Liam Means Trouble

Chapter 1 - Major Liam Bradley

"Excuse me, Major Bradley, Lieutenant General Stone wants to see you in his office." A young Marine officer called my attention as I was doing some paper works in my office.

My name is Major General Liam Bradley of the USMC ( US Marine Corps) I and my family migrated here to the US 2 years after my baby sister Sophia was born. Both my parents were working for the FBI, so I practically grew up surrounded by people in uniform. I admired my parents so much for their dedication and loyalty to their chosen craft until the day they retired. I joined the Marines when I turned 23 and kind of enjoyed my time here. I am always on a battleship if not in my office, made some friends, and met a lot of girls. I am now 27 and my mom Riley has been burning my ears on when will I get married or at least a girlfriend. I told her I'm not in a hurry and marriage is not a race. I will only get married if I find a woman that could surpass my mom's coolness. She was a badass when we met her 20 years ago, can you believe that he kicked my dad's ass way back in high school? She was the baddest girl I've ever known and the prettiest too. So, unless there's a girl out there who can at least be near enough as badass as my mom then I'll have a ring ready for her. She is not my real mom but she loves me as her own son, my dad said I fell in love with her first before him when we first met hahaha. But sometimes she's a bit too much too, she's this hopeless romantic person and she is so in love with my dad that she wants everybody around her to be in love too. I missed them so much every day, especially my spoiled younger sister Sophie. My trip to the past was cut short when I found myself in front of the lieutenant's office, I knocked twice before I entered.

" Good morning lieutenant, you wish to see me?" I asked my commanding officer as I stepped into his office.

" Ah yes Major Bradley, please take a seat I need to discuss something with you." Lieutenant Stone smiled and I took a seat.

" So Major Bradley, I guess you've heard of the attack of our troops in the waters near China last week? Many of our men and women lost their lives, many were injured and some of them is missing still." The lieutenant asked me and I nodded, how can I forget? I have friends on board that ship and I was so pissed when I heard the news. " Now the reason why I called you here Major is that I want you to lead our infantry and sail out to that location, we have to defend our country, that's what we have pledged. We are still investigating who fired the first missile or if it really was the Chinese. They are insisting that we fired first and that it was not them who attacked us. Now we are lead to believe that there may be a third party involved in that attack, we are not sure yet. That is why I want you to be very careful and keep a watchful eye around you." He was so serious when he disclosed this private information to me, all I could do is listen and agree to everything he says.

" I will do that Lieutenant, rest assured that I will do everything in my power to keep my men safe and come back in one piece," I assured him.

" I have no doubt you will Major, I have full trust in you. Now, you will leave in 3 days, I suggest you call your parents, girlfriend or whoever to let them know that you are going on a mission. But of course, you cannot disclose the details about this mission, tell your men to get ready as well. You leave Tuesday morning at 600 hours, understood?"

" Sir yes sir." I stood up and made a salute before I left his office. Man, my mom is not going to like this at all. Same as the first time I told her I want to join the Marines, he cried a river that day. My dad will be upset and worried too but he's more open-minded than mom, I know he will support me and understands. Well, I will give them a call later tonight, but for now, I need to brief my men and ask them to get ready, both physically and mentally. We only have 3 days to prepare and time is of the essence, we cannot leave our waters unprotected.

After briefing my men I went straight to my quarters, took a shower, and changed into a white shirt and low waist jeans. I am going to give my family a call in a little while, I don't know why I'm stalling and I don't know why I suddenly feel apprehensive. It's not like me to feel nervous or bothered by a mission but something tells me something bad is about to happen. To get my mind off of the matter, I opened my laptop and checked my emails. I usually just scan my emails and look for something urgent or important, then I go to my spam as well just in case I missed an important mail. That is when I stumbled into an email dated 3 years ago, I'm not sure if this letter is for me because it is not addressed to me. The sender must have made a mistake when typing the email address, it is a letter for her dad obviously because it started with "Dear Dad". I was contemplating if I should read it or let the sender know that she sent it to the wrong person but before I could do anything my phone rang when I looked at the caller ID, my apprehensions came back. My mom is calling and I'm suddenly feeling nervous, I took a steady long breath before I hit the answer button "Mom?"