her band also travel from Bagram to Camp Leatherneck in a helicopter?” she asked.
He glanced up briefly from his mobile device. “All of the singers and their band members will be transported in a Chinook. They’re heavy-lift helicopters capable of transporting up to fifty-five people, so we should be able to get all of the performers in one trip, which means we have fewer helicopters tied up.”
Kate tried to envision Tenley in a military helicopter but failed. She’d be scared to death. She couldn’t picture her gentle sister over here, roughing it. How would she react to the sight of so many uniformed soldiers?
“Here, why don’t you eat something?” Chase said, interrupting her thoughts.
Kate watched as he opened his rucksack and withdrew a large thermos and two cups. He poured them each a mug of steaming coffee and then passed the thermos to the other soldiers. Kate curled her fingers around the cup and inhaled the fragrance of the coffee.
“You had this in your backpack all this time and didn’t tell me? Even though you knew I was dying for caffeine?”
Chase laughed softly and handed her a foil-wrapped Pop-Tart. “I can’t have you thinking I’m a complete dick,” he said, slanting her an amused look. “It’s not a gourmet breakfast, but at least it’s not an MRE.” Reaching into the backpack, he withdrew a treat for Charity and let her eat it from his fingers, rubbing her head in approval when she took it gently.
Kate unwrapped the pastry and took a bite. “I haven’t had a Pop-Tart since I was a kid.”
They ate in silence, and Chase took her empty mug and wiped it clean before stowing it back in his rucksack. At that moment, the helicopter dipped sharply, and Kate would have come out of her seat if not for the harness. She gasped and reflexively clutched Chase’s forearm.
“Relax,” he soothed. “Just a little turbulence.”
But when the helicopter suddenly dropped in altitude and shuddered violently, Kate saw that even the soldiers looked troubled. Charity lifted her head and gave a small whine, but Chase spoke to her gently and she dropped her muzzle back onto her paws. Instinctively, Kate clutched at Chase’s hand, gratified when he didn’t pull away.
“Are we crashing?” she asked, her heart slamming in her chest. “Maybe we should be wearing parachutes or something.”
“Folks, we’re encountering a storm front that’s moving over the area,” the copilot said over the intercom. “We’re going to try and fly around it, but expect some turbulence.”
“You see? Everything is fine,” Chase said, and stretched his legs out and crossed his boots as if there was nothing to worry about.
Kate sat rigidly at his side, her fingers still curled in his, certain that he was wrong, that the pilots were only trying to avoid a panic in the cabin before they plummeted to the earth. Outside the windows, she could see the distant mountains and the dark storm clouds that had gathered on the horizon. She was only mildly comforted by the fact they were flying away from those mountains, and not directly into the storm.
“Try and get some sleep,” Chase grunted. Pulling his hand free, he crossed his arms over his chest and dragged his baseball cap low over his eyes, effectively shutting her out.
Kate stared at him in disbelief. Even if she could relax enough to take a nap, the helmet and flak vest she wore made it nearly impossible to find a comfortable position. Her bottom ached from the angle of the jump seat, and the coffee and Pop-Tart sat heavily in her stomach. Looking around, she saw the other three soldiers had also closed their eyes, seemingly oblivious to the peril surrounding them.
With a deep breath, she sat back and tried to control her breathing, repeating her age-old mantra that when she had no control over the situation, she could at least control herself. But the flight took another nerve-racking two hours, where the helicopter occasionally bucked and dipped, and Kate only barely restrained herself from grabbing onto Chase again. It wasn’t until they began to descend that he finally stirred and opened his eyes, looking rested and relaxed.
“Did you manage to get any sleep?” he asked innocently.
Kate gave him a baleful look, and then saw the telltale dimple in his cheek.
“You know I didn’t,” she said through gritted teeth.
“We’ll be on the ground in just a few minutes,” he said, glancing out the window.
Following his gaze, Kate saw another military base that looked remarkably like the one they had just left. “Are you sure we didn’t just fly around in circles for two hours and land back at Bagram?” she asked doubtfully. Even the mountains on the horizon seemed exactly the same.
Chase chuckled. “I’m sure. Camp Leatherneck isn’t nearly as big as Bagram, but the conditions are actually better. I may have to leave you for a bit while I secure accommodations for you.”
Kate covered her mouth and yawned hugely. “As long as I can have another cup of coffee, I’ll be fine.” Reaching down, she patted her shoulder bag. “I have my book and my iPod.”
They were met on the helipad by two soldiers in a Humvee. As they crossed the tarmac to the waiting vehicle, the wind tore at Kate’s hair, dragging it loose from her ponytail and spraying sand against her exposed skin. Chase tried to shield her with his body, but the stinging wind was relentless.
“Oh, my God,” she gasped when she was safely inside the Humvee. “Are we in a sandstorm?”
Chase tossed their luggage into the back of the vehicle and climbed in beside her. “No. If that was a sandstorm, you wouldn’t be able to walk outside without face protection. This is just a storm front moving in. You can take off the helmet. Here, let me help you with the vest.”
Chase deftly unfastened Kate’s flak vest and helped her remove it. At the same time, the soldier driving the Humvee glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “We’re due for some pretty nasty weather later this afternoon and through the night,” he commented. “And you know what that means.”
Kate looked at Chase in time to see him send the driver a silent warning with his eyes. “What does that mean?” she asked, a frisson of alarm feathering its way along her spine.
“There’s a higher incidence of mortar attacks during bad weather,” he said. “But I don’t want you to worry. Even if we come under attack, the insurgents don’t have the technology to direct their mortars with any accuracy.”
Kate stared at him, appalled. “So a bomb could literally land anywhere on the base?”
“We have a good tracking system. The warning sirens will go off and we’ll have time to get to a bunker.” He tapped the helmet that lay on the seat between them. “But if you hear the sirens, make sure you don’t go out without this.”
Warning sirens? Kate knew her eyes had widened, but she hadn’t really considered the possibility that they could come under attack. “What about you?” she asked. “If I have your protective gear, what are you going to wear?”
“We’ll make a stop at the military supply office. They’ll have a helmet and a flak vest that you can borrow while you’re here, and we’ll review the protocol for how to respond if the warning sirens should go off.”
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