A/N: Missed me? Well, I'm back, folks! I was really busy during the last few months, but now I can finally start writing again.
The plot for this story has been in my notes for quite a while now. Finally, after a long gestation, the first chapter is out. Not much else to say, except that it was based on one of my favorite movies.
As always, standard disclaimers apply to all chapters without exception.
Enjoy!
CHUCK'S HEROES
Chapter 1 – Setting the Stage
Five days ago
"… A few miles to the north, heavy fighting continues as the advancing South Korean forces are approaching Pyongyang. The long line of ambulances you can see behind me heading towards rear area hospitals bears grim testimony to the fierce combat taking place in the outskirts of the North Korean capital. Compounding the problems posed by the formidable terrain and enemy resistance are the huge numbers of civilians trying to flee the fighting. The International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees have established several relief centers and are making every effort to assist people displaced by the war. From near Pyongyang, Cole Barker for CTT News."
-v-
"When the latest conflict in the Korean Peninsula broke out, the Russian Air Force was placed on high alert to protect the neutrality of the Russian Federation and prevent its airspace from being used by the belligerents. Right now a flight of Sukhoi fighters is taking off to relieve other aircraft already on patrol. I have with me Senior Colonel Viktor Federov, commander of the 22nd Fighter Aviation Regiment. Colonel, would you like to describe the situation?"
"Certainly. Since the outbreak of hostilities, air defense forces based in the Primorsky Krai area have been reinforced by other units transferred from elsewhere in the Russian Federation. Together, they have been doing an excellent job protecting our airspace."
"Have there been any engagements?"
"Yes. Besides flying standing patrols, aircraft are always on readiness to intercept unknown contacts. We normally try to discourage them from entering Russian airspace, but on occasion our pilots have been obliged to open fire when the other aircraft reacted to being intercepted."
"So, what's the score so far?"
"Until today, nine North Korean and three American aircraft have been shot down after entering Russian airspace and showing hostile intentions. In addition, eleven North Korean aircraft deserted and four American aircraft sought refuge to Vladivostok and other airports after being damaged in combat over Korea. In accordance with international law, aircraft and crews have been interned for the duration of hostilities."
"Thank you Colonel Federov. From Artem, Ilsa Trinchina for CTT News."
-v-
"As you can see in the distance, the North Korean airbase in Sinuiju is under heavy attack by South Korean fighters. Above us, the Chinese air force is patrolling against any airspace incursions (Camera pans upwards, capturing condensation trails of aircraft flying racetrack and figure eight patterns at high altitude). The army has set up additional security posts all along the Yalu River, while the North Korean military has closed the Friendship Bridge in a bid to deter refugees from trying to cross into China.
In addition, President Hu reaffirmed China's strong condemnation of the North Korean aggression that led to the resumption of hostilities between North and South Korea earlier today and warned against any violation of China's neutrality. From Dandong, Mei Ling Cho for CTT News."
-O-
Two weeks ago
The bespectacled brunette stepped off the USAF C-130 on to the tarmac of Osan Air Force Base, lugging a suitcase and a travel bag. She paused, looking around in order to decide where to go. A young man, wearing an Air Force uniform with the stripes of a sergeant approached her.
"Good morning ma'am," he said. "Are you Dr. Roberts?"
"Good morning and yes, I am."
"Follow me please. And let me take these for you."
"Thank you..."
"My name is Jake, Sergeant Jake Preston, to be precise, ma'am. You have a meeting with General Ford later, but for now I'll just take you to the BOQ."
"BOQ?"
"Bachelor Officer Quarters, ma'am," Preston replied.
"Thanks again, Sergeant Preston."
"You are most welcome," he said, loading her luggage in a car.
After dropping her outside the quarters assigned to her and helping again with her luggage, Preston told her that he would swing by later to pick her up for the meeting with the General. Jill then took a quick shower and afterwards decided to watch some TV. No one at the Agency told her why she'd been sent to Korea on such a short notice, but she was smart enough to make a reasonably accurate guess. In any case, she'd soon know for sure.
Preston came to take her to the meeting a couple of hours later. Apparently, General Ford had been kept busier than anticipated, but she didn't mind. She was following him out to the car when she saw a familiar man dressed in an Air Force uniform, like most people there, who'd just returned Sergeant Preston's salute.
"Chuck?"
"Jill?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
"You first."
"Ladies first, I insist."
"I'm here for work. That's right, I took a government job. What about you?"
"After we graduated from Stanford, I joined the Air Force Reserve," Chuck said, pointing at his Lieutenant bars. "I'm a week into a month-long assignment here."
"And then what?"
"And then I'll go back to Burbank and work in the family business as usual."
