Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Thirty-Nine
11th July 1955
In Transit, North of Bremen
Kiki knew that at that same time she should have been at the hospital volunteering. Oddly, because she had been spending time in the hospital along with the efforts of some of the others the entire Troop was being rewarded with a trip to the seaside. It seemed that they had far exceeded the number of hours that they were supposed to do during the just finished term. It made them look good and it made the Troop Leader look good.
“Don’t look so surprised” Zella said, “Kat has always known how to get people to do the things she wants by having it be what they think they want.”
Kiki fell silent after that, listening to Zella and Aurora talk to each other. She didn’t want to contribute to the conversation because she knew that she would start complaining. No one wanted to listen to that, particularly because they were supposed to be escaping from their lives for a few days. Kiki was left questioning the reality that she really that easy to manipulate.
“What do you want to do for your birthday this year?” Zella asked. It took a few seconds for Kiki to realize that she was talking to her.
“I had nothing planned” Kiki replied, “The whole birthday in July thing was for public consumption and I’m no longer considered a public figure.”
Zella and Aurora just laughed at that. Few in the Press had gotten the idea that Kiki was to be left alone. So far, no one had discovered that she was volunteering in the hospital because of some clever shifting of her around. Strangely, Kiki felt a bit of guilt that she would be out of town for a few weeks and would not be in the hospital despite the patients encouraging her to go.
“How we celebrated Kiki’s birthday in December was loads of fun” Aurora said, “She is right about July being so much empty frippery.”
“Roasting marshmallows?” Zella asked, “Not to mention when we got into trouble for stealing that stuff and making a mess.”
Aurora didn’t respond to that. She had very seldom caused trouble in her life and in this instance, she didn’t regret it, not for a second. Zella on the other hand was constantly getting in trouble for something, she saw that as just one more time that she had gotten caught.
“We’ll do that again” Kiki said, “Except on the beach and it will still be loads of fun and there will others too. A formal party wouldn’t be.”
Fort Meade
Parker had learned his lesson, keep two sets of manuals. One for the men to have access to, the other he kept locked in the drawer of his desk. If the Base Commander or any other Brass came through on an inspection, the one that he kept locked up would be the one they could look at. If anyone asked, he was to tell them the truth. Anyone who had been around long enough to get promoted knew what the score was. Parker could have a complete set of manuals, or he could give the men in his Squad complete access, but he couldn’t do both. It was the same reason why in the motor pool many of the Noncommissioned Officers refused to let the Enlisted even consider using whatever tool kits they had. From an organizational standpoint it was atrocious, but it was just how things were done.
Jonny and some of the other Sergeants joked about what they had seen in Mexico. That other Armies in the world did things differently. How the German Army was devastated because the taking of Mexico City had occurred twenty-three minutes forty-one seconds behind schedule. Jonny had said that he had watched once as their mechanics had worked on the engine of one of the assault guns that was supposedly the most common type of armored vehicle in the German Army. He said it was like watching surgery except it was diesel engine and transmission, not a tool or part out of place. The other thing he had seen was that the French Tank crews had figured out how to use the heat from the engines of their tanks to cook food. Parker suspected that Jonny had been pulling his leg with that last one.
As Parker got further into the swing of things, life did get easier. He still had his father and few of the Officers on Base pressuring him to accept the billet for Officer Candidate School. Jonny had told him that if he did that, they would probably send him to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Jonny had not elaborated but he said that would be a stupid move and not just because their posting was a CIA cover. If he still wanted to go down that road, he should hold out until he got a better offer. To top it off, their involvement in the Silk Road Rally had been nixed this year. For some reason both the CIA and, more worrisome, Ford were keeping their people close to home.
At the moment, everywhere outside the base felt heavy, like the air right before a lightening storm. While nothing had happened yet, they were all holding their breath. Jonny had reacted with his usual bravado when Parker had talked with him about it. “What’s the matter Parker?” Jonny had said, “Afraid of being a real soldier?” Parker didn’t mention that he would have to be insane not to be, he had asked about whether or not as being soldiers assigned to the motor pool they would be on the front lines. Jonny had just laughed at that before he explained to Parker what the score was. Jonny had come from 10th Mountain and Parker was regarded as Airborne because he had done jump training with the CIA. If everything went to shit, they should expect to immediately be reassigned to Studies and Observations Group which had recently been moved to Fort Drum, New York. That was when it occurred to Parker that Jonny had been asking the same questions months before he had.
