Marine Corps Stories: Merlot on Mars

Night enveloped the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. A bottle of Merlot sat on the table on the grounds of the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) unit. Cookie cutter architecture made each of the houses look the same. Fortunately for Marine Captain Kwame Beeson, and Airman Major Delina Dargis, they sat outside under the stars on the patio of their government issued house.

“Did you know the first beverage ever tasted on the moon was wine?” Delina asked.

“I did not know that. Tell me more.”

“It was Buzz Aldrin who drank it first. He did it as part of Communion.”

“I was always critical of the NASA astronauts expressing their faith. Like the Apollo 8 Genesis reading….” said Beeson.

“At least Neil Armstrong’s most famous speech didn’t include anything mystical,” Delina said, adding, “This linguini is delicious,” she said.

Beeson wiped his mouth and replaced his napkin in his lap. He sipped from his glass of Merlot, then he cleared his throat. “Thank you. I’ve got to tell you that they’re calling me back on another mission.”

“Where is it?”

“Saudi Arabia.”

Delina’s eyebrows raised as she drank from her glass.

“It’s for another six months, probably. We’ll most likely be flying out on the third of next month,” he said.

“A Marine captain and a female Airman major will just have to do what they’ve been doing for the last few months: Twitter, Facebook, text, phone....”

“I know but this is combat, D.”

“You’ve trained for it. You’ll be alright.” She sipped some more.

“I’m not worried about the communication or the combat. I’m concerned with the fact we won’t be face to face,” he said.

“That’s why there’s Facetime and Zoom.”

“You don’t get it. We finally linked up in a personal way, and now I’m going to be shipping out, headed for the Beast.”

She chewed and swallowed. “I do get it. When I was in college, I always thought I’d find some Airman pilot like my dad. I’ll settle for a Marine pilot looking forward to the moon.” She smirked and stabbed at a tomato in her pasta like it was trying to get away from her. Beeson grinned.

“I still want to go to Mars,” he said. “We could tread the red dirt. Then we could come inside for some red wine. But I’ve got to get this mission out of the way, first,” he said.

“Saudi Arabia. We studied their militaristic strategies from the past two hundred and fifty years. The colonels and BGs all tried to consolidate and simplify those centuries,” she said, taking another sip of wine.

“We’ll formally get our orders in the morning,” Beeson said.

“We know what it’s like to be apart. After you get back—”

“When I get back….” he corrected.

“Yes,” she said, smiling.

“We’re going to be able to reunite after deployment. I’m glad we even got this chance to have a first date.”

Delina nodded her head in approval. She lifted her glass to her mouth. “And splendid it has been,” she said.

“Beeson offered a toast: To Saudi Arabia.”

“To Saudi Arabia,” she said, twirling her last bit of linguini on her fork.

“What I’ve been saying is. I know I’ll be back to say….”

“Saudi Arabia,” she repeated.

“I know that, and that’s the place.”

“The place? You’re getting orders tomorrow, and we’ll be apart once again,” she said, slightly downcast.

“Yes,” Beeson said.

“Yes.”

“But all those ways you said….” Beeson let his words trail.

“Just after we had a chance to meet, too.”

“I know.” He took a long sip and refilled her glass before topping off his own.

“If we’re able to see each other after, that would be ideal,” Delina said.

“One day we’ll be able to drink a glass of Merlot on Mars,” Beeson said as if his voice was a soft fist.

“There must be a chance….”

“Saudi Arabia is just one barrier to our personal time together.”

“Saudi Arabia...that’s mighty far from Mars. We’ll just have to see about that one won’t we?”she said.

Delina and Beeson grinned and caught a glimpse of the red planet in the night sky.