It was obvious to him that something big was going on. He’d recognized several of the leaders and knew the Taliban were gearing up for some major attacks. Cities would fall soon and, based on how badly the economy had been crippled in recent months both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, both governments were likely to topple. He wanted to learn if and when his team might be asked to step things up. Either that or the U.S. would need to withdraw its troops completely.
When he entered the Operations Center he was told to report to Colonel Chory’s office over at Camp Eggars. The colonel had just returned from Washington D.C. and wanted to talk to him. And … yeah … everyone was definitely getting ready for things to be stepped up.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
June 16, 2019
Missy and Tracy were relaxing in their room at the barracks. It was Sunday and they had some free time. Then Missy would have to leave for her meeting. Their first week at Jump School had gone great and they both were really enjoying it. Compared to the rigors of life at West Point, they considered this to be a fun vacation. A grand adventure!
Ground Week had been all about learning how to fall, how to land on the ground safely and dissipate the energy upon hitting the ground over their entire body, preventing injury. They’d spent a lot of time jumping from various heights into sand pits, wearing a parachute harness and other gear, simulating the final stage of parachute landing. They’d also had to simulate landings while moving across the ground. They’d had no problem passing all their jump training tests or any of the other physical fitness requirements. For Missy, of course, the more extreme things were, the better.
Next, during the second week, Tower Week, they’d be using the swing-landing trainer, the suspended harness, and both the 34-foot tower and the 250-foot tower. They’d also be learning how to recognize and deal with any parachute malfunctions. There were emergency procedures to understand plus they needed to know how to deploy their reserve chute. They also would learn all about exiting from an aircraft as well as how to steer their chutes to control their point of impact.
For Jump Week, they’d be making five jumps out of an aircraft including one at night. These aircraft would be flying at about 1200 feet and airspeed would be 150 miles per hour. On graduation day, their families would be there to pin on their new airborne wings. They were already looking forward to that, along with the big celebration they’d all be doing right afterwards.
Tracy was sore, from all the repetitive falling and hitting the ground, but she wouldn’t let Missy push any healing energy into her to ease her discomfort. She wanted to go through the entire course like any other normal human. She did envy Missy’s ability to both block out pain and heal right away, but only a little. She was proud of how well she was doing, all on her own.
She was also envious of Missy’s ability to tan rather than burn. “Hey, how come you never get a bad sunburn? I thought you redheads all had such sensitive skin. You don’t even use any sunscreen.” They’d been training outside in the bright sun for days and Missy’s face was again getting nicely tanned, a deep golden brown. Based on how she’d looked last summer, in another couple of weeks Missy would likely be getting as brown as a walnut.
“We do! Because of my genes, I have the dark red hair, the pale pink nipples and the pearly white skin.” Missy giggled. “But, because I’m also a witch with healing ability, by the time I go to bed at night, my sunburn has already healed. All my yellow-green-purple bruises are also gone and my sensitive skin just turns a darker and darker brown.”
Tracy said, “Yeah, yeah … John says you’re like that Timex watch slogan … your body just takes a licking and keeps on ticking!”
“Yep! That’s me all right. Has John told you any of those other names he has for me?” She knew her brother loved making jokes at her expense.
“Oh, yes. You’re the Energizer Bunny. He says you could have a great career as the mascot for the Eveready Battery Company. Then, there’s Vivacious Vixen and Courageous Cougar and Fiendish Feline … let’s see … what else? Oh, right … there’s Dauntless Deerslayer, Pummeling Puma, Conjuring Crafty Cat and … my personal favorite … Mysterious Magical Mischievous Missy!”
“Enough, already! Sheesh!” Missy laughed. “Sorry I asked!”
Tracy had thoroughly enjoyed her week in Texas with John and her family and her coven just as Missy had loved being in Massachusetts with Mike and her family and her friends. They’d been trading stories all week long, with the one about John and the coven being the most outrageous. The coven wanted to make him an honorary witch now. His powers? Well, he seemed able to somehow fire up his girlfriend Tracy so her displays when shooting down lightning bolts from the sky were more spectacular and phenomenal than anything ever seen before.
Missy had explained how she might be getting sent back to Afghanistan. This time, it would be on her official record so she was calling it her First Mission. Her “P” Branch buddies and some general were all there today, special visit that afternoon, just to talk to her about that. Tracy wished her good luck and Missy headed over to a secure room up at post headquarters for her meeting.
She was happy to see Drew, Robert, Les and Marsha and then she was introduced to General Blake. He was very excited about meeting her and he laughed about how she was the first supernatural he’d ever met, that he knew of. They all took their seats and Drew talked for a bit, giving Missy some background on the situation in Afghanistan. He explained how General Blake had his staff planning various options, all to somehow destroy the new Taliban base, in the event the President decided to approve doing that.
General Blake said, “Since the political situation simply doesn’t warrant our going in there with airstrikes and dropping bombs, all our options must be things we can do with our conventional forces. Strike teams, who can operate with plausible deniability in the event of failure and about whom, in the event of success, the President can find a way to announce their involvement in a way which keeps the U.S. from being dragged into any war.”
