Kombat Kids - 23. What's Mine is Mine. What's Yours, Well it's Up For Grabs

After breakfast at the EDF, the boys boarded their buses and were taken to the firing range. The Range Officer gave the boys a range safety briefing and then said; “Today we’re going to give you a demonstration of our weapons and marksmanship, all marines are riflemen first,” he added as if he was instructing Boy Scouts.

The demonstration lasted for 45 minutes or so and ended after an M60 was demonstrated. For the most part, the boys looked bored, which didn’t go unnoticed by the Range Officer.

The Range Officer, First Lieutenant Gibson went over to the Gunny; “What’s with these guys Gunny, they look like they’re about to go to sleep?”

“Well sir, they’d rather be shooting than watching, you know how kids are.”

“OK, the General said we were to let them fire if we had time, it’s 09:30 now so I guess they have time to fire after I explain the weapons to them.”

“Well now sir, you can explain them if you want, but it really isn’t necessary, if these boys were in the Corps they’d all be rated as Expert.”

The Lieutenant looked at Gunny; “Come on Gunny, who you trying to kid? I don’t care how good a teacher they’re daddies are, there is a difference between firing a single shot .22 caliber rifle and M16A3 and you know it.”

“Sir, I think I can speed this whole thing up if you will allow it?”

“Be my guest Gunnery Sergeant.” Said the Range Officer, his words dripping with sarcasm.

Gunny turned and faced the bleachers; Peterson, Hoffman, front and center.”

Jap and Jacky, who just happened to be sitting on the bottom row of the bleachers nearest the Gunny ran over and came to attention in front of him and Saluted. Jap said; “Sir, Squaddies Peterson and Hoffman reporting as ordered sir.”

After the Gunny returned their salutes; ”You two remember the safety briefing the Lieutenant gave you earlier?”

“Sir, yes Sir.”

“Jap I want you to be the operator on the M60, Jacky you act as the A-Gunner, any questions?”

“Yes sir, what are we shooting at?”

The Gunny looked at the Lieutenant; “Sir, what do you want them to shoot at?”

“Make it easy on your self Gunnery Sergeant, how about the hundred meter line?”

Before the Gunny could reply Jap interrupted; “Hey Gunny, how bout we do the 500 meter line? This old pig will reach that far easy.”

The Lieutenant laughed; “Son some of my regular Marines have trouble hitting at that range.”

Jap turned to the Lieutenant; “I don’t understand why sir, this weapon fires the 7.62 mm NATO round with a maximum effective range of 1,100 meters and has a maximum cyclic rate of fire of 650 rounds a minute and a sustained firing rate of 200 rounds per minute. I don’t understand how anyone could miss at only 500 meters.”

The Lieutenant was taken back for a minute by the short redheaded kid before he decided to call the little fuckers bluff; “Alright son, you can fire the 500 meter line.” Just to be mean he added; “The 60 has kind of a kick son, you want a pad to protect your shoulder from the recoil?”

Jap smiled back at the Lieutenant, all boyish innocence; “No sir, if it hurts too much, my mama will kiss it and make it all better.” As he turned to face Jacky he said softly so only Jacky could hear; “Or he can kiss my ass and make it feel all better.”

Jap turned to the Lieutenant and asked; “If it’s OK with you sir I’d like to take a few shots at the 100 meter line just to see how it’s shootin?”

The Lieutenant looked surprised that the youngster knew enough to see how the 60 was shooting before firing for effect. He just nodded his head yes.

Jacky quickly and competently opened the ammunition can and loaded the first round into the 60’s firing mechanism, turned to the lieutenant and nodded that they were ready to fire.

“Ready on the right? Ready on the left?

“Ready.” Jap said.

“All ready on the firing line?”

Once again Jap replied, “Ready”

“Commence firing.”

Jap fired a three round burst in to the target on the 100 meter line, acting as the spotter, the Gunny using a pair of binoculars said; “Low, left, 7 o’clock.”

Jap nodded, more to himself than to the Gunny and adjusted his point of aim and fired another three round burst.

Once again Gunny said, “Low, left just out of the X-ring.”

