The American war machine moved into Saudi Arabia. It laid waste to every site of resistance that it encountered. Rather than moving in a long linear front, the flocks of Pigeons were sent out in pincher movements that surrounded an area and then moved in towards the center. This tactic contained the battle inside the urban areas while protecting areas that had surrendered from escaping terrorists. Rail guns pounded the urban areas to great effect. Saudi Arabia fell in three days.
Mike's teams were not involved in monitoring the Saudi campaign, but Mike was monitoring the flights out of the country the week before the war arrived. Two private jets flew out and headed towards Caracas, Venezuela. He suspected that the jets contained two of the people that were on his private watch list. He typed in a request to identify the occupants when the jets landed at their destinations. They might not be able to get a person there, but someone in the South American Section would task a mini-drone with getting an image of the people when they left the airplane.
He pulled up the reports on the cockroach sensors that he had requested be placed on his list of suspects. Automated speech recognition software had flagged several sections of tape. Mike looked around for a second and then said, "Tony, could you come over here for a minute?"
Tony looked up from his monitor wondering what Mike could possibly want with him. Shrugging his shoulders, he rose and walked over to Mike's workstation. Once there, he asked, "What's up?"
"Could you listen to these files and tell me what they are saying?" Mike asked flagging two dozen recordings. They represented almost six hours of conversation.
"What are they?" Tony asked.
"I'd rather have you listen to them with an open mind," Mike answered. The voice recognition software had identified one of the voices as belonging to Dhul Figar, one of Mohammad bin Laden's men, with a certainty of sixty percent. The confidence level wasn't high enough to trigger any action, but Mike suspected that it wasn't really Dhul Figar, but one of his brothers or cousins.
"Okay, it would help if I knew what I was listening for," Tony said returning to his workstation. He pulled up the files and started listening to the first recording. He frowned and rewound the recording to listen to it again.
The alarm signaling the arrival of an alert went off. Everyone looked up at the situation board to read the message. Reading it, Mike shouted, "Yes! It's about time."
"Great Britain is entering the war," Shirley said after reading the message. The message had been that Great Britain had decided to start a new front on the war on terror with an invasion of Libya. They expected to face tough opposition and were calling upon the Australians to support them. The British fleet was leaving within a month for the Middle East.
"That's good news. It is no longer us against the whole world," Charlie said. It felt like a great weight had lifted from his shoulders.
Cathy read the news and wondered if that would have any impact on the wedding. She asked, "What does that mean for us?"
"It looks like we'll be providing some intelligence to the Brits," Shirley said.
Looking around the room, Mike said, "Let's see what Canada does."
"They aren't going to do anything. They're still pissed about us bombing them," Charlie said.
"I agree with you. They are still angry at us, but I think you're wrong about them not joining in the war," Mike said. He predicted that Great Britain would get the Australians, the Canadians, the New Zealanders, and India into the war. He leaned forward and said, "The old alliances will be forged anew. Maybe this time we can do it right."
"What makes you say that?" Tony asked.
"I think that the recent fights within their borders have shown the Canadians that President Archer wasn't quite as insane as they thought. Our support allowed them to survive despite the fact that they rejected our offers to help," Mike said making reference to the battles in the streets of Montreal that occurred after the fighting broke out in Europe. The Muslims in Canada had thought they were better positioned to take over the country than their brethren in Europe. The result had been two days of heavy fighting. Missiles fired from American planes had taken out the major concentrations of Muslims thereby ending the fight.
Dismissing Mike's assumption, Tony said, "They still complained that we violated their airspace."
"Yes, they complained. We did violate their airspace. They didn't protest our action like they did when we took out the terrorists in Montreal the first time," Mike replied.
Cathy said, "That's true. They complained that we didn't warn them first; not that we blew up the terrorists."
"What about the rest of Europe?" Charlie asked.
Mike said, "I think that France, Germany, Italy, and Spain might join in. That's a big might though. The Scandinavian countries are still reeling from the fighting. Belgium is still trying to resurrect a government. Their King is playing a major role in that. The countries that were once members of the Eastern Bloc will definitely fight, but it will be token forces."
Charlie looked around the room at the head nods that followed Mike's estimate. He said, "You didn't mention Russia, China, or Japan."
"Russia has returned to its isolationist roots. Besides, it is busy with Chechnya. China is taking care of North Korea and the Mongolian uprising. Japan has a very large Navy, but it isn't really a military power and won't contribute," Mike said. The economy of Japan had really taken a beating as a result of the international situation.
Mike stopped by his parent's house to check up on his father. Robert greeted him at the door and led him into the house. Once there, the man poured drinks for both of them and asked, "How are you doing?"
Surprised at how upbeat his father was acting, Mike answered, "I'm doing well. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing a lot better. I made arrangements to go down to your place in Texas. After thinking about your suggestion, I decided that watching them build your house would be a good idea. We'll stay in that Bed and Breakfast you recommended," Robert answered.
Mike was pleased to hear that his father sounded a lot more like his old self. He said, "They said that it will take them a couple of months to build the house."
