Two men were using what appeared to be a pair of bolt cutters and, after a few seconds, slipped through the fence and then headed away from the base.
“You want to try and intercept them and see what they know?” Edwards asked.
Stryker thought about it for a moment, and the idea was tempting; the men could be forced to tell what the situation was in the base, but the risk of making noise that attracted unwanted attention counterbalanced the reward. Opportunity and consequences ran through his mind. He forced himself to remember how his last two follies had almost ended badly. Stryker felt doubt crowd into his thought process and tried to push it away, but it nagged him incessantly.
“I don’t think so,” he finally said, still wondering if he was making the right decision. “I think we can just keep an eye on them tomorrow and will probably find out more than we could from those men. They might be disaffected, and generally pissed off. That might be why they’re leaving.”
“It looks more like they’re escaping.”
“Yeah, I get that. But, things aren’t always what they seem. I’d rather we make our own judgment.”
Edwards had only seen Stryker seem indecisive one other time. It was during a search they did for a bomb-making factory. They found it and called in an air strike. Command refused to allow it, citing civilian casualties as a reason, and ordered the unit to storm the building and clear it.
Stryker had thought about that for some time, before he decided to rig the building with C-4 and bring it down, rather than try to fight up narrow stairways at the cost of God knows how many marines. He had been right that time, and although he took a raft of shit for the decision, it turned out to be the right call.
He wondered if the passive approach was caused by the two near-death experiences Stryker had. After thinking it over, he decided it didn’t really matter. Either way, it was the prudent thing to do. They were, after all, Force Recon Marines, and had spent most of their adult lives in the shadows, raining death down from above, and remaining undetected. It was consistent with their training and doctrine to remain stealthy.
“All right, let’s stand down.” Stryker removed his NVGs. “My watch. I’ll get you up before sunrise.”
“Got it, I’m out.”
“Sleep well.”
“Will do.”
“That was a good catch, Edwards. I’m not sure I would have even looked down the fence line.”
“You’re welcome.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Stryker heated two cups of coffee from their MREs, set one down beside Edwards as he shook him awake, and then took his cup and walked to the window.
He looked down at the scene below him, and noted that nobody was up and working on the base yet.
The flattop still sat squatted down in its berth, and as he looked around the port, he noted it contained cruisers, a few littoral combat vessels, submarine berths, cargo vessels, and even a submarine in a dry dock.
He got the spotting scope, sipped his coffee and looked to the northwest. Edwards moved to his side.
“They moved the Air Wing to the Naval Air Station on Coronado. Must have done it when they arrived.” He handed the scope to Edward who looked then nodded.
“I wonder why?” Edwards said.
“They can’t launch from a stationary carrier deck. They have to be going into the wind to do that, and under power, so they put them on the ground for the longer runways.”
Edwards scanned the deck of the carrier. “But they left the choppers on the deck.”
“Close air support for the base.”
“That’s a little paranoid.”
“Well, they have no idea what’s going on around them. They spent the last two years at sea and probably are being cautious because they have no clue what the threats are. Seems fine to me; I would probably do the same,” Stryker replied.
“You’re getting cautious in old age.”
“How do you think I got old?” Stryker continued looking down at the base.
The door to the barracks again opened. Another two hundred men and woman poured out and walked into the maintenance building.
Another group of four emerged and walked to the building. Three of the men carried sea bags over their shoulders, wore side arms, and were obviously enlisted. They loaded the bags into the rear of a Humvee. The officer returned their salute before they got in. After speaking briefly to the group, they departed through the front gate. The officer waved goodbye and the men all turned back and returned the gesture.
“Well, that was different then last night. They seem to be leaving with the approval of the powers that be,” Stryker said.
“Yeah it’s a bit of a mystery.”
“No mystery to me.”
“Why?”
“They’re taking the duffels. They’re leaving. Probably headed home, and the officer seemed to bear them no ill-will.”
“I don’t think it was the captain though.”
“It wasn’t,” Stryker answered. “He was the XO.”
“So, what do you think?”
“I think the guys who left last night were probably considered to be essential personnel and had to leave by sneaking out, and the guys who left today were probably not with the air wing or in the medical unit.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because if it was me, I would hang on to precious assets and let everyone else go.” Stryker thought it over a little longer. “I don’t think I would let the ordnance folks go either.”
“How do you think he would see us?”
“I’m not really sure, but I suspect we wouldn’t be considered essential and if he needed us at all, it would probably be for force protection or to run errands for him.”
“So, you’re saying you want to go in?”
“I think so.”
“Is that your final answer?”
“No, but I am going to think on it for a while.”
They returned to Stryker’s old home before noon and sat eating Ramen noodles on the back patio.
Stryker had gone out soon after they returned and prayed over his wife and daughter’s grave. Then they all moved outside to eat.
