The second colonel paused. "Will we, at the end of three weeks, simply walk away from here, as you said?"
The first colonel shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows. Much can happen in three weeks."
Neboatov, quietly eating his meal and listening, wondered if the first colonel was simply being mysterious, as many general staff officers like to be, or if he knew of other, bigger plans for the airfield at Al Fasher. Regardless, Neboatov found himself wishing that the new operation he and the hundreds of others about him were embarking on would come and go without a hitch. At age thirty-five, he had had more than his share of adventure.
To Fay, the last seven days had been like a dream. In fact, she had to stop every now and then and look around, trying to convince herself that it was all true. Whether it was preordained, as Jan liked to say, or simply good luck, Fay was in the middle of the biggest news story of the day. And if that wasn't enough, in short order Fay and Jan found that, despite the long years between the time they last worked together and today, they had not lost that special magic that made them a great team. Like in the old days, their minds were as one. Fay's ability to predict what Jan wanted and needed astounded everyone in the office and allowed them to put together a package in half the time it had taken before.
Jan, ever conscious that the news limelight now focused on the Middle East was fleeting, was thankful to have someone at her side who could make things happen. With Fay tending to the technical side of the story and setting up the next series of stories, Jan was free to go out and develop leads and do a lot of on-the-scene shooting. Every minute of satellite time Fay could beg, borrow, or steal was filled with Jan's story from "the scene of the newest East-West confrontation."
Blowing into the office like a storm, Jan dropped her coat on a chair without looking where it fell, reached out to grasp a preoffered cup of coffee without seeing who gave it to her, and headed right for Fay's desk. "Fay, what have you got for me today?"
Looking up and over her reading glasses, Fay smiled. "Well, I see you survived the President's reception last night."
Jan made a face of mock despair, looked up at the ceiling, and put her right hand over her forehead, palm facing out. "It's a nasty job covering receptions, but someone has to do it." Dropping her hand, she rushed up to Fay, grabbed her shoulders, and swung her swivel chair around. "Fay, you have to save me. It's a jungle out there!"
Unable to restrain herself, Fay broke out laughing. Jan followed suit. The rest of the staff in the office pretended to ignore them as the Terrible Two laughed hysterically.
Finally able to gain some degree of composure, Fay picked up Jan's schedule for the day. "If you feel up to it, my love, you have an interview with Congressman Lewis at 0830 in his suite at the Sheraton Nile."
Jan's eyebrows arched and her eyes widened. "A suite? Well, the junior representative from the state of Tennessee certainly knows how to travel when he's looking for facts. Do you suppose some of those facts are hiding in that suite?"
Fay got a stem look on her face. "Now, Jan, be kind to that dear man. He's news. If you play him right, he may come up with some good lines we can splice in with the official garbage we're getting from the military affairs officer in the embassy."
"I'll try to remember that, Mother," Jan said, laughing.
Continuing, Fay briefed Jan on the rest of the day and on projects in the works and gave her a rundown on what she had been able to get from the Soviet and Libyan news releases on their exercises west of Tobruk. As a last item, Fay reminded her that she had to be back from her luncheon appointment in time to catch a copter to the training area for a recon of the site where the presidents of the United States and Egypt would view the live fire demonstration.
The reminder caused Jan to pause. "Isn't Scott going to be there?"
"Yes, he and an Egyptian colonel are responsible for pulling that part of the show together," Fay responded too matter-of-factly.
Jan noticed the change in Fay's voice: there was trouble at home. Fay had mentioned something about Scott opposing her working, but she dropped the matter within days of returning to work. Now every time Jan mentioned Scott's name or home, Fay became very quiet and quickly tried to change the subject. "Is there anything you want me to tell Scott if I see him?"
Fay looked up at Jan. The look in her eye was now cold and unnerving. "Yes, if you would be so kind. Remind him that if God and country could spare him for a few hours, his family would enjoy the presence of his company." There was a long pause before she continued. "Now, when you return from the desert…"
The platoon sergeants called the raggedy collections of men to attention as First Sergeant Duncan emerged from the tent that served as the command post for B Company, 1st of the 506th Airborne. Duncan placed himself in the center of the formation, twelve paces to the front, came to attention, and called for the company to fall in. When the men in the ranks stopped their shuffling, Duncan called for a report. Starting with the first platoon, each platoon sergeant rendered his report, yelling out either "Present" or "All accounted for." Finished with the formalities, Duncan called for the formation to stand at ease, then announced the duty schedule for the rest of the day and the personnel who would be on detail the next day. The schedule for that afternoon, like that of yesterday afternoon, and the afternoon of the day before, and every afternoon since they had been in country, would be cleaning and maintenance of weapons and gear followed by an inspection commencing at 1600 hours.
Like the rest of the men in the company, including the Old Man, Duncan was looking forward to the end of this exercise. It had been nothing but a pain in the ass for him since it began. Things got off to a bad start right from the beginning of the unit's deployment. Upon landing, B Company had been detached from the rest of the battalion and told it had a special mission. For the briefest of moments, the prospects of doing some kind of gee-whiz special operation made up for the sudden deployment exercise so close to Christmas. This momentary boost in morale, however, was quickly dashed when their company commander, Captain Harold Cerro, returned from a meeting and informed the men that they were going to participate in a combined arms live fire demonstration involving their company and Egyptian units. Though Cerro and the rest of the leadership endeavored to make the most of their task, the excitement and energy that the men of the company had begun with back at Fort Campbell had slowly worn away. Mindless, lock-stepped drills and careful rehearsals for the set-piece demonstration in the desert were not what the young soldiers were interested in. By the evening of the third, fights between platoons were becoming common as men began to seek an avenue to vent their frustrations and excess energy.
The first sergeant, ever inventive and ready to meet any challenge to unit discipline and threat to cohesion, stepped in and introduced measures designed to discourage lax performance and in-fighting. Always trying to solve his own problems in-house, Duncan organized the B Company Rifle and Hiking Club. Anyone not performing to standards or involved in a fight was automatically "nominated" for membership to the club by his platoon sergeant. Starting on the evening of the third, the "nominees" met in front of the company CP tent at sunset in full combat load and marched out into the desert. The first sergeant himself set the pace and led the men. After marching five kilometers, they would stop and dig a proper individual fighting position. This position was inspected and measured by Duncan to ensure that it was in accordance with standards set down in the field manual before it was covered in by the man who dug it. When everyone' was done, the group would march five more kilometers, then repeat the digging-and-inspection process — the first of four repetitions. When they returned, the men would have to clean their weapons and gear and stand at full inspection by Duncan before they were allowed to catch what sleep they could. Normally this was precious little, as everyone was up early, preparing for the next day's training and round of rehearsals.