Commandos (10 page)

* * * *

“Your wife will be discharged in a few days.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” Alec shook the man’s hand. After the whole night of planning in Levi’s room, he

was completely shattered, but for once, more optimistic about the future. He dreamt of a shower and at least a few hours sleep. On his way to the flat, he noticed Margaret walking in his direction. He waited for her.

“Margaret, I have to ask you a favour,” he started, without unnecessary introductions. “I won’t be able to pick Diana up from the hospital. Think you could do it?”

“I know she can’t count on you to do anything.” She scowled. “If you’re not there, she’s bound to take it as a sign of your indifference. That’s a sure way towards a divorce.”

“Oh, stop it,” Alec cut in on her. He’d had more than enough of the constant nagging and complaints he’d been hearing from the two women. “I said I can’t. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to.”

He walked off, retreating back to his thoughts of the evening meeting up with Levi and David. The commodore prepared for the meeting with all his meticulousness. He discretely entered the hangar where the technologists and automatics technicians were working on the damaged plane they’d flown in only a dozen or so hours ago across the starry skies.

“The engine’s fixed.” One of the technicians approached him. “It was an electronics malfunction, nothing mechanical.”

“I thought as much. Think you can have it ready soon?” “Yes, Commodore. It’s almost done.”
Levi walked closer to the man and whispered in his ear. “This is a top secret mission.”
“Understood, Sir.”
Levi returned to his quarters and quickly packed his

bag.

It was decided. He was about to break an order for the second time in his career and fly to Earth to find one of his commandos. To make it worse, this commando didn’t remember much and was completely unaware of the progress the terrorists had made in the last five years, the cities they’d occupied, the people they’d killed and the defeats the commandos had suffered at their hands.

Unless they found her quickly enough, she was more than likely to perish at the hands of the terrorists, or just as easily be killed by some rogue Egyptian soldiers looking for an adventure.

The conflict had been raging for years. The soldiers stationed at space bases were often reproached for running away from the problem, hiding in the clouds. It was not a healthy situation, which often lead to attempts of sabotage, desertions and even suicides.

“Commodore. Where’s the fire?” A senator’s voice halted him mid-step. The politician was standing in Levi’s door.

“Senator… I’m surprised to see you awake at this hour.” Levi’s hardly witty response was mostly due to the startle the elderly man had given him.

“Old people require little sleep. I often go for walks when everyone is asleep. It’s a good time to think.”
“I see.” Levi continued packing and zipping up the rucksack.
“So… where did you say you were going?”
The commodore looked up quizzically. He had no idea how to answer that.
* * * *

David was already at the hangar, waiting by the plane. He was talking to the technicians and technologists who slowly backed the craft out towards the runway. It was quiet. Most people in the base were already fast asleep. Moments later he was joined by Alec.

“Where’s Levi?”
“Should be here any minute.”
They watched the plane taxi outside, but each of them

pondered on their future once they had left the base without permission, as well as what would happen to Jo if they didn’t. They also realised that the desertion in itself was no guarantee of finding the captain in the first place.

A technologist, dressed in a overcoat with various electronic attached to it, broke the silence.

“I’ve calculated your total body mass and there shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t expect it to influence the planes flight capacity. But I wouldn’t take another person on-board.” He smiled, showing off two silver front teeth. “You know, overload it.”

