The 10th Crusader - Chapter 2

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Macey pulled in front of the government office building that housed the Los Angeles department of Civil Defense and Intelligence. It hadn’t moved far from the original Homeland Security site on North Sepulveda Boulevard in downtown El Segundo. The only difference now was that it had taken over much of the city block after CDI became a paramilitary unit.

The forty storey complex was set a good hundred feet from the main road, its courtyard deceptively inviting with its well manicured lawn and gardens. The reality was the headquarters was as fortified as any military base. Just below the grass was an armored bunker, complete with an armory full of response vehicles and heavy military equipment. Even the building itself was armored, its black glass exterior merely a façade, hiding the hyper-reinforced concrete beneath. But by far its most effective form of defense was completely invisible, until it was activated anyway.

In geosynchronous orbit directly above the building, a satellite armed with a targeted laser system stood ready to annihilate anything perceived as a threat. From a guided missile, to a car bomb, to an individual, the laser’s capacity was great enough to level a city block yet precise enough to light a cigarette—or so the USSF reps who maintained the satellite said anyway. Thankfully he wasn’t a big enough fan of smoking to test the theory.

Macey had Bobby wait in the Lexus to avoid the hassle of getting him cleared through the internal security check. He would be safe from harassment from the guards so long as he stayed within the car and hopefully this ‘urgent’ meeting with General Tamarack wouldn’t take very long.

He passed through the holographic scanner at the entrance and got the usual alarm as it detected his prosthetic body, quickly silenced as the security verified his ID through his neural net.

Riding the elevator to the top floor, he mentally went over his strategy to refuse any more work requests from the General. Tamarack was a tough woman to deal with, not that she was ‘tough’ in the usual sense of the word, although she certainly held her authority well enough, but rather she was a hard lady to say no to.

She had a demeanor that could melt the most frigid of hearts and once that happened, she had you in her claws. Just like this last job, she wooed him so smoothly he ended up almost begging her to take the case. He ought to have known better too. He had watched Tamarack come up through the ranks, and her specialty was psychological manipulation—seduction, if you wanted to be less euphemistic about it.

The elevator doors opened and he headed straight for her office. He got a few odd looks from the administrative staff as he passed through. He began to get worried when he saw their looks persist, but finally he remembered that he was still dressed in the USSF fatigues.

He didn’t visit Head Office very often and when he did, he was usually decked out in his service uniform. These poor people were probably wondering who the heck he was.

Luckily, Tamarack’s personal aide Amy recognized him and wasted no time in alerting the general to his presence. Within a minute, Tamarack’s beaming face peered through her office door.

“Great, you’re here,” she said with enthusiasm, flashing him a pearly smile. “Come on in.”

Lieutenant General Wendy Tamarack ushered him insider her cozy corner office and led him to one of the plush leather seats set around a dark mahogany table just in front of her desk. She was of Japanese descent and although she was close to sixty, she looked little more than half that age. Such was the power of the Miracle Treatment and why his wife Sheila was kept so busy keeping up with demand for the stuff.

He knew Tamarack liked to use her youthful appearance to her advantage. Putting people off guard with her stunning good looks and charm, but she could quickly lay on the weight of her true age at a moment’s notice.
He wondered which age he was in for today.

“Thanks for coming, Rick.” She took a seat across from him, clasping her hands delicately atop the table. “I received a call from the State Department this morning requesting our assistance. Apparently something’s happened at the US Embassy in Manila.”

“Oh?” he said, trying to sound genuinely interested. He noted that she’d called him by his first name, something few people did, save for his wife. The old girl was already trying to butter him up for something. Even her opening remark was designed to merely perk his interest, urging him to ask the questions to reveal more. “So what happened?”

“Have you heard of the Unity Faith Society?”

It rang a bell, but no serious alarms. “Yeah… they’re some new age group—believe all religions are correct and can be reconciled. ‘I’m okay, you’re okay’, that kind of thing. Why?”

“The walking encyclopedia.” Tamarack eased back smiling, her three stars glinting upon her epaulettes. “Nine hours ago an ambassador of the Society, Patricia Dempsey, was found murdered on the fifth floor balcony outside her suite at the US Embassy. Before she died, she managed to record her attackers using her neural net. From what was recovered, it appears that the attack was religiously motivated.”

