The Story Begins (17 page)

The captain failed to restrain himself and threw a punch. Jaden was faster. Dodging the blow he quickly grabbed the captain’s fist and twisted his wrist, forcing the captain to bellow in pain. “Sit down, Captain!” he said solemnly. Even as he was making the demand, he could not fathom why as he wasn’t actually expecting a captain to heed the words of a second lieutenant. Of course neither had he been anticipating an assault attempt by the captain. To his surprise, however, the captain fought not but yielded and did as he was told. Then, quite suddenly, there was a change in the captain’s demeanor and color. He went pale and became acquiescent.

Jaden was immediately reminded of Lieutenant Johnson, who had also gone pale quite suddenly. This sudden change threw Jaden off but he quickly regained his bearing when it appeared the captain was not about to have some kind of an epileptic attack. Looking at his watch and seeing that five minutes still remained in the break, and not hearing any footsteps approaching the class, he asked the captain, “What branch of the Service are you in, Captain?”

“Field Artillery,” he replied meekly.

“Of course you are. Why aren’t I surprised? No wonder you strike me as also being one of those impossibly benighted soldiers who actually truly believe that a real soldier does not need sleep and can survive on a five-minute power nap, and then be good for another 72 hour period. You probably also believe that you’re stronger than the elements and are so hardcore that you’d happily do physical training even in the face of a tornado because you think yourself a
real
soldier, and that’s what
real
soldiers do, you bird-brained fuck! We have a few minutes remaining in the break and I’ll be using them to rest my head. If you ever cross me again, my dear Captain, rest assured that you’d be safer in hell than if I were to lay my hands on you. Now, we’ll pretend as though none of this ever happened.”

The lieutenant then walked away. But rather than return to his seat, which was to the front of the classroom, the captain being closer to the rear, Jaden opted to seat himself where he could keep an eye on the captain’s activities, if any; human beings, in this day and age, had become somewhat insane and very unpredictable, he decided. He concluded that sitting to the rear of the captain would afford him a better vantage point.

The captain, though not as he might have imagined, did actually succeed in getting his way. Jaden, in fact, did not rest his head upon the desk thereafter but rather kept an eye on the captain for what little had remained of the break. And though after all was said and done neither one had won on his own terms, it did appear that the lieutenant was in far less agony than was his adversary. Verily, not resting his head was no more than a slight discomfort for Jaden compared to what was happening to the captain, for whatever had befallen the latter had left him pallid.

Unbeknownst to Jaden, that same entity which had made itself known to Johnson had revealed itself to the captain and had slowly drained his life essence; the intent not being to bring forth his demise but to create pain within his being sufficient enough that he may reconsider what he ought to do with the days given him, for she said, “In thee, promise I see. Awaken thy heart lest ye come to know, by mine own hand, a death without end.”

A
DAY LATER–THE TRIP DOWNTOWN. Following Frau Steinberger they walked to the train stop which, conveniently, was across the street from Sullivan Barracks. She taught them how to read and recognize the stops posted on the ticket dispenser, as well as how to purchase tickets from the machines.

They didn’t have to wait long before the train arrived.

On the train Frau Steinberger entertained a plethora of questions from the curious Americans, making the train ride a short one.

Their tour of the city started at an old Baroque castle now principally used by the University of Mannheim. From there they visited book stores, department stores, and the main train station, which, Frau Steinberger explained, was a gateway to anywhere in Europe they may wish to travel.

They also visited a statue of Bismarck, which wasn’t located too far away from the main station. After the statue they decided to travel back towards the heart of the downtown area for lunch. Though they could certainly have had a meal at the train station as there were several fast food restaurants on the premises, the group wished for an authentic German meal, prepared as though it were home cooked. Frau Steinberger knew precisely just where to take them.

When they had arrived, because the lot of them had heard so much of a food called schnitzel, just about everyone ordered the same meal.

A
FEW HOURS LATER: Satiated and weary after having spent several hours exploring downtown, they decided to make their way back to Benjamin Franklin Village. Some of the soldiers had commenced to walk back by the way they had initially followed once off the train; however, Frau Steinberger called out to them, redirecting their course, and led them through the main shopping strip, which they had not as yet visited.

