Chapter 1 The Briefing
Iraq, Baghdad, May 30th, 2003
Lieutenant Colonel Eric Edmund King, anxiously looked out the window of the military helicopter as it continued towards his destination of Camp Slayer. He was already expected to arrive, but he was arriving early as things in the war were starting to escalate. They were close to finding Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons thanks to his satellite program called Caelus. It had scanned what Eric suspected to be an underground facility holding those weapons and due to this, CENTCOM gave him orders to take over as commanding officer of the marines at Camp Slayer, which were up until now led by his wife, CIA Field Officer, Rachel King. She was the main reason why Eric was anxious about this whole ordeal.
He and Rachel had been apart for a year due to the war and working on their carriers in the military, but even before that their relationship had been strained ever since an accident that resulted in the loss of his right leg. Eric knew she wouldn't like that he had moved this briefing forward without letting her know first, but hoped that she understood since they were at war. Out of habit, Eric examined and adjusted his prosthetic leg if it needed and as he did, he looked to his assistant, Clarice Stokes, who held the case that contained the data of the Caelus satellite scans.
"We're nearing 1500 hours Colonel." she stated.
Eric nodded and looked back out the window, seeing the palace that served as Camp Slayer.
"We've arrived." Eric announced.
"About time." Clarice said, beginning to chew on some gum.
When the helicopter landed, Eric grabbed another case and he and Clarice exited. They were soon greeted by marine lieutenant who wore a woodland camouflage vest over a blue T-shirt and a gray baseball cap with a "Remember 9/11" inscription on it.
"Colonel, good trip?" the marine asked as he saluted Eric.
"Not particularly." Eric responded.
"Welcome to Camp Slayer. You're early." the marine said, extending his hand.
"Apologies for arriving early, Lieutenant. Things are moving fast." Eric apologized as he shook the man's hand.
"I hear you, Colonel. We're glad to have you on board." the lieutenant said.
"Is my briefing room prepped?" Eric asked.
"Techs are ready for your presentation. Soon as we get word from the C.O., we're good to go." the lieutenant said.
Eric nodded and handed the lieutenant the paper from CENTCOM that approved of his taking over command of the Camp Slayer.
"Didn't you hear? There's a new King in the Castle." Clarice joked as the lieutenant read the paper.
"Looks that way." the lieutenant agreed. "And you are?"
"This is my assistant, Clarice Stokes." Eric introduced.
"Dr. Clarice Stokes." Clarice corrected.
"First Lieutenant Jason Colchek." the lieutenant introduced.
"Good to meet you, lieutenant. Now, let's head to the briefing room." Eric said.
"Right this way, sir." Jason said, leading Eric and Clarice into the occupied palace.
Meanwhile, Eric's wife, Rachel was in her office, but she wasn't there by herself. Rachel was with another marine, Sergeant Nick Kay and they were making out passionately.
"What's up, marine? Can't you keep up?" Rachel teased.
Nick smiled down at Rachel, she had really kept him going these past few weeks since the incident with him and Jason at the checkpoint and he wanted to make the most of it.
"This could be our last time together, Rachel. After what happened at that checkpoint, uh, I thought I was done. These last few weeks, you… you've lifted me up. I don't know where I'd be without you." Nick said sincerely.
The two than began making out again. As they were, the phone suddenly rang, Rachel broke away from the kiss and answered it.
"Rachel King." she spoke into it.
"Colonel King has arrived on base ma'am. He's en route to the briefing room." the operator said at the end of the other line.
Rachel's breath caught in her throat as she heard her husband was on base. She hadn't expected him to arrive yet, things must have gone forward.
"I'll be there in five." Rachel said before hanging up. "Fuck, it's him; he's early."
"You're husband you mean?" Nick asked.
Rachel nodded.
"Don't you think it's about time you came clean?" Nick questioned.
Rachel didn't answer Nick question, staying in commanding officer mode and acting like what she and Nick were just doing hadn't been happening.
"Put your clothes back on. Straighten up." Rachel commanded.
"Rachel, are you going to tell him about us or what? You and Eric have been apart for a YEAR." Nick pushed, wanting a straight answer. "Whatever you had, i-it's gotta be over, come on!"
