The following morning Sophie awakened, feeling surprisingly well rested and refreshed, ready to face whatever the world dished out. Fortunately, Captain Jenkins was gone from the camp for the entire day, again. But this time, she didn’t miss him one bit.

The day was set aside to practice Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical warfare techniques. The soldiers were transported to another training site equipped with a tent filled with CS gas. Each soldier was required to wear his chemical protective mask inside the tent and stand for fifteen minutes to simulate being in a chemically contaminated area. It also gave them a chance to gain confidence in how the mask worked. If the seal around the person’s face wasn’t good, the gas would penetrate and cause the soldier great discomfort. They didn’t call it tear gas for nothing. When the chemical contacted the moisture in the eyes or on the skin, it stung like crazy.

Sophie performed the training alongside the soldiers. She was confident her mask had a good seal and escaped the tent, none the worse for the wear. The trick was to refrain from rubbing her hands in her eyes, because there was still a residue of CS gas on her skin.

When they arrived back at the camp, there was a rush for the showers before chow. Sophie held back and let the others go first. About an hour later, while the troops were all tucking into a hot meal, Sophie made her way to the shower tent. Outside the tent, she called out to make certain no one was left inside. When there was no response, she flipped the sign over to the FEMALE side and stepped into the tent. She took the added precaution of checking the shower room side for occupants as well, before she peeled off her CS contaminated uniform.

She draped her towel over the dividing canvas between the shower room and the changing room and carried her soap, shampoo and wash rag to the pipes, setting her shampoo down on the gravel. She turned the handle to allow the water to trickle out and stood there with her eyes closed, enjoying the cool, sprinkling water. It had been a hot day, and she was glad for the soothing coolness of the water running slowly down her body. She used a liberal amount of soap all over her body and face to ensure all the CS gas residue was rinsed away.

Finally, feeling squeaky clean, she blindly reached for the shampoo, when she heard a frightening rattle near the ground at her feet.

Without thinking, she jerked up straight and screamed, then froze in place. Squinting, she could barely make out the shape of a coiled snake and by the hollow rattling sound, it was a rattler. With the snake less than a foot and a half away from her ankles, Sophie knew she couldn’t make any moves, or the snake might decide to strike. So, she stood stock-still and waited for help to arrive. She groaned inwardly when she realized the only things she wore were soap bubbles, and they were heading south fast. If there really is a god, the first person through that tent door will be female!

---

While the rest of the troops had been at the gas training exercise, Gage had been meeting with the other units of the battalion, discussing plans for mock battles. It had been a long day, and he hadn’t stopped to eat. He was heading for the dining facility when he heard Sophie’s scream coming from the shower tent. For Pete’s sake. This was getting to be a habit. How any woman with her streak of luck survived, was beyond him.

Resigning himself to resolving her latest crisis, he moved in the direction of the shower tent.

When he reached the tent, he called out, “Lieutenant Keaton? Is everything all right in there?”

Listening intently, he waited for her answer.

“Gage? Is that you?” came a softly spoken response.

His heart beat faster when he heard the fear in her voice. “Yeah, it’s me. What’s wrong, Sophie?”

“There’s a snake in here,” again, she called back in a quiet voice.

Gage’s heart stilled. “What kind of snake?”

“Rattlesnake. And it’s big.”

Her voice, an odd combination of softly soothing and horribly frightened, chilled him further. “Don’t move, Sophie. I’m going to help you.”

A passing soldier stopped to look curiously at the captain talking to the shower tent.

Gage turned to him. “Corporal, go find me a stick about five or six feet long and hurry!”

“Why?” The soldier didn’t move at once, it was if he didn’t understand what the captain had asked him to do.

“Don’t ask why, just do it...now!”

The soldier spun around and headed straight out into the nearby brush, searching frantically for the requested stick.

Others began to gather, curious about all the commotion.

“What’s up, Captain?”

Ignoring the question, he called out to the tent. “Lieutenant Keaton, stay perfectly still, we’re trying to locate something to snag it with. Hold tight, I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Please, hurry. This rattlesnake looks mad.”

With her words, the mystery cleared, and the soldiers all started talking at once.

