The Talk
By: AliasCWN
Troy and Moffitt walked into the mess hall to find Tully and Hitch already eating.
"Hitch, Tully, Meet us back in our quarters after breakfast.
"Sure Sarge," Hitch nodded, "are we going on patrol?"
"No, I just want to have a talk with the two of you."
Hitch glanced over at Tully. Tully shrugged and continued eating his breakfast.
"What do you want to talk about Sarge?" Hitch asked.
"I'll tell you later," Troy answered. "We'll talk back in our room."
"Are we in trouble?"
"I'll tell you everything later," Troy answered again.
"Why can't you just talk to us here?" Hitch asked.
"Because I want to talk to you in our quarters," Troy answered calmly. He refused to give any more explanation.
"Why?"
"Eat your breakfast Hitch; it's going to get cold."
"But I don't understand Sarge, why not just talk to us right here? We're all here anyway."
"In our quarters Hitch." Troy replied quietly. "Later." Troy picked up a tray and joined the other soldiers standing in line for their food.
"What's going on Doc?" Hitch looked to the British sergeant for answers.
"You'll have to ask Troy," Moffitt answered with a smile. "I have to go get my breakfast." Moffitt joined the other sergeant in line with his empty tray.
"Something funny is going on Tully." Hitch stopped eating to look across the table at Tully. "What do you think Sarge wants to talk about?"
"I dunno," Tully shrugged and continued eating.
"Aren't you curious?"
"Sarge will tell us what's going on after breakfast," Tully answered.
"But why does he have to wait? Are we in trouble? We didn't do anything, did we?"
"I didn't, did you?"
"Not that I can remember." Hitch responded. "In fact, I've been kind of bored lately."
"Don't tell Sarge that," Tully warned. "He'll find something to keep you busy, even if he has to put you to work peeling potatoes."
"Somethings wrong Tully," Hitch insisted. "Sarge isn't usually this mysterious."
"Sarge always has a reason for the things he does."
"Yeah," Hitch agreed, "but what is it?"
"You could ask him again," Tully suggested.
"And keep asking until he gives in," Hitch agreed eagerly. "That might work." Then his face fell and he shook his head. "Never mind; if his mind is made up we're not going to change it."
"He sure can keep a secret when it suits him," Tully nodded soberly.
"So how do we find out what's going on?"
"I guess we wait until after breakfast," Tully decided. "He said he wanted to talk to us then."
"But what's the big secret?"
"I guess we'll find out after breakfast."
Hitch shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Sarge will tell us when he's ready." Hitch went back to eating his food.
"Doc probably knows what it's all about," Tully answered thoughtfully.
"But he's not talking either," Hitch answered.
"Yeah, and that's not like him. I can usually count on him to keep me up to date on what's going on." Tully sounded concerned.
"Sarge probably told him not to tell us," Hitch guessed.
"Why would he do that?"
"I don't know," Hitch shrugged.
"Why would he keep it from me unless it was something bad?"
"We didn't do anything Tully, you said so yourself."
"I know I did," Tully frowned. "But what if Sarge thinks we did something that we didn't really do?"
"I don't know Tully. Now that I think about it, he didn't sound too mad."
"Maybe he just doesn't want us to know he's mad until he has us in our quarters." Tully glanced toward the sergeants. "Maybe he wants us where he can cut off our escape."
"What are you talking about?" Hitch looked toward the sergeants too. When he did he caught them looking back toward their table. They looked away quickly when they noticed him watching. "Hey Tully, they're watching us."
"I told you something was wrong."
"No you didn't," Hitch replied, "you said Sarge would tell us after breakfast. I'm the one who said something was wrong."
"But now they're watching us."
"Maybe they're just checking to make sure we save their seats."
"They didn't tell us to save them seats."
"But we always save their seats."
"I know we do," Tully nodded, "even without them telling us to do it. But this time something is different. Look at Sarge; he doesn't usually keep secrets from us. He usually tells us more than he's really supposed to. He always says it's better if we know what's happening in case we need to make any decisions on our own. That way if we run into problems we can decide what needs to be done."
"Maybe headquarters found out and he got in trouble for telling us too much." Hitch suggested.
