Claire would remember that night for the rest of her days. She was young, 19, and an aircrewman in a U.S. Navy combat search and rescue unit. Her unit was on deployment to the jungles of South America doing counter drug operations. They'd been in country for about two months when the call came in that would change her life, set fire to her dreams, and open her mind to the forbidden ranks of lust in the armed forces. Forever would the lines between duty, desire, and danger be blurred.
She'd been asleep in her hammock outside of the barracks when the call came in: a 3-man Navy SEAL element was calling for egress and her crew had to go get them out of harm's way. Claire slid her flight suit over her sports bra and running shorts; the Nomex cloth of the flight suit clung to her sweaty skin, but she managed.
In what seemed like record time, Claire and her two pilots were in their Blackhawk helicopter (the standard military helicopter used in almost all movies) and soring low over the dark jungle under the cloudy night sky. The stars were beautiful, but the mood was lost behind clouds.
Claire was the crew chief in charge of the main cabin, so seeing to the SEALs would be her responsibility and she spoke with her pilots on her radio headset from the vacant main cabin behind the cockpit. The back of the helicopter was empty of all seats and gear to make it like a small room where soldiers and crew could move about at will without bumping into things. The only bad part was that in order to sit, one had to sit on the floor which vibrated to the frequency of the rotor blades.
Until they reached the landing zone, she sat on the vibrating floor with both big side doors open and enjoyed the hot jungle air surging around her and the humidity of that air causing her to sweat.
By the time the helicopter began to orbit the landing zone, Claire had nearly sweated through her flight. Claire saw muzzle flashes in the jungle below her and the pilots said they were going to land to pick up the SEALs.
The helicopter touched down in a small, dark clearing surrounded by Jungle. The rotor blades spun, swirled the air violently, and blew the tall grass and jungle as Claire searched the darkness for the warriors. The men emerged from the darkness with tactical clothing and machine guns at the ready, looking around in all directions as they walked toward the aircraft.
Once the men were onboard, Claire told the pilots they were ready and the helicopter took off, banking hard right to turn back to base.
The red cabin lights remained off and the only light inside was from the stars. The moon had yet to show its glowing head that night. The doors remained open, allowing the rotators and speed of the aircraft to swirl the hot, humid air inside of the cabin.
