Friday, Day Five—Flagstaff, AZ to Yuma Proving Grounds
Friday morning everyone was up at 6am as usual. At breakfast, Lee noticed the soldiers were very solicitous of Amanda—especially Unwin and Taylor. Unwin followed her with puppy-dog eyes. Lee figured he had a crush on Amanda. ‘Must be the cookies,’ he thought.
Amanda just thought the guys were being nice. “Gee, this is the end of our trip—after lunch we go to—our destination and you guys go off to do whatever it is you’ll do next,” she said.
“Actually, we’ll tag along with you to your destination,” Sikes said to her. “I’d like to see how that RV operates.” Sikes looked Lee in the eye.
“It will “operate” just fine—you’ll see,” Lee said—he recognized a challenge when he saw it.
“I’ve heard they have a few surprises in store for you, Stetson,” Sikes goaded.
“Is that so?” Lee was cool and supremely confident.
Amanda decided to end the testosterone contest. “This has certainly been an interesting trip,” she said, changing the subject.
“Especially the tornado,” Taylor took up the thread Amanda had thrown out.
“Yeah, though once is enough for me,” Amanda said shakily.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Sikes announced to the group.
Once on the road, Amanda and Lee plotted strategy.
“Lee, what can we expect for the test?” she asked—she was worried it would be more than she could handle.
“Probably something similar to what we went through on Sunday. I expect they’ll brief us and give us our objective. We’ll drive in and encounter resistance—and we’ll have to get through that and gain our objective.” Lee was matter-of-fact about it.
“Will we have to shoot at people?”
Lee shook his head, “I’ll be doing the shooting, you’ll be driving.”
“Yeah, but will anyone get hurt?”
Lee sighed. “Amanda, it’s a war game. Generally we don’t shoot up our own guys.”
“But I remember reading about some soldiers being hurt during some war games a couple years back.”
“Accidents do happen—but they won’t today.”
“Lee—I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Lee rubbed his eyes, “Amanda—you just drive—it will be OK.” He tried to sound reassuring.
She sighed, “I hope so.”
Valentiner and Taylor ended up together and were in the lead vehicle. They stopped and got an elaborate piece of Navajo pottery for Amanda. It was a vase about six inches high, multi-colored and etched with geometric designs and was signed by the artist. They had it wrapped in a nice box with good padding and–on Unwin’s suggestion—got a thank you card for her.
“We’ll all sign it and then give it to her at lunch,” Valentiner said.
“This should give her something nice so she can remember the trip,” Taylor said.
“You think she’ll stick with that jerk, Stetson?”
“She’s more stubborn and determined than he is. And she knows how to handle his crap. She seems determined to stick with him,” Taylor shook his head.
“She could do so much better,” Valentiner replied sadly.
“I hope that Melrose guy knows what he’s doing,” Taylor said darkly.
“Not our problem, man,” Valentiner ended the conversation.
As the morning wore on, Amanda was coping with the drop in elevation. At first it was manageable—but soon she had to shift into second, and then low gear as she navigated a stretch where the altitude dropped over 3000 feet into a broad valley. It was beautiful but the winding road and elevation drop necessitated her attention on the road and not the scenery. She noticed several “wild truck” ramps and hoped the RV’s brakes and transmission held. Otherwise, that would be them and then they would miss the test.
Going back up out of the valley, the RV was slow, but ran OK. Just past the top they all stopped at a gas station.
After her rest stop, Sikes took Amanda aside and asked her about the RV’s handling.
“Well, it’s really slow going up hills—it’s so heavy. Downhill it’s a bit scary in places—but the brakes and transmission seem to be holding OK. I’ve been using the low gears a lot,” she told him.
“That last stretch was the worst,” Sikes reassured her.
“That’s good,” Amanda was relieved.
“How are you holding out?”
“Oh it’s OK. I’m doing fine,” she smiled at his consideration.
“No really—Stetson leaving you alone?” Sikes was concerned for her.
“Huh?” Amanda was puzzled.
“He giving you a hard time, or anything?” Sikes clarified.
“Oh no. Lee has been pretty mellow all week—considering.” She smiled reassuringly.
“If that’s mellow, I don’t want to see him riled up.” Sikes growled.
