“Break out the medkits, Bill,” Goose said.
“You got it, Sarge.”
Using every iota of command that he had learned in his career, forcing a calm he definitely didn’t feel, Goose stepped into the center of the wreckage of what had been Glitter City.
“I’m First Sergeant Samuel Gander of the United States Army Rangers,” he declared in a loud and proud voice. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
6
United States of America
Fort Benning, Georgia
Local Time 12:13 A.M.
Megan held up her ID as she stopped at the military checkpoint in the base hospital. Since the recent terrorist attacks around the globe, security on base had become a big issue. She carried Gerry Fletcher’s file in her hand. After dropping Chris off, she’d stopped by her office to pick up the file. If she was going to have to argue with Boyd Fletcher, she wanted to have every weapon in her arsenal to do battle with. Nothing she had weighed as heavily as the man’s history.
The uniformed Rangers working the security desk checked for her name in the computer while she waited.
“Cross-check with the ER list,” Megan suggested when they didn’t find her name immediately. “Helen Cordell called me in for an emergency. This wasn’t a planned visit.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the young corporal replied. His name badge identified him as Grady.
The soldier was, Megan knew, only a few years older than Joey, and yet the young corporal already carried an air of responsibility about him that her eldest son rarely showed. That’s not fair, she chided herself almost as soon as she had the thought. The military trains that air of responsibility into the soldiers it turns out.
Many of the younger Rangers were still kids in some respects. In her counseling capacity, Megan had talked with some of them, helping them get over failed relationships and relaying news about deaths in the family and other tragedies. Those same young men looked rigorous and potentially lethal in the BDUs, helmets, and Kevlar vests while carrying assault rifles. But she’d also seen them crowd the base basketball and volleyball courts in their downtime discuss video games and PC games over lunches in the cafeteria. She had counseled them as they dealt with life’s setbacks and pain during the lonely hours.
Megan used her cell phone again, dialing Joey’s number and again getting the mailbox. She didn’t bother to leave a message. She glanced back out the door she’d entered, spotting her reflection and staring through it. She couldn’t help wondering where Joey was, if Goose was all right, and if Chris was still asleep.
She also wondered what Boyd Fletcher was going to do when he found out they had his son in the ER. As a matter of fact, she wondered what she—
“Ma’am.”
Startled, Megan turned to the young corporal. “Yes.”
“Your ID checks out, ma’am. You’re on the list for Ms. Cordell. You can proceed.”
“Thank you,” Megan said. The television behind the desk caught her eye. A FOX News anchor was talking, the flags of Turkey and Syria on the wall behind him. SPECIAL BULLETIN hung ominously on the screen. The audio was too low to hear. “Are you watching what’s happening in Turkey?”
The corporal grimaced. “We’re trying to, ma’am. We’re not getting much from over there right now.”
“What’s the problem?”
An uncomfortable look covered the young soldier’s face.
“My husband is over there,” Megan said. “I’m concerned about him. He hasn’t told me much about his circumstances, but I know my husband, and I know when he isn’t telling me something he thinks will worry me.”
The other soldier glanced at her, then at the roster the corporal held. He looked back up. “Mrs. Gander?”
“Yes.”
“Private Malone.” The young soldier rose to his feet and took off his black beret. “I know Goose, ma’am. He’s a good man.”
“Yes, he is.”
Malone hesitated for just a moment. “We received a phone call at oh-four-hundred advising us not to talk about the trouble over there. In case the media showed up. I doubt we’ll see anybody here, but general orders are passed around to everyone. Scuttlebutt moves through the ranks pretty quickly, as you probably know.”
“I do,” Megan said. That was why she had asked.
“Right now, ma’am, we don’t know much more than the media does. There was an attack along the border. There are casualties. We don’t know anything more than that. The Syrians evidently took out the communications systems, including Glitter City.”
Megan remembered Glitter City from her conversations with Goose. “That’s where the reporters and media people are gathered.”
“Yes, ma’am. There have been casualties there, too, but we haven’t got much information. The Department of Defense has satellites keeping an eye on things there, but they’re only giving out information on a need-to-know basis. I wish I could tell you more.”
“So do I, Private.”
“Are you going to be on the premises for a while, Mrs. Gander?”
Megan thought about Gerry Fletcher and the coming confrontation with his father. “Yes.” Unfortunately.
“Right now,” the private said, “all the media seems to be off-line, too. Maybe it’s just the confusion.”
And maybe it’s something more. Megan was certain they both thought that, but neither of them wanted to say it.
“I was thinking that if I heard something,” the private said, “I could let you know.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Megan said.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Walking away from the young private, Megan began to focus her thoughts on the task at hand. She couldn’t do anything about Goose’s situation except pray for him. She was helpless to do anything more right now about Joey’s actions except pray for him—and ground him for life the next time she saw him. And she had done her best by Chris. Her baby was sleeping in a warm bed, well cared for. She’d done all she could for her family. Now it was time to do what she could to save
