Chapter Thirty-Three
Missy enjoyed both seeing and sensing all of Sofia’s reactions as she listened to Major Grimes and looked at the various slides in his presentation which were being displayed on the large screen on one wall.
Sofia was now learning about witches, werewolves and werecats and, like everyone else who got to learn about them, she was amazed and enthralled.
When the major mentioned how Missy was one of the supernaturals which were being described in his briefing, Sofia looked over at Missy briefly with a surprised glance but then looked back at Major Grimes.
“Our Paranormal Branch … only known as “P” Branch by those not cleared to know that name … is the U.S. Government’s agency which has been monitoring these supernaturals for many years,” explained the major.
“Until Missy came along, that was almost always on a non-interference basis. Then, having already provided Missy with some needed assistance … this isn’t part of the briefing but I can’t resist mentioning how that assistance was to prevent her from becoming a vigilante back when she was a teenager.
” This brought several laughs and Sofia once again glanced over at Missy.
“But I digress,” continued the major. “When “P” Branch needed to convince our Congress to continue providing the funding which that agency needed, they opted to do that by demonstrating how potentially useful supernaturals could be.
They asked Missy during her first year at West Point to spend her Christmas break over in Afghanistan. She was in their debt, after all.
“She agreed and she did a recon mission for them, searching for three German civilians who had been kidnapped. She not only located them inside a secret Taliban base but she also rescued them. She got them out of that base and arranged for their successful extraction by helicopter. She arranged for that by using her supernatural ability to communicate with her then boyfriend Mike.”
When the major gestured over at Mike, several of the team members again gave a little cheer, saying, “Hear, hear!”
While explaining all this, Major Grimes had been flipping through a few of his presentation slides containing maps.
These illustrated the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province, the location of the Taliban base which Missy had found and the extraction point where the helicopter had picked up the three German civilians whom she had rescued.
Sofia now said, “I remember when those Germans were rescued. That was a big story back then. And I know that Taliban base you’re talking about was the one which the Afghan military destroyed during Campaign Angel’s Wing.
” She stared at Missy and it was obvious she was trying to understand some things.
Then she said, “I think you need to tell me more about Missy’s supernatural abilities because I can’t imagine how she possibly could have accomplished any of that. Also, is Mike another supernatural?”
Major Grimes chuckled and said, “Mike is not a supernatural but he does have the ability to get mental messages from Missy provided he’s within five hundred miles of wherever she might be.
Missy claims that’s because of their mate bond.
Missy is a Shifter and she did all that recon in her mountain lion form, wearing a GPS collar. ”
Master Sergeant Town now pointed at some photos on the wall and declared, “Here’s what she looks like when she’s in that form.”
Mel then chuckled and declared, “Like that famous line from those Incredible Hulk TV shows … you wouldn’t like her when she’s angry!
” This brought a lot of laughter and even Sofia had to grin.
Then she looked at Missy and asked, “Is that really you? I’m now seeing why all of this is so highly classified. ”
Missy merely shrugged but made her eyes glow with golden speckles which refuted the innocent expression she put on her face. Then she said, “Please ignore Sergeant Jasinski’s comment … she’s got a rather twisted sense of humor and she exaggerates a lot.” Now there were more laughs.
Major Grimes said, “It’s my understanding that they named Campaign Angel’s Wing after Missy. One of those Germans had referred to her as an Angel of Death.”
Now Mike said, “Maybe Sergeant Jasinski’s comments weren’t all that much of an exaggeration.” Now everyone laughed and there were a few more cries of, “Hear, hear!” One voice even asked, “Was that the reason you married her?” Another voice suggested, “Yeah, he wanted to stay on her good side!”
It was obvious how everyone there really looked up to and admired both Missy and Mike.
Major Grimes said, “When the U.S. Government asked Missy to leave West Point after her first year so she could do more recon and provide us with even better Intel, that’s when she joined Team Twenty-Two.
We were merely one of the Special Forces A-Teams who were helping the Afghans back then.
She has remained assigned to our team ever since. ”
“That explains her unique situation … going back to West Point yet somehow earning all those combat awards while continuing to serve with this unit, right?” asked Sofia. She shook her head from side to side in amazement.
“The Army created that whole story about their women in combat study as a cover for Missy’s assignment to our unit,” explained the major.
“As you will learn during this briefing, she along with her witch and werewolf friends, have been helping our government deal with many terrorist threats and have now saved countless lives.” He then went on with his presentation which took more than an hour.
He did manage to bring Sofia pretty much up to date with all the activities which supernaturals had done during the past three years.
When Major Grimes had finished, Sofia said, “I am honored to now know all of this. I am also honored to know each and every member of your team, major.” She smiled and looked around the room.
Then she said, “Your loyalty and heroic actions are such a great blessing for our nation.” Looking at Mike, she added, “And, your commitment to your wife is also truly wonderful, Mike.”
When Sofia then looked at Major Grimes once again, it was obvious she had experienced something deep inside herself with regards to her feelings about him.
Missy sensed this and her empathic ability enabled her to recognize that what had merely been admiration and attraction before would now be leading to a very great romance between the captain and the major.
