The conference was cut off.
Steele handed him a portable GPS unit.
“This is a DAGR. It’s a handheld GPS used all over the military. We’ve already uploaded the coordinates for the hospital in Islamabad. All you have to do is follow the azimuth and it will take you there. Oh, it only works under 20,000 feet elevation, so you’ll have to fly low to figure out where you need to go.” Steele said.
“Got it. Anything else I should know?”
Neil took the device from Steele.
“Al-Zawahiri is a master manipulator and has proven himself to be an expert at propaganda. Al-Qaeda’s numbers have skyrocketed under his leadership. It’s no coincidence he was Bin Laden’s right hand man. Don’t let him talk to you. He’ll get inside your head. Just end it as soon as you have confirmation that it’s him.”
Neil left the NSA building in a hurry. He pulled out his GPS and used it to point himself in the right direction. Several people coming in and out of the building were watching him, but he didn’t care. He was about to go to another country to kill the man who posed the largest threat to national security. He was finally going to change the world.
Neil launched himself into the sky and began his journey towards Pakistan.
CHAPTER 16
The ground beneath Neil was a blur. He was traveling faster than he had ever dared go before. The speed on his GPS unit stopped increasing after it displayed 9,999 miles-per-hour. He estimated that he had doubled his speed since then.
It only took Neil seven minutes to cross the Atlantic Ocean. He had no doubt set a new air-speed record. The celebration would have to wait until later.
While he flew over the northern part of Africa, he studied the geography as it changed beneath him. He could see nothing but sand for thousands of miles. The sheer size of the desert surprised him. He never imagined he could find so much empty space in a planet so full of life. The occasional oasis of civilization left such a small footprint that he could barely distinguish it as he zoomed by.
Neil spent a brief moment passing over the Mediterranean Sea, and then he was back to seeing land. Once he had reached the vast desert of Saudi Arabia, it wasn’t long before he saw the mountains of Iran beneath him. He reduced his speed once he hit the border of Afghanistan and approached Pakistan.
Fifteen minutes after leaving the NSA building, Neil had positioned himself over the top of the hospital in Islamabad. The signature helicopter landing pad on the roof let him know he was in the correct location. The building was much cleaner looking and more solidly built than the rest of the area around it. Al-Zawahiri was able to afford the best medical treatment in the region for his son.
Neil descended to the ground. The people yelled in a language he didn’t recognize once he came into view. They clearly weren’t used to watching American Soldiers fall from the sky.
Finding al-Zawahiri was the next step. Neil searched through all of the people inside the hospital. There were too many to find his target by chance. He filtered out the people that had the shape of glasses on their faces. In total, there were only fifteen people in the hospital wearing them.
On the third floor, Neil felt the presence of a large man wearing glasses standing next to a hospital bed with a small child in it. Outside that room were two men carrying something in their hands. After closer examination, he determined they were guards carrying weapons. That had to be the man he was looking for.
He walked into the hospital and headed towards the stairs to the upper level. Everywhere he went, people froze in place and stared directly at him. Some yelled at him, but he just ignored them and moved on. He climbed the stairs to the third floor and stepped out into the hallway.
He could see the two armed guards at the opposite end. It took a while before either of them noticed the man wearing the US Army uniform. When they finally did, they raised their weapons and yelled something he didn’t understand.
Neil continued walking towards them.
They charged the bolt of their rifles and prepared to fire, but it was too late. Their skulls were crushed before they could pull the trigger.
Neil had killed for the first time.
The door to the hospital room was locked, but Neil simply twisted the lock from the other side. He didn’t want to traumatize the injured child in the room by breaking down the door.
As he stepped in, he saw that the man looking back at him was definitely the same one from the picture. His beard was graying, and his face had more wrinkles, but it was clearly the same person. The man showed no signs of fear as Neil walked into the room. The look on his face was one of curiosity.
“How did you get past my guards?” Al-Zawahiri asked.
Neil was surprised. He wasn’t expecting the man to speak perfect English.
“I killed them.” Neil said plainly.
“Are you going to kill me, too?”
There was no fear in his voice.
“Yes.”
The man looked down at his son. Neil saw for the first time the extent of the damage that the drone strike had caused. The entire left side of the child’s face was covered in burns. His left arm and leg were in casts. The boy was awake, but barely coherent.