“You gotta pin its head to the ground, Captain, so you can grab it behind the head to keep it from biting you.”

“It’s too bad we don’t have any live ammo. You could just shoot its head off.”

“It’s a good thing we don’t have live ammo. You’d end up shooting your toes off, dufus!”

The corporal returned with a sturdy stick and handed it to Gage. “Sorry it took so long, sir, I didn’t know exactly what you wanted.”

“This will do just fine, thank you.”

“Hey, Captain, you want me to take care of the little ol’ snake for the lieutenant?” asked a good looking, young sergeant. “I’d be glad to lay down my life for the sake of a fellow soldier.”

Gage leveled a cold stare at the man. “Thanks all the same, but I’ll handle this.” He placed his hand on the tent flap and called out to Sophie, “Just where is the snake?”

“About a foot and a half from my ankles.”

Gage heaved a frustrated sigh. “And where are your ankles?”

“I’m standing in the far corner of the shower room.”

“I’m coming in.”

“No!” she said, sounding alarmed.

“What do you mean, no?” He paused with the tent flap half way up. “Do you want me to take care of the snake or not?”

“I mean, I’m not decent!”

A whoop, followed by wolf calls went up from the soldiers standing beside the captain.

“Oh, please, Captain, let me,” begged the self-sacrificing young sergeant.

“No, I got here before you, let me,” yelled another soldier, jockeying for position in front of the crowd.

“As you were!” His voice pierced their arguments, and they all fell silent. “Lieutenant, do you want me to take care of the snake or not?” Gage repeated.

Everyone quieted and waited for her response.

After a long hesitation, she called back in a resigned voice. “I suppose so. Only, just you, Captain Jenkins!”

All the guys broke out into huge grins. The ones closest to the captain slapped him on the back and congratulated him, wishing him luck as he ducked into the tent, dropping the flap behind him, his last glimpse of the outside was one of a couple dozen soldiers standing around with huge grins, anxiously waiting for the fun to begin.

As Gage moved through the changing room, he could hear voices outside the tent.

“Hey, whose idea was this? I don’t recall anyone mentioning this scenario.”

“Yeah, I wish I’d thought of it myself.”

“It certainly wasn’t me or Sergeant Schott,” came the first sergeant’s voice. “We got our butts chewed last night for playing pranks on the captain and lieutenant.”

“Well, as far as I’m concerned this is the best one so far.”

“Let’s just hope no one gets hurt.”

“Yeah,” was the overwhelming response from the crowd.

The situation was worse than Gage and Sophie had suspected. If this was another one of their pranks, heads would roll. A rattlesnake in the shower tent was taking a practical joke way too far.

Inside the tent, Captain Jenkins eased through the changing room, careful not to make sudden movements that would frighten the snake and cause it to attack Sophie.

His heart was in his throat, afraid for Sophie’s safety. Even though most people survived, a rattlesnake bite was nasty. It was the thought of those few who didn’t make it, who had Gage breaking out in a sweat.

Rounding the corner of the canvas dividing the shower section from the changing section, he stopped and took in the situation.

Sophie stood on the far side of the room, naked with her hands crossed over her breasts. Her gaze captured his beseechingly, wrenching his heart and making him want to march in there and tear that snake apart. Whether from fear or the cool water, he could see she was trembling. Tearing his gaze from hers, he zeroed in on the snake, lying coiled up at her feet.

He squelched the anger threatening to boil up inside him and moved slowly in her direction, holding the stick out in front of him and speaking in a soothing voice.

“It’s all right, Sophie, I’ll take care of you. I won’t let that snake hurt you.”

From inside the tent, they heard a soldier yell, “You need some help with that big snake, Captain?” The soldiers roared with laughter.

Gage didn’t respond to the jest. His gaze was glued to the coiled menace in front of him. When he was within three feet, the snake saw him and tightened its coil, lifting its head higher and rattling it’s buttons threateningly.

“On the count of three, I want you to leap backward, away from the snake. I’m going to divert him and try to pin him with the stick,” Gage said, his gaze fixed on the snake.

“Are you sure that’ll work? You won’t get hurt, will you?”

