Chapter 34

The training camp consisted of a handful of tents huddled beside an obstacle course. It was rough, but the man in charge was used to primitive conditions. He had fought the Americans in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. His goal at the camp was to toughen up the recruits, so that they could fight in any circumstances. Towards that end, he ruled the camp with a brutal hand.

There were four men walking around with guns cradled in their hands. They had orders to protect the training camp and keep the recruits in line. Three dozen men were lined up to perform their morning exercises. They would go through a grueling fitness program prior to hand-to-hand combat training.

Mike watched them perform jumping jacks over the live feed from a predator drone circling overhead. He looked over at Jim and said, “We’re going to watch this engagement today. The Marines are trying out the proxy-soldiers.”

“Ah, I’ve been wondering when we’d see that,” Jim said.

On the screen, two proxy-soldiers were crawling towards the training camp. Their motions looked a little jerky. When the figures stood, Mike said, “They are going in.”

The two proxy-soldiers charged into the camp with guns blazing. The first man to fall was the one in charge of the camp. He never knew what hit him. The men who were exercising immediately fell under the assault. Even as the guards were riddled with bullets, one of them managed to turn and fire at the proxy-solders. His effort had no effect on the proxy-soldiers. The entire engagement had lasted less than four seconds. Staring at the screen, it took Jim almost that long to process what had happened. In an awed voice, he said, “It’s over already.”

“That didn’t take long,” Mike said with a frown.

After reviewing the recordings of all communication activities taken during the attack, Jim said, “They didn’t have a chance to get out word of the engagement.”

The two proxy-soldiers went through the camp pulling the tents down making sure that Mike’s team hadn’t miscounted the number of terrorists at the camp. The majority of tents had contained simple blankets folded on the bare ground. One of the tents had a couple of laptops.

Mike said, “Send in someone to pick up the laptops.”

While Charlie talked to someone over his headset, Jim said, “Those proxy-soldiers looked like they did okay.”

“It wasn’t much of a test,” Mike said staring at the scene.

The guards had been taken by surprise and the rest of the men were unarmed. He wondered what would happen when there was a real engagement against an enemy that was ready for them. The proxy- soldiers hadn’t looked very graceful.

He added, “Let’s see what happens when they go into an area full of IEDs.”

As if on cue, Shirley said, “I’m switching the display over to the second attack site.”

The screen at the front of the room changed. This camp was a far different place than the previous one. There were mockups of jets on the ground, a couple of buses, and a fake building. There were close to a hundred men wandering around the camp. These were hard looking men who had been through basic training camps like the proxy-soldiers had just destroyed. Everyone was armed.

Looking over at Shirley, Mike asked, “What kind of training are they getting here?”

“This is a second level training camp where they are learning basic tactical skills. One group is currently practicing hijacking airplanes,” Shirley answered.

“What is with the buses and the fake building?” Mike asked.

“The buses appear to be a standard training exercise at this site. Everyone learns how to drive the bus. I suspect that they are planning on filling buses with explosives and driving them up to an embassy or military base,” Shirley answered. There had been several cases of that having happened in the past three years.

“The fake building?”

“That’s a mockup of a school. We think it’s patterned after a school in Germany, but we’re not sure. I don’t think it really matters. They are practicing how to take control of a building. We won’t know more about what they might be planning until we get real people there,” Shirley answered.

This engagement lasted a little longer than the first one, but it had the same result. All of the people at the camp were dead and the proxy-soldiers were going around clearing out all of the areas.

Mike watched the action and said, “There isn’t too much for us to do here except watch.”

Shirley nodded her head in agreement and said, “We told them what to expect when they got there. Our job ended the moment they attacked.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Mike felt somewhat dissatisfied. He knew that it was important work, but compared to hunting down the terrorists it wasn’t all that fulfilling.

Trying to force a little enthusiasm into his voice, he said, “Great job, people.”

Mike and Cathy were relaxing in the bathing pond. Although the presence of Kim in the house tended to make both of them feel a little inhibited, neither of them was wearing a swimming suit. Cathy looked over at Mike and said, “Your reaction to the fighting wasn’t all that convincing.”

“I know,” Mike said with a frown. Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t enjoy what we are doing. It’s too much like assassination. I recognize the necessity of using every advantage that we have, but I don’t have to like it.”

“I understand that,” Cathy said.

She thought about the dangers that the terrorists represented. If the terrorists had been successful in taking over the Philippine Government the entire Asian Pacific area would be dominated by governments overtly hostile to the United States.

“I’d rather be hunting down the men who’ve already attacked us,” Mike said. There was an edge of anger in his voice.

“You’re good at that,” Cathy said stretching a leg across the bathing pond. Her foot found his crotch and she stroked him.

“You’re good at that,” Mike said with a groan. He immediately forgot what they had been talking about.

Mike looked up from his monitor with a smile on his face. He said, “I found him.”

“Who?” Jim asked.

“Jamal bin Laden,” Mike answered.

This was another of the sons of Osama who had been leading efforts to overthrow the west. This particular son had been operating in the Far East and had been instrumental in organizing many major operations that had killed thousands of Americans.

“Where is he?” Jim asked.

“Manila,” Mike answered uploading the information to the Naval Fleet parked within striking distance of Manila. He put the feed on the screen at the front of the room and said, “Take over for me Jim.”

