14 October 1989
TASK FORCE ACHERNAR HQ
Williams AFB, AZ
Mantell was on duty in the Communications Center. He'd just made the morning tour of the commo spaces and entered "All systems functioning properly" when the FLASH YANKEE alarm sounded.
He headed over to the teletype that was spitting out a message on yellow paper, waited for it to line feed four times, and pulled off the printout.
He read the message.
YYYY RHMCSUU
U 141112Z OCT 89
FM SECDEF PHILADELPHIA PA
TO ALMILACT
MOD LONDON UK
MOD OTTAWA CAN
MOD SYDNEY AU
MOD CHRISTCHURCH NZ
AFNORTH OTTAWA CAN
AFSOUTH GRAND ISLAND NE
SUBJ//CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES/
RMKS//1. AT 1800Z, A CEASEFIRE WILL GO INTO EFFECT IN THE NORTHERN THEATER.
2. ALL COMBATANT COMMANDS TO MAINTAIN VIGILANCE AGAINST POSSIBLE RENEGADES.
3. THIS WILL BE THE END OF MAJOR COMBAT OPERATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. THERE ARE STILL TASKS REMAINING, PARTICULARLY THE ACCOUNTING AND REPATRIATION OF POWS AND EPWS. THAT SAID, I EXTEND A HEARTY WELL DONE IN PARTICULAR TO ALL PERSONNEL OF THE US, UK, AND COMMONWEALTH ARMED FORCES, WITHOUT WHOSE DEDICATION TO THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM THIS DAY OF VICTORY WOULD NEVER HAVE COME.
4. CARLUCCI SENDS.//
BT
NNNN
* * *
General Downing read the message and sighed. "Well, that explains the phone call I got from Bragg yesterday." He looked up at Mantell. "Try not to get too thoroughly trashed this weekend, Chief. Para 3 refers."
Mantell blinked, then said, "You think we're going to do a rescue mission?"
"It's possible--and only a real threat to invade the place is going to make diplomacy possible. If it goes, I want you on it. Planning, certainly--but if the mission is a go, I want you leading one of the assault teams. That is precisely where you would belong, and I will argue that all the way to the President if I have to. Monday morning at 0730, in the conference room, let's start sketching out the plan."
"Yes, sir."
"In the meantime . . . celebrate. That's an order, Chief."
* * *
14 October 1989
Doubletree Suites
He stepped out into the late afternoon, stopping to savor the golden light on the skyline.
"You OK, Josh?"
Helen's voice.
"Yeah, actually, I am. I'm not going to get too hammered. And . . . well, this is what we've fought four years for. I'm at peace."
"Good to hear. Roberta and I are hosting a little get-together--Jeanna and Debs are coming as well. Would you like to join us?"
"I'd like that, actually."
* * *
Ribald songs were sung, adult beverages were consumed in varying quantities.
At one point, Roberta turned the stereo down, and Helen let out an absurdly loud two-fingered whistle.
Everyone quieted down.
"All right, people, I want to give the floor to a good friend, Josh Mantell, because he's a pretty smart guy and I want to hear what he has to say about What It All Means. Josh?"
Josh stood, and said, "Give me a minute."
60 seconds later, someone said, "DING!"
Josh laughed, and everyone joined in.
"All right. In 1985, we all heard the propaganda: America is weak, decadent, and will surely succumb to superior socialist discipline.
"Wasn't the first time anyone had said that. Won't be the last. Throughout history, martial, militaristic societies have said the same thing over and over . . . and they routinely get their asses handed to them by supposedly weak and decadent adversaries. We remember Sparta as a warrior state--but we idolize Athens as the cradle of democracy and intellectual freedom. Rome may have conquered most of Europe--but they also built roads and bridges still in use two millennia later, and built a body of law that forms part of the basis of our own legal system. We honor Rome as a society where being able to say '
Civis Romanus Sum'--'I am a Roman citizen'--was both a statement of pride and a demand for the authorities to respect the speaker's legal rights.
"England and the United States have been derided as mere shopkeepers and traders by adversaries ranging from Napoleon, to the Confederacy, to the Kaiser, to Hitler and Tojo, to the Soviet Union, nations that exalted military pomp and glory, with leaders who conceived of a society of obedient serfs and exalted leaders--and that they were the exalted leaders because they were obviously smarter and better-looking."
There was a round of laughter.
"They've all learned that we peaceful traders and shopkeepers, schoolteachers and auto mechanics, bikers and academics, whether born with a silver spoon in our mouth or on the wrong side of the railroad tracks, just want to be left alone to buy and sell, teach and repair, ride our bikes or study musty archives . . . and if you insist on interrupting us, martial glory and top-down discipline enforced by secret police are no match for freeborn men and women employing their ingenuity to achieve sheer bloody-minded efficiency at killing the enemy.
