Norman then proceeded out of the room without a word.  Haroldson thought to himself, “This is about the worst way this could have unfolded.  Norman didn’t want this.  I don’t want this.  Even without looking, I know this means that I will most likely never see Norman or Ibara again.”  Haroldson then put on a much more light hearted face and addressed Unit 38, “Well it looks like Ibara and I moved up in the world.  As for the rest of you, you heard the commander.  You will get your orders tonight.  In the meantime, eat, drink, and be merry; because it may be a long while before we get to again.”  Making sure he was smiling as to say that nothing was wrong.  Haroldson then looked around the room at unit 38 one last time.  He made a brief pause when made eye contact with Sara then said, “Let’s go troopers.  We need to celebrate Commander Voss’s life.”  

Sara, whose shoulder was still throbbing, fell in line and walked out with the rest of the unit.  Her mind was racing as she was processing everything that had happened.  “I guess I might not ever get the chance to see these guys again.  Despite all being G.E.T. troopers, there are a lot of units around the world.  It is unlikely that many of us will be sent to the same place.  I guess in the end this was bound to happen eventually.  Probably would have been more pleasant if it was under any other conditions.  Either way, if I ever want to reach the high ranks, I have to get used to these types of situations.  Not something you usually think about when you enlist.  All the red tape, social obligations, and uncertainty of what your job will be from one day to the next…”  Sara thought just before being interrupted by Sergeant Haroldson, “Private Snow.  May I speak with you for a moment?”  “Yessir!” Sara snapped to attention.  The rest of the unit proceeded down the hallway without Haroldson or Sara.

Somehow, I can’t help but feel like I failed my comrades.  I knew it was highly unlikely that I would take over unit 38, but I still wanted to believe.  I just hope that those going on the special mission can handle Commander Higgins.  The rest of them, I hope they find better assignments than West Pan-Am, at least until the flame dancer thing passes over.

~Excerpt from Commander Norman’s Journal entry 2

“Sorry if this is out of the blue, but are you going to be okay with all the changes that are going on?” Haroldson asked.  Sara thought to herself, “Why is he asking me this?  Does he know something I don’t?”  “I should be okay with it all.  Why do you ask?” Sara replied.  Sergeant Haroldson looked at her with a brief pause and said, “I really don’t know anything yet.  I just know that it is my duty to look out for our new members.  I also know that given the choice of myself or Ibara, Commander Norman will take Ibara with him.  It isn’t a preference thing.  Norman just knows that Ibara doesn’t want to be promoted, so he can stay a lower rank as Norman’s subordinate, which means even without opening this packet, I already know I will be the one taking over as unit 38’s acting Sergeant.  It is Norman’s way of watching out for his two Corporals.”  “Just tell her!” Haroldson thought to himself as he continued on about the reassignment.  “There is a small chance that I will be reassigned to a different unit, but I would think the high brass want to keep things as stable as possible.  That being said, they will most likely have to shuffle around the lower ranks.”  “Tell her!  You dumbass! You may never see her again after tonight!”  Haroldson's thoughts began racing through his head.  Sara replied, “Well, I am not sure about everyone else, but I got this weird message just before I left my quarters.  It didn’t say it was classified or anything, so I assume it is alright to tell you.  It would seem that I am being sent to the training grounds in Iceland.  It didn’t give any specifics, but I am thinking that this is the message that Commander Norman was talking about.  Just not really sure why I got it early.”  Sergeant Haroldson paused for a moment then said, “I see.  It sounds like you are off to bigger things, rather than being stuck here with the rest of us grunts.”  Heraldson’s thoughts were raging at him at this point, “She is about to be gone forever! At least ask for some contact information or something!”  “Well, whatever is the case, we will know where everyone is going by morning.  Gonna be a long night for everyone.  Ha ha ha.” He said, trying to laugh it all off.  

