The Mark of the Rebel

by B K Thomas

  They bypass Al-Suknah. It is a warm town and he loves the hot springs there but there is no time for pleasantries, another time perhaps. He stayed in the blue topped mosque with his brothers during his first visit. It was the first time he looked for the weapons. He brought a small group of men into Syria on his first hunt. The movement was growing back then and brothers and sisters from around the world were joining them. They made examples of the local townspeople when it was necessary, but he was more concerned about the bigger picture. The trivialities of what local people did or didn’t do was of little concern to him. When he is able to execute his plan, the world will fall into place and they will all bow before Allah with the return of the Mahdi. His return will usher in the day of judgment and these local townspeople will beg to obey then. The power unleashed upon them and the world will not be ignored.

  The journey has been long. Along the way, he learned he is more successful when he enlists the help of his brothers who are experts at their own specialties. He had tried to gather the pieces to his plan on his own, but he needed a guide, the General was the one. He had known it for a long time but had grown impatient and gone looking on his own. He was nearly caught in Damascus when he was careless and winging it, but this time will be different. He has planned meticulously, and the General will lead them to the prize. He smiles at the thought and warms himself with the good memories from his time in Al-Suknah. It is only a couple of more hours to Homs and he needs to rest. It has been a big day. They have slipped the infidels tracking them, and there are even bigger days ahead.

  ***

  Tel-Aviv, Israel

  Captain Ben Haim stares at the laptop screen. He had written the report earlier but hasn’t sent it to Lieutenant Colonel Fisher yet. He doesn’t want to. He hated to say he did not get any confirmation before or after the strike. They had lost contact with the targets. He has failed in extinguishing this potential threat beyond any doubt. The ground assets finally arrived at the building thirty minutes after the strike but there had been no sign of the General. It looks like they probably got the target but probably is not the thing to say in an intelligence report. He doesn’t like the fact they lost one vehicle for a while even though he thought it was a decoy. They took it out eventually but there are just too many loose ends and unknown variables. He doesn’t like the conclusion of the report and knows no one else will either. He rereads his conclusion. “It is estimated the target was destroyed and the threat of this team hunting weapons of mass destruction has been eliminated. It is advised this mission be shut down based upon the results.” It is not concrete enough for him. It’s all he has for now. He lets out a sigh and hits send. He rubs his face and pushes a hand through his hair. At least he is done with the American now. He can be glad about that. He closes his eyes and replays the events. Nothing he can see stands out. Losing sight of the targets while they are at that apartment building haunts him. He knows he can keep digging but he can’t devote any real resources to it until he has something real to take to Fisher. Fisher is an old intelligence officer, so he understood everything isn’t always clean, but he can’t go back without something solid at this point. It is over, they are already closing this mission down.

  ***

  ASG, Jordan

  Major Westbrook read the report. He shakes his head and curses. “You can’t just assume they got the guy.” He says aloud to no one.

  Sergeant Jackson cocks his head toward him. “What’s that Major?”

  “Ah, this Israeli.” The Major complains. “They botched the mission; lost our guy and they’re throwing up a prayer that they nailed him on the drone strike. They don’t have any confirmation. I mean if we ran things like they do, we’d all be speaking Russian.” Westbrook shakes his head in disgust.

  “Well, at least we finally got the details on the intel. We’ll keep sifting through this report and see if we can find anything.” Jackson offers.

  “Yeah, with the results they sent us so far, there’s no telling what they missed. Let me know if anything jumps out at you. I’m going to grab some chow I’ll see you in a bit.” Westbrook states as he gets up from his desk and stretches. He heads outside and crosses the courtyard to the dining facility. It’s a nice facility. It is good to be far enough behind the lines to get some real chow. It isn’t the best he’s ever has but it definitely isn’t the worst. It beats green field eggs any day. The television scrolls through the news of the day, but Westbrook doesn’t hear any of it. This is too easy. He just can’t believe such a well-executed mission so far can get ended with such a juvenile effort and a hip shot from a drone. No, these guys had planned too well for this and they knew they might be watched. That three-way split was a complete red herring. He knows the further the group drove into Syria the worse his intelligence resources became. He’d have to involve the Israelis if he wants to get very far. At least this time he can drive the effort and the Captain will have to support him. With this debacle, the Major has earned it. The Major finishes off his chocolate milk and wipes his mouth. He has been restless after the news of the Israeli mission being concluded but now, he is excited. He knows deep down this isn’t over and he has a plan. He is still going to get the General dead or alive. He knows the chances are slim to none he will get the General out alive, but he wants to keep it as an option for now. The priority is to stop those guys from getting their hands on those weapons and changing the course of history for the region. He heads back to his office. He has to sell this to his leadership and get enough visibility and demand the cooperation of the Israelis on the new mission. It is going to be a tough sell, but he knows they trust him enough to let him chase this down. The worst that will happen is they’d get better intel. The Israelis are playing everyone in the field so he might get better eyes on what the Russians and Iranians are up to through their intel. He knows it will be scrubbed but something might slip through that he doesn’t have. He is always interested in what the other players are up to. There are a lot of benefits to this mission and he can make it sweet enough for the leadership to jump on board. The reality is, if those guys are out there still, they can be closer to their goal than anybody wants them to be. No one wants those guys getting their hands on WMD’s, it will be bad for everyone. If he is the guy who stops it, he can ride his success to any post. He’d leverage it to the hilt and end up with a White House assignment.

