Easy had been moved to the closed air field at Uppottery, where they would be confined until the invasion.
Luz and Talbert was on their way to go on guard duty, when they saw Amy and Lane climb into a jeep with all their gear.
Luz turned and looked at "Where the heck are they going?" he asked Talbert.
"I have no idea, but here comes Speirs, he might now something" Tab said.
The men had the a huge amount of respect for Speirs, and he was a little scary
"Lieutenant sir, do you know where lieutenant Hunt and Captain Easterday is going? sir" Luz asked him
"What do you mean, where they are going?" Speirs asked Luz
"Sir, we just saw the lieutenant and the captain get into a jeep with all their gear" Luz said
"I have no idea, but I am going to find out" Speirs said and walked off.
Luz looked after him "Wonder if he will shoot someone this time" he said and shook his head.
Speirs was walking fast towards the HQ, when he ran into Nixon, he looked at the man with angry eyes "Where is she going" Speirs said
"Where is who going?" Nixon asked Speirs, he was totally unaware of the fact that Lane and Amy had left.
Speirs told Nixon what Luz and Talbert had told him, and Nixon dropped his head, he wasn't sure he would get through this without Lane.
"Ron I don't know where they are, but I sure as hell intend to find out" He said, and the two men walked into the HQ and knocked on Strayer's door
"Come in" Strayer said
He looked at the two men who entered his office, and he knew exactly why they were there. Strayer had hoped the two men wouldn't figure what had happened until later, when he had some specific answers for them.
"Sir, we were wondering where captain Easterday and Lieutenant Hunt was transferred to" Nixon asked
"Nixon, Speirs, I don't have exact answers for you at this time, their transfers is kept strictly on a need to know basis.
"Sir, I am sure the men in lieutenants Hunts platoon, is going to wonder where their platoon leader has disappeared to, this close to the invasion" Nixon said
Speirs had kept his mouth shut, he didn't need any trouble, he was just scared, and where the hell was Amy? and would he see her again?
"Lieutenant Nixon, I can see how the men would wonder, but if, and I repeat if… I tell the two of you, this stays here, until about two hours from now, they should have reached their destination by then" Strayer said
"So where are they going?" Nix said, he was afraid he already knew the answer.
"They are jumping with Pathfinders, they are on their way to the training area as we speak" Strayer said
Ron could feel his buckle under him, his sweet Amy, with that gang of rejects, the pathfinders was notorious trouble makers and, they all had some sort of death wish.
Nixon sat down in the nearest chair, Lane and he had been collecting Intel for the pathfinders, and he knew what they would be jumping into, the Germans had been executing anti airborne maneuvers for the last month.
It was extremely risky, and the love of his life was going with the idiots who volunteered for the suicide mission, Nixon felt like puking.
Earlier that morning
Amy was setting up for the class she had to teach, somehow Welsh had conned her into teaching the compass and map reading class in one the barracks.
The door opened and Strayer's runner came in.
"Ma'am, you are need at the HQ" He said and held the door open for Amy, they walked out to a jeep, Amy noticed Lane was sitting in the back, pouting she had been dragged away from a intelligence briefing and told to get her ass to Strayer's office.
"What's this about" Amy asked Lane
"I have no fucking idea, but it best be good, or someone is going to get an ass whooping" Lane said
The Jeep stopped in front of the HQ and Amy and Lane found Strayer's office.
They knocked on the door and were told to enter, in the office were Strayer, Sink, the leader of the pathfinders Gavin and lieutenant Meehan.
"Lieutenant, Captain" Sink nodded
"You are probably wondering why you here?" Strayer said
"Sir" the girls mumbled
"The pathfinders are in desperate need of good leadership and excellent minds, so the two of you are going to jump with them boys, before the invasion starts" Sink said
Amy felt like fainting, she was expected to leave the men this close to the invasion, they had to be kidding.
All Lane could think about was how Nixon would react.
"Now the two of you are not to whisper a word about this to anyone, and you will be leaving without saying goodbye, will that be a problem?" Sink said
"No sir" The two of them said
"Go pack your gear, you will rejoining your unit after the invasion, so don't worry, this won't be forever" Strayer said and winked at the girls
"Sir a question; who will be taking over third platoon" Amy asked Meehan
"Buck, so don't worries they are in good hands Lieutenant, you go give them Germans hell for us ok" Meehan said
Amy and Lane saluted the men, and stalked of, when they were outside of the HQ Amy turned to Lane, she was about to complain about having her men taking away from her, when she noticed Lane was crying, Amy led Lane around the HQ and sat her down on a bench overlooking the mansions park
"Hey what's wrong?" she asked Lane
"I can't, I can't leave right now, what about all the work there needs done here? and what about Lew? oh god this is going to kill him" Lane said and started to sob harder, she folded her hands behind her neck, this wasn't happening. Pathfinders, really? two women almost alone in occupied France.