Yeah so? were the next words that came to mind, but he stifled them to maintain his professionalism. “So you’d like for me to review this footage and give my opinion?”

“Not exactly…” She paused and after a few moments abruptly reanimated. “Okay here we go. I have the others online now.”

“Others?”

“Yes, I need you to join in this virtual conference call.”

So that’s what the pause was. It was just like her to be arranging some second meeting right in the middle of their own. “Who are we meeting with?”

“A rep from the State Department and the US Ambassador to the Philippines. I’ll send you an invite.”

Before he could even sigh, the conference call invitation flashed through his neural net. He accessed it reluctantly and the virtual camera above the meeting table scanned him. Streams of data then began to flow, decoding into a virtual environment that quickly surrounded him.

Macey instantly found himself seated on nothing, floating high above a wave crashed beach on a cloudless day with a cerulean blue sky. Fifty foot palm trees swayed gracefully below him, tickling his toes as the scent of fresh salt air filled his nostrils.

<Nice conference environment.> He messaged to Tamarack privately. <Who’s the host?>

<Couldn’t you guess? We’re at the US embassy server in the Philippines.>

<Must have a nice IT budget.>

Tamarack’s virtual image downloaded and appeared next to him, looking much the same as she did in real life, save she had a digital decal above her head displaying her name and title. Two other figures then appeared; easily identifiable from their title displays as well.

The US Ambassador to the Philippines, Joseph Fernandez, emerged as a slightly balding Latino gentleman in his fifties, dressed sharply in a dark blue suit. Macey doubted his image was a live scan though, probably a stock avatar considering his local time display read 3:07 A.M. Probably wearing his PJs in real life. Despite the time difference, the ambassador greeted them with a cheery wave. “Good morning.”

Roger Thorp, the State Department representative then appeared. He was a blond haired kid in his thirties; although with the Miracle Treatment floating around his true age could be anything. Nevertheless, his baby-face and bleached hair made him look like he’d be more at home surfing the virtual waves below them, than sitting in the meeting stuffed into his white shirt and red paisley tie.

Thorp signed on in a fluster, looking as if he’d just dropped something in real life. Swearing, he then glanced up to take stock of the people around him, his eyes immediately fixing on Macey. “Why’s there someone from USSF here?”

Nice hello.

Macey stifled a witty retort, when he realized he hadn’t entered his own personal identification yet. He did so, updating his decal and then gave Thorp a smile. “Sorry, you caught me in the middle of a little undercover work this morning. Brigadier General Rick Macey, Civil Defense and Intelligence.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, general,” Ambassador Fernandez said cordially. “Your superior, General Tamarack, has been singing your praises. We’re anxiously awaiting your arrival.”

“Arrival?” Macey shot a glance at Tamarack. She avoided it like a pro.

“Perhaps I’ll handle introductions for General Macey’s sake.” She took control of the meeting. “Mr. Thorp is joining us from Washington. He was requested by Ambassador Fernandez to act as his advisor on this case. Mr. Thorp is the one who contacted me this morning in hopes that we could assist the Ambassador with his… dilemma. Mr. Thorp, would you mind giving the general a recap?”

“Fine,” the kid said flatly, as if it were some major inconvenience for him. Tossing his Goldielocks hairdo to the side he leveled eyes with Macey. “General, I assume you’re familiar with the current political situation in the Philippines?”

“Isn’t everyone?” In truth he had no clue what Thorp was talking about, but he wasn’t about to let the kid get away with an opening remark like that. He took a stab at it anyway. “They recently had an election didn’t they?”

“Yes they did,” Fernandez said. “About three months ago. The newly elected president is Ahmed Hamir of the Sunni majority party.”

“It’s not the election I was speaking of,” Thorp said, an air of irritation in his voice. “The situation involves Hamir’s new political platform. He’s seeking to reestablish ties with the IAO. It’s a complete turn about from the previous government’s position. You do know the IAO’s history with the Philippines, correct?”

<Wanna know if I can tie my shoes too?>

<Be nice.> Tamarack messaged back. <I haven’t told him your full background yet.>

That was obvious. Macey knew the history between the IAO and the Philippines better than anyone. The Islamic Alliance of Oceania was created over half a century ago, when Malaysia and Indonesia united to become the world’s second super country following the example set by the EU.

