Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Mark

T he second briefing of this mission was about to begin. Yesterday we went over the aviation portion. Today we'd go over the whole thing–us, the Beards, and everyone else involved. Afterward, everyone would leave to gather their people and head for their aircrafts. Before we headed out to the field, I decided to talk to the new MED chick and her crew. It was time to meet the rest of them and make sure they knew my face and who I was.

I walked into the briefing room same as always, notebook and mission products in hand, ready to get the updates. It was the normal mix of bullshit: large-scale and small-scale maps, frequency cards, pictures of shit that I wouldn't be able to see from two thousand feet in the air. The problem with non-pilots putting your plans together is that they didn't have a clue what you needed.

I'd have my guys put the products together, but there was no time. We were running missions daily. As it was, we barely had time for the briefings. I couldn't spare any of my pilots to do the planners' jobs for them. So, we got half-ass products and would make do. We always did.

Making my way through the briefing room to our normal area, I sat next to Brady, since he was the Pilot in Command of my sister ship. Artie would be my co-pilot today, and Laura would be Brady's co-pilot. Artie and Brady sat behind us whispering and laughing about something. I wondered how long it would be before they started trouble.

Slowly the other pilots came in. The four Chinook air assault pilots nodded at us as they took their seats, next was Captain Peralta, commander of the Green Berets team, and the MEDEVAC pilots.

The new MEDEVAC crew had only rotated in a few days ago; this was the first time we got to work with them. I was hoping Jen wouldn't be as distracting in the air as she was on the ground. I felt an overwhelming need to antagonize her every time we were near each other. It was fun watching her face turn red whenever I got a rise out of her. Especially since she had no problems making something of mine rise. It was only fair.

I shifted in my seat as Jen walked in ahead of her girls. I was familiar with Dickhead, her co-pilot. He was a holdover from the last crew. Her medic and crew chief were both new to me. I'd barely given the other women in her crew a second glance. She'd taken up all of my focus.

I watched in fascination as they came in. Behind Jen were two more females, presumably her medic and crew chief, though I didn't know which was which. The first was a tall blonde, and I mean Amazonian tall. This girl must be pushing six-feet. She still had a baby face, she didn't look old enough to be in the Army. She walked with a slouch, not surprising given her height.

Must be self-conscious of the fact that men had to look up to see her.

The next one was shorter, maybe five-foot-six, brunette hair tied into a sporty ponytail and a uniform top that was two sizes too small. It seemed rather deliberate. Great, two more attractive females set loose on this base . Turning, I gave Brady and Artie a warning look. Their eyes were already glued to the new girls. It was one thing for me to be interested in Jen. I didn't plan on doing anything about that interest. Brady on the other hand… I sighed when he tipped forward in his chair, the legs crashing down. The women jumped at the loud noise and gave him a startled look.

Brady's smile spread over his face. "Ladies."

I spun in my seat until I was straddling the chair. Brady hadn't noticed because his eyes were on their tits. His gaze was dancing back and forth like he wasn't sure where to look first. My fist crashed down into the table, making the women jump again, but it got Brady's attention. One dark look was all it took for him to avert his eyes and stare down at his notes. I knew it was hypocritical to be getting on Brady when I was completely distracted by their captain. But that's why I was in charge. I trusted myself to stay in control. The other two chased ass like dogs in heat. I needed to make sure my pilots and mechanics weren't chasing these new girls around. We had too damn much to do.

I walked up to their table as they sat and Jen popped back up to her feet, a little too quickly. Dickhead got up slowly. "Captain, Ned, can I get a quick word?" I asked turning towards an open spot on the briefing table

"It's Nick," he grumbled.

Whatever.

"This is Sarah, my medic and Karolyn, my crew chief." I shook each of their hands, Sarah being the Amazon and Karolyn being the brunette with the tight fitting uniform. I frowned when Karolyn held onto my hand a little longer than I cared for. She batted her lashes at me, but let go when I jerked my hand back. If I thought that Jen was trouble, then this one was a national disaster. I didn't need some girl stalking after me or my crew. That was how rumors started.

Rumors that could ruin things with Jen.

With the introductions over I turned to the table and unfolded a map. "I'm not sure what kind of handoff you got from the previous MEDEVAC team you replaced," I said, ignoring the fact that Nick had been part of that team, "but this village we're going to has some kinks in normal operations. We have some good systems worked out to get around said kinks, and I just wanted to make sure we're on the same page," I said, looking up from the map at Walker and Dickhead. She smiled and I continued, "The area we're working in is hard on communications, and the terrain is nasty. If you're needed, you should expect to be flying into the area blind." I put my finger down on the map and traced out the area. "These mountains are so high that we won't be able to talk until you cross them. As it is, whatever message we manage to get out to headquarters will be condensed. So whatever they pass to you will be incomplete. We'll do our best to update you when you roll in, but expect a shit show."

I pointed to the map again and traced out an area in the valley to the south. "If you're called tonight, I'll need you to be flexible, but to trust what I say." Jen shifted uneasily, but I continued before she could chime in. "I know we haven't gotten off on the best foot, but out in a battle, we don't fuck around. We'll protect your flight, but I need you to trust me."

A concerned frown marred Jen's distractingly gorgeous face as she stared at me. I was expecting this. The last thing any pilot wanted to hear was another pilot, especially someone from another airframe and mission set, telling them how to do their job. It didn't help that her first flight impression of us was less than professional. To her credit when she responded there was no edge to her voice.

"I can tell the difference between having fun in the safety of the base versus a real mission, Chief." The way she used my rank stung. I didn't realize until now that being this formal hurt. "I only ask for the same courtesy. My team and I have run a lot of rescue missions in bad weather and bad terrain. I know it's not the same as being shot at, but I'll ask the same of you. Trust me. Trust that we know our job."

I ground my teeth together at her dismissive tone. It was going to take some time before we began to relax. It would take flying together to see if we'd gel up there. Not every crew did, which was proven by the last MED crew.

Laura had warned me that Jen was no push over, and that she took her job seriously. She'd handled the interrogation by the Beards yesterday like a pro, so I already knew she didn't back down easily. It wasn't that I didn't trust her. I was already fearful of what would happen if she got hurt. Even more if I allowed her to be hurt. Was she already clouding my judgment? I ignored the urge to try to make her smile again. This mission was more important than my own needs.

"With any luck you'll have a quiet and boring night. In a perfect world we'd be running some training missions together so we could build proper trust. The way my luck runs, well, just trust in me and I'll trust in you."

Now you're just rambling like an asshole. Quit while you're behind.

I turned before she could respond and took my seat with my crew for the rest of the briefing. I wished they would send us all on deployments at the same time. It took months to build a good working relationship with other units, and having the last MEDEVAC move out halfway through our rotation meant we had to start all over again.

Granted, the last team didn't rotate out so much as get thrown out, and we certainly hadn't had a good relationship. But still, it would be nice to have started here with Jen instead of acquiring her now. Then we'd already have been over all the pissing matches and working together seamlessly. Hopefully, we would get over whatever hang ups they had so we wouldn't be fighting every mission. I already wanted to rewind back to ten minutes ago when she was smiling at me.