David Golemon - Ripper

Will Mendenhall had actually worn his Class “A” uniform just two times since his promotion two years before to that of a second lieutenant. As he walked through the reception area for incoming aircraft he noticed for the first time how empty the uniform looked without his old E-7 rank on his shoulders. He missed being a staff sergeant on most days, but now that he had officially been promoted to second in command of the security detachment at the Group, he realized he really wanted to be just a soldier again. As he rounded the corner he saw the four men and two women he was there to meet and escort to the Event Group Complex. The first person he saw caught his attention and he came to a stop thirty feet from the mingling group.

The young black woman saw Will and she smiled. She held the handle of a small rolling suitcase in her right hand and with her left she waved at Will. For his part, Mendenhall turned around to see who she was waving at. When he saw no one behind him but the two crewmen of the Blackhawk that took him to the reception center, he turned back to the young woman who held her smile as she looked the young officer over. Will realized then that the girl had actually been greeting him . He tried to smile and felt it faltering even as he attempted it. He decided he better just do what he came to do and leave the smiles for another time.

“Hi, are you the escort we’re supposed to meet?” the young lady said as she held out her small hand to Mendenhall. He cleared his throat as he tried to speak but quickly decided that he would also abandon that thought. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her gorgeous brown ones. “Hello, anyone home?” she said jokingly as she was joined by a rather stern-looking man dressed in the uniform of a lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army. Finally Will saw the rank staring at him and instead of shaking the girl’s hand, he saluted the colonel.

“Never saw a second lieutenant that would refuse the handshake of a beautiful woman in order to salute an old man,” the colonel said shaking his head.

“I don’t think he’s capable of speech, Dad,” the beautiful woman said as she lowered her hand just as Will raised his to shake. She laughed and tilted her head and looked at Mendenhall. “Maybe we’ll start over later; right now we’re supposed to be met and escorted through to the Group. It seems our security badges have lapsed, at least that was what Director Compton told us.”

Will started shaking his head up and down and then after a few insane-looking minutes he finally found his voice. “Sir, I am here to bring you into the secured area of Nellis. Can you give your identification cards over to this man,” he said gesturing to the crew chief standing behind them. “He’ll run your security clearance and then we can be on our way.” Mendenhall’s eyes locked on the woman again and this time managed a small smile that was returned instantly. He then managed to pull out the folder he had been carrying. He looked at the list of names and then checked them off as the crew chief gathered their identification cards. He noticed immediately that the woman’s name was Gloria Bannister. Then he saw the letters following her name. He stopped counting after sixteen, which all boiled down to the woman having just about fifteen years more education than Will had. And that made her—

“Dr. Bannister,” she said once more holding her hand out when she saw Mendenhall looking at her name on the Event Group recall list. This time Will didn’t hesitate; he shook her hand. Her eyes traveled to the bandage covering his hand and then rose to meet his. That was when she saw a small bandage covering his jawline from just below the ear. “It’s too bad I’m not that kind of doctor; it looks like you could use one,” she said as she released his hand. “You’re new since my last trip back to the Group.”

“Oh, uh, this,” he said looking at his hand. “Just part of the job around here. And I don’t think I’m that new; I’ve been here for six years.”

“Well, I guess we missed each other.”

“They all check out Lieutenant,” the crew chief said as he started handing the IDs back to their owners. The crew chief had to tug and pull Dr. Bannister’s ID from Will’s grasp.

“I’m Lieutenant Colonel William Bannister, young man, and I am supposed to be in charge of this band of fools from the CDC, including my daughter here, Dr. Bannister.”

Mendenhall’s eyes slowly moved away from the now grinning girl to the large man in the same Class “A” uniform he wore.

“Although it’s written into army regulations that anyone, and I mean anyone, above the rank of first lieutenant can make a fool out of second lieutenants, I will forgo that right at the moment. Right now I understand we are needed for some particularly dirty work at the complex, so may I suggest we get to it?”

“Yes, sir, right this way.” Will turned away after placing the file under his arm and with eyes wide shooed the two chiefs away ahead of him.

The young doctor slapped her father on the arm and then placed her arm through his. “You’re just plain mean sometimes,” she said and they both laughed as they followed the scared second lieutenant out to the flight line. “Sometimes I think working too closely with Senator Lee all those years has made you mean at heart.”

The Blackhawk flew for only seven minutes. It circled the ancient hangar where at one time B-25 Mitchells and P-51 Mustangs sat like waiting dragons to take to the war-torn skies of the world. It had been over sixty years since the propeller-driven beasts ruled the air and just as long since the giant hangar had housed anything other than insects and Gila monsters.

The Blackhawk swept the area twice so the security detail surrounding the hangar could clearly identify them. Then it circled to the front of the old hangar and the large rotored craft settled to about ten feet off the desert scrub. Wind and sand blew up and obscured the Blackhawk as it eased itself through the giant and dilapidated hangar door, so it would look to the casual observer to be hanging from only five of the twenty giant hinges on either side. The helicopter hovered for the briefest of moments before the experienced pilot sat it down onto what looked like a cracked and broken concrete center floor.

Suddenly every one of the reactivated Event personnel from the CDC gave out a loud breath when they felt their stomachs heave up slightly as the Blackhawk was lowered down by the massive lift.

As the twenty-seven-ton lift operated on ultraquiet hydraulics, it was hard to tell once your stomach settled if you were still moving or not. Finally the elevator came to a stop and Niles Compton was there to greet his returning team.

Will jumped free of the Blackhawk and then handed the file folder to Niles.

“On behalf of our department, I would like to welcome you back home to Nevada,” Niles said.

“Whatever this is about Mr. Director, I sure hope you can afford my fees,” Colonel Bannister joked with his old friend as he held out his hand.

Niles took the colonel’s hand and shook it. “Good to see you again Billy,” he said looking over at the colonel’s daughter. “Gloria, sorry to drag you back to the Group on such short notice, but budgeting for a full-time disease control staff is a little beyond us.”

“It’s good to be back, Niles,” Gloria said as she waited for their mission to be described to them.

“We have an element in house that needs to be treated with respect, and I trust you to see that it’s analyzed and then, if need be, destroyed after study.”

“Sounds fascinating,” Colonel Bannister said as he followed the soldiers carrying his suitcase toward the elevators. The others followed Bannister.