Tess Awakening (2 page)

“Yes, Sir,” Tess responded, having concluded
that this is as far as the Colonel would go at this time. More of
the same; again, she would have to prove herself as a warrior,
pretty face notwithstanding.

Colonel Reynolds opened the office door and
waved Tess through. The base was fully operational, getting people
and aircraft ready for the operation designed to cut through the
heart of Iraq, and to make a run all the way to Baghdad. In less
than a minute, they walked into a busy hangar. Several troops were
busy readying AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk choppers for
unloading from an enormous transport aircraft.

“Atten-shun!” screamed an NCO, letting
everyone know that the Old Man was on the premises.

“At ease” responded the Colonel. The crew, a
combination of maintenance techs and pilots, stopped what they were
doing as the CO and Tess ascended a platform over the aircraft.

In a powerful, commanding voice, the Reynolds
addressed the group.

“People, I would like to present to you,
Major Morgan Turner. She will command our recon and rescue
squadron.” An appreciative whistle was heard from the back of the
audience. Reynolds frowned but managed to ignore it.

“Major Turner has top ratings on both the
Black Hawk and Apache. She can also fly Kiowa’s. Her assignment is
to lead our recon operations as we advance and to protect the rear
of the armored column and the refueling units. I am sure that all
of you will get to know Major Turner, and that you will provide her
with any required assistance and support to make us the team that
Saddam fears most!” The troops cheered enthusiastically.

“Major, here is Lieutenant Oxley, you second
in command. He will show you around. You will also meet Major Dan
Gardner, who will lead the assault. He will be back from Kuwait
City in a couple of hours. Let me know if you need anything from
me.”

Tess saluted smartly. “Thank you,
Colonel.”

She went through the usual round of
introductions, met her crew, and sat through a preliminary tactical
briefing. The unit had orders to deploy in 36 hours.

All pilots were given 24 hours R&R before
the festivities started. Kuwait City was not exactly Vegas, but it
had nice hotels and restaurants. Better than a tent, anyway. On the
way out, Tess checked out her Black Hawk chopper. Nice machine,
difficult to fly, somewhat unreliable. Just about right for what
she wanted to accomplish: being the warrior she was trained, and
wanted, to be.

Chapter 2

Right out of West Point, Tess married a
fellow cadet, Roger Haverty – but never took his name because she
was too independent to give up that part of herself. Sometimes she
regretted this decision when she got “are you related to General
Turner…” comments.

Separate duty assignments, a lukewarm
relationship, a boring love life, a mutual understanding not to
have children and Roger’s lack of what Tess viewed as a ‘total
commitment to the service’ led to tensions in their marriage.

When she received orders to report for a new
assignment in Iraq, Roger suggested a long weekend in Las Vegas.
Neither of them was particularly interested in gambling, but they
both thought that it would be a good place to reconnect before
facing the Iraqi desert. Roger had arrived one day ahead of her
because Tess had to attend briefings on her new assignment.

Finally getting out of the cab from the
airport, she hurried through the hotel lobby and made it to the
elevator, which was almost filled to capacity by Asian men.

Always practical, Tess was wearing a man’s
white shirt and silky pants, a simple outfit that was comfortable,
revealing her lithe figure and long legs.

She squeezed into the elevator, and the
chatting ceased. The statuesque woman towered by at least a foot
over the diminutive bunch of men. Her perfume apparently
intoxicated them. Several reached into their wallets and attempted
to stuff dollar bills down her bra. Tess was sorely tempted to use
her martial arts skills to plaster her unwanted solicitors to the
four walls of the elevator. Her training prevailed, enabling her to
exercise restraint. She limited her response to a jab of her elbow
on the ribs of the man closest to her. She managed to exit, leaving
her disappointed admirers elbowing each other to get a last look at
the stupendous goddess.