Since then Singapore, Micronesia and several smaller pacific island nations including Guam had joined, united under the IAO’s single central Islamic government. It was only logical that the Philippines would become its next target.

Soon after it was founded, the IAO began funding the separatists Islamic Moros of the South Philippine Isles, sparking a civil war that lasted almost twenty years. When the Moro rebels emerged victorious, they sought membership in the IAO, but were denied; the IAO claiming the country was in too unstable a political and economic condition to join at the time.

It was a double slap in the face to the Philippines. The same super country that helped incite two decades of civil war in order to convert the Philippines into an Islamic state had abandoned them at their weakest hour.

“Kind of pathetic to think that they’re still so intent on joining the IAO considering what happened.”

“That was all a long time ago,” Fernandez said. “A generation has passed. Ties between the IAO and the Philippines have strengthened considerably since the end of the war.”

“At any rate,” Thorp said. “Hamir has scheduled talks with IAO president Mohammed Algiers for the end of this week. The president is due to arrive from IAO-Malaysia in four days. They’re at a very critical stage in determining the very future of the country.”

“Sounds like it,” Macey said wryly.

“You can imagine then what this incident could do to the stability of the talks,” Fernandez said. “It would be disastrous.”

“If you’re referring to the murder of this Unity Faith Society leader, not really. What’s she got to do with all this?”

“She was intended to be the mediator for the upcoming summit.” Thorp fiddled with his tie. “This final round of talks with the IAO is focusing on the social aligning of the two countries, most notably in the area of ruling religious law and tolerance.”

He was starting to see the relevance now. “So she was there to help convince the Shiite population that there was a way for them to be both Sunni and Shiite under IAO law?”

“I can see now why you came highly recommended.” Fernandez nodded. “But yes, the Shiite Muslims are a major concern to the country’s stability. If the Philippines did join the IAO, the Shiites would be granted ex-patriot or dhimmitudinal status only, the same for all religious minorities. This is the culture shock that the Unity Faith mediator was trying to buffer. Under the former government, the Philippines achieved great religious harmony through applying the doctrine of the Unity Faith Society. In Manila, for example, it’s not uncommon for a person to belong to two or three different religions.”

“Is that right? Fascinating…”

“It is,” Fernandez said, apparently oblivious to the cynicism in his voice. “I myself am a member so I feel stung by this latest attack more than anyone.”

He knew the basics of the Unity Faith Society’s doctrine, but not how it actually succeeded in blending people’s faiths. “What exactly was the Society trying to achieve through these talks?”

“Their purpose was to encourage the minority religions to accept Sunni Islam as their primary religion, but provide a means for preserving their traditional religions as well.”

“A win-win scenario, huh? How’d that work out for ‘em, then? Besides the whole, you know… them killing her for it thing.”

He felt Tamarack kick his leg in real life. <I told you to be nice.>

<Yeah, yeah.>

Fernandez furrowed his brow glancing sideward, considering his question seriously. “Well… For the last few months there have been small attacks by a Shiite extremist group known as Zulfiqar.”

“‘The sword of Ali’?” He translated the name. “I’m surprised they’re still active. Hezbollah doesn’t even recognize them anymore.”

“We didn’t think much of the attacks either, at first,” Fernandez said. “A few car bombings and attacks on some IAO activists, but the actions weren’t seen as anything outside the norm or even serious.”

“Not until now,” Thorp said. “This latest attack took place at our very own embassy. US soil. Clearly the stakes have been raised.”

“Oh, obviously. Nothing’s actually important until it affects the US, right?” It was no wonder people hated Americans so much. With arrogant jerks like Thorp representing them who wouldn’t? That reminded him of his next question. “Look, I can appreciate the importance this has to the Philippines, but I’m not seeing the relevance to US involvement here. Why was this mediator even at the US Embassy? Why’s the State Department involved in this at all?”

“I suppose I’ll field that one.” Thorp placed his hands behind his head staring up at the virtual sky. “What we’re faced with here, general, is quite a complex political situation. As you probably know, tensions between the US and the IAO have far from subsided in recent years. It’s no secret that the Philippines joining the IAO would not be in the best interests of our nation.”

