Chapter 14: Kicking an Ant Hill

"I am very sure, Colonel Baccus," Lieutenant Salim Al Khoury said confidently into the telephone. "We captured another Order heretic. He was a boy, just sixteen years old, and he didn't die as quickly as the others. He still died during the questioning, but, before he died, he gave us information. He had completed his induction ceremony into the Order of the Seeker less than two weeks ago. He told us an American had been identified as the Seeker. That is THE Seeker, sir. My understanding is that THE Seeker is some kind of prophesied holy one, or leader of the Order. He told us the Seeker must retrieve something hidden in a cave near the summit of Qurnat as Sawda. The Seeker is supposed to take whatever he retrieves to Hermel, to God's Pyramid."

"Why do you believe what he told you, Lieutenant?" Colonel Juno Baccus asked, as he turned to look at a map of Lebanon on his office wall.

Colonel Baccus was located in Beirut, and had been preparing to leave his office to travel to Baalbek. He wanted to be in Baalbek when the Order convoy was captured.

"The boy wasn't just telling us this information, Colonel. He was screaming the information as we burned off some of his favorite parts," the Lieutenant replied, thanking his god the Colonel couldn't see the sweat rolling down his face.

The Colonel winced at the description.

"We have thoroughly searched for the convoy in Baalbek and a good portion of the Bekaa Valley," the Lieutenant continued. "We haven't found them, and haven't seen a trace of a large convoy passing. They should be easy to find. We know they passed the check point at Mdeyrej, but they didn't pass the check point on this side of the mountains. Also, there is circumstantial evidence they went north, sir," Salim said, almost apologetically.

"Continue," the Colonel ordered brusquely.

"There is a turn off, shortly after the Mdeyrej checkpoint, but still on the western side of the mountain. That turn off goes north. One of my Sergeants has a cousin that runs a gas station that is located on the northern edge of Faraiya," the Lieutenant explained. "Faraiya is about an hour north of the turnoff. There are very few dependable refueling locations for many miles north of Faraiya. A convoy refueled there late this afternoon, and left traveling north. I believe it was the Order's convoy."

"So, you still don't have their exact location," the Colonel said, the tone of his statement sounding very much like an accusation of failure.

"N ... no, sir," Salim said, fighting his panic.

Salim frantically looked at the faces around him, and stopped when he met the hard stare of Cody. The Seeker's penetrating gaze terrified Salim, but, in this instance, it also calmed him. The Lieutenant didn't know if the calm was forced by the Seeker, or if his own sense of self-preservation refused to allow him to die, simply because he had panicked.

"But, we have solid information of the area they must go to, and where they intend to go to next," Salim continued, in a much calmer, and more professional, tone. "Think of it as a noose around their neck, and we are tightening the noose. We know approximately where they will be tonight. I have every man I can spare loading into trucks as we speak. I intend to accompany them to Hermel, and travel west from Hermel towards Qurnat as Sawda. I hope to catch them before they find whatever artifact they are searching for at Qurnat as Sawda. If I do not, then I will meet the convoy as it travels to Hermel. My concern is, I can't trap them. I can hit them from the eastern side of the mountains, but that leaves an easily defended escape route to the west. I wouldn't be able to close with them. Sir, could you send a detachment to guard the road to the west of Qurnat as Sawda?"

"Yes, I can send men, and possibly accompany them," the Colonel said thoughtfully, as he followed the various routes to Lebanon's highest point on his map with his eyes. "How sure are you of this information?"

"Sir, I would stake my life on it," Salim said, hoping the Colonel didn't hear the desperation, or the absolute truth, in his voice.

"Very well," the Colonel said brusquely. "I can have my men in position by daybreak. You do the same, and begin moving through the pass from the east at daybreak."

"Sir, the roads are not as good on the eastern side of the mountains as they are along the coast," Salim objected. "Our best speed would put us in position between eight and nine in the morning. Attempting a faster trip would invite equipment failures due to the rough roads and it could result in a slower response. May I make a suggestion?"

"What suggestion?" Colonel Baccus asked sourly. He was not accustomed to his men questioning his decisions.

"Sir, I have two men following a lead on another Order heretic. They are an hour south of Hermel," Salim said hurriedly, recognizing the danger in not complying with the Colonel. "I can contact them, and send them towards Qurnat as Sawda to find the Order's camp. I will direct them not to engage, but to notify me when they find the camp, and keep them under observation. We should be able to make radio contact via the radio relay station at Qurnat as Sawda. We can coordinate our attack."

