“Then we can get in contact with the base commander nearest to where Mike is at, ok?”

Bette and Tina looked at each other and shrugged.  Didn’t look like they had much of a choice.

“By the way, it gets a bit dusty around here,” she said as she led them to their quarters.  “So you may just want to set out a few clothes that you think you’ll need, and keep the rest in your luggage.  It’ll help keep your other clothes less dusty."

Bette and Tina looked at each other and exchanged a wry smile.  Not exactly the start to the romantic honeymoon they’d envisioned.

Half an hour later, they were in another office, and on a call to the base commander.  He was explaining, “Mike and a team were investigating a site that could have been the source of some ancient artifacts that they were tipped off about – the artifacts were being auctioned off in London, but their provenance was unclear.”

“The expert with them in the team sustained serious injuries when Mike and the team were shot at while they were looking around.”

“We managed to pull them out and take them here to our base camp.  Mike was also injured,” Bette and Tina caught their breath, “but not seriously.”

“He’s still resting in the clinic, though.”

“He asked me to try to reach you.  I understand you could help another team we’re scrambling together to finish Mike’s team’s work?”

Tina looked at Bette in a panic.  You’re not heading out there, are you?

Bette’s eyebrows were raised also.  “It’s been a while, Colonel, “ she started.  “I did write a paper on art from that area, but that was ages ago.”

“Well, Mike seems to believe you still know your stuff.  He and his team won’t be able to resume their work, and the investigation does need to be completed, so that they can track down whomever smuggled the artifacts from that site.”

Oh no, not again!, Tina was thinking.

Bette sat back in her chair, reflecting.  As long as the work wasn’t done, Mike and his team would need to continue to sit out in the base camp, and remain exposed to potential danger while they healed up.