Command Decision

Chapter 1-2

Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Eight years later:

Lieutenant Commander Joshua Manson tucked his hat under his arm as he entered the Pentagon’s main entrance and passed through the rigid security. There would be several more security checkpoints before he reached his destination. Security continued to be tightened as the war against terrorism escalated; a war that he had recently experienced first-hand.

He kept his gaze straight as he continued down the corridor, turning right at the main intersection. He walked past the Administrative Assistant Offices of the Army, noting the changes that had been made in the last year. A quick glance at his watch told him he would still make it to his meeting on time. His gaze briefly swept over the different personnel that he passed in the corridors, but he didn’t recognize anyone. Turning right, he soon found himself in front of a set of stairs that would take him down several flights.

The constant renovations at the Pentagon made the journey to the Navy’s side of the building a challenge. He had given up trying to memorize the interior layout. Every time he thought he had it down, he would discover that the new commander in charge would order changes. It was nothing for a stairwell to abruptly end or a corridor to lead nowhere.

“Josh,” a voice called out behind him.

Josh turned and he saw a familiar face. His eyebrow lifted as he waited. Ashton “Ash” Haze strode down the corridor toward him with a worried expression on his face. The sinking feeling in the pit of Josh’s stomach started to grow. If Ash was worried, that meant everyone should be concerned. Ash was known for his “no worries, be happy” personality.

“What are you doing here?” Josh asked when Ash stopped in front of him. “I thought you were home on leave.”

“I was, but I received a call to come here,” Ash replied with a shrug. “I thought with the investigation over, things would settle down.”

Josh’s mouth tightened into a straight line. “So had I,” he responded lightly, turning back in the direction he was heading. “You never did tell me why you’re here.”

Ash shrugged. “Admiral Greenburg’s Assistant sent a notice. There was no explanation, just that I grace the Admiral with my charming presence. I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my life, most of them from following you, but disobeying a direct order from an Admiral is not one of them,” he retorted with an easy grin. “What about you? I expected you to be doing latrine duty after the way Captain Horne ripped you apart.”

“Us… He ripped both of us apart. I wasn’t the only one he was threatening, remember?” Josh replied with a grin before it faded. “He understands that we had no choice in the matter. Our mission was to protect the plane that we were escorting and we did.”

“That still doesn’t mean it didn’t cause an international incident,” Ash replied dryly as they turned left before making an immediate right into the Administrative Offices for the Navy.

Josh nodded before opening the door. His mind flashed back to the recent investigation that had grounded him and Ash. They had been providing a military escort for a group of dignitaries when two fighters appeared on their radar. Repeated efforts to warn the fighters to turn away had proven fruitless, so he and Ash had engaged. The fighters had been stolen from an undisclosed military base in Saudi Arabia. The issue came up when the news blasted it all over the world that the United States had attacked two allied military fighters.

It would have been nice if the media could have given the whole story instead of one that would create the most controversy so they could sell ad time, Josh thought bitterly.

His and Ash’s life had been on hold for the past six months while the investigation was underway. To hide the lapse in security, the true details of the findings were sealed. Unfortunately, until the Senate released the final findings, he and Ash were both grounded.

Stepping up to the front desk, Josh handed the woman behind it his security badge. She swiped it before reaching for the one Ash was holding out. She was silent for several long minutes as she stared at the computer screen in front of her before she gave them a brief, polite smile.

“I will let the Admiral’s assistant know that you are here,” she said. “Please have a seat.”

Josh gave her a curt nod while Ash sent her one of his easy, ‘I’m-pleased-to-meet-you’ ones. The woman pointedly ignored Ash’s flirtatious grin and returned to whatever she was doing before they came in. Ash’s pained expression drew a smirk from Josh. He hadn’t missed the faint white line around the third finger of the woman’s left hand or the slightly hostile look in her dark brown eyes.

“I must be losing my touch,” Ash complained as he walked over to sit down next to Josh.

