When, as had often happened until recently, the two were sharing a cockpit units sometimes came to blows over who got to fly in the bird.
“I can’t believe we didn’t get hired with Blackwater,” Kacey said, tightly. “They’re screaming for pilots.”
“Male pilots,” Tammie noted, starting to chop up the vegetables. “They do not want to be the first company to have a female civilian killed in action. Wouldn’t look good on CNN.”
“Which means that everyone else who needs pilots in the states should be screaming for women,” Kacey noted. “So why aren’t we getting any calls?”
“It’s only been two months,” Tammie pointed out. “And we really didn’t start hunting until we got back from the islands. Of course, we thought somebody would be banging down our door but… ” She paused at a knock on the apartment’s door. “Okay, now that would be too… ”
Kacey looked through the peephole and turned back to Tammie. “Military. Army. Major.”
“Pro-face,” Tammie said, nodding.
“Yes, major, what can I do for you?” Kacey said as she opened the door.
“Ms. Kacey Bathlick?” the major asked. “Captain Bathlick?”
“Up until a couple of months ago, yes,” Kacey said.
“And is Ms. Wilson present?” the major asked. He was black, medium height and heavy build. Kacey had done an immediate check of his uniform and she suspected that there were some ribbons missing from his dress greens. But there was an SF patch on his right shoulder to counteract the Military District of Washington patch on the left. And he was wearing the “Tower Of Power”, Ranger, SF and Airborne tabs stacked. No CIB but a two year Pentagon service badge. And his highest medal was an Army Commendation Medal. Either this guy was a washed out Green Beret who had been shuffled off to Washington after being found “unfit for combat” or he was deliberately understating his experience and leaving off merit badges. From his look it was probably the latter. Which in the five sided Puzzle Palace was… weird. Everybody wore every possible doo-dad so they could look more military than Napoleon.
“Yes, I am,” Tammie said, walking over while wiping her hands on a towel. “Pleasure to meet you Major Stang. What can we do for you?”
“I was told… ” the major said and then paused. “Could we do this somewhere other than the doorway?”
“Of course,” Kacey said. “Sorry.” Of course, he could be a rapist dressed up like an Army major, but he had all the badges in the right place which would be unusual for a “wannabe.” And between herself and Tammie they could probably handle him, weight lifter or no. Tammie had been studying karate since before she was really walking well. Kacey’s fighting style was a bit more eclectic running in the direction of beating the hell out of people she didn’t like.
She stepped back and then to the side so that she had him flanked as he entered the room. The brief, amused, glance over his shoulder told her that he’d noticed, knew why and found it both tactically correct and funny.
“Take a seat if you’d like,” Tammie said, smiling.
“Nah, I’ll be quick,” the officer said, dipping into his blouse pocket and pulling out a slip of paper. It appeared to be cut out from something, possibly an e-mail. “I was told that you two are looking for a flying job, preferably as a matched set.”
“Yes,” Tammie said, frowning but taking the paper.
“I’m also told that you were very pissed off when the Marines pulled you both out of combat slots,” the major added. “That’s the name of a guy who needs some helo pilots, yesterday. He’s not in the US, though, the country of Georgia. But he doesn’t have the time to come to the States and do an interview. So he’s willing to pay appropriate pilots five grand just to fly out there and interview, as long as they don’t dawdle. The flip side is that while it’s intended to be a permanent gig, he needs them for a mission that… Well that involves a certain amount of risk. The pay, I’m given to understand, will be commensurate.”
“He’s a merc?” Kacey asked. “The US government is death on mercs.”
“Mercenary, security specialist, the US government hires out a lot of stuff these days,” the major said with a shrug. “I have it on very good authority that this is one of the good guys. I will mention that the US government is, effectively, being his hiring and screening agent for this. I’m not here on my own, I’m on government time.”
“That’s odd,” Tammie said.
“Yes, it is,” Stang said. “But I get a lot of odd jobs. I’ll add that while you’re not covered by the UCMJ or USC 18 on this, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t pass on the fact that you were contacted, and in this way. More to be the point, Uncle Sam would appreciate it. I don’t know what’s going on, so don’t ask. All I was told was go tell you two and get your answer on whether you’d go interview.”
“He’s going to pay five grand just to fly out and interview?” Tammie said. “That’s not a signing bonus. That’s just to interview.”
“And your transportation,” Stang said with a nod. “If you say yes to the interview, we’ll have you on a plane headed towards Georgia, and I quote as fast as you can pack end quote.”
“What’s the mission?” Kacey asked, taking the paper from Tammie and glancing at it. All it had on it, though, was a name “Michael Jenkins” and a number. She did recognize that it was a sat-phone number, though.
“I have no idea,” Stang admitted, grinning. “I will say, though, that some very senior and connected people have been running around lately like there’s a monkey gnawing on their neck. And we’re not expecting an IG inspection in simply ages.”
“So who do you… ” Tammie stopped at his expression and grinned. “Classified?”
“Got it in one,” Stang said. “If I told you I’d have to find a place for the bodies.”
“So do we call this guy or what?” Kacey asked.
“Got a cell phone?”
“Yes.”
“Call him on the way to Washington National?”
“You look all in, Master Chief,” Mike said, sitting down to breakfast in the kitchen. The coffee was already on the table and Mother Griffina was frying up the eggs. Life was good. Some sleep would be nice.
“So do you,” Adams said. “When’s the last time you slept. Never mind. I gotta use Shota for entry. Every single other position is tasked. And they all require more sense than blowing a door then taking five god damned steps! The way I got it set up, all he has to do is this simple task. The guy has at least learned to shoot, and what to shoot and what not to. But he can’t seem to get the concept that just because there are bad guys in the room, he still has to take five steps to clear the door.”
“Sucks to be you,” Mike said, taking a sip of coffee. “Try teaching HALO to a bunch of newbies in a week. Not to mention all the other prep for this damned mission. On the other hand, it’s going pretty good. First real jump today.”
“You know you don’t have to be busting your ass as hard as you are,” Adams said. “Nielson can handle some of it.”
“I have reasons to stay busy,” Mike pointed out.
“Being all bleary before a mission isn’t good for anybody, boss,” Adams pointed out. “Or are you talking about your latest slash?”