Collateral Damage

(Vespa serial)

The military puts it this way: If in the course of pursuing legal military goals certain unintended losses occur--be they to property, enemy combatants, civilians or even one's own troops--such losses are considered subordinate in relation to the military gains achieved so long as losses aren't excessive by comparison. "Intent" is the key. In other words, but I didn't mean to do it will keep you out of trouble.

So far I hadn't chalked up any real losses in pursuit of my purely civilian goal: get me and my daughters the hell out of there, wherever the hell "there" was. I had suffered the loss of my car, but gained Vespa; I had temporarily lost the Sus, but here we were together again; I had lost consciousness after my emergency Vespa landing, but unconsciousness shouldn't be underestimated, especially in times of crisis. No, we were not in the excessive category by any means.

However, we were Lost, unequivocally and completely. We were tired, hungry and likely running out of gas. Somewhere nearby, enemy combatants waged a battle in which our presence, if discovered, could be subordinated to military gains unintentional or otherwise. We were 3 women astride a Vespa flying across clear morning sky. An easy target?

We had to do something. I leaned close to Su-1's ear. Take her down when you can, I suggested, pointing to an empty roadway below. Hold on, I called over my shoulder to Su-2 who seemed to have fallen asleep against my back. Su-1 cut the motor and with a little shimmy, Vespa nosed into a slow descent. Su-1, Su-2 and I leaned in.