Chapter 4
Not exactly as smooth as my jet Houston thought to himself as the C-2A Greyhound hurtled through more turbulence. He looked around the cargo bay at the others on board. His reception at the base had been less than enthusiastic and the attitude certainly hadn't improved during their time in the air. Cdr. Merker walked back to where Houston was seated.
"You do realize this isn't the wild west we're going to be dealing with here, don't you, Tex? " he said with a sneer. "No Jesse James or Billy the Kid. Just crazy extremists who have nothing better in mind than terrorizing and tormenting the rest of the world. They don't care how much money you have or what kind of car you drive. They want you dead. Period."
"Believe it or not, Commander, I do know that. And I left my horse at home." Houston shot right back at him.
"Hmph. We'll see how you like hanging out with the SEALS soon enough. The admiral was telling me all about your medals and how you were a Ranger. Well I've got some news for you: Rangers don't make a pimple on a SEAL's ass. And I don't intend to waste my time or that of my men to babysit some past-his-prime- wanna-be. You will do as you are ordered and that's that." Merker stalked back to the forward section of the bay.
One of the younger SEALS moved down next to Houston. "Sir, don't let him get to you. He's tough on all of us, especially us younger guys. Guess maybe we're too much competition for him." He shook Matt's hand. "Name's Joey DiMaggio – Slugger for short. Guess you can figure that one out easy enough, huh?" Houston smiled. "Most folks just call me Houston. Nice to meet you. How about these other fellas? It helps to know a little something about the folks you're gonna be working with."
"Well, let's see. That guy all the way forward there is Jerry Kutsik – we call him Kutter. Next to him is Brandon Bybee – Surfer Boy. Then that fellow there that's asleep – that's Mike Nathan. Call him Hotdog. He's our corpsman. " Slugger looked back at Houston. "I heard the Commander say you were a Ranger. So was my dad. He was kinda disappointed when I joined the SEALs."
Houston smiled and replied "I doubt that."
The red light came on overhead. "Looks like we're fixing to land. Better hold on tight." said DiMaggio.