Stark September (Stark Trilogy Book 1)

by C. D. Bradley

  Kira stood nervously with the seven other officers as she waited for the bus to pick them up outside the hotel. This was it: Dunker Training, also known as HUET, or Helicopter Underwater Egress Training. She had heard multiple people tell her about it, had practiced in the pool back at base, and had watched about two hundred You-Tube videos on the subject. She was as prepared for this training as she could be but the nerves were still there. Strangely, she found herself thankful they had to train in full fatigues. Swimming around in a pool with all that crap on would be difficult, but she would be able to keep her tags on. The bracelet, too, would be concealed inside her shirt.

  The bus ride to the Allison Aquatics Training Facility was mercifully short. Kira had not slept well and wanted to get her first day of training under her belt. Upon arriving at the facility, they filed into a training room. A brisk, stout officer barked out roll, then pressed play on a series of rousing videos of everything that could possibly go wrong in a helicopter each followed by vivid and devastating crash footage. The purpose of the audio visuals was to emphasize the importance of Dunker Training, but it really gave Kira the warm fuzzies knowing she would actually be strapped to the metal contraption and plunged into water. Next came a riveting speech instructing proper egress from a destroyed helo. Chief Instructor Park walked them through what to expect. Kira was impressed to learn that the famed 160th Night Stalkers had received Dunker Training at this very facility. At least they were in very good hands. Park went on, explaining that it would be a crawl—walk—run scenario. No being strapped into a submerged helicopter until they learned the progression. At least they’re not going to let me drown.

  “It’s all about muscle memory,” AFT Park explained in a confident baritone. “We want you to have this down so that if you are in a crash, instinct and muscle memory take over and fear won’t have time to kill you.”

  Day One wasn’t as bad as Kira had expected. She learned to use a HEEDS bottle. Why does EVERYTHING in the military have a ridiculous acronym? she wondered. The HEEDS, or Helicopter Emergency Egress Device System, was a small SCUBA tank about the size of a can of hair spray with a regulator attached to it. First she practiced using the device at the bottom of the pool by blowing to clear it and then breathing like you would with a regular SCUBA. Next, Kira and her fellow trainees had to do this upside down. She was disoriented at first, but that quickly passed and she cleared her device. The next step, however, was upside down and strapped to a chair. That stage was a little more challenging, for the chair was in a metal cage.

  They fastened her in with the same five point harness found in helicopters. She held her breath and the cage was flipped upside down, slamming her into the surface of the water on its way. Kira focused hard on methodically undoing the harness buckles, kicking to the cage door, and unlatching it before making her way to the surface to give the proverbial thumbs up. The challenge was staying calm. She practiced this several times with and without the HEEDS bottle, growing more comfortable with her temporary underwater entrapment each time. She noted that this wasn’t too terrible save the fact that with all the face slamming and inversion, chlorinated pool water found its way into every square centimeter of her sinuses. She acquainted this to near drowning. However with all her time spent rafting in the New River this wasn’t an entirely foreign feeling.

  Six hours later, Kira changed quickly in the locker room and made her way back to the bus. Day One left her feeling almost confident, though quite a bit water logged. She paused and bent down to tie her shoe. From somewhere inside the hidden crevices of her head about a gallon of pool water spilled out her nose and mouth onto the pavement.

  “Sexy,” a male voice said behind her.

  Kira turned to see Holt and another Captain. “We’re going to get some dinner when we get back. You want to come along?” Holt asked, smiling at the dripping Kira.

  “I don’t know, I’m really tired. I want to get some rest before tomorrow,” Kira replied, hoping to avoid spending the evening with Holt.

  “Come on, Captain,” the other soldier chided. “As savory as that pool water was, you have to be hungry. Come with us. We passed a place called the Black Horse on the way here. It will be fun, I promise. We’ll have you back in plenty of time to rest.” The twinkle in his blue eyes was playful and friendly. He grinned widely and held out his hand to help her up. “My name’s Cody. Er…uh…Captain Bryson, sorry,” he stammered as he helped her to her feet.