“Don’t argue this time, Sophie. Just do it,” Gage said, his voice calm and firm.

Sophie clamped her lips shut and waited for her cue.

“One...”

Gage inched closer.

“Two...”

Swinging the stick slowly into position, Gage braced himself. “Three!”

Sophie leapt back as the snake struck out, and the stick swung in. She shrieked when she saw the snake darting toward Gage. With a flick of the branch, Gage flung the snake halfway across the tent. Seeing an opportunity to escape, the snake slithered under the edge of the tent.

Weak with relief, Sophie threw herself into Gage’s arms, tears rolling down her cheeks to soak his shirt. He held her wet body tightly against him, saying soothing things in her ear, until his heartbeat returned to normal, and her trembling stilled.

He was painfully aware of her naked body pressed against him, and knew he shouldn’t take advantage of the situation with an audience waiting outside. But all the shouldn’ts in the world couldn’t keep him from running his hands from her shoulders down the full length of her body to cup her buttocks in both palms. Pulling her hips against his growing arousal, he tipped her head back and kissed the tears from her cheeks, before taking her lips with his. The kiss was savage, all the pent-up emotion of fear and anger channeled into his tongue, darting in and around hers.

“Hey, Captain!” shouted a voice from the other side of the canvas. “Sure is quiet in there. Maybe we should come on in and give you a hand with that snake.”

Realizing just where his hands were, Gage jerked them off her smooth bottom and grabbed her shoulders instead. When his thumbs came in contact with the soft skin of her breasts, he dropped his hands in frustration.

“Come on, your audience awaits,” he said turning toward the changing room, leaving her to follow. He pulled her towel from where it hung and gently wrapped it around her trembling body, then turned her face up to his. He bent and kissed her gently on the lips and looked her straight in the eyes. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again, Lieutenant.”

He pressed his lips to hers once more, then stepped around the flap, strode to the opposite doorway and out into the open to a cheer from the crowd of men.

“Ok, soldiers, the show is over, and the snake is gone. You can return to your tents and get some rest. We have a busy day planned for tomorrow.”

---

Sophie stood with one hand holding her towel and the other raised to her lips. He had been scared for her. Surely, there was hope. Last night, he’d told her that she was always on his mind, and today he’d been scared for her.

She dressed in a haze, drifted back to her tent and lay on her cot, dreaming before she even fell to sleep. In her wakeful dream, Gage was on his knee proposing to her, and she was nodding acceptance. Sophie smiled. It was a lovely fairy tale.

Her smile faded, and she shook her head. Fairy tales never really came true. Gage was physically attracted to her, but that didn’t mean he loved her.

When he’d told her he was in love with her, he had spoken in the past tense. Could he learn to love and trust her again? Because, without love, there was only lust, and how long would that keep his interest? Rolling onto her side, Sophie closed her eyes and tried to sleep. There was no use worrying about it. What would be, would be.

---

The next morning dawned with overcast skies. Sophie was awake before the rest of the camp stirred. She hurried across to the gender generic latrine to do her business before a line formed. She decided not to bother, for once, to put on her entire uniform since it would be much easier to maneuver in the tight confines of the Port-a-Potty without the jacket, webbed equipment belt and her gas mask in the way. Quickly attending to her needs, she was pulling her pants up, when she heard the sound of gunfire on the perimeter, and then someone yelling.

“Gas. Gas!”

“Oh, my gosh!” Sophie panicked and fumbled with the buttons at the fly of her trousers.

She jerked open the door to the latrine, and jumped out, heading for her tent and her gas mask. She had only taken a few steps when her eyes began to burn, and her lungs felt like they were on fire. Desperately trying to reach her tent, she covered her mouth with the neck of her T-shirt and stumbled blindly in what she hoped was the right direction.

---

At the first warning shout, Gage leapt from his cot and reached for his chemical protective mask, strapped to his waist and leg. Donning its protection within less than five seconds, he was out of his tent, running up and down the line of tents to ensure each soldier had done likewise.

When he reached Lieutenant Keaton’s tent, he jerked back the flap to find the tent empty. As he let the flap fall back in place, he spied her mask lying conspicuously out in the open on her cot.