"The finest sniper I knew as a Marine enlisted on Day One after dropping out of Bryn Mawr. The first Air Force Special Reconnaissance Officer dropped out of MIT, where she had a full ride scholarship. The best squad leader I knew was a young guy from Watts who just wants to go home and work in his dad's hardware store. Some of you were short timers on Day One; some, like me, had a few years to go; others raced to the recruiter or were drafted; all of us heard the bugle call of duty and marched to the sound of the guns.
"Lenin once said that 'In the end, one or the other will triumph - a funeral dirge will be sung over the Soviet republic or over world capitalism.' Well, good people, you absolute badasses who helped put communism on the ash heap of history, I say screw that. Let the Commies mourn. Let us celebrate. Party on, my friends!"
There was a roar of approval.
* * *
Mantell woke up with Jeanna snuggled on his right, and Debs snuggled into Jeanna's back. They'd made come-hither eyes at him shortly after his speech, and he'd laid off the booze after that.
They'd been content to simply lie in bed together and share their war stories, and hold each other for comfort.
Jeanna eventually stirred, and said, "Good morning."
Debs kissed the back of her neck. "Morning, darling."
Josh chuckled lightly, and Debs blushed.
Jeanna said, "It's OK, Debs. He knows you love me, after all. And we have a date now. November 3rd, at Rancho Cañon. Will you marry me, Debs, my love?"
"Yes."
* * *
16 October 1989
TASK FORCE ACHERNAR HQ
Mantell placed his leave request in Colonel Zens' inbox, then went into the meeting.
A map of Cuba was on the wall. Pushpins covered it like an outbreak of chickenpox.
Zens looked at the map. "Jesus. That many camps?"
Mantell counted pins. "Fifty-three known camps?"
Downing said, "NRO says that's a solid bet."
Mantell looked at the map again--and smiled.
Zens pointed at him. "I know that expression!"
Downing asked, "When warrant officers are smiling, it's usually too late to seek cover." Downing smiled, then said, "Give it up, Mantell."
Mantell said, "The air campaign needed to safely insert teams and extract teams and POWs is going to be indistinguishable from pre-invasion bombardment, sir."
Downing said, "It's been noted."
"And the only way to stop the invasion is on the beach, or not at all. Once we have a beachhead, that's it, we're going to own Cuba lock, stock, and barrel sooner or later."
Downing nodded.
"So, they're going to have to strip the interior garrisons to cover the coastline, sir. We then get a free ride."
"Thing is, NCA wants a full invasion as an option."
"And we still have it,sir. But the POWs are hostages. We're going to have to extract them either before or right at the start of an invasion, sir, or Fidel's going to start shooting them on international TV."
Downing looked at the map for a long moment. "Fifty-three targets, fifty-three assault teams, this is going to make COBRA KAI look like a platoon storming a hill."
* * *
Zens stuck her head in Mantell's office. "Your leave is approved. Back out to Ojai with your friends?"
"Giving Captain MacAllister away at the wedding."
"Her parents . . . ?"
Mantell said, "They don't approve."
Zens sighed. "Damn, that must be rough."
"Well, ma'am, my Dad always told me that love was blind, stupid, and crazy."
"Your Dad was a very smart man."
* * *
November 3rd, 1989
Rancho Cañon
Ojai, CA
Mantell walked Debs MacAllister down the aisle of the chairs. The sun was casting long shadows on the hills and providing a golden, sweet light.
When he reached Jeanna, he took Jeanna's hands in his left, and Debs' hands in his right, and brought them together.
He looked at each of them, and saw eyes shining with joy.
* * *
The justice of the peace was an older gentleman who looked as if he'd been doing this for fifty years.
"Do you, Jeanna, take Deborah to be your wife, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do."
"Do you, Deborah, take Jeanna to be your wife, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do."
* * *
"By the authority vested in me by the state of California, I pronounce you married. You may kiss the bride."
Jeanna and Debs kissed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have the privilege of introducing Jeanna and Deborah 'Debs' Canyon."
The attendees applauded.
* * *
"Josh?"
Josh turned and saw Melissa Canyon. "Ah, ma'am. Congratulations."
Melissa sighed. "Not exactly what I had planned. I need to talk to you for a moment."
She led him off to one side, then said, "I know you and Jeanna and Debs have been . . . intimate."
Josh said nothing.
"A gentleman never kisses and tells?"
"No ma'am, he doesn't."
She nodded. "I understand. Believe it or not, there is a point to all of this. I know you and Roberta and Helen have a past--any damn fool can see that from watching you three interact, so please don't lie about it."