“Well, he was shot on Sunday and he couldn’t drive for three days and then I think he overdid it a bit driving yesterday—but we’re both looking forward to the test.” She finished brightly.
Sikes shook his head. “You’re a saint to put up with that guy.”
“He would say he has to put up with me, so I guess it evens out,” she replied pragmatically, with a shrug.
Sikes leaned in conspiratorially, “I wanted to give you a heads up—the guys got together last night and will have a little something for you at lunch. You made a big impression on them.”
Amanda was touched, “Oh, that’s so sweet—I didn’t do anything—really.”
Sikes shook his head again, “And that’s what makes you a real lady. Oh—I’m not supposed to know—but I overheard them talking about it earlier.”
“Will they be in trouble?” Amanda was concerned.
Sikes smiled, “Maybe I’ll chew them out a bit—but nothing they haven’t dealt with before.”
“Amanda!” Lee called out from the door of the RV. “You ready? We’ve got to keep moving here!”
She called back “OK Lee, I’ll be right there!”
Sikes had more to say, “Ma’am, I just want to say it’s been a privilege guarding you this week. Your partner is a jerk, but you’re a real lady.”
“Thank you, Captain, you’re sweet to say that. Except Lee and I aren’t partners—I just help out from time to time.”
“Whatever you say, ma’am.”
Amanda went back to the RV.
In the RV Lee was suspicious of the Captain. “What did Sikes want, Amanda?”
“Oh he just wanted to know how the RV was handling going down the mountains.”
“You’re doing fine—you know how to use the lower gears—I’ve been watching and you did just fine. Did he give you a hard time?” Lee was being protective of her.
Amanda smiled. ‘He does watch out for me. Now if he could just have some better manners…’ she thought. “No Lee,” she replied. “He was very nice. He said it was a privilege guarding us this week.”
“Really?” Lee was skeptical. “What did he actually say—tell me straight.”
Amanda grinned. “He said I was a lady…” she paused for effect, “and you were a jerk.”
Lee chuckled, “That sounds more like it. Sikes is lucky I don’t report him for the breach of security that first day.”
“Lee, he was just trying to be nice to his men,” Amanda temporized.
“Nice can get you killed if you are careless.”
“But nothing happened, Lee. We’re almost there.”
“Yeah, which is why I won’t report him.”
There were more wild truck ramps before they hit Phoenix—but Sikes had been right—it was easier than it had been earlier.
They stopped for lunch in Quartzsite, at a small diner off the interstate. There were two Army personnel inside waiting for them at a large table, a Colonel and his driver.
Sikes and his men saluted, and the Colonel saluted back. “At ease, men. Be seated.” He indicated to Lee and Amanda to sit next to him. Lee sat next to the Colonel and Amanda sat next to Lee. The rest of the men sat also.
“We’ll eat first, then we’ll confer.” The Colonel said.
They all ordered and ate their lunch. Once the dishes had been cleared the Colonel handed two folders to Lee. Lee glanced at them and handed one to Amanda—they were identical.
“Stetson, Mrs. King, this is your objective,” the Colonel explained. “You will drive the vehicle south on 95. There is a road into the proving grounds. We’ll have an escort to get you to the start of the test. There is a road that will take you to your objective, and then you will attack. You may or may not encounter resistance. How you deal with any resistance or any obstacles is up to you. This is a live-fire exercise—but all army personnel will be adequately protected.”
“Oh good,” Amanda said. Lee shot her a look. She looked back down at her folder.
“We’ll give you some time to study your packets and plan strategy. Then we’ll pull out.” The Colonel stood.
“Thank you, Colonel,” Lee stood as well.
“I’ll see you at the objective. I’m observing.” The Colonel saluted the soldiers, and turned and left with his driver.
“Let’s get back to the RV so we can read and plan strategy, Amanda.” Lee was anxious to get started.
“Hold on, sir, ma’am, if you can,” Taylor stopped Lee.
“What’s up, Taylor?” Lee asked.
The soldiers surrounded Amanda. Sikes stepped back and pulled Lee back also. Lee looked puzzled.
“Ma’am,” Unwin said, “we just wanted to give you a little something to remember your trip by. So we all chipped in and got this for you.” He thrust a box into Amanda’s hands.
