Grit and Grace

CHAPTER ONE “I don’t remember anything like this being in my horoscope today.” Lucy thought wryly as she ran across the arid terrain. Thirty yards more and she’d be protected by the row of rocks. Adrenalin propelled her as she leapt to safety behind the nearest boulder. “Oomph!” expelled from her lungs at hitting the hard ground. Trying to catch her breath, she inhaled sandy dirt. It tasted awful. Unfortunately, she had no spit to spit out the grit. Off to the side she thought she heard “Lucy stay down!” Lucy had long since learned to listen to the angels around her. She flattened herself as close to the ground as possible. Suddenly a body slid in next to her kicking up a thick cloud of brownish yellow dust. “Are you hurt?” A hushed male voice asked. She managed a “no”. The male voice asked another question. “How many are there?” “Three.” She answered, then corrected herself. “Two now.” “Are Wedo and Dahms okay?” He continued gathering data from her. “Yes, but Dahms was starting to look pale.” She was concerned he might be having a heart attack. “Rhino one this is Peacock one. One target is down. I have the priority package. She says there are two inside with the parcels.” His voice sounded familiar as she listened to him report. A few moments passed till he spoke again. “Roger that Rhino one.” Silence ensued for several minutes. Lucy shifted to peek around the rock they were behind. The military man moved with her keeping her body shielded. In this position, she could see the majority of the open area where the mobile unit had stopped. A group of men in desert camouflage descended as one into its rear shadow. “Roger that Rhino one. I see you moving into place.” He spoke in a low tone. Lucy saw one of the soldiers stealthily stepping along the side of the vehicle. He stopped to the side of the door. A few hand signals were made to the rest of his team. They swung around to flanking positions to their leader. Lucy feared they were going to storm inside the vehicle. Would Wedo and Dahms duck out of the way or be used as human shields by their captors? “Lucy breathe!” the man pressing into her commanded. She’d been unknowingly holding her breath. The director must have yelled action. One of the two remaining captors opened the door to call in Arabic. The soldiers were statues. As soon as the captor stepped outside to see what had happened to Lucy and her guard, the assault ensued. Yelling and shots could be heard. Then all went quiet. “Roger Rhino one I read you—all clear.” The soldier stood. Lucy saw the American soldiers step out of the unit with Jack and Willie. “Ma’am?” His hand reached down to help her stand. Finally facing her protector Lucy gasped “Jed!” Jed immediately spoke into his headset. “This is Peacock one. How far out is the chopper?” Lucy took hold of his offered hand while he waited for a response. “Roger that. Have the doctor on stand-by. Peacock one out.” She stood, or at least tried to. The desert floor pitched unexpectedly causing her to fall against the well muscled marine. “Take your time. You probably have a concussion.” Jed said compassionately. After righting her, they walked from behind their natural shield. They met the group mid way, but Lucy didn’t stop. She continued towards the mobile unit. One of the soldiers blocked her path. “Ma’am it’s safer here.” Lucy looked around to identify the commander. “Rhino one?” She approached the man who had led the charge. “Yes ma’am, I’m Lieutenant Brawn.” Rhino one responded. “I need to see how much damage has been done inside the unit.” She told him the purpose. The lieutenant declined her request. “No ma’am.” “Excuse me lieutenant?” Lucy asserted her authority. “I have to assess the damage.” “No ma’am.” Lieutenant Brawn was not going to willingly yield to her. Willie Wedo interjected. “Lieutenant, I’m afraid she is correct. The unit must be assessed and the computer system shut down.” The lieutenant spoke to Willie. “Sir, then you can do that, but Seeir is not going inside with that dead body.” Lucy held her venom tongue. Willie rubbed his face as he spoke. “Well lieutenant there’s a problem with that. I am one of the mechanical engineers on this project and don’t know how to shut down this computer system securely.” “One moment please.” The lieutenant said to step away from them. He put his hand to the mouth piece of the headset. Lucy could only guess he called his commanding officer to find out what to do. Lieutenant Brawn waved her and Willie over. “Ma’am I apologize. I was not informed of your rank. Sergeant Major Warloc escort Seeir to the Armadillo.” Her title as staff or project expert had never been put that way before. And she’d spent plenty of time with the military over her twenty year career. But then again this was the first time she’d ended up in combat. Sergeant Major Jed Warloc escorted her to the vehicle. On the short walk, she asked him about what had transpired. “What happened on the radio for Brawn to cave?” A smirk crossed the marine’s handsomely weathered face. “Well he was told your equivalent civilian ranking would be somewhere around a lieutenant colonel. And you were not to be, excuse the language, fucked with.” She shook her head in amazement. He stopped momentarily at the door into the unit. “Are you okay with this?” She answered him with a glib remark. “Not like the highest ranking officer here can chicken out now.”