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Chay took an exaggerated look around him.
“Let me think a minute,” he said. “Uh, having a beer? I don’t know, man. I mean, why else would I be in the LZ?”
Tanner laughed. “You were supposed to be away. Deployed until late next week. Meaning, we weren’t going to get to see each other.”
“Yeah. Well, we got picked up early.”
“Mission went faster than expected?” Tanner’s smile tilted. “Or mission aborted?”
“It went,” Chay said, with a flatness to his voice that said he didn’t want to discuss what had gone down. “Here’s my better question. What are you doing in California?”
“ Dude, didn’t you get any of my emails?”
“Bad wireless where I was,” Chay said with a wry smile. “What emails?”
“The ones I sent, telling you I was going to be here for a few days.”
“Never got one.”
The men sat down across from each other. “Do I want to know where you spent the past few weeks?” Tanner asked.
Chay shrugged. “The same garden spot where we put in three wonderful months when you were still with the unit.”
Tanner’s hand automatically went to his thigh and the wound that had almost killed him.
“Lucky you. I bet it was even more fun this time around.”
The image of the kid flashed through Chay’s mind. He reached for the bottle of ale, wrapped both hands around it, felt the coolness of the glass burn into his soul.
“It was okay.”
Tanner eyed his friend. He knew that those words were a long way from the truth.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked softly.
Chay shook his head. “No.”
“Yeah. That’s cool.” Tanner cleared his throat. “So what’s the deal? Am I supposed to sit here and watch you massage that bottle to death?”
Chay laughed. A real laugh, and that struck him as a very good thing. He lifted his hand, waggled it. The waitress appeared almost immediately, which was another great thing about the LZ. The waitstaff knew how to keep the clientele happy.
“What can I get you?”
“An ale for my friend. And maybe some peanuts. That okay with you, Akecheta?”
“Sure.”
The waitress headed for the bar. Chay leaned across the table.
“So what are you doing here? I hope you’re gonna say you decided to come on board as an instructor.”
“No. Well, yes and no. I’ve agreed to do a couple of days to help destroy the egos of the new class.”
Both men laughed.
“Yeah,” said Chay. “I remember how that goes. But seriously, only a couple of days?”
“ I have to get back to the Flying Eagle.”