"Lane we need to get out of here and pack our stuff, don't talk to anyone, just smile and look cute" Amy said
Lane and Amy went back to the girls pyramid tent and packed their stuff. Gavin was waiting for them by the jeep, the last thing Amy saw before they left the camp was Luz and Talbert looking at her and Speirs walking towards them, she knew he was going to be extremely upset and she just hoped he wasn't going to kill anyone, while she was gone.
The ride to North Witham was long and Amy couldn't feel her ass when they arrived, she knew Lane and she was going to catch all kind of hell when they got there just because they were 1) Women 2) with 101st
The jeep pulled up in a garage area, a bunch of guys were gathered around a truck which had broken down, they were trying to fix it, but it seemed impossible.
Lane walked over and slapped the guy on the shoulder "Let me take a look at that" she said and the guy pulled away from the truck
Lane adjusted a few things and looked at the guy," try and fire it up" the truck started and the guys looked at Lane with respect in their eyes.
"Listen up" Gavin said
The guys gathered around him "Men this here is Captain Lane Easterday and Lieutenant Amy Hunt, they are going to train with us for the mission, they will be treated with respect, they are the best of Easy company, so be polite at all times" Gavin said and jumped down from the jeep
"The two you, follow me" He said to Amy and Lane
He showed them into a tent like the one the guys was quartered in.
"This here is your bunk, they guys are next door, training will commence in half an hour" The commander left them and Lane and Amy looked at each other, they had no idea what they were doing, or why they had been chosen for this, but they guessed they were going to find out soon enough.
Amy soon found out why she was there, the men was undisciplined and rowdy as heck, they need some of the discipline Sobel had drilled into her at Toccoa.
She was going to jump with stick five, and with her she would have a squad of body guards, she trained the men in tactical warfare and the use of the Eureka transmitter.
It was long days and hard work, but rewarding. Amy trained with the men and slowly they were becoming a pathfinder unit ready for their mission and combat.
Lanes job was a different story, it was uphill the Intel section of the Pathfinders was slow and at times downright stupid, it seemed like they didn't know what to do with the Intel Lane provided them with.
Most of the officers didn't know their ass from their arm pit and Lane was about ready to go back to Easy. There were too many commanding officers wanting to know about what was going on at the same time, so Lane didn't have the necessary time to Analyze the Intel that came her way, finally she had enough.
She was standing in the HQ main office staring at a map of Normandy, she was pint pointing the best DZ for the soldiers, the officers kept interrupting and everybody had an opinion on where and how the pathfinders should do their job once on the ground.
Lane turned around and looked around the office; there were too many runners and secretaries. The security of the place was a freaking joke. Lane was told not to tell Lewis were she was and it seemed like the whole world could walk in and out of the office.
"Ok can I have your attention?" the room went silent and everybody looked at Lane.
"Everybody with the rank below lieutenants out now" Lane said
The secretaries and staff runners mumbled and slipped out to the front office.
Lane looked at the remaining officers, the only one who out ranked her was Major Gavin, and he had told her that all Intel work was here domain.
"Look, you have been too soft, from now on, until the invasion, the only people in here are personal linked to S2 work, so if someone in here is not working with S2 get out now" Lane said
A WAC lieutenant stood up and walked out.
"Good, let's get down to business" Lane said
Lane turned around and pointed to the map, "The last month Lieutenant Nixon and I ,have been collecting Intel about the German troop movements in Normandy, our drop zones will be in close to the German forces the German forces has been doing anti airborne maneuvers the past month, which means our boys and girls will be jumping into a hornets' nest, so from now on all Intel stays here, and are to be reported strictly to me. I will Analyze all Intel and decide what to do with it, understood" Lane said
A loud and clear "Yes Ma'am" was heard
Lane smiled and turned back to her map, guess Speirs was on to something, it paid off being a hard ass.
After her speech Lane didn't have any problems, and her and Amy could do their work and prepare for the Mission.
There were 300
Pathfinders jumping into Normandy with different drop zones, Lane knew a lot of the men would be killed on this jump and she hoped Amy's stick was well prepared.
Mean while in Uppottery
Katie came back from the aid station and she immediately noticed Amy and Lanes gear was missing, she almost panicked and ran out of the tent, the first person she ran into was a very upset lieutenant Nixon "Nix, do you know where Lane and Amy has been moved to" She asked Nixon, Katie just thought they had been moved to another tent, near the company.
"I can't tell you here, but be in third platoon's tent in fifteen minutes, then I will let you know" Nixon said and stalked of Katie could tell he was upset, this wasn't good.
Katie walked down to the aid station and dragged Mia out of there.
"Something's up, we need to be in third platoon's tent in right now" Katie said
Katie didn't mention anything to Mia, about Lane and Amy being gone, they walked to the tent and Mia wondered what was up third platoon that was the one Lipton was in, so she hoped it wasn't bad news.