Yeah, Cupid’s arrow had just struck home inside Sofia’s heart.
Sergeant Major Hernandez said, “Now that you have more background concerning Oliver Bessom and his wife Candace, ma’am, we know you can better appreciate the significance of them being assigned to the Embassy here in Turkey.”
Sofia nodded and said, “Yes, I can. Everyone was horrified when those WIJO terrorists were threatening to behead Candy on live TV.” She shuddered slightly.
“When she was somehow rescued, we all rejoiced at that miracle. Now I understand just how close a call that was and why she must have some very strong feelings about Team Twenty-Two.”
“She will never forget the members of this team who conducted that rescue mission,” said Missy.
“But it was Oliver, now her husband, who enabled us to find her in time. And let’s not forget how my friend Tracy created the diversion we needed by igniting fires all along the perimeter of that village. ”
Major Grimes laughed and said, “It was after our guys saw what Tracy did to that village that the higher ups decided to brief everyone on the team about supernaturals. Up until then, I was the only one who knew about them.”
Looking at Missy, Sofia said, “I can certainly see why Candy’s uncle … that’s General Blake, the CENTCOM Commander, right? I can see why he reorganized this team and made it his quick reaction force. With you as his invisible soldier, that really was a game changer, wasn’t it?”
“And now you understand why General Hingham is so happy that this team is now his quick reaction force,” explained Missy. “We’ve shifted our focus from the mid-East to Russia.”
Sofia grinned and said, “Well your escapades in my native country have been beyond crazy. I’m sorry about that man you were blackmailing so you could be his fake mistress.
His assassination over in Beijing was on the news, even here.
Knowing it was you who miraculously escaped when those three cars exploded … wow!”
Mike said, “Her friend Tracy told Missy’s brother John that his sister may be a cat with nine lives but that, at the rate she keeps getting blown up, those just might not be enough.” Once again, there was a lot of laughter all around the room.
Major Grimes now said, “This concludes the scheduled briefing, Captain. We would like to invite you now to join us down in our mess hall where we can enjoy some delicious steaks. We have those flown in special for whenever Lieutenant McCrea might be back from all her teleporting. She’s known to have quite the appetite and because of her dual nature, she seems to really favor lots of good meat. ”
“Actually, she really loves good seafood as well,” commented Mike. “Although she can be a wild, predatory beast which devours a lot of meat out in the wild, she’s also a cat. Basically, she just likes to enjoy lots of good food.”
Missy stood up with a deep sigh and said, “Actions speak louder than words. All these comments about food are making me very hungry. Let’s get down to the mess hall before all that good food is gone.” She led the way and everyone else was quick to step aside, making room for her to do that.
In the mess hall, a special “officer” table had been set up for Major Grimes, Captain Petrova, Missy and Mike. While normally that wasn’t done since Missy and the major simply ate with the enlisted personnel, having VIP visitors was different.
While they were enjoying their meal, Major Grimes said, “Not only are Oliver and Candace Bessom coming to visit here tomorrow, but another old friend is coming here as well.”
Missy looked over at him and asked, “Really? Who might that be?”
“Sami Massallah,” answered the major. Looking at Sofia, he explained, “Sami is the CIA’s top operative in the Middle East. He has Turkish ancestry and speaks that language but he was born and raised in the U.S. He will no doubt be having Oliver and Candace go on a few secret missions for him.”
“Sami is one of my favorite people,” exclaimed Missy.
Looking at Sofia, she explained, “He was the one who made the call for extracting Ghazi Ahmadi from Iran. We barely managed to do that in time but had Sami not recognized that was needed, Ghazi would be dead right now. Ghazi was Sami’s agent then but he’s now working as a translator at Hanscom Air Force Base for the SOD Group. ”
“Will Sami also be paying a visit to my headquarters like Oliver and Candy will be?” asked Sofia. She knew Lieutenant Colonel Horvath was very excited about Candace coming to visit.
“No, he’ll keep his visit a secret, as usual.
He likes being able to meet with Oliver and Candy here at my headquarters,” explained the major.
“He maintains a pretty deep cover. When he visits the Embassy in Ankara, he does that using one of his Turkish identities and doesn’t let anyone know that he’s a U.S. citizen. No one there knows he’s CIA.”
“Well, I have to say, this day has been quite an education for me,” said Sofia. “Colonel Horvath was surprised when he learned that I was being given special clearance.” Now she actually blushed a little bit. “He’s assuming it’s because the major and I have gone out on a few dates.”
Missy chuckled and said, “Well, he’s one hundred percent correct and don’t let the major try to convince you otherwise.
He probably has a list of good reasons which he will provide to other folks, but those would not be completely accurate.
On that note, Mike and I will leave you two alone.
We’ll see you again tomorrow over at your headquarters. ”
As Missy and Mike walked away, Major Grimes turned to Sofia and said, “I was supposed to present her with that Purple Heart award which came through on Friday while she was over in Russia. I’ll need to do that tomorrow morning.
It’s for what happened to her over in Beijing.
Her buddies Sergeant Jasinski and Sergeant Avalon have already added the second oak leaf cluster to the Purple Heart ribbon on her uniform. ”