“Oh you guys! That’s so sweet—but I’ll remember you all without any gift. You’re a pretty memorable bunch of guys. I’d never really gotten to know any Green Berets before this week. I can believe you are the best of the best.” She smiled at the soldiers.
“Open it, ma’am,” Taylor urged.
Amanda sat and pulled out the card—she read it. “You guys are very sweet. Thank you.” She opened the box carefully. She pulled the vase out of the box and unwrapped the packing. “Oh my gosh! This is too much…” she was overwhelmed.
“Ma’am, just take it. We don’t have any use for it and we can’t return it,” Valentiner said.
“It’s Navajo work. To help you remember where fry bread and Indian Tacos came from,” Taylor said.
Amanda placed the vase carefully on the table and threw her arms around Taylor.
“I’ll always remember you guys!” She hugged each of the men in turn. Unwin hugged back a little too long and Lee was wondering if he needed to intervene. The she hugged Valentiner, and he pulled her into an embrace and kissed her soundly. Now Lee was angry.
“Hey, watch it, soldier,” Lee warned menacingly.
Amanda looked surprised. Valentiner was smug. Unwin looked lost and sad.
Valentiner spoke, “Been wondering what that would be like, ma’am. You sure didn’t disappoint.” He seemed pleased with himself.
Lee grabbed Amanda’s shoulders and pulled her away from Valentiner. “Keep away from her, soldier!” he said threateningly.
“Lee?” Amanda was surprised and pulled herself out of his grasp. “It’s OK. You don’t need to protect me here,” she said calmly.
“Cool it, Stetson,” Sikes said. “The lady’s not upset—so just back off.” Sikes came and hugged Amanda also. “Thank you, ma’am for making this assignment more enjoyable. Even if your partner is a jerk.”
“We’re not partners,” Lee and Amanda said in unison.
“Doesn’t seem like that to me,” Taylor replied dryly.
Amanda put her hand on Lee’s arm, and he swallowed his sharp reply.
“Thank you all for the lovely gift—and for accompanying us this week. It’s been fun.” She smiled again at them all.
“Yeah” Lee said warily, “it’s been … interesting…”
“You guys got time to study and plan your attack. Better get to it.” Sikes said.
Amanda re-wrapped her vase in the packing material and put it carefully back in the box. Then they all went out to their vehicles.
They gassed up and Lee and Amanda sat in the Vigilant and read their files. After a while, Lee spoke, “It looks pretty straightforward, Amanda. We go in—follow the road to their town and attack.”
Amanda was studying the map they had been given.
“Lee?” she questioned.
“What?”
“This map—it shows terrain and elevations.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Do we have to follow the road?” she asked.
Lee looked up at her, “What are you getting at?”
She spread out the map on the floor and they looked at it together. “Look here,” she said, “the road winds around a lot and there are a couple of places where it narrows between high bluffs or hills or something.”
“Yeah, I see that—nice place for an ambush.” Lee observed.
“But look here,” she followed a dry wash with her finger, “this is flat and it winds out of the way—it isn’t the road—but it could get us to the town—it would take longer and we’d come in on the back side…”
“Yes we would,” Lee said positively. “Look again—is this test being timed—anything say anything about achieving our objective within a certain time frame?”
They both went over their files again quickly.
“I don’t see anything like that,” she said after a few minutes.
“Me either. Amanda—I think you’ve got a great idea there. This thing is supposed to handle rough terrain. The worst we can do is to get stuck in the sand—but it’s a wash so it should be pretty hard—except for the banks.”
“I’m willing to try it—and I’m driving,” she said hopefully.
“It will depend on where they start us.”
“But there are a couple places—here and here—we can go off the road to get to the wash. And right here, the road and the wash cross.”
Lee nodded. “We’ll plan to go off the road there. If we can’t go there, we’ll try for one of those other places later.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said enthusiastically.
“Sure does,” he matched her enthusiasm. “You ready for this?”
“Oh yeah. I’ve had four days of practice—five really because Sunday was pretty exciting and challenging, too. How about you?”
“No problem. I’ll be glad to get it over and get back to DC. This weird road trip is a bit too normal for me. Not that I haven’t appreciated the lessons in American Family Dynamics,” Lee chided her.
