Love Under Fire

Chapter 1 - Impressions

The whooshing of the helicopter blades sliced through the bright afternoon sun. Even with headphones on to communicate with the pilot, the sounds of the chopper made it hard to hear or even to think. The rush of air through the open doors was hot. She hated when people used the description of it being a dry heat – it didn't diminish the fact that it was hot. And after all, ovens have a dry heat. She wasn't excited about this trip, they were sending her to a remote outpost, and these trips were never welcomed. As the helicopter began to land, it kicked up dust and dirt and made it almost impossible to see. She was glad her pilot was experienced because she had no clue as to how the hell he could see the ground or his landing spot. She closed her eyes and waited for the thud to announce that they were down – she hated helicopters.

All around her were mountains. The fear began to rise that they were in a valley and would be prime targets for an ambush. She remembered there was a story very similar to this in which an entire team was almost lost; she was pretty sure someone got the Congressional Medal of Honor for actually surviving it and trying to save members of his team. Surely the military wouldn't be stupid enough to set up another team like that. She unbuckled from the helicopter and grabbed her gear. The liaison officer began to approach her, and she steeled herself for the shit-storm that was about to erupt.

"Good Afternoon, I'm Corporal Pyo Chi Su." The look on his face was not inviting. Instead, he appeared quite confused and a little leery about the woman standing in front of him.

She extended her hand to the officer, "Good Afternoon Corporal Pyo. I take it that you were expecting a man to be arriving? Yes, your disappointment mirrors that of the day when I was born. Yoon Seri, pleased to meet you."

"Sorry ma'am, I didn't mean any offence."

"It is okay. I am used to it," She was a bit cold and unfriendly but figured it was best. They didn't want her here so no sense being nice. She scanned the landscape before looking back at the man in front of her, "Can you show me to my barracks and where I can begin working?"

"Absolutely, yes ma'am. Our Captain would like to have a word with you once you are settled."

She stopped and turned to face him, "No need to keep the Captain waiting, please point me in his direction."

Se Ri had known that the Captain of this post had made it clear to the top brass that he did not want some analyst coming in to tell him how to operate his post. He didn't need some pencil-pushing frat boy coming in and giving directions when he didn't know the first thing about military operations. Imagine his surprise when finds out the pencil-pushing frat boy is a woman! She could imagine the look on his face, but she had to admit she knew nothing of this man other than his propensity to generalize stereotypes and discount military analysts.

Corporal Pyo knocked and waited for approval before opening the door. The Captain stood with his back to the door and a phone held up to his ear. Se Ri could tell that he was well built and beautifully proportioned before ever seeing his face. The ratio from his shoulders to his waist was well defined. About as well defined as his arms. Good grief, she believed the phrase was 'built like a brick shithouse' and it definitely seemed appropriate here. His voice was smooth and gruff at the same time. The velvet voice had perfect timbre, but he was brusque with whoever was on the phone with.

"You heard me damn it. I am done arguing this point. I don't want an analyst on my base, and I am not going to come around to your side of it. The war on terror is not going to be won by some pencil-pushing number cruncher telling me how to manage my team. I don't give two fucks if you are sending me some brilliant analyst who knows their shit – have they been in combat? Yep, didn't think so."

He turned around to slam the phone down, and Se Ri's breath caught. He was a good-looking man with messed brown hair, piercing eyes, and perfectly shaped lips. "Sorry, Corporal Pyo, I did not intend the call to go in that direction. What can I do for you?