G.I. BABY (27 page)

“This way. They’re all converging in that direction,” the dude pointed to the right. “They’ve built dozens of safe houses 100 feet below that can accommodate hundreds of people. The tunnels are bigger in those parts. These are the alternative and emergency exits, seldom used.”

He was even more astounded. Raqqa had an underground city!

“These men are different. They can easily adapt to any condition. Their beliefs are absolute and unshakable. That’s the most dangerous of all. We don’t wanna say hi to them after you ruined their live entertainment by keeping your neck intact and scoring a touch down on them.”

 
“I was gonna blow us all sky-high. That room was a bomb.”

“Sorry, I didn’t wanna join your little suicide party. I still have missions waiting for me in Israel, Cuba and Philippines.”

“You’re a commando?”

“Let’s just say I’m a freelancer.”

 
The walls of the tunnel vibrated, sending dirt showering over them. The Russians are having a merry day, for sure.

“If the ground caves in, we’re dead rats. It’s a long way back.”

The dude snorted. “Now I know why the Marines call you Air Force guys pussies.”

“I didn’t survive a hypersonic missile and a beheading just to end up buried alive in an ISIL tunnel. That would be the height of irony. They wouldn’t know what to say in my eulogy.”
 

The dude chuckled. “Fifteen minutes and we’re outta this hellhole. Hurry your pussy ass, Major.”

“How the hell did you end up as one of their leaders?”

“That will be a tale over a round of beer, man.”

“Sounds good. My treat.”

They walked for a few minutes more until they saw sunlight filtering at the far end.

Exit.

They practically crawled their way out of the tunnel.

They heard the distinct whirring of choppers.

——*****——

His adrenaline started to wear off
as the Apache flew out of Raqqa. He can feel the biting pain in his left leg now. He was bleeding but the wounds weren’t bone-deep.

“Don’t worry, just shrapnels from that fucking grenade. You’ll live.”

“Okay, tell me now, why am I still alive? I don’t remember anything much after I pulled the pin and the earth shook.”

“Shit, man, that almost gave me a heart attack. I managed to jump you and throw the grenade away before it turned you into dog food. What the fuck were you thinking?”
 

“I didn’t wanna die like a pussy. I wanted to die fighting. And I thought you were my executioner. How was I supposed to know you were there to rescue me? You never gave me a clue. You let the mofos beat me and starve me to death.”

“Sorry, I didn’t wanna risk getting my cover blown, man.”

“At least you let me take a dump in the sand.”

The fucker laughed. “I promise not to tell your woman you pissed in your pants.”

“So, fill me in on the puzzle, will you? I still can’t believe I escaped execution.”

 
“As you were reciting the pledge of allegiance, I was expecting Mavericks to drop near the building we were in. I was coordinating with your friends in the sky. Your capture shook up the entire coalition, man. Even the Ruskies were pissed big time.”

“Yeah? I thought they didn’t give a shit about the ISIL.”

“Not when the ISIL’s messing up with Hypersonics.”
 

“Yeah, that was definitely a Hyper that nearly got me.”

“The big boys are not using those toys in the war yet and the ISIL beat them to it breaking nuclear weapons protocol. Not that they ever obey any protocol. They make their own rules. The big boys hate that, you know, when someone’s balls are bigger than theirs.”

“God help us all if they have more of those.”

“But I tell you, that pledge of allegiance shit, man, that was a masterclass move. I didn’t see that coming. I hope the whole world saw that before signal was cut off.”

“That was really going live?”

“The whole world was watching today.”

“So, what was your plan? You captured me. You could have just let me go.”

“You crashed in the middle of their territory. There was no way for you to escape. I didn’t want the other platoons to get you so we had to do it. The men were watching. We could’t risk getting caught and compromise the entire operation. But capturing you helped our mission.”

“So, you used me for your mission. As a bait.”

“It would have happened the same way. But if it weren’t me in-charge of your captivity, it could have ended badly for you.”

He nodded, conceding. “I know. Thank you.”

“When I saw you were still alive and your plane’s still intact, the mission was definitely on. You were a very valuable prisoner. A Major flying an Eagle. No Muj has captured an Eagle and its pilot ever. Our mission was simple. Gather the officials in one place and boom! We’ve been trying to do that for a year now, to no avail. But they came to see you die. You’re quite the celebrity eh?”

“Did you get them?”

“Yeah. Caught them all by surprise. A few of them were probably killed by your grenade. Had to drag you outta there because Mavs were raining. They leveled the building.”

“You think they would have taken selfies with my head?”

The dude smiled. “I really like you, Major Walker,” he said in his Arabic accent. “Defiant even at death’s door. If you were not so patriotic, the ISIL would like to recruit you.”
 

He grinned. “Who are you, brother? You think you can tell me that now that we’re relatively safe?”

The man extended his hand. “Trevor Maddox.”

They exchanged a tight handshake.

“Thank you, Trevor Maddox. I owe you.”

