Chapter 36
I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air—
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.
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Alan Seeger (1919)
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Earth - AD December 25, 2002
Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan
.
Notwithstanding the fact it was Christmas, the Taliban decided to deliver a 'gift' not far upriver where one of their allied warlords needed the dam to irrigate their opium fields. The base sprang to life before the soldiers got to unwrap their care packages from the Red Cross. After hours of a distant rat-a-tat-tat, the inevitable call came in:
"Attention all personnel," the P.A. system boomed. "Prepare for incoming."
"That's us!" the head nurse, Captain Lucy Ma