Tess practically ran to the room that Roger
had checked into, eager to fall into his arms. She got to the door
as a valet from room service was removing a cart. She rushed past
him and barged into the room. What she saw initially did not
compute. She thought that she walked in the wrong room. A naked
woman on the bed shrieked, causing the other occupant to come out
of the bathroom. It was Roger, drying himself with a towel.

Tess was speechless for thirty seconds, then
quickly recovered, dropped her small suitcase, and grabbed a lamp
from a cabinet. She yanked the cord and threw the fixture toward
Roger, who barely managed to duck the missile. The woman on the bed
continued to scream, terrified. Tess, in a rage, grabbed the woman
by the hair and around her throat to silence her screams and hurled
her naked out of the door and into the hallway.

Roger recovered, trying to wrap a towel
around his waist, and implored “Tess, it’s not what you think!”
Whereby Tess grabbed a chair and hurled it at him, this time
connecting with his head. Roger fell like a sack of potatoes,
bleeding from a head wound.

Tess was not finished. She tried to grab the
television, but the cord did not give way, and the small cabinet on
which it rested fell forward.

Roger, shocked and bleeding, still on the
floor, screamed “Tess, stop it! This means nothing, I love
you!”

You pig! You lying son of a bitch! Do you
think I am done with you?!”

Roger ran around the other side of the bed,
recognizing that Tess was nowhere ready to take it easy. She
grabbed her bag and whacked him on the head. Roger fell again and
braced for more blows. Tess grabbed another lamp, raised it to
throw it, but was stopped by a strong arm.

A powerfully-built man had come into the room
and restrained the furious female. She resisted, but he locked his
arms around her from behind. She tried to shake him off, but he
continued to immobilize her. “I am pretty sure that security in on
the way up here, and I think we should leave,” said the man.

Tess tried to shake herself free again and
exploded. “Who the heck are you? Go to hell! I need to kill the
bastard.”

Roger had slightly recovered from the
onslaught and plaintively tried to explain. “Tess, it was nothing!
It just happened! It didn’t mean a thing! I love only you!”

Tess relaxed enough to signal she was calming
down. When the man loosened up, she slunk away and lunged for Roger
again. “You spineless wimp! You can’t even lie properly!” She
started to punch him out, causing the strong man to grab her again
and drag her out of the room like a sack of potatoes. Tess
furiously resisted, to no avail. The man lifted her up and
hurriedly carried her to an open room down the hall. He closed the
door, laid her down on her back and straddled over her with a hand
over her mouth.

“Please calm down; you are going to get in
trouble. Relax, I am sure that we can work things out.” Tess
appeared to calm down, but the man did not loosen her. He had seen
her temper in action. Tess resumed struggling, but the man
continued to immobilize her and kept his hand over her mouth.

In frustration, Tess stopped struggling. The
man did not let go, and gently tried to soothe her. “It’s okay. You
will be fine. Just calm down and we will deal with this. You don’t
want to go to jail, do you?”

Tess considered herself a pretty good
fighter, but this man seemed to be made of steel. There was no way
to shake him off. She finally relaxed, and the man, warily,
released her.

Several people rushed to Roger’s room. Tess
could hear the commotion in the hallway, and it became apparent
that Roger did not want any more fuss. He declined to press
charges. He said he did not know the person that attacked him and
his companion. It was probably an attempted robbery. The hotel
security people and the police looked doubtful, but they couldn’t
do much without a formal complaint.

Tess peeked into the mirror in the room and
saw that she looked like a mess. The little mascara she had worn
had melted and streaked on her face. She excused herself, went to
the bathroom and washed her face. She was furious at herself for
showing her emotions to a stranger.

She walked back into the room and stared at
the man, who was now sitting on a chair, turning the pages of a
magazine.

“What gives you the right to get involved in
my life?” she angrily confronted him.

“Hi, my name is Jake.” The man put the
magazine down on the end table. “Perhaps you might want to tell me
who you are.”

“Why should I? I don’t know you, I don’t want
to know you, and at this point I am mad as hell!”