Jap shifted his point of aim to the 500 meter line and started shredding the target in three and four round bursts. After he fired all the rounds of the belted ammo through the 60, he opened the feed plate cover and him and Jacky moved back from the firing line.

The Lieutenant called out; “Cease fire, cease fire, firearms down actions open, the range is cold.”

The Lieutenant walked over to Jap; “How old are you son?”

Jap smiled at him and said; “I turned twelve the end of December sir.”

The Lieutenant went over and stood by the Gunny and just shook his head while they waited for a PFC to bring the target to the firing line.

When they had the target, it looked like someone had used a shotgun on the bullseye. While there were a few holes in the outer ring of the target, most of the rounds that Jap had fired all went through the center.

The Lieutenant looked at Jap; “You sure you aren’t thirty five? That’s the best shooting I’ve seen in a long time!”

Jap blushed at the compliment; “Thank you sir.”

After Jap’s demonstration, the Lieutenant ran all the Squaddies through each weapon station to give them a chance to fire the various weapons.”

Jap was standing by the end of the bleachers when Lance Corporal Tilden walked up to him and stuck out his hand for Jap to shake. When they shook hands Jap came a way with a piece of paper, not just any piece of paper. This one had a picture of Benjamin Franklin on it.

Jap looked confused; “What’s this for?”

“It’s five percent of my winnings; I figure you could use it to buy you and Jacky some ice cream or something. And, to kind of make up for me being such an asshole on Friday. Oh yeah, it’d be my privilege to serve with you if you were in the Corps, you really are good.”

Jap blushed and got kind of misty; “Thanks man, you don’t know how much I appreciate you saying that.”

After the boys all got a chance to fire the weapons on the range, they were taken back to the EDF for lunch. At 13:00 the boys were driven out to the vehicle testing grounds, a large field with both natural and man made obstacles. When they got off the bus, they all got really excited, parked in front of them were three vehicles; a LAV, a HUMVEE and an M1 Abrams main battle tank. The LAV and the HUMVEE were basically like the ones back at the Unit, it was the M1 that held everyone’s attention, and from the time the boys first saw the metal giant, you could almost hear them popping wood.

Phil turned to James; “Daddy, will you get me one of these, pretty please?”

James laughed, “First of all I ain’t your daddy; secondly, let me think how to phrase it, oh yeah, not no, but abso-fucking-lutely NO!!”

Everyone close enough to hear the exchange between Phil and James started laughing.

The Squaddies all took seats on another set of bleachers and a Marine Captain moved to the front of the group; “Morning men, I’m captain Jacobs, Company Commander of Bravo Company, what you see in front of you are three of the many types of vehicles currently in use by the Marine Corps.” The Captain went on to explain the capabilities of the vehicles and their main use in combat.

After his talk on the vehicles he asked if there were any questions.

Bart Bartholomew raised his hand; “Sir, you said the main gun was a smooth bore, if it hasn’t got any lands and grooves (rifling in the barrel) how is the projectile stabilized in flight?”

The question took the Captain by surprise, very few adults, let alone teenagers as young as Bart appeared to be, ever spotted the fact that the barrel of the main gun didn’t impart any spin to the projectile.

“Good question, what’s your name son?”

“Martin Bartholomew sir, but everyone calls me Bart.”

The Captain thought for a moment; “You ever played darts?”

“Yes sir.” Answered Bart.

“Then you know the fins at the rear of the dart are set at an angle to the body of the dart, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“That’s how the round from the main gun is stabilized in flight. The actual round is smaller in diameter than the barrel of the gun, when it exits the muzzle, what is called a ‘sabot’ (pronounced Say bow) the material that makes up the difference in diameter between the round and the barrel separates from the projectile and exposes the fins at the rear of the round. The fins cause the round to spin giving it stability in flight. Does that answer your question Bart?”

Bart stood where he was for a few seconds with a glazed look in his eyes. All of a sudden it was like a light bulb went off over his head; “Oh I see, Wow that’s neat, thank you Sir.”