“Sir, if there isn’t anything else you need me for; I almost forgot I have an appointment I have to be at.” Sara interjected abruptly.  “No, that was it.” Haroldson replied, trying to hide his feelings of dejection.  Sara then took off at a fast walk towards her quarters.  “Crap! I almost forgot!  I promised Mason that I would bring my suit down to him almost an hour ago.”  Sara repeatedly looked at her watch.  Once she made it outside the building she took off at a full run back to her quarters.  Her shoulder throbbing with every step.  “Well, there went my once in a lifetime.” Haroldson thought to himself, while crying on the inside.  “What kind of appointment does she have at this hour?” Haroldson questioned himself.  Haroldson walked back up to join the rest of the unit.  Haroldson went up to the reception area where the surviving family could be met with.  He walked around; enjoyed the refreshments; and gave cordial greetings and sympathies to the now widowed Vivian Voss.  “Ma’am we are deeply saddened by the loss of your husband.  If there is anything we of the 38th can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”  “Thank you so much sonny.  I appreciate you all showing your support of my husband, but you need not worry about me.   I will spend the rest of my days in the Bairon-Midley Carribean Retreat.  My husband saved up money for us to go there after he retired.  So, that is exactly what I am going to do.”  She replied.  Just then Commander Norman came over and began talking with Miss Voss.  “Whew, Norman, you just saved me from a very awkward situation.” Haroldson thought to himself.  

He continued around the room, chatting with members of the 38th as well as other people still present from the funeral.  “Man, they didn’t spare any expenses on this event.” Haroldson thought as he looked around the room at the food and the decor.  “I guess this is how they see off all the high brass.  I wonder what they give for grunts like us?” Haroldson pondered as he made his way to the refreshment table.  The table was extravagantly decorated with black roses and garland atop a black silk table cloth.  The long table, about 6 meters in length, held from left to right, a crystal punch bowl about a meter across filled with various fruits floating in a fruit punch which was made more fancy by the addition of sparkling water or some kind of soda that Haroldson couldn’t place; followed by hors d'oeuvres of shrimp, crackers and vegetable spread, various cheeses, fruits, and finger sandwiches of all varieties.  Haroldson noticed, similar to the situation with Sara, many of the newer troopers that did not know the Voss family dipped out early.  Haroldson himself ended up staying until the end of the reception.  

Meanwhile, Sara reached her room and flung open the door.  All the time she was thinking, “What was that all about?  I know Haroldson takes his job seriously, but he didn’t have to go out of his way for me.  I mean I know I am the new girl, but it isn’t like I am so frail that I will fall apart over something as trivial as reassignment.”  At this point Sara crammed her suit into its carrying case, so poorly that it wouldn’t close all the way.  She then slung the strap over her shoulder and began heading to the hangar where Mason’s workstation was.  “I kinda hope Mason didn’t wait around for me.”  She thought to herself.  “I know I said I would come after the event was over, but I wasn’t expecting it to last that long.  Not only did the funeral go over, there was a reception afterwards.  Sheesh!  Glad I didn’t get roped into that part.  I hate formal events like that!”  Sara continued on.  She finally arrived at the hangar and sure enough, Mason was there waiting on her.  “AWW CRAP!!  I don’t have time for this now!” She thought to herself.

I wish I could go with her to the training grounds.  I know that she will be back, but still, I hate to see her go; because when she comes back; she may not be in my unit any more.  I know that this is how the job works, but I have never felt for anyone the way I feel for her…

~Excerpt from Private Mason Fenue’s Journal Entry 76

“Sara!” Mason called out as he walked up and hugged her.  “I was starting to think that you had forgotten that you were supposed to bring your suit by.”  Mason said cheerfully.  Sara replied, “No, I didn’t forget.  The funeral ran over and then there was the reception afterward.” “At least the reception is good for something … AN EXCUSE!”  she thought to herself.  “I see.” Mason said.  “Well then, it seems it all worked out for the better.  Getting your suit tuned up gave you a reason to ditch the reception.  I know you hate events like that.”  Mason said cheerfully.  “Yeah, about that…  I kind of need to hurry back, being part of the funeral detail.  I was only able to get a few minutes to come down here.”  Sara said.  “Oh… Mason replied, clearly let down by the news as he started removing her battle suit from the carrying case.  “Oh great! I feel like I just broke the heart of a child by telling him it was time to go home from the amusement park.” Sara thought to herself.  “I guess I can stay for a minute or two before I go back.”  She said, reluctantly.  Mason continued taking the disarticulated battle suit pieces out of the case and said, “Oh great!  So how was the funeral?” He asked, despite knowing how it was.  “It was long.  We did a rifle salute and everyone was required to speak.” she said, also knowing that Mason had seen the whole thing.  The very thought of the rifle salute made her shoulder hurt even worse.  Mason then inquired, “Don’t you guys use those older model nagants with that?”  “Yes, we do.” Sara replied, holding her shoulder.  “Could he please not remind me how I managed to get my first injury as a trooper in a ceremony.” She thought, trying to cover her embarrassment at the situation.  Mason had set all the pieces of the suit on the table in front of him at this point.  He began to hook computer cables from his work station to the suit and asked, “So, do you know if you will be sent back out to the field or not?”  “I won’t be going back to the field just yet.  I am being sent to the training grounds for a bit.”  Sara replied, trying not to show her annoyance.  “That is great news!  Because word is that the flame dancer is still on the loose.  It made a real mess of things out there from the buzz on the radio.” Mason said.  