“Let’s get on.” David glanced at Alec. “There’s not much time.”
They got on-board the plane and started the engines.
“As soon as you see the commodore, open the hatch so he can get right in and we’ll be out of here,” David shouted at Alec. The noise made any communication difficult.
David powered up the navigation computers and entered the destination: ‘Freestation. Old Cairo’.
Meanwhile, the senator would not give up.
“So, what will it be, Commodore?” He’d naturally figured out that Levi was planning to leave the base, but wasn’t sure if he was going alone. “You’re ready to break a direct order and chase after some piece of skirt?” characteristic, black probes and readers
“No, Senator. I’m breaking an order to rescue a soldier, a commando, the captain of my ship, a woman in desperate need.” Levi regained his self-esteem and walked out briskly, heading for the hangar, the senator just a step behind him. Levi could feel him breathing down his neck. He walked faster, but the senator managed to keep up.
“I doubt I’ll be able to convince the Council to authorise this flight. You’re more than likely to be punished on your return. You know as well as I do, Commodore, that tomorrow is zero hour. The Defence Council will gather to inform us of its decisions.”
The commodore did not answer nor did he slow down. Once the decision had been made there was nothing that could stop him in his tracks.
“Commodore, can you please at least tell me where you’re going?”
“Freestation.”
The senator caught his arm so suddenly that he had to stop despite the hurry he was in.
“In forty-eight hours we are launching an attack on Old Cairo. One of the enemy’s main bases has been uncovered in the area.”
The commodore swallowed heavily. He said nothing. Instead he turned around and set off racing towards the hangar. He ran as fast as he could.
How could I have let Jo fly for David? He kept asking himself along the way. I should have trusted my feelings, my vision of Jo’s memory wipe. He could have gone himself, since there been no volunteers, but he’d wanted to prove to her and himself that Jo was tough, that despite everything she could handle it. He was wrong. Jo’s procedure had affected her much more than he’d expected. She was confused, desperate and determined, enough to desert in order to find the hacker. She needed to find out the truth about herself. He should have known she would not give up until she knew everything. Levi stormed into the hangar. Alec and David had already spotted him and the engines were working at full capacity. The commodore jumped inside the craft, closed the hatch and put on his earpiece so that he could communicate with the two commandos.
“Step on it gentlemen. Jo’s in trouble.”

* * * *

Located to the north of the military base, Al Kahira, Cairo, the capital of Egypt and the heart of Islam, invited everyone to dive into its everyday life and as a consequence attracted visitors like a magnet.

Jo was following a dusty road towards the city, driving at hair-raising speed. She’d always enjoyed going fast, especially in cars, as cars hardly compare to flying a shuttle or any other spacecraft for that matter.

Old Cairo – the last Egyptian free city. One of few remaining true tourist havens. Still reliving the days of its greatest prosperity. It was the part of the world known as the ‘Time of God’. Legend has it that the god Osiris used to sit on his throne, uniting the country. The ancient, fabulous prehistory of the Egyptian civilisation was sadly mostly forgotten, leaving only a handful of sketched images in the hands of the few remaining historians.

Jo pulled over at the side of the road. She turned on her computer and typed in ‘Magdalena Scar’ – ‘Unknown’. Next, she tried ‘hacker woman cairo’. The car’s printer spat out just one name and address and neither told her anything.

She read the data carefully, trying to memorise it. She did not notice an approaching group of Arab youths armed with clubs and metal bats, wrapped in chains and with sand guns hanging at their belts.

One of them ran up to the car and smashed his club into the driver’s side window, spraying glass into the air. Jo turned her face away so as not to be cut by the pieces, then calmly grabbed the attackers wrist with a leopard’s speed and heaved strongly, pulling it inside until the attacker’s head appeared at the window. Then she hit him hard with a clenched fist. Knocked out, the man dropped to the ground. Jo opened the door and stepped out of the car, straightening up to exaggerate her height and strength.

