The Bear

Alaska

“I have to go where?” Captain Will Jenner just stood before General Foxx with his mouth nearly hanging open.

“You are being ordered to Washington,” Foxx replied. “I think it has something to do with your work here. I just got the orders a few minutes ago.”

“Why me?”

“This came down from General Fitzroy Scott of DOD. I’m not his favorite person, so this is about you, or something you bring to the table.”

“For what?”

“I have no idea Captain,” Foxx answered. “But you leave within the hour. There’s an F-16 fueling now. You’re to be on it.”

“A Falcon? I’m riding down in a Falcon?”

“Actually, you’ll be the pilot. How rusty are your skills?”

“I’ll be honest, sir. It’s been a while.”

“That’s why you’re driving. It’s a two-seater, so you’ll have a rider.” Foxx turned and looked at the map taped together. “Any new insights on this?”

“Nothing sir. I think I’ve gone as far as I can go with the intel we can get up here.”

“I appreciate the effort you put into this. I hope what we passed on made a difference.”

“General, I appreciate being brought on board for this. I just wish I could have done more.”

“Captain, I think I just had a hare-brained idea.”

“I think it had merit, General. No one else thought to look into things like this.”

“Well, no one we know of anyway,” Foxx replied. The general extended his hand. “Captain, if there’s anything I can do for you, you just let me know. Now get going.”

Captain Jenner met his commander’s hand, then snapped off a smart salute. He took a final look at the map that had been hodge-podged together, his duty station for the past week. He turned, his mind immediately focusing on his next task; an F-16 Fighting Falcon. He slipped his left hand into his trouser pocket to keep it from shaking.