“So why support them with this mediator then?”

“Because we have to be seen as being supportive… Obviously.”

The kid was going tip for tap on the snide remarks, his obnoxious tone lingering in the air like the stink of week-old garbage. <Remind me to pop this guy one if I ever get the chance, okay?>

Tamarack responded with a visible grin and another invisible kick to his leg.

“The US still has a vested interest in the Philippines both economically and strategically,” Fernandez said. “Since losing Guam to the IAO, they’ve become our last foothold in the region. They also make up fifteen percent of our food and manufacture supply, not to mention thirty percent of our artificial-forests to maintain our global emissions credits.”

“You forgot to mention the hundred percent of our outdated fission plants that they get out of the whole deal,” Macey said. “Isn’t there one on the outskirts of Manila? I hear the locals want it decommissioned but they can’t afford it.”

Fernandez grew silent, his mouth ajar.

<What are you doing, Macey?> Tamarack switched to her professional tone. <I didn’t bring you here to embarrass the ambassador.>

<Sorry. These guys are just irritating me with all this Philippine exploitation stuff.>

<Well try not to take it so personally.>

Easy for you to say. But he conceded to her authority. <Yes ma’am.>

“What’s important is that we can’t be seen to be influencing their political process,” Thorp said. “If the newly elected government wishes to move toward joining the IAO we can’t oppose it.”

“Not openly anyway.” Macey smirked.

“No.” Thorp met his eyes with a steely gaze. “Quite the contrary. In fact, we need to be seen as openly supporting it, else be accused of the opposite by default.”

“It’s true,” Fernandez said. “The Unity Faith Society for example is an American institution that I personally introduced to the Philippines some twenty years ago to help with their religious-social problems following the war. It’s had great success. It even helped form part of their new constitution. I recommended the society as mediator for the summit as a means of showing our public support for the IAO talks.” 

“And a way to keep your political foot in the door, I presume?”

“Something like that.” Thorp leered at him.

“The problem is we took on much of the onus of hosting these latest talks,” Fernandez said. “It was a sign of good faith between the US and the Philippines and neutrality between the US and the IAO. We recommended the mediator, we offered to house her at the embassy for protection and now she’s been assassinated. To have this happen so close to the talks, what we don’t want, is to be accused of ‘willfully sabotaging’ the event in order to determine a favorable outcome for the US.”

“And that’s exactly what will happen if we don’t do something about this,” Thorp said. “It’s a completely unacceptable position for the US to be in. It could very well lead to another conflict with the IAO. With our involvement in East Africa at the moment, we couldn’t possibly afford to start another war with them.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Macey murmured as images of his own involvement in the last US-IAO conflict began resurfacing. “So what exactly is it you want from me again?”

“What we’d like, General Macey, is for you to assist the local investigation in finding the group responsible for Patricia Dempsey’s assassination. It’s the only way we can truly exonerate ourselves from culpability and not to mention stop them from launching another attack.”

Macey shot a glance at Tamarack. What the heck had she been promising these guys? “Although I’m flattered, gentlemen, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. As I’m sure my superior has already told you, I’m about to depart on extended personal leave.” He emphasized ‘already’, just incase she hadn’t. “The most I can offer is some advice before I go, but I’m sure General Tamarack could find someone who could easily replace me.”

By their blank looks it was obvious Tamarack hadn’t told them of his unavailability. It was typical of her. He knew she respected his capabilities and was keen to show them off, especially to outside departments. She was also accustomed to abusing his over-accommodating nature—but not this time. There were more important things than political assassinations and foreign policy.

<Wendy, this is my honeymoon we’re talking about here. I’m not doing this.>

<I know, Rick, but please just hear them out.> “It’ll just be for a few days correct?”

“That’s right.” Thorp tosses his blond curls to the side. “In four days it’s all over either way. We have another Unity Faith mediator who will arrive the same time as President Algiers, but before then we need to uncover this terrorist cell. If we can hand over the assassins, we’ll have demonstrated our accountability to the Philippine Government.”

“What do you mean it’ll be all over ‘either way’?”

