A chance meeting

[Salah_ad_Din]

Mundo stared out the window of the recruiting office wondering just what brought him to this point.

It had been a good summer, really. Living with his Aunt in DC was much better then living at home with his old man. His Dad and his Pop were decent enough, but they didn't understand, they just didn't get it. Moving up here with Aunt Madeline had given him some breathing room.

And then the phone call had come. When was he coming home? When would he put these crazy notions out of this head and start learning the family business? Mundo had no desire to press other people's pants the rest of his life, and he had told his Dad just that much. Which had caused a big argument.

At least this would work. Pops would make Dad respect him as a soldier. Pops knew about soldiering. Finally maybe he'd get some respect instead of being treated like a baby.

He looked across the room and spotted a big gringo, blond hair, blue eyes, the whole lot. He was reading a book, looking like he was really interested.

The recruiter came in and asked who was next. The big gringo had come in first, but he was too engrossed in his book to hear anything. The recruiter asked again. Mundo stood up and said "I guess I'm next then" as he started to stroll toward the office.

[Salah_ad_Din]

I'll do more on this after Christmas. Your ball, Mouser! :D

[Mouser]

Steve entered the recruiter's office straight after it opened.

He had to make sure he had it right. Every other recruiter he had approached to sign up wouldn't give him the time of day. Literally. If they had even a few days in the job, they would know his face and wouldn't allow him to submit his paperwork.

This time it would be different. He was the first one in line with a brand new recruiter who Steve was absolutely sure was so green and hungry that he would take anyone. This particular guy was such a complete screwup that Steve knew it was going to happen.

He just needed to be first.

The he got to the long one. It had a lot of similarities to the 119th Psalm, but it talked about war and tactics, and Steve had forgotten that it comes a whole lot earlier in this folio than it does in the Bible. He was so engrossed that he didn't notice the other person. He heard the Hispanic-Miami accent saying, "I guess I'm next then" and Steve bolted to his feet, slamming the book closed.

He looked from the recruiter to the young man in the expensive clothes, then back. Would they fall for it? It could blow the entire operation, but he had to take the chance. He couldn't let this guy get in ahead of him. He had to be first for it to work.

He stepped toward the recruiter, and addressed the other fellow. He put out his hand for a shake, and that let him get ahead of his rival. "I'm Steve. I'll only be a minute. I'm just here long enough to sign up."

[Mouser]

<passes ball to Salah>

[Salah_ad_Din]

The recruiter nodded as Mundo said "I guess I'm next then" and waved him into the office. As he stepped toward the door, the young man reading the book jumped quickly to his feet and intercepted him.

Mundo stared at Steve's outstretched hand for a moment, and then shook it, replying "I'm Raymundo, you can call me 'Ray' -it's a pleasure to meet you."

He thought for a moment, and said "I'm sure that the sergeant will get around to both of us, it's all good. You go ahead"

The recruiter looked at the clock. He had been fishing all morning and still no bites. This was not a good way to start out his first day. He wondered if he would have been better off to stay at Fort Ord with the other light fighters. At least there he had "ruled the night". Here he couldn't even get pimple faced high schoolers to sign a sheet of paper. But maybe these two were different.

"Listen guys," said Sergeant Chavez, "I'm headed out to lunch, let me buy you a hamburger and we can talk about your careers. Then when we get back we can get both of you signed up. What do you say?"

"Sure," said Mundo. "That's good with me. You can tell me all about being a sniper. I've always wanted to be a sniper. Steve you want to grab a bite of chow and we'll talk to the sergeant together?"

Sergeant Chavez smiled at Mundo as he recalled all his stories from sniper school. This one was hooked. He turned to Steve and said "Where would you like to eat?"

[Mouser]

He got the other guy stopped, but then things turned sour.

Everything was not going as planned. Here he needed to sign up quickly and they're talking about lunch?

The recruiter turned to Steve and said "Where would you like to eat?"

Steve gave the recruiter a huge smile. "I'm sure anywhere you say would be fine, Sergeant, but I understand that we've got some paperwork to do. What do you say we finish that and then all go out for lunch to celebrate?"

