Chapter 34

Flashback – Jack – On the way to Russia

I woke up, looked around and Banzai was gone. Damn him! I bet he was 'taking one for the team' with that cute flight attendant. But I was glad he was gone because I needed to tap a kidney. I unbuckled, headed toward the back of the plane and saw Banzai 'holding court' with a bevy of beautiful flight attendants.

I approached and interrupted, "So here you are."

Banzai grinned and replied, "Ladies, this is my spotter and best friend Jack. He taught me more about being a Marine than anyone else. I hope you treat him as well as you all treated me."

I wasn't exactly sure what Banzai meant until one of the flight attendants came up to me and offered (with a Russian accent), "Let me explain the uses of the lavatory."

Flashback – Ben – On the way to Russia

It was all I could do to keep from laughing my ass off as Svetlana took Jack to the head and he was going to get ... well I sure don't kiss and tell. Yeah, after working my way through several of the lovely Russian and Ukrainian flight attendants, I was sort of a hero. I sure as hell hoped Jack didn't tarnish my image.

There was a hell of a banging noise coming from the now occupied lavatory and I was proud of Jack - it sounded like he was 'taking one' for the team. I looked at the lovely flight attendants and lied, "Well, I'm going to head back to my seat and sleep since you all have worn me out. Now Jack he can go for hours so I think your group should keep him busy.

They giggled and I left, satisfied and happy to have some time to myself to sleep. I wasn't kidding, between the Cdr. and three of the flight attendants I was more than tired, I was damn tired! I hit my seat, reclined it and this time the bastard behind me didn't give me any grief and fell into a deep, satisfied sleep.

Flashback – Jack – On the way to Russia

Damn! What the hell did Banzai tell these women? I finished with one, thought I was done when another one came and took her place. Where they hell is Viagra when I need it. Wait ... No ... Yeah with what she's doing I don't need any damn Viagra...

Flashback – Major M – Undisclosed base

I sat in my office and released a big sigh of relief. I was lucky as hell to still have my ass intact after facing the (pain in the) Rear Admiral and the (bigger pain in the ass) Old Man. I knew things weren't resolved yet, especially with the Rear Admiral, but now I had time to obfuscate things. In addition Sgt. Blaine and Sgt. Reynolds were out of sight and out of mind and that joke of a L.Cpl. was ... permanently 'taken care of.'

I put my hands behind my head, leaned back in my chair and thought about the hell that I - no we went through for the last few days ... Something strange stuck in my head ... I grabbed my phone and called for my Sgt. Yeah, I liked the Sgt.: He was loyal, followed orders and had a good head on his shoulders, for a Sgt. anyway ... Why couldn't Sgt. Blaine and Sgt. Reynolds be more like him? I chuckled under my breath and admitted the truth - it was because they were the ones I really needed. I could find a hundred Sgts. like my lapdog Sgt. but Sgt. Reynolds and especially Sgt. Blaine - well they were one of a kind.

My Sgt. came into my office, I smiled at him and ordered, "It's time to do our debriefing."

He took the chair and said, "Sir, I've been thinking about this and something really bothers me."

When he said 'something bothered him' it was almost always significant. I leaned forward in my chair and ordered, "Continue."