“You’re one of the first people to grasp that. So instead of just quitting, I applied my talents to the vital job of logistics. As a result, I get to fly in helicopters a lot. I know half the Army pilots at Bagram. I can make up some kind of minor errand and have my choice of five different helicopters to fly me there. Not as good as being a pilot, but still pretty sweet.”

I smiled. I was always amazed at the enthusiasm young military personnel put into their jobs. It was something most people didn’t see.

Vicki said, “What’d you do in the Navy? Why did you join?”

I let out a laugh to cover my embarrassment. I just shrugged and said, “I joined because I lived in a little town in upstate New York. I wanted to see the world.” I hesitated, and decided to tell the truth. “I wanted to be a SEAL, but it didn’t work out.”

“Training too hard?”

“Something like that.”

“And now you’re going to make your fortune in Afghanistan.”

“Something like that.”

“This will be my third deployment to Bagram. I’ll show you around. It’s a giant place. And can be confusing. At least for the first couple of days.”

I settled into the seat as one of the aircrew yelled out to us, “We’re making our descent into Ramstein, Germany.” We had an overnight stop in Ramstein, then tomorrow on to Afghanistan.

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Because of the time change, we landed at Bagram about five in the morning. At least, on this leg of the flight, I stretched out on the hard floor and dozed off for a few hours.

I was still stiff and tired when I checked in with the base contractor coordinator. The clerk issued me a room, which was a shipping container welded to several more shipping containers. There was a tiny, whirring air conditioner designed to take the edge off the heat.

At least I had no roommate for now. I took the lower of the bunk beds against the back wall. I had a cheap, pressboard dresser with two drawers to place everything I’d brought with me. My whole life in Afghanistan fit in the dresser easily. When I thought about it, there wasn’t much more absolutely needed from my house. Maybe Bart Simpson and a few books.

Then I walked over to the offices for the different contracting companies. There were dozens. One place contracted cleaning and maintenance facilities, another company contracted for certain types of food, another for equipment. There were several for security and detention, and the very last one in the row of offices was Non-Metric Solutions.

Sitting behind the only desk in the sparse office was my friend, DP Lampkin. His official nameplate read DENNIS P. LAMPKIN. I’d called him DP for so long that I think I’d forgotten his first name was Dennis.