As they sauntered along, nearing the train stop, which lay across the street at the end of the strip, Jaden, walking along leisurely near the rear, came to a sudden halt. With mouth agape, his eyes were transfixed on the edifice that stood not too far off in the distance across the street. The edifice was a brown structure, a tower, complemented by a lovely little park as a backdrop. He regarded it with curiosity for it seemed so familiar. He felt as though this was a place he knew; a place to which he had been before. “I’ve been here,” he said. “But that can’t be because I’ve never been here before now.” Intrigued, he stood there for what seemed like several minutes, entirely forgetful that he traveled with a group, staring at it.

Suddenly he remembered that he was not alone; that he ought to keep pace with those he traveled with, certain that, unwittingly, the collective had left him behind. Breaking free of his reverie and intending to catch up to the lot of them, he discovered to his utter amazement that the group had not moved an inch farther than he; he was precisely where in the group he had been when mesmerized by that which he looked upon. This certainly was curious. He was indubitably certain that he had remained standing in place for at least a couple of minutes, if not actually much longer. So why had the group not moved at all? It appeared as though everything around him had remained still while he had looked at the structure and then breathed life again when he had broken free of the enthrallment. Not understanding what had just occurred, he decided to set it aside momentarily. Walking up to Frau Steinberger rather hurriedly, he asked, “What’s that structure over there across the street?”

“Oh, that’s the Water Tower, or Wasserturm, as it’s called in German. The park behind it is a nice place to spend time in the summer, or whenever the weather is splendid. The lighting and water display at night is breathtaking. Once you learn your way around, you really ought to come and experience it,” she told him.

“Thank you, Frau Steinberger,” he said courteously. “I believe I will.” He knew not why he found the structure fascinating and was left perfectly confounded by its effect on him. Then his mind returned to pondering why the group had not moved, not even by an inch. Unless he had taken leave of his senses, no one could ever have convinced him that he had not stood in one place long enough for the group to not have left him.

He wasn’t sure why but the unexplained happening had awoken very vague memories of what he believed was an imaginary friend and wild fantasies he had had as a child. Though uncertain as to what exactly it was, he believed that the Water Tower signified or correlated to an event that had occurred in days long past. Herein lay a mystery, of that he was sure; but was it for him to unravel? If yes, then how? Or would it unravel itself in time? He wasn’t sure.

They reached the end of the strip and waited for the traffic light to redirect traffic prior to crossing over to the train stop.

“Frau Steinberger!” he called.

“Yes, Lieutenant Ramiel.”

“Please call me Jaden, I hate formality. I find it very boring and impersonal.”

She smiled. “Okay. Jaden it is then.”

“Good. Tell me; did anything significant ever happen at the Water Tower?”

“No, nothing significant really. It’s just a very beautiful and artistic part of the beautiful city that is Mannheim,” she said, beaming with pride. “You seem to have taken an interest in the tower.”

“Yes, I have.”

The pedestrian signal came on and the lot of them crossed the street.

“This is going to sound kind of crazy,” he said, “but…” he hesitated, “there’s something about it that seems to be reaching out to me.” Before she could respond, he continued, smiling, “I did say that it was going to sound kind of nutty.”

“Not at all, my dear,” she said. “People are inexplicably drawn to all sorts of things. Sometimes people are drawn to the same things for the same reasons, at other times for different reasons, and sometimes others neither see nor feel anything special about that which someone else may be drawn to. So no, it does not sound silly at all, or, as you put it, “nutty.””

“I suppose you’re right. Whatever it is, though, it’s a very strong feeling.”

“Are you married?”

Jaden wasn’t expecting that but was curious as to how that related to the Water Tower. “No, but why do you ask that as I can’t imagine what bearing a fascination with a tower might have on that aspect of life?” he said, anticipating her response.

“Now
this,
perhaps, is what may sound nutty,” she said, looking at him with a twinkle in her eye.

“What’s that?”

“Many a couple come and spend time here. Perhaps you feel drawn to it for it may be where you shall meet she who is to complete you.”

“Yep, that does sound silly indeed and somewhat dramatic,” he said, bashfully. “No, no. That would imply that I have a sixth sense of sorts, which I don’t. Besides, I have no intention of ever getting married. Nope, not ever,” he said casually.

“Is that our train, Frau Steinberger?” one of the others asked.

“Please excuse me for a moment, Jaden,” she said.

“Certainly, Frau Steinberger,” he replied politely.

She looked at the number-letter designation on the approaching train then said, “Yes, it is. I see that you paid attention to the number-letter identification of the train that brought us out here. That’s very good. This is how you’ll learn your way about.”

