“Major Stephen Cross, Captain Warbler, I want you to meet James Cowan and Captain Amy Travers. They're my team, here to get things moving for our mission.” Introductions were made before General Fitch added, “Major Cross will be the Senior Medical Officer and his support staff is already in route to the facility. Captain Warbler will be taking up another position outside.”

They left the men to continue their discussion and advanced further into the Health Center before Fitch spoke again. “Captain Warbler was the senior medical officer before we took over. We offered him the opportunity to stay on, but he declined. Cross is a good man, with experience in almost every kind of environment you can imagine. There will be eight physicians working under him, and they have an extensive area of expertise, everything from pediatrics to neurosurgery.”

“They were approaching a large room marked 'TRIAGE'; inside there was a tall male Air Force nurse treating a worker who'd suffered an injury to his arm. The injured man sat on a hospital bed while the nurse rinsed dirt out of a jagged laceration on his upper arm.

They were headed back down the hall when Cowan asked, “How did the transfer of command go?”

Fitch pursed his lips and. “Actually, it was extremely smooth. Someone paved the way so that when I got here, there were no issues. In fact, the facilities commander was Colonel Will Franks, but the Air Force arranged to have a Major General here to make sure things went well. I suspect he was sent directly from the Pentagon and laid the law down before we had even landed. Everyone was quite accommodating and he treated me as if I was the one with two stars. The biggest problems we're having with the transition are coming from me trying to get up to speed without revealing too much information, and the modifications we need to make. There are still a bunch of Air Force personnel here, making sure we have things under control. I made it clear to my superiors that I'm in no hurry to replace them. If they know what they're doing, I think it's best to let them stay.”

Approaching the next door on the right they entered the mess hall. This room was partly finished, and some crude furnishings were scattered around. There was the aroma of pizza in the air. There was a small buffet line open and a few small tables were occupied.

“At least the important stuff is ready,” Travers commented.

“True. But I'm sure this will all have to be ripped out,” Cowan responded.