“Stryker, are you sure about this?” Erin asked.
“No, but it seems like a good risk to take. The fact of the matter is that sooner or later we’re going to run into something we can’t get out of and we need the force protection and the ability to be able to sleep at night without worrying.”
“Are you sure you’re not saying that because of the fight you lost?” Her voice was unusually harsh, and Stryker stared at her with a puzzled look.
“Maybe, but it’s not the primary reason. The fact is that nobody is lucky all the time, and we aren’t either. I would feel better if I knew we were a part of a larger group. And, the fact is that you women all need an environment where you can interact with people.”
“Are you saying you don’t need that?” Erin replied.
“No, I’m saying you need it more.”
“That’s pretty sexist.”
“Are you denying it’s true?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then you’re delusional,” Stryker replied grimly.
“You asshole!” Erin screamed. She got up and stormed into the house.
“That went well,” Elle murmured.
“She got that from Gramps,” Haley replied. “She always had a bit of temper.”
“Stryker always said her apple didn’t fall from the tree, but that’s the first time I’ve seen it,” Edwards said with a sly smile on his face.
Stryker rose and went into the house behind Erin, caught her in the living room, and spun her around.
“Do you want to start a family?” He kept his voice low and quiet.
“Of course.”
“Do you want to do it by gnawing the umbilical cord off our first born with your teeth?”
“Well, no.”
“I guess this concludes the conversation. We’re going in
tomorrow and trying to make a life with a group that has some chance of having lives that are remotely normal.” He paused, visibly getting his anger under control. “Are you okay with that?”
“Yes, I guess.”
“You know it’s easy being the devil’s advocate and you can always say, ‘I told you so.’ It’s a lot harder to make difficult decisions and try to make them work.”
Stryker walked away and went back out to the patio.
“What did she say?” Haley asked.
“I think she’s okay with it.”
“You guys always fight like that?” Edwards asked. A silence fell over the group. They all glanced at each other but nobody spoke for a long time.
“Only lately,” Stryker finally spat. “It’s late and I need to go to bed.” He got up and walked back into the house, went past Erin in the kitchen, and retreated to the bedroom without a word.
Stryker was half asleep when Erin came to bed. He heard her disrobe and then brush her teeth. She got into bed and snuggled up behind him.
“Let’s not go to bed angry,” she whispered.
“I’m not angry, I’m concerned about what we’re about to do,” he whispered back.
“It will be okay,” she said and rolled away from him.
Stryker lay in bed, unable to sleep but unable to get up without waking Erin. He played through what he saw at the base over and over in his mind. He examined everything he witnessed, replaying every expression they could see from the distance, thinking about the furtive movements of the men who snuck out during the night they surveilled the base. He fast forwarded to the men who left the place the next day, apparently with the blessings of the officer, and remembered they left with side arms.
Erin lay awake on the other side of the bed and wondered what had changed between them. Stryker was not the same after the fight with the man who had bested him. She knew he was shocked that anyone could beat him in a fight, and he was concerned he was making poor decisions. She also understood that he was a proud man, but ultimately a man who assessed things, responded to them after careful consideration, and, in the end, usually came up on the right end of the calculations.
She also knew she was hopelessly in love with him and would stay with him through the difficult times.
Stryker wondered if the fight he and Erin had was going to be a deal breaker in their relationship. She was given to fits of temper, but things felt different between them. He wondered if it was his fault. Had his weakness revealed a side of him she never saw before and created a rift between them that couldn’t be bridged?
“I want to talk,” Stryker said.
“Me too.”
They rolled over until they faced each other, and looked into two sets of eyes filled with doubt.
“I feel like I failed you twice,” Stryker said
“How many of us have died since you came to get us?”
“Well…Sarge.”
“He died of cancer. That had nothing to do with you.”
Stryker thought about it for a moment. “But, we came close a few times.”
“You did. You never let us take a risk.”
Stryker sat up and stared out the window. “I don’t know if I have any good judgement left. I seem to be out of control. That guy who used to be able to evaluate and assess every situation, make a cold-hearted decision, and act on it seems to have disappeared.”
“Maybe that is because you care more about the people affected by the decision.”
“Maybe, but I loved all the men that worked for me, and never doubted myself then.”
Erin sat up, and Stryker saw her breasts fall away from her torso. She was sitting in a back-lighted position from the starlight that lit the sky. Her flanks seemed to glisten in the faint light.
“My God, you are so gorgeous; I don’t think I’ll ever forget this night.”
“Caleb, you have to trust yourself again. We all trust you to make the right decisions and do the right thing. The one thing that will blow this group apart is if you give up on yourself.”
“I’ll do better.”