“No parties, no nightclubs, no girlfriends, huh?”
“You and Valentiner sure looked friendly back there.”
She blushed. “He was just saying thank you for the cookies, Lee.”
“If you really believe that, Amanda…” Lee warned.
“Well, I’ll never see him again after today, so it doesn’t matter,” she said dismissively.
“Amanda, you’ve gotta watch out for these opportunistic types These soldiers only want one thing—then they’re off to their next mission.” Lee was trying to be protective.
“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience…” she arched her eyebrows at him.
“A—man—da! I’m just trying to make sure they don’t take advantage of your good nature. You’re too nice for your own good, sometimes.”
“You ate the cookies too, Lee.” She replied quietly.
“That’s different …” He seemed at a loss for words. “We’ve gotta get going. Let’s make one last pit stop before we go.”
Amanda wasn’t fooled at all. “OK Lee, whatever you say,” she said—quietly laughing at him inside.
They drove south on 95 until they stopped at a road block inside the proving grounds. A Lieutenant and several soldiers were waiting for them in jeeps at the junction of two roads. They all stopped and got out of their vehicles.
The Lieutenant saluted Sikes, who saluted back. He addressed Lee and Amanda. “Sir, ma’am—this is the start of the test. You’ll take that road,” he pointed to the left-hand fork, “to the objective.”
“Sir,” he addressed Sikes, “You and your men will take that road,” he pointed to the right fork, “to the observation area. Good luck.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Lee replied. “See you around, Sikes.” Lee held his hand out to the Captain.
“Yeah—see you, Stetson.” They shook hands.
“Goodbye fellas. Thanks for everything,” Amanda said to the Green Berets.
“Thank you, ma’am,” they replied.
Lee and Amanda got back into the Vigilant.
“Let’s get going, Amanda. I’m anxious to see that Colonel’s face when we come in from a totally different direction and trash his town.”
“OK Lee.”
They took off down the road—Lee carefully watching the map and matching the terrain. When the road crossed the wash, they turned off and proceeded along Amanda’s “secret” route. When they were more than half-way to the town, their radio crackled to life.
“Attack force to Vigilant.”
“Vigilant here,” Lee responded.
“Are you proceeding toward objective?”
“Yes, attack force.”
“Are you experiencing mechanical trouble?”
“No, attack force—all systems are A-OK.”
There was a pregnant silence on the radio.
“Where are you, Vigilant?”
“We’re proceeding toward objective. Vigilant out!”
Lee and Amanda laughed at the consternation of the attack force.
“I guess they planned an ambush and are wondering why we didn’t show up,” Lee said.
“Too bad, they’ll have to wait a bit longer,” Amanda replied.
A few miles later Amanda pointed to a shape on a distant hill.
“Look Lee, is that a tank over there?”
He peered through the binoculars. “Yes it is, but they’re facing the wrong way to see us.” He checked the map. “The town is just beyond that hill there. Wanna have some fun?”
“What do you have in mind?” she asked warily.
“A missle up their butt. We have three—we can afford to use one here—just for fun.” Lee was gleeful.
“Don’t hurt anybody, Lee.” Amanda warned.
She kept driving slowly. Lee went back and armed the Vigilant’s missile systems. He entered the tank’s coordinates and primed the system—then launched the missile. It hit just short of the tank and exploded behind it in a ball of fire.
“Take that, you guys!” Lee shouted in triumph.
“Heads up, Lee. We’re heading into town.”
They drove into the back of the town, Lee firing and Amanda driving. They shot up several buildings—one of which exploded nicely.
“They must’ve had explosives placed inside,” Lee said.
Two tanks came at them from the other side of the town, firing guns—but they were a ways away and their fire was ineffectual. Lee managed to use his two remaining missiles and demolished their objective—a brick building in the center of the town. Then he fired the guns on the tanks just for good measure.
The tanks stopped and the radio crackled to life. “Congratulations Vigilant—victory to you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Amanda replied.
“We did it, Amanda!” Lee shouted.
“I knew we could,” she replied.
Lee moved up to the passenger seat and grabbed her hands. “Your little detour did the trick!”
“Thank you, Lee. I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt, that’s all.”
Lee smiled at her and shook his head. “Only you, Amanda. Only you.”