"And what happens if they finish, and leave the area at first light?" the Colonel challenged. "We could lose them."

"I don't think that is possible, Colonel," Salim replied, frantically considering a reply that would reassure the wily Colonel. "The Americans flew into Beirut this morning, after a very long flight. The route they took to Qurnat as Sawda was designed to throw us off their trail, but it also ensured they wouldn't arrive at the mountain peaks until sunset, at the earliest. Americans are not as hardy as we are, so I suspect it was much later. After arriving, and setting up their camp, they will rest tonight and begin looking for the caves the boy mentioned tomorrow. I don't think they know exactly where the caves are, according to what the boy said, so they must search. They may find what they search for tomorrow, and leave in the afternoon, but I believe it will be the day after, at the earliest. The two scouts can locate their camp, and determine if they seem to be getting ready to travel. To ensure we don't miss them, I will set up a road block at the eastern entrance to the mountains ... if I haven't received the location from the scouts by then. Sir, we have time to do this carefully, and to ensure success."

"That is good reasoning, and a good plan," the Colonel admitted grudgingly. "Contact me as soon as your men report their location."

"Yes, sir," the Lieutenant said into a dead phone line; the Colonel had hung up.

Cody carefully lay the phone extension handset, that he had been using to listen to the conversation, on the receiver. He turned to Gabir and said, "We need to leave for Beirut immediately. We need to be on that Smithsonian C-130, and in the air, before Colonel Baccus knows that he has been duped. The Lieutenant had a good point, though. Your men haven't rested since early this morning. Will they be okay?"

"They have been stationary since early this afternoon," Gabir replied. "They take turns resting when they are stationary. They will be okay."

"Like all good soldiers! Sleep every chance they get, because they don't know when they'll get to sleep again," Cody commented with a smile. His smile faded as he looked at Lieutenant Al-Khoury and said, "Call the barracks. I want that Viper detachment that you have standing by, on the road, and headed for Hermel. Their orders are to set up a strong check point, right where you told the Colonel you would set it up."

Cody didn't wait to acknowledge Salim's nod of agreement before turning to his mother.

"Mom, will there be a problem with carrying twenty five extra men on the C-130?" Cody asked. "We can't leave Gabir and his men here. The army would kill them."

"It will be tight, but they will fit," Cynthia replied. "If we're overweight for liftoff, we'll leave some equipment."

Cody nodded his satisfaction with her reply, and asked, "Would you call and ask the pilots to have the plane ready to go in the morning? Ask them to ensure their tanks are full, and to start the engines at sunrise. They should warm the engines, and keep them at a low idle, until we get there. We should be there within an hour or two of sunrise. If anyone asks, they are testing something. They should be ready to take off as soon as we arrive."

Cynthia nodded her agreement.

Cody asked the group, "How about the soldier in the cell. We can leave him, kill him, or take him with us. Leaving him is probably a death sentence, because he may never be found. I don't mind killing him outright. Can anyone think of a reason to risk taking him with us?"

"I can't think of a reason for taking him, but I don't see a reason to grant him a quick death either," Jamil said angrily. "He is the only one left alive of the five that killed my mother. I want him to feel the horror, and the terror, that I felt while they forced me to watch them torture and kill my mother."

Cody nodded reluctantly, conceding to her the right to vengeance.

"Does anyone have an argument for taking him with us?" Cody asked again.

No one replied, so, after a moment, Cody stood and said, "Okay. Let's get ready to mount up. Gabir, call your men in, so we can get loaded. Jamil, I'll concede to you your right to vengeance. But, you must tell him what you are doing, and why. Agreed?"

Jamil nodded, and stood before saying, "Agreed."

Cynthia touched Jamil's arm before the girl left the room and said, "You asked if Cody had healed, and I said to an extent. The first step of healing for any inflicted trauma, physical or mental, is accepting your inability to change the past and what has happened. The second step is forgiveness. Think about what you are about to do, dear. Please."

Jamil jerked her arm away angrily, and followed Cody through the door. She didn't know if she was angry at Cynthia, or herself. She was afraid to examine the question too closely.

The stench of the three dead soldiers, and Sergeant Mahdi, hit Jamil like a physical blow when the door of the cell opened.

