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It was raining. It had been raining for several weeks on end now. Well, this area was known for its heavy rainfall, but it seemed to be a bit much for even here.
It seemed almost like a foretelling of coming doom to the 21 year old soldier standing on the muddied soil.
The soldier was in the middle of a small assignment, easy but long and exhausting. He was called squirrel. Squirrel was of average high, muscular, with black hair and blue eyes. He was on this assignment with his 3 teammates and two other units. they had already been staying here for two weeks, and they had another whole week to go, till they got to go home.
It was a standard mission. Go in, observe, get out. Still, since two days ago something just didn't feel right.
The soldier has had this feeling before. Always right before his best friend would disappear for weeks on end. Maybe that was the reason the rain felt wrong. The sun could shine and it would still feel wrong.
His best friend. Alex Rider. He was the reason why he had joined the army in the first place.
While his other classmates had shunned Alex and called him a druggy and a criminal, he had stayed with his friend, knowing the truth about him.
No, Alex Rider was neither a druggy, nor a criminal. He had missed classed a lot, with next to no excuse at all after his uncles dead, but Alex hadn't been like that.
The soldier sighted, going over his memories again.
It was six years ago that he had seen the last of his former friend. He didn't even know if he was still alive! That had been his reason why had joined the army. It's what he told others when they asked him for his reason for joining the army.
His former classmates had always just assumed Alex had been into drugs and in a Gang, so they thought he wanted to stop other kids from becoming like that. They were wrong.
Alex Rider had been a spy. Maybe he still was. The soldier sincerely hopped so.
He had wanted to be like him. Wanted to be like Alex Rider. Strong and brave, always fighting. Back then it had seemed heroic. Bu there were also other reasons. He had wanted to be closer to him. Understand him. Besides - if anyone knew what had happened to Alex, he could only find them here.
Maybe - maybe he could even see him again. If he was still alive, that is. The average live expectation for a spy was 3 years after all, and Alex would be in the business for eight years now.
That's why he had joined in. With luck, he would see Alex again. And Alex had always been a lucky guy. Till he suddenly disappeared without another trace.
He sighted again, starring out into the rain, running a hand through his wet, black hair. No point worrying about what could be the past.
...
Behind Squirrel, another soldier came out of one big, green tent.
"Hey squirrel, want some coffee?"
"Sure, thanks Tiger." He took the cup of coffee from Tiger.
"You should hear that stuff that is coming in over the radio just now. There's some idiot playing around with it somewhere. Damn tourists!"
That peaked his interest. "Oh? What's he saying?"
"Something about playboy and how he's American and he will be the next president or something. Completely drunk, that guy is. Come listen for yourself."
Curious Squirrel followed Tiger back into the tent. At once he knew just what Tiger had meant.
"Hey everyone, I am repeating. This magnificent American man here will be the next president. And as I am burning my last playboy bunny, I am trying to make this damn video recorder to work, 'cause it seems like it's very much broken!"
The voice sounded a bit exasperated, slurred and drunk, but Squirrel thought he heard a slightly panicked tone underneath.
"This has been going for the past hour." Crow, the communication expert grumbled. "I'd tell him to stop it, but then we'd give ourselves away."
Another soldier, Horse, laughed. "Leave him be Crow. I think it's funny."
That's where squirrel cut in. "This has been going on for an hour now?" He asked. This seemed a bit strange to him.
"Yeah, and he's always repeating himself, too. It's not a recorded message, though. He sometimes changes some words or how he says something, but he says the same thing over and over again." Crow confirmed.
For a moment an old memory from before Alex had left school flashed in his mind.
"Let me talk to him one moment. I've got a hunch." He said and sat in front of the radio.
He took the microphone and started talking in a slurred voice that made him himself sound slightly drunk.
"Hey howdy there Mr. American there, what are you doing here? I've just had my coffee break, you know, have had a bit much coffee apparently." Here he giggled drunkenly. "You've only got one video recorder? Hey, guess what! How many fingers am I holding up? Guess?" He giggled again.
The tent was silent, while they waited for the Americans response.
It seemed as if the silent stretched for forever, but it was only a few seconds until a scratching sound could be heard over the radio.
"Hey there! Who's talking? I've been trying to reach someone in, like, forever! Ohm, are you holding up 3 fingers? I bet you just are. Yeah, yeah, only one video recorder, and broken too. sad thing, that is. Sometimes it seems as if it's working again though. Really boring here. Hey, you've got some crisps? I could do with some beer as well. Haven't got any anymore, you see."
"Sure I've got crisps and beer. How could a guy survive without crisps and beer?" Drunken giggling. "Here's Mickey Mouse by the way! Mickey Mouse!" He laughed. "So, how can I find you? We can't let you go without crisps and beer after all."
This time the American laughed a bit as well.
"Ah, I'm probably a bit hard to find. There's this wash saloon at the corner, right there at the old cinema. You know where I mean?"
"Yeah, I do. I'm gonna find you."
"Good."
It took quite a bit to convince the leader of the mission to actually go there and save the man. Not that they thought he needed saving.
"Squirrel, that guy was just drunk, he won't even remember what he said in an hour."
"No, listen, I am telling you, this was a code. He needs help. There's an injured solder with him and they have neither water nor food. Come on, we've got to help them!"
"And you are sure they are there?"
"I am. There are at least 3 enemies around somewhere though, so we have to be careful."
"Ok, we will do this Squirrel, but I swear, if there is nobody …"
"It won't happen. I'm sure of it."
...
"Hey, is there anyone?" "Yeah, we're here!"
Squirrel saw two man in the small cave. Soldiers, one of them injured.
"Hey, you're the American? We're the rescue team."
"Mickey Mouse?" He laughed. "Yeah. You're Eagle, right?"
The other soldier was stunned. "Yes, but …, how … ?"
Squirrel just smiled.
Eagle shook his head. "This is Boar, my teammate. He's been slipping in and out of consciousness for the last 3 days. That's how long we're here already. The radio was broken and I had to repair it first. I'm so glad you responded. It was an idiotic idea, but I couldn't risk asking outright for help, not with enemies around somewhere. If you had not come we would have been in for it. Thanks. But, I really would not have thought there would be someone who knows this code here?"
He asked the last past curious.
"so, this code isn't very common?" Tiger asks.
"No, not common at all. mostly secret service, but even there only a few guys know it. mostly those that are pretty high up the chain. I only know it because, well, I can't really say why I know it." Eagle smiled apologetic.
"You know because you're Eagle, because you're a member from K-unit." Squirrel whispered.
Eagle looked at him. "Well, what is your story? How do you know the code?"
Squirrel shook his head. "Sorry, can't really say either."
...
