Chapter 12 - THE STORM OVER THE RIDGE
Six months later, life had settled into a beautiful rhythm. Claire was officially promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given full command of Falcon Ridge. But the mountains are unforgiving, and nature answers to no one.
In the dead of winter, a catastrophic blizzard struck the Appalachian range. A civilian medical transport helicopter, carrying a critically ill child and a flight nurse, went down in a treacherous ravine just fifty miles from the base. The storm was a Category 4 whiteout. Winds howled at seventy miles per hour. Standard protocols grounded all aircraft.
"Visibility is zero, Colonel," the air traffic controller reported, his voice tight with panic. "No one can fly in this."
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Claire looked at the radar screen. She remembered the six men in the Hindu Kush. She remembered why she put the uniform on in the first place.
"Prep my bird," Claire ordered, grabbing her flight helmet. "I'm going in."