The train stopped and they all boarded.

Frau Steinberger resumed her conversation with Jaden. “Now, back to what you said about a sixth sense; I’m sure you’ve heard of stranger things. The world abounds with mysteries, young man,” she said to Jaden as she took a seat. “And not ever getting married! Well, that’s a rather categorical assertion to make, do you not think? I’m sure you’ve heard once or twice that one should never say never, my dear boy,” she said, smiling.

“You make it sound like I’m not in control of my destiny,” he said, intrigued by what she said.

“Though it could, it need not necessarily even concern fate. Rather, often times, it is simply a matter of the heart. When it comes to love, it is the heart that leads the mind, not the other way round, Jaden,” she said, as if reminding him of an ancient and innate truth that he had forgotten. “You are young yet still, but you will learn. We all grow in life.”

“I suppose you’re right. Though highly unlikely if you were to ask me, I certainly must agree that I have no way of knowing what tidings the morrow will bring. Improbable isn’t synonymous with impossible.”

“Oh, I’m sure that you will get married, my dear. Quite sure! As adamant and reluctant as you are, it would not surprise me if your soul-mate were to come along soon. Quite soon,” she teased.

He smiled.

14

An Introduction to the Unit

A couple of
weeks following Jaden’s arrival in Germany, his unit returned from the Ukraine, touching ground on a Thursday morning. He had greatly anticipated meeting the returning company at the Ramstein US airbase but unfortunately had fallen ill and been issued doctor’s orders confining him to quarters for 96 hours. He was impatient to introduce himself to the unit and get to know his soldiers.

THE
FOLLOWING MONDAY: Though the company’s initial formation was called at 6:20 daily – save weekends – after learning from Sergeant Phil that the company commander was usually in by 5:45, Jaden, wanting to get some face time with the company commander prior to then, decided to report to work earlier than was necessary.

A man peered out of the commander’s office window as Jaden exited his vehicle then walked away from it. Jaden believed him to be Captain Peterson, the company commander. He made his way up the stairs to the office and then knocked.

“Enter!” announced a boisterous voice.

Jaden marched up to the desk before him, ensuring that he was positioned center of the captain’s desk, stood at attention, eyes set dead ahead, saluted and then said, “Sir, Lieutenant Ramiel reporting as ordered!”

“At ease, Lieutenant!” the Captain said, rising from his chair and extending his hand. “Welcome to the unit, Lieutenant Ramiel. Have a seat,” he invited while gesturing to the chair just left of the lieutenant.

“Thank you, sir.”

The captain then seated himself. “I did wonder who it was that was parking in the lot. I didn’t recognize the vehicle and no one usually shows up for another twenty to 25 minutes.”

“Roger, sir. That’s the rental I’m driving until my car gets here.”

“It is fortunate that you got here when you did. The timing gave you the opportunity to get in-processed, assigned quarters, pick up your TA-50 and everything else on that to-do checklist the PSB handed you. It would have been a pain in the ass getting here then having to pop smoke to a different country when you weren’t situated yet.”

“I agree, sir. Things worked out well. It would have sucked had it played out like that… but hey, it is the army and having to move out with little or no notice is part of the job description, right?” the Lieutenant said.

“Lieutenant!” said the Captain with obvious satisfaction in his voice and expression, “I like your attitude. That’s definitely the way to see things in this great army of ours. I can tell right now that you’re going to fit in perfectly.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Good soldiers are hard to find these days so you can imagine I wasn’t sure what I’d be getting but I definitely like your attitude, Lieutenant,” he said heartily. “My unit is a great unit Lieutenant, and you will come to know that. It’s by far the best as far as I’m concerned,” he declared passionately. “However, I must say that perfection doesn’t exist anywhere. If shit fell apart in heaven, you can rest assured that the rest of creation is all fucked up too.”

“Such eloquence can only be found upon the tongue of a true grunt, sir,” the Lieutenant japed. “What makes you say that, sir?”

“I’m a straight shooter, Lieutenant,” he said solemnly, “and I’ll be honest with you while trying to remain as politically correct as possible. Lieutenant Krappa is all fucked up!”

Jaden immediately thought that the captain’s notion of being politically correct was rather atypical; actually not at all the proper definition by anyone’s standards, he believed. Anyone but the captain, that is.

“He really lives up to his family name, which, I feel the need to point out, if you were to drop off the last syllable, it could be synonymous with shit!” the captain contended with obvious disdain.