 
“Call me, Mad. I’m with the Task Force: Black.”

He nodded. Task Force:Black was a covert operation composed of British SAS, Delta Force and Seal Team 6 soldiers with the special mission to deeply infiltrate the ISIL Forces.
 

“We saw your plane taking a nose-dive closely followed by a missile. The missile exploded
 
and we thought you got hit. Then you emerged from the ball of fire, spinning wildly. We all thought you were gonna crash, man, but your Eagle suddenly flipped upside-down and cruised like nothing happened. I tell you, my platoon became your instant fans. They’d never seen anything like that.”

“They beat me to pulp. Some fans.”

“Yeah well, you got them for a few seconds then you fell off the sky like a dead fly. That was not impressive at all.”

“Ran outta fuel.”

“I figured that.”
 

“What happened to my plane?”

“That’s the last thing you should be thinking about at this point, Major.” Maddox fished out something from one of the many pockets of his uniform. “Here.” He handed him a folded brown envelop.

It contained his personal belongings he’d brought with him in that flight, including the pictures of Andi and Richard.
 

Staring at the picture, he inhaled deeply. He swallowed hard as his throat constricted with emotion. “Thank you,” he said shakily.

Maddox nodded. “Relax now. You’re going home.”

CHAPTER
19

WHEN HE BOMBED HIS VERY FIRST ASSIGNMENT
and he’d learned of the probable body count— only a ballpark estimate as bombs killed en masse and suffice it to say, he’d most probably annihilated an entire community in a single attack— his patriotism turned into a million unanswered questions. Questions that turned into confusion and pretty soon, cold, seething fury. Fury that howled like a thousand demons inside him, eating at his conscience, in dead silence. His conscience waged war against his demons but after years of terrorizing the skies of Iraq, the fuckers finally got the better of him. They became friends.
 

His conscience shut up, crawling into the depths of his inner hell.

For years, his demons reigned over him, making his job easier.

His job became a drug in his veins, the rush, an addiction.

But now, his conscience was back. The arrival of his son caused that. Richard had thawed the ice protecting his heart from feeling any fear up there while engaged with the enemy. He began to be afraid, to doubt his capabilities. To fear he might crash anytime.

That was what he told the psychiatrist who’d examined him at the hospital in England.
The psychiatrist recommended a month-long rest. Central Command agreed and signed his vacation with extension.

The Hypersonic encounter became the central point in the investigation of his crash into the enemy territory. Unfortunately, his Eagle could not be recovered. The ISIL soldiers took videos on how they seized the nukes and weapons attached to the plane and turned his crash site into a pictorial set. They were rubbing it in big time. He’d probably never get over seeing a young Muj sitting in his cockpit like a boss.
 

He felt like a big failure. A combat pilot losing his plane was like losing a limb.
 

But his superiors saw differently. After a debriefing and half a dozen meetings that extended all the way to Langley, and the White House with the president himself, he was cleared and was expected to report to base after his vacation, and fly again.

He will receive a Purple Heart and was recommended for the Air Force Cross.

Now he was flying home.

To see his family again.

He could’t wait to see them. His heart was bursting with how he’d missed them.

They had been informed of his survival, but he hadn’t talked to them yet. He could have but he couldn’t pick up the phone to do so. He didn’t know what to say to them. He was not ready.

He used to come home with a feeling of chilly victory after every tour. But he was coming home a wounded soldier this time.

He was afraid to face them.
 

He finally saw the videos circulating about him. They were indeed viral over the internet as the American people were still traumatized from the streamed execution of journalist James Foley in the hands of the ISIL not long ago.
 

There were several taken on the day he was captured and during his incarceration in that pit. It was really bad and the members of his family must have surely suffered seeing him in such a harrowing situation. There were clips recorded of the day of his execution. He might have touched the entire world with his pledge of allegiance stunt but they didn’t know it was a last act of survival for him. Right up to the moment he’d pulled the grenade pin, he was hoping something will happen to make him escape death.

Something did happen. But that could not erase the grief that video must have caused his loved ones. How could he ever make it up to them? Especially to Andi?

Would she still want to stay with him and risk experiencing it all over again?
 

Because he was staying in the service, dead or alive.

——*****——

She touched the top of the rectangular wooden box.
It had something boldly scribbled on it with a sign pen.
‘For my son, Richard. Love always, Daddy.’

She’d found the box in the walk-in-closet after Craig had left for his tour.
 

She smiled as her tears fell. She opened the box again.
 

It contained all the medals Craig had received all through the years.
 

He was not vain about his achievements. They were not framed on the wall or put in an expensive cabinet for all to see and marvel at.

He put them in a simple wooden box, all lumped together like pretty trinkets. Lots of hearts and stars and a few crosses. Plenty of little pins and ribbons.

She knew, each medal represented Craig’s life on the line. She didn’t know much about military honors but having received all these, Craig must have been one heroic serviceman.
 

This special man was the father of her son.

Her heart will probably never get over that fact.