Rachel thought about what Nick said, she and Eric had been apart for a year and their relationship before had been strained, but it wasn't that simple. They hadn't ended their relationship, they had just decided to give each other a break, thinking it would make their marriage stronger when they came back. However, Eric's head had been buried in his precious Caelus satellite program and Rachel had gotten tired of waiting for him to come back to her and times where they had talked over the phone, they always seemed to just end up arguing. For a while Rachel had felt like moving on from Eric would be the right move, especially since Nick came into the picture, but now was not the right time to make that decision.
"We should put this on ice." Rachel said reluctantly.
"On ice? Just like that? So, what, we just… we just stop? Is that how it works?" Nick questioned.
"That's exactly how it works. My husband is here. For crying out loud Nick, how else do you think it works?" Rachel said abrasively. "From now on, we just… we just have to keep a little distance."
Nick stood there dumbly for a moment, trying to process what Rachel just said. He knew Rachel wasn't telling it straight, something Nick hated that people seemed to be unable to do.
"That sounds like an order, Ma'am." Nick said, looking away in disappointment.
Rachel was about to try and reassure Nick that they'd soon find a way to address this, but Nick didn't give her the chance.
"Say no more. I get it." Nick said.
Without another word, Nick exited the office, grabbing his jacket as he left.
"Shit." Rachel cursed at the whole situation.
Rachel looked on her desk and saw that Nick had forgotten his lighter, she pocketed it, planning to return it to him later. Walking around her desk, Rachel noticed a box that had a framed picture in it. She picked it up and looked at it, it was a picture of her and Eric on their wedding day three years ago. She couldn't help but smile a little at how happy they looked, but then felt sad about how things had gone downhill since that truck hit their car and Eric lost his leg, it was something she still felt guilty over. She looked back at her desk and opened the drawer that contained her wedding ring and picked it up.
As she looked at it, she wondered, wondered if there was still hope for her and Eric and if there was, was she herself willing to hope for that?
"You'll have to excuse the noise and disorder. We're just getting the base set up." Jason said as he led Eric and Clarice into a courtyard filled with marines. "Blows my mind. Only a few weeks ago, Saddam was living it up in here chowing down on candy bars while some poor bastard clipped his toenails!"
"Nice image." Clarice replied sarcastically.
"If only he could see the state of this place now. Makes me smile." Jason said. "We've got the CIA, we got the Army, the Marines, DIA, the Air Force, hey, everyone's invited. Everyone wants a piece of history. God bless America."
As they continued walking down the courtyard hall, the trio came across a marine, Corporal Merwin, listening to music from a radio while he lifted weights.
"I see you, old man. Keep busting out those reps." Jason said.
"Come join me. Maybe I'll teach you a thing or two." Merwin invited.
"Later, we have company." Jason declined.
Merwin looked to see Eric and Clarice.
"Maybe Missy here would like to watch me get my sweat on, huh?" he said, eyeing Clarice. "You wanna spot me, little lady."
"I can see you just fine from here, thanks." Clarice replied, not really liking the marine's comment.
"Ignore Corporal Merwin, he lacks social skills." Jason half joked.
"I guess ever unit has its resident jackass." Eric commented as the three left Merwin to his weightlifting.
As they rounded the corner, Eric noticed an African American marine coming out of the briefing room. Jason walked up to the marine and did a fist bump with him.
"Sergeant Kay. This is Lieutenant Colonel King, just taking him down to the briefing room." Jason introduced to Nick.
Eric noticed Nick staring at him with a seemingly subtle hint of hostility in his eyes.
"Yeah. Gotta go get prepped." Nick said.
"I'll see you in there marine." Eric said to Nick.
Nick didn't respond and just walked off. Eric with a raised eyebrow watched Nick as we walked off.
"So, what's his malfunction?" Eric asked Jason.
"Nick ain't been himself lately. We got caught up in a shooting a few weeks back. Civilian ate a bullet and Nick took it hard." Jason explained.
Things like this unfortunately tended to happen every now and again in war, so Eric sympathized with how Nick felt. However, they were all about to have big break thanks to his Caelus satellite program and to do this right, Eric needed everyone to have their head in the game.
"Is he combat ready?" Eric asked Jason, feeling he could trust the lieutenant's word on whether Nick could be counted on or not.
"He's a big boy sir. He's ready." Jason said confidently.
Eric, Clarice, and Jason entered the briefing room, where there was a young marine on a laptop.