After Bart sat down, Mark White raised his hand; “What’s the operating range for the M1, I know you said it has tankage for 500 gallons of fuel, but how far can it go before it runs out of gas?”

The Captain turned to Gunny Mcnaughten: “How old did you say these kids were?”

Turning back to Mark; “That’s another good question, as you know, most vehicles are rated by how many miles per gallon they get, the M1 is rated by how many gallons to a mile it gets. On smooth terrain, it will average about two gallons to the mile at cruising speed, about 25 miles per hour. If it accelerates or is traversing heavy terrain, fuel consumption increases to three or four gallons to the mile, cutting down on the distance it can travel before refueling is necessary.”

By the time the Q&A session was finished, the Captain was exhausted; “Jesus, he thought to himself, I sure am glad we don’t have groups like this one come through here too often.”

The day went on with a quick run to the Navy Exchange where the boys bought souvenirs and pigged out in the exchange Food Court. At 17:00 the boys were all packed and boarding the busses for the trip back home. After leaving the Base, the busses picked up the families and headed east getting on I-90 for the trip over the mountains.
(http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/snoqualmie/default.aspx?imgparam=6)

Half way up the west side of the Cascades, it started snowing, by the time they hit the summit of Snoqualmie Pass, there was already eight inches of fresh snow on the ground and much more was expected. Heading East down from the pass, visibility was down to about 200 meters and the busses were moving at ten miles per hour. What should have taken four hours for the whole trip was now up to six hours and they were only a little over half way home. Listening to the radio, the announcer was saying that this was a surprise storm that no one had expected, the storm had already dumped four more inches on Snoqualmie Pass and at least another foot was expected to fall. James and Matt discussed the situation and decided to stop in Ellensburg, the way the Interstate was getting; he didn’t want to take a chance on getting stranded. An hour and a half later, the three busses pulled off the interstate and found two motels along the main street that had vacancy signs still lit.

James took one and Matt took the one next door to it. Between the two motels they were able to get enough rooms for everyone on the busses.

Luckily, the rooms came with two Queen Size beds in each, The Squaddies were assigned six to a room and the families that made the trip were given a room each to themselves. After getting everyone fed, it was time for bed. The Squadies were told to get some sleep and to keep the noise down to gentle roar so the other motel guests wouldn’t be bothered.

Mark and David White, Carson McMillan, Phil Martin, Jap and Jacky Hoffman all shared a room. The boys discovered that the couch in the room folded out to a double bed so Jap and Jacky took that one. The other boys paired up with their partners on the Queens.

The boys were all tired so they stripped to their skivvies and got into bed, David and Phil were spooned together and were just falling asleep when they heard; “Damn Jacky, watch your teeth will ya?”

The other four boys broke out laughing, sympathizing with Jap because Jacky had only recently gotten braces and was having a hard time with them.

Phil and David hadn’t made love since they were attacked last summer, mainly because Phil was still having problems, both physically and mentally. So no one was more surprised than David when Phil reached down to David’s cock and gently fondled him, causing David to throw wood almost instantly.

David shuddered from the feelings Phil was giving him; “You OK Andy?”

“Yeah, I am, I forgot how much I love touching you, here roll over on your back for me.” Phil whispered.

David rolled so he was laying flat on his back; Phil grasped the waistband of David’s shorts and pulled them off under the covers. David’s cock felt like steel covered in velvet to Phil as he gently jacked him off. David took a deep breath when he felt Phil’s mouth engulf his dick and moaned softly. Phil sucked and licked on David’s cock for only a few minutes when the first burst of cum hit the roof of his mouth, Phil swallowed quickly taking all that his lover could give him until David gently pulled his lover off his rapidly softening cock. David pulled Phil to him and kissed him deeply, crying softly all the while.

Worried now, Phil asked; “Are you OK Davey, I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No man, I, I ... I, just, I’m just happy we did this. I’ve been so worried about you, I didn’t know how to ask, I mean I didn’t know if you would ever want to love me again.”

