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“And why did you come here? Why did you bring the sergeant’s body here?”
“It was either here or Fort Bragg, sir—Washington was obviously out of the question—and we didn’t have enough fuel to make Pope Air Force Base. And you were here, sir.”
Naylor looked at him and thought, Good ol’ Uncle Allan will fix things, right?
“Sir,” Castillo added, “you are personally aware of my orders from the President. General McNab is not.”
What’s he doing, reading my mind?
And, dammit, he’s right. Bringing the sergeant’s body here was the right thing to do.
“When do you plan to go to Washington?”
“Just as soon as possible, sir. I’d be grateful if you would call Secretary Hall and tell him we’re en route.”
General Naylor looked for a long moment into Major Castillo’s eyes. Then he walked to the door.
“Colonel,” he called, “will you come in here, please?”
His aide-de-camp came quickly into the airplane.
“Colonel, you are advised that, from this moment, what you may see or hear is classified Top Secret Presidential.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Under that black plastic is the body of a sergeant…”
“Sergeant First Class Seymour Kranz,” Castillo interrupted.
“…who was killed,” Naylor went on, “during the execution of a covert and clandestine operation authorized by a Presidential Finding. The officer in charge of this covert and clandestine operation has brought the sergeant’s remains here for us to deal with. I confess I have no idea how to proceed with that.”
“Sir, what is the sergeant’s parent unit?” the lieutenant colonel asked Castillo.
Just in time, General Naylor stopped himself from saying the lieutenant colonel did not have to call Major Castillo “sir.”
“Kranz was Gray Fox, out of Delta Force,” Castillo answered.
“Sir, what about calling General McNab at Bragg? I suspect he has experience with a situation like this.”
Oh, I bet Scotty McNab has! I’ll bet this sort of thing is almost routine for good ol’ Scotty!
“The first thing to do is cordon off this area,” General Naylor said. “Then get an ambulance over here. Have the sergeant’s remains taken to the hospital. Get a flag…No, have the ambulance crew bring a flag with them. Cover the remains with the national colors before they are moved. Arrange for the sergeant’s remains to have a suitable escort from this moment. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is that satisfactory to you, Major Castillo?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you very much.”
“Is there anything else you require?”
“No, sir.”
“Then I will attempt to get General McNab on a secure line,” Naylor said.
He walked to the door, then turned.
“If this needs to be said, I am sure that all of you did your duty as you understood it. And I don’t think I have to tell you how pleased I am that there was only the one casualty.”