"Damn Joey. They got you sitting behind a desk? You want me to make a call." Jason asked.
The young man looked up and seemed to give a relieved smile.
"Nah, I'm all good. People who sit behind desks don't tend to catch so many bullets, you know?" Joey stated before noticing Eric. "So, this must be the one and only satellite guy?"
Eric gave a small smile.
"The one and only satellite guy. I'm Eric King, Lieutenant Colonel Eric King." Eric introduced himself.
"Lance Corporal Jose Gomez, but everyone call me Joey, sir." Joey introduced himself, standing up to salute Eric.
"Give the Colonel full site access." Jason instructed.
Joey nodded and handed Eric a card that would give him access to everything Camp Slayer had, giving him another salute.
"I'm telling you, when the Queen Bitch finds out about this, she's gonna flip her shit." Jason joked towards Joey, showing him Eric's paper from CENTCOM.
Eric looked towards Jason, knowing exactly who he was referring to as 'Queen Bitch.'
"That's my wife you're talking about!" Eric snapped indignantly.
Jason looked towards Eric, shocked to hear Eric refer to Rachel as his wife.
"I had no idea, I'm sorry." Jason apologized.
"Nice work, hotshot." Clarice said, smirking at the situation.
"Sir, I am so sorry. Rachel never said she was married." Jason apologized again.
"We've been working apart this last year." Eric replied, calming himself down. "So, she's the 'Queen Bitch' now? She's gone up in the world."
"If it helps, we like to think of it as a term of endearment." Jason explained.
Eric, Clarice, and Jason entered into another room that's walls and balconies heavily damaged, no doubt from battle. It looked like an old ballroom, which Jason confirmed when Clarice asked, joking that he guessed Saddam liked to get down on the dance floor, Clarice joking as well, saying it was probably an instant 'off with her head' if someone stepped on his foot, which Jason said wouldn't surprise him.
"Maybe when we're done, I'll let you spend me around a little." Clarice told Jason.
"As long as you don't step on my foot." Jason replied.
Eric and Clarice started to set up the Caelus satellite scans.
"I hope the bandwidth can cope with the data." Clarice commented.
"I'll leave the techy stuff to you." Jason replied, leaving Eric and Clarice to their work.
"And I'll leave the heavy lifting to you." Clarice replied back.
"We got a deal lady." Jason nodded.
When the scan finally loaded up, some news popped up on a computer screen and Eric went to take took a look.
"Huh, there's going to be a total solar eclipse tomorrow by 6:00 AM." Eric said.
"Well, won't that be a sight to see." Clarice replied.
"Colonel King." a new voice suddenly addressed Eric.
Eric turned to see that it was Rachel, who had just walked into the room.
"Mrs. King." Eric greeted his wife.
"Eric, this is my team and if you want to brief them you clear it with me first." Rachel said, sounding annoyed.
Eric sighed inside his head, knowing that he might get a reaction like this. Definitely not the way he wanted his wife to feel when they first saw each other in person after a year.
"I should have warned you I was moving the briefing forward. That's on me." Eric apologized sincerely before speaking more professionally. "But things escalated, I had to move fast."
"I have a duty to my team to stay ahead of the curve." Rachel stated.
"I understand Rachel, but CENTCOM has given their orders." Eric said.
"Orders?" Rachel questioned, confused.
"I'm now commanding officer." Eric explained, which Rachel seemed surprised to hear. "I didn't mean for you to find out like this, truly. I'm sorry Rache."
"Somehow, I doubt that very much." Rachel replied.
It hurt Eric to hear Rachel say that, he would never try to take something like this away from her. Before he could attempt to try and make her understand, Jason came to his rescue with the paper he'd given to him earlier.
"This is from SOC Central. It confirms that Lieutenant Colonel King has assumed control of this operation." Jason said.
Rachel took the paper and read it, indeed it did say that Eric was to take over command.
"I'm gonna need access to your network." Clarice called over to Rachel, who patched her through.
"Dr. Stokes, please prepare the presentation." Eric commanded.
"You found something?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, well, Caelus did." Eric confirmed, a bit of pride in his voice. "Gather your team and I'll fill everyone in."
Rachel went and gathered the marines, all of them grouping up together to listen to Eric's presentation.
"Fuck is that? Modern art or something?" Merwin asked as he and the other marines looked at Eric's screen presentation of Caelus' scans.