“That’s the deadline the Philippine Government has given us. Once IAO President Mohammed arrives, they’ll have to explain the reason for the change in mediator. They already have us set up to take the fall, unless we can prove otherwise. So we need to move fast and above all keep things quiet.”

“Quiet?”

“If news of Dempsey’s assassination became public knowledge the IAO could very well cancel the summit prematurely,” Fernandez said. “We can’t have that happen either. There’d be no question of our responsibility then. Our relationship with the Philippines would be over. Not to mention that once the summit starts we’ll be in the public eye. The timing for the talks was selected specifically to coincide with the Islamic Hajj. The culmination of the summit was for the delegation to travel to Mecca to take part in the pilgrimage together as a symbol of unity.”

Macey brought up an Islamic Lunar calendar on his neural net. Hajj was indeed in August this year. “It’s already started. I assume they were planning to join for the greater Hajj on the 8th?”

Fernandez nodded.

“So what’ll happen to all the Shiite representatives when they go? They planning to lift the ban or something?”

“What ban?” Tamarack asked.

“The Saudi government placed a ban on all Shiites following the Hajj riots in 79. Ten thousand people died. Needless to say, the King wasn’t too impressed. Neither was the Grand Ayatollah. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to fall on that one.”

The room went quiet. They all looked at him as if he’d just spoken in Martian.

“Well hopefully all the Shiite delegates would have converted to Sunni by then,” Fernandez said with a chuckle. “But irregardless, I hope you can appreciate that we need to have this assassination business all squared away before the talks even begin.”

“Which is why we’re trying to keep it low key.” Thorp grinned and gave him a wink. “If we do this right, the IAO need not even know that this whole thing ever occurred. And neither does the rest of the world.”

“You’re trying to cover it up?”

“It’s not a cover up.” Thorp raised a finger in objection. “We’re just keeping it need to know. Key members of the Philippine Government and police are aware. And they are highly expectant of us to do something about it—quickly. Which is why we’re here talking to you, General Macey. Not to put too fine a point on it, but we really need you to move fast on this because—”

“Sounds like you have yourselves a real situation here, gentlemen.” He wasn’t about to get himself sucked into this. “But I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

“This is a matter of national security. Are you actually refusing to lend your assistance?” Thorp stared at Tamarack. “This was an official request, I’ll remind you. If I need to—”

“Look, in less than four hours I plan on leaving for my honeymoon, and as fascinating as all this cloak and dagger stuff sounds, I’ve got a wife who’s—”

“Bring her with you then.”

“What?”

“I hear the Philippines is beautiful this time of year, isn’t that right Mr. Fernandez? I’m sure your wife would love it. The ambassador could arrange something wonderful for the both of you, I’m sure.”

Fernandez stared wide-eyed for a moment but then quickly nodded. “Yes, of course… all expenses paid by the way.”

These guys had to be joking, especially if they knew who his wife was. “First, I really don’t need a government handout and second I can’t believe that you’d even suggest—”

“No disrespect was intended, general.” Thorp smiled plastically. “I was merely being facetious; my apologies. But truthfully there is no real danger here. Your wife could certainly join you if you so wished and you could both stay as long as you liked afterwards. For the next four days, we just need to be seen by the local authorities to be making our very best efforts to track down this threat and eliminate it quickly. And from what I know thus far… you’re the man for the job.”

“Crack a terrorist cell operating in a foreign country in only four days? Are you serious?”

Thorp glanced to the side a moment clasping his hands. “I truly didn’t want to go into details at this stage, general but… I do have certain reasons to believe you are very much capable of solving this thing, yes.”

“Reasons like what?”

“Your expertise is in religious based counterterrorism, correct? I’d like to show you something.” Thorp then sent him a document through the server. “This was the message left at the crime scene. Perhaps it’ll perk your interest.”

Doubt it, he wanted to say. He opened the document and a screen emerged in front of him, displaying a forensic holograph of the murder scene. The body of Patricia Dempsey was splayed on the ground, throat slashed. Her white robes stained crimson. Next to her, written in the same blood that poured from her neck was scribed a single word.

“Judas,” he read the crudely drawn script.

“The local police believe her assassins might be Christian,” Thorp said. “This is something completely new to them. A Christian terror group. It’s unheard of isn’t it?”