“Run for it! She’s a commando!” one of the attackers cried out in Arabic and fled.
The others laughed at him and fixed their eyes on Jo.
She remembered one of the first things they’d taught her at school. The sport was never brutal, but people could be. She moved towards the nearest man, realising that attack was always the best form of defence.
A front kick; the first youth was struck by her foot in the chest, which kept him at a safe distance. At the same time, she turned in a roundhouse kick striking down another one trying to close on her from the side. She pushed away one after another with several
atemis
executed here and there. She aimed for the most sensitive and exposed points on their bodies. Saving her strength, she looked for the most efficient pressure points. She realised she was dealing with little more than children. She kicked with her heel, a move that was once banned in kick-boxing, but they’d asked for it, hadn’t they? Another side kick. She remembered to deliver each kick with a combination of arm blows. She stepped aside a little when they came closer, remembering that the absence of the body is much better than the presence of the mind. She was glad to see her enemies weakening after only a few minutes. In a moment of peace she took off her jacket and tossed it to the ground. Using a strong hand technique she designated the worst
atemi
to the strongest of her assailants. After a spin kick she struck him in the groin. She remembered the famous words of Chuang-Tzu:
whatever you do, stay in the centre
.
Soon she was distributing strong kicks all around, aiming for the insides of their thighs, putting them off balance. She used their confusion and with the great speed she’d painstakingly trained herself for, she shot out her right leg and smacked her foot into the side of the head of the closest one. He fell to the ground. Two down, two to go.
The ones still upright reached for their weapons, but before they could use them, Jo rapidly thrust out her leg and her boot lodged hard into one of the youth’s stomach. He painfully gasped for air and dropped to the ground. She then positioned herself so that the last one was on her side. She pulled her knee up to her chest and shot it out in one smooth motion, kicking him away by several metres. Before he could gather himself, she was already on him. She felt like finishing with something flashy. She’d always liked showing off. Kata-forms, the last high kick, requiring great skill as well as a lot of acrobatic aptitude, finished the fight beyond any doubt.
As the few assailants still able to walk began to flee, leaving the more seriously hurt writhing in the dirt or unconscious, Jo picked up her jacket, dusted herself off and got back into her car. The automatic cleaning programme was already working to get it back into working order. She critically glanced at the glasswork – Egyptian makeshift – and entered the unknown hacker’s address. A moment later the sat-nav was back online and she could go on her way. As she slowly drove off, a cigarette in her hand, she smiled, glad she was still in shape.

* * * *

The commandos were closing in on Freestation. They were excited. For the last few hours of their flight they had been trying to get through to the Freestation airbase.

“I wonder if she’s already reached Magdalena.” Alec glanced at David, but was welcomed with the icy look of an infuriated cobra. He’d not spoken much during the flight, but knowing Alec, he now felt compelled to make up for the lost time and throw David off balance again. The common cause could only invite a very temporary alliance between the two.

“You wish she had, don’t you?” David’s face reddened.

He didn’t think he’d be able to take much more of this. “Stop it,” Levi cut in.
David ignored him. “You know damn well it would be

much better for her if she never find Magdalena.” “And why would that be?” Alec seemed to enjoy
David’s barely controlled aggression. He felt invincible,
immune to any taunt David could possibly throw at him. “How about because the strike on Old Cairo will
happen any hour from now!”
“Bullshit! You’re shitting your pants because after her
memories are back she’ll fall in love with me again!” Alec
exclaimed triumphantly.
That was simply one word too many for David. He
leapt at Alec and they both landed on the cabin’s floor.
Even though there was hardly any room to move around,
the men began hammering their fists at each other. “That’s enough!” Levi pulled David away. He was
astonished at the intensity of their doggedness and grief. It
took them a while to gather themselves and return to their
seats.
A moment later, they finally got through to the
Freestation base and asked for permission to land. “Negative. I’m afraid no one is authorised to land at
this time. We’ve received specific orders. Permission
denied. I repeat: you may not land here.”
“It’s a matter of national importance. It’s imperative we
land at your base. Over.”
“I repeat, permission denied.”
“I understand.” He tossed his headset to the side in
powerless frustration.
They began to gain altitude again. Alec and David were
forced to co-operate once more and tried to figure out their
next move. They were running out of time, forced to head
towards the rust-coloured sands of the desert. A thought
flashed through Levi’s mind. He was about to spend his
first night on Earth in several years, yet unable to enjoy it
as he deserved to.

* * * *

Jo pulled up in front of the house. The address seemed to be right. She saw an old, solid, well kept, house. The blinds were shut. She walked up to the door and used the oldfashioned knocker. There was no response, so she decided to look around the garden. The weather was sultry. In the moonlight the cactus plants seemed to be dancing with their own shadows. She gave it a few more minutes and tried knocking again. There was still no response. She tried the handle and discovered that the door wasn’t locked. Surprised, she cautiously walked in. It was not typical to leave a house unsecured like that in these turbulent times.