"This is footage from the highly classified Caelus program." Eric explained.
"That supposed to mean something to me?" Merwin replied.
Eric glared a bit behind his aviators at Merwin's disrespectful tone, but pushed his annoyance aside and just continued to explain.
"It's a thermal satellite system that I personally pioneered." Eric said.
"Ohhh, well I'm impressed. Please, pioneer away." Merwin said in a mocking tone.
"You behave like this in all your briefing's corporal?" Eric snapped, Merwin working his last nerve.
Caelus was the one thing that could turn the tide of this war and this so-called corporal was treating it like a joke.
"Boys are just eager to catch a break, sir. No harm meant." Jason said.
"Very well." Eric said, taking a breath. "Satellite sweeps of the war zone have uncovered what appears to be an underground storage facility. This will of course, require further investigation, but I strongly suspect it's where Saddam's chemical weapons are hidden."
At the mention of that Nick and Merwin fist bumped each other.
"We got you, you son of a bitch." Jason said, already tasting victory and the cold ones he and the other marines would raise in a toast to.
"CENTCOM has given the green light to raid the facility and seize any weapons on site. Hostilities may be over, but there are holdout groups of Republican Guard all over the country. They could deploy those weapons at any time, so we need to move fast. The army is giving us a ride out there in their helos. On arrival, Lieutenant Kolchek will lead the raid on the facility. Once it's secured, we'll carry out a full weapons inspection. Now listen up. There's been a change of leadership, but Rachel's operational expertise and local knowledge is just as valuable as ever. She'll be flying with us and I want you all to show her the same respect." Eric said.
Eric took a quick second to glance at Rachel, who was actually able to smile at hearing that. Eric turned back to the marines, asking if they had any questions.
"The fuck we waiting for? I'm ready!" Merwin said.
"That's tribal territory out there Colonel. Make no mistake, those people are feral. I take it we're getting air support?" Jason asked.
"Nah, too many birds could bring them down on us." Merwin disagreed. "We move fast-in, fast out."
"That's pretty much what your mama said to me." Joey joked in response.
"Hey, careful boy! If I didn't pull out so fast, I could've been your papi!" Merwin joked back to Joey, the two doing a high-five.
Rachel and Clarice frowned at the joke shared between the two marines.
"Alright, that's enough Merwin." Jason told the older marine before looking back towards the Colonel. "Sir, what's your call?"
"We keep this thing small. If it goes south, I'll pull the plug and we can bug out." Eric stated.
"With all due respect, I think that's the wrong call." Jason disagreed with Eric's decision.
"With all due respect, Lieutenant Kolchek, it's not your decision to make." Eric shot back, growing frustrated with what he saw as a lack of discipline with this group of marines.
"This feel right to you?" Rachel asked, not so sure about not having air support herself.
"Merwin has a point. If we spin up too many helos, we'll increase our chance of being spotted. Any concerns, see me after the briefing. We go dark until the weapons are secured. If we don't break radio silence within 24 hours, CENTCOM will mount a rescue operation." Eric explained.
"A lot of shit can go down in 24 hours." Joey said with somewhat shaky voice.
"Ahhh, quiet being a bitch!" Merwin said.
"I'm just saying, that's all." Joey replied.
"This is why we went to war! This is what gets us out of bed every morning! Make no mistake ladies and gentlemen, this is how we stop Saddam from using these weapons." Eric stated to close off his presentation. "Be ready in one hour. Dismissed!"
With the presentation over, the marines began to get ready for their mission.
"I don't know man, this don't feel right. I'm getting this tingle down the back of my neck." Joey said.
"Aw, sweetie, look. A good rub down will sort that right out, huh?" Merwin teased, placing a hand of the frightened, young marine's shoulder.
"I'm serious!" Joey snapped. "I've got a real bad feeling about this."
"That's what you get from spending too much time with Eric." Rachel said.
"Is there anything you can do?" Joey asked.
Rachel walked up to Eric as Clarice walked off to upload Caelus' latest data.
"You can have some alone time with him." Clarice said as she passed Rachel.
"Thank you, Clarice." Rachel thanked her before looking to Eric. "Eric, I have concerns. This team barley know each other and you're thinking about sending them 500 clicks into bandit country. It's too soon. They're not even remotely close to being ready."