"We do, ma'am. I once dated Roberta, and Helen was her roommate and friend--and I'd known, from various cues, that Helen and Roberta had been lovers before I showed up."
"And I'm sensing you have a past as well."
"Yes, ma'am."
Melissa looked at him expectantly.
"Ma'am, I did a stint at the rehab wing at Vandenberg in '87." He paused, then said, "Psychiatric rehab. Suffice it to say I was a hot mess. PTSD, moral injury, and I was starting to have early symptoms of dissociative identity disorder. They were actually a bit worried about the physical state of my brain--my intake MRI was not good.
"While I was there, I ran into someone I'd known as a TA at my high school through my junior year. Like me, she'd seen and done some ugly stuff. We became lovers while we were there. She died in the RamDyne mess, but she gave me the crucial info needed to take them down. If she'd survived the war, I would have married her. She's buried in Fresno."
"I see. And your relationship with my daughter?"
"Those four women--Jeanna, Debs, Roberta, and Helen--pulled me back from the abyss after Kathy died. Whatever else I might have done with your daughter, i love her very much for helping to keep me from eating a bullet over the past seventeen months. Along with Debs, Roberta, and Helen."
Melissa's eyes widened. "I had no idea."
"Your daughter is a wonderful person, and I can see that you've done an amazing job in raising her."
"Thank you." Melissa paused, then said, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but my brother's here and he wants to pitch a job at you."
"I'm going to Pocatello next fall. Air Force is paying my way through the University of Idaho so I can take a commission."
"That's interesting. My daughter intends to move to Pocatello--she thinks it's going to take off. I wonder if there's a connection."
"Ma'am, all four of those women are Up To Something with respect to me."
"How do you feel about that?"
"I'm okay with them being Up To Something. After all, I do have the final say."
Melissa chuckled. "You don't know Jeanna very well, do you? She's pretty strong-willed."
Mantell smiled. "Ma'am . . . earning this beret doesn't mean you're a robot. It means your willpower was sufficient to overpower your body's limits." He paused, then said, "And I won't sign onto anything that will hurt Jeanna--or Debs, or anyone else."
Melissa closed her eyes for a few seconds and sighed, then opened them again.
"You really mean that."
"Like I said, they've kept me from hurting myself. It would be exceedingly poor form on my part to allow any of them to get hurt."
Melissa let out a delighted laugh, then said, "You really do have a marvelous sense of humor."
* * *
Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III, codename Archangel, approached Josh. "I must say that whatever you told my baby sister, it has certainly set her mind at ease."
Mantell said, "She's just worried about her daughter, like all right-thinking mothers should be."
Archangel nodded. "Indeed. Listen, I want to run an idea by you. I understand you're planning to go into the Reserves. Have you thought about a day job?"
"Computer software development and computer security, sir."
Archangel nodded. "In the private sector?"
"Yes, sir. Actually, I'm thinking of going into business for myself. I've been defending capitalism for four years, maybe I should try practicing it."
Archangel nodded, then took a business card out of his pocket. "Well, here's my contact information if you need a reference. And I'll keep you in mind if my agency should ever need an outside consultant. You'll still have to compete for any contract work, but your resume is extremely impressive for someone so young."
"Thank you, sir."
"Least I could do."
* * *
18 December 1989
TASK FORCE ACHERNAR HQ
Williams AFB, AZ
Downing walked into Mantell's offce, prompting Josh to stand to attention.
"At ease!" Downing smiled, then said, "You're going. If it goes at all, you're going." He handed over a thick envelope. "Read-ahead package for your target. It's a prison camp south of Holguin. Best start saying your good-byes; after the New Year, you're going extended TDY to a facility north of Las Vegas for training."
* * *
December 31st, 1989/
January 1st, 1990
Doubletree Suites
Phoenix, AZ
Jeanna led the countdown.
"Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Everyone drank a toast to 1990.
"It's gotta be better," Helen said.
Mantell nodded.
The party in Mantell's room wound down, and the four women helped Josh clean up. Jeanna looked into the bedroom and saw the duffel packed up.
"Be careful."
"Always am."
Roberta said, "Seriously, Josh. I want you back alive."
Mantell nodded once, and Roberta kissed him tenderly on the cheek. "Be safe."
Helen came up and kissed him on the cheek. "You don't have permission to die."
Debs came next, saying, "Until we see you again." She kissed him gently on the lips.
Jeanna was last. "Come back alive and with all of the parts still attached." She kissed him, then wrapped her arms around him for a long moment.
After taking the trash to the dumpster, Josh went back to his suite and lay out on the bed. He was asleep in minutes.