Page 5

LINDA

"S o how was the weekend?" First Lieutenant Tristan Parker, Linda's platoon leader, asked as the platoon gathered in the shaded picnic tables by the company offices. "Everyone refreshed and rested? First Squad?"

"We're good to go, sir," Orkin replied, looking around the table. "What's up?"

Linda didn't mind the unusual post-lunch gathering.

Most Mondays were spent all day in the motor pool, doing maintenance on various pieces of company equipment to make sure that training the rest of the week went according to plan.

And while they'd done that this morning, doing maintenance checks on all the trucks in the platoon, after lunch they were gathered here instead.

Lieutenant Parker glanced at Sergeant First Class Jackson Lincoln, the Third Platoon Sergeant, lifting an eyebrow.

"You didn't spill any beans there, Sergeant Lincoln?"

"Figured you'd enjoy the announcement more, sir," Linc said.

Off duty, Linc wasn't a bad guy. He took mentoring seriously, but approached it more like a seasoned player guiding the rookies. He'd roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty, proving he could still run the plays alongside them.

Parker was more... buttoned-up. He came from a long line of Army officers – mother, siblings, the whole nine yards. Some days, it felt like he bled green, which could be a pain. But he wasn't all bad like Linc, loyalty within the platoon was paramount.

"Why thank you Sergeant, I shall do my best to enjoy it then," Parker replied, giving a sarcastic little wave of his hand. Looking at the rest of the platoon, he shared his news. "This morning we got a unique assignment from Major Kirk. As you know, we need someone to fill in for Hollywood."

"At least until Wednesday. Hollywood's gettin' hitched!" Sergeant Nate Nichols, the second squad leader, called out.

"Good point Nichols," Parker said patiently. "Who here's familiar with Brutus Townsend and his little... dust-up?"

There were hums around the area. Of course a lot of the troops had seen it, the Bluecats were one of the local teams. Every Sunday you could be certain that the Bluecats were going to be on television.

And even if you weren't a football fan, Townsend's near fight with the soldiers in the stands got replayed on television at least a couple thousand times over the next few days.

Linda had seen the whole incident live, and had to admit that she wasn't happy with either side.

Brutus Townsend shouldn't have been trying to start a fight, yes.

But at the same time, those soldiers were in uniform.

What were they doing drinking beer, harassing players, and throwing drinks at people?

Nobody seemed to care about their behavior.

"So what's the deal, sir?" Nate Nichols, the second squad leader, asked.

"The deal is, Townsend's worked a deal with the Pentagon and the league," Lieutenant Parker said.

"In addition to a fine and suspension, he's going to be working with the Army to kiss up and make nice.

Part of that is going to involve us. Seems the Pentagon or the White House or someone above our pay grades decided that the best way to get that relationship started is for Brutus Townsend to spend a week sort of 'interning' with a real unit.

And we're the lucky unit who gets to do it. "

There were groans around the area, none more heartfelt than Linda's. Parker had started off his comments by saying that the platoon had some temporary holes in it, and she knew what that temporary hole was.

Hollywood was on leave.

"Sir, really?" Linda asked, raising her hand. "We're supposed to give this guy a guided tour for an entire week?"

"Not a guided tour, Castellanos," Lieutenant Parker corrected her.

"He's going to be working, sort of a one week internship, on the job.

The Pentagon chose us because we do the kind of basic training Townsend could actually participate in.

He can't fly a helicopter or work on a missile system, but he can learn about basic combat skills. "

"So we're basic, sir?" someone asked.

Parker laughed.

"Hardly. We're good at what we do, and we do it well. Townsend lives here in Virginia, and the Pentagon can keep an eye on us here too. But we're also isolated enough that this won't turn into a press media circus."

"Hooah!" the platoon echoed almost in one voice, and Linda was right along with them.

She knew that most of the hard work would come down on her, but she was good enough to handle it. She knew that she could walk Brutus Townsend through a week as a soldier.

"Good," Parker said. "Now, I shouldn't need to say it, but I'm going to anyway because I'm an officer and we love to hear ourselves talk."

"Hooah!" the platoon replied again.

Parker laughed, relaxing slightly. The man might have been ambitious, he might have been looking at his time in the Army as a career, following in the footsteps of his mother and siblings. And sometimes that caused him to clench up a little, but he wasn't a bad person overall.

"Thank you. So we're not going to have any sort of harassment of Brutus Townsend.

Nobody's going to kiss his ass or try to get him to sign footballs or pose for a thousand selfies for your Instagram.

In fact, his visit's under the same operational security as any other mission, at least until he leaves. Get me?"

"Roger, sir," one of the soldiers said.

"And on the flip side, nobody's going to give him a hard time either," Parker continued.

"There's not going to be any sort of hazing, none of that.

Yeah, he said some stupid shit to our brothers and sisters in uniform.

But let's be clear, most of us have said stupid shit to someone in uniform.

And from what Major Kirk told me, Mr. Townsend requested that he not do dog and pony work.

I hold that in his favor. So we're going to be what we are.

We're professionals. We do the odd jobs that nobody else in the Army is capable of doing.

We're the unspoken elite because of that.

And this is just another odd job that the Army wants done. "

It was glowing but oddly strange praise, and Linda felt warm inside at hearing her platoon leader's words. He was right, they were professionals, and they could get the odd jobs done.

