A Soldier of No Importance [ Band of Brothers ] 1

THIRTY SEVEN

Nixon looked around the four bed cabin he shared with Dick, Harry, and Lieutenant Heyliger. The walls had been painted white over the wood, and two small windows would've let in a decent amount of light had it been day time. The rain had stopped, but clouds still covered the night sky. Sitting on his bed, white sheets still tucked in, he sucked at his cigarette. Across from him, Harry lay with his arms over his head.

The door opened, disrupting the silence in the room. Harry sat up as Dick walked in. Nixon watched him take a deep breath as he shut the door.

"What'd Colonel Sink say?" Harry asked.

Dick nodded, as if reassuring himself. "She's not out of the airborne. He wants a guard with her at all times on the ship. I asked to be the one to handle this ahead of Sobel since she started out with my platoon, and he agreed."

"That's good." Harry fumbled in his pocket. Pulling out a cigarette, he lit it and nodded again. "How is she?"

With a shrug, he ran a hand through his hair. Dick walked further into the room and tossed his jacket onto his bed next to Nixon's. "Roe took her back down to the bunks." He paused, collecting himself. "I don't know. I don't know."

"She didn't even try to fight back?" Harry still couldn't believe it.

Dick shook his head. "Toye, Guarnere, and Luz all told me the same thing."

Nixon took a deep breath. He knew, out of all the men in Easy, that he was quite possibly the only one who knew why she had frozen. Or, some idea. He certainly had more context than anyone else. He'd done his research.

"Nix, you're quiet."

He looked up. Dick hadn't sat down yet. With a shrug, Nixon stood up too. "Just thinking."

"Right. One step at a time. First thing we need to do is find a way to let the enlisted know what happened without starting a brawl," Dick continued. "Which of the NCOs is she closest with?"

Nix paused. "Uh, Talbert, Lipton, Guarnere definitely."

"Martin and Randleman from first," Harry added. "They talk quite a bit."

"Right. We need to track them down and stop any rumors before this gets too big. Harry can you go find anyone from first and third? They're quartered a bit apart from Second. Nixon, go find anyone with them, and get Luz, Toye, and Roe as well." Dick sighed. "I have to go report this to Sobel."

They split their separate ways. Picking through the rows of enlisted men proved more difficult than Nixon had expected. When he and Harry split from each other, he pushed through on his own. Finally, after about ten minutes, he found Easy's Second Platoon.

"Hey Lieutenant," Malarkey said. He cocked his head. "Why are you down here?"

"Housekeeping. Guarnere, Toye, Luz, and Roe, I need you four to come with me." He waved them away. "Liebgott?"

"Sir?"

"I need you, without asking questions, to stick with Lieutenant Klein until you hear otherwise."

The entire area went absolutely silent as they heard Nixon talk. He knew his tone would make them concerned; there was absolutely no joking around about this at all. When Liebgott acknowledged the order, he looked back at where the four men in the platoon he'd called now stood in a line in front of him. "Come on."

Nixon turned back and headed onto the deck at the nearest exit. Trusting the enlisted men were behind him, he snaked his way through the crowds and into the darkness outside. From there, finding their way to where the officers had been quartered didn't take too long. When he opened the cabin, Dick was already back. He sent Nixon a shake of his head.