Chapter 22
“I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend off because it’s back to work as soon as we land in Montana,” Clint said to the nine members of his new team, plus Van’s crew of four, who were all gathered at the Texas neighborhood’s elementary school parking lot.
They had all stayed in so many different locations, that seemed to be the best place to congregate late on Sunday night.
“When we land at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, Kira and Ashlin, you two are responsible for unloading the little bird. They have two helicopter squadrons stationed there. We don’t need the complication of their crews trying to get a look at our prototype chopper.
It needs to be in the hangar next to Black Swan as fast as possible,” Kayla ordered from next to Clint.
“Piper and Mia are flying tonight. Get our jet inside the secure hangar as fast as you can.”
Clint continued, “We’re going to be bunking together in the new barracks built for a Space Force unit that isn’t there yet. Everyone is on vampire duty until further notice.”
“Same rules are in effect at Kelly Field as well as Malmstrom airbase, as they were in Washington; don’t talk to anybody, no pictures.
, Kayla announced. “Gentlemen, the Ladies are going to be very busy trying to get us out of San Antonio as fast as we can. Would you please deal with getting the bags into the hold? Van,” her gaze shifted to his brother, “Ashlin and Kira will need to check the little bird before you take off.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Van acknowledged.
Clint glanced to his side at Kayla, who gave him a barely visible nod. “Let’s go. It’s about forty-five minutes to Lackland.”
“Feel free to sleep on the way to Montana,” Kayla added. “It’ll be about a three-hour flight.”
Clint was amazed at how, once again, the plan came together, as did the new team. Van’s C5 took off several minutes before they shut down the airstrip, supposedly for the night. Once down to the minimal night staff, Black Swan was scheduled to take off.
Clint sat in the last seat, the one next to him empty. He’d intended for Ashlin to sit beside him so they could snuggle and hopefully get some sleep during the flight. As soon as she was finished with her duties, she came straight to him and took her seat.
“Buckle up and brace for vertical,” Kayla shouted from mid-cabin.
“Oh shit,” Ashlin mumbled as she reached for the seldom-used seatbelts. “I should have known since Mia is the primary pilot tonight.”
Clint felt around for his own seatbelt and found it buried in the crack between the seat and the back. “What did Kayla mean?”
“Be prepared to take a few G’s,” Ashlin explained, “since this is a long runway, Mia is going to race down and get to a speed well above one hundred and seventy miles per hour, which is the normal take-off speed. As soon as the wheels lift off the ground, she’s going to tuck them away, so she doesn’t have any drag.
Then she’s going to pull the nose up so it’s almost vertical and kick these big Rolls-Royce engines into nearly full power.
We’ll shoot almost straight up until we hit fifty thousand feet.
That’s where we fly. Commercial airlines normally fly between thirty and forty thousand feet.
Do you know how to do the AGS maneuver?”
Somewhere in his training, probably back when he was at West Point, he had to learn it, but that felt like a hundred years ago, so he admitted, “I’ve forgotten how.”
“As soon as you hear the wheels retract, take a deep breath, completely fill your lungs, and let it out. After that breath, fill your lungs about fifty percent using your belly muscles and huff out your breath. It’s easy if you just say the letter K.
Flex and release the muscles in your calves, thighs, and butt cheeks as tight as you can.
Squeeze your abs tight, but relax your upper body, especially your chest, neck, and shoulders.
Try to keep your jaw loose. That’s a good way to break a tooth.
You want to keep blood flowing to your head or you’ll pass out. ”
Clint followed every one of his wife’s instructions as the plane defied the force of gravity, shoving his body into the deeply cushioned seat.
The intensity was so strong, he couldn’t move his head to check on Ashlin.
He regretted not taking her hand in his as soon as they took off.
When they finally leveled out, he inhaled deeply and looked around the cabin where several of his men had passed out.
Thankfully, they’d recover within a minute, so he wasn’t worried.