"A couple of months or a year, it doesn't matter to me. I'm retired now," Robert said. It felt strange not to have days filled with meetings. It felt good to know that lives didn't hang in the balance for every decision that he made.
"Maybe you can see about getting a dock built. I'm going to buy one of those bass boats," Mike said.
"Sounds good. I'll have it finished before they get started on the house," Robert said. He hadn't really done that much fishing, but the idea of spending hours on a lake with nothing better to do than match wits with a fish sounded pretty good to him.
"No rush," Mike said.
"I might buy a boat while I'm there," Robert said.
"Better build a big dock because I figure we might have to park three boats at it," Mike said.
"Okay," Robert said. He was quiet for a moment and then said, "I'm really looking forward to this. War has always been hard on the men who fought it. In the First World War we discovered Shell Shock. Since then, it seems like each war has had a different price the men involved had to pay. Agent Orange for Vietnam and Gulf War Syndrome for the time spent in Iraq. This war is going to be brutal on the psyches of our soldiers."
"I think you are right," Mike said.
"I've asked that the VA put into place a counseling program for our returning soldiers," Robert said.
"It sounds to me like you've been doing a little more than just sitting around the house," Mike commented.
"I've been doing a little of this and that for the past couple of days. I've even thought about starting to write a book about my experiences over there. I'm not going to do it yet, though. It is still too fresh and painful," Robert said. He had sat down one night to write about it. Four hours later, he realized that he had been crying the entire time.
"I wouldn't push it. You have plenty of time to get around to that," Mike said.
"You know that I have a first edition copy of President Grant's Memoirs of the Civil War. I think I'll take a copy with me and read it while I'm in Texas," Robert said rubbing his chin. The Civil War had been one of the bloodiest wars of American History. He thought it would be interesting to read it after his most recent experiences. He wondered if he'd come away with a totally different interpretation of it.
"Maybe you ought to take a modern reprint," Mike suggested.
"I didn't mean that I'd take the first edition with me," Robert replied. He gave Mike one of those looks that only fathers can give their sons when they have just said something particularly stupid.
Mike entered his therapist's office and looked around at the tastefully decorated room. Lisa was seated in her chair with her legs crossed watching him. Normally when he took his time going to the chair he wasn't going to be very communicative that session. When he seated himself in the chair, she said, "This will be our last session before you're married."
"Right," Mike answered. He looked over at the print of a flower that hung on the wall. It was one of those rather bland pictures that were chosen for its colors rather than its subject. So much of the room was color coordinated, but designed to be emotionally neutral.
"How are you feeling about the wedding?" Lisa asked wondering how to get him to focus on the session.
"Okay," Mike answered. He looked over at the books on her bookcase. There were books on depression, psychotropic drugs, abnormal psychology, and other topics associated with her business.
Lisa realized that he wasn't being very forthcoming with information this session and decided that it might be necessary to shock him into talking. Picking up her pad and pen, she made some notes on them. Looking up at him, she said, "I think that I'll have to ask you to call off your wedding. I'm not sure that getting married right now would be in your best interests."
"Excuse me," Mike said rising from his chair.
"You heard me," Lisa said.
"I'm very happy about the wedding. I am going to marry her and nothing you can say to me will make me change my mind," Mike said.
"Then why didn't you say that when I asked you how you felt about your wedding?" Lisa asked seeing that her little ruse had worked. She had gotten his mind off of his surroundings and on the session.
"I am looking forward to the wedding. I've come to the realization that I deserve a little happiness. After having been so sad for so long, I found happiness. I found that with Cathy. I wouldn't cancel that wedding for all of the money in the world," Mike said returning to his seat.
"You haven't mentioned love," Lisa said.
"That's because we are talking about the wedding and not about Cathy," Mike replied.
"You love her?"
"Yes, I do."
Lisa asked, "How does that affect your feelings for Karen and Robert?"
"It doesn't change my feelings towards them at all. I loved them. I still love them and I miss them," Mike answered. He sighed and said, "I still feel guilty that they died, but I'm not letting that guilt control me."
Lisa looked at Mike. It was obvious that his guilt wasn't overwhelming him. She asked, "How is your father?"
"He's feeling a little better. He's starting to take an interest in things once again. The other day he actually acted like the father I knew," Mike said.
"Good," Lisa said. She looked over at the calendar and said, "Next week you'll be on your honeymoon so you won't be here to see me."
"Right. I won't be able to make it here the week after that. I'll be traveling to the Middle East," Mike said.
"The Middle East?" Lisa asked. Her eyebrows nearly reached her hairline she was so surprised by his destination.
"Yes."
"Why are you going there?" Lisa asked.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss it," Mike replied knowing that she would have to respect that answer. He knew that with a simple recommendation from her that he could probably get out of the Middle East trip, but he had to make the trip to set things right.
"Okay," Lisa said with a frown. She might have a security clearance, but there were a lot of things that she could know. She wondered what might require Mike to go to the Middle East. She looked at the calendar and said, "I guess that means you won't be back to see me until three weeks from now."
"That's about right," Mike answered.
"I hope that everything goes well for your wedding," Lisa said.
"Thank you," Mike said.