Rachel knew they had orders from CENTCOM and the sooner they found Saddam's chemical weapons the better, but whether she was full command or not, this was still her team and it was her job to make sure they were as safe as could be.
"If I'm not mistaken, they're Force Recon. It's their job to be ready. We don't have to rework this. This is what's going to get us home. Rachel." Eric said.
"I wish you'd reconsider." Rachel simply said.
"No, my decision is final." Eric said firmly.
Rachel sighed, knowing that arguing further wouldn't change Eric's mind, she just hoped they came out of this alive.
"You should know, it wasn't my decision to take over your operation and it's been a long time since we last saw each other." Eric said.
"Eric-"Rachel tried to say.
"Please, let me finish. Not a day went by when you weren't on my mind. When I didn't want you by my side. I've missed you so much Rach." Eric said, wanting Rachel to understand that everything he was doing wasn't out of spite or anything despite their relationship having been strained for a long time.
"This isn't about us Eric." Rachel said truthfully.
"I just want things to go back to the way they were." Eric said.
Rachel sighed again, there was a part of her that wanted that to, but there was another part that said things couldn't.
"How we left it… Things weren't great between us." Rachel reminded Eric.
"We've been through worse. A lot worse." Eric reminded Rachel back.
Rachel couldn't deny that, they had been through a lot, but now wasn't the time to talk about that.
"Look Eric, we'll talk. When we have time." Rachel promised. "But not here. Not like this."
Rachel tried to walk off, but Eric grabbed her hands in his.
"You're still wearing your wedding ring." Eric pointed out.
Before Rachel or Eric could say something more, Merwin slammed the second case Eric had brought in from the helicopter earlier.
"Hey! Be careful with that!" Eric warned the corporal.
"Aw, shit, sorry." Merwin apologized. "What you got in that box of tricks anyway?"
Eric pulled out a large looking light wand and turned it on, the device emitting a purple light.
"Ultraviolet light. We use it to sweep for explosives." Eric said.
"Let me have a go." Merwin said, reach for the light, wanting to fool around with it.
"No!" Eric denied, putting it back in the case and slamming it shut, Merwin being the last person he'd trust with the UV light.
Eric looked back towards Clarice.
"How much longer for that download, Clarice? I need it ASAP." Eric asked.
"Is five minutes ASAP enough for you?" Clarice asked. "I'm downloading the data now. If you check the satellite maps, we don't have the greatest bandwidth."
"We work with what we have." Eric replied.
Eric looked back at Rachel, who was signing an equipment release form from Joey. He grabbed a chain necklace around his neck and looked at the ring around it, his wedding from when he and Rachel got married. He hoped that when this was all over that the two of them would be able to move past all the problems they faced on their bumpy road of marriage. He overheard Jason telling Nick to check all equipment twice over and decided to check in with everyone while the data downloaded. He walked over to the table next to the two marines and picked up some big, white, rounded type of ammo, it looked like white phosphorus, which was unauthorized to use in war.
Eric looked towards Jason and Nick.
"Is this what I think it is?" he asked.
"WP, sir. It's just for popping smoke. That's all." Jason said.
Eric knew that he shouldn't allow these WP rounds on this mission since they were unauthorized, but if they were just for cover and these marines respected that, he didn't see too much harm.
"These are only to be used for cover. Understood?" Eric asked sternly.
"Understood." Jason replied.
"Good. After all, Saddam is the one who's breaking weapons conventions, not us." Eric said.
As Eric walked off, Nick whispered to Jason.
"For a moment there, I thought he wasn't going to allow us to bring them. We need all the help we can get if we run into trouble and besides, we know not to use them against people." Nick said.
"Mmmhmm. Can't get in trouble with daddy for having cigarettes in your pocket if you didn't smoke or even plan on smoking 'em. No harm, no foul." Jason said.
As the two marines talked, Eric was talking with Corporal Merwin, who was overlooking climbing gear.
"What the Hell is this crap for? We need to be mobile." Merwin said.
"We need to be prepared. The facility is underground, possibly under construction. It's safer this way." Eric explained.
"You want me to feel safe, you get me some more shooters." Merwin said.
"Tell me, Corporal, are you afraid of heights?" Eric asked provocatively.
Merwin chuckled lightly.
