Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Jen

I left the briefing and headed to my aircraft. I was trying not to be offended that he made a point to ask me to trust him, or that I had to do the same. Taking a deep breath, I tried to put it behind me. What was so hard about trusting another soldier and pilot?

It didn't matter that this guy got my heart racing. Despite the way he managed to get under my skin, I'd gotten the impression that Sheppard was a decent guy. I had hoped to be able to count on him to help me sort everything out while I learned the ropes at this base. Now, he was implying that…what exactly? That I was untrustworthy? No, stop taking it personally. Something else is going on here. Right now wasn't the time to figure out what his hang ups were.

I understood the point he was making. He would have all the intel, and would know the situation better than I would. Why would he assume that I wouldn't trust him? His job was to keep the area safe while I landed. My job was to save the wounded. Time was always a critical factor, otherwise they wouldn't call us. So of course the situation would be a shit show. This might be my first time in Afghanistan, but I'd been flying MEDEVAC since I left flight school. In the U.S. and in Europe I had flown hundreds of patients to safety. Many of them survived by mere minutes.

It was frustrating. No wonder there was friction between our teams. I hadn't implied that he couldn't be trusted. Had I? I was even more irritated that despite the lack of trust, I wanted more than anything to prove myself to him now.

I was attracted to him . Before this meeting, I'd promised myself I wasn't going to let him needle me into an argument and I wasn't going to notice how gorgeous he was. I'd failed at both. So we hadn't exactly argued, but the uncertainty was worse. I needed to kick this fascination I had with the man. Otherwise, it was going to be a long deployment. Scott had taught me that it was best to stay single. Things got complicated when I dated another soldier. Out here, complicated would shift into a mess quickly. It was the last thing I needed.

Nick looked over and noticed the scowl on my face as he caught up with me. "Don't let Chief Asshole get you down. He has trust issues." He tried to say it with a smile, but his eyes betrayed something else. Shame? Again, not the time or place.

"Trust issues?" I asked, trying to distract myself. "I know how to do my job. I've busted my ass every day to earn the respect of the men around me in boot camp, flight school, and in my MED unit back in Texas. You know we were the go-to team in Ft. Hood for MEDEVAC? During hurricane season we were standby every single day. I've worked harder than the men just to prove I was respectable. Females have to work harder for the same respect."

Nick looked at me with understanding, "Ma'am, your reputation precedes you." That caught me off guard. What he said next totally blew me away. "Look, it's no secret that I don't get along with Chief Asshole or his guys, but I've got to give him credit where credit is due. He asked for you before you arrived in Bagram."

"What?" I barely managed to stammer the response.

One side of Nick's lips lifted into a grin. "When my team got pulled, Chief Sheppard told Colonel Ortiz that he wanted to personally pick the next MEDEVAC crew. The Colonel agreed, and after Sheppard looked through all the crews in the country, he picked you. He knows what you're capable of."

Shock coursed through me, making me stop in my tracks. That was the last thing I expected to hear. It didn't answer any questions though, rather it just brought up more. I really wanted to press Nick further, but it would have to wait. I hurried and caught up to him. We continued walking in companionable silence. He'd given me a lot to think about.

We got to the aircraft and started staging our helmets and gear. I adjusted my hair into a low braid that wouldn't get in the way of my helmet.

"Preflight is done, equipment is all stowed. We're ready to go as soon as we get called," Karolyn told me.

"Good." I gave her and Sarah a quick rundown of my final thoughts on the mission and what we could expect if we got called. When I finished, I went back to fidgeting with my gear. I looked up in time to see Sarah and Karolyn running off. "Where are you two going?"

"We're going to watch the ‘gun show'," Karolyn said, then turned back and took up a seat on a cement barrier.

I walked over to the girls, and stood behind them. They were watching the Apache crew chiefs load the ammo. I looked out that way and paused. It was over one hundred degrees, so they had taken their uniform tops off and were working in their t-shirts. I had to admit to myself that it was sexy, watching the men carrying heavy loads of ammo. Though I would never admit it out loud in front of the girls, or any of the guys either. I was in charge after all, which meant those observations were just for me.

"Let's go you two. We have to run up the aircraft and stage it in case we get called."

"But...gun show…" Karolyn pouted, pointing back at the men.

One of the taller crew chiefs paused when he noticed they had an audience. He winked and pointed towards us in that cocky, ‘I see you, girl' way. Sarah blushed a deep red and quickly jumped off the barrier.

I watched as they grumbled and made a few comments but ultimately moved along. Sarah usually wasn't too much trouble. She was cute, but so shy she hardly ever caused any problems. Karolyn was the one I had to keep an eye on. She was just a little too smiley, a little too giggly when it suited her. She also had a habit of wearing PT shorts that were a hair too small, and shirts that were undersized. She enjoyed all the attention.

I stood by as they walked past, then decided to sneak a peek again, just for myself. Why was it such a turn on to see men doing heavy work? I found myself admiring one of the older crew chiefs. His shirt was so tightly fitted that even from here I could see every muscle flexing on his back. He hefted a rocket up onto his shoulder and started walking to his aircraft. That's when I realized that he was in fact a pilot, lending a hand. My cheeks heated when I realized that it was Sheppard. I was a little annoyed at myself when my heart started beating harder, but I couldn't deny that the man's every move made my mouth go dry.