He twisted in his seat, leaned over, and kissed his wife hard. “I’d be passed out right now like several of my men if it weren’t for you. I had totally forgotten that technique.” He gave her a quick kiss, then added, “Thank you.”
She stood up quickly and grabbed his hand as she led him to the bedroom, all the way in the back of the plane.
“I’m already tired, and I have a lot to do as soon as we land,” Ashlin said as she sat on the bed and started to take off her boots. She pulled him down next to her. “We’re just going to sleep, but this might be the last time we can be alone together for a while.”
Clint unlaced his boots with the efficiency and speed of someone who had done it ten thousand times.
His wife had such great ideas. He lay down, rolled to his side so he could spoon her, dropping his arm over her small waist and tucking his hand just under her breasts, the sleep position they’d both found most comfortable in the past week.
He kissed the top of her head. “Sleep well, my love.”
She was very still for several minutes, but he could tell from her breathing that she wasn’t dozing yet. Clint didn’t know whether it was the protector in him or that he simply reveled in the fact his wife was in the same bed with him, but he couldn’t sleep until he heard that steady breathing.
Ashlin rolled over into his body, then wiggled her arms free. He was surprised because she’d never done anything like that before. On the other hand, he only had a few days of being with her to base his astonishment. This was nice, though.
She cupped her hands over his cheeks and pulled his face down until their noses nearly touched. The gold ring in her eyes had doubled in size. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you from the bottom of my heart.” She moved forward until their lips gently touched.
Clint was too stunned to react. His wife had just told him that she loved him for the first time.
At least it was the first time that he heard the words because he was pretty sure that when her team had taken off from their tarmac in Ethiopia, she’d said those important three words.
He never heard them through the glass door or the helicopter engine.
Her warm lips on his moved slightly, and his brain kicked in.
She loves me.
He squeezed her against him and pressed into the kiss, deepening it as he hugged her even tighter.
Ashlin loved him. She’d said the words.
He loved her, too. He wouldn’t have married her back in Las Vegas if he hadn’t had feelings for her.
During their video calls, his feelings had deepened as he’d gotten to know her better.
Sometime in the last several days and nights together, she had filled his heart with something he’d never realized was missing.
Clint broke the kiss and stared into her beautiful, gold-green eyes.
“I love you. I’ve always liked you and looked forward to holidays more because you’d be there.
I fell in love with you during that wild time in Vegas.
Those were two of the best days of my life.
I have to be honest with you; I wasn’t that drunk the night we got married.
If I didn’t have serious feelings for you, I would never have married you.
That fun, crazy you who decided to wear a Betty Boop outfit instead of a traditional white wedding dress was the topper.
I fell deeper in love with you during each video call.
These past several days, I’ve seen another facet of your personality, as a team member and as a leader.
I love that part of you, too. Ashlin Cartwright Riggs, I love you. All of you.”
He couldn’t tell whether he leaned down or she stretched up, but when their lips met in the middle, it felt right. Special because it was the beginning of something new. He could kiss her for the rest of his life. And could because she was his wife.
Ashlin finally broke the kiss. “I’m sorry, but I seriously need to sleep.” She gave him one quick kiss, then rolled onto her side, her back to his chest. Clint pulled the blankets over their fully clothed bodies and wrapped himself around her. She loved him.
“Clint,” she said without moving. “I wasn’t drunk either that night.
I had switched to water before we went up the Eiffel Tower at Paris to watch the nighttime water show across the street at the Bellagio.
I’ve liked you for years, especially after you were such a good sport when Xena and I beat you on the long range that Christmas Eve. ”
He smiled, then whispered into her ear, “I let you win.”
“I know,” she said on a long exhale.
Her next breaths were slow and steady. She was asleep. Clint closed his eyes and inhaled her shampoo and body wash. He was asleep on his next breath.
