Epilogue
November 19, 2001
Washington D.C.
The Pentagon
Colonel (Brigadier General Designate) Phillip Sheridan Parker IV walked briskly into the Pentagon. He smiled dutifully at the cameras and reporters that seemed to constantly be hovering around the military nerve center. Hoping that he would not be caught up in another conversation with the reporters, Parker quickly ducked into a side room and waited until the reporters found someone else to bother.
Exiting the room quickly, Parker marched briskly down the hallway, heading deeper and deeper into the Pentagon.
The Chief of Staff had yet to come in so Parker had a chance to grab a quick bite to eat from a vending machine. Toni (Antoinette) had decided that Parker was putting on some weight and had begun to install a healthy meal system. Oatmeal and orange juice was hardly what Parker would call a breakfast, and he made the complaint to Toni that he had usually had more to eat when he was out in the battlefield. This of course was the wrong thing to say as Toni had decided to make a salad dish for supper. Parker was seriously entertaining thoughts of 'staying late' today and grabbing some food from a fast-food place on his way home.
As he located one of the many vending machines, Parker searched his pockets for some change. He fed the machine a dollar bill and waited for the food to fall to its freedom. But, before he could retrieve the food from the machine, someone called his name from further down the hallway. Turning, Parker saw a thin man dressed in an expensive black suit come walking briskly down the hallway holding a large manila folder.
"Yes?" Parker asked suspiciously. He wasn't sure if the man was a reporter that had somehow gotten past the security checkpoints or if it was one of the mindless drones from the economy department with the belief that he was going to carry on a conversation about the proper spending habits the Pentagon should be using to help cut the grass or something.
As the man approached, Parker noticed he had a key card attached to the front pocket of his suit. The man was a visitor but he was admitted to the deeper parts of the Pentagon.
"Here," the man said, handing the thick manila folder over to Parker.
Parker took the folder cautiously. He looked at the man.
"This isn't going to be about how I should be sending more troops and weapons to Afghanistan is it?" Parker asked. Ever since the attacks against America two months ago, he had been getting a long supply of recommendations from any and all government employees that seemed to think that they had the perfect idea on how to rid the country of the of the fascist government and the terrorists that dwell inside.
"Actually I'm from the CIA, and the DO asked me to come over and deliver this to you," the man said, smiling.
"Oh, okay, thank him for me when you get back then," Parker said. He forgot about his hunger relief sitting in the bottom of the vending machine and walked the short distance to his office that he shared with the Vice Chief of Staff.
So, father had something he wanted to show me, Parker thought. It had to be important; his father usually tried his best not to do anything that someone might interpret as being special treatment.
He greeted his secretary and received the messages from everyone that had called the previous evening. He nodded his head and walked into his office, closing his door behind him.
Parker dropped the folder on his desk and moved to the coffee machine behind his desk. He quickly checked to make sure that the machine had been turned on this morning and that the coffee sitting inside was fresh and not what was left from yesterday. Grabbing his mug from the small hook that hung suspended from one of the many file cabinets in his office, Parker poured himself some coffee and sat down at his desk, opening the folder.
He sipped from the coffee as he flipped through the usual mindless crap the CIA attaches to every document from the list describing where their officers were throughout the country to the file stating that they needed more coffee filters in their cafeteria.
A small note was attached to the first page of the actual document and Parker read it:
Just got this in last night and I had it couriered over to you as fast as I could.
You're Father
Parker's curiosity was at its peak and he set his coffee mug down and began to read.
It took him a half an hour to read the entire thing, and when he was finished, Parker's face was ashen white.
He numbly reached for his phone and dialed the number that carried him through to the CIA headquarters in Langley. A voice came over the line and asked him his intended office.
"The DO please," Parker said quickly. His mind was frozen with the thoughts of what he had read. If this document were true then.
*Parker speaking.*
"Dad?" Phillip asked.
*Ah, good morning Phillip, have you received the document I sent over?*
"Is what it says true?" Parker asked, his voice betraying the eagerness he felt.
*I received from a source I would deem on the reliability scale a five.*
The CIA reports all of its documents that it received from outside sources on a scale of one to five for reliability. Five was the highest and therefore, the most reliable.
"Then does that mean those seventeen men are still alive?" Parker asked.
*It would certainly seem so. The document was just passed through the Politburo last night, and it says that those men are alive.*
"Then maybe he could be among them," Parker said.
