Chapter Two
If it weren't for the war, Korea might have been a very lovely place.
Lara watched the rolling hills speed by as their jeep bumped along. The sky was a clear azure, not a cloud marred its soft skin. No, the scenery, currently devoid of the usual tanks, artillery, and potholes, seemed nearly untouched by the war.
It was something else. From the moment she had landed in Seoul she had felt it. The entire country was brimming with an invisible energy, a bizarre melancholy indifference at the same time mingled with overwhelming passion and sadness, a contradiction, she knew, but at the same time helpfully explanatory. The entire country seemed a paradox. She was unsure what to make of the place. It seemed to be filled with citizens who cared more about the welfare of their farm animals than whatever was occurring around tables and in front of maps hundreds of miles away. To them the war was an alien thing that was just happening, unstoppably, a monster threatening to rip apart their traditional way of life and replace it with Americanism.
The man driving beside her, the colonel, must've caught onto her pensive expression. He chuckled merrily, and said with a sardonic tone, "Why the long face, sweetheart? It's only a war, after all."
She smiled in reply. Colonel Sherman Potter seemed to be a jolly enough fellow, regular army, but good humored, kind, and friendly. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm just thinking."
"Don't start. You'll get yourself all tied up in knots before you can figure it out."
"Figure what out?"
"Why we're here, of course." He looked at her strangely. "I've got folks who've been trying to think it through for years. Drives them looney."
She nodded, slowly, extremely confused. After a few moments of bewildered silence, she spoke again. "It was nice of you to pick me up like this."
"Well, I don't usually make personal trips for this sort of purpose. Usually it's up to the nurse herself to get out here, but I was in Seoul anyway so I thought I'd do the honours."
"Ah. Were you attending a conference?"
He chuckled. "In a manner of speaking." He gestured to the backseat where a tall, hairy, black-haired man was collapsed. "This is Klinger. He attempts to go AWOL about once a week. Sometimes he actually succeeds. Had to bail him out personally, he's been in the slammer in Seoul so often that the M.P.'s actually have a bet going when he's going to come in next."
She laughed. "Why hasn't he been court martialed yet?"
"Well I've always said you can't blame a man for trying."
"And no one at HQ's picked up on his file?"
"Not yet, but it's only a matter of time. I hope he cuts this out, I'd hate to see him thrown into the stockade. This kid don't belong in the army."
"None of us do."
"Ain't that the truth." He shook his head balefully. "Klinger's been trying to get out since the whole thing started. Went through a stage where he'd only wear women's clothing. Too bad you missed it, I'll have to show you pictures."
Lara smiled broadly and glanced back at the dark-skinned man. "It sounds like you have quite a cast of characters."
He glanced at her, furtively, and sighed. "Just you wait, my dear. Just you wait."
The jeep rolled underneath the crudely painted sign "4077th" and came to a stop in front of a long wooden building. Lara hopped out and grabbed her bags. "Place seems quiet."
Colonel Potter came around the jeep and eyed the compound suspiciously. "That's what I'm afraid of."
Just then the doors of the wooden building opened and a tall man strolled out. He was blonde, with a high forehead and kind blue eyes, and he was wearing a long white coat and studying a clipboard. He looked surprised to see them standing there.
"Colonel? You're back!"
"Hunnicut?" The colonel stepped a little closer. "What the hell happened to you?"
The doctor tentatively touched his upper lip. "You like it? Hawk and I…well there was a poker game…"
The colonel held up his hand. "No more explanations needed." He stepped a little closer. "Where's Pierce?"
B.J. shrugged. "Dunno. I relieved him a couple of hours ago, he should be in the Swamp."
The colonel looked around suspiciously. "Are you positive that's where he is?"
"Not really. To be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't leapt out and proposed by now." He glanced over the colonel's head at the woman standing there. He studied her in silence for a few seconds while her eyes flitted around the compound. She was quite tall and slender, long legs, tiny breasts, brown hair. Her face was pretty but not amazingly so. Mostly it was the straightness of her back and the strong lift of her chin that impressed B.J. He glanced back at the colonel and lowered his voice. "You should know, sir, Hawkeye's been a little off the last couple of days. Not outwardly, no, on the outside he's pretty much the same, but he seems more distracted, more 'out of it' than usual. Even more cynical, if that's possible."
"Do we need to get Friedman down here?"
"Nah, I don't think it's that serious yet. Let's just see if he snaps out of it."
A sharp-eyed blonde came out behind B.J. "Colonel, how was your trip?"
The colonel smiled at her and gestured to the jeep where Klinger was lying, fast asleep. "Fruitful as always." He gestured to Lara. "And this is your new nurse, Lara Dalton."
Margaret smiled courteously. "Excellent, we've been waiting for you. Come with me, I'll show you to your quarters." She strode off leaving Lara to struggle after her with her bags.
B.J. and the colonel watched them go, then glanced at one another. Still no Hawkeye. Lara had even gone right past the Swamp and there was no movement from within.
Nothing was said. B.J. tucked his clipboard under his arm and strode past the jeep, giving Klinger a sharp rap on the head as he walked by. "Have you seen Charles? He's supposed to be relieving me."
"You go check on Pierce. I'll handle Winchester."