“Damn!” Gage rushed into the tent, snatched the mask from its useless position and ran back out of the tent to find the hapless lieutenant. She should be easy to find. She’d be the one stumbling around without a mask, gagging on tear gas.

Sure enough, he found her stumbling away from the camp, with no idea of the direction she was heading. Tears streamed from her eyes, and she was coughing, futilely trying to clear her lungs of the noxious gas, only to inhale more fumes with each attempt.

Gage gripped her shoulder, spun her around and shoved the mask into her hands. “Here. Take your mask,” he shouted through the rubber confines of the one he wore.

---

With her eyes tightly shut, Sophie reached out with one hand groping for the mask. Stretching the straps over the back of her head, she pulled it in place, tightening it against her face. Once it felt snug, she tried to take a deep enough breath to blow sharply outward, then suck air back into the mask through the filters on the side to complete the seal. But her gasp pulled more of the tear gas, trapped inside her mask, into her lungs and she coughed, failing to complete the seal. She felt like she was breathing through an extremely thick plastic bag. She just couldn’t get enough air, but she also couldn’t take off the mask until the gas had cleared the air.

Her lungs hurt, and she was feeling dizzy. She knew she was hyperventilating, but there didn’t seem to be anything she could do about it.

“Sophie!” Gage called out to her.

She couldn’t respond. Her knees buckled, and she slipped to the ground, enveloped in darkness.

Gage was holding Sophie in his arms when the all-clear sign was given. Her eyes blinked open and she stared up through the cloudy lenses of the mask as she struggled to determine why the sky was not blue, and her breathing was labored.

“All clear!” came a distant shout from a soldier. As soon as the shout was made, Gage yanked off his mask. He sniffed the air and, appearing satisfied with the quality, then pulled the mask from Sophie’s face.

Gulping in the fresh, clean air, Sophie’s head cleared. “What happened? Why do my lungs hurt?”

Although she was speaking, Sophie’s voice didn’t sound like her voice, it came out in a croaking sound. She struggled to sit up, but Gage kept a restraining hand on her shoulder.

“Just hold on a minute, until you’re feeling yourself again. You passed out, and your lungs hurt because you breathed in a lot of CS gas.”

“Oh, yeah.” She closed her burning eyes and let her head fall back onto his knees.

“Speaking of which...what the hell were you doing wandering around camp without your mask, Lieutenant?” Gage’s voice rose with each word.

Sophie opened her eyes and stared up at him as if he had sprung horns.

“What kind of example are you setting for the rest of the troops, if you can’t follow the same set of rules you expect them to follow?”

She pushed away from him and yelled, or rather croaked, right back. “Okay...I admit I did something dumb. That doesn’t give you the right to yell at me like some errant child, Captain Jenkins.”

“Then quit acting like an errant child, Lieutenant!”

“I’m not!”

“You are!”

“Ooooooo...” Sophie staggered to her feet and stomped her foot. “You make me so mad!” Spinning on her heels, she ran to her tent to clean up and put the rest of her uniform on, grumbling as she went.

“That has to be the most arrogant, self-righteous man I’ve ever met. He thinks the sun rises and sets on every command he issues,” she muttered, fuming. “Well, he’s got another thing coming if he thinks he can order me around.”

Sophie stopped in the middle of buttoning her jacket. He had every right to be mad at her and order her around. He was her commanding officer. She was supposed to follow orders.

Sitting on the edge of her cot, she rested her head in her hands. This just wasn’t going to work. She would have to find a new unit. There was just too much emotion between them for either one to function properly in the same unit. As soon as she got back from Annual Training, she would put in for a transfer to another unit.

Sophie wiped a single tear from the corner of her eye then jerked her hand away from her face, howling with pain. She fumbled for her canteen, twisted off the top, bent her head back and poured a cleansing stream of water into her eye.

Damn tear gas.

She’d forgotten another basic lesson. When the fire receded somewhat, she gathered a fresh set of clothing, and her bathing accessories, and stomped to the shower tent. He was too distracting. The sooner she was away from him the better.

With that decision made, she completed her shower, dressed, and went back to work on the day’s training, determined to avoid Captain Jenkins completely.