Of Vital Interest by Frank Demith

Author:Frank Demith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2023-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

12

“Good morning, soldiers,” Chief Provanski greeted, stopping at the table the specialists were sitting at for breakfast. “Did you enjoy the fireworks last night?”

“It was very exciting,” Wafiq said.

“Yes. Every time they shoot at us, I want to go out and kill them all with my bare hands,” Chief Provanski commented with an odd smile on his face. “It makes me very pumped up with energy. So were any of you injured?”

“No, sir,” Aisha answered.

“Oh, well, that is good,” Chief Provanski said. “No paperwork to fill out. Maybe next time we get you a Purple Heart. OK, so today we are going back to work. I have a meeting first, and then we will begin. You can do other things first and then meet me by the supply building at 1000 hours.”

Al Khafaji used the extra time to check his messages. He didn’t find anything of note in his email or junk folders. He tried to find information on the general situation in Iraq, but there wasn’t much available. There seemed to be much more activity in Afghanistan. He shut the computer down and headed over to the supply building.

The four specialists waited for Chief Provanski outside for almost ten minutes before they saw him walking quickly over to the supply building.

“I cannot look for spies right now,” Chief Provanski said, a little out of breath. “You all can go do something else useful for today. I will speak with Sergeant First Class Hermanson about tomorrow.”

The four specialists went back to their quarters to wait for lunch. Al Khafaji was upset that he’d wasted the morning when he might have been able to go out on patrol with Sergeant First Class Hermanson. He needed to find a way to see what was happening outside of the outpost so he could pass information on to his cousin. Sitting around his quarters waiting for something to happen was not good enough for him. He was just going back to the computer room to check his messages when he thought he heard Sergeant First Class Hermanson’s voice outside.

Al Khafaji picked up his rifle and gear and walked outside to see Sergeant First Class Hermanson talking with Staff Sergeant Pederson. He stood still for a few seconds until Sergeant First Class Hermanson waved him over.

“Samir, what are you doing here?” Sergeant First Class Hermanson asked. “I thought you were all looking for spies again with Chief Provanski.”

“We were, Sergeant,” Al Khafaji began, walking closer. “But Chief Provanski had to go do other things and told us to find something to keep busy. Would it be possible to go with you, Sergeant?”

“Sure, why not?” Sergeant First Class Hermanson said, glancing at Staff Sergeant Pederson.

“Fine with me, Herm,” Staff Sergeant Pederson said. “Wouldn’t hurt to have a linguist with us just in case.”

“OK, Samir, you can meet us over at the vehicles at 1300 hours,” Sergeant First Class Hermanson said as he looked at his watch. “Make sure you have at least four twenty-round magazines and bring your rucksack with at least one MRE and a couple canteens of water.

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