by Mel Odom
Goose wanted to tell the man to stay, but before he could speak, Icarus had vanished. Evidently he’d chosen to go his own way rather than risk capture by Remington. Goose leaned onto the rifle and tried to force himself up. It was no use. The leg was gone. The knee wouldn’t hold him.
Footsteps slapped through the mud toward Goose. When he looked up, he saw Remington’s face tiger-striped by combat cosmetics. Before he knew it, Goose had his weapon loosely pointed at Remington. Remington had his weapon centered on Goose’s chest. Then Remington offered his hand. “Need help?”
“Yeah.” Goose got to his feet with Remington’s help. Together, they limped back to Sanliurfa as the other Rangers around them provided covering fire.
43
Downtown Sanliurfa
Sanliurfa Province, Turkey
Local Time 0006 Hours
Remington strode up to the hotel door and kicked it open. The hinges shrieked as they ripped free of the wood.
Cody lay on the king-size bed smoking a cigar. He had a glass of liquor in one hand and a pistol in the other.
Remington looked at the man. “Put that away or I’m going to make you eat it.”
Cody didn’t look convinced at first; then Remington stepped toward him. The CIA agent laid the pistol aside.
“What are you doing here?” Cody demanded.
“I came to let you know I killed two more of your playmates outside the city. They were planning on ambushing Goose. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“You could have.”
“I didn’t want it to.”
“Where’s Icarus?”
“Gone. Disappeared while we were swapping lead with the Syrians.”
Cody cursed.
“I wanted to clear up the situation between us regarding Goose,” Remington said, venting some of the rage he felt roaring around inside him. “So I thought I’d come here and deliver the message in person.”
Cody stared at him without saying a word.
“Goose is mine,” Remington said. “He lives or dies by my decision. On my time. In my way. If you try to touch a hair on his head before I say otherwise, I’m going to kill you. Do you read me?”
“You’re making a mistake.”
With blinding speed, Remington drew the pistol from his hip and pointed it at Cody. He fired. Cody closed his eyes as the sound filled the room. Then he opened them, obviously surprised to find that he wasn’t dead. Instead, the pillow next to his head bore a smoking hole.
“I’m not going to tell you again,” Remington said. “This is your one pass. Do you read me?”
Cody nodded.
Barely able to restrain himself from killing the man anyway, Remington backed out of the room, then turned and walked down the hall. Letting Cody live was a mistake. He felt it in his bones. But he didn’t know how much Carpathia cared about the CIA section chief. Yet. Once Remington had a better idea, once he knew Cody could disappear without Carpathia becoming too upset, he was going to make that happen.
In the meantime, he needed to speak with Goose as soon as the first sergeant was up and around.
Local Time 0643 Hours
When Goose woke, he was exactly where he thought he would be: in a hospital bed. His leg was elevated on blankets in front of him. Pain, wrapped in cotton by painkillers, nevertheless throbbed at his temples.
He pulled his leg from the supports, tried to get up, and couldn’t. His knee lacked the strength. The pain was so unbearable that he was on the verge of losing consciousness again.
“You need to get back into that bed.”
Goose looked up at the nurse who entered his room. “I got men I need to be looking after.”
The nurse shook her head. “You’re going to need to spend all your time looking after yourself for a while, First Sergeant.” She paused. “I would wait until the doctor got here, but he’s dealing with so many wounded right now that I don’t know when he’ll be in here to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“That your knee is gone. You’re going to be lucky if you can walk with a cane after you heal up. They might be able to outfit you with an artificial knee at some point, but we can’t do it here. And with the extent of the damage, you’re not going to be able to stay in the military.” Her voice softened. “I’m sorry.”
Goose nodded. “Thank you, ma’am.” He lay back on the bed and tried to think about what he was going to do, then realized there was nothing he could do, so he tried desperately not to think about anything at all.
The painkillers helped. He let them drag him down into the darkness.
Local Time 1612 Hours
Goose dozed, surprised at how tired he was. Despite the erratic artillery fire, with the narcotic in his veins, sleep came a lot more easily than he’d thought it would.
One of the nurses walked into the room carrying a cell phone. She looked tired and disheveled, but she flashed him a warm smile. “First Sergeant Gander?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The woman’s smile grew bigger. “I didn’t know if you’d be awake.”
“You caught me napping, but I’m awake now.”
“If you weren’t awake, I was going to wake you. The woman on the other end of this line sounds like she needs a reassuring word.”
Goose said thanks and took the handset. “Hello.”
“Goose,” Megan said, “it’s me.”
“Hey,” Goose said, feeling his voice suddenly get so thick that he couldn’t force any more words through his mouth.
“Cal called and let me know you were still alive. He told me you were wounded.”
“Not wounded. A few scratches and bruises, maybe. But my knee went out on me. I’m glad the captain gave you the update. I’ll have to thank him.” Goose stared at his immobilized knee. He wanted to talk things over with Megan, but he didn’t. From everything he’d heard, she’d been staying busy as well. She didn’t need to worry about him on top of everything else she was handling. And there was nothing she could do.
