to the Sgt. and the L.Cpl.

I was shocked when the L.Cpl. stated, "Sir, I should have told you this earlier. But you and Sgt. Reynolds will compromise this mission so I am requesting a new partner and someone else to man the ORP."

I answered, "L.Cpl. you need to explain yourself."

He took a deep breath and replied, "Sir, we discovered that you and Sgt. Reynolds carry tracking devices which Ms. Sedankina planted in your food. If she can read the signals from them, then I'm certain that others can too. Because of this you both present a danger to this mission."

I was pissed as hell and I demanded, "First who the hell is this 'we' and second how long have you known about this."

He answered, "Sir I will not tell you who the 'we' is and I've known about this for about three or four days. I meant to tell you earlier, but never found the right time. However, if you would allow it, the 'we' I talked about earlier will finish this mission for you."