Learning to Stand by Claudia Hall Christian Read Free Book Online Page B

was
so...”
    “ Charles O’Brien is dead,
Alex,” Colonel Gordon said. “He was an exceptional man, a natural
leader, and my friend. But he is gone. You have to learn to carry
on without him.”
    Nodding, Alex pursed her lips to keep from
displaying her desperate grief at the words: ‘Charles O’Brien is
dead.’
    “ Listen,” Colonel Gordon
said. “I’m sorry. I see so much potential in you and wish you could
see it yourself. You collected these men from assignments around
the world. They came to here to work with you. Each man is the best
soldier in his class. Period. And they aren’t easy. You didn’t pick
them because they were easy. You picked them because they were your
friends. And they left great assignments to work here with
you.”
    “ But sir…”
    “ They’re pains in the ass.
Every single one of them. Did you hear the feed from the Jakker
while he waited for you? He disobeyed a direct order to return to
base. A big fat ‘fuck you’ from the Jakker.”
    “ Are their repercussions to
his defiance?”
    “ Christ, Alex. That’s my
point. Everything the Jakker does is defiant.”
    Alex shrugged.
    “ It might help if you filled
the other slots in your team with neutral players,” Colonel Gordon
said. “You still need...”
    “ No Marines,” she said.
“I’ve never had good luck with Marines, sir.”
    “ You need at least one more
Navy and two Marines. That’s not to mention your glaring lack of
medics.”
    “ See, I suck as a
leader.”
    Alex tried her
‘please-sir-can-I-stop-doing-the-job-I-suck-at’ smile. Colonel
Gordon glared in response. Her smile faded.
    “ The Fey Special Forces
Team’s first year was not easy, you know.”
    “ But we had...”
    “ Charlie,” they said
together.
    “ Yes,” he said. He softened.
“Listen, I’ve never known anyone who has continued working after
what you have been through. Most people retire.”
    “ I could retire,” she said.
“Ben said he’s retiring this year. I could...”
    “ You know you cannot
retire,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.”
    “ I could draw
maps.”
    Her eyes lit up with glee at the idea of
retreating into the solitary joy of cartography.
    “ The Admiral would like you
to return to extracting hostages. You’re supposed to
be...”
    “ Creating a team that will
extract hostages around the world,” Alex finished his sentence.
“Problem is? I suck.”
    “ Alexandra.”
    “ Ok, you know what I’m
really good at?” She pointed to the paperwork on her desk.
“Paperwork is my specialty.”
    Colonel Gordon raised his hands in
submission to her sarcasm.
    “ What do you need to make
this work?” he asked. “I’m authorized to give you any resource,
training...”
    “ I need Joseph Walter,” she
said. “He would know how to pull this team together. You’re right.
We need to a few neutral members. He’d know how to choose the right
people.”
    While Colonel Gordon nodded his head, he
eyes spoke his remorse.
    “ But?” she asked.
    “ It’s complicated. Fort
Carson had dibs on him for their training staff. He can’t come here
and be there. You know that.”
    Alex nodded. She did know that. She just
hoped for the help she needed. Sometimes she felt as if she was set
up to fail. She sighed at her no-win situation.
    “ Don’t give up, Alex,” he
said. “That’s really what I came in here to say. Everyone
struggles, especially their first year. Just don’t give
up.”
    Picking up his cap, he stood to leave. He
stopped in front of a photograph of the Fey Special Forces Team
goofing for the camera. The photo was taken after they had rescued
their first hostages – five journalists from the jungles of Central
America. Colonel Gordon leaned closer to look at their faces. They
seemed so young and happy. He stepped back from the photo.
    “ What did the Weasel have to
say?”
    “ Nothing. Everything. Who
knows?” Alex replied. “There are so many little itsy bitsy pieces
to this puzzle. Somehow they