Josh leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment. The pounding in his head was getting worse. He had caught an early morning flight and was working on a couple of hours of sleep. Cracking an eyelid, he saw the calculating look in Ash’s eyes as he stared at the receptionist.

“Forget it,” Josh murmured under his breath. “She isn’t too happy with men right now.”

Ash leaned back and crossed his arms. Josh could feel his friend staring at the woman with a frown now. He shot Josh a glance and scowled.

“Okay, how do you know?” Ash grumbled.

Josh shook his head and opened his eyes to stare at his friend. “You’d think by now you’d learn to look for the clues,” he replied dryly. “The third finger of her left hand still has the outline of her wedding ring and the indent from it. She just took it off. I suspect if you looked in her desk drawer, or better yet, the trash can, you’d find it.”

“So, maybe she took it off to wash her hands and forgot to put it back on,” Ash reasoned.

Josh shook his head. “No, she took it off on purpose. The indent showed it wasn’t something she did often. She’s also wearing more makeup than she normally wears. The picture on her badge and the one on the wall behind the desk show that she doesn’t normally wear very much. Her bottom lip is swollen as well, as if she had repeatedly bitten it, and her eyes are slightly bloodshot from crying. Also, the picture on her desk has recently been changed. She used to have a picture of her husband in it. Now, she has a picture of a dog. It’s crooked under the glass. If you look closely, you’ll see the smudge mark from the ink on it. The dog isn’t hers, by the way. There is no dog hair on her uniform,” he added.

“Sometimes I really hate your attention to detail. You take all the fun out of the chase,” Ash muttered, looking at the woman again. “What other clues did you see, Sherlock?”

A soft chuckle escaped Josh and he shook his head again. “Her lips tightened when you gave her the smile. I swear if she had a gun, you’d be sporting a bullet wound in your ass right now,” he said. “No, I suspect her husband finally got caught cheating on her and she kicked him to the curb.”

Ash sighed and released his breath. “I hate to admit you’re probably right – again.” He snorted when the phone rang and the receptionist picked it up. She hissed out a few strong words before hanging it up with a slight bang. “Of course, I’m always open for being the rebound. I’m great at giving comfort.”

Josh was about to reply when the door leading into the internal offices suddenly opened. A stiff looking young Yeoman stood in the doorway. Josh rose when the man turned his attention to them.

“Commander Manson, Commander Haze, Admiral Greenburg will see you now,” the young man said.

Ash rose behind him. The Yeoman stood stiffly as he and Ash walked through the door. Once they were clear, the man turned on his heel and led the way through a series of inner offices until he stopped outside the rich, dark wooden doors with Admiral Greenburg’s name attached to it. The Yeoman opened the door and announced their arrival.

Josh walked in first, followed by Ash. He heard the slight click of the door when the Admiral’s personal assistant quietly closed it behind them. Both he and Ash stood at attention until the Admiral finally looked up several minutes later. Josh’s mind raced through all the different scenarios as to why he and Ash were there. Each one kept coming back to one conclusion: they were both about to find themselves on a different career path than what they were expecting – probably not a favorable one at that.

At thirty years old, Josh had passed his thirteenth year in the Navy. He planned on staying the full thirty. His hope of joining the astronaut program a few years ago had slowly disappeared after several rejection letters, but his love of flying hadn’t. While he had excelled at it, his tendency to do things his own way had gotten him in trouble more than once, even if he had been right more often than not.

“At ease,” Admiral Greenburg finally said with a nod of his head. “Sit down.”

Josh sat in one of the plush chairs that had been moved in front of the desk while Ash took the other one. He sat stiffly as he waited for the admiral to speak. His gaze flickered to the open folder on his superior’s desk. If he had to guess, it was either on him or Ash.

Admiral Greenburg sat back in his seat and studied them carefully for several long seconds before he leaned forward again. The expression on his face clearly said he wasn’t pleased with what he saw; another sign that this meeting wasn’t going to be a pleasant one.