“How are you?” she asked.
“I’m fine.”
“You sound tired.”
“I am tired.”
“But you’re going to be all right?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m fit as a fiddle.”
“Goose…”
He waited. After all those years of marriage, he knew not to hurry her. She’d say what she wanted to when she got good and ready.
“I’ve asked for permission to bring civilians over there in support positions. Families here are going crazy with the need to do something for the soldiers stationed there. After reviewing the offer from those civilians, the general has agreed.”
“There’s no call to involve civilians in this situation. A lot of people have already gotten hurt. A lot more are gonna be. This isn’t a good place for civilians to be, Megan.”
“It’s not a good place for you, either.”
“No, it’s not.” Goose gazed unhappily at his injured leg. He’d never before felt so helpless. “ You’re going to be lucky if you can walk with a cane.” The words had cycled endlessly through his head and haunted his dreams.
“I’m coming too, Goose,” Megan told him. “Over there. As soon as we can set up a schedule.”
Fierce pride filled Goose as he heard her. From the time he’d known her, Megan had never backed down from a challenge. She’d never cut and run.
“Nothing to say?” she asked.
“I know when to steer clear of trouble,” Goose replied. “But I don’t like the thought of you being in this mess.”
“I don’t like the thought of you being over there. I guess we’re at a stalemate, First Sergeant. So if you can’t come to me, I guess I’m going to come to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” But Goose hoped it wouldn’t be anytime soon or that the commanding officers would reconsider. He understood the sense of what Megan was proposing, and God knew they needed the help, but he didn’t want families on the firing line.
Megan interrupted his thoughts. “They’re telling me I have to keep this call short.”
“I understand.” Goose squeezed the phone more tightly than he’d intended. He didn’t want to surrender the contact he had with her. He wanted to feel her close to him. He wanted her to understand that he was going to walk again. More than that, he was going to soldier again. The doctor was wrong. He had to be wrong.
“I love you, Goose,” Megan said.
“I love you too.”
“God willing, I’ll see you soon.”
The broken connection clicked in Goose’s ear. He swallowed hard and struggled to keep his emotions in check. Then he folded the cell phone and handed it back to the waiting nurse.
“Sounds like you’ve got yourself a good woman, First Sergeant.”
“Yes, ma’am. One of the finest women I’ve ever met.”
“Excluding present company.”
Despite the fear that gripped him from the debilitating effects of his knee injury and the thought of Megan being anywhere on the ground in Turkey, Goose summoned a smile. “Of course, ma’am. Excluding present company.”
“You see if you can get some more rest, First Sergeant. If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Goose lay back and closed his eyes. Even though he felt certain sleep wouldn’t come, it took him under its wing so softly and suddenly he wasn’t even aware of it.
44
Downtown Sanliurfa
Sanliurfa Province, Turkey
Local Time 1931 Hours
Goose came awake feeling someone staring at him. He blinked against the thick darkness. For a moment, with the drugs coursing through his system, he was lost and thought he was in the field somewhere. He wasn’t sure if it was the Middle East or Africa or even one of the wilderness jaunts he’d been on in Eastern Europe.
Then he felt the bed beneath him and remembered he was in the medical facility in Sanliurfa. That realization wasn’t any more restful. For all he knew, one of the CIA’s assassins lurked in the room.
Out of years of habit, he reached for a weapon, but one wasn’t close to hand.
“At ease, First Sergeant,” Remington spoke out of the darkness.
“Yes, sir.” Goose started to get up but his leg remained in traction.
“I can’t get up, sir.”
“I knew that. You ready for the light?”
Goose squinted against the coming brightness. “Yes, sir.”
Remington turned the light on. The illumination stabbed into Goose’s eyes. Thankfully the dimmer muted the full strength, but the sudden brightness still gave him an instant headache.
“How are things out there, sir?”
Remington approached the bed. Despite the fatigue that clung to him, he appeared unstoppable. “We’ve held the enemy in abeyance. They’re still there, but we’ve convinced them that taking this city isn’t going to be as easy as they’d first thought.”
“That’s good, sir.”
“It’s good, but it’s not enough. The Syrians are still convinced they can get the job done.” Remington took in a breath and let it out. “Even with the UN reinforcements, our situation hasn’t improved enough to promise that we can hold the line here.”
“At least we’re not being run out of town on a rail in full rout, sir.”
A tight, humorless smile curved Remington’s lips. “That’s true. But I don’t like looking for how things could be worse. I want to concentrate on making them better.”
“Yes, sir.”
Remington studied Goose for a moment. “Your friend Icarus managed to disappear again.”
Goose heard and felt the bald accusation in Remington’s words. “That man’s not my friend, sir.”
“Yet the two of you seem to end up spending an inordinate amount of time together,” Remington countered.
“Not through any effort on my part, sir.”
Slowly Remington nodded. “I’d like to believe that.”
