Part Twelve
Attempt

The whole camp was in an uproar. I don't know how Max managed to sleep through it. Well, yeah, I do know. He was just flat exhausted. He'd been on duty an extra long time, and had been up a long time before that, and he just almost went unconscious when he hit his cot. When I asked him about seeing Major Houlihan the night before, he didn't make any more sense than I guess old man Tupper did with his upped plate popping out. Then he conked right back out again.

When Colonel Potter had me call headquarters and report, I figured they'd send some marines or MPs or something to help us search.

They sent Flagg. I kinda think he must've maneuvered it. Any way, he showed up in camp, and started givin' orders before his boots hit the dust. And he started questioning everyone. He took over Colonel Potter's office fo`interrogation'. Boy, Colonel Potter didn't like that one bit, but he said that if it would help us find Margaret, he'd hand over his eagles (those are the things they put on a colonel's shoulders to show he's a colonel. Kinda like the scrambled eggs I told you about with officers, you know? It's kinda funny that one would be a bird, and one would be eggs, huh? Kinda like...Never mind. I gotta get back to the story.)

Boy, I never saw so many ticked off doctors in my life! Hawkeye cussed, BJ fumed, and Charles muttered about `outrages' and maybe having his attorney back home look into defamation. So I guess you can understand that I was pretty worried when it was MY turn to be questioned.

I went into the office, and he was sitting at Colonel Potter's desk. I remembered to salute. I didn't want to get on his bad side right off the bat. Being on his GOOD side was bad enough.

He was making some notes when I came in, and he didn't look up right away. He just kept writing, and I stood there, at attention. He took his time. It started to dawn on me that he was keeping me waiting on purpose, to make me nervous. And it was working. I followed army etiquette, and held the salute.

Finally he put down the paper. He planted his elbows on his desk, pressed his palms together, and stared at me over them with that scary, blank look. Finally he said, "O'Reilly." He returned the salute, so I could lower my arm.

"Sir." There was a chair in front of the desk. I knew that the others had sat there while being questioned, but he didn't give me permission to sit. Probably only for officers.

"We have a situation here, O'Reilly."

"Yes sir."

"When a nurse goes missing, and not just a nurse, but an officer, we can't just pass it off and hope she returns. We take action. That's why I'm here. I'm having certain elements of the local population rounded up. I've detailed men to make a thorough search of every building in the area. If any of the population object...they will be dealt with."

"Begging your pardon, sir, but I don't think you need to be tough with the locals. They're all pretty good people. They'll help all they can."

"Your trust touches me, corporal. It must be nice to be able to believe the best of everyone. I don't have that luxury. There's no telling what sort of torments that poor woman may be experiencing even now. You know, of course, that all those heathen devils aspire to get their hands on American women."

"I wasn't aware of that, sir."

He got up, and came around the desk. I didn't move. "Come now, corporal. You can't be that naive. You must have noticed that Major Houlihan is a very attractive woman."

"Yes, sir. I suppose so."

He'd walked behind me. I jumped when he spoke, right beside my ear. "But maybe you don't care for... her type."

"Not understanding what you might mean by that, sir." I was starting to sweat.

There was a pause. I could feel him breathing on me. It took every bit of will power I had not to cringe. Finally he said, "Blondes. I'm thinking you'd prefer dark hair, and maybe not so much of it? Cut rather short?" Oh, geez. I didn't like how this was sounding. "But still military. Yes, I think you go for the regular army type."

Then he touched me. He ran his finger down my spine from the top to the small of my back. Then I DID jump. I jumped and turned, staring at him. His expression was flat, but now his eyes glittered. "Awful skittish there, boy. Are you sure you don't have something to hide?"

I swallowed. The best defense is a good offense. "Sir, you're s'posed to be looking for Major Houlihan."

It didn't work. He came toward me, and I backed up till I bumped against Colonel Potter's desk. "You're deeper than you look, O'Reilly. You have secrets behind that innocent face, I'm sure of it."

He was right up IN my innocent face, and I didn't have anywhere else to go. I leaned back, trying to put some space between us. "Nossir. I'm an open book, I swear."

I went farther back as he leaned over me, till I was bent back over the desk. He braced his hands flat on either side of me, trapping me between his arms, and peered down into my eyes. His voice was low. "God, I'd like to get you into a secure room and give you some intense, deep interrogation. I bet I'd uncover wonders."

His lower body was pressed against mine, and he moved. I jerked, my eyes going open wide. He was hard.

I don't know what might have happened next. I'm afraid to even think about it. I might have ended up getting court marshaled for striking a superior officer. But right then the office door opened, and Father Mulcahey walked in.

"Margaret is back, safe and sound! Praise the Lord! She..." Flagg was moving off of me, and Father trailed off, looking bewildered. I grabbed the opportunity to slither away from him and head for the door.

Before I could reach it, Flagg said sharply, "Soldier!" I stopped reluctantly. "You haven't been dismissed."

Gritting my teeth, I saluted. "Permission to leave the room, sir?"

"Permission granted."

I got out of there.