"Please! I'm Force Recon. I've trained in high-altitude, low opening parachute jumps. Hostile conditions that would make most men wake up screaming for their mama." Merwin said, overflowing with confidence.
"You paint quite the picture. I hope you're more than just mouth, Marine." Eric said before walking off.
"Climbing gear, fucking pencil pusher." Merwin said to himself as Eric walked off.
Eric looked towards a crate against one of the briefing room's walls and saw a folded newspaper on one. Eric picked it up and read what the page said.
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. President Bush declares end of hostilities in Iraq." Eric read and gave a small scoff. "Mission accomplished my ass."
Eric than looked at a smaller article next to it that read: MANNY SHERMAN EXECUTED. Killer uncooperative in his final hours. Convicted serial killer Manny Sherman was executed by lethal injection at 12:30 AM, Friday, at the South West Stat Penitentiary. Sherman was sentenced to death in 1999 following a trial in which he was convicted of killing thirteen women dating back to the 1970's. It is believed there may be more victims, but Sherman has refused to co-operate with the police. Despite his notoriety and a growing campaign calling for his sentence to be reduced to life imprisonment, no further appeal was made by Sherman's lawyer. Sherman died shortly after the lethal cocktail of drugs was injected into his arms. He refused a final meal and declined to give a statement to the victims' families. Details of what will happen to Sherman's remains have not been released to the public. As Eric finished reading that article, Joey looked over to him.
"Any juicy gossip in there, Colonel?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh, nothing really, just some stuff about this serial killer, who killed a bunch of women and now he's dead." Eric explained.
"Good, one less murderous beast in this world." Joey said.
"Agreed Corporal." Eric agreed.
Eric looked at what Joey was looking at in his hand, it was an Ace card of Saddam Husayn Al-Tikriti.
"You think we'll bag chemical Ali at this facility?" Joey asked.
"If he's in the vicinity, we'll get him." Eric said.
"That almost makes it worth the risk." Joey said.
"Almost?" Eric questioned.
"Well, you know, I'd still rather be sitting behind a desk." Joey said before sighing. "Sir, I've heard some fucked up stories about the border. You sure you don't want air support? There's a chance we'll need them."
Eric understood the young marine's fear, all of them had been in his position at one point, but he couldn't go back on his decision.
"We have the element of surprise on our side, I will not allow anything to jeopardize that." Eric said.
"Please Colonel, can we take a step back and think about this for a minute?" Joey begged.
"I've made my decision." Eric said firmly, not understanding how Rachel could handle these marines if they questioned her decisions as much as they were questioning his. "You feeling lucky, Lance Corporal?"
"Well, my parents owned a horse named Lucky. He ran away." Joey said.
"Bet the farm on this. I have a good feeling we're gonna clear up" Eric said confidently.
"I wish I shared your optimism, Colonel." Joey said, almost glumly.
Eric heard a beep behind him and looked to see that the data download was complete.
"Alright ladies and gentleman, let's get to the helos." Eric announced.
Eric grabbed the case containing the UV wand and everyone started pouring out of the room. Before Jason could, he noticed Nick looking at him.
"What?" he asked Nick.
"What?" Nick asked, Jason.
"You want to ask me something, I can tell by that look on you're face." Jason said, knowing Nick long enough to know when there was something he wanted to say.
"What do you think of him?" Nick asked, thinking of Eric.
"I take it you're talking 'bout the skipper?" Jason said. "Nice guy, but around here, nice don't cut it. What do you think of him?"
"Like he's got something else on his mind." Nick said.
Jason and Nick followed the rest of the marines out to the helos and boarded, ready for the mission to find Saddam's chemical weapons.
Meanwhile, in another part of Iraq, in the town of Badra-Mandali, Republican Guard Lieutenant Salim Othman was making his way home. It was his son's eighteenth birthday today and he had a present to give to him.
"Zain, I'm home." Salim called out to his son as he entered their home, but got no response. "Zain?"
Salim set the present and his rifle down and began to make his way through the house to see where his son was. As he passed the table, he looked down at the paper that was on it. It was a paper from Highgate University in London, where Zain would soon be going to study Mythology. Because of the war, there was a chance it could create complications for Zain obtaining a Visa application and his relocation to the UK, but the university would help where they could. Salim tended not to worry about that too much, he was happy that his son had the opportunity to go to university to study something he loved and was very proud of him for doing so. Salim set the paper down and walked into the living room, he heard a crunch beneath his boot and looked down to see a broken picture frame of him and his son.
