Jericho 3 Read Online Free PDF

met Jane. The war in Iraq prevented Camp and Jane from intimacy or even sharing a date together. Though they shared a few meals with each other in an over-crowded chow hall between shifts, Camp wanted Jane, like fire wants oxygen to burn. His love for Jane never stopped burning while she lay in her bed waiting to die. First-love never dies, Camp reasoned, but sometimes it fades. He wasn’t looking for another woman when he was ordered to join the working group that Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Raines chaired in San Antonio. He wasn’t looking for love when he and Raines shared a hotel room in Morocco during their covert mission under assumed identities. And Camp wasn’t prepared for the guilt he was feeling when his feelings for Leslie Raines became raw and vulnerable.
    “There, you’re within the regs now. Better get dressed,” Raines proclaimed as the shave was complete.
    Camp was silent as he walked to the bedroom. The coffee grinder shattered the ambience that neither Mumford nor his Sons could repair. As Camp stared into his dressing mirror, he was acutely aware of something unusual, something that had not happened to him in years.
    He had feeling again.
    Captain Campbell emerged from the bedroom in his service dress khakis and a carry-on “go bag.” Raines held out a mug of steaming fresh coffee as he walked into the kitchen. He dropped his bag. Reaching out with both hands he held Leslie’s face for a brief moment then wrapped his arms around her. Neither of them wanted to let go. Neither of them knew what to do with all of the emotions that were finally unpacked.
    But Captain “Camp” Campbell was packed for another mission. He knew that the heart must wait when duty calls.

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3
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    Bagram Air Base
    Afghanistan
    G eneral Ferguson and Camp were the first ones to deplane the USAF C-17A Globemaster inbound from Ali al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. Boarding first and getting off first were some of the few perks afforded senior military officers. The burdens of long hours, immense pressure and self-imposed guilt more than compensated for the occasional MILAIR benefit.
    A small fixed-wing plane was staged and waiting to transport Ferguson on the 20-minute flight to KIA, the Kabul International Airport.
    “Check in with the flight office across from the USO. You’re already listed on the ring route for Lightning today. If the weather changes, there’s a fixed-wing mail run into Gardez tomorrow morning. Here’s the contact information at Lightning’s TOC. They can send a ground movement to pick you up if necessary.”
    “Thank you, sir, I’ll check in with you as soon as I’m billeted at Lightning.”
    After a quick, yet somewhat casual salute between friends, Ferguson got on board his fixed-wing and Camp followed all of the others who were making their way to the palletized luggage holding area. With only a go bag, Camp walked up to the counter and was first in line.
    “Captain Seabury Campbell, Jr.,” Camp said as he opened his envelope from General Ferguson. “Looks like I’m on mission Tango Charlie Fifty-Seven.”
    The staff sergeant behind the desk pointed to the mission board on the wall.
    “Sorry, sir, TC57 has been cancelled due to heavy snow in the pass. I can get you as far as FOB Shank today, but you’ll need to take a ground convoy from there or wait for the weather to clear.”
    “What about the fixed-wing mail runs into Gardez tomorrow morning?”
    “Questionable at best. With temperatures this cold and mountain elevations as they are, weight becomes an issue.”
    “What would you do staff sergeant?”
    “Sir, I’d take the ring to Shank. It’s less than 20 clicks from Shank to Lightning. A ground convoy might be your best bet until the weather breaks.”
    “Then let’s do that.”
    “Sir, I need your orders and your CAC card.”
    The staff sergeant entered all of Camp’s information into the computer and asked him to step onto the scale holding his bag. He recorded the total