A Debt of Honor
By Dru Ennis

TELEGRAM

TO: Detective Sgt. David Starsky
Surgical Unit, Memorial Hospital
Bay City, CA USA

FROM: Mr. Steel
Parts Unknown

Det. Sgt. Starsky –

I am probably the last person you would ever expect to hear from, but here I write. I recently learned of the attempt on your life and that of your partner's, Det. Sgt. Hutchinson. I learned that you were critically wounded. Word travels fast in my circles.

I hope you are doing better, and that you recover fully. Although some may argue the fact, I am a human being with human feelings, and even though we are on opposite sides of the law, honor is honor. You kept your promise and your part of the deal last year. After my bullet wound was tended, and the lady doctor from the CDC got as much of my blood as was needed to help create a serum for the Plague; you personally escorted me to the airport safely and saw to it that I was allowed to leave under the promise of immunity that was offered.

You were straight up with me. You didn't have to be, but you were.

I respect your sense of honor, and I always repay a debt of honor.

I've seen to it that Mrs. Yeager and Richie will never want for anything. Richie will have an excellent education … any university he wants.

But Christ, how do I pay a debt of honor to a cop? The only way I knew how. After requests for information were answered, I hopped a plane to Algeria. I took care of business. The two men who tried to kill you, who injured you so seriously, are dead.

Word has been forwarded to our network of professionals that you and your partner are untouchable, and anyone who does not honor this will be dealt with in like fashion.

My debt of honor to you has been paid.

Respectfully,
Thomas Callendar

Starsky carefully folded the letter, setting it on the bedside table, beneath the 'nurse call control'. For a moment his thoughts wandered to: Do I turn this in to someone? Why? They can't extradite him. He's surely in a country with no extradition treaty. Hutch is never going to believe this.