Moon Dust | Generation Kill

Chapter 1: Redeployment

Katie Shaw knew she should be preparing mentally for whatever was about to happen, but as she walked down the hall toward the office of her superior officer, her mind was completely blank. Maybe it was because somewhere deep down she already knew what the meeting was going to be about. Or maybe it was because after her first tour she was naively under the impression that she had seen everything that could possibly scare her. Either way, she was not prepared for the news she was about to hear.

Knocking on the closed door, Katie waited for the familiar 'come in' that was mumbled from inside the room before she let herself in. "Sir," she greeted the director of the K9 unit, Master Sergeant Henderson. "You wanted to see me."

Henderson, the large, visually intimidating man, looked up at Katie from behind the reading glasses sitting atop the bridge of his nose. "Corporal Shaw." He removed the glasses from his face and set them aside, sitting back in his chair as he did so "It's good to see you again. How's life post-Afghanistan?" 

"It's okay," Katie answered truthfully. Luckily, she hadn't suffered many of the common side-effects that someone returning from a war zone usually would. "Honestly, sir, it's been a little boring."

"A little boring." Henderson chuckled lowly to himself, an uncharacteristic smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "That's why I like you, Shaw. You're always good for a laugh."

Katie copied the amusement with a breathy laugh, unsure why her response had been humorous in the first place. "Thank you, sir."

"Well, let's get down to business now, shall we?"  Henderson clasped his hands together and rested them on the top of his immaculately clean desk. "A reconnaissance battalion in Iraq is in need of a K9 unit and you have one of the best goddamn dogs in this entire program; I know that and you know that. Whiskey is going to Iraq and, hopefully, you as well. You're being redeployed, Shaw."

It wasn't the news of redeployment that had Katie's heart pounding against her chest; no, she had been expecting that—she was experienced and had returned with no injuries and minimal trauma, so it was only a matter of time. The redeployment itself wasn't the part that worried the brunette, it was where she was being redeployed to. Iraq. A reconnaissance battalion. 

This time it was real. This time there would be no walls to hide behind. This time there would be no room for error. This time it was truly going to be life or death. If Afghanistan had been the free trial, this was the full, paid version. No limitations. 

Swallowing the lump of uncertainty in her throat, Katie put on a brave face—one that didn't even hint at the fact that she was crumbling on the inside—and gave a curt nod. "When do we ship out, sir?"

"One week." Henderson read from one of the many files stacked in a neat pile before him. "It's short notice, but this is the marines—everything is a dollar short and a day late. It gives you just enough time to go over the basics one last time."

"Sir, I've been working with Whiskey every day since getting back. We're ready."

"I know you have, Corporal." Henderson acknowledged. "I have every confidence that you and your dog will make this country proud, just like the hundreds of marines before you, and just like the hundreds of marines that will come after you."

"Thank you, sir." 

━━━━

"Whiskey, seek," Katie commanded, her grip on the leash tightening as the German Shepherd tugged her along through the testing room, his nose moving a mile a minute as he worked to pick up the scent he had been trained to identify. "Good boy, seek."

Walking over to a bed situated in the corner of the staged bedroom, Whiskey sniffed along the edge of the mattress before stopping, sitting down, and looking up at Katie. Reaching down, Katie lifted the edge of the mattress and pulled out the fake bomb. "Good boy," she praised Whiskey by bending down and scratching behind his ears, her voice high pitched so he would know he had done a good job.