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Free Will

By S. P. Riley

The sleepy church was quiet that morning. Candles were lit for those that needed it, and the wooden pews were polished to make them seem pleasant no matter how uncomfortable they were. The sun was streaming through the windows of Saint Peter and Saint Thomas, and this light fell on the only person there to pray. He was only twenty-five years old but his face and eyes showed that age is deceptive. He was covered in cloths that didn't show his muscles but his stature did. When an old woman left the confession box the man got up and went in and knelled.

"Bless me father for I have sinned," said the man with head bowed. The screen between the two men didn't allow either the ability to see, but by voice it was obvious this man was distressed.

"Tell me my son," said the priest in an old voice, "how long has it been since your last confession?"

"It's been about three weeks," said the man with a head still bowed.

"And what has happened in these past weeks you wish to confess?"

"I killed a person that shouldn't have been killed."

The pause was long enough that it seemed an ice age could have come and gone, but the priest continued, "Why did you kill this person?"

"That is a bit of an involved story, and the fact that I work in the US military I can't tell everything."

"My son, you clearly want to share and I will tell no one."

The man thought, and then spoke, "Okay, first off I am a sharp shooter, third class, for the US Special Forces division. I specialize in taking out electronics, basically if you get a hole in your TV remote it doesn't work, same with enemy electronics. Two weeks ago I was shipped out to a Middle Eastern country, I'm sorry I can't tell you which. There was a small base out in the middle of nowhere and a small force was to go out there and eliminate it. The helicopter that brought me also took two other people, I'll call them he and she, sorry no names. We landed ten miles from the makeshift camp, and had to hike it the rest of the way. By the time we got there the camp was eliminated. There were ten bodies in all, just left there to rot, and a good deal of the equipment was destroyed, including the radio and computers. As it turns out, he and she were explosives experts. We decided that there were two ways to get back and that was to wait the week for the helicopter to come, or complete the mission and when the satellites saw the fires a rescue mission would be sent. For three days we worked on making the explosives remote firing and I went out and scouted the base. The base was not very fortified, in my opinion. The walls were simple sheet metal and only about five feet high, the building it surrounded had too many windows, and the ground around the base was loose dirt perfect for planting explosives.

"On the third day, at dusk, we were all to go out and spot where would be the best places to plant the explosives. I have a knack for quickly and effectively hiding in the dirt or sand or what ever is under me, and that was probably what saved me. He and she were spotted and captured, and I was buried twelve feet from a patrol. I saw in the field inside the base she being restrained as he was shot. There wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I didn't have my rifle. About this time, trucks with large metal beams started going into the camp. I made it back to camp and hulled out all the explosives we had been working on, and my rifle. At the top of a hill I could see the whole base and I figured out where would be the best place to plant the explosives. I didn't think of it at the time, but they were building something in one of the fields. On my belly I crawled out to the base and planted half the explosives around and some in the base. There were explosives next to the gas tanks, and generators, and everywhere I thought would burn or be vital. When I made it back to my little area where I stashed the rest of the explosives I noticed some movement inside the main building.

"Inside of the building I could clearly see she was being strapped down to a chair at the end of a long room. On the other side of the room a group of five men were working on some electronic device that looked like a metal billiard ball at the end of a thick pool cue attached to a computer. I saw her struggle for the life of her in her short brown hair and still in tan camouflage. I saw the men tap a few keys on the computer, and then when they all turned to watch her, I did so to. She did one final fit to escape, and then she suddenly froze. The men were shaking hands and laughing. Two men went to her and released the straps, but she still didn't move, or go limp, the men could position her in any way and she would retain that pose. The men stripped her of all her clothing. She stood there naked, and I could see them feeling her up and putting their hands in her. Never before have I ever wanted to kill someone more than I did right then.

The sun was making me think that I could take those two and make a run for it, but I resisted thinking that I had to save her. All the while I could hear construction going on, and I had no idea what it was. When those two guards left I stayed still for another quarter of an hour and then slowly moved back to my rifle and trigger for the explosives.

When I looked at the base for any sign of her I saw the white band in the middle of a large group of men. I was in shock one of the men, I can't say his name but here's a hint he had an eye patch on, stood there looking at a tower that they had built. It looked like an AM radio antenna, but with a large metal ball at the peak. There was the same computer that I saw inside, and the same one that changed her to the other side. I knew what I had to do. I had to destroy that computer. Father she was in front of the computer. The only way I could get to the computer was to go through her. Those monsters were going to make her changed the world. I found out later that the machine was going to affect the entire world by making every man believe in a twisted version of the Koran and swear loyalty to an enemy of the US, and every woman would be just like she was. With the use of satellites and cell-phone towers the effect would cover the whole world. I had to stop this. I did the only thing I could think of. I shot her. I shot her in the left thigh, just to take her down. My rifle is, I'm sorry I can't say the name, but it is a semi-automatic and I filled that computer with half a dozen rounds of depleted uranium tipped bullets. Even before the rest realized what had happened I shot the man with the eye patch on, and then I fired the explosives. It wasn't like Hollywood shows it. These explosives did have fire, well the ones around the gas tanks did, but the rest were just shrapnel flying. The ones next to the main building eliminated one wall that exposed anything moving for me to shoot at. Some tried to fire back, but none even came within a hundred yards of me. In total I took out twenty-nine with my rifle, and forty-eight with the explosives. When all was quiet I ran to her and found I was too late. My leg shot cut right though an artery and she bled to death, out in the middle of nowhere, with out a priest to give last right, and worse I shot her. I was her friend, her teammate, her fellow American.

"About four hours later two helicopters came and one picked up her body and me, and the other recovered the computer and any information they could find. According to my superiors I did the right thing. I just don't feel it. I would have understood if her husband punched me in the gut, but at her funeral he just cried and shook my hand. My wife tried to console me, but I didn't feel anything. Father what can I do?"

The silence seemed louder than a plane talking off. The priest was in a position that he was not trained for, and he had to deal with it. "My son," the priest started, "if you had it all to do over again, and everything was the same, and you knew only what you knew then would you have done everything the same?"

A long pause as the events unfolded again for the man. "Yes," said the man.

"When God gave us free will he decided that we were worthy of such, but your story shows that some people wish to take away that gift. Do you think that she would have liked to live without free will?"

"No," said the man in thought.

"You love your wife. Do you think that she would have liked to live without free will, to be your mind numb slave?"

"She wouldn't, it would solve some arguments sometimes," a small laugh, "but it wouldn't be her."

"And would you be here talking to me if you didn't do what you did?"

The point was taking hold in the man's mind, "No I wouldn't. You wouldn't even be a priest anymore, right?"

"Right," said the priest with more life in his voice, "pray for your friends and understand that God will judge those that take away his gift more harshly than any others."

THE END

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