The recruiter seemed confused. Steve knew that if he let this guy take him to lunch he'd end up blowing it. The less he said the better. He figured he'd already screwed up by identifying him as a sergeant. A less experienced kid would have called him "sir" or something.

He turned to 'Ray,' "I bet if we sign up at the same time, we could go to Basic together." He waited for the recruiter to respond in the affirmative, but he was just looking back and forth between them. "Right, Sir?" The "Sir" usually got noncoms to wake up , but this guy was just hopeless.

Steve held back a heavy sigh, as he realized he'd have to close this entire deal for the sergeant or it would never happen.

Steve turned to 'Ray.' "What do you say, Ray?" Let's get you signed up for sniper school and then we can go get something to eat?" He hustled everyone through the door in a bunch. They almost got stuck as their collective shoulders were too wide for the door, but Steve got them straightened out, and pushed Sergeant Chavez to his chair behind the desk where he sat, stunned, making inarticulate sounds.

As Ray sat in one of the seat in front of the desk, Steve grabbed two application packets from Sergeant Chavez's desk along with two "Army of One" pens. Placing one packet and one pen on the armrest desk in front of 'Ray,' he took one of each for himself and began filling in his name (all caps, one letter in each box, last name first, first name last).

"Would you like to tell us about sniper school while we fill out the aps, Sergeant Chavez?" he prompted, and 'Ray' began filling in his name as the sergeant came back to his senses.

"Um... Yeah... Uh... Let me tell you about one time when I actually ate MacDonalds for lunch while I was on a sniper course..." Steve had heard this story before. It was a favorite story of snipers, like something from a techno-thriller. He looked over at 'Ray.'

It was clear that 'Ray' hadn't.

Steve continued filling out his form. He had timed it before. It would take him exactly twelve minutes to get everything down the way he wanted it, and that would mean Sergeant Chavez have about forty-eight minutes to hunt and peck that ap in before the update to his system automatically bumped any ap with Steve's social security number.

This time, the system would work for him, but he had to make sure that 'Ray' took longer than twelve minutes to finish his ap. With that look of hero worship he was giving to Sergeant Chavez, Steve figured that it'd take him at least another twenty minutes.

[Mouser]

You're on, Salah.

[Salah_ad_Din]

Mundo looked a little confused. Apparently Steve was pretty eager to get things signed. The recruiter looked just as eager, though a little confused. Maybe it was supposed to be this way. Lacking Steve's vast experience in enlisting in the Army, Ray just went along with the flow.

Sergeant Chavez regaled the two potential recruits with stories of his exploits as a light figher at Fort Ord. He taught Mundo their motto "We rule the night!". There was some question about the testing procedures, but as it turned out Mundo had taken the ASVAB tests in high school and his scores were good enough to qualify him to enlist. In fact he had many choices of careers based on his high scores, but Mudo wanted to be a sniper so Mundo was only interested in the infantry.

"That will get you into sniper school the quickest," assured Sergeant Chavez.

While the two of them worked on Mundo's enlistment packet, Steve seemed quite content filling out his forms at a steady, brisk pace. In fact he seemed to need no help at all, which was a tidbit not noticed by either Mundo or Chavez, who were busy talking about Mundo's Delta Force career. By the time Steve had finished the packet, Mundo was already retiring as a Command Sergeant Major with his career fully mapped out and planned.

Steve handed in his paperwork to the recruiter as Mundo got busy finishing his. Sergeant Chavez seemed eager to get the forms entered into the database, and worked quickly while Mundo finished his application. Although Mundo hadn't caught Steve's comment about doing Basic together, Sergeant Chavez eagerly enrolled them in the buddy program to do Basic Training and their first duty assignment together. This was, after all, an unexpected twofer.


"Now you'll both have to report to the MEPS station at the same time. We can delay your entry up to a week, and there are some other programs that can delay it up to a year. They'll process you with a physical and some tests. Then they'll swear you in and put you on a flight to... Fort Leonard Wood Missouri where you'll do Basic Training together. Any questions? When do you want to report?"