Tony stepped over to Mike's workstation and said, "I finished transcribing those recordings you gave me the other day."
"And?"
After having spent two days listening to one of the tapes, Tony had drawn a blank at figuring out what the two men were talking about. He had just translated what had been said without trying to understand it. He answered, "They are strange. It is like they are talking in code. I mean, it was a bunch of nonsense lines with long pauses between exchanges. There's no way to make out exactly what they were discussing."
"That's what I thought you would find," Mike said.
"Sorry, but I did what I could," Tony said.
Mike pursed his lips as he considered the information. He said, "What if I were to tell you that one of the men participating in the conversation was a relative of Dhul Figar?"
"I'd say that the other guy was giving instructions to Mohammed bin Laden," Tony answered. His eyes got wide when he realized what he was saying. Mike had found someone who was giving orders to the visible leadership of the terrorists.
"I would have to agree with you," Mike said in a calm voice.
Tony looked at Mike for a second wondering how he could sit there looking so calm. He'd be jumping up and down. Just to confirm his suspicions, he said, "You're hunting down one of the major players, aren't you?"
"It is too early to say," Mike answered with a smile. He turned to his computer and started his two finger typing. He was going to edit the tape to isolate the voices and submit them to the communications folks. It was time to see if they could intercept some telephone calls. Once he finished that, it would be time to read the transcripts and try to break the code.
Tony returned to his workstation and sat down. Rather than returning to work, he watched Mike as he calmly but methodically went about catching another bad guy. The expression on Mike's face reminded him of a tiger stalking its prey. A chill went down his spine at the thought of what it must be like to have Mike hunting him down. Under his breath he said, "No wonder they call him the Hunter."
The ceremony was about to start and Mike was waiting with Sanjay, his best man, for the orders to step out to the front of the church. Sanjay glanced down at Mike's left hand and said, "You might want to remove your old wedding ring before the ceremony starts."
Mike looked down at his left hand. His middle finger had been removed from just above the knuckle. He still wore his old wedding ring on that finger. Working the ring over the knuckle, he said, "You're right."
After Mike had removed the ring, Sanjay said, "Cathy suggested that you wear it on your other hand."
Startled, Mike looked over at Sanjay and asked, "She suggested that?"
"Yes," Sanjay answered with a smile. He had been just as surprised by the suggestion as Mike.
Grinning, Mike said, "There's no doubt in my mind that I'm marrying the right woman for me."
"You do realize that you're a lucky man to have found two women to share your life with you?" Sanjay asked.
"I don't know why I've been so lucky. First it was Karen and now Cathy," Mike said. Now that the world was a lot safer, he hoped that he'd be able to protect Cathy better than he had Karen.
Sanjay knew Mike well enough to know in what direction his thoughts were headed. He said, "It looks like we will be neighbors."
"Really?" Mike asked. Sanjay and his family had just returned from a visit to Texas.
"Yes. I was really impressed by the real estate agent. She is very good and wasn't bothered by the fact that I was born in India. Although our places are miles apart by land, they are right across from each other on the water," Sanjay said.
"I have a feeling that we're going to be spending a lot of time fishing," Mike said.
"Yes. My wife is afraid of that too," Sanjay said with a smile. At first, she had complained that Mike and he would spend all of their spare time fishing. After giving the matter a second thought, she had decided that might not be such a bad thing.
Mike said, "The timing on the move is actually pretty good. A lot of things are coming to an end. Cathy and I think that it will be like we are starting a new life together."
"I agree that you are starting all over. I think it will be a new beginning for us, too. I thought that the Texans would not be very friendly to Teva and me, but they warmed up to us the minute they found out that I worked for Homeland Security. In fact, they were rather protective of us," Sanjay said. As had been the case here, most folks greeted him with suspicion. They didn't trust foreigners and showed it.
Once it was known that he was fighting for the country, their attitudes had changed immediately. It had turned friendly and it wasn't just for the moment. As they went around, it seemed as if complete strangers already knew that he worked for Homeland Security and welcomed him into the neighborhood. He said, "We had been there for two days and went to breakfast one morning at a place we had never been before. When we walked in I really thought we were in trouble. There were a bunch of tables with ranchers sitting around drinking coffee and talking politics. One of them spotted us and then welcomed us by name. I was shocked. I had never seen any of those people before."
"Wow," Mike said.
"Yes. They cleared some room at the tables for us and invited us to join them. I never received that kind of welcome before," Sanjay said. He had spent almost an hour talking with the folks there about fishing and hunting.
Listening to the activity outside in the church, Mike said, "It sounds like it is about time for us to get out there."
"Nervous?"
"No. I'm looking forward to this," Mike said without a trace of nervousness in his voice. He grinned and said, "Now I expect Cathy is a bundle of nerves."
"Why do you say that?"
"She's marrying me. Wouldn't you be a bundle of nerves if you were marrying me?" Mike asked cocking an eyebrow at Sanjay.
"I think I would be seriously considering psychological counseling if I were marrying you," Sanjay answered. He grinned and added, "We are both men."
Mike laughed and said, "You're right."
Lazlo Zalzac