“Oh man, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t know.... I just wasn’t thinking....” Phil started sobbing, soon tears burst from his eyes and deep racking sobs were heard by all of the boys in the room. The other four boys quickly moved to Phil and David’s bed and started comforting him; they all knew he was having bad dreams stemming from the rape. The boys didn’t know what to do, Phil’s crying got worse and he couldn’t talk. Jap put on his trousers and boots, grabbed his blouse and left the room. Two minutes latter Jap entered the room followed by James and Matt.

James went over to the bed David and Phil were on and knelt on the floor beside Phil, he put his hand on Phil’s shoulder and gently squeezed; “Phil calm down, you have to calm down, it’s alright you’re safe and so is Davey. Please calm down ...” Over and over James spoke soothingly to Phil, trying to bring him out of the mental anguish and pain he was suffering. After trying for five minutes to calm him down with no results, James turned his head to Matt and nodded.

Matt picked up the room telephone and punched in three numbers, after a minute or so Matt said; “Doc? This is Matt; we need you in room 307.... I’m not really sure .... It’s Phil Martin; umm yeah he seems to have lost control and can’t stop crying.... OK, see you shortly.”

While Matt was talking on the phone the other boys and James had continued to try and reassure Phil he was safe and that they all loved him and that no one was going to hurt him. While they were still working to calm him down, Matt punched in another number; “Bill? Matt, I think you need to get up to room 307... No... please, just you, and quickly.”

Less than a minute later there was a knock on the door, Matt answered it and Bill Martin walked in dressed in a T-shirt, sweat pants and house slippers. Seeing his son on the bed crying uncontrollably, he put the safety on the pistol he brought with him and handed it to Matt before hurrying to his boy. With the exception of David, the rest of the people surrounding Phil backed off to let Bill get to his son. David on one side, Bill on the other, the two engulfed Phil. Both his father and his lover continued to hold him, soothe him and try to calm him down. The boys backed away and just watched, ready to help but giving Bill and Davey room. The five of them wishing that Launy Prince was there with them so they could beat him, hurt him and yes, even kill him for what he had done to their friend.

There was a knock on the door, James answered and a tall distinguished man entered; “ What’s going on James?”

James quickly briefed the doctor and told him that nothing they had done seemed to help in calming him down. The doctor opened his bag and pulled out a hypodermic needle and a vial of liquid; he broke the seal on the top of the vial and filled his hypo. Dr. Davidson walked over to the bed, wiped Phil’s shoulder with an alcohol swab and injected him with the sedative, within five seconds Phil slumped onto David’s shoulder unconscious.

Davey laid Phil gently back on the bed and covered him with the blanket, sobbing softly, running his hand through his hair and stroking the side of his face. Bill watched the boy quietly, finally knowing that his son and this boy were truly in love and that their ages mattered not at all.

Bill turned to James; “What happened, he seemed like he was happy when we got here, why’d he loose it?”

“I don’t know Bill; first I knew there was a problem was when Jap came pounding on our door. When we got here, we tried talking to him for awhile but nothing we said got through to him.”

Bill turned to a naked Davey; “Son, what happened, can you tell me, please?”

David finally realized he was standing in front of his lover’s father naked, he quickly grabbed his trousers, turned away from Bill Martin and pulled them on before saying anything. “Mr. Martin, I don’t know how to say this easily, but Phil and I just had sex and I.... ummm.... I.... started crying and Phil asked me why. This was the first time me and him had done anything since... well since last summer and I told him I was crying because he made me so happy, because I’d been afraid he was 'sob’ afraid he... he wouldn’t ever want me any more.” David started crying, tears running from his eyes and a big honker of snot dripping from his nose.

James spoke sharply to him; “David, control yourself, it wasn’t your fault, didn’t your councilor tell you this might happen to you or to the both of you?”

David grabbed a wad of tissue from the box on the nightstand and blew his nose “Sniff, yeah, sniff, he did, sniff... but no one said this would happen, sniff.”

Bill walked over to David and pulled him into a hug, whispering to him so only he could hear; “Easy Davey, it’s not your fault, I know you guys were having sex before what happened last summer, it didn’t mean nothing to me then and it don’t mean nothing to me now. You boys love each other, ‘sigh’.... that’s what lovers do, give themselves to each other. Don’t make me have the Doc here put you out too; Phil wouldn’t have come back as much as he has if it hadn’t been for you loving him like you do. You got to be strong, you have to keep it together... for the both of your sakes, please... for Phil, for yourself, and for me and his momma.”