"Sarge didn't say anything."
"Maybe that's what he wants to talk to us about. Maybe that's why he won't talk to us here."
"That could be it," Tully agreed.
"But what if it isn't?" Hitch glanced at the sergeants again.
"What else could it be?" Tully asked.
"I don't have any idea; you heard me ask Sarge, he wouldn't tell me."
"He'll tell us after breakfast," Tully replied with another glance at the sergeants.
"I can't wait," Hitch sighed. "This suspense is driving me crazy."
"It was a short drive," Tully smiled.
"What?" Hitch looked over at Tully in confusion. "What was?"
"For you it was a short drive to crazy."
"Tully." Hitch groaned in exasperation. "This could be serious."
"I guess it could be," Tully agreed, "or it could be nothing at all. We really don't know enough to know one way or the other."
"Just the same, I wish he'd tell us."
"You saved us seats," Troy stood behind Hitch with a big smile on his face. "We were hoping you wouldn't finish and leave before we got through the line."
"We can talk now if you want," Hitch suggested.
"Later Hitch; right now I want to eat my breakfast before it gets cold." Troy smiled at his driver.
"What about you Doc?" Tully asked. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"As a matter of fact Tully, there is. There is something you should know."
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you when we get back to our quarters," Moffitt answered as he set his tray on the table and sat down.
"If it's important then maybe you ought to tell us now," Tully suggested.
"Later Tully, it can wait, at least I think it can." Moffitt looked across the table at Troy who nodded slightly. "Apparently it can," Moffitt smiled.
"What's going on Doc?" Tully asked. "You two are acting awfully funny."
"There's nothing funny about what we need to talk about," Troy growled.
"Then why don't you just come out and tell us?" Hitch asked impatiently. "You can keep your voices low, no one else will hear."
"We'll talk later," Troy answered firmly. "Now let me eat my breakfast in peace." He shoved a bite of egg into this mouth and ignored both privates.
"We need to go to the motor pool and make sure the parts came in for my jeep," Hitch announced when both sergeants continued to avoid looking at them. "If they came in we can finish repairing the jeep."
"Make sure they're done right this time," Troy ordered between bites.
"It would have been done right the first time if we had had the parts," Hitch answered in a hurt tone. "We can't fix it without the parts Sarge."
"Then make sure you have all of the parts you need," Troy insisted.
"Sure Sarge," his driver answered, "we'll make sure we have everything we need. The motor pool had most of them already. We only have a few small things to do yet."
"How long will it take to finish it?"
Hitch glanced over at Tully. "Half an hour if the parts are all here."
"Okay," Troy nodded, "fix the jeep and then meet us in our quarters. We should be done eating and back by then."
Troy and Moffitt watched the two privates leave the mess hall before they went back to eating.
"I told you we were in trouble," Tully leaned toward Hitch and hissed.
"I told you!" Hitch insisted.
"I guess it doesn't matter who told who," Tully groaned. "They're worked up about something."
"But we didn't do anything!"
"Maybe Sarge is mad because I planted those charges in Dietrich's halftrack."
"You told him about that, sort of." Hitch shook his head. "He wasn't worried enough to ask for any details then. Why would it bother him now?"
"But maybe someone complained?"
"Who? Dietrich doesn't complain to our side." Hitch shook his head again. "You just did what any of us would have done, given the chance. Maybe he's mad because I dropped a jeep on Dietrich's head."
"No," Tully answered, "Doc said that Troy thought it was kind of funny. He was kind of upset that Dietrich would leave him out there for the Arabs to catch again; especially after we rescued him from the Arabs when he was in trouble."
"To be fair, Dietrich was going to go back for him."
"Sure, because Dietrich wanted to capture Sarge, not because he wanted to save him from the Arabs."
"Maybe not only because of that," Hitch suggested. "I don't think he really wanted Sarge to get caught again."
"He left him there."
"Yeah, but he said he thought Sarge was too smart to let the Arabs catch him. He seemed pretty sure Sarge would be there when we got back with his column."
"Well anyway, I don't think Sarge was mad at you for that."
"What does he want to talk to us about then?"