"Now, specifics will be coming down the pipe over the rest of the week," Parker continued. "But for now, know that Mr. Townsend will be filling in Hollywood's spot on the line. So he'll be in Alpha Team, First Squad."

"Sir, a question?" PFC Vincent from third squad called out. Parker nodded, and Vincent continued. "What sort of training will be on the line for that week, if he can't do anything classified?"

"We're Third Platoon, Charlie Company," Parker said.

"Our missions aren't typical Army, you know that.

But that means we can be flexible, and I've gotten permission from MAJ Kirk to do some 'badass' stuff.

So while Motor Pool Monday will be typical, we're also going to go just a bit old school, polish up some of those skills that we don't pay as much attention to as we normally do.

So be prepared to run obstacle courses, do some forest patrols and land nav, and whatever else Major Kirk, myself, Top, or Sergeant Lincoln can cook up over the next few days. "

"Now that's a spicy mix," Linc said.

Linda had to chuckle. The man could be devious with his training ideas, Linda knew. The truth was, the skills that Charlie Company used weren't all that complex. Complacency and boredom could set in just running the same training scenarios over and over.

Linc knew how to toss the occasional wrinkle into the mix, keep things fresh and everyone on their toes.

"The key is to teach Brutus Townsend about the Army and he'll respect us more," Parker said.

"Now I already know we're going to end with a three day of Field Training Exercise that'll cover the weekend.

On the positive side, when we get back the platoon will have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off, a normal Sergeant's Time Thursday, normal Friday, and then a normal weekend. "

"Shit sir, sounds like we're going to have some stories to tell Hollywood when he gets back," someone called out.

Laughter greeted it.

"Sure we can't get Townsend to sign at least one poster, saying something like 'Miss You Hollywood!' or something?” someone else asked.

"I'll mention it to Major Kirk, but nobody below a captain's bars asks for his autograph," Parker said, which included himself. "For now, go ahead and get back down to the motorpool, I'm going to meet with Major Kirk to get our plans hashed out. Dismissed."

The platoon broke up, and started walking back towards the motorpool. As Linda walked, she heard boots behind her and glanced back to see Sergeant Orkin coming up.

"You know you walk louder than half a dozen people, right?"

"Tell that to my first platoon sergeant," Aaron said, chuckling. "Man wanted us pinging when we were in garrison."

"Pinging?" Linda asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that old school power walking thing. Still slips out when I'm trying to catch someone."

"So what's on your mind?"

"Look, El-Tee's got to say what he's got to say," Orkin said. "And we'll bring Brutal Townsend into the squad. But I want to know how you're going to handle it. You okay, or do you need me to sort of hand hold this guy when he shows up?"

Linda hesitated, wondering if she was truly ready for this. The last thing the platoon needed was for her to misstep with a high-profile civilian. Still, she couldn't let her squad leader think she couldn't handle a task, no matter how unusual.

"I've got no problems, I'll deal with him just like he's Hollywood," Linda said. "Why?"

"I just want to be sure. Lot of people are pissed with him after what he did. Also, I'm going to play things a little loose with this guy. El-Tee Parker's right, we're not going to haze this guy."

"That's good."

Up ahead, Linda could see the motorpool, the scent of diesel and oil already reaching her nostrils.

Orkin slowed up a bit. "That being said, I plan on us running Brutus Townsend ragged. He might be a professional football player, but I'll bet you twenty bucks that we can send him back to the rest of his offseason with real respect for the Army."

"You want to make him tap out?" Linda asked, a little surprised.

Orkin did play fast and loose with certain traditions and regulations even, but he was never one to go over the line maliciously. If anything, he always broke the rules for the good of the unit.

"If you mean grind him into the ground, not intentionally," Orkin said, relieving her worries. "We're not going to ask him to do anything we won't put ourselves through. Lead by example, you know?"

"That's the way I do things," Linda said, "and the way that you've always done things with the squad too. So what do you mean in his case?"

"I mean we're going to challenge him, hold him to the standard that we always hold," Orkin said.

"I'm going to need you to help me with it.

You're the fire team leader, and you'll be the one responsible for teaching him how not to get himself killed on all of the tasks that we're going to be throwing his direction. Think you can handle it?"

Linda didn't answer right away, because she knew this was more than the standard request. When a new soldier came to the unit, they'd already had at least six months of military training, if not years of experience being in other units.

Brutus Townsend was a professional football player.

There might be some similarities in terms of physical activity, understanding hard work, and not being afraid to sweat.

But there were a lot of differences, and he couldn't be expected to know any of the skills an infantry soldier would know coming out of basic training.

She wondered if she was really qualified to guide a celebrity through this experience. What if she messed up? What if he didn't respect her authority? What if, worst of all, she found herself distracted by him?

She would have to handle that.

"No... no. I can do it," Linda said. "I'll be able to teach him. Or I'll be able to task it out to some of the other troops in the team."

"Cool." Orkin started walking again. "Then you can be the teacher. But if he needs to be sent to the principal's office..."

"Then you'll be there to have my back."

"Exactly."

Linda hummed, clenching and unclenching her fists in anticipation of the next week's challenges. "Then let's send Brutus Townsend to school."