There certainly wasn’t any ambiguity in either the captain’s speech or his intonation; therein was an angry undertone. “Wow! Would you care to share how you really feel, sir?” Jaden said light-heartedly. Krappa must really be messed up if one of the first things the company commander is doing is bad-mouthing the guy, especially when I just got here, and he only just met me, he thought. “I’ve heard, sir. It wasn’t articulated quite like that but the message, nonetheless, was the same.”

“Because of those equally incompetent and stuck-up asses, Lieutenant Colonel Poopko and Colonel, promotable by the way, Paitou, I can’t get rid of him.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, sir!” Jaden said, looking astonished.

“Why’s that, Lieutenant?”

“We actually have personnel called Krappa and Poopko in the same organization, sir?”

“Damn straight, Lieutenant! I shit you not, no pun intended!”

Jaden was unaware of the identity of those just mentioned but assumed them to be personnel within the chain of command; perhaps one being the battalion commander and the other the brigade commander.

Jaden had always been taught never to berate superiors, regardless of whether he disagreed with their stance on any given issue or not. He had been instilled with the means by which dissatisfaction might be communicated with one’s chain of command; however, openly castigating outranking officers was not one such alternative. Evidently Captain Peterson did not subscribe to that school of thought, had forgotten protocol, or perhaps the chain of command might have been much too dysfunctional for him to even care for discretion. Jaden wasn’t sure if the captain would tell him anything more about the unit other than his all too evident dissatisfaction with Krappa, Poopko, and Paitou.

“If you’re contemplating what any of this has to do with you, the answer is not much by way of Poopko and Paitou. Those two I deal with. Krappa you’ll work with sometimes. You’ll be the support platoon leader. You have a hell of a platoon and your platoon sergeant, McHenry, is second to none. I can tell you right now that you’re going to do great things, Lieutenant. Now get out there and meet your men. They will teach you everything that you need to know about being an excellent soldier. Get out there and execute, Lieutenant! Execute!”

This guy really is a straight shooter. Bypass all formalities and get right down to the heart of the matter kind of guy, Jaden thought. The lieutenant had been expecting the captain to at least provide him with a synopsis of his role within the unit, not merely that he was to be the support platoon leader. He had also been expecting somewhat more by way of a description of what his platoon sergeant and the platoon in general were like and when should he expect the captain and himself to meet again so that Captain Peterson might elaborate on his expectations of the lieutenant and other such pertinent aspects of his assignment. That, however, was quite obviously not what the captain had in mind. However, before Jaden left, he did have questions he sought answers to.

“Sir, before I leave, may I ask who exactly are Poopko and Paitou?”

“Have you visited our website yet?”

“Roger, but those names weren’t listed.”

“I’ve got to talk to the computer geeks about keeping that damn site up to date. It’s always behind the times. Anyway, Pooper is the battalion commander and the other waste of creation is the brigade commander,” he said as he reached into his drawer, pulling out the yellow reflective belt that complemented their physical training uniforms.

“May I also ask why you despise them as you do?”

“Because they think only of their own careers and couldn’t possibly care any less about the troops if you put a gun to their heads and demanded it of them. Not that you’d know this until now but as it so happens they are both females. That, however, has absolutely nothing to do with how I feel about them. I bring that up only because though I may be rough around the edges, I am not chauvinistic, and I wouldn’t want you thinking that I’m some kind of closed-minded bastard once you did find out that they are females, Lieutenant. My wife is in the service as well and actually outranks me. She’s a major and makes more than I do. Other than cretinous bastards, come on, who really gives a crap about that kind of thing? I’m totally cool with it. So there you have it… my disclaimer.”

“Got it, sir!” the Lieutenant said, getting up, impressed by the captain’s application of a word that just might be indicative of a more extensive vocabulary than one might stereotypically expect of an infantryman. Standing at attention again, he said, “Request permission to be dismissed, sir.”

“Permission granted, Lieutenant! Now get out there and meet the men!”

“Roger, sir.” He turned around and headed towards the door.

Just as he was about to walk through it the Captain posed him a question. “Is the physical conditioning at Benning still what it used to be, or have they gone soft on the newer generations of lieutenants?”

“Well, sir, I have no idea what it used to be like but what I can tell you is that while still in college, I never scored the maximum points on any of the events that make up the Physical Training test but now maxing the PT test isn’t even a challenge.”