Missy said, “Yes, Sir! That’s why I’ve asked to be assigned to an A-Team. I knew this would be a case of asking for forgiveness afterwards and not ever going to Congress or the American people for any permission beforehand. That way, there won’t be any declaration of war by anyone and all the balance of power games will continue, status quo. Balanced. Right?”
The general laughed and looked at Robert. “I see why you told me she wasn’t just some kid.” He’d read through all the info about this girl but sitting there, talking to her, seeing the intelligence behind those amazing green eyes of hers … he was very much impressed and yet, puzzled at the same time. She seemed so normal. He was finding it difficult to fully process that she was actually anything but normal. A witch? And a werecat? Wow.
Missy realized that, unlike all her “P” Branch friends, General Blake was still trying to accept the idea that supernaturals did indeed exist. She knew he’d read about her and was well aware of most of her secrets. She stared right at him and said, “I suppose my being a kid really ended during those two years I was living as a mountain lion. Of course, all this being a witch stuff?” She pointed at a vase of flowers that was sitting on a table over by the window, about ten feet away. “I’m still getting used to that, you know?”
She smiled and began moving the vase, first lifting it into the air, making it hover, and then slowly moving it back and forth. She pushed out a little energy pulse, just enough so the general could feel it. Finally, she put the vase back down. She had let some of her cat come into her eyes so she knew he was definitely seeing her sparkly eyes thing now. Messing with the general? Definitely a lot of fun!
They talked for another two hours. The general was fascinated, of course, both by how much she knew about the Taliban base and by all the various things she said she could do, if necessary, that might help destroy it. There were all the things she could do where there’d be no trace left behind, like being a mountain lion. She explained it would probab
ly be necessary for her A-Team commander to know about that, if they wanted her to again do any recon work out there in her cat form.
And, there were all the things she could do where the only way to hide what she’d done would be to eliminate any witnesses. Things like what she’d done to that Taliban soldier when she’d rescued the three Germans. Just how much angel of death power did she have, like what she’d used that time? She laughed when he asked her that and she told him she had no idea.
Missy gave them all her most innocent smile. Then, she said, “While I can probably crush the life out of everyone in a large conference room, I don’t think I can do that to all the people inside that Taliban base. At least, not all at once. And, I do pay a price when I use my power. I’m a lot stronger now and I can do a lot more. But, I’d probably collapse after using a lot of power to kill people. I’d be completely drained and I don’t know how long I’d be unconscious. I’m still feeling my way along with all of this witchy stuff.” She laughed and looked at the general who was clearly incredulous.
General Blake was indeed finding it very difficult to reconcile having this lovely young lady just sitting there, all prim and proper, calmly talking to him and then hearing her explain how she just had no idea where her limitations for killing people might be. Kill a dozen or two people all gathered in one place? No problem, Sir! Kill a hundred? Don’t know, Sir! Egad! Was he really having this conversation?
After Missy left them to return to her barracks, the general looked at the others and said, “That’s one very remarkable young woman. You told me she was special and I’m now getting that. It’s not just that she has these powers, is it? It’s how she’s so willing and able to use them, for what she believes in. I’m sure glad she’s on our side!”
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June 25, 2019
The world news that week had been all about the latest Taliban attacks with several cities in Afghanistan and a few in Pakistan now controlled by the militants. Thousands of civilians had fled, so a humanitarian crisis was definitely just around the corner. There had been a lot of debate in the press, some calling for U.S. airstrikes while others wanted the U.S. to pull out all troops and merely standby. The President and Congressional leaders had all been quoted as saying a number of things, most of which were conflicting. The Defense Secretary had once again assembled the secret CAW review team members. Time had run out and decisions needed to be made.
The consensus now was not whether or not to authorize direct action. Now, they all wanted to know if any of General Blake’s plans could succeed. They wanted to destroy the new base in Kunar Province, hopefully disrupting the enemy enough so overthrow of the two countries could be avoided or at least delayed, but they wanted this done without U.S. airstrikes. No bombing. Manage all the turmoil while avoiding getting dragged into any war. Was this possible?
General Blake had spent a half hour explaining various strategies, but the one that everyone kept coming back to was having Seals and Special Forces teams get in there and somehow do it. Just as the general had suggested four months earlier. Only, in order to improve their chances, he wanted to have that mysterious supernatural asset go in with one of those teams. Just in case.
Ted Hanson said, “So, this angel of death option? Isn’t this what Drew told me we couldn’t have, back when I first suggested it? What’s changed?”
Drew said, “First, let’s get something clear. This is not an invisible angel of death who can fly around, as you had once suggested, Ted. This is an actual individual who does have certain supernatural abilities and who, like the last time, has agreed to help. To risk death, once again, only this time by joining one of our A-Teams. This person will fight right along with the others on that team and will only use special powers in ways that won’t be noticed. There won’t be any leak that this country has used any supernatural forces. Just as there wasn’t last time.”
“Okay, okay … and, what’s different now?” Hanson was not ready to let Drew off the hook.