"I see. Look, I have a meeting and…"
"OK. I shouldn't be keeping you."
"Dinner later?" Jill asked.
"Sure, we have a lot of catching up to do."
-v-
"Dr. Roberts, welcome to Osan," General Ford greeted her when she was ushered into his office. "I guess you must be wondering why you were ordered to report here on such short notice."
"I suspect it has something to do with my specialty," Jill replied.
"It has everything to do with your specialty. Satellite reconnaissance indicates increased activity at one of the known North Korean chemical weapon testing sites. We need to know what they are up to this time."
"I'm all ears, General."
"A package will be arriving for you later today. In fact, it's a fully equipped mobile lab, where you can analyze samples of whatever crap the commies are testing up north."
"How are you going to get me the samples?"
"The spooks will take care of the matter. The CIA has modified an X-47 unmanned aircraft with an air sample collection system."
"When will the operation take place?"
"As soon as you declare the lab and the decontamination station ready. I expect you to keep me informed of your progress."
"Yes sir."
"That will be all for now, Dr. Roberts."
-v-
Having finally made it back to her assigned quarters, Jill channel-surfed absentmindedly, her thoughts turning to the memories of her college years with the two amigos, Bryce and Chuck. She was ecstatic to see an old friend again after so long. She owed him, too, as he'd introduced her to her boyfriend back in Stanford. Time flew by and soon Chuck knocked on the door of her room. She opened it and saw him standing there, in his blue uniform and a bouquet of flowers.
"How are things between you and Bryce?" Chuck asked at the restaurant, while waiting for their order to arrive.
"We are doing great. I'll be forever grateful to you for introducing us back then. Speaking of college relationships, how's Hannah?"
"We are no longer together."
"Oh, that's sad."
"Not really. She had to go back east to deal with a family situation shortly after graduation and she eventually found a good job there. We still keep in touch."
"You'll find another good girl, Chuck, as good as Hannah and maybe even better. You deserve that much."
"I actually can't complain. Things have been rather hectic at work until recently. The good news is that Dad and I finished a new product, which hopefully will sell well."
"You've got three weeks left here, right Chuck?"
"Correct."
"I won't be here that long, but we can arrange a reunion when you return home. Bryce's going to love it. And I missed your sister. Is she still dating Devon?"
"Oh yeah. I knew things between them were serious from the start."
-v-
Chuck and Jill usually saw each other only in the mornings and evenings over the next few days. Their schedules didn't allow for much more, but they still managed to do a lot of catching up on news of each other's life.
Given the secret nature of her job, she didn't tell him much about the reason she was there, instead giving him the standard CIA prepared cover story about her work having something to do with NBC protection of some installations. Since she was a biochemist, the excuse was reasonable. In contrast, his reason for being there was not classified. The Air Force had brought in a number of Phalanx C-RAM systems to supplement the existing Patriot missile batteries and provide the base with a layer of terminal defense. His experience with computers and electronics meant that he was among those working on the systems of the fire distribution center.
Chuck still had a couple of weeks left before rotating home. During the whole time he called his sister every chance he got. Ellie was interested on hearing about life in Korea and he promised to get souvenirs for her and Devon, as well as original local recipes, since he knew how much she liked cooking.
-O-
In LA, Ellie and Devon were taking a break in the doctors' lounge. She was going over the latest gossip with the other ladies, while Devon and the rest of the men were discussing sports and cars. Most all ignored the news playing on the large TV in the room.
"Hey, Ellie," one of the doctors suddenly called, somewhat anxiously.
"What is it?"
"Isn't your little brother in Korea?"
"Yes, he's with the Air Force there, why?"
"The shit has hit the fan over there!"
"What? Let me see! Turn the volume up!"
The breaking news report was about a new aggressive act by the unpredictable and completely paranoid North Korean regime. Their military had launched heavy artillery and missile attacks on various South Korean and American installations in the area. Ellie gasped when Osan Air Force Base was mentioned among the targets hit.
"El, I'm sure Chuck is fine," Devon said, wrapping a comforting arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.
"Yeah, I think so," she replied, but still tears welled up in her eyes. "I have to call Mom and Dad."
"Do it."
Ellie fished her phone out of a pocket in her scrubs and immediately called her mother.
"Mom? Hi, it's Ellie."
"Sweetheart, is anything wrong?" Mary Elizabeth Bartowski sensed from her daughter's tone that something was not right.
"Did you hear the news?"
"No, Stephen and I are rather busy right now."
"War has broken out in Korea. It's all over the news."
"Oh dear. What did they say?"
"The details are still sketchy, but Osan was hit."
"I'll tell Stephen. We'll try to get details and see if it's possible to contact Chuck."