“Good, that’ll help. You’ll be joining me shortly. Move out!”

Jaden wasn’t sure that he’d understood the captain. “You mean,
you’ll
be joining us shortly, correct, sir?” Jaden thought he was helping correct his captain.

“No, no.
You’ll
be joining
me
shortly,” the Captain emphasized.

“Okay, sir,” he said then headed out the door back downstairs to introduce himself to the rest of the guys.

While climbing down the steps, he wondered just what the commander meant when he said that the lieutenant would be the one joining him rather than the latter linking up with the rest of the company. He was soon to find out.

Entrusting the rest of the unit to the capable hands of Sergeant First Class McHenry, Captain Peterson requested the lieutenant join him for the morning’s training session. In the span of an hour, the captain had run the lieutenant seven miles, had him do 250 push-ups and 340 sit-ups before regrouping with the rest of the company. In this manner did Captain Peterson welcome and initiate every soldier into his command.

Because the captain’s regimen was most demanding, not everyone assigned to his unit had the inner fortitude required to see it through. When the captain called upon Jaden to join him, the lieutenant had surmised that his workout would be challenging, and though he did all that he could to be psychologically prepared, never in his wildest of imaginings could he have conceived that which Captain Peterson put him through.

Though every soldier knew what painful initiation rite awaited the new lieutenant, not a soul had said a word. No one ever did. All newly assigned personnel discovered the hell-inspired regimen on the day that it happened, and as it was happening. It was tradition and never did the troops ever divulge the practice to any newcomer. They reveled in seeing who kept pace with their captain and the price paid in agony if one succeeded. Curious about how the new lieutenant would fare, after they had concluded their exercises, the rest of the company had idled about, anxious as to whether the new lieutenant would live up to their expectations of an infantry soldier, especially one that was to lead them. Lieutenant Ramiel did not fail them. He returned to the company area sprinting the last hundred meters side by side with the commander to triumphant cheers from the men.

Jaden had been tempted to quit several times during the course of the hour; however, because of his sometimes misguided pride, he wasn’t one to show anything that he believed bore any semblance to weakness. That, coupled with the fact that he was a platoon leader expected to lead men, he was determined to see the hour through. If imposing his physical prowess and establishing a friendly rivalry was the captain’s aim, Jaden was determined to prove himself a match the captain would have to reckon with.

Once they arrived at the company area, Captain Peterson, panting, turned to Jaden and said, “Welcome to the unit, LT!”

“Thank you, sir.” He did not want to exert any more energy by saying any more than was necessary. He wished that he could have simply fallen there and slept for weeks.

LATER
THAT MORNING: Everyone returned to the company area a few minutes prior to 9:30 a.m. A formation was held and duty assignments, priorities of work, among other announcements, were made before the company was dismissed to their respective tasks.

Jaden couldn’t be happier when the formation was dismissed and couldn’t wait to be seated in his office. He ached in places he never knew were a part of his being. Nevertheless, impelled not to show any sign of an Achilles heel, he carried on as though the hell that he had endured earlier that morning wasn’t anything atypical. He ambled over to his temporary office in the motor pool bay across from the company area, all the while hoping that his legs would not betray him. Had anyone been watching for any sign of impending muscle failure in the lieutenant, they would have been disappointed for his act was one most convincing.

No sooner had he sat down than McHenry knocked on his door. “Come in, Sergeant,” he invited. “Have a seat.”

“Thank you, sir.” Pulling back the chair, the sergeant sat down. “So,” the Sergeant said, smiling, “how did that small bit of hell feel like, sir? You have got to be hurting.”

Jaden lied. “Now that’s what I call a workout. I was thinking of asking the Captain to make it a standard workout routine, you know… maybe three times a week and the other two days can be something else. What do you think?” He was believable.

The lieutenant’s platoon sergeant looked at him dubiously, obviously unsettled by the young officer’s suggestion; perhaps even believing Jaden to have taken leave of his senses. “You’re kidding me right, sir?”

Jaden was not a dunce but feigned ignorance. “What do you mean?” he asked, his mannerism falsely conveying a genuine lack of understanding with regard to McHenry’s question.

“Sir, we already have one unpopular lieutenant around here, please don’t make it two.”

“It was merely an idea. I won’t broach it with the Captain then, especially if it’ll turn me into a Krappa.”

“That didn’t take long to get to you, did it?” McHenry said, inferring how quickly news of Krappa’s unpopularity traveled.