Clint woke up at the sound of the wheels lowering. He wanted to lie in bed, holding Ashlin forever, but that wasn’t possible tonight. They both had jobs to do before they could lie down and get some serious sleep.
As soon as they landed, a little after three in the morning, Ashlin and Kira dashed out the door before the plane was attached to the tug. He wished he could have watched her operate since Van’s C5 was parked close to their hangar, but the windows were blacked out in combat mode.
Just over an hour later, Black Swan and their experimental helicopter were tucked side-by-side in the secure hangar.
Everybody was dragging, ready to go to bed as they stepped out of the now-protected hangar.
They passed armed guards without a word and trudged aboard a minibus, which drove them through the leaping base to what looked like a high-end hotel.
“Leave it to the Air Force to build their barracks based on the Waldorf-Astoria,” Kayla commented. “Before getting selected for JAFSOS, as a Marine, I slept in barracks that were older than my father.”
“I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but I’ve heard that the Air Force will build the barracks, family housing, commissary, and exchange as the first buildings on a new base, then they go back to the Pentagon and tell them they need more money so they can build the runways,” Mick offered.
“Shhh. Don’t tell our secrets,” Ashlin said jokingly.
“But I will confess that the Air Force takes care of its people much better than what I’ve seen from the other services.
Oh, by the way, the Air Force doesn’t have barracks; we have dorms like a college.
It only makes sense because most of our airmen are college-aged. ”
“The accommodations at the Riggs Corporation aren’t bad at all.” Dog smacked Clint on the shoulder as they exited the bus. “We live better in Ethiopia than on any Army base. Thanks for that, boss.”
“Good to know,” Clint admitted. His family had tried to make it as comfortable as possible for the troops to live in Ethiopia.
Staying in a third-world country wasn’t easy but they tried to add as many American amenities as possible to make it feel like a home.
They took on many missions because no one else would or could.
They wanted their men relaxed the minute they got back to base camp.
He suddenly wondered whether the Olympic-sized swimming pool would be completed by the time they returned home.
As the entire team dragged their butts into their temporary housing, Clint stopped in the foyer.
The place looked more like a fraternity house than military barracks.
The open concept included a large living room with a fireplace, several seating arrangements with televisions in each, and a game room that compared to an expensive arcade.
At the far end was a fully stocked bar with several televisions hanging from the ceiling, rivaling any sports bar.
Each area was decoratively separated by half-walls and open spindles in modern designs.
On the other side was a commercial-grade kitchen.
A restaurant-sized subzero freezer and matching refrigerator sat next to what seemed like acres of marble counters that were coordinated with the blue-and-gray cabinets.
Islands in the same stone as the countertops separated the galley from the dining room, which had actual dining tables like Clint’s mother had in her diplomatic houses.
He was flabbergasted at the luxury.
“This way, Ladies and gentlemen,” their military escort called from the elevators.
“Starting tomorrow morning at zero eight hundred, the chef will be on duty.” He pointed toward the dining room.
“Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served twenty-four hours a day. I was told that you will primarily be working at night, but he is capable of cooking to order.” He handed out room assignments, calling Clint and Ashlin last. “I understand the two of you are married, so I have assigned you one of the senior master sergeant’s suites.
It has a king bed rather than a queen, unlike all the other quarters. Good night, sir and ma’am.”
Clint followed the MP to the outer door and then locked it.
Ashlin had already started checking all the windows and other doors on the main level, closing the blinds and turning off the lights.
Subtle lighting, such as dimmable overheads, was left on in case anyone needed to come into this area before the meeting time.
“Let’s call it a night,” Clint suggested when he met Ashlin in the middle of the room.
“I’m all for that.” She picked up her bags and headed to the elevators. “We have a briefing at nineteen hundred hours, but we’re not needed until then.” She looked up at him with tired eyes. “You won’t hate me if I sleep until then, will you?”
“Never. I’m going to be in bed right beside you.” He looked at the kitchen. “I wonder if they do room service?”