Jim was ready for the change of control. He was particularly good at following an individual through a crowd. As the mini-drone followed the man, software was running to check and double check his identity. Jim dropped an experimental tag from the mini- drone and was pleased to see that it got attached to Jamal. The tag would allow him to follow Jamal through buildings and underground passages.

Mike was busy on the phone making arrangements for the Air Force to take out Jamal. This was a very big catch and his death would significantly impact the effectiveness of the terrorists across the entire Asian front. He watched the screen at the front of the room. Jamal entered a building and disappeared from view. The tag was broadcasting his position.

Ten long tense minutes passed before there was the streak of a missile hitting the area from which the tag was broadcasting. Even as the dust was settling, Mike said, “Watch the area and make sure that he didn’t get away.”

The activity in the area of the explosion was frantic. Jim recognized other terrorists running into the area to dig out Jamal.

Smiling, he said, “There are his bodyguards.”

“We need to get more sensors into the area,” Mike said lifting the phone. They had found a major nest and he hoped that they’d be able to take it out.

Jim shook his head and said, “The Predator Drone is about out of fuel. We’re going to lose our feed soon.”

“Damn,” Mike swore. The situation got even worse. Philippine police arrived and the terrorists split up and headed a dozen different directions. Shaking his head, he said, “Maybe we’ll get them the next time.”

Bob was mowing the front yard when Mike pulled into his driveway. Getting out of the car, Mike watched Bob make another circuit across the yard. Bob noticed Mike and let go of the handle of his mower. It died even as Bob started to walk across the yard toward Mike.

Bob called out, “Hello, Mike.”

“Hello, Bob. How are things going?” Mike asked. He hadn’t seen Bob in a couple of weeks.

Wearing a great big smile on his face, Bob answered, “Ellen and I are going to take a vacation.”

“That’s great,” Mike said.

“We’re really looking forward to it. We haven’t taken one since 2009,” Bob said.

Thinking that Bob wasn’t the only who hadn’t taken a vacation since 2009, Mike asked, “Where are you going?”

“We’re flying to Las Vegas.”

The answer surprised Mike. He remembered when Bob had come over to ask him if it was safe to go into crowded locations. It struck him as significant that Bob hadn’t asked him about traveling at all.

Nodding his head, Mike said, “I think you’ll have a good time. They are really going all out to attract tourists in Vegas. I’ve heard that it was like the old days when a visitor was treated like a king.”

“Yes, I’ve heard the same thing,” Bob said with a grin.

“I wish you luck at the tables,” Mike said.

“There for a while I thought that we’d never do anything like that again. Flying was out of the question. It seemed like every week a plane was getting blown up. Even if we drove, tourist locations were too dangerous to visit. I’m surprised that some of them even survived,” Bob said.

A number of amusement parks had closed down after suicide bombers had struck them a couple of times. ‘The house the mouse built’ in Los Angeles had been one of the early victims.

“Some of them still might not survive,” Mike said.

Even though business was starting to improve, many of the tourist locations had very high overheads. It was a race against time to see if they would last long enough to return to profitability before they were foreclosed.

The slightly negative comment by Mike worried Bob. He asked, “You don’t think we’re making a mistake, do you?”

“No. I’ve got to say that President Archer was successful in eliminating terrorism inside the country. There are still a few nutcases out there, but they aren’t organized or equipped,” Mike answered.

“Good. That’s what we thought,” Bob said. He looked down at the grass for a second and then said, “There for a while, I thought that America was a goner. I don’t think that way anymore. I’ve got a feeling that by the time President Archer has finished with the terrorists overseas that an American will be able to walk naked down the street in Tehran and no one would say a word.”

“I’ve got a feeling that you’re right,” Mike said wondering if there would even be a Tehran left by the time the war was over.

Bob pointed down the street at one of the neighbors. The man was out mowing the lawn and taking care of the yard. His wife was outside taking care of the garden. The woman was topless.

Bob said, “I don’t get it. She’s walking around topless and no one is saying anything about it.”

Mike looked over at the young couple for a few seconds. The woman was very attractive.

Pursing his lips, he said, “I’ve heard that a lot of young women are doing that. I even ran into an older woman in the grocery store who removed her shirt and left the store topless. They are thumbing their noses at the Islamic radicals.”

“I’m not sure what I think about that. In a way I understand it. We really came close to losing the war against the terrorists. I’ve got a feeling that my wife would have had to wear a Burka. I’d rather have her walk around naked in protest than have to live like that,” Bob said.

“I doubt she would have had to wear a Burka. She’d have probably been a slave,” Mike said thinking to himself that it would have been highly unlikely that a woman her age would have been allowed to live.

“We’d have been slaves?” Bob asked.

Mike shook his head and said, “You’d have been dead.”

Bob thought about what Mike had said. A few years ago he would have argued that no one practiced slavery, but he’d watched what had happened in Africa. Now he believed that the Muslim conquerors would have made slaves of them.

Shaking his head, he said, “You’re probably right.”

“You know, I’m really pleased that you and Ellen are going on vacation,” Mike said wanting to get the topic to a more pleasant subject.

“Why?” Bob asked puzzled that Mike would be pleased.

“It convinces me that America is returning to normal,” Mike said.

The funeral for Jamal bin Laden had turned into a huge affair. Thousands of people had flown into the Philippines to attend it as a statement of solidarity against the Americans. The American press was notably absent since several reporters had been murdered the previous day. It was a common belief among the extremists that the American reporters were actually agents of Homeland Security.