The Reunion

Putnum stood next to Brothers on the bridge listening to the radio traffic from the ongoing operations. The statistics were impressive thus far, considering they were supporting a ground operation. Nimitz pilots had confirmed the destruction of an even dozen SAM sites and twice as many enemy vehicles. The pursuit of the refugee column would be costly if they had anything to do with it. F-14 Tomcat fighters fitted with special camera pods had over flown the area and were returning with pictures of the entire situation.

Putnum saw the video broadcast to Washington by the news crew and was worried the refugee column wouldn’t clear the area before they were engaged by the mercenaries. Even with the Philippine military moving in on all fronts he was worried about the ability of the mercenaries to inflict heavy casualties on the column. He was impressed with Brothers and his people. They managed to merge two battle groups into one while carrying on combat flight operations without missing a beat. Brothers and Captain Skip Marienetti of the Tarawa Battle Group didn’t let egos get in the way of getting the job done.

“Sir,” said the OOD to Putnum, “Liberty One reports the column is on the move.”

Putnum nodded as he listened to an exchange on the radio.

“Liberty One to Pathfinder. Bad guys are still pinned down, but they won’t stay long.”

“Copy that, Liberty One. Appreciate the assist. Just keep them down for a few more minutes and that will buy us the time we need.”

“No problem, Pathfinder, but we’ll be turning you over to Outlaw flight. We have to go back to reload and gas up.”

“Outlaw One to Pathfinder. We’ll keep them down. You guys just hustle along.”

“Pathfinder copies, thanks again.”

“Outlaw Four to One. Get a load of the damage the Liberty guys did to that installation down there.”

“Six to Four, catch that fireball down there. Man that’s beautiful. What do you think it is?”

“Its aviation fuel, you asshole,” came the response from the other end of the radio. “Pay attention to your job or one of those SAMs will kick you in the ass. We’re not coming back in to get you if you fly stupid. Pay attention to your job!”

The two senior officers looked at each other and began to laugh. Brothers managed to say, “That might be the first time I ever agreed with a SEAL.”