David looked Bill in the eyes; “I’m sorry I’m such a baby, I just couldn’t help it when he wouldn’t stop crying, please forgive me.”

“God Damn it son there ain’t nothing to forgive, I told you I understand about you lovin him, and I do. It don’t matter to me if he loves a boy, I see the love you two have for each other and it’s just as real as mine is for his momma. Promise me, promise me you’ll be strong for him, our family will support you and I know yours will too, so please, be there for him.”

Yes sir, he’s mine and I won’t let him go. I promise you I’ll be there for him. Thank you sir, thank you for being so understanding.”

Bill grasped his son’s boyfriend and kissed him gently on the forehead, turned away and sniffed as he wiped his eyes; “Damn sinus colds, can’t never seem to get rid of them.”

Now that David had his emotions under control the doctor bent the needle on the hypo and put it in a plastic Coke bottle he carried in his bag for use as a ‘sharp’s’ container and returned the vial to it’s holder in the bag. He looked at David; “You need to keep an eye on him tonight, he should sleep for eight or nine hours, but to be on the safe side, someone needs to watch him in case he comes to earlier. If he does and doesn’t remain calm call my room, 227 and I’ll be right up.”

With that, the doctor said goodnight and left. James turned to the boys; “Are you guys OK, I know this was no fun for you but I’m proud of the way you handled it. Jap that was quick thinking coming and getting us, good job.”

Bill looked at the boys; “You men done good, Phil’s momma and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.’ Bill Martin hugged each of the boys and left saying he had to talk to his wife and tell her what happened.

Matt thought for a minute; “David, you going to be up to watching over him?”

Before David could reply Carson spoke first; “We got it covered Matt, we’ll watch the both of them so don’t worry none.”

Matt and James smiled; “OK boys, if you need anything, we’re down in 101, goodnight guys.”

Throughout the night at least one of the boys was awake watching over both David and Phil, the night passed with no further problems. At around 07:00, Jap was on watch; he had just checked on his two friends and was sitting close to the TV with the sound down low so it wouldn’t bother anyone when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up he found Phil looking at him, before he could get up, Phil sat down along side of him and hugged him; “Thanks man, thanks for being such a good friend.”

“Aww you woulda done the same for me, besides I wanted to watch the news and see what was happening with the storm.”

“I guess I lost it last night, huh?”

Jap looked at Phil for a few seconds before replying; “Yeah ya did, you scared the piss out of everyone, we just couldn’t get you calmed down. After I went and got James and Matt, Matt called your daddy and he comes charging up here with that big ol horse pistol of his. It got real exciting here for a few minutes.”

“Jeez I’m sorry, I don’t know, I... “

“Listen asshole, you go ga ga on me and again I’ll put you to sleep and I won’t use no needle.” Jap threatened while shaking his fist in front of Phil’s nose.

Jap’s fist caused Phil’s eyes to cross trying to keep it in focus; “Whoa dude, I’m cool, I just.... I just wanted to thank you is all, that and to ask ya what happened after Doc Davidson knocked me out?”

“Not much, your daddy and David talked awhile, it was kinda funny, David was holding you on one side and your dad was on the other, all you were wearing was your skivey shorts and David had on his “Dress Skin’ outfit until he realized he was standing there talking to your dad. Boy, you shoulda seen him drag his trousers on after he remembered all he had on was skin, actually, it was kinda funny watching him jumping around on one foot trying to get his pants on, then almost falling on his ass.”
Phil turned a nice shade of red; “Oh fuck me till it hurts, dad’s going to kill me.”

“Ooof”, Phil woofed out after Jap punched him lightly in the belly.

“What’d I tell you about calming down, huh? I ain’t going to go through the same shit I did last night;” Jap started crying softly, “Man you really scared me, please don’t do that no more, please?”

