Page 42 of Codename: Dustoff
“The pleasure is mine, Amelia. Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.”
He and Gemini approached the ticket counter again so they could switch their tickets. A first class flight. Me. I also internally high fived myself for accepting not rejecting. Recognizing that a few weeks ago the old me would have simply suffered in 32E, forcing my body to deal with the situation regardless of discomfort.
* * *
St. Augustine’s chapel couldn’t have been more beautiful if you’d plucked it from an architectural book on medieval structures. It still bore all of its decorations from the Christmas holiday, throughout the church. A sign that stated “We’re all family sit wherever you like!” met us at the entrance.
“That sign is so Jones.” I laughed, grabbing a program so I’d have something to do with my hands. “He always wanted everyone to feel welcome. Regardless of rank, or station. We were all brothers and sisters in arms.”
I felt the tell-tale light headedness that I’d identified as the beginning of a flashback, and once again depended upon my secret talisman to get me through. Imagining him felt wrong when I’d told him we shouldn’t stay together. But it was the only thing that kept me grounded.
“You’re going to be okay.” Gemini grabbed my hand, the chill of her fingers pulling me back to the here and now. “Just take a couple deep breaths. We can sit back here if you want.” She pointed to the last row of pews. It was then that I noticed they were too narrow. It was an old church, really old. I thought I saw a placard on the front door that dated it back to the eighteen hundreds.
“Oh no.”
I whispered it to myself more than to her, but she was close enough she heard my distress.
“It’s okay. It’s fine. We’ll just ask for a chair. No big deal.”
Her palm stayed firmly in mine. I focused on her cold fingers, while I searched for an alternate place to sit. I’d been so absorbed with the task of finding a chair, I didn’t realize anyone approached us.
“You came! You’re really here!” Jones pulled me into a fierce hug. “I hoped you would stick to your word but honestly half expected you to stay home. Not that I wouldn’t have understood but god, Sanchez—Amelia—I’m so grateful that you came. Here, we have a place for you to sit up here.”
We followed him to a set of pews just beyond the altar. The place where family sat. People of importance. The whole unit, dressed in their Class A’s, some with women seated beside them, filled the first two pews. I braced myself for the looks on their faces. Squeezed the feeling out of Gemini’s hand, I was sure, steeling myself for what I would see. Judgement, anger, upset—I couldn’t bear to look at any of them.
“Sanchez?” They asked one at a time, standing to embrace me. The varied expressions of surprise and delight were not at all what I’d prepared to hear. But each of them hugged me and welcomed me “home.”