Page 36 of Perfect Chemistry

He watched Katie’s face as she formulated how to answer. She could be stoic and stone faced when she tried, but she couldn’t control the blush that tinged the tips of her ears or cheeks.

“A soldier returns from deployment, and his wife leaves him because she was cheating. He signs up for another tour, and is wounded in combat and discharged. His ex-mother in law convinces him to take a security job overseas, and I just got to the part where the new partner confessed their feelings,” she explained.

Tyson nodded again. “Why are you embarrassed about a military love story?” he asked her quietly.

“I am not embarrassed about the story, or any military love story,” she refuted.

“Uh-huh,” he chuckled, leaning closer to her. “Then why are you blushing so hard, baby?” he whispered quietly.

Katie snorted, “I am sunburnt, not blushing!”

Tyson let out a barking laugh that came from deep in his chest. “Ok!”

“STAFF SERGEANT PRESTON!” Their commander called out as he ran toward where the two were seated, causing them both to jump to their feet.

“Sir?” Katie responded, moving to meet the man halfway.

“I know you fly out on Thursday, but the new folks just lost one of their female engagement NCOs due to a health issue. Staff Sergeant Holmes is being taken to Headquarters for further evaluation from the Division Surgeon. Until then, I need to know if you’d be willing to lengthen your tour to cover her missions?”

Katie looked over at Tyson, and the two shared a look not missed by the CO. “Gunny here was tasked by the Sergeant Major to clean up the last flight, so he’ll be on ground to ensure your dates aren’t pushed once we leave,” the Captain continued.

“Yes, sir. That shouldn’t be a problem,” she paused, recalling that her gear had all been palletized for the return flight. “But my gear was taken with the rest of the company. Is there any way to pull it back?”

Their commander nodded. “Yes, they’re already sorting the bags according to chock manifests. So, you’ll do it?” he asked again.

Katie smiled, “Yes, sir.”

“Excellent. Go see the second battalion’s ops team for your mission brief. You roll out tomorrow with Charlie Company” the commander informed her.

Katie’s eyebrows shot up. It wasn’t exactly last minute, but she would definitely need to get moving in order to be prepared. “Thank you, sir. Excuse me, Gunny,” she addressed the two men before running to gather her gear and receive the mission brief.

The commander watched the normally gruff and stoic Platoon Sergeant, Gunny Johnson, watch Staff Sergeant Preston run off. “You are so fucking done for,” he laughed thumping Tyson in the chest.

Gunnery Sergeant Tyson Johnson cleared his throat, “Obviously. That’s my future wife right there.”

The commander laughed and pulled Tyson along with him to hear the upcoming mission brief as well.

* * *

Katie’s Point of View

Charlie Company seemed pretty squared away based on the mission briefing presented. The plan was to drive one of the outer roads away from the airfield to visit some village elders in one of the more remote areas. The mission would take three to four days to complete. I had been there a few times, so I was familiar enough with the route to let my vehicle take the lead.

My vehicle had a young Private First Class driving and a newly promoted corporal manning the turret. Listening to the two of them shit talk each other for two hours was honestly the funniest shit I had heard in a while.

I had no problem with their bickering back and forth, but the area we were traveling through was not always the best for safety. Intell had come in that several Warlords were attempting to exert pressure on smaller villages in order to restart drug trade routes that my unit had all but quashed.

Terrorists were one thing, if not predictable. Those involved in the drug trades were anything but. I couldn’t believe how quickly money could change someone’s beliefs. This was my third tour, and it broke my heart to see community pillars turn their backs on their own tribes for drug money.

“Weren’t you supposed to be headed back in two days?” My driver asked during a lull in their banter, quickly glancing over at me.

“Yeah, but I volunteered to help you guys out until all of your people were on ground and ready to go,” I answered, watching the roads for anything out of place. “Hey, Corporal? Be on the lookout for any trash collection points ahead,” I directed the gunner.

We were now in a fairly remote area. While some wouldn’t think anything of a pile of trash on the side of the road, I knew for fact there weren’t any houses close enough to generate it. Not to mention, most people burned their trash because it wasn’t like there was a garbage company to collect it up.

“How long did it take you to make Staff Sergeant?” He asked.

“Four years,” I responded, feeling an uneasiness in the pit of my stomach.

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