Missy and the major then continued inside, making way for the others in line behind them. Speaking in a low voice to only the major, Missy said, “Wow! You said you’d been sensing a higher level of respect for our team lately, but this? We are being honored.”
“I admit I’m surprised at that. Yes, it seems we are. Colonel Horvath may have been talking to some people up at EUCOM after he got a look at you. Now he wants to show his boss how much he appreciates having us at Izmir.”
They walked amongst the others and Missy noted there were many female officers there, at least twenty percent. When several made a point of coming over to meet her, she realized that Lieutenant Colonel Horvath had obviously talked about her to everyone in his command in addition to Colonel Prusik. Since she had been busy over in Russia, both on that mission with her team and then in her role as a spy, she had not been seen by anyone in the Air Force since that one meeting three weeksearlier. Evidently, the word about her had spread and everyone was curious.
It didn’t take long before a female officer whom Missy recognized from her one earlier visit came over and introduced herself as Captain Sofia Petrova. She was very attractive with blond hair and blue eyes. She was Lieutenant Colonel Horvath’s aide and she assured them that she had arranged for them to sit up at the head table. She then stayed close to them both afterwards.
When it was finally time for everyone to take their seats, Missy found herself sitting right next to Colonel Prusik on his left. Lieutenant Colonel Horvath was on the colonel’s right. Captain Petrova was on her left with Major Grimes sitting a few seats down to the right of Lieutenant Colonel Horvath. Clearly, Captain Petrova had an agenda.
After the usual toasts had been given and the food was finally served, Missy learned she was correct. Captain Petrova leaned towards her and said, “I got permission from Colonel Horvath to sit next to you. He tells me you speak Russian and that happens to be my first language. My parents are both Russian but moved to the U.S. when I was three.”
Missy smiled at her and in Russian, she asked, “Does the Air Force have you acting as interpreter?”
In Russian, Captain Petrova replied, “Only on rare occasions but having that as a second language was helpful in getting my current assignment. I’ve been told the higher ups consider it very strategic, especially for here in Turkey.”
Missy nodded and said, “While it’s not a dominant language in Turkey, I understand at least six hundred thousand Turkish people do speak it.”
“Yes, you are well informed, Lieutenant McCrea,” said Captain Petrova with a smile. They continued chatting in Russian for a few minutes while they slowly ate some of the delicious food which had been served. Then Colonel Prusik interrupted them to say in English, “While I don’t understand what you two ladies are saying, I recognize you are speaking in Russian.”
Missy turned to him and in English she said, “I always enjoy finding others who I can talk to in one of the languages which I learned at West Point.”
The colonel nodded and said, “Colonel Horvath did mention you know several languages. Did you merely study them or did you actually become fluent in them?”
“Oh, I am fluent in Spanish, Pashto and Farsi in addition to Russian,” explained Missy. “Knowing languages is especially helpful for being in the Special Forces.”
“I see. I would be interested in hearing more about your situation, serving in combat with the Special Forces while somehow also going to West Point. I understand you were in Afghanistan during Campaign Angel’s Wing.”
Missy nodded and said, “While I can confirm that to be true, I can’t really say much more than that. Everything I was doing there is still highly classified.”
They then conversed back and forth, with Missy telling the colonel about spending her summers in the Mid-East whilethen attending both West Point and the Naval Academy during the school year. She also spoke with Captain Petrova some more, always in Russian. By the time the evening had ended and she and Major Grimes were riding in his car back to their own headquarters, she was feeling quite drained mentally.
When Major Grimes heard her admit to that, he chuckled and said, “This evening was quite an experience, Missy. As always, you did great. Making nice with the Air Force is all part of the job here. It’s also all part of making a good career in the military.”
Chapter Nineteen
Sunday, June 19, 2022
The wedding for Ronald Quigby and Nell Nasworthy was a joyful and festive event. Nell’s family lived near St. Louis, Missouri and they had chosen the Silver Oaks Chateau for the reception. This was a private estate thirty-five miles west of St. Louis designed to replicate an 1800 Limestone Country Manor. There were several reasonably priced hotels nearby and John and Tracy were staying at the Courtyard by Marriot Hotel Chesterfield, one of the more upscale ones.
They had arrived on Friday, spent the day Saturday exploring St. Louis and had enjoyed the rehearsal dinner Saturday night. Ron’s father, now retired from the army, was the one paying for that dinner. He had been a Sergeant Major and he gave a great speech praising his son and his future daughter-in-law for choosing to serve their country like he had done in the army.
The wedding ceremony went very well outdoors in the Chateau’s Meadow and the weather was perfect. Tracy looked very beautiful in her ivory and gold bridesmaid dress which somehow worked really well with Nell’s champagne beige bridal gown. Nell’s red hair had lots of coppery brown and orange highlights and she was looking fabulous today. The photos and videos were certain to come out great.
Emily Robinson was one of the other bridesmaids while Nell’s sister was the maid of honor. Emily’s boyfriend Donald was Ron’s brother and the best man. They were sitting at the head table to the right of the newly married couple with Johnand Tracy on their right. Karen Obowitz, another bridesmaid and fellow classmate to Nell and Tracy, was seated further down on the right with her fiancé, Martin King. Marty, who had graduated with Ron, was one of the groomsmen. Marty and Karen’s wedding would be on the following weekend.
Having finally all sat down to enjoy the banquet, Don could be heard explaining to Emily, “Ron just learned he’s been accepted and will start Special Forces training next month at Fort Bragg.” Ron’s branch was Infantry and after finishing his Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, he’d been stationed right there afterwards. He also had recently been promoted to First Lieutenant.
“That’s wonderful,” said Emily. “You once told me that became his goal because of Missy. He became inspired when she returned to the academy after her summer serving with the Special Forces during Campaign Angel’s Wing.”
Don nodded and said, “Yep. The fact that he’ll now be at Bragg for the next two years while Nell is right there too, getting all her PsyOps training … well, like you and your supernatural friends like to say, the Fabulous Fates must be helping. Their married life will definitely be getting off to a good start with those assignments.”
Tracy leaned close to John so only he could hear her and asked, “You do recall my telling you how your sister once asked General Chory to make some calls for Ron, right?”
“Well, the general is Special Forces and he certainly knew who to call to make that happen,” agreed John. “Missy loves meddling like that. She’ll be thrilled to learn her request probably helped.”
With an evil grin, Tracy said, “We’ll need to wait a few months to see if she also succeeded in influencing things for Marty and Karen.”
John glanced over at those two and then looking back at Tracy, he asked, “How do you mean?”
