This place was perfect for his purpose. They served authentic Korean royal court dishes in private rooms. They’d also been lucky enough to escape any war damage. One of his other favorite hangouts wasn’t much more than a hole in the ground and a few charred timbers.
Tony admired Anne in the candlelight. The rich decor of the room complemented both her dress and her red hair. She’d been talking about her work rebuilding the Army’s battered logistics system, and Tony had been half-listening in a mode known to men the world over. He wasn’t bored, but there were other matters on his mind.
Tonight they were celebrating the second week of peace since the official armistice. At least that was the reason he’d given her when he’d made the date. He smiled suddenly. She’d probably even believed him.
Anne stopped talking momentarily to smile back and then went on. “So anyway, everything was so scrambled, they’re really letting us start from scratch. I just finished blocking out a completely new system. New computers, new software, new procedures.”
Tony made an enthusiastic sound somewhere down in his throat and then started his approach. “Anne, can I change the subject for just a second?”
“Of course, darling.” She smiled brilliantly and then deepened her voice, trying out a thick French accent. “Ah, my darleeing, let us, how you say, talk about us.”
He chuckled softly, then looked closer at her. “No, really, Anne. I have some important news.” His serious expression erased her smile.
There was no easy way to say it. “I received new orders this morning — posting me back to the States. They want me to do some intelligence work at Nellis, then I take over as the ops officer of the Aggressor Squadron.”
Anne could hear the mixture of pride and sorrow in his voice and wondered which was stronger.
She sat silent for a moment or two, and then in a quiet, even voice she asked him, “Where is Nellis?”
“Just outside Las Vegas.”
Five thousand miles away. “When do you have to leave?”
Tony looked down at his hands. “In nine days. I’m turning my ops duties over to ‘Otto’ Sanchez. He’s a good man. And Hooter’s going to be the new leader for First Flight.”
He reached out and took her hand. “Look, Anne, this wasn’t supposed to happen so suddenly. Technically my tour wasn’t supposed to be up for another two and a half months. The Air Force just wants to get its combat veterans into the training system as quickly as possible. Also, I think the combat losses we suffered have screwed up the normal rotation…”
Tony stopped talking and looked closely at Anne. In the soft candlelight it was hard to see that she was weeping softly. “Honey?”
She spoke quietly. “I was so happy. Everything was going so well. This messes up everything.”
“No, it doesn’t.” He took a small, felt-covered box out of his pocket and opened it. Moving carefully, almost tenderly, he set it on the table in front of Anne.
He took a deep breath and whispered, “Will you marry me?”
Anne just looked at it. Her expression changed, from sorrow to surprise to joy to shock and then to confusion. Inside the box was a beautiful diamond ring.
She started to reach out for it, but suddenly she pulled her hand back. “I don’t know, Tony. It’s too quick. Is this wise?”
He felt his heart racing in panic. Christ, this was a lot worse than flying combat. “Anne, I love you, and you love me. I want us to have a future together.”
Her eyes closed and Tony saw the tears glistening in her long lashes. “I love you, too, but I wasn’t ready to think about marriage.”
He reached out and took her other hand, feeling her pulse jump against his fingers. “We might have had two more months before I rotated out at the end of my one-year tour, but this is forcing our hand. The war shocked me into understanding how I felt about you — ”
“Me, too,” she added quietly.
“ — and now the aftermath is forcing my hand again.”
“Our hands,” she said.
Tony leaned closer. “Anne, I can’t think of any other way to say this. I really love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to marry you because, scary as the thought of marriage is, the thought of being apart is even more scary.”
Her eyes opened and the hint of a smile appeared on his lips. “Keep talking, I love the things you say.”
He felt himself turning red. “C’mon, Anne, I’m dead serious.”
She smiled again, more gently this time. “And so am I. I love you, and I do love what you’re saying. I also want to marry you, but really, sweetheart, is this wise?”
“Look, Anne, I’m not talking about getting married tomorrow, but when I thought of me being in the States and you being here, I couldn’t stand it. We might have arrived at the same decision in a month or two. My orders just gave us a nudge.” He smiled tentatively. “And in the right direction, too, I hope.”
Anne sat, considering. She pretended to frown. “This really isn’t fair. You’ve had all day to decide to ask me, and now I have to decide yes or no right now.”
Tony grinned. “You don’t have to decide right now. Of course, I’ll be in turmoil until you do.”
“I have decided.” She kissed him, disengaged her hands, and picked up the ring. “Do you think we can get all the arrangements made in less than nine days?”
Kevin Little walked quietly down the long row of hospital beds, looking for a familiar face. He found it near the end.
Rhee lay half-propped up against a pillow, reading a newspaper. He glanced up at Kevin’s footsteps and quickly laid the newspaper aside. Bandages still covered the upper part of his chest, and he looked much thinner than Kevin remembered him. But his eyes were clear, and the South Korean’s smile was still as jaunty as ever.
“This is an honor, Lieutenant…,” Rhee started to say, and then stopped, staring at the twin silver bars on Kevin’s uniform jacket. “I mean, this is an honor, Captain Little. Please allow me to congratulate you on your promotion, sir.”
Taken aback by the South Korean’s earnest formality, Kevin forced a shamefaced grin. “Yeah, it surprised the hell out of me, too. The brass’ll probably take it back once they’ve had the chance to sober up.”
Rhee smiled again. “I don’t think so, Captain. The rank suits you.” He gestured to a chair beside his bed. “Please, sit down, sir.”
Kevin sat and felt more at ease. Now that he and Rhee were on the same level, their conversation flowed more naturally. It soon turned to current events.
“Well, we’re being kept pretty busy as I guess you could expect. Resettling refugees. Dealing with would-be NK defectors. Clearing rubble. You name it and we’re up to our necks in it.” Kevin shook his head. “Hell, sometimes I think winning the war was the easy part. It’s winning the peace that’s hard.”
Rhee grinned lazily. “Ah, Captain, how I regret being unable to lend you a helping hand.” He waved toward the pretty, white-frocked nurses working at the other end of the ward. “Alas, my prison guards there have assured me that I’ll be kept chained here for another few weeks.”
Kevin shook his head in admiration. “Jesus Christ, Rhee, only you could think of a way to get wounded just to dodge all the real work.”
The South Korean’s grin grew wider still, reminding Kevin of a certain fabled cat. Then Rhee’s expression grew more sober and he asked a serious question. “What has happened to the company?”
“It’s gone.” Kevin couldn’t keep the hurt out of his voice, even though he’d known it had to happen. He’d grown to love the men of Echo Company. “Echo was just a provisional force. Strictly for the duration only. Once active hostilities ceased, Battalion wanted its clerks, typists, and quartermasters back. So they broke us up.”