“It’s the truth, sir.” Goose had a feeling that whatever was going to happen with Icarus, the mysterious agent had disappeared from his life for good. He was in God’s hands now.
“Moving on,” Remington said. “You’ve noticed that we have reinforcements.”
“Couldn’t help but notice that on the way in, sir.”
“The secretarygeneral of the United Nations routed them to us.”
“Carpathia did that, sir?”
“Yes.” Remington studied Goose’s face. “Do you have a problem with that, First Sergeant?”
“No, sir.”
“That’s good, because without those men we wouldn’t have been here waiting when you finished your little trek through hostile territory.”
“Roger that, sir.”
“There’s been an interesting twist to come out of their arrival.”
Goose waited.
“SecretaryGeneral Carpathia wants to reorganize the world’s military forces. In light of everything that’s gone on, the secretarygeneral recognizes the need to combine those armies into one unit. Put all our toys in one box. With everything facing the world today, the confusion and chaos, I think it would be a good idea.”
Maybe under other circumstances, Goose would have thought so too. Instead, as he thought about the situation, Icarus’s warnings about Carpathia kept coming to mind.
“Even more interesting, Carpathia offered me a new position: he wants to make me a full colonel.”
“You’re thinking of leaving the army?” Goose was so surprised he forgot to address Remington as sir. He hastily amended that.
“I don’t think of it as leaving the army. I took this position to serve my country. At the moment, I believe the best way to serve my country is by joining Carpathia’s efforts. The man has done a lot of good in the world in just a short time. He’s made a believer out of me.”
At those words, a chill ghosted through Goose, leaving him unsettled. “I guess congratulations are in order, sir,” Goose said.
“Thanks.” Remington paused. “But something else brought me here. In this new position, I’m going to need good people. Men I can count on. You and I haven’t been totally in sync for a while, but I think that’s because of the situation, not because of any fundamental differences. We still soldier the same.”
Goose chose not to say anything, thinking that was the wisest course.
“I’d like you to think about coming along with me,” Remington said.
“Thank you, sir, but I don’t see how I can do something like that. In case you hadn’t heard, my knee-”
“Is totally blown,” Remington interrupted. “I talked to the doctor. The plain fact of the matter is, if you stay with the army, Goose, your career is over.”
The words hit Goose like physical blows. It was one thing to deal with the facts by himself in the quiet of the room. But it was another for Remington to give voice to them.
“Yes, sir. I know that’s what the doc says, but that’s not necessarily-”
“Sergeant, unless you can pull a miracle out of your butt, that’s how it’s going to be.”
Goose struggled to find his voice. “Yes, sir.”
“I’ve got you scheduled to depart on the first medevac we can put together. I don’t know when that’s going to be. We’re still in the planning stages.”
Goose accepted that without comment, but everything in him wanted to fight, to resist.
“That’s how the army wants to do it,” Remington said. “But I’ve got something else I can offer. In my new capacity as colonel.”
Even though he tried, Goose couldn’t speak.
“You’re a soldier, Goose,” Remington declared. “That’s all you’re ever going to be.”
“That’s all I ever wanted to be, sir.”
“I know. That’s why you passed on Officer Candidates School.
But I can use soldiers in this new army. Maybe you’ll never be fieldready again, but you’ve got a lot of knowledge locked away in that thick sk
ull of yours. A lot of spit and polish. I need that. If you want, I can offer you a position with me. As my aide. Once you get back on your feet.”
“That’s considerate of you, sir.”
Remington frowned. “It’s not just considerate, Sergeant. It’s downright generous.”
“Yes, sir. I’m still just a little fogged from the pain meds. Thank you, sir.”
“When you get out of that bed, report to me, and we’ll get squared away on the paperwork.”
“Yes, sir.” Goose answered automatically, but he knew he wanted time to think about the offer. Everything was coming down on him too fast.
“I also heard that Megan and some of the civvies from Fort Benning are going to be joining us here,” Remington said.
“Yes, sir. She said that was in the works.”
“I convinced SecretaryGeneral Carpathia to assist in making that happen.”
Goose couldn’t believe it. “But, sir, those are civilians. This is a war zone.”
“We also need support staff, Sergeant, as I’m sure you’re well aware.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I was just thinking that it would be a pity if you shipped out from here on a medical discharge at the same time Megan arrived.”
That thought filled Goose with a deep, visceral fear. “I wouldn’t want to do that, sir.” Megan’s not experienced enough to handle something like this. And we’re barely holding our own here. In the end, Goose knew he didn’t have a choice.
Remington knew it too. He nodded. “When you’re able, come by my office. Let’s make that paperwork official.”
“Yes, sir.”
“As you were, First Sergeant.”
“Yes, sir.” Goose saluted from the bed. Silently he watched
Remington leave the room. Then he tried to relax and let the meds claim him again. His mind whirled, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do.
Local Time 0441 Hours
Goose swayed awkwardly on the crutches as he stood in front of the hospital. He hadn’t been able to sleep. The meds were no longer having an effect, and he felt restless for no reason that he could name.