The two of them walked into the tent and was greeted by the boys, Talbert snuck up to Katie and put an arm around her shoulder "Do you have any idea why we are here" He asked her
Katie sat down on the nearest cot, and pushed Shifty out of her way.
"I have no idea" she said
The tent flap opened and Winters, Nixon, Buck and Meehan walked in.
"You men are probably wondering why you were called here" Meehan said
"Damn right" Most of the men mumbled
"Lieutenant Hunt won't be jumping with you, she has been transferred to pathfinder's for this mission, and lieutenant Compton will be taking her place, Captain Easterday is with Pathfinders as well, so we have to settle for Nixon at this time" Meehan said
The officers walked out and Mia and Katie looked at each other.
Mia came over and sat down next to Katie "This is not good, can you imagine being with Speirs at this time, he is going to kill someone" Mia said
Katie smiled "Yeah well, we just have to keep the guys in line and everything will be fine" Katie said
Katie turned around and looked at Luz and Talbert, they were talking amongst them self, they were both visibly upset, but there was nothing any of them could do. The brass had made a decision and it was out of their hands, Katie just hoped she would see the girls again soon.
That night the company officers received their initial briefing on their D-Day mission from Nixon and Hester, they were told to memorize the sand tables and their route of advance and enemy situation.
The officers was to brief the men, their mission was to drop in to Ste .Marie du Mont and to seize four cause ways behind Utah beach on the Cotentin peninsula.
The men studied the Sand tables and learned the whole area by heart; third platoon missed Amy and moped a lot about it.
The men were issued French Francs and a dime store cricket and were told the pass word.
Winters distributed Ammunition and grenades to Easy, the men took hot showers and were given extra rations of candy and cigarettes.
Katie and Mia was busy packing for their jump. Katie hoped the equipment would find its way from the beach to her aid station without much delay; she could only jump with so much extra weight.
She was wondering if she would make it or not, would Mia? And would everybody she had come to love, make the big jump and live to tell about it.
June 4th
Meehan was standing on a jeep "Listen up Easy company, the channel coast is soaked in with rain and fog, high winds on the drop zone no jump tonight" There was a loud mumbled and you have to be kidding me.
Mia was pissed, she had spend the day consoling the nervous men, she decided to go and watch the movie with Lipton and they were sitting next to Guarnere, he pulled a letter from his pocket and tried to read it, but it was too dark in tent, so he walked out.
Mia had a feeling something was wrong and followed him out, Guarnere read the letter, and Johnny Martin had stuffed it in his pocket earlier. Martin's wife had written and told him that Guarnere brother had been killed at Monte Casino, but Martin didn't have the heart to tell him.
Mia saw Guarnere read the letter "Hey Bill what's up"
Bill turned around "I got Martins letter by mistake, my brother has been killed at Monte Casino, where is that any way" He asked
"Italy, are you ok" Mia asked again
"Yeah I am fine I am just going to take a walk" Bill said
Mia went back into the tent and sat down next to Lipton and took his hand, he looked at her and smiled, he leaned over to her "You want to get out of here" He asked her
Mia nodded and they got up and walked out of the tent, on their way they met Nixon and Winters who was talking about Sobel and Happy hour.
Mia and Lip walked around the air field and talked about the jump, they were both anxious to get it over with, and the postponing of the jump hadn't been good for anyone.
Lipton walked Mia back to the tent the girls were in, they said goodnight and Lipton kissed Mia like it was the last time he would see her.
Mia dove in the tent, but returned rather quickly.
"I am going to bunk at the aid station tonight" She said
"Who" Lip asked
"Lets just say someone is in there working of their nerves" Mia said and walked towards the aid station, on her way there she ran into Winters and Katie, Mia told Katie about Sophie and McMillan going at it in the tent, so both girls decided it was best to crash in the aid station that night.
The next day was full of preparation, Easy company was ordered to be at the airfield at 20.30 and be ready to load and go.
Mia and Katie were standing by their plane; Katie was in Winters stick and Mia in third platoon with Buck and Lipton.
They were handing out air sickness pills and the men mumbled something about never getting air sick before, Katie knew it was scheme to keep them sedated on the way over the channel.
Amy and Lane was already on their way over the channel, the pathfinders were to drop, before the rest of the paratroopers.
Amy and Lane was assigned to the stick, who was to assist the 101st and the 82nd
These pathfinder teams were assigned to Drop Zones C (101st) and N (82nd) each carried two BUPS beacons. The units for DZ N were intended to guide in the parachute resupply drop scheduled for late on D-Day, but the pair of DZ C were to provide a central orientation point for all the SCR-717 radars to get bearings. However the units were damaged in the drop and provided no assistance.
Amy and Lanes stick ended scattered all over the place, and as soon as they landed they were attacked by German forces.
Amy and Lane managed to escape, they were walking along a hedgerow when a German patrol passed them, Lane quickly dove into the hedgerow and crunched down, Amy wasn't fast enough and the German patrol took her as their prisoner, Lane had to bite her cheek not to scream.