A Soldier of No Importance [ Band of Brothers ] 1

FIFTY SIX

The morning lecture ended with Nixon giving the same warning as he'd given the officers. They would not be calling this jump off; too many people were involved, too much money, too many plans. Alice watched the men's faces turn somber. The one point of amusement came when they realized they'd be under British command for this operation.

They'd have about a week and a half until the jump. As the enlisted filtered out, some grumbling more than others, Alice just followed with a smile. Listening to Guarnere rant about the British never ceased to amuse her.

"Better watch your mouth, Gonorrhea," she teased. "If Millie hears you talking like that, she won't ever let you come over for dinner again."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Maddie likes me too much. Ain't no way Millie'd kick me out."

With a laugh, Alice shook her head. He wasn't wrong. Madeleine loved to be around Bill and George the most. She found them amusing, and strange.

They moved together back towards the designated mess halls. Second Battalion's swarmed with the other two companies already, so finding a seat wasn't the easiest. In the end, Alice decided to sit outside on a few picnic tables that had been set up. The pasta tasted better than she expected.

Bill, Joe Toye, Malarkey, Skip Muck, Alex, and George all joined her, and to her surprise, Babe Heffron. Bill practically dragged him into the seat across from Alice. Though he looked uncomfortable, he seemed equally curious, glancing at her not infrequently despite the conversations to his right. Alice had to suppress a smirk.

"Now, Babe, the one person yah gonna wanna make friends with is her," Bill said. They'd already gone half way through the meal, but apparently now was the time to pull Alice into conversation. "She's got the Colonel's ear."

"Right, that's an exaggeration," Alice said. Shaking her head, she just kept eating.

But Bill wouldn't drop it. "Not only she's got Sink at her beck an' call, but I'm pretty sure all of Easy's officers love her."

"What's not to love," George called from down the table. He smirked. With a quick wink, he slipped from the table to join them at the other end. He pulled out a cigarette. "Except that she likes to take my smokes."

"Hear that, Babe? She's great. So you better treat 'er right."

Alice shook her head and turned from George and Bill back to Babe across from her. With a small smile, she just sighed. "Babe, they're trying to flatter me. I don't think you're going to have a problem with me."

He nodded. "No ma'am."

"Drop the formalities. Unless we're around the officers, you can call me Alice, since everyone else does." She smiled. "I guess it's sort of an Easy Company tradition. First names."

"Except around the officers, or men from other companies," George added.

Joe Toye leaned over. "You show her the respect she deserves."

"Alright, alright. I think Babe gets the point."

Just as he went to respond, they saw Vest coming over with a full mail bag. Everyone cheered as he came to the table. Everyone got letters. Meals forgotten, they tore into their mail. But when Vest came to Alice, she looked up in surprise.

"Lieutenant, when I was cleaning out the mail room last night, I found a pile of letters addressed to an Adélaïde Klein. Ring a bell?" He looked confused, but held out the six letters.

Alice froze. Who would be writing her, and more than that, who would be writing her as Adélaïde. Without even thinking, Alice stood from the table. She took the letters. With a small thank you, Alice moved away and dumped her food tray.