“I can’t blame you if you are angry. If what
happened is what I think happened, I don’t know how I would have
reacted. On the other hand, you could be in jail now, charged with
assault. Frankly, I don’t believe it’s worth it. There are better
ways to handle something like this, and I am sure you will find
them once you calm down and think things through.”

“My name is Tess,” she said. “I didn’t
overreact. Roger, my husband, did an unforgivable thing. I really
wanted to hurt him, but I do get your point. There is one thing
that I can’t figure out, however. I have a black belt courtesy of
Army training, and you are able to immobilize me at will. Who the
hell are you?”

Roger shrugged his shoulders. “I do stuff in
the Army.”

“So do I,” Tess volunteered, but I haven’t
had anyone subdue me in a fight before!”

“It wasn’t a fight, I just restrained
you.”

“Why do you care? Tess exploded. Don’t you
have anything else to do?”

“Correct, at the moment I don’t have anything
else to do. But I do care because I saw you in the lobby, and
frankly, you looked like someone that should not end up in jail
just because you have problems controlling your temper.”

“My, you certainly work fast!”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. If you need a
reason for my becoming involved, I submit that you should never do
anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything
wrong.”

“I heard that quote in college,” Tess
observed. “Was it by a Spanish philosopher?”

“Balthasar Gracian, who lived in 1600’s,”
Jake added.

Tess finally sat and crossed her legs
gracefully, sarcastically adding “So, now we have a soldier and a
scholar!”

“I am a realist who learned the hard way that
it is always better to think before unleashing the artillery. I
submit that in your situation, the objective should be to punish
the person that did you wrong without damaging yourself.”

Jake got up and picked up a bottle from the
small hotel bar. “Look, let’s stop this. Would you like a
drink?”

“Now you make sense,” she responded wearily.
“Scotch on the rocks.”

Jake poured the drink and gave her the glass.
“Do you have a place to stay? You are welcome to take over my room.
I am leaving tomorrow morning.”

Tess sat on a plush chair. “I am leaving too.
I have been deployed to Iraq.”

Jake smiled. “It looks like we are headed the
same way. What do you do in the Army?”

“I am a chopper pilot, assigned to a recon
unit. And you?”

Jake responded vaguely: “I am in
Intelligence.” It was obvious that he would not be likely to
provide additional information.

Tess got up and picked up her suitcase.
“Well, we might meet in the desert sometime soon. I need to go.
I’ve got a few things to do before I leave.”

Jake stood up. “You can stay here if you
like. I promise I will no longer try to restrain you.”

Tess walked out the door. “Thanks, but no. I
suppose I should be grateful to you for keeping me out of trouble.
Thank you,” she said sheepishly and walked out.

***

Tess took the first flight out to New York
and went straight to her lawyer’s office to start divorce
proceedings against Roger.

Roger had left a dozen messages on her cell
phone, begging forgiveness and asking her to meet to discuss
things. Tess was not interested. She was not a forgiving person,
and her attitude on relationships was black and white. Either you
love or you don’t. There was no room for weakness or mistakes. She
was ruthless with herself and anyone who might be ambivalent,
confused or with a propensity to rationalize things. She had loved
Roger, but his failure to resist temptation was unforgivable and
unacceptable. She cut him out of her life immediately and turned
with determination toward the only unambiguous endeavor in her life
— her career.

Chapter 3

Jake Vickers sat in the lounge of a Kuwait
hotel, sipping orange juice. His role in a CIA field intelligence
unit allowed him to wear civilian clothes, and he let his hair be
just a little longer than the standard GI would.

He also knew much about the comings and
goings of key officers in various units ready to depart for
operations. He found out that Tess was coming to the hotel, and he
wanted to see her again. He knew he was pushing his luck, but he
rationalized that if you wish to meet someone like Tess again, you
can’t leave it to chance.

A van stopped at the entrance of the hotel,
spilling a few people in uniform. Tess was among them. As she
headed toward the registration desk, Jake stood up and smiled at
her. “Hi,” he said.

“Look who is here, my guardian!” she
responded.