Phil took a couple of deep breaths; “Sorry Jap, I’m OK, I just.... I just worry about mom and dad.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about them, I don’t know what your dad said to David cause they were whispering, but before he left he hugged David and kissed him on the forehead, so I kinda think the only thing your dad was worrying about was you.”

Just then they heard someone yawn, turning to see who it was the boys found David watching them from the bed.

David yawned again; “Hey bud, how they hangin?”

For the first time since Phil tripped off the line last night he smiled; “Loose and full of juice, how about you?”

David got out of bed and walked over to where Jap and Phil were sitting and plopped down alongside his boyfriend, he gave Phil a quick kiss on his cheek and hugged him.

“Davey, I.... “

David took Phil’s face in his hand and kissed him on the lips, when he broke the kiss he looked Phil in the eyes; “Before you say one thing, I’m going to tell you the same thing Jap just told you. If you loose it I’ll put you back to sleep, but I won’t use any fucking hypo to do it.”

Phil sniffed but was able to keep his shit in one sock; “I’m OK, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about last night.”

David nodded; “Fine, you’re sorry, apology accepted, let it go for now, we’ll talk about it later when we get home, OK?”

Phil gave David a weak smile and nodded his head yes.

The rest of the boys were waking up and complaining about the one thing that’s close to all teenage boys’ hearts, FOOD! After everyone showered shit and shaved, well maybe not shaved, they left the room to look for some breakfast. When they got down to the motel lobby they found Matt sitting in a chair with his cell phone talking to someone. When he noticed the boys he gestured to the other seats and held up one finger to tell them to give him a moment. After talking for a little longer, he turned the phone off and looked at the boys; “Let me guess, breakfast?”

Jap got out of his chair and knelt before Matt bowing his head on the floor with his arms stretched out in front of him; “Yes oh great leader of many, boys, your humble servants are hungry, FEED US!”

Matt and the boys laughed at Jap’s antics; “Arise cretin, me being the wonderful person that I am, I will lead you to the land of milk and honey.”

“Yeeeeccccck!” Mark said, “that sounds kind of funky for breakfast.”

“OK wiseass, how bout bacon, eggs and hash browns?”

With James in the lead, the men and boys went through the front doors of the lobby and across the street to a Perkins Steak and Cake restaurant. When they entered, the hostess looked at the boys who were all dressed in their MarCams; “What, are we being invaded?”

Matt chuckled; “No but in a little while you might think so, would you seat the boys and then ask the manager to come see me?”

After getting the boys settled in a booth and giving them menus the hostess picked up a house phone and after a second spoke into it. She replaced the handset and walked over to Matt; “Mr. Mashburn will be with you in a moment sir.”

“Thank you.” Matt replied.

Several minutes went by and a short chubby middle-aged man appeared from the back of the restaurant; “Good morning sir, I’m Kevin Mashburn, how may I help you?”

“Good morning Mr. Mashburn, I’m Matt Bateman and I have a group of people I need to get fed. They should start rolling in here shortly; the boys will all be dressed like those six over there.” Matt pointed at the boys already seated in a booth. “There’ll be a large group of adults also, I want them to have whatever they want, but, I don’t want them charged for their meals. Pulling out his wallet, Matt handed Mr. Mashburn an American Express card. Please use this to take care of the bill, I think we’ll be on our way later this morning, if not I want to work lunch the same way.”

Mr. Mashburn looked at the card for a minute; “I see no problem sir, can you give me an idea on the number of people you have in your party?”

Matt thought for a moment; “The last figure I had was 224, but you better plan on 240 cause some of our kids may decide they didn’t get enough the first time through.”

Matt watched Mr. Mashburn, you could almost here him thinking about what the members of the Unit and their families were going to do for his profit margin. Mr. Mashburn smiled and personally escorted Matt and James to a table.

After breakfast, James and Matt were heading back to the motel when they heard a helicopter approaching from the southeast. Due to the snow that was still falling, neither one of the brothers could see the aircraft until it was almost overhead. After hovering for a few seconds, the big chopper, one of the Blackhawk variants used by the site, flew sideways to the right of the motel and started to land in the field along side the motel parking lot. After the chopper landed one of the aircraft crewman jumped down and waded through the knee high snow over to Matt and James; “Good morning gentlemen, I’m looking for Sheriff Martin, would you know him and if so, can you tell me where to find him?”