"Maybe we'd better get the jeep fixed so we can go and find out. I don't want to make him any madder by keeping him waiting."
"I'm not so sure I want to know anymore," Hitch admitted.
"I know what you mean, but we really don't have a choice. We can't avoid him forever. Sarge said to meet him and he'll be mad if we don't show up."
"I hope all of the parts are here," Hitch mumbled. "He'll be mad if we don't get that jeep fixed properly." Suddenly he stopped and turned to Tully. "Hey! Maybe he's mad because I hit those rocks and broke the jeep in the first place! It was an accident; he'll understand when I explain how it happened."
Tully shook his head and started walking again. "Sarge knows things happen when we're under fire. I don't think it's the jeep he wants to talk about."
"I give up!" Hitch threw his hands up in surrender. "Let's just get done fixing the jeep and let Sarge tell us what's eating him."
The two of them continued to the motor pool lost in their own thoughts. When they inquired they were told that all of the parts had arrived. Working quickly, they soon had the jeep repaired as good as new. They did one last check before putting the tools away.
"That does it," Tully pronounced with satisfaction. "You shouldn't have any more trouble with her, providing you avoid hitting any other big rocks."
"I didn't do it on purpose," Hitch protested.
"I'm kidding," Tully threw up his hand. "Don't be so touchy."
"I'm sorry Tully, it's just this talk. I can't figure out what's going on. It really is driving me crazy!"
"I know what you mean," Tully nodded. He wiped the last of the grease and dirt from his hands. Tossing the greasy rag onto the pile of other dirty rags, he turned to leave. "I guess we should go meet Sarge and see what he thinks we did."
"Yeah," Hitch agreed, but he was dragging his feet all the way to their quarters.
"There you are," Troy called when they entered the room. "We were just about to come looking for you. Is the jeep done?"
"Yeah Sarge," Hitch nodded, "all fixed up as good as new. She shouldn't give us any more trouble."
"That's good to know."
"You know hitting those rocks could have happened to anyone under those circumstances," Tully added quickly.
Troy looked at Moffitt before focusing on the two privates. "I'm not mad about the jeep being damaged. I know things happen, especially under those conditions."
Neither sergeant missed the sigh that escaped Troy's driver at
Troy's comment.
"I suppose you're wondering what I wanted to talk to you about."
"We haven't been in any trouble Sarge!"
Troy smiled at his driver and nodded. "I know that too, and I'm glad you managed to stay out of trouble for so long. Keep it up."
Hitch glanced at Tully. "I don't get it Sarge; if we haven't been in trouble, and you're not mad about the jeep, what are you mad about?"
"I'm not mad Hitch, I'm just concerned."
Tully and Hitch exchanged looks and frowned.
"Have you been worried about this talk?" Troy asked the privates.
"Yeah, kind of," Hitch admitted.
"You've been pretty secretive Sarge," Tully added.
"Is that what worried you?"
Hitch looked at Tully nervously. "We didn't know what to expect Sarge."
"Because you didn't have enough information?"
"Yeah, you didn't tell us anything except that you wanted to talk."
"What about you Tully, did you know what was going on?"
Tully shook his head.
Troy noticed that Hitch was working his gum harder than usual and Tully's matchstick was in danger of breaking in half.
"With the information I gave you, would you be comfortable making any decision about what I wanted?"
"We could guess Sarge," Tully answered, "but that's all it would be. We didn't have enough information to really say anything for sure. We thought you were mad."
"Well I'm not, so your guess was wrong." Troy looked at Moffitt again. "So maybe you get my point."
Tully looked at Hitch who shrugged and looked at Troy. "What point?"
"Hitch, on this last mission I asked you what took you so long to come back for me." Troy focused on his driver.
"I told you Sarge, the jeep broke down again."
"But you didn't tell me that you didn't trust your repair job. Don't you think that that would have been nice to know? It could have affected any decision I would have had to make if we had run into trouble again. For instance, I might have told you to run rather than engage any enemy we met. If we had gotten into a fight, and it broke down again, where would we be?"
Hitch dropped his head and nodded. "You're right Sarge; I should have made that clear. I guess I didn't mention it because I couldn't fix it any better so we had to work with what we had. I'm sorry, next time I'll be sure to tell you."
