Missy then Shifted into her spirit form and teleported to where Gavriil was located. She found him at his home working on his computer. He lived alone and she could see he was busy reviewing emails. She waited to see if she might have any opportunity to access either his phone or his computer and, twenty minutes later, as luck would have it, she did. He had ordered some takeout food and when that was delivered, she had no difficulty infecting his computer while he was busy eating.
With that accomplished, she next teleported back to her room at Izmir Air Base and got dressed in one of her fatigue uniforms. She had expended enough energy before Shifting back so she was once again in her Boston body rather than her Moscow body. It was time to rejoin Team Twenty-Two. She wanted to spend some time with them before she went on leave to get married.
When Missy strolled into the Operations Center it was now late evening. She was expected, however, since she had sent the team a message explaining her plans. Major Grimes and about half the team members were there waiting for her.
“Hey, she’s back,” announced Master Sergeant Town who was the first to notice her. “Spread the word so whoever isn’t busy can come welcome her home.” Two staff sergeants hopped up and headed off in different directions while others there all began calling out various greetings.
Missy said, “To badly quote Mark Twain, in case there may have been any rumors of my death, I want you all to know those were greatly exaggerated.” She was staring at several newspaper articles pinned up on the bulletin board showingphotos of the three cars burning on that bridge over in Beijing. “As you can see, I escaped unscathed.”
“Missy, you indeed gave us all a scare,” said the major. “And, based on the initial reports we received about you after being rushed to the hospital, your escape was hardly unscathed. We later got copies of the medical records from your stay at that hospital and have already submitted the paperwork for you to receive another Purple Heart.”
Staff Sergeant Melody Jasinsky said, “Yeah, even without the traumatic brain injury from the explosion which any normal human would have received, your body was still covered with more than enough cuts, scrapes and bruises to qualify for that award.”
“As with all of your other awards, the details of the mission which you were on will remain classified,” explained Major Grimes. “Welcome back!”
Chapter Seventeen
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Tracy and Sam were reviewing all the seating arrangements and other details which they’d planned for the big wedding banquet now less than a week away. Tracy said, “Thanks for helping me with all this. When Missy and I decided to have a dual wedding in West Point’s Chapel, I overlooked the fact she would be immediately joining her Special Forces team right after we graduated and I’d end up doing so much of this.”
“What about your mom and her mom?” asked Sam. “Aren’t they helping?”
“Oh, they both wouldloveto be helping but Missy and I agreed it was better if we did everything without them. They know and like one another well enough, but still. We wanted to avoid any hurt feelings and after Missy booked everything for this at the Thayer Hotel, we figured we had it handled.”
“Well, I know that banquet which you two had there on the night we graduated was a huge success. From what you’ve been telling me, many of the same people will be at your wedding.”
Tracy nodded and said, “True, only we didn’t worry then about flowers and centerpieces and decorations and all this other stuff. There wasn’t any band playing music or any cake ceremony or photographers or other wedding tradition stuff to deal with.”
“Well, since you’re not wearing bridal gowns, at least there’s no garter ceremony. You two have opted for military traditions instead for a lot of things.”
“Yeah, we loved the idea of wearing our Dress White uniforms and having all our military guests wearing their Dress Blues. Captain Bonomo will be organizing some of the male and female officers for that Arch of Sabers ceremony at the end when we exit the chapel.”
Sam giggled and said, “Will one of them really be tapping John and Mike on the ass with their sword when you guys walk through that?” It was tradition for the non-military spouse to receive a “sword swat” pat on the back side symbolizing a playful welcome to the military family as they walked under the saber arch formed by raised swords.
“Absolutely! Missy was going to maybe give Mike a break and omit that but I made her change her mind. They’re both getting swatted and that’ll be recorded on video in addition to the photos.”
“You two always seem to end up getting on the same page, despite how different you each are from one another. Now you’ll be sisters-in-law which is pretty cool.”
Tracy said, “Yeah, it sure will be. That’s one of the many reasons we wanted the dual wedding. We each are the other’s maid of honor while John and Mike are each the other’s best man. Not having bridesmaids or groomsmen made things simple. It’ll just be the four of us up there.”
“Well, my mother is in charge of everything for my wedding. Thankfully, I’ll have you and Sally as two of mybridesmaids. Three of my cousins will be my other bridesmaids and then my sister will be my maid of honor.”
“When I told John I’d be one of your bridesmaids, he laughed and said he’d just agreed to be Trevor’s best man but hadn’t had a chance to tell me that yet.”
“The two of them have gotten really close these past two years in law school,” agreed Sam. “Trevor told me how it was John who made him realize how being a lawyer and also being with me could work.”
“John decided to become a lawyer like his dad after the two of us got together. Before that, he was thinking he’d merely get an MBA. Having a spouse in the military isn’t something everyone can handle.”
“When Trevor told my family how he planned to follow me around to wherever the Army might send me, that was when I knew in my heart that I loved him. That feeling has only grown stronger and stronger ever since.”
Tracy smiled and said, “Assuming they both pass the New York Bar Exam next month, that should make things easy for them to practice law wherever they go. John tells me Alabama grants reciprocity so he won’t need to take another exam down there.” She, of course, would be there for eighteen months after reporting to Fort Rucker July twenty-fifth.
“Missouri also grants reciprocity so Trevor is already interviewing with some law firms near Fort Leonard Wood. He knows I’ll probably get sent somewhere else in a few months once I finish my branch course but he figures getting some experience there will help him nonetheless.”
They continued talking about their fiancés while they went over all the plans for Tracy and Missy’s wedding. Sam of course had a spreadsheet which was now filled with entries. They eventually were satisfied that all was done that needed to be done. Thanks to the wedding fund which Missy had established for this, no expense had been spared and “all their plans were coming together”.
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