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“Honeycutt dropped us in on the far side of the valley,” he finally said. “The idea was to cut off reinforcement from Laos.”
“Then that godforsaken thunderstorm rolled in,” Colonel Bosche interjected softly. His eyes narrowed in remembrance. “It gave the enemy just the cover it needed to take you boys out.”
For several seconds I just sat there, lost in the gravity of the moment. Here were two men — no, twowarriorsfrom a different place, an entirely different time. They’d taken diverging paths in life, and were now decades apart from each other. But a long time ago, in a very faraway place… they were together. And together, they’d shared something of cataclysmic significance.
“They swept in from three sides,” Sebastian eventually went on. For the first time ever, there was a note of defeat in his voice. “I thought we were gone for sure…”
His eyes glassed over. Fixed on a point somewhere in the distance, they became slowly unfocused.
“That’s when D Company fought their way up, inch by inch,” he continued. “You pulled our asses out of the fire.”
“Sure did,” Colonel Bosche confirmed.
“It was close combat up there. Real dirty stuff.” Sebastian’s eyes went abruptly soft. “You lost all of your officers, didn’t you?”
“Every one of them,” the Colonel nodded grimly. “Down to a man.”
“Father—”
Sebastian shut his son up with the quick jerk of an open hand. This time however, Elijah refused to stay silent.
“You don’t evenknowthis guy!” Elijah blurted. “You’ve never even met him before.”
“You’re right,” his father replied slowly, his voice suddenly seeming very far away. “I’ve never met this man in my life. Never once saw him. But seven thousand miles away, fifty-something years ago, this man came within a few hundred yards of me.”
Colonel Bosche scratched at his snow-white beard and looked back at Sebastian Strong. His blue eyes were old, the flesh around them wrinkled and sagging. But there was wisdom in those eyes, too. Even camaraderie.
“I’m here right now because of this man,” Sebastian pointed at the table. He turned scornfully on Elijah. “You’rehere because of this man!”
“But—”
“I would’ve died on that godforsaken hill,” Sebastian said. He turned to address the Colonel directly. “But I didn’t. All because of you.”
“Weallfought like demons,” the old soldier corrected him. “Every platoon, every squad. That place was hell on earth, and there was nothing to do but push through the fire.”
“Yes,” Sebastian agreed. “But I owe you and your entire company a debt that canneverbe repaid.”
After another long moment of introspection, he finally turned his attention to the other men at the table. As he did, the Colonel jerked a thumb at Luca.
“I was one of his senior commanding officers, right before they finally kicked my ancient ass into retirement,” joked Bosche. “But all kidding aside, this man is special. You could look for ten whole lifetimes, and you’ll never find a soldier more brave, more capable.” He lowered his voice confidentially. “Or one evenhalfas deadly with an M24.”
Sebastian Strong took Luca’s hand again, and this time he shook it with reverence. There was respect in his gaze. Respect and apology.
“My son,” he began, without even looking Elijah’s way. “He crossed you?”
Luca nodded, indicating his friends. “He crossed us all.”
Elijah shot forth and opened his mouth, but it was for the very last time. The look of utter contempt and complete scorn his father gave him froze him in place, leaving him horror-stricken and defeated before he eventually settled back into his chair.
“Worst of all, he crossedher,” said Luca, tilting his head my way. “He followed her all the way back to her hometown. He harassed her at work. Stalked her at home. When we came to defend her, he made our lives a living hell. He bought up our businesses. Shut down our livelihoods. Made it impossible for any of us—”
“ELIJAH!”
“And he did it all with your resources,” Luca continued. “Your influence. Your money.”
“But not my knowledge,” spat Sebastian. His lip curled in disgust. “And certainly not with my blessing.”
The tension around the table rose with Sebastian’s temper, and it got awkward for a little while. Eventually though, he came to some internal conclusions. The anger drained from his face, and a business-like calm swept over him. It took a single, death-like stare to send Elijah skulking away, to be dealt with later. After a few short words with Luca, they shook hands and Sebastian stood up. Colonel Bosche stood with him.