Matt glanced at the restaurant across the street; “He was in Perkins’ just a few minutes ago, he was just finishing breakfast when we were leaving. I’m Matt Bateman and this is my brother James, can we help you with something?”

The crewman smiled; “I’m Jim Targus, I’m in charge of air operations for the Medford Site. I’m glad I bumped into you two, after I contacted the Sheriff; I was going to look for you. We got a major problem back at the site, Moreland and the surrounding area. I’ve been directed to contact you three and at the very least bring Sheriff Martin back to Moreland, preferably with one or both of you accompanying him. This snow storm has caused major problems, there are large numbers of people unaccounted for, people who we suspect got caught in the storm and we need to get the Sheriff back so he can coordinate with the local and state authorities to get emergency services going.”

Matt looked at the airman; “I can understand why you need the Sheriff, but how do we fit into the picture?”

The crewman shrugged; “I’m not really sure sir, all I know is that the Site’s Emergency Command Center has been activated and your brother is a member of it. As for you, I was just told to see if you were available, and if so to bring you along.”

As the snow continued to fall, James, Matt and the air crewman started walking toward the restaurant, just as they got about ten feet from the entrance, the door opened and Bill, Beth and Phil came outside.

James introduced Jim Targus to Bill and explained to him what was going on.

Bill nodded his head; “OK, let me get my family back to the motel and I’ll be ready to leave. Turning to James and Matt; “How bout you two, you coming with us?”

James answered for the both of them; “Yeah, we’re going to need fifteen or twenty minutes to get things set up here, I figure George Townsend can handle everything here.”

Targus looked at James; “George is here? We’ve been trying to contact him for the last twelve hours.”

Bill turned and looked at the restaurant; “He and his family are still eating breakfast, listen I’m going to take my wife and son back to the motel, I’ll wait for you in the lobby after I get them settled.”

Jim nodded his head; “OK sheriff, I’ll go in and talk to George.

James and Matt agreed with Targus; “While you’re talking to him, we’ll go find another one of the parents to take charge of the Unit and brief the Marine Corps drivers on what’s happening and get one of the Marines to come with us. We’ll meet up with everyone in the motel lobby.”

Back at the motel, James went to the rooms shared by the Marines and Matt found Martin Howell; “Marty, we got a problem here; Matt, Keener Webb, George Townsend, Sheriff Martin and I are being flown back to Medford. Will you take charge of the Unit and maintain control over the situation here? I'm leaving Gunny Mcnaughten to help maintain control, but I need a non-military parent to be in charge.”

“Sure James, not a problem. Have you talked to the marines yet?”

James nodded; “Matt’s taking care of that now. Listen I don’t want any of our people or their families worrying about paying for food or lodging.” Saying that, James handed Martin his American Express card; “Just get me receipts from the motel and Perkins, Matt’s telling the Marines not to budge from here until they’re absolutely sure it’s safe to do so. According to Jim Targus, the Air Boss from the site, there’s a lot of people lost out there and I don’t want any of ours joining them.”

James, Matt, Keener, George Townsend and Sheriff Martin met in the lobby, Jim Targus was waiting for them when they arrived; “Ready Gentlemen? OK, we have clearance to use the Hospital landing pad to offload you once we get to town, there should be a Patrol vehicle waiting on you four, and Sheriff, a Sheriff’s Unit will be waiting for you. If there are no questions please follow me.”

As you can expect, a large black helicopter landing in the middle of a city caused a lot of people to gather, a good potion of who were Squadies and their families. Once the five men boarded the aircraft, the pilot ran the jet turbines up to speed and pulled pitch. Being a typical hotdog chopper jockey he put on a little show of how capable the Blackhawk is by leaping into the air and almost instantly disappearing into the falling snow. The spectators followed the flight of the chopper by the sound of its engines, when silence finally fell once again the crowds broke up and headed back to shelter from the continuing storm.