SOAP 4

He shrugged, "one of my platoon commanders, was battalion commander, peacekeeping in Yugoslavia."
"So why'd she give the party salute and you the military?"
"Bit overzealous in a number of situations, tried to tone that down a bit."
Sonali laughed, "and you failed?"
He hugged her, "some people never change, you're so right."
"And December 15, 1943 was what?"
"Day I died."
"How'd it happen?"
"A general was on an inspection tour.  Captain Neubauer had already drunk two bottles of brandy, unloaded a full Schmeisser clip into me and the general."
"How's you make Col?"
"Started Luftwaffe, bomber pilot, Condor Legion in Spain, 1936-1939. By 1940, colonel in bombers.  Raid on England September 1940, lost my right hand, half the forearm."
"And Fazila, her background?"
"Non-combat, pure Party."
"Ever look Fazila up in archives?"
"Died Russian Front, mid 1944."
"She seems to admire you all the same, despite the differences."
"Young, immature, not vicious."
It dawned on Sonali, "everything moves in a circle.  Died peacekeeping in Yugo, three tours there this time.  You meet the same people?"
"Half dozen in Devon and Dorsets, three in paras.  Moves in a circle, you get to experience all.  One time Col, next Sgt, next who knows could be private or field marshal.  Keep going till you get it right then move on."
She kissed him, "such as teaching math?"
He stroked her hair, "never thought of it so, thanks for the insight."
"Big question, happier here or there?"
"There, more exciting; here, more soul-satisfying.  Happier with my work here, happy I found love.  Thought I never would."
They hugged, cried.
"Just a minute," she asked, "that drinking crowd on the ferry, people of that time?"
"Yes, all of them."
"And in your group's case, it wasn't celebration of end of tour; more a sadness the world is so crazy?"
He nodded.
"Ever trace Capt Neubauer?"
For answer he drew out a copy of the newsletter, showed her a photo of Salima.
She gasped, "you sure?"
"Yeah."
She laughed, "the ultimate punishment, she becomes the two officers she killed, finds out how hard it really is."
He grinned.
Sonali asked, "what do you know of the general who was killed?"
"Malali of course, now I'm about 99% certain she has a mental block, doesn't know it on the conscious level.  But bigtime recognition washed over her face when she saw me in sick bay."
Sonali chuckled, "that would certainly explain the huge level of conflict between Malali and Fazila.  Those two hated each other from Day One."
"Which is exactly why Salima put them in the same unit."
"So if Salima ever saw you, it'd be instant recognition, better stay away from HQ."
"You yourself said, once here, never leave."
One last thought hit Sonali, "you ah happen to ah recognize me?"
Gently, "you too have a mental block, we were together three years, December 1940 to December 1943.  You were my radioman, Cpl Steiner."
She started to cry, "that explains it, first day I met you, knew I knew you somehow, trusted you."
He hugged her, "and when I first met you, already knew you were a fine person."

Next morning Malali joined them for breakfast.  Out of the corner of her eye, Sonali watched.  It's true, Charlie is driving her nuts.  She knows him but not how.  Doesn't know me though, no surprise, a general wouldn't recognize a cpl.
Morning tea, Malali was leafing through the newsletter, saw the large portrait of Salima.  Instead of her normal tense, she was more relaxed, more open.  And suddenly it was all flooding back.  Now she knew who in blazes Salima was - her murderer.  And Charlie - the Col who'd died beside her. And that obnoxious Fazila Ufff.
She spent the rest of the day with a notepad, listing clues, ending up with 34 pages.

She joined Sonali and Charlie for supper, "say after supper, think we could all take tea, go chat in my office?"
She showed them her notes.  As Sonali read, the recall came.  Malali paused, "you know Sonali, you're mixed up in this too, just can't place you."
Politely Charlie replied, "Herr General, highly unlikely you'd recognize my radioman Cpl Steiner.  Sonali was there that day, saw it happen."
Malali laughed, "so that's the real reason I got command of the devil's brigade."
"Look at the bright side Herr General, are they not the angel's brigade now?"
She hugged Charlie, "you don't change, you were by far the best battalion commander I had."
"So what'll we do now?"  Malali asked.
"If I may be so bold as to suggest, let's bury Salima alive.  Let's turn this place into an elite unit.  Let's get as many people going on courses as we can, flood HQ with our promotions.  After all, this set does have more energy than the rest of the population."
Malali laughed, "as I recall that's exactly what you did last time.  People stood in line to get into your battalion.  Only way out was promotions.  Should I set up the Officer Candidate exam for you?"
Charlie blushed, "I'll help you along, but actually I prefer teaching, more soul-satisfying." 

What was needed was example, not preaching.  Malali requested the Intel correspondence course for herself.  Highly unlikely it would actually pay off, but a topic she found interesting all the same.  Sonali, already a sgt, requested the W.O. qualifying course.  Charlie requested the Pashtu language course.  This would be a goodwill gesture, plus very romantic, curled up studying with Sonali.
The MQ block was soon a-flutter.  Neither Sonali nor Charlie preached, just answered any questions.  Sonali would gently smile, "it's sooo romantic curled up together studying."  To a lot of couples this was a major selling point.

Gulazar and Shabnab were first, Gulazar enrolling in the sgt qualifying course and Shabnab enrolled in basic English.  Not to be outdone, Zala and Benazir were quick to start, Zala on literacy upgrading and Benazir on teacher training.  As Benazir tutored Zala, side-by-side, bodies and hands touching, they experienced more romance.
Soon these people were selling the idea of courses to friends.  Within several months, 50 of the 98 members were enrolled in something, pretty good considering an averge unit had two.

HQ decided on its own to remove all MP's except one private.  No justification to keep them there, total lack of business.  In their place, an education officer from the correspondence course section, to help meet the massive demand and promote more demand; the organization needed those grads. 

Salima was now immensely suspicious of the background story on Kerguelen. She had a huge sense of deja vu, she's seen this bigtime before.  She reasoned it would be an individual, not a group.  A recent arrival, not someone there forever.  She ordered from Personnel the complete file on all who had joined 3 Kabul in the last two years.
One-by-one she sifted.  No, no, no, no and no.  Endless collection of bad rap sheets.
Oh yes, the man teaching there, some kind of sea accident.  She opened the file, saw the photo.  And now she wasn't in her office anymore.  She was back on a snowy hillside near Sarajevo, December 15, 1943, again blowing away her battalion commander and the inspecting general.
After the flashback, she sat shaken over tea.  She had absolutely nothing against the Col, highly respected him as a matter of fact.  It's just well with the DT's, she'd been seeing snakes, not the two men who got shot.
So he's back.  And the Col has delivered a tour-de-force.  He's turned the devil's brigade into the most successful unit we've got.  We darn well need those grads and more of them too.
She worked over budget figures.  Prepared to do battle with the Command Council at the next meeting.  She'd of course be seeking more funds for 3 Kabul.  Don't want the Col's juggernaut to run out of gas.  
She pondered, he's only a WO.  Why in blazes hasn't that negligent Malali put him up for OC exam?  We need more of those people. 
My friend, you need not fear me; hang around a few years, you'll be my 2-i-c.