Page 14 of Fire and Rain
Ten minutes later, Sean knocked on his office door. “Reporting as asked, sir.”
“Yes. Please, take a seat.” Captain Walcott glanced down at his clipboard. “I’ve spoken with the Critical Incident Stress Management Team and medical. They say you’ve put forth substantial effort and are healing well. What are your thoughts about returning to duty?”
Sean had anticipated this question, and he thought he knew the answer Walcott wanted. But he couldn’t lie. “I know what it takes to control the hoist line and to pull a two-hundred-pound man on a litter inside the cabin. I don’t believe my arm is sufficiently strong again to do that job without risk to me or to the people we rescue. Not yet.”
For some reason, Captain Walcott looked pleased. “I appreciate the honesty of your answer, and, after talking with your team, I agree. We don’t want you to reinjure yourself, and we don’t want your arm to fail during a critical moment in an evolution.”
“No, sir.” Sean didn’t want that, either.
He didn’t want any more deaths on his hands.
“As you know, I recommended you for advancement before the incident. Your scores from Leadership and Management School were outstanding. You’ve nailed your RPQs and your EPME. You’ll sit for the exam next week, and I expect you to do well.”
Sean had to fight to keep the smile off his face, remembering his conversation with Eden about military alphabet soup. RPQs were Rating Performance Qualifications, while EPMEs referred to Enlisted Professional Military Education. Then he remembered that he and Justin had planned to take the exam together, and any urge to laugh vanished. “Yes, sir.”
“In the meantime, I’m putting you back on active duty, but not on a flight crew. Leavitt is about to take a month of leave—three weeks of paternity leave and a week’s vacation. I’d like you to take his post while he’s out. We’ll see how well the shoe fits.”
Dalton Leavitt was one rank above Sean, an E6—petty officer first class. He went out with flight crews when needed, but he played more of a training and managerial role in the shop, helping new AETs master their qualifications.
Captain Walcott went on. “Some of the newer guys are pretty green, and none of them has your electrical engineering degree. You know the electronics on the helos as well, if not better, than anyone here. This will give you a chance to strengthen your leadership skills while we wait for the outcome of your exam. It will also give that arm a little more time to heal. You’ll start tomorrow. Report to Leavitt at zero six hundred hours.”
“Yes, sir.” Sean stood.
“These past three months have been hard for all of us here at Air Station Kodiak, but they’ve been especially hard for you, and, of course, Koseki’s widow and child. You’ve handled it as well as anyone could.”
“Thank you, sir.” The captain’s words made him feel like a fraud.
Theincidentwas the first thing on his mind every day and the last thing on his mind as he fell asleep at night.
“You should know that our investigators and drug interdiction team are still working with local, state, and federal law enforcement to arrest anyone associated with the Marjorie T and meth smuggling here on the island. They won’t give up.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Sean wanted anyone associated with any potential meth ring to be arrested, though nothing would bring Justin or David back.
“One last thing.” Captain Walcott looked up at him, brow furrowed with curiosity. “I’ve always wondered why you chose to enlist. With that degree and your aptitude, you could have gone to OCS and started your career as an officer. You could still go to OCS if you wanted.”
Sean had no interest in Officer Candidate School. “I wanted to be part of a flight crew, sir. It seemed to me that an officer’s commission would take me out of the sky and land me in an office. I’m doing my dream job—or I was until the incident.”
“True enough. Very well. We’ll see you early tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.” Sean left the captain’s office and walked back to the locker room to get his gear, overwhelmed by a need to get away.
He carried his gear back to his room, put on a pair of hiking boots, and got his daypack together—water, rain gear, bear spray, energy bars. Then he headed out, climbed into his vehicle, and drove the short distance to the trailhead behind the Loran Building. He shouldered his pack and started up the trail to Old Woman Mountain.
Sean had already gotten his workout for the day, so he set out at an easy pace, willing himself to let everything go. The crash. His sense of guilt. The dream. As he moved uphill, mud squishing beneath his boots, fresh air filling his lungs, some of the tension left him.
Overhead, a pair of eagles soared against a blue backdrop. Though the fog from this morning had mostly lifted, the light had a misty quality about it, a breeze blowing from the east, the air carrying the scent of spruce, salt spray, and moist earth. Around him, everything was green, and some plants were in flower.
Not that Sean knew much about the flora. He could tell a Sitka spruce from an alder and a birch, and he could identify fireweed by its bright purple flowers, but that was about it. A Boy Scout he was not.
He came to a bend in the trail and spotted a dark-haired woman walking through a meadow off to his left, a basket on her arm. It took a moment before he realized it was Eden and that she had Maverick with her. She knelt, picked something from the ground, and showed it to her son, who took it from her and sniffed it.
Sean hesitated, unsure whether he’d ruin the moment for Eden if he said hello. Then again, he couldn’t very well head up the trail without saying something.
“Out for an adventure?” He kept walking slowly.
If she wanted to talk, she’d let him know. If she just waved at him, he’d continue on his way without bothering her.
Eden turned, waved—and walked toward him, Maverick beside her.