*That may be Phillip, but remember that there is only seventeen men that survived, it could very well be that he died with the others.*
"But he could still be in there," Parker said, his voice sounding a little shrill.
*Listen to me Phillip, we must not get our hopes up at this point, I'm sending the document over to the President later today and we will see what his reaction is. I will send you anything we get on this, okay?*
"Okay, thanks dad," Parker said and hung up. His hands were trembling and he had to force himself to calm down. The document could very well be a fake, or it could be a misinterpretation, and those seventeen men could actually be dead.
But if it was true, and those seventeen men did survive the massacre, then they were in a prison camp. And if they were in the prison camp then.
Ryoga might still be alive!
===============
Author's Notes: There you go, obviously after reading this you all know that I intend to write a sequel. I want to thank everyone that took the time to express their views on the last chapter, it was very kind.
Now, I must unfortunately respond to something that very sincerely angered me. I read over all the review and e-mails that were sent to me and I want to respond to one. To the sailor that felt the need to question my status in the military, I would like to thank you for pointing out that there were inaccuracies in my story. I know exactly all those things you explained. I did not write this story to be accurate, and I put those ships and those planes into the story for personal reasons. A lot of my friends have served on the Nimitz, and I wanted to put that ship into the story, as I very much enjoy writing about that great Carrier group. As for the F-16C and B-2 Spirit planes, those have a more personal reason. When I was in India, I got the chance to take a ride in an F-16C and I must say that it was one of the most entertaining things of my life, and I couldn't wait for the chance to put the plane into this story. As for the B-2 Spirit bombers, my best friend was flying one of those in Afghanistan a year ago. He died in a crash over there and I felt inspired to add the wonderful plane into my story, if that annoys people, well I'm sorry. I will not let something like a few inaccuracies stop me from putting in something that helps me honor the life of my friend. If you wish to pursue the matter of my status in the military than feel free to contact me and leave your name, rank, and serial number and I will contact you. Though I warn you that that would be the last thing I wish to do and I do not want to form any kind of problem.
Thanks to everyone that wrote a review and offered an opinion, it was really great to read everyone's reviews and thoughts. You are great people to take the time to do something like that.
The first chapter of "Until the End" will be released quite quickly, so watch for it on the site.
November 19, 2001
Washington D.C.
The Pentagon
Colonel (Brigadier General Designate) Phillip Sheridan Parker IV walked briskly into the Pentagon. He smiled dutifully at the cameras and reporters that seemed to constantly be hovering around the military nerve center. Hoping that he would not be caught up in another conversation with the reporters, Parker quickly ducked into a side room and waited until the reporters found someone else to bother.
Exiting the room quickly, Parker marched briskly down the hallway, heading deeper and deeper into the Pentagon.
The Chief of Staff had yet to come in so Parker had a chance to grab a quick bite to eat from a vending machine. Toni (Antoinette) had decided that Parker was putting on some weight and had begun to install a healthy meal system. Oatmeal and orange juice was hardly what Parker would call a breakfast, and he made the complaint to Toni that he had usually had more to eat when he was out in the battlefield. This of course was the wrong thing to say as Toni had decided to make a salad dish for supper. Parker was seriously entertaining thoughts of 'staying late' today and grabbing some food from a fast-food place on his way home.
As he located one of the many vending machines, Parker searched his pockets for some change. He fed the machine a dollar bill and waited for the food to fall to its freedom. But, before he could retrieve the food from the machine, someone called his name from further down the hallway. Turning, Parker saw a thin man dressed in an expensive black suit come walking briskly down the hallway holding a large manila folder.
"Yes?" Parker asked suspiciously. He wasn't sure if the man was a reporter that had somehow gotten past the security checkpoints or if it was one of the mindless drones from the economy department with the belief that he was going to carry on a conversation about the proper spending habits the Pentagon should be using to help cut the grass or something.
As the man approached, Parker noticed he had a key card attached to the front pocket of his suit. The man was a visitor but he was admitted to the deeper parts of the Pentagon.
"Here," the man said, handing the thick manila folder over to Parker.
Parker took the folder cautiously. He looked at the man.
"This isn't going to be about how I should be sending more troops and weapons to Afghanistan is it?" Parker asked. Ever since the attacks against America two months ago, he had been getting a long supply of recommendations from any and all government employees that seemed to think that they had the perfect idea on how to rid the country of the of the fascist government and the terrorists that dwell inside.