"What about Dietrich?"
"What about him?" Hitch looked lost again.
"Don't you think you should have mentioned that he tried to escape?"
"I told you that too."
"Only after I badgered you for an answer about that bump on his head. He thought his column was still in the area. Don't you think I should have been aware of that too?"
"But you thought they were still in the area too!" Hitch answered in confusion.
"But if Dietrich believed it, it would have verified my suspicions, and I may have taken extra precautions."
Hitch hung his head again and merely nodded.
"Tully." Troy looked away from his chastised driver to pin Tully with a look.
"You're talking about that halftrack, aren't you?"
"The explosion you mentioned, was that a halftrack?"
"Yeah Sarge," Tully admitted. "That lieutenant had his men take all of the explosives out of the jeep. Then he had me make a meal for me and Doc. While I was digging around for pots I found a timer and a few small charges that they missed. The guard wasn't watching me very close so I managed to tuck them into my shirt. I was going to save them to try to make an escape. While the lieutenant was talking to Doc he had me chained to one of his halftracks. When I heard Doc make the deal for the trade I decided I'd better get rid of them before they found them. The halftrack was right there and they weren't paying much attention to me. I tucked the charges up along the frame next to the fuel tank and set the timer. We were long gone before it was set to go off Sarge. I would have told you about it if we had been closer. I was going to tell you when we got back but I guess I forgot."
Troy nodded, "No harm done, this time."
Tully looked relieved.
"But I should have been told," Troy continued. "When I make command decisions I make them using the information that I have at the time. I take into consideration all of the information I have." He looked sharply at both privates. "In order to make the best decisions I need all of the information, everything we have, not just what you consider important. There may be a time when the thing you think isn't important may make all of the difference. You may not realize it because you don't have all of the information. It's my job to gather all of the information and decide what is important and what isn't. I share more than headquarters tells me to share with you because, if you have to make a decision on your own, you can make a more informed one. Sharing information, all of the information, is important to the success of the mission."
Both privates nodded that they understood.
"In the future, I need you to keep me informed. I don't want to have to play twenty questions to get all of the details out of you. There may not be time, or an opportunity to tell me right away, but I need to know the first chance you have to tell me."
"You're right Sarge," Hitch answered, "it's just…"
"Just what?"" Troy demanded.
"It's just that we were just doing our jobs Sarge," Hitch answered defensively. "Not letting Dietrich escape, I figured you'd expect me to handle it. I thought you would expect me to return with him, so I did. I didn't think of all of that other stuff."
"And blowing up that halftrack," Tully added, "It's one of the things we do. I didn't think of it as anything special. I swear Sarge; I would have told you right way if I had thought it would make a difference!"
Moffitt caught Troy's eye and smiled.
"All right you two," Troy growled, "the talk is over. Get out of here! You have free time unless I get a call from the captain."
Tully and Hitch hurried from the room. Troy and Moffitt could hear them whispering to each other as they rushed down the hall.
"That went well," Moffitt smiled.
Troy cocked his head and watched the privates until they turned the corner. "I think they'll be a bit more forthcoming from now on." Troy turned to see Moffitt still smiling at him. "What?"
The Brit shrugged. "I suppose one might assume that any repair done in the field might not hold."
"One could," Troy agreed. "But knowing is better than guessing."
"One could also expect that Dietrich would take advantage of the situation to try to escape."
"One could."
"And blowing up a halftrack…"
"What's your point?" Troy growled.
"There was no real harm done, except to the halftrack."
"That's not the point. We agreed, they need to tell us these things."
"True," Moffitt nodded, "they do. And I think that they realize that now. It's just…."
"Just what?" Troy growled again. "Are we playing twenty questions now too?"
"It's just," Moffitt continued, "that they didn't tell you because they considered those things just another part of their jobs. In each case they thought it was expected of them and nothing out of the ordinary."
Troy paused.
"Don't worry Troy; I think they got your message. Letting them worry about what you wanted to talk about had them thinking. Your explanation made it clear what you need and expect. I doubt they will keep anything from you after this."
Troy smiled. "Mission accomplished."