Cody glanced in the cell, verifying the location of the live soldier, and gestured for Jamil to enter first. His nose was wrinkled at the smell of death.

Jamil took a step through the cell door, and froze. The macabre grimace etched on Sergeant Mahdi's face caught and held Jamil's attention. She forced her eyes to pull away from the Sergeant, and she saw the expressions of the three soldiers, frozen forever in death. One soldier's expression showed fear, and another surprise. The last dead soldier had an expression of terror, but it didn't rival that of the Sergeant's.

Jamil jerked her eyes away from the dead men to look at the live soldier. He was chained, and was as far from the dead men as his chains allowed. The soldier didn't even notice Jamil's entrance, because his attention was totally focused on the Sergeant's face. The soldier's eyes were wide with his own terror, as he imagined what could cause an expression like the one he was seeing on the Sergeant's face. The soldier had known the Sergeant. He had followed the Sergeant's orders. He had admired the Sergeant, and tried to emulate him. Sergeant Mahdi was a hero in the soldier's eyes, and he had died in abject terror. The soldier was curled into a fetal position, and his thumb was in his mouth. He was making a faint whining sound that was barely audible around the thumb in his mouth. Only his eyes were aware of anything external to his body, and that awareness was completely focused on the expression of a dead man. The soldier's mind was broken.

"That answers one question," Cody said softly. "He can't travel like that. He stays, alive or dead. Tell him why you want to leave him alive, and then we will leave," Cody ordered.

Jamil glanced back at Cody with an unspoken question.

"These five men visited inhumane acts on you and your family," Cody said softly. "Four of them are dead. The fifth will die. The only question remaining is the manner of his death. Jamil, you must make the same decision every soldier in every war must make. Will you allow their actions to diminish you, to take you to their level of inhumanity? Will you sink to their level of inhumane actions, or rise above the senseless violence, and the atrocities, that they visit on others? What would your parents want you to become? What is the humane path, and will you follow it?" Cody handed her a pistol and softly said, "He stays, alive or dead, but the choice is yours."

Jamil looked at the soldier, and then she looked at the dead. She remembered her mother's screams, and tears ran down Jamil's face. A sob escaped her. Then she remembered her dream. She remembered the comfort and reassurance she had felt in her parents' loving embrace. She also remembered their message. The pistol seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, but it also seemed to rise of its own accord. The bullet exploding from the barrel of the pistol was shockingly loud in the little room. The silence that followed was like a physical weight. The whining sound that the soldier had been making was forever stilled. Jamil stumbled back in horror, but Cody caught her, and gently led her from the cell. This had been much different for Jamil than the battle in the foyer. This had been an execution, and Jamil had not been mentally prepared to be an executioner.

Cody closed the door behind them and softly told her, sounding almost apologetic, "There is always a cost, Jamil. No matter how justified, no matter how much it needs to be done, there is always a cost to taking a life. Often, not paying that price can cost you your life, or the lives of others. The question that you must answer now is, can you survive paying the price? I don't mean physically survive. Can the core of you survive? That part of you that makes you the person your parents loved and raised you to be. Taking a life will change that core. It is up to you to control that change so the person that emerges is someone your parents would still be proud of. That is the challenge every soldier, in every war, must meet, and survive."

Jamil could only nod her head in understanding, because she didn't trust her voice to say anything. Tears were still streaming down her face.

Cody gently pulled the girl into an embrace, and she buried her face in his chest. Her silent tears turned into loud, wracking sobs. Cody held her tight and murmured nonsense words, assuring her that everything would be alright, even though he knew the words were a lie. He knew everything probably wouldn't be alright, but the girl needed that assurance, so she could start on her own path towards healing. Cody wondered when he could start on his own path towards healing, and his tears mixed with Jamil's.

Twenty minutes later, Jamil and Cody exited the basement. Her eyes were red from crying. Cynthia immediately hugged the girl. Cody followed close behind, and his eyes were red rimmed too.

"Is everything ready?" Cody asked roughly.

He knew they didn't have the time to spare, but he also knew that the experience he had just shared with Jamil had been necessary. Cody didn't often cry, but the release of the dam of emotions was cathartic. He felt like the flood of tears had washed away some of the taint on his soul. Cody was sure his soul was as black as night, but maybe, now, it was a lighter shade of black.