"Actually I'm from the CIA, and the DO asked me to come over and deliver this to you," the man said, smiling.
"Oh, okay, thank him for me when you get back then," Parker said. He forgot about his hunger relief sitting in the bottom of the vending machine and walked the short distance to his office that he shared with the Vice Chief of Staff.
So, father had something he wanted to show me, Parker thought. It had to be important; his father usually tried his best not to do anything that someone might interpret as being special treatment.
He greeted his secretary and received the messages from everyone that had called the previous evening. He nodded his head and walked into his office, closing his door behind him.
Parker dropped the folder on his desk and moved to the coffee machine behind his desk. He quickly checked to make sure that the machine had been turned on this morning and that the coffee sitting inside was fresh and not what was left from yesterday. Grabbing his mug from the small hook that hung suspended from one of the many file cabinets in his office, Parker poured himself some coffee and sat down at his desk, opening the folder.
He sipped from the coffee as he flipped through the usual mindless crap the CIA attaches to every document from the list describing where their officers were throughout the country to the file stating that they needed more coffee filters in their cafeteria.
A small note was attached to the first page of the actual document and Parker read it:
Just got this in last night and I had it couriered over to you as fast as I could.
You're Father
Parker's curiosity was at its peak and he set his coffee mug down and began to read.
It took him a half an hour to read the entire thing, and when he was finished, Parker's face was ashen white.
He numbly reached for his phone and dialed the number that carried him through to the CIA headquarters in Langley. A voice came over the line and asked him his intended office.
"The DO please," Parker said quickly. His mind was frozen with the thoughts of what he had read. If this document were true then.
*Parker speaking.*
"Dad?" Phillip asked.
*Ah, good morning Phillip, have you received the document I sent over?*
"Is what it says true?" Parker asked, his voice betraying the eagerness he felt.
*I received from a source I would deem on the reliability scale a five.*
The CIA reports all of its documents that it received from outside sources on a scale of one to five for reliability. Five was the highest and therefore, the most reliable.
"Then does that mean those seventeen men are still alive?" Parker asked.
*It would certainly seem so. The document was just passed through the Politburo last night, and it says that those men are alive.*
"Then maybe he could be among them," Parker said.
*That may be Phillip, but remember that there is only seventeen men that survived, it could very well be that he died with the others.*
"But he could still be in there," Parker said, his voice sounding a little shrill.
*Listen to me Phillip, we must not get our hopes up at this point, I'm sending the document over to the President later today and we will see what his reaction is. I will send you anything we get on this, okay?*
"Okay, thanks dad," Parker said and hung up. His hands were trembling and he had to force himself to calm down. The document could very well be a fake, or it could be a misinterpretation, and those seventeen men could actually be dead.
But if it was true, and those seventeen men did survive the massacre, then they were in a prison camp. And if they were in the prison camp then.
Ryoga might still be alive!
===============
Author's Notes: There you go, obviously after reading this you all know that I intend to write a sequel. I want to thank everyone that took the time to express their views on the last chapter, it was very kind.
Now, I must unfortunately respond to something that very sincerely angered me. I read over all the review and e-mails that were sent to me and I want to respond to one. To the sailor that felt the need to question my status in the military, I would like to thank you for pointing out that there were inaccuracies in my story. I know exactly all those things you explained. I did not write this story to be accurate, and I put those ships and those planes into the story for personal reasons. A lot of my friends have served on the Nimitz, and I wanted to put that ship into the story, as I very much enjoy writing about that great Carrier group. As for the F-16C and B-2 Spirit planes, those have a more personal reason. When I was in India, I got the chance to take a ride in an F-16C and I must say that it was one of the most entertaining things of my life, and I couldn't wait for the chance to put the plane into this story. As for the B-2 Spirit bombers, my best friend was flying one of those in Afghanistan a year ago. He died in a crash over there and I felt inspired to add the wonderful plane into my story, if that annoys people, well I'm sorry. I will not let something like a few inaccuracies stop me from putting in something that helps me honor the life of my friend. If you wish to pursue the matter of my status in the military than feel free to contact me and leave your name, rank, and serial number and I will contact you. Though I warn you that that would be the last thing I wish to do and I do not want to form any kind of problem.
Thanks to everyone that wrote a review and offered an opinion, it was really great to read everyone's reviews and thoughts. You are great people to take the time to do something like that.
The first chapter of "Until the End" will be released quite quickly, so watch for it on the site.