Chapter 11 - The Six Men Returned To Table Four
The veterans stayed in touch with Martha.
Not ceremonially.
Annoyingly.
Sam called too often.
Raymond sent terrible jokes.
Frank Douglas mailed her coffee she did not like.
Martha complained about all of them.
Then she attended Sam’s eightieth birthday.
The six men sat together at Table 4 again.
Someone had deliberately printed a seventh place card.
MARTHA BENNETT.
She stared at it.
Sam smiled.
“No code name.”
Martha sat down.
For the first time, she told them something they had never known.
After Night Lantern, she had carried guilt too.
A local partner named Farid had been injured helping her reach the relay
point.
For years, Martha did not know whether he survived.
Declassified records finally answered the question.
Farid lived.
He emigrated years later.
The veterans helped locate his family.
Martha spoke with his daughter by video.
May you like
She cried afterward for nearly an hour.
Heroes, she learned again, rarely worked alone.