Margaret was fine. A Korean girl had showed up in the middle of the night, wanting help because her mother was having a baby, and Margaret went to act as midwife. She HAD told Klinger, but he was so bombed out after his long shift that he just hadn't been making sense. Everyone was relieved that she hadn't been captured and molested by the North Koreans. She was kinda tart when she said that it figured that was what a bunch of men would first think would happen. But I think she was happy that we were so worried about her.

I went right to the mess tent. Igor didn't mind if I hung around, and I helped him peel potatoes. A little later, Father Mulcahey came in. "There you are, Walter. I was thinking that you might want to talk to me."

I didn't look at the priest, carefully cutting eyes out of a potato. "Sure, I always like to talk to you, padre. Have a seat."

He glanced at Igor. "I thought perhaps privately? We could have coffee in my tent."

We got coffee, and I went with him, a little reluctantly. I knew what he wanted to talk to me about, and I really DIDN'T want to talk about it. In his tent we just sort of held the coffee cups, both of us quiet. Finally he took mine away from me and set them both aside. "Is there anything you want to tell me, Radar?"

"I'm not Catholic, Father."

"I know, son. But it doesn't have to be as a priest. Talk to me as a friend. I'm worried about you."

"I'm okay."

"Are you? I'm not sure of that. When I...when I came into Colonel Potter's office, I was...very disturbed by what I saw."

I sighed. "I was very disturbed by what you saw, too."

"Radar, has Colonel Flagg been behaving in an inappropriate manner to you?"

"I guess that depends on what you mean by inappropriate. If you just SAY what he's been doing, it doesn't sound like all that much. I mean, he hasn't... uh... he hasn't, like...grabbed anything... uh... private. Or really said anything. It's more the way he doesn't say things, you know?"

"Radar, has he made...advances to you? Threats?"

I blushed. "Like I said, nothing you could really call him on."

"Oh, Walter, that is SO wrong." He saw the look on my face and said, "No, son, no! Not you. I mean the fact that he's your superior officer, and he's taking advantage of the situation. It would be wrong whatever gender were involved. Because I know you aren't interested. I saw the look on your face."

"You're right about that."

"Would you like me to go with you to Colonel Potter?"

"Thanks, padre, but I don't think so. I think Colonel Potter would believe me, but what then? Flagg is Intelligence. I don't think the guys in his own section are gonna believe me over him. Trouble is, he knows that. But anyway, he finally got caught messing with me. Maybe he'll ease off now that he knows that someone else knows."

"Well, alright, son. But remember, if he gives you any more trouble, you can come to me. Or one of the doctors, perhaps Hawkeye. You don't have to face this alone."

I smiled, but I was thinking to myself *Sure I do, Father. Cause I'm not the only one involved in this. I think he might suspect about Ray, and I'm not gonna risk him.*

I figured Flagg would leave, now that Hot Lips had been found, but he hung around. I just made sure I was never alone. I was relieved when he finally left.

I had some sheets hung up on a line out behind the Colonel's office, and I went to take them down after supper. It was a nice evening, kinda cool, and I was in a good mood. That was until I unpinned one sheet and found Colonel Flagg standing behind it. I didn't yell, but I took a step back real fast. "I saw you leave!"

"Yes. I'm not here, O'Reilly. Ask anyone. I left camp over an hour ago." I dropped the sheet in the basket, trying not to let him see I was nervous. "What are you doing? Why aren't you having the camp laundry do your sheets?"

"I do them myself. The soap they use is too strong."

"Ah, I see. It makes the sheets rough." He reached out and touched my throat. "Too harsh for that delicate skin."

"Stop it." I pushed his hand away, and turned away from him. I wanted to get out around other people as quickly as possible.

All of a sudden one of his arms went around my throat, and the other went around my waist, and he dragged me back against him. I tried to pull his arm down, but it was like iron. He hissed in my ear, "You don't walk away from me, soldier!"

"Let me go!"

"Shut up." His arm tightened, pressing on my throat, till I was gasping, then it loosened a little. "I could snap your neck like a twig, O'Reilly, but I really don't want to do that." He shifted, and I felt a hot, hard prod at my ass. I groaned. "Yes, that's better." He pushed against me, grinding. "Good, good."

"You bastard."

He grabbed my crotch, and squeezed roughly. It hurt, and I cried out, but his hand went over my mouth. "This doesn't have to be rough, O'Reilly, but it can be, I promise you that."

He hooked a foot through my legs, and I tripped. He landed on top of me when we fell, and I got the breath knocked out of me. I was gasping, trying to suck in enough oxygen to DO something, and he was reaching under me, jerking at my belt.

Then I heard Klinger calling, "Radar! Where are ya, buddy? Margaret wants to call Penobscot?"

I heard Flagg hiss "Fuck! This isn't over, O'Reilly." Then his weight lifted off me, and he was gone.

I heard footsteps, and Max came around the building. "Radar, c'mon. Hot Lips..." He saw me, and hurried over, helping me to my feet. "Damn, what happened, buddy?"

I brushed off my uniform, looking around. No trace of Flagg, but I heard a jeep start up out in the bushes, and drive off. I sighed. "Nothing, Max. You know what a klutz I am. I tripped."

I went inside to make the call for Margaret.

We'd never locked the office before. We wanted to be sure that there wouldn't be any delay in case of emergency. That night, before I went to bed, I found the key, and locked it.

I still didn't sleep well.