Page 44 of Very Special Forces

Ihurried back in time to hear the tail end of the conversation,something about a friendly baseball match that turned less thanfriendly a few days before, then they all laughed.

"Youseem like you're all having a good time. Have you been at the basefor long?" I asked.

My twobuddies and the other two guys flanking Simmons all nodded."Willacy here has been stationed there the longest," said Harris."Kafsky and I are only there for a couple months. It's a niceplace."

"Howabout you?" I asked Simmons. "Are you enjoying yourvisit?"

"I am.It was a long drive and I'm glad to have some down time before Ihead back."

"Do youdrive one of those Jeep-type vehicles?" I asked.

"A tanktransporter," he said, looking proud.

"Oh,wow. Don't see many of those around." I placed a finger on my lipsthoughtfully. "In fact, I don't think I've ever seen one. How doyou park it?"

"Verycarefully," said Simmons and they all laughed.

"Oh,you." I swatted a playful hand at him. "But really. Where do youpark something like that?"

"Behindone of the hangars. It's not something a person drives around as arule and it won't fit inside a regular parking lot."

"Iimagine not. Is it a silly question to ask if you were actuallytransporting a tank?"

"Yes, Iwas. The boys here need one for their big show so I brought it inand I'll take it back home after the show."

"Justthe one show?" I asked.

"Yes,ma'am."

"I wouldlove to see that!"

"I'msure we can get you a pass."

"Thatwould be so exciting! So, does the tank stay on the back of thetank thingy? What do you do with it otherwise?" Ipressed.

"Thetank gets parked in a hangar," explained Simmons. "I just unloadit, leave it there, and load it when it needs to go somewhereelse."

"Youdon't take it anywhere else while you're here?"

"Nope."

"Nowthat I think about it, I'm sure I saw a real big vehicle inMontgomery just a couple nights ago. It looked like it had a tankon it. Maybe another one came in?"

"Justthe one I brought in, so far as I know," said Simmons, with ashrug.

"Huh. Itdefinitely looked like one. Tuesday, I think it was, or maybeWednesday. Are you sure you weren't taking it somewhere else? I'msure I wouldn't mistake something like that."

"Tuesdayor Wednesday, you say? Definitely not! I got food poisoning Tuesdaynight. Spent the night praying to God, if you know what I mean."Simmons pulled a face.

"Foodpoisoning? Uh-oh! How'd you get that?"

"Noidea. I was having something to eat in the mess hall and it hit me.Might have been a bug because no one else was ill. Just me. I feelfine now," he said and smiled.

"Well,you look fine now," I agreed and in the dim light, Simmonsblushed.

"Don'tforget your shots," I said as I unloaded them and nudged them infront of each man. "Plenty more where they came from. Shall I getanother round?"

"Yes!"yelled Harris as he downed his shot and slammed it on the table.The rest followed suit and the volume level at the table amped upagain.