  Kira smiled. “Thanks, Cody. My name’s Kira,” she giggled back at him. Holt shot them a fiercely disapproving look that went completely unnoticed.

  “Oh, I know who you are,” Cody said, chuckling fully now. “I’ve heard all about you.” He grinned slyly and slapped Holt on the back. Holt shot him a menacing look and shook his head.

  Kira nodded. She was starving and the idea of spending time with someone who could playfully torment Holt would be entertaining. Throughout dinner she learned that Cody had gone to med school with Holt. He was very charming and a bit more down to earth than his med school buddy. His comical nature provided much needed distraction from the challenge they would face in the morning. As Cody joked, Holt seemed a little quieter than usual and increasingly distracted. She was starting to notice that he was not used to having someone around who would talk to him and make fun of him like a regular person. Her phone buzzed to alert her of a text message. It was Stark!

  So how does it feel to have a few gallons of pool water in your head?

  She smiled. She knew he meant it when he said he would always be thinking of her. She ached to see him again.

  About as much fun as drowning could be.

  How did it go? Did you get your bracelet?

  Kira giggled and responded.

  That was you? I wasn’t sure who sent that.

  Kira pictured his face forming a playful frown, when he read that. She knew she was drawing a playful line in the sand and was hoping he was up for the challenge.

  Testing the water a little are you? Sure you want to do that?

  Kira laughed. She knew what she was doing.

  LOL. I’m wet in places I don’t even want to talk about.

  Damn that girl drove him crazy. He couldn’t wait to get home and get his hands on her.

  Oh now that’s just not fair. Good thing I’m coming home.

  Kira sat bolt upright in her chair, startling her two dinner companions. Her heart began to race. She couldn’t believe what she was reading.

  “Excuse me,” she fumbled and rushed to get up. “I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a few.” Kira raced to the safety of the restroom and responded to Stark.

  You’re coming home? When?

  She was so excited to see him, feel him. Now her panties really were getting wet. It seemed like an eternity before he responded, although it was only a few minutes.

  Soon. Very soon. I have to go now. Good luck tomorrow.

  Kira was ecstatic, her head buzzed with excitement, as she returned to the table.

  “Damn that must have been some dump!” Cody exclaimed as she returned to the table feeling giddy. “That or the women’s bathroom is really full service!”

  Kira laughed out loud. She knew she had to be careful what she said but she was so excited. “A little of both,” she said with a wink.

  Their waiter appeared tableside hefting steaming plates of burgers and fries. Kira was thankful for the distraction. The rest of dinner seemed to sail by. She laughed at their jokes and enjoyed the friendship of her two fellow captains. Even the next day’s training didn’t seem as scary knowing that soon, very soon, he would be home. She smiled again for no reason. She could barely contain her excitement.

  That night in the shower she was thankful for the exquisitely hot water that melted her soreness from the day. Alone at last, she was able to fully focus on the one thing she couldn’t stop thinking about. He was coming home! Sergeant Owen Stark is coming home to me! She leaned back against the cool tile of the shower and li
stened to Colbie Caillat sing of simple things that mean the most. Kira closed her eyes and let her hands drift down over her taught abdomen. As she found her clit, she imagined it was Stark touching her. She pictured his tongue flicking her, his coarse sun baked lips clasping her. She let out a soft moan and let the fantasy take her away.