“What’s different is this asset just happens to already be in the Army. So, we’re not interfering. It’s not a conflict with our policy.” Drew looked around and then continued. “What’s changed is this asset is volunteering to go on this mission, not in secret with no one knowing about that, but this time out in the open, assigned as a normal soldier. Just like any other soldier might be assigned.”
Winword said, “Look, I’m fully in support of this. I’ve even been allowed to review this soldier’s file. Rather than trying to split hairs over our policy about not using supernatural forces versus whether this individual can use special powers without that being detected, let’s move on. That decision has already been made. We’re going to trust this soldier who has already earned that trust. Now we’re here to decide whether or not to authorize General Blake sending in his strike teams. My vote is the sooner the better. Let’s do that.”
The discussion continued for a while after that but the consensus was obvious. They all wanted the Defense Secretary to meet with the President and obtain his full approval. General Blake was to get the big green light and CAW was now a “go”. Take out that Taliban base. And, get that soldier with those special powers assigned to that A-Team, ASAP.
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June 26, 2019
Missy got the call from Robert. Happy birthday, four days late! Ha, ha! And, oh yes … the President had approved. General Blake was now putting his plans into action. “P” Branch would be working for the next few days on how best to integrate Missy into those plans. Yes, she could finish Jump School … graduation was now only two days away, on Friday. So, go ahead … enjoy and celebrate, as planned. Then, go home and enjoy the weekend. Arrange her affairs and say her goodbyes.
“P” Branch was taking care of all her travel arrangements from now on. She would meet with the Superintendent at West Point on Monday. Her resignation would be effective on that day, July 1st, with assignment to the Special Forces as a PFC in the regular Army on that same day. She and Mike were booked into a suite that night, once again at the Hilton Hotel out at JFK Airport.
Then, she’d be flying over to Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 2nd. They wanted her to eventually join up with Team Twenty-Two since Captain Grimes already knew about her. Sort of. It was his team that had flown those Germans out. Les and Marsha would be staying in Kabul, same as last time. But, without Mike. They’d be copied on all the communications going back and forth with Team Twenty-Two. They didn’t know if they could help her but had insisted on being there. Just in case.
Team Twenty-Two was actually being deployed again, right before she’d be getting there, so she wouldn’t get a chance to meet them until later. They were being inserted near the Taliban base, using LZ Johnson, on July 1st. Yes, she remembered that one. She’d named it. General Blake was thinking she could maybe spend a few days with Colonel Chory in Kabul before joining her team. Coincidentally, his headquarters was actually at Camp Eggars where she’d stayed briefly last time.
Things would be moving quickly from here on out. Missy had laughed, quoting her Granddad’s favorite saying. “Yes … first you plan the work and then you work the plan!”
Chapter Thirty
July 4, 2019
Colonel Chory looked at the others in his office after everyone else had left and his door was closed. Les and Marsha Gooding from “P” Branch, Major Flament who was once again acting as their liaison officer, and PFC Missy McCrea, newly assigned to his Special Forces Group. His newly assigned supernatural soldier. Major Flament had been partially briefed about McCrea and had met her six months ago; he knew she was “special” but did not know exactly why.
Up until a month ago, he himself had had no idea that supernatural beings actually existed. Then, he’d read all about this girl and what she’d done, had seen photos of her in both forms and had watched that video. And now, here she was, in person. The werecat. Not only could she Shift forms and become a cougar but she was also a witch with amazing powers. Superstrength,
superspeed, enhanced senses, telekinetic ability and who knew what else. Healing and regeneration. She could communicate telepathically with her human mate but he wasn’t along for this mission.
He was still finding it all hard to believe, especially with her sitting right there, looking so normal. That she was also very young and so damn attractive was very disconcerting. He wondered how well she’d really fit in with her team. This wasn’t the academy and the men she’d now be serving with were not cadets. Having women in the Army was one thing. Having them in the Infantry and Special Forces was something he still hadn’t quite gotten used to and, until now, the units in his command had never had any.
Captain Grimes -- whom the colonel had briefed a month ago -- had been very impressed, to say the least. Since she’d be reporting directly to him, he’d also been allowed to learn all about her secrets. While Grimes now had the answer to who had done that recon and had then rescued those Germans, he’d told the colonel he really wasn’t sure he could believe it. It just hadn’t occurred to him that the “heavenly angel” he’d heard described could possibly be this girl the colonel was telling him about.
The rest of Team Twenty-Two, like Major Flament, were only being told she was special with some unique qualifications. Hence, her being assigned like this. They were told not to talk about her. The fact that a female was joining their team was not to be discussed with anyone outside their own unit.
“Major Flament, if you’re all set, I’d like to ask that you leave us now as well. I’ll only keep them a few minutes longer and then you can take them back. Your arrangements for their billeting and use of that same office as last time are appreciated.” Colonel Chory wanted to talk freely and so far, there just hadn’t been any chance for that. They’d arrived that morning and everyone had been very busy assisting them with various administrative issues as well as making some introductions to his staff.
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