Chapter 214 - School Visit (4)

26 February, Military Base, City K

Before Matthew could reply one of the soldiers could be heard on the microphone saying "Ladies, gentleman and children. Now that you have all been through the process of being issued your guest passes, we will head inside the base. The buses that you have come here on, have been carefully checked to be brought in. Any bags or items left on the buses have been carefully locked in the luggage bins under the bus they were in. We will use those to move around certain areas of the base, given the distance between them. While as soldiers it would be easy for us to cover the distance, it will not be for you."

"We will split into two separate groups, one group will head firstly towards where the military equipment, like tanks and helicopters are to give you a look at those. The other group will head to the obstacle course. We will then swap over so that you can have a look at the other, before you are brought back to towards the main building areas, where we have arranged for you to have lunch in one of the on base messes. Our final stop of the day will involve watching a display by members of the special forces based here. I have no idea what this will be, as they do not tell us. We will then come back here for your departure. Plus, we promise there will be many opportunities for us to take photographs for you at appropriate locations."

Lexi turned to Matthew and quietly asked "Are you involved in that?"

"Planning it yes, and if it was another school yes, as we decided this year for school tours we would alternate between low height into water and HALO parachute jumps. Visually spectacular, and good practice, but also exciting for the children to see."

The solider speaking continued after the noise from everyone settled down as to what they were doing saying "Now please follow us out. As we exit, the scanning system needs you to place your guest pass on it, so it can record that you have entered the base. When we are at the mess hall, your pass will need to be scanned again. If there is anywhere else where it needs to be scanned, we will tell you. Once you head out, please board a bus, and remember the bus you are on as we need you to stay on that bus during the tour."

Knowing that he must be the parent now, not domineer like the senior military officer he was, Matthew directed Lexi and Dominic into the line, quietly saying "Your passes will need to be scanned like everyone else's." Lexi and Dominic nodded.

Within ten minutes, the group was on the buses, and the bus that Dominic, Lexi and Matthew were on headed first to the equipment area. Matthew was frustrated, and realised he should have ordered that the bus he was on was one that went to the obstacle course first, as it would allow him to avoid the active teams who were going to be using it close to lunchtime for some PT in the heat of the day in full packs.

Within five minutes, the bus stopped at the designated point, and quickly everyone departed the bus. Matthew could see that Dominic was excited and turned to Lexi "He is enjoying this?"

"He has been looking forward to this for days, but not wanting to tell you how excited he has been in case he gets disappointed. But…"

"You are frustrated. Lexi I can see that."

"You have been avoiding me, and we need to talk."

"We can do that later; promise me you will enjoy the day for Dominic."

"You know I will. Dominic has been hurt by the corner you pushed me into, and I will not let him be hurt further, so you better live up to his expectations on this tour."

With that Lexi walked away from Matthew, who stood at the back of the group, listening to those designated as guides speaking. It was clear that the soldiers have divided themselves into two groups of seven, each with five of the soldiers he had co-opted into being tour guides and two of those that knew they were guides.

After being given a little information, they were boarded the bus and taken to the equipment staging area, where Matthew was aware there would be equipment waiting for the children to see. On the short trip, the children on the bus were glued to what was happening outside. After they disembarked, the closer they moved to the equipment, the more the soldiers carrying out their normal tasks observed Matthew's presence and were jumping to attention before saluting.

Lexi watching this, could not help but laugh. It was obvious that Matthew was getting frustrated at this, as focus from the soldiers was being shifted to him, rather than on their work. She could see he was looking around to locate the highest-ranking soldier in the area, and as soon as he spotted a Major, Matthew slipped away from the back of the group before heading over. Lexi turned and followed the group, knowing Matthew would return eventually. Not having him right beside her, made her feel a little relaxed. As they stopped near a tank, Lexi could feel Dominic's excitement. Like her, he loved vehicles. Her passion was her cars, but Dominic tended towards big vehicles, Monster Trucks were a favourite, and she guessed now a Tank would be.

Watching, she observed that the guides were having everyone line up for photos with the tanks, which excited the children. Looking around, Lexi could see, that even though the parents in the group where not happy about being at the military base, they started to pick up on the children's excitement and started to relax. Slowly the line moved forward, with Matthew joining them just before it was Dominic's turn for a photograph.

Lexi asked, "Have you addressed your issue by throwing your rank around?"

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