The Adventures of Stevo-Chapter 3-Korea,1952,Part 1
He woke up to see himself sitting beside a pilot in a helicopter. He looked on his side to see nothing but forest & dirt road all over the place, with the chilly wind blowing at his face. He looked at himself again, but to see that he was wearing the same army uniform he wore on his first mission. He then realized, 'It's Korea all over again.' He looked at the pilot & asked.
"Sir, what MASH are we heading to?"
"4077th, which is right over there." The pilot responded, then pointed at the unit below. When Stevo looked at the direction, that was it; the same 2 rows of tents in front of the office/ER/OR, the flagpole/speakers in the center, the Swamp on the left, & Rosie's Bar at the same direction, but outside of the unit. The helicopter started to land, throwing large clouds of dirt on the outside.
"Here we are! 4077th!" The pilot yelled to him, yet the roaring of the propellors drained out the words. Stevo got out of the heli with his luggage, then turned around to watch the heli fly up & away into the mountains. But when he turned back around, he couldn't believe who he was seeing, & neither could they: Col. Potter, Sgt. Klinger, & Capt. Hawkeye Pierce.
"Capt. Lambert?! That's my new doctor?" Col Potter yelled at Klinger with his face red.
"But sir, that's all that Tokyo General can give us!"
"Then get on the phone with them & ask if there are any other doctors available!"
"Yes sir!" Klinger saluted, then took off towards the office. Potter & Hawkeye looked back at their unexpected doctor. They walked towards him with a sour look on their faces.
"Capt. Lambert? Is that really you?" Potter squinted at him.
"Yes sir, it is I."
"We thought you were dead!" Hawkeye said in a shocked tone. Stevo forgot about the landmine accident from 2 years before.
"Oh that? Woah woah woah, who told you that I was dead?"
"Radar." He quietly responded. Stevo looked around to see him nowhere in sight.
"Say, where is Radar? And Ferret Face?" They went dead silent when he mentioned Frank. Suddenly, Hawkeye yelled, snatched his suitcase, & threw it pass the flagpole.
"HEY! What was that for?!" Stevo barked at him, which quickly stopped his anger. He walked towards him & whispered:
"Frank went stateside. He works in a veterans hospital in Indiana, & guess what they promoted him to: Lieutenant Colonel." Stevo looked angry by the news of the mad major. He looked at the suitcase, then at Hawkeye.
"Hawkeye, can you hand me my suitcase?" Stevo commanded him. He walked towards the suitcase, retrieved it, & returned it to him.
"Thanks. *yells*" Without warning, Stevo threw his suitcase hard against the ground, causing his clothes to fly out, creating a mess in front of him. His face few red as he looked at the half-dirtied clothes, but saw a small note attached to one of his jackets. He picked it up & saw a small ring attached to the note. He knew he didn't have time to read it, so he stuffed it in his jacket pocket. He picked up his clothes, stuffed them in his suitcase, & headed towards Col. Potter's office.
"What would you like to drink?" Hawkeye asked Stevo, holding a martini.
"Nothing thank you."
"So, Capt. Lambert, care to explain why you're here again?" Col. Potter asked him in a calm but serious tone. Hawkeye sat down beside Stevo, drinking.
"Well sir, ... a-after I left the unit, the driver & I were getting hit by mortars. And then, about 3 miles later, we hit a landmine; we were ejected from our seats; &... I was able to escape, but... the driver wasn't so lucky. I dug him a grave, buried his body, saluted him, & marked his grave as "unknown" because his name from his dogtag was chipped off from the explosion. And I managed to walk up a few miles where I met a couple of MPs; they drove me to the 8063rd to get me patched up, went to pick up the body, & I continued to head stateside. Then, when I was at home last week, I received a letter that stated that they shipped out the wrong Stephen. So, *hits chair shoulders* here I am." They were surprised to hear what he had to say.
"...Boy, you should've got a Purple Heart for such bravery." Potter looked pretty happy for Stevo.
"Well thank you, sir, I-" Suddenly, loud music came in the room from outside. Stevo quickly got up from his seat & peered out the window.
"What the? Who in the world is playing that racket?" Stevo looked at Potter & Hawkeye, then looked back outside.
"Sorry, Stephen, our friend is trying to brighten things up by bringing the circus to town." Hawkeye said to him.
"I'm gonna ask that man to keep it down, that music is giving me goosebumps on my goosebumps." Stevo walked out the door & outside where the Korean prisoners were being held captive. He got closer & closer to the man wearing a lab coat & holding a conductor's stick in his right hand.
"Excuse me sir, but can you-hmph!" Stevo spoke to him, but he ignored him. So, he grabbed the stick from his hand & snapped it in half, halting the entire orchestra.
"Hmmph, you little fink! You idiotic officer! You-"
"Winchester! Hold your temper! That's our new doctor you're yelling at!" Potter yelled out as he ran from his office.
"Our new doctor? But... but he-"
"I know he did it on purpose, but please, give yourselves a break. Now, both of you apologize, that's an order." Potter said, looking at them both.
"I'm sorry, Captain..."
"Captain Stephen Lambert." Stevo said & shook his hand. "I'm sorry as well. You are?"
"Major Charles E. Winchester III." They stopped shaking their hands, then Potter called Stevo.
"Capt. Lambert, report to my office now." Stevo saluted, then followed him to his office.
"Capt. Lambert?"
"Yes Colonel?"
"I have a job for you. I need you to go to the kitchen & help Maj. Houlihan with the decorating."