  Chapter 20

  Damascus, Syria

  Sahila stands in front of the mirror looking at her outfit. If she is going to shoot this video, she wants to look right. The outfit she has on doesn’t work so she changes again. Yaqeena is impatient because she thinks her sister is beautiful no matter what outfit she wears but she understands the importance of looking right in the videos, so she waits anyway. Sahila finally finds the one she likes. She wears black pants and a khaki top with a black scarf. She looks at herself in the mirror satisfied with the look and gives a curt nod to herself. “Ok Yaqeena, let’s go.” She says in a very businesslike tone. Her sister grabs her bag and they take off to Old Damascus. Next, they catch a bus to the hills overlooking the city.

  Sahila realized her life was more fragile than she had imagined when they had been stopped by the soldiers on the bus headed to the soccer stadium. Even after what had happened to Aahil she still didn’t think anything might happen to her somehow. Things still happened to other people, not her. Getting pulled off the bus was another wake-up call. Everything changed. It has all come into focus now. She looks at Damascus below and her heart quickens.

  “OK, I’m ready.” Sahila lets her sister know as she turns around.

  Yaqeena lined up the shot and gave her the thumbs up.

  “Brothers and sisters of humanity. I am here overlooking my beloved home Damascus.” She turns and waves her hand across the city below her. She pauses to view the scene. A surge of emotion stirs inside of her. Pride mixed with sadness and loss swirls around as she pans the city with her eyes. The expanse of the city behind her is impressive. Sh
e continues as she turns back to face the camera. “I have lived here all of my life. I can see the neighborhood I grew up in from here. The streets I used to walk with my family. I see Old Damascus from here. A place of history, a place where civilization has thrived for thousands of years. You might not feel it here some days and it might not be obvious today. But if we continue to allow the few people in charge of these governments across the world to kill us, so they can make more money or increase their power, they will destroy all of our civilizations. They will ruin this world to the point there is nothing left. They will crush us under their boots, and we will become slaves forever in their systems of death and destruction. History has not changed and neither has humanity. There is evidence throughout my country and throughout the world. However, that being said, we have grown as humans, have we not? Are we not more advanced, are we not more compassionate, are we not more generous than ever before? We have a global organization called the United Nations that stands for peace and it is time it fulfilled its mission. I have been killed or captured by one group or another. Who they are is not important. What is important is that we make this body of nations stand up for justice for everyone. Justice for all those who have been chased from their homes, raped and murdered. How many of us must die? How many of us must see our homes destroyed? How many of our families must become part of the collateral damage of someone’s war? Some foreigner’s uprising? Some coup orchestrated by some outside government that wants to steal our resources and our lives until we no longer serve their strategic purposes. We don’t owe these people anything. We were born on this Earth in a place where these people happen to be in charge. We inherited their evil but as brothers and sisters united, we accept it no longer. I am no longer here to continue the fight but if you are hearing my voice then you are able to keep it going. I ask you to join me in a few weeks in a march on the United Nations in New York on May 6th. In my country, it is calls Martyr’s day. A day that marks when the Ottoman Empire executed those who stood against it. They are victims of the Empire of their day as we are the victims of ours today. If you are not able to make it to New York, then join me by assembling at your county’s capital. Together, we will put them on notice. We will gather to let them know that their day of reckless rule and abuse of scattered people is over. On that day we will show them we stand united against their evil. I will not be there in the flesh, but I will be there in spirit. Join me in ushering a new day for humanity. A new day where we no longer allow governments to murder or torture their people. A day where we no longer let them plunder the resources of other countries for their own greed. A new day where governments are no longer allowed to fight proxy wars in foreign countries and pay mercenaries to overthrow elected leaders. A new day where men and women look out for each other and for the families of those around us. Where we help each other reach our fullest potential and stop those that seek to enslave or destroy it. Join me brothers and sisters unite with me and demand from this world’s leaders a better world led by a united humanity. Join me on May 6th. I will be there waiting for you.” With that, she smiles then her face becomes serious once more and she thrusts her fist into the air challenging her followers to join her in rebelling against the corrupt powers that have caused them all so much pain.