Mason started to jabber on and on about the radio news about the flame dancer.  Sara just tuned him out and tried not to think about her throbbing shoulder.  She then interjected, “Mason, I am sorry to run. I have to get back to the reception.”  “Aww so soon!” he pouted.  “I will see you later Mason.  If I do not get back to you tonight, you can just leave the suit on the table and I will pick it up in the morning.” She said, as she got up to head for the door.  “Alright…” Mason said.  “See you later.” Sara said as she walked out of the hangar.  She returned to the reception and finished the burial detail; which was doing very little as there was no actual body to bury.  She then went back to her quarters.  “It was a good thing that I ran into Mason after all.  I had completely forgotten about the live feed on the flame dancer.” Sara thought.  Her footsteps had gotten faster as she was almost running to get back to her room.   Arriving at her room, she opened the door and immediately turned on the computer feed about the flame dancer.  “Lights!” She said.  “Lights on.”  the computer replied.  “Computer, play live feed from the Pasadena area from yesterday until current.  Skip all dead space, and civilian feeds.  Starting with segment time 1430. US West.”  Sara ordered.  The computer processed the request “Beginning playback of feed segment on screen 2.”  The segment began to play from a time shortly before the initial dispatch call to Sara’s unit.  

Sara began gingerly undressing from her formal attire, her shoulder still giving her much grief.  Once she got undressed, she went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.  “I am almost afraid to look.” She thought to herself as she began to inspect her shoulder in the mirror.  Sure enough, her shoulder, collar, and upper biceps on her right side were all showing signs of bruising.  “Oh great!  That is gonna be a great look in a swimsuit”  She said out loud.  Sara then grabbed a washcloth from the shower door and walked into the kitchen area.  She put ice in the wash cloth and used some bandaging to tie it to her shoulder.  “Well, at least I can rest for a bit before my departure in the morning.” She thought.  Sara continued to listen to radio feed throughout the night.  She finally fell asleep about 0230.  

“What the hell?  Where am I?  There’s fire… FIRE!!! What the HELL?!”  Sara screamed while looking all around her.  “I don’t recognize this place!  This isn’t the base!”  She shouted.  She shouted, “Sergeant!  Haroldson!  ANYBODY!”  She looked around frantically, but no one was around.  She was all alone surrounded by flames.  Then there was a sound, a faint whistle at first that continued to get louder and louder.  She looked all around for the sound and couldn’t pinpoint its location.  Finally, she looked up and saw a small dot in the sky.  “What is that?!” She wondered  “Oh My GOD!! NO!!!” she screamed.  Next everything went silent.  She felt a sudden shock all over her body as if she had been hit by a car .. no something bigger.   A truck maybe.  The next thing she knew, she was in the water, sinking.  Her arms and legs were no longer moving.  “Is this it?  Am I dying?” She thought.   It was only then that she noticed the sleeves she had on, “Pink?  I hate pink!”  she thought.  It was then that she noticed other pieces of fabric floating towards the water’s surface as she sunk into its depths, “Was I wearing a dress?” she pondered.   

Not exactly the way I wanted all this to go.  I wanted to wait as long as possible before my promotion.  Not to mention I wanted to become a lance sergeant, not be forced into a sergeant’s role because of losing not one but two commanders.  Now I don’t even know who I will serve under.  I was hoping to stay with Commander Norman.  I guess only time will tell….

~Excerpt from Sergeant Kane Ibara’s Journal Entry 1