[Mouser]

yup. I'm really enjoying this, but the antici...
















...pation.

is killing me.

[Origen]

You forgot the [TimCurry] tags around that.

[Mouser]

You forgot the [TimCurry] tags around that.

<double-taps the GM in the forehead with silenced blue paintballs>

[Salah_ad_Din]

Hey, Mouser, your ball.

[Mouser]

Steve heard the words he'd been waiting for, and nearly leapt out of his chair. His gambit had finally worked!!

"Fort Leonard Wood Missouri where you'll do Basic Training together. Any questions? When do you want to report?"

"Next week? Is that good for you, Ray?" He looked to Ray for his agreement. Ray nodded, obviously surprised at his own eagerness to get there so quickly.

The recruiter was surprised as well. He started clicking away at the keyboard in front of him. "Um... How are you guys gonna get there? Train, plane?"

"A plane would be kinda expensive this late, and buses are too damn slow. How about the train, Ray? See a little of America as we pass through it? We can get a taxi from the station when we get there." Steve was thinking of the pistol in his backpack and how difficult it would be to get it on and off a plane.

Ray nodded enthusiastically, not believing his ears. A week, then he could start earning his way to those stripes!! His future was in his sights.

"Um, is anybody hungry for lunch? I know a nice Scottish restaurant not too far from here." Steve said, with a smirk.

The recruiter and Ray looked at each other. Scottish food? What the hell was that? They hadn't seen any fancy restaurants on their way in, and this sounded kind of exotic.

Steve savored the looks of confusion on their faces before he delivered the punchline. "Great!! There's a McDonalds right across the street. I'm starved!!"

[Salah_ad_Din]

Raymundo looked puzzled at Steve for a moment and then broke out into a grin. "Yeah you're funny man, Scottish food. I couold do with a Big Mac and fries."

The recruiter was relieved. Cheap food was always better on the expense report. He'd eat somethng light and get better food later. These boys would learn sooner or later to skip that crap if they want to stay lean. But for now, they'd be burning it off soon enough anyway.

Steve and Mundo reported to the MEPS station later that week, meeting at the breakfast joint across the street. There were lots of questions, tests, and a physical exam that left both of them blushing. "They really shouldn't have a chick doing that," Mundo commented.

After checking in they went to sit in the waiting area and watch TV. "Cool," said Mundo, "I love watching 'Jeapordy' the questions get pretty tough toward the end."

Steve seemed to ignore Mundo's comment as he focused on the screen. Mundo listened in amazement as Steve posed every question correctly for the entire show, never missing one.

"Dude, you know way too much about 'Mesopotamian History and Archaeology" to be healthy," Mundo said with a grin.

Steve looked around nervously. "Oh, uh, I just read a book on it the other day, got lucky I guess."

"Well the whole thing is staged," Mundo replied. "They control it all. They decide the questions and who wins."

Steve looked at Mundo intently. Did he know about them? Did he really know who they were? Was he also... marked? Maybe it was meant to be that he and Mundo were together. Perhaps they arranged the whole thing after all.

After lunch they went in for MOS processing. The sergeant looked at Mundo's test scores and frowned. "With these scores you can do anything you want, young man. We could get you into language school, satellite communications, there are lots of options. Are you sure you want the infantry? You're not exactly what I'd call a buff guy, no offense. That rucksack will get pretty heavy for you."

Mundo grinned. "I may be a little guy but I can hang. Yeah I want infantry. I've always wanted to be a Sniper."

"Well, there's other ways to get into Special Forces. You could be an interrogator. You already speak Spanish. That's E-5 in six months after basic. You can't pass up that deal."

"Nah," Mundo frowned. "Everybody says if I want to get my finger on the trigger of something sweet, Infantry is the fastest way to go."

The processing clerk sighed. "Well, it's your career. Your buddy Steve seemed pretty set on going to Basic with you. I guess it will all work out."

Later that evening, bus tickets in hand, the two newfound friends set out on their great adventure.