Chapter 47

Flashback – Major M – Command and Control

Well, this one wasn't as difficult for me to explain as it was going to be for the bastard 'President' of that country. There was a huge explosion, so large at first we were sure they fucked up and detonated the warhead. But the equipment aboard the bird showed a radiation level which didn't indicate a nuclear blast. However the area was going to be a 'hot zone' for the next millennium.

Seeing the Sgts. jeep leave made me sure they weren't responsible this time. This was a really good thing otherwise I'd have to explain to the NRC how they rendered a good sized portion of a foreign country uninhabitable! And the NRC was hell to deal with.

With the warhead gone, I asked my techs, "Let's see if we can find the Sgts. jeep."

They began the search. I decided to catch some shuteye and went to my office. I no sooner fallen asleep than a tech came in and woke me up. I threatened, "This had better be a fucking emergency."

He answered, "Sir we've found what's left of the Sgts. jeep."

I jumped up and said, "What the fuck." I ran into a very somber control room and saw the image of their burning jeep on the screen. Shit! I guessed Sgt. Blaine's luck finally ran out and I needed to call the General...

Flashback – Mira and Ira – Undisclosed location

I caressed the ground and Ira yelled, "Mira, I think the warhead the Israeli's discovered was detonated."

I was concerned because if she was accurate, we would be too close to the blast zone and any hope of having healthy children with my Sgt. would be dashed. I crawled toward her motorcycle, acquired her Geiger counter and was relieved when it showed an only an moderately increased radiation level. A level which might not hinder my future maternal hopes.

I replied, "Ira, the blast was not nuclear. However we can not remain in this vicinity for a great length of time."

Ira rose and stated, "Mira, perhaps we can use components from both decimated motorcycles to construct one functional motorcycle."

We worked like hades, used the back half of Ira's motorcycle, the front suspension of my motorcycle, a fender as a front wheel skid and constructed a workable sand ski.

We sped away from the site and I yelled to Ira, "I will make those harlequins compensate for this."

The sand ski lurched and deposited us on the firmament after which Ira stated, "Mira first we must find a good location at which to receive additional commodities then we will both make those harlequins compensate us."

Flashback – Jack – Undisclosed location

I drove the damn truck. Banzai was still so pissed at me (and depressed) he wouldn't even talk. I tried to start a conversation with, "Well that explosion was sure a good one."

Banzai waved his hand, "Yeah it wasn't bad."

I stated, "Not bad hell! I thought you'd set off the warhead. Did you notify the Major?"

Banzai replied, "Fuck you and double fuck the Major. I'm going to sleep." He curled up and went to sleep which was fine with me. Perhaps he'd sleep it off and act better when he woke up.

Yeah Banzai was pissed. Hey it wasn't my fault! That damn sniper shot the engine in his GAZ, I kept driving it to escape but finally it seized up. I was impressed as hell because I got another 10 klicks out of it before it died.

Banzai mourned over the damn GAZ while he barely noticed the departure of any of his ex-girlfriends (except for possibly the General's underage daughter, I could tell he still had the hots for her). I thought he was going to stay with the damn GAZ, sort of like being buried with it. Finally he gritted his teeth and barked orders like a fucking DI. We loaded all the gear into this truck, Banzai actually kissed the GAZ on the hood and talked to it right before he threw a WP grenade into it and yelled, "Jack you're driving from now on."

I had to admit, once I figured out how Banzai motivated his GAZ, it was much more fun to drive than this lumbering truck. I wasn't sure we would be able to outrun any of the Lion of Babylon tanks in this slow piece of shit and wondered how we could continue our mission.

Flashback – Ben – Undisclosed location

I missed the hell out of my GAZ. I should have known better than to let Jack drive her. It was his fault she was killed, but now she was gone like all the other women in my life and it was time to get the hell out of this fucking desert and proceed to Russia. I hoped I could find another GAZ there to replace my dearly departed one.

But I wasn't just upset about the GAZ, something else bothered me. It was that damn sniper I almost ran over. They were dressed all in black (even over their faces), had on a flowing black robe but something looked familiar about their – ass!

I yelled, "Son of a bitch!"

Jack swerved the truck and barked, "You scared the hell out of me, I thought you were sleeping."

I answered, "No I was thinking and didn't want to be bothered by your stupid comments."

Jack snapped, "Well if you're this fucking crabby I wish you would go to sleep."

I said, "Jack forget about it, I figured out who those fucking snipers are."

Jack sarcastically asked, "And just how the hell did you do that. They were totally covered in black."

I blurted out, "I recognized her ass!"

Flashback – Jack – Undisclosed location

What the hell has happened to Banzai, has he gone queer on me! I shout, "What the hell do you mean? Don't tell me your switching sides."

Banzai gave me a dirty look and explained, "Hell no I'm not going queer! I recognized her ass! That was Mira shooting at you!"

I thought about his revelation and surmised, "Then that had to be Ira that chased me on the motorcycle."

Banzai confirmed, "Yeah that would have been Ira."

I remembered my interactions with Mira at the spook school and worried, "I bet what we did to them has both of them really pissed off at us."