“Not common,” he said, “but they do exist. Anyway, just speculating that her assassins might be Christian doesn’t necessarily say much, or help find them. Even linking the message to a Christian perpetrator is just an assumption.” He blew a long stream of air between his lips. “Look, this is a job for locals who know the network, the people. Even if I could go, I’d be a fish out of wat—”

“Not to worry,” Fernandez said. “I have one of the best police investigators in the country ready to team up with you: an Inspector Salim Jabar. The Philippine Government is even willing to grant you temporary police powers.”

“Nice perks, but I’m still going to have to decline.” Maybe these guys just weren’t getting it. “With the leads you have, even with the best local knowledge I’d be rolling the dice—”

“Hold on.” Thorp raised his hand. “That wasn’t my main reason for thinking you more than capable of succeeding at this job. There’s something else.”

“Oh, really?” This had to be good. “And what’s that?”

“Even without local knowledge you’ve got insight into this case that far supersedes anything that could be considered… coincidental.”

The way he said it sent a shiver up his spine. “What do you mean?”

“The assassins left a calling card.” A new image then appeared on his screen, a close up of the previous shot. Just below the blood scribble was a small black inscription, written in block caps. The writing was clean, precise, as if engraved into the concrete.


THE 10TH CRUSADERS


His pulse quickened. He shot a glare at Thorp; the little punk had been playing him for a fool the entire time. He knew far more than he let on, far more than he was comfortable with. “How’d you know this name would have some kind of connection to me?”

“Lucky guess?”

“I’m serious. Where’d you get this information?”

The kid shrugged showing his palms. “Hey, intel is intel right? What’s it matter where I got it from?”

“It matters to me.”

“I don’t understand.” Tamarack furrowed her slender brow. “What’s the significance of this name, Rick?”

So Tamarack didn’t know either and from the vacant stare in the ambassador’s eyes, he was clueless as well. “Not sure if I’m at liberty to say, ma’am.”

“I believe we’re all of high enough security clearance here.” Thorp smoothed his tie against his chest. “And besides it’s quite ancient history, isn’t it? Probably long since declassified by now. Please, general, won’t you do us the honors of filling us all in… first hand?”

He didn’t like this. He didn’t like it one bit. Thorp continued to smirk while the others gawked at him expectantly. Finally he released a sigh. “Let me guess. If I don’t tell ‘em you will, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Little punk. “Guess there’s no point in trying to play dumb then. Are we sure this channel’s secure?”

He waited for Fernandez to give him a nod before he started. “The Tenth Crusaders was the unofficial name of a military unit operating in the Philippines around 2037. It was a joint collaboration between the Philippine Military, the United States Army and orchestrated by the CIA. Speaking of which, why isn’t you Station Chief dealing with this?”

“There’s no official CIA representation in Manila,” Thorp said. “Part of the deal for the new embassy.”

“And hence why you’re getting involved, I assume?”

Thorp smiled but didn’t respond.

“General you said 2037, correct?” Fernandez said. “The start of the Moro Revolution?”

“Close. It began right after it. The mission of the Crusaders was to assist the Philippine Government in destabilizing the rebels, hence how the name came about. If you know your history, there were only nine Christian crusades into the Holy Lands. Some ‘genius’ on the team liked the idea of us fighting against Muslims and started calling us the ‘Tenth Crusade’.”

“Fascinating,” Thorp said. “I always thought the name had something to do with the number of people. Makes far more sense now.”

“Glad I could educate you.” Macey smirked. “Anyway, the whole thing was covert as you can imagine and mostly involved us training Philippine Army specialists in cyber-enhanced warfare.”

“I see,” Fernandez said, cradling his chin within his palm. Finally he glanced up. “I’m sorry, general, but did you say ‘we’?”

“Meaning he was there,” Thorp said, waggling his eyebrows like a kid showing off a new toy. “General Macey was commanding officer of the ‘Tenth Crusaders’.”

Fernandez’s eyes peeled open. “But that was almost fifty years ago.”

“Yeah, something like that,” Macey said.

“I’m sorry to sound so surprised general, but… are you a Miracle Treatment recipient then?”

“No, I’m not. Could probably get a good deal on the stuff if I wanted to, though.”