"Shit." Salim cursed as he picked up the picture. "How did this happen."
Salim turned the picture over to see that folded part of it that showed his wife, who had left him a while back. Sighing, Salim put the picture on the kitchen table and head for Zain's room, thinking he was in there. He knocked and called for Zain, but still got no response. He entered and saw that Zain wasn't in there either, so figured he was out with his friends. Salim looked at a map of the UK and Ireland on Zain's wall, which had notes on it, no doubt related to mythology and folklore of those countries. Salim than looked at a book about Ancient Mesopotamian Mythology of Zain's desk, he picked it up and turned to a random page that read about how the Ancient Mesopotamian views the Heavens, the sky, stars, and planets.
"He still hasn't grown out of fairy tales." Salim said to himself.
Salim turned to the next page, which was about the Ancient Mesopotamian Underworld, Kur or the House of Ashes as it was also known as, where people went when they died. It talked about how the only food and drink was clay and dust unless offerings were made and there were no rewards or punishments for any deeds in life. It was all very disturbing to read about. Salim set the book down and as he did, he noticed something under Zain's bed. He pulled out a box from under the bed which had stolen goods in it.
"Oh, Zain. Please not again?" Salim groaned. "Idiot!"
Salim immediately went out into the hall and dialed one of his neighbors.
"Hello." said a woman's voice on the other line.
"Hi, it's Salim from next door, Zain's father." Salim responded.
"Oh, of course. You're back?" the woman on the line said.
"Yes, I'm back. Is Zain with… with… your boy?" Salim asked, trying to remember his son's friends' name.
"Tariq?" the woman questioned.
"Yes Tariq. Are they together?" Salim asked.
"They got the bus into town together about an hour ago." Tariq's mother informed. "Is everything okay?"
"No. Everything is not okay. I've found some stolen goods that Tariq and Zain have been hoarding." Salim said, angry that his son and his friend were stealing again.
"Oh God, not this again. I've told him a hundred times." Tariq's mother groaned, just as unhappy to hear about this as Salim was.
"Zain told me he'd put this behind him. He promised me!" Salim said.
"Should we call the police?" Tariq's mother asked.
"What? No! Those thugs are the last thing we need!" Salim said, remembering that one time his son was caught stealing by the police and the beating they had given him. "I'll deal with this myself. Just tell me where they are?"
"I… I don't know." Tariq's mother said honestly.
"As soon as they walk through your door, you tell Zain that I know what he's done. You tell him that his father is very angry with him!" Salim informed than hung up.
Salim suddenly heard a honking outside his house and looked to see it was a military truck.
"No, no, no, no. Fuck! Not now!" angrily cursed, knowing that it was Captain Dar coming to call him in for something.
Salim sighed and headed out to meet with Dar.
"Captain Basri. Hello." Salim greeted.
"We need to move out now!" Captain Dar said immediately.
"What are you talking about?" Salim asked, confused.
"They're coming, Salim! The invaders are flying in!" Dar said.
"Invaders? Captain, the war is over! We lost!" Salim pointed out.
"Nonsense! There has been no surrender! In the name of God, this is our land, man! This is where we fight back!" Dar stated zealously. "They're coming, Salim! We need every available man in position in case they land nearby!"
"I can't do that, Sir. I need to find my son." Salim protested, hoping Dar would understand.
Dar put a hand on his hip, over his gun.
"That's an order soldier, not a request. It's your obligation!" Dar said.
"So, I see." Salim said reluctantly.
Salim went back in and grabbed his rifle. Salim picked up the tag on the present he got for Zain and looked at it, it reading 'Happy Birthday, Zain. My boy is becoming a man. Love always, Dad.'
"I'll be home soon." Salim promised before heading back out to Dar.
Salim had been forcibly drafted into the Iraqi army as soon as he became an adult and had served for many years. All he wanted now was to leave the army behind and be there for his son, who he knew still needed him despite now being an adult now. Salim looked towards Dar as they got into the truck.
"No more, Dar. After this, I'm done." Salim stated.
"You can be done after we kill these American pigs." Dar said.
And with that, the truck sped off to intercept the Americans. Little did the soldiers on both sides know that very soon, they would be facing a far worse enemy than each other.