We had finished prepping our helicopter. Now was the time to wait. The assault teams and the Apaches had already taken off; the mission was underway. We were just on standby in case somebody got hurt. Hopefully no one did. As boring as it might be, the best night for MEDEVAC was when nothing happened.

This was how MEDEVAC worked. Hours and hours of waiting, but when they needed you, it meant it was urgent. If we got a call, the standard was that we must be off the ground and on our way in fifteen minutes. My crew could be off the ground in less than five. We were good at our job. Even with having to adjust to a new member to the crew, I knew it wouldn't be too hard. Nick seemed like a decent guy and he was eager to work. That was exactly what I needed. Someone who wasn't afraid to do his job.

The mission had probably been underway for about an hour. We were sitting at the aircraft chatting and napping. An ATV came rolling up bringing with it a huge dust cloud. The sergeant jumped out and ran up to us. He was one of the flight operation sergeants. "Ma'am, they need you," he handed me a piece of paper with a frequency and grid coordinate written down. "They'll give you the rest of the information along the way."

This wasn't unheard of. Why waste precious time on the ground waiting for information when you could start heading toward the wounded and get the details along the way. The reality was, we didn't need the details. The fact that the units on the ground needed us meant that it was serious. We just needed to know where we were going and who we were picking up. I knew once we got out there, whichever Apache pilots were on scene would give us more information, and once we got a hold of ground units, they would direct us in.

"Let's go!" I yelled, putting on my flight vest and grabbing my helmet. I tucked my hair into my shirt to keep it from getting snagged in my flight gear. This is why I hadn't kept it in a bun, you can't fit a helmet over a bun. The low braid was the easiest thing.

My heart started up a hard thrumming, matching the whir of the helo's blades. I lived for the excitement of flying. Helping others was an adrenaline rush like no other. This level of excitement was an addiction I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to break.

I jumped into the left seat; Nick jumped into the right. Karolyn was outside with her helmet already on, the communications cord stretched out and plugged into the helicopter so that she could talk to us while outside, as she double checked the aircraft before we lifted off. Sarah strapped herself into her station in the back and motioned to me that she was secured and ready. We fired up the engines, Karolyn climbed in, and we took off.

As soon as we were airborne, they read off the official medical nine-line report over the radio. Nine lines of information about the nature of the injuries. It was more for Sarah, our medic, so that she could get herself prepared to take care of the injured soldier we'd be picking up. The only thing I cared about was one word. Critical. If the case was urgent, it meant it was a potentially life-threatening injury, or perhaps permanent damage. If it was critical, then the patient was circling the drain and short on time.

The relayed information said in detail that our patient was critical. I pulled up on the power lever and eased the flight controls forward. I pulled until we were at our full power, which would bring us to our max airspeed. We would burn more fuel, but we had plenty. Time was more important than efficiency in our job.

My eyes flicked back and forth between the control panel and the blur of the ground beneath us as we made a straight line for the coordinates. It brought us into the landing zone through a valley in the west. Sheppard had told us that communications would suck and that we should expect a shit show. I was as ready as I would ever be.

In the world of combat medics there was what we referred to as the "Golden Hour". It meant that if you bandaged up the wounded properly and got them to a hospital in one hour, they would make it. It wasn't an absolute rule, but in my experience it was damn close. Our route there and back was already more than one hour. We couldn't afford to waste any time once we got there.

My muscles tensed as I flew us out. Knowing that a life was hanging in the balance always wound me up. Relaxing wasn't an option until we got the patient back to base and into the care of a doctor.

As we drew close, I reached out over the radio to let them know our ETA. Sheppard was flying under the call sign Archer. Being MEDEVAC, we were Dustoff. "Archer flight, Archer flight, this is Dustoff, how do you read?"

Chief Sheppard answered me, "Dustoff, Archer Zero-Nine, standby." His radio was staticky. His voice was cutting in and out, but I heard enough to understand. We knew it was likely we wouldn't get clear communications with him until we were through the valley. He had said as much during the brief.

"Stand by my ass," I muttered. As far as we knew, taking a few extra minutes would result in the death of the soldier on the ground. Over the radio I said, "Archer Zero-Nine, Dustoff, we are six minutes out. Approaching from the west."

There was a slight pause before he responded. "Dustoff, the landing zone is static , need you static ." His transmission was barely readable.

Nick looked over at me, "Ma'am?"

Biting my lip, I stared at the radio. It was too much to hope that he'd repeat his transmission. Even if he did, it wasn't likely to come through. We were in the middle of the area he'd warned us about. What was the right call? If he was telling me the landing zone wasn't safe, then we'd be in danger. If he was telling us that it was clear and we waited, we'd be dooming the man who was injured. Taking a deep breath, I made up my mind. "We keep going, three more minutes and we'll be through the valley and we'll deal with whatever the situation is."

"What if the landing zone is hot?" he asked me.

"Then we have to hope the Apaches can clear out the enemies before they shoot us down. We can't stand by, hoping to get better communications. We have to get through this pass before we'll even be able to talk to our guys."

"By the time we're out of the mountains, we'll basically be at the landing zone," Nick replied. "You're right, we can't just hang back."

It was a less than ideal scenario, but there wasn't much we could do about it. It helped having Nick on board with my plan.

"Sheppard said to trust him, that's exactly what we'll do," I said, tone wry. Hopefully, he was as good with his airframe as I'd heard he was. And all I could do was hope he would give me the same trust.