The ambassador ogled at him even more confused. He could imagine what he was thinking: How could he be staring at a man who looked no more than forty, claimed to have never had the Miracle Treatment yet somehow was leader of a covert op almost half a century ago?

“General Macey is a full body prosthetic.” Tamarack solved the riddle for him. She then glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, as if trying to gauge his approval to continue. “It’s not widely known, but… full body cyberization has the side-effect of prolonged longevity.”

“Not widely known because it’s practically obsolete,” Thorp said. “Biotech far supercedes the medical application of cyborgs nowadays and powered suits can easily match their military use. They are slow becoming a dying breed.” He grinned at him inanely. “No pun intended, general.”

<Relax.> Tamarack touched his forearm in real life. < It’s VR. You can’t hit him.>

It was a good thing too. Obsolete or not, he could bury this little punk with a flick of his wrist.

“I see,” Fernandez said, gawking at him like some kind of freakshow now. “If you don’t mind me asking general, exactly how ol—”

“A hundred and twelve,” he said. “Now if you’re done playing ‘Prod the Neanderthal’ maybe you could try convincing me why I should set aside my personal plans to accommodate your largely self-imposed ‘dilemma’? The last time I checked, political assassination isn’t exactly terrorism, so you really have no justification involving CDI at all, much less on the shores of a foreign sovereign nation. So this really boils down to you asking me a personal favor, now doesn’t it?”

Fernandez glanced away avoiding his sharp glare. Even Tamarack sheepishly fixed her eyes on the rolling waves below. Thorp however wore the same stupid grin on his face.

“Quite amazing,” he said. “You certainly have a knack for cutting to the heart of things, don’t you? But yes it’s you and not necessarily CDI we’ve come to for help. I didn’t want to probe this deeply, trust me. I honestly hoped you would have just lent your assistance based upon duty alone, but I suppose it’s best you know the truth of the matter.”

“Yeah, you’ll find the truth works a whole lot better with me.”

“Touché general.” He smiled with a dramatized bow. “Once again I apologize for insulting your intelligence. But it only serves to strengthen my belief that you have the experience, knowledge and intuition to find those responsible for Patricia Dempsey’s assassination before the deadline.”

“I doubt it. So it’s the same name, big deal. Lots of groups use it.”

“General, you said yourself ‘The Tenth Crusaders’ was an unofficial ‘nickname’ used by the members themselves. What’s the chance of this exact same name popping up under these circumstances? Same country, same city even? It has to be a former member of your unit we’re dealing with here. Someone you’ve trained personally. If there’s anyone with even the slightest chance of locating them in only four days, it’s you.”     

This was nonsense. “Look, an Arkansas redneck called ‘Toothbrush’ came up with that stupid name. It’s not that original, y’know? There’s a good chance this has nothing to do with me whatsoever. Besides… that was over fifty years ago. The members of the Tenth are all probably long dead by now.”

“Do you really believe that, general?” Thorp leaned forward. “Weren’t they all cyborgs as well?”

Macey sucked in one cheek, nibbled it inside his mouth. He didn’t want to think about it. About the possibility of one of them still being alive. About her still being alive. It was too long ago. Too much had happened. Too many things he didn’t want to relive. Why God? Why now after so many years would You bring this back up?

“Last piece to the puzzle,” Thorp said. “The recording from Patricia Dempsey’s neural net. Have a look.”

The screen before him changed once more, switching to a first-person view seen through Patricia Dempsey’s eyes. Macey stiffened as he watched the last few seconds of the woman’s life play out like a slasher vid. His heart nearly stopped when he finally saw her two attackers; sleek, dark, moving like lightning. He focused on their every move, their piercing jade eyes. His skin bristled at the casual brutality of their attacks, so effortless, so powerful. He watched the recording again, and again, his breath straining as he endured each one; the image of it resonating in his mind like a morbid sense of déjà vu.

“Look at that speed, general,” Thorp said in a hushed whisper. “And those sure aren’t powered suits they’re wearing either. So you tell me … What do you think they are?”

He didn’t need to answer. There was no doubt now. “You said four days right?”

“That’s all we got.”

“I’ll give you my decision within an hour.” Macey shut the image off. “I need to go see my wife.”
               
       
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