"Somehow, I don't think it's going to be that easy."
"We'll try anyway."
"The moment you have news…"
"Don't worry, Ellie. You'll be the first to know."
"Thanks Mom."
The base had gotten off with surprisingly little damage and few casualties. Well, not really surprising, considering all the defense measures, from the Patriot missiles to the C-RAM systems. The second the attack was over, EOD teams scoured the entire area for unexploded ordnance and as soon as they gave the all clear repair crews patched up the damaged apron and taxiways, allowing F-16s and A-10s to take off and deliver retaliatory strikes on North Korean targets.
"Lieutenant, SITREP," said a Captain, addressing Chuck, who was standing by a truck, after helping a crew of armorers unload a long belt of 20 mm ammunition from it.
"We are currently reloading the ammo drums for the guns, sir. Not all expended their ammo, but I felt it was prudent to top them up again, just in case."
"Well done, Lieutenant. Is your continued presence here required?"
"My crews are more than capable of finishing the job unsupervised, but I'd also like to run diagnostic checks on the electronics at the FDC."
"Report back to me the second you are done."
"Do you need me for anything specific, sir?"
"It's classified," the Captain said, glancing meaningfully at the enlisted men Chuck was supervising. "But there is no need to rush things. Take your time and do your usual good job."
"Will do, sir." Chuck hitched a ride to the FDC bunker on a passing Humvee, wondering what classified equipment merited the care of a lowly reservist Lieutenant. The diagnostics were done soon, with very satisfactory results. The moment he was done, Chuck sought out the Captain and reported to him. He was then taken to a rather secluded part of the base, where, according to scuttlebutt, strange things were going on.
"Here we are, Lieutenant. Just do as you're told, don't ask questions and that's about it."
"Yes sir."
"Hey Chuck," Jill said, moving forward to greet him.
"Jill?"
"I told them to ask for you specifically. You are the best I know for fiddling with electronics and we need your help."
"Just tell me what I have to do."
"Dr. Roberts?" The man who interrupted them was wearing coveralls and held a clipboard.
"What is it, Joe?"
"We've removed the air sample collectors and they have been sent to your lab."
"Thanks Joe."
"Do you need the drone for anything else, Dr. Roberts?"
"No, it's all yours. I got everything I'm going to need." She turned to Chuck. "You can probably guess why I'm here by now, Chuck," she said, guiding him towards a trailer.
"Air sample collectors, drones, you being a biochemist… yeah, I get the picture. My lips are sealed, don't worry."
"Our drone control equipment caught some shrapnel from a missile that impacted nearby. I was hoping you could help repair it."
"Spares?" Chuck asked.
"I'll talk to our tech guys, but they weren't exactly optimistic to begin with. But then again, they are not you."
"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, Jill."
Chuck had a unique talent when it came to electronics. He stripped some parts from nonessential equipment and had the drone control system up and running in the short space of a few hours. Normally, it would have taken a couple of days for parts to arrive from stateside, assuming that the delivery was not delayed in favor of more urgently needed cargos. As a result, he was running back and forth between his normal duties with the base integrated terminal air defense system and the clandestine operation Jill was participating in. Everyone liked him, even the spook in charge of the X-47 project. The good job he was doing earned him some perks, namely extra time with the satellite system to make calls home. The first thing he did was to call his parents and sister and let them know that he was just fine, and also inform them that his tour had been extended out of necessity.
As it was, the North Korean ploy backfired and the South Koreans launched a full retaliatory invasion to oust the Kim regime. It was agreed that US forces would play only a supporting role in the conflict, in order to win over the North's populace more easily. With the ROKA pushing back the communists beyond artillery range of Osan, Chuck's workload had lessened considerably. Thus, one day, after the CIA project was wrapped up, he was called to a briefing and assigned new duties: He was to command an Air Force team and visit areas hit by USAF aircraft to do BDA – Bomb Damage Assessment on the ground.
"Chuck!" Jill called as he was about to join his men and head out.
"Hey Jill, I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye."
"You look good," she said, taking in his appearance in full combat gear.
"Kind of reminds me of that day when we went to play paintball with Bryce back in Stanford," he laughed.
"Yeah, it does." Then she became serious. "Take care of yourself out there, Chuck. Don't try to be a hero."
"We are going to be visiting secure areas. The risks are minimal to nonexistent."
"Still, promise me you'll be careful."
"I'm always careful."
"I know." They hugged.
"When we get back to the States, we should go out, all three of us: you, Bryce and I."
"Great idea. I'll be looking forward to it."
As he walked towards his vehicle, he turned and waved to Jill. Little did he know that he'd be seeing her again sooner than he thought.