  * * *

  Kira opened her eyes and felt a shudder run through her body. This was it: the final day of training. Today she would face the actual helo dunker. As she walked into the training center the smell of chlorine engulfed her. In the locker room she donned her gear and double checked her HEEDS bottle. Then outside, lined up poolside, she and her fellow trainees were informed that they would need to escape a submerged helicopter six times: three times with the HEEDS bottle, and three without it before they would endure a set of Final Mock situations that would mimic a real combat zone. Kira’s heart raced at the thought of the final drills, which would be unpredictable. Slow down. Take one thing at a time, she reminded herself as she prepared to get wet. Kira was in the first group of nervous trainees. She strapped into her harness. Found her point of reference and took a couple of deep breaths. She felt the Helo start to spin and took one last deep breath just before the wall of water engulfed her. Kira’s heart raced but she kept her movements calm. She cleared her HEEDS bottle and when the motion had stopped she unbuckled her harness. She jettisoned out of her window. Some light above the water helped her to see which way to go. She followed the bubbles up to the surface, broke through, and gave the thumbs up. I did it! I did it! Shivering, Kira made her way to the platform to do it again, this time without the HEEDS bottle.

  Crash survival would be simpler if helicopters had the good manners to crash in the daytime in calm seas. However, helicopters also fly at night, meaning they could crash at night. So the next step was to be done in the dark. Scuba clad instructors would be hovering outside the ready to help if there was an emergency. They were also there to make sure escape was performed correctly. If trainees panicked and egressed too soon, back up the platform they’d go to do it all over again. Early escape in the real world meant risk of getting chopped into bits by spinning chopper blades..

  The first blacked-out ride was from the pilot’s seat, which wasn’t so very bad. Except that crashing into the water and rolling over was fairly disorienting in daylight, and incredibly so when you couldn’t see. Even worse, the trainees didn’t know which way the dunker was going to roll.

  For the blacked-out scenarios, they had been taught to find a tactile reference point. Kira had chosen the edge of her seat and the window to help her find her way out of the helo in pitch blackness. She grabbed a hold of the seat back and gulped a big breath as the chopper spun and plowed into the water. She remained seated with her seatbelt attached until all violent motion had stopped. She calmed herself and reminded herself that early egress risked death by Cuisinart, getting chopped into bits by flinging rotor blades.

  Once motionless and upside down, Kira kept one hand on her reference point and removed her seat belt. Then she jettisoned the window and crawled her way out holding her breath the entire time. Once free from the wreckage, she guessed which way was up and started swimming in that direction. Thankfully, she guessed right, and broke the surface of the water as her lungs were beginning to burn

  Shaking from nerves and the frigid cold, she made her way back to the platform for the final test, putting together everything that they practiced and doing it with the group and in storm conditions. The wave machine started. This was the big one. The waves and storm crashing all around Kira and her fellow training crew as once again she was strapped in her seat. She was in the back left now in an engineer seat. Her task was to go out the emergency exit on the right. She looked at Holt just before they turned out the lights. Their eyes met and Holt’s were fixed in a gaze that reminded her of panic. He seems terrified, she thought, stunned for a moment. She would have to pass through the area he was now occupying in order to exit as instructed. She knew that the only thing that could possibly be worse than being blindfolded in a tube with seven other soldiers, slammed into the water, and rolled upside down is that same scenario, but next to a person who finds it even more terrifying than you do. The only thing Kira could picture was the image of getting tangled up with a freaked out Holt who was trying to kick free.

  It took a little bit before the dunker rolled over, so she didn’t want to start holding her breath too soon. She didn’t want to find herself out of air just when her need was greatest. As the Helo descended on that short but terrifying drop into the water Kira said a little prayer and thought of Stark. Since she didn’t know which way the helo was going to roll, the timing of that last breath would be critical. Suddenly she felt the water coming up her legs before it got to her face, meaning it was rolling toward the side she was on and she was able snatch that last breath. Holt wasn’t so lucky. Since the helo rolled away from him, that last breath was more difficult to time. He was wet, dry, and suddenly wet again, all over, all at once. He quickly gasped, catching a last gulp of air before he was submerged.