Back at the command and observation area, Lee and Amanda got out of the Vigilant to see the Army brass, Sikes and his men and Billy Melrose.
“Sir!” Amanda was taken aback. “I didn’t know you’d be here!” She was embarrassed.
“When my people are key players in a major weapons test, I like to be around to see their work. I missed the last time, and I didn’t want to miss out on this one.” Billy explained.
The Colonel stepped forward and saluted Lee and Amanda. “Sir, ma’am. Congratulations. We’ll meet and discuss the action. Then you’ll be escorted to the air strip and flown back to DC.”
Lee did most of the explaining—showing them the map and how the dry wash got them to the back end of town—and thereby avoided the ambush the Army had planned at the two points the road passed between bluffs.
“That was a good plan, Stetson,” the Colonel remarked.
“It was Amanda’s idea,” Lee said.
Amanda looked surprised. She didn’t expect him to credit her so easily.
“She didn’t like the idea of anyone getting hurt,” Lee explained with a smile.
“Well whatever the reason,” Billy said, “it was a good plan.” He smiled at Amanda.
“Thank you, sir.” Amanda smiled shyly back.
“Yes, you’ve both earned your bonus,” the Colonel said.
“Bonus?” Amanda asked.
“The Army is awarding you each a bonus of $500 for successfully completing the mission.”
“Wow! Thank you sir!” Amanda was overwhelmed.
They spent several more hours discussing the test and the drive from DC to Yuma. The Army personnel were especially interested in Amanda’s account of how the Vigilant handled and wanted to know if there was anything that might help make it easier to operate.
“Cruise control would help,” she replied.
Late in the afternoon, Lee, Amanda and Billy were driven to a nearby Air Force Base and they boarded a KC135 tanker bound for DC.
“You’ll be home after dinner, Amanda,” Billy said.
“That’s great, sir,” she replied. “It’s been a fun week but I really missed my family. It will be good to get back home. And Lee will be able to get back to his parties, nightclubs and girlfriends.”
“Hmmm?” Lee looked up from one of his black books. He had been contemplating his weekend and who he could call on short notice on a Friday night.
At the base near DC there were two Agency cars waiting for them. Billy escorted Amanda to one and helped her with her luggage. “The driver will get you home, Amanda. Thank you for your good work this week. I know it couldn’t have been easy on you.” Billy said by way of apology.
“Oh it was fun, sir. The soldiers were very nice and they even gave me a gift,” she said brightly.
“Amanda,” Lee piped up, “they were just trying to make points with you.”
She chuckled and confided quietly to Mr. Melrose, “Lee’s peeved because they said he was a jerk.”
Billy stifled a laugh. “Well, was Scarecrow being a jerk?”
“He was cranky now and again—but mostly it was OK.” She replied quietly.
“I trust you’ll be available should we need your services again, Mrs. King?” Billy asked.
“Of course, sir. I was surprised. Nobody tried to shoot at us—well except for the war game but that was planned. The worst we encountered was the tornado. But that was pretty scary,” she said earnestly.
“I think I can safely say you won’t have to worry too much about tornadoes in the future.” Billy was reassuring.
“Thank you, sir.” She called out to Lee by the other car, “Goodbye, Lee. Have a nice weekend!” she smiled and waved brightly at him.
“Yeah, you too. See you around, Amanda.” Lee got into the other car.
Billy had an idea. “Can you come in Monday to fill out your mileage sheets? I might also have some clerical work for you.”
“Of course, sir. I’d be happy to help out in any way I can,” she said.
“Have a good weekend—we’ll see you Monday.” Billy waved as he went to the other car.
“See you Monday, sir.” Amanda got into the car and it drove off to take her home.
Billy got into the other car with Lee.
“Well Scarecrow, you and Amanda made a pretty good team this week.”
“Can it, Billy. I’ll admit her idea of taking the detour to the town was good—but otherwise it was a long week. Six Green Berets and Amanda King.” Lee shook his head.
“Well your country appreciates your sacrifice,” Billy smiled. But he knew Scarecrow and Mrs. King were now permanent partners as far as he was concerned. And it couldn’t be better in his eyes.
“Say Billy,” Lee asked casually, “are there any open assignments in Sweden?”
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.