“You’ve said that before, but the fact is, until you begin trusting yourself again, you won’t do better. The fact is, you are better at getting us through this…whatever ‘this’ is…than any of us.” When he didn’t reply, Erin added, “and I’m sorry I called you an asshole. I didn’t mean it.”
“I know.” He looped an arm over her shoulder. “Maybe I deserved it.”
“You want to kiss and make up?”
“At the very least, and much more.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“There’s no point in taking all this stuff with us,” Edwards said. “Most of it can be stored in the house and if we need it, we can get it later.”
The two men stared down a few years of accumulated gear. The weapons, water, ammo, food, and camping gear all lay in neat piles around the two Humvees.
“I say we reload the trailers with what we’re not taking, and put them in the garage,” Stryker replied after a moment’s thought.
“What’s the point in that?”
“If we ever need the stuff and have to blow town quickly, it would be good to not have to load the trailers while we’re waiting for the bad guys to find us.”
“Good point,” Edwards conceded.
They moved from one pile to the next, had brief conversations, and slowly reloaded the trailer. When they finished, only three smaller piles remained.
They started the final cull of supplies by sorting through the weapons and decided to take nothing but the M-4s and side arms. They put the two A-4 rocket launchers, the remaining C-4 and detonators, and the case of hand grenades in one of the trailers, thought the better of it and divided the weapons so each trailer carried half of the gear.
“What about the food?” Edwards asked.
“They looked pretty well fed to me, but let’s take what we have, or at least as much that will fit into the Humvees. Same with the water. We can leave the rest of it here in case we need it later.”
The ladies joined them at the by the Humvees. Haley and Erin wore their BDUs, and Elle looked, as usual, like she belonged on a runway. Her make-up was perfect, her clothes clean and wrinkle free, and every hair was in place.
“You guys sort through your clothing yet?” Stryker asked.
“We thought we’d see how much room we would have,” Erin replied.
“I guess one small suitcase each,” Stryker replied. We’re not going to take everything, so we should have some room.”
“What are you taking?” Erin asked.
“What I’m wearing,” he replied. “I’m guessing there will be plenty of clothes around the base, both in the stores and living quarters, so I’ll just find what I need.”
Erin grinned. “They may not have much in your size.”
“I’ve gotten by for two years picking up whatever I need, so I’m not too worried about it.”
She shrugged, and the women went back into the house.
“Maybe we should wear our Marine BDUs,” Edwards said.
“Well, it would probably make the guards a little less twitchy,” Stryker said after a moment. “But, it would also give the impression that we’re active duty.”
“You were active duty.”
“I was two weeks away from being medically retired, so I’m going with the idea that the two weeks expired.”
Both men chuckled briefly and continued loading the Humvees and trailers. When they finished, they went back into the house and had more Ramen for breakfast.
“What are we going to do if he tries to place us in his chain of command? Technically, we were a part of the Navy.” Edwards resumed chewing and waited for a reply.
“I guess we cross that bridge when we get to it. If it gets bad enough we just leave the way those two guys did that bugged out during the night.” Stryker shoveled more food into his mouth.
“It probably won’t matter really. What will matter is what kind of officer he
is. I’ve had some good ones, and some real assholes. If he’s a good officer, I won’t mind being in the chain of command. If he’s not, like you said, there’s always a plan B to execute.”
“Well, let’s go finish loading the Humvees and get the trailers into the garage.” Stryker could hear the women chatting as they packed, and Edwards disappeared to the back of the house.
When they were done eating, Stryker passed back through the house and out into the back yard.
“Goodbye for now,” he whispered as he touched the cross over the grave of his wife and daughter. “But, I will be back.”
Stryker stood rooted to the spot, assaulted by memories flooding back.
Suddenly, he felt odd. It seemed as though he were outside his body looking at himself and being a mute witness to what happened next.
He saw his grandfather standing over him and telling him about right and wrong in that gentle voice that was so at odds with his hard nature.
He felt the crushing weight of leadership settle around his shoulders when he had to assume command in Fallujah, and the uncertainty he suffered as he led his men through the hellish time that was his battle.
He saw his wife clearly across the room where they met. She moved slowly toward him, extended her hand, and then she faded from his vision.
Suddenly, he was in the delivery room watching his daughter’s head emerge from his wife’s body. He felt the tears in his eyes and wondered if he was crying at the memory, or if he was really remembering it for the first time. His hand moved to his face, and he wiped the tears from his eyes.
Then he saw Sarge appear before his eyes, first in boot camp all those years ago, and then again as he lay on his death bed, his life slowly draining away.
Then, scenes from his past flew by, like a bunch of movie clips from different films that were accelerated to a frenetic pace.
The scenes slowed, and then all he saw was Erin looking up at him with a concerned expression.
“Are you all right?”
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