  Kira held fast to her reference point. Cold water permeated her nose and every last crevice of her sinuses. She held her breath, took a second to calm herself, praying that Holt was clearing the exit. She tried to hold still upside down in the dark but finally had to move. She hastily unbuckled and keeping hand over hand on the seat back then Holt’s seat edge as she made her way across Holt’s seat. She was preparing to exit when she felt a firm grasp on her arm. It reminded her of the day he had helped her on the confidence course, only it grasped her more firmly, panicked even. He had helped her that day in the frigid water, and Kira knew immediately that she wouldn’t leave him behind. Keeping one hand on her reference point, she grabbed his arm with the other hand and guided it toward the edge of the helo. He exited and swam toward the surface. She couldn’t see him but she was thankful she didn’t get kicked in the face as she quickly exited and swam like hell. Her last breath burned in her aching lungs. She broke the stormy surface and gasped for air just as a huge wave crashed over her head and pushed her back down. She fought her way back up again and began swimming through the waves and the rain toward the lights of the life raft. Through the darkness she could hear her teammates who were already reaching the raft. When she felt its rubbery side, Holt was already in. He reached over the edge and hoisted her up in one swift pull. They began bailing water out of the craft, swamped from the prolific fake storm and awaited word that they were all clear. We did it! She thought, relieved to have “survived.”

  After changing into dry clothes, Holt came up from behind her as she walked toward the training center exit. “Thank you, Kira,” he said. “You saved my ass in there.” His voice was sincere and his smile slightly humbled.

  Kira had never seen this side of Holt before. “What happened in there?” she asked, concerned.

  “I didn’t get the timing of my breath right. The water hit and I didn’t get the last breath I needed. I panicked and lost my reference point.” Holt sounded defeated. “If you hadn’t helped me I would have failed the session and would have had to do it again. Or I’d have drowned.”

  “Well, you did fine. We made it out and that’s all that matters.” Kira smiled at him reassuringly.

  “Let me take you out to dinner,” he said, stopping suddenly as they reached the doors.

  “Holt, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she said, stopping beside him.

  Holt put his arm gently on hers. “I’ve had enough humiliation for one day. Since you practically saved my life, please, dinner is the least I can do.”

  Kira’s face softened. She really had never seen Holt like this before. “OK, but just dinner,” she said smiling, linking her arm in his.

  Captain Bryson and AFT Park stood packing things up and preparing to leave for the day. “Thanks for your help,” Park said to Bryson as they finished up. “Say, what happened to your boy Holt in that last evolution? When he was here last tim
e he did excellent. He has that sequence timed down to a science. Why did he pause down there?”

  Captain Bryson laughed and motioned with his head toward Holt and Kira as they exited the building together arm in arm. “Why do you think?” he asked smugly.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Three more physicals and we are done for the day” Abbey reported as she put the last patient in a room. “Then I want to hear more about your training and how it all went.”

  Kira was so thankful for abbey. Having someone like her to confide in made everything more bearable. After the last patient had gone Kira slumped into her chair. The wait was killing her. He had said soon, very soon. However, two more weeks had gone by and still no word from Stark or his unit. Abbey came sauntering into her office with coffee. “We’ve been so busy since you got back and Captain Holt has been around so much I haven’t heard more than bits and pieces of how it went.” Abbey did little to hide the distain in her voice.

  Kira sipped her coffee and started telling Abbey about the ins and outs of Dunker training. She was just getting to the last day of training when they were interrupted.

  “Kira. Hey Kira are you still here?” Holt’s voice drifted down the hallway.

  “No body’s home.” Abbey said sarcastically.

  “There you are.” Holt said bursting into her office. “It’s Friday come out with me tonight.” He said to Kira, ignoring Abbey as usual.

  “No thanks. It’s been a long week. I’ve got a lot of things to do at home. Maybe another time.” Kira tried in vain to put Holt off.

  “You can’t possibly have that much laundry.” Holt rebuked sounding mildly irritated. “You’ve had things to do every evening for the last two weeks.”

  “That’s got to tell you something.” Abbey said flatly shooting Holt a look and starting toward the door.