“You’ve both applied to the astronaut program multiple times, why?” Greenburg asked in a blunt tone.

Josh frowned. This was not a question he was expecting. It wasn’t often that he was taken by surprise, but the start of the conversation had definitely done that.

Josh shrugged. “You are aware that my father was in the program,” he said. “He went on three missions into space. It only seemed natural that I would follow in his footsteps.”

Greenburg turned his attention to Ash. “What about you?” he asked.

Josh felt his friend give him a quick look before he redirected it back to the admiral. A part of him wanted to grin at Ash. He wondered how his friend was going to answer the question – truthfully or with a politically correct answer. Knowing Ash as well as he did, he doubted his friend would be able to keep his foot out of his mouth.

“Josh bet me that I couldn’t get in,” Ash admitted.

Yep, truth every time, Josh thought.

It was just as well; Ash wasn’t a very good liar. He was a damn good pilot and friend, though. That was what made them excel as a team.

“He lost the bet then. You are both to report to Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center tomorrow morning,” Admiral Greenburg stated.

Josh blinked in surprise. Ash drew in a sharp breath. Sitting forward, Josh stared at the admiral in confusion.

“Why?” he asked in a blunt tone.

The admiral studied Josh’s hard face for several long seconds again before he responded. His lips were tight. Josh glanced down at the file on the admiral’s desk again. At the top was a subheading in large, bold letters that said Family. Neither he nor Ash had any living relatives. That was another common thread that bound them. Ash had been adopted by an older woman, but she had passed away almost five years ago.

“For a top secret mission,” the admiral stated. “I was asked to pick two candidates that would be crazy enough to take on a suicide mission. You two came up. You’ll find out the details when you arrive tomorrow morning. My assistant has made all the arrangements. You are dismissed.”

Josh rose slowly out of the chair when the admiral closed the file in front of him. Almost as if the Yeoman was listening at the door, it opened. Ash stood up beside him and shot him a puzzled look before saluting the admiral and turning sharply on his heel. Josh did the same and followed at a slower pace. He paused at the door when he heard his name being called.

“Commander Manson,” Greenburg called out.

Josh turned. “Yes, sir,” he responded.

Greenburg rose from his seat and walked around it to stand at the corner of the desk. Josh noticed he was holding the two files. His eyes lifted to the admiral’s face.

“I knew your father. He was a good man and a great astronaut. He would have been proud of you. Whatever happens, don’t dishonor his memory, or me,” Greenburg ordered.

Josh stared back at the admiral for a moment before he replied. “Yes, sir,” he said in a quiet voice.

Stepping out of the office, he strode down the hallway where Ash was waiting for him with a puzzled expression on his face. They both waited impatiently as the admiral’s assistant handed each of them a packet before explaining that they would be catching a military hop to Houston at 0500 the next morning.

Neither one of them said anything until they had left the office. Ash grabbed his arm once they reached the outer corridor. Josh turned to look into Ash’s dark face.

“What the hell is going on?” Ash asked, holding up the envelope. “I thought we were about to get our asses handed to us on a platter and instead we’re suddenly being sent to astronaut training. What the hell is up with that?”

“I don’t know any more than you do, Ash,” Josh replied with a frown, glancing down at the folder before looking up again.

Ash blew out a long breath and scowled at him. “When you are taken by surprise, I know s**t is about to hit the fan,” he muttered, turning away. “I need a drink.”

“You aren’t the only one,” Josh said. “I’m staying at the Plaza. I’ll meet you at the Boundary at nineteen hundred.”

“Sounds good,” Ash replied as they passed through security. “And, Josh…”

Josh paused and turned back as he was about to go down the steps. “Yeah,” he responded.

Ash gave him a slight grin. “I expect you to have it figured out, man. You know I don’t like s**t taking me by surprise,” he replied in a half teasing, half serious tone.

“Neither do I,” Josh retorted before turning. “Nineteen hundred. Don’t be late!”