"What for?"
"Capt. Hunnicut's daughter is turning 2 tomorrow, & since Sgt. Klinger is out with Soon-Lee to find her family, I need you to take his place. Can you do that?"
"Yes sir." Stevo saluted & walked out the office door & headed towards where the kitchen was.
When he came in, he saw her & a few nurses working on the decorations & cleaning the dishes. Stevo quietly snuck behind her & gave her a little boo. She jumped, but when she looked behind, she gasped in surprise to see someone from her past. The nurses shrieked in excitement.
"*gasps* Capt. Lambert, is that you?"
"Yes it is, Hot Lips!" He chuckled, then they hugged each other in joy.
"Oh Lambert! *kisses on lips* I thought you were dead! What are you doing here?" The other nurses surrounded him.
"It's a very long story. Now, Col. Potter wanted me to help you with the decorating. Where should I start?"
"Oh, um... you can start writing the words on the cake. Write 'Happy Birthday 2 Erin!' And be careful on the 2. BJ wants it to have the 2 candles on both ends." Then he & the nurses went back to work. As they chattered, Stevo looked back a little.
"So Major, I've heard you've got married to Lt. Penobscott. How's it been since?" Suddenly, a loud thud occurred near the sink where Houlihan was working at. She huffed an air, then asked the nurses to leave.
"But Major, we still haven't decorated the-"
"You heard me, leave! That's an order!" She barked at them. The nurses left as quickly as they could, leaving the decorations half-done on the kitchen counter near the cake. She turned back at Stevo & spoke.
"Capt. Lambert, you shouldn't've mentioned him. I divorced him a while ago."
"What happened?"
"He cheated on me!" Houlihan threw a dish against the floor, creating a large dent on one side of the plate.
"Hold it Major! Don't be all mad at him!"
"Why shouldn't I?!"
"Because... someday after this lousy war ends, you'll find your true love." Houlihan froze & stared.
"Maybe you're right, Captain, but I hope I could find the one soon."
"There's one looking at you right now." Suddenly, they grabbed each other & made a big kiss against each others lips. But they quickly stopped their little romance & backed off from each other.
"Major, now I know why they call you 'Hot Lips'."
"Why is that?"
"I don't know. I should've asked Ferret Face." They both giggled at each other. Houlihan looked at the clock above the kitchen & saw that it was 9:45 PM.
"Capt. Lambert, can you put the dishes & the cake up for me? I have to get up early tomorrow to put up the decorations."
"Yes, Major. Night!" She gave a small wave, then left the kitchen to go to her tent. Stevo started putting the dishes & cake up.
After finishing his duties, he walked the kitchen door & out into the breezy, dark compound. He walked towards the same tent near the storage room he stayed in from before, entered to see the same green & brown colored room, & began unpacking his clothes when the note from earlier fell out of his jacket pocket & landed onto the bed. He picked it up & began reading it.
To Stevo,
Thought you forgot about me? If not, you need to. Because you're on your own now. On your last missions, I helped you some. But now, you must go on. And if you're wondering what the ring attached to this note is, it's for some of your missions. It's called the Aging Ring. As you can see, there's numbers 0-9 around the outside of the ring, & in one area, there's 2 empty slots on top of a button that says "Change". You press the age you want to be, & it'll instantly transform you into yourself in that age. If you want to change ages or change back to normal, press change & re-enter your requested age. But be careful, don't change your age while in anthropomorphic form, it'll mess up your appearance. And I almost forgot, here's the following missions you must go on: x1935x, 1952, 1955, 1962, 1966, 1990, 2005, 2006, & 2013. Be careful! -The Figure
Stevo looked the ring & carefully removed it from the note. He tried to see if it fitted, which it did, but accidentally pressed random numbers & shrinked. He looked at himself in the mirror & saw himself at age 8.
"Oh crap!" Stevo said to himself, flapping his jacket sleeves with his small arms. Then a knock came at the door.
"Is Capt. Lambert there?" It's Father." His eyes widened by the sound of Father Mulcahy's voice.
"Um, yes, uh, I'll be out in a minute." Stevo responded in a deep voice, covering his young one. He quickly pressed the numbers 1 & 8 and turned back to normal. He looked at the mirror & saw his boxers showing. He tugged his pants up as he walked towards the door, & one he was prepped, he opened to see Father Mulcahy in the flesh; he hadn't changed a bit; still wearing those round glasses, a white Panama hat, the purple scarf with the gold-chromed crosses, all of that, except for some faded blonde hair.
"Well, if it isn't Capt. Lambert. What are you doing here?" He said, then shook Stevo's hand.
"They called me up again, pretty much." Then Father gave him a small folded card.
"What's this?"
"You're invited to Erin Hunnicut's 2nd Birthday party."
"Well thank you, Father. Good night!"
"Night, Brother Stephen!" Father said, then walked off towards the next tent. Stevo shut the door & plopped himself on the bed, & quickly fell asleep.
The next day, the children & other doctors & nurses played around with their games, eating their cake, even riding Col. Potter's horse. But during the party, the speakers came on:
"Ladies and gentlemen, five minutes ago, at 10:01 this morning, the truce was signed at Panmunjon. The hostilities will end twelve hours from now at 10:00. THE WAR IS OVER!"
Everyone sprung in joy by the amazing news, dancing, hollering & singing in the road.
"Yay the war is over! Yay the war is over! Yay the war is over!" Everyone chanted together, but then the happiness soon ended by the sound of the helicopters, which means... they've got wounded.