  Her sister pauses the record button and lowers the phone. “What is this? Some kind of sick joke? We can’t post this.” Her sister’s confusion is mixed with anger and sadness.

  “No, I didn’t want to talk about it before we recorded it. We will shoot another one in a moment. I’m sorry, I just needed to get that one done first.” She motions to Yaqeena to come over and sit on a rock with her. “When we were pulled off the bus the other day, I was afraid we might have been found out somehow,” Sahila speaks softly. “It’s the first time I thought I might not be able to finish this, so I decided that day that we need to make a postscript video. In case one of these groups got to me before we achieved our goal of uniting people and presenting our case to the world. I needed to leave the challenge even if I am gone.”

  Yaqeena looks away for a few moments then back at her sister. “Yes, you are right. Something can happen. I have been so wrapped up in trying to keep all our communications concealed that I haven’t really thought about it much until now. Yes, we should prepare in case something does happen. We will probably never see it coming. I like your idea but if they catch you, they’ll probably catch me too. In that case, I need to send this to a friend, so she can post it if something happens.” She looks away again and continues. “I hate to think of such things. I don’t believe they will catch us, but anything is possible.” She looks back at Sahila and gives her a hug. “I’m so proud of you Sahila. You have given so many people hope. We will get to New York. Your videos have been getting reposted all over the internet. It won’t be long; they won’t be able to stop us.”

  They shoot the other video where Sahila issues the challenge to everyone to join her in person in New York on May 6th or for them to gather at their own country’s capital. When they finish, they sit overlooking the city and talk about when they were kids and all the things they had done. They remember as children how they chased each other through markets and down the streets of the city without any cares about the world that surrounded them. They had been so innocent. Even as they grew up into women, they were ignorant of all the world was demanding of those they loved. They were ignorant of the evil lurking all around them. They survey the city; they are reminded of how simple things were before the war. They had not been afraid of the world around them. Life had been full of excitement about the future and what they would do in the world. Love was on the horizon and they were full of hope about the future. Then unrest and civil war came. Interruptions to daily life grew as the war continued to rage. They weathered those since, in the beginning, they were minor. But then the government became as dangerous as the enemies beyond their city and they just wanted to survive the tragedy their lives were becoming. The war kept going and the violence and chaos of it all kept drawing closer and closer until it struck their very family. They had been able to ignore it and live lives of denial until the war made its presence in their lives inescapable. They had to face the hardship but were braver now in spite of the immense pain it has brought to their lives. They cannot change the past, but they can change the future. They will offer their lives if that is the sacrifice that is required.

  ***

  Political Security Directorate (PSD), Damascus

  “Director Letaf. We have discovered a new resistance leader here in Damascus. She has been filming videos all over Damascus and calling for people to unite against governments; our and others.” Umar is nervous as he lays a folder on the Director’s desk. He is an intelligence officer and has been around for a long time but understands there is always a risk when bringing bad news. The longer the civil war has carried on the bad news continued to grow. The bearer of the news inadvertently became attached to the story and sometimes paid the price for its outcome regardless of innocence. Knowledge is dangerous during times of instability. Suspicion about how much a person knows or should know is lethal when loyalties are consistently questioned. Umar is no fool. He knows his long career meant nothing if his loyalty is called into question. He longs for the war to end.

  “Why aren’t you telling me about her detention?” Letaf asks briskly as he flips through the printed still photographs of the woman. “You have photographs, why don’t you have her?” He looks at Umar expecting an explanation.

  “Yes sir, well the photographs are taken from videos the resistance leader has posted online. We have been unable to locate her yet, Director. But we are monitoring the situation closely. We know she has a large following on the internet and the world is beginning to notice so she has become a top priority.”

  Director Letaf looks over the pictures carefully. “So, another freedom fighter. A woman no less. I want her found before she becomes an embarrassment.” He commands, and he gives a look to Umar who unders
tands the severity of the threat.

  Umar walks smartly out of the room. He knows with the popularity she is gaining he will have to find her quick. It won’t be long before she becomes a danger to me, and I won’t have to wonder about retirement. He sends the word out to the district along with all the information he has on her. The entire Political Security Directorate of Damascus will be looking for this girl. She will be found before she posts another video, then he will find out how brave she truly is.