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1 January 1981
21st Special Air Service Regiment
Lübeck, West Germany
Trooper Gary Bealer looked at his cards. The King of Diamonds and the Two of Hearts. Corporal Willis, the dealer, was showing the Five of Spades. It was a no-brainer.
“Oi, I’ll twist,” said Bealer. He looked at the card and tossed the other two on the table with disgust. “Bullocks!” The Ten of Clubs caused him to bust, and play moved down the line. Lance Corporal Cooper stood fast, while Trooper Baker twisted a card. Play moved to Willis. He flipped his down card over, showing the Queen of Spades, giving him a total of fifteen. He twisted another card and drew the Ace of Diamonds. He sighed, twisting another card. The King of Clubs busted Willis.
“Shit,” said Willis, tossing his cards down. Cooper and Baker turned their cards over. Baker had managed to hit twenty one, while Cooper had a respectable eighteen.
“All right, hand ‘em over,” said Baker as Willis paid out both he and Cooper.
“Bealer,” said Cooper, “What happened with that blond German number you slipped out with last weekend?”
“What do you think happened?” replied Bealer. There was something about Trooper Gary Bealer that the local women found irresistible. He had a charm that none of his squad mates could define, but every one of them envied. Bealer himself believed that it had a lot to do with his natural confidence, a trait shared by anyone who managed to get into 21 SAS, and his fluency in Holsteinisch, the German dialect spoken in Lübeck.
“Oh, I can just imagine,” said Cooper.
“And that’s all you’ll have,” replied Bealer, “an active imagination.” The other men of the squad laughed at Cooper’s expense.
“The next time Coop gets a shag in,” said Baker, “he’ll be thinking about Bealer boffing that blond the whole time.” More laughter erupted. Wanting to change the conversation away from his love life, Bealer asked,
“Willis, how’s the family back home?” The Corporal’s wife and six year old son were back in Leeds while Willis served out his contract in Germany.
“They’re good,” said Willis. “Henry likes his new school… well, as much as Henry’s going to like any school, that is.”
“A chip off the old block then?” said Bealer.
“More than you know,” replied Willis, chuckling. “Lara’s going after it with my mum, but that’s nothing new. Those two will be fighting their own kerfuffle while the world’s ending. But it’s good.”
“What are you going to do when you get out?” asked Baker.
“My old man got me on at the Meltog plant in the South East.”
“What the hell is a Meltog?” asked Cooper.
“Thank you for asking,” laughed Willis. “Ahem,” he cleared his throat before breaking into what was clearly the backside of a company flier. “Meltog Manufacturing produces high quality Metal Packaging Machinery, as well as both Filter Tube Manufacturing Machinery and a range of Industrial Shredders.”
“And that,” said Cooper, “’is what you’ve chosen to do, instead of going on further adventures with this lot?”
“Don’t take this personally, lads. I just need to spend more time with the family. I’ve had the time of my life up to this point, but I know what it’s like to grow up without a father around and I don’t want that for Henry.”
“Hey, are you arseholes playing or what?” asked Baker, sensing the discomfort creeping into the conversation as it brushed too close to Willis’s personal life. Willis smiled, and started dealing out the next hand. Bealer looked at his first card. The three of clubs. He dropped a thirty pence bet, the lowest bet allowed in today’s game. Cooper took a look and bet three pounds, the maximum.
“Someone’s looking at an Ace,” said Bealer. Before Cooper could reply, Willis broke in,
“Shhh. Shut it.” Everyone went quiet, straining to hear whatever had caused the Corporal to halt the game. The faint sound of sirens could be heard.