“What’s wrong with him?”
He felt genuine sadness for the child. He was a victim of poor luck, and a war that he did not understand.
“Your country bombed my family’s home trying to get to me. They killed two of my daughters and injured my son. I had already been gone for over an entire day before the bombing. Your military has shit for intelligence.”
Neil came to Pakistan to kill, but he was the only one in charge of his actions. There was no reason why he couldn’t do something good as well. He searched the child for all the damage that had been caused. He re-set the bones, reattached the destroyed nerves under the burned areas, sealed up the internal damage caused by shrapnel, and did his best to repair the burns on the boy’s skin.
The only damage Neil could not repair was the pain from the death of his father. Al-Zawahiri’s eyes widened as he watched his son heal before him. He began to cry, and looked back up at Neil with tears streaming down his face.
“Are you God?”
“Yes.”
If it helped this man cope with his death, then Neil would let him believe whatever he wanted.
“I never thought God would be an American.”
Neil couldn’t help but laugh. He saw the man’s son become more alert as the wounds in his body were miraculously healed. He spoke to his father in a soft voice. They shared a conversation for a few minutes. Neil heard the word ‘Allah’ mentioned a few times.
“Please, don’t do this in front of my son.”
It was a fair request. Even a man like al-Zawahiri didn’t deserve to be killed in front of his own child. Neil nodded.
“Come, there is a beautiful garden on the bottom floor. There is no better place to meet Paradise.”
Neil followed al-Zawahiri down the stairs. More people yelled as they passed by, but al-Zawahiri motioned for them to be silent. They listened.
They walked into the garden, and Neil was amazed by the vibrant colors of the flora around him. He wondered how they were able to get the flowers to grow so well in the desert. It was indeed a great place to die.
Al-Zawahiri stopped and turned to face Neil.
“I am ready.”
He closed his eyes. Neil never imagined a man could be so calm in the face of death. He had to find out what gave him so much courage.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
Al-Zawahiri opened his eyes again.
“I have lived a long life. I have dedicated myself to a noble cause. I have given people hope, and I have a son to pass on my name. If this is my time to leave this place, then what use is fear? I am happy to go.”
Neil didn’t know what to say. The man in front of him was considered to be one of the most evil men alive by the rest of the world, but he looked like an ordinary man. Neil saw no difference betw
een himself and Al-Zawahiri. How could a man be evil if he believed he was just?
He saw the satisfaction of a good life in this man’s eyes. He faced death knowing that he had made a difference in the world. He would be remembered long after his life was over. Neil envied him. There was no better way to die.
“Goodbye, Ayman al-Zawahiri.”
The man closed his eyes again. His body was relaxed, and he was at peace. As his brain stem was shattered, his body dropped to the floor like a ragdoll. The color of his skin turned pale almost instantly, and Neil felt the bizarre sensation of being alone in the garden as soon as the man fell.
He hadn’t expected it to feel like that. He thought he would be angry at the man he was sent to kill. He thought he would see him as less than human for all of the atrocities he had helped commit. In reality, it was the opposite. The man whose life Neil had taken had shown him what it was like to feel significant. The man had died without regrets, and without fear. To leave the world like that would be a great reward.
He left the body and walked out of the garden. A passing nurse looked in and saw the lifeless human figure lying on the floor. She screamed, and nearby people ran to investigate. Everyone ignored Neil as he left the hospital and took off into the sky for home.
---
“Is it done?” Steele asked him as he walked into PRECINCT.
“Of course it’s done.” Neil said, walking past him towards the conference room, where food should be waiting.
“General Dunford will want to speak with you.” Steele said from behind him.
Neil walked into the conference room to find Carl and Tanya waiting. A buffet of various pasta dishes, bread sticks, and salad waited for him. He was starving, so he grabbed a plate of food and sat down next to Carl. Carl dialed General Dunford on the teleconference as Neil chowed down on a bite of lasagna.
“Hitchens, I’m glad to see you’re back. I must say, you work fast. It’s only been four hours since we had our conversation.”
The General was clearly impressed.
“What can I say? I’ve got a knack for killing.” Neil said, with his mouth half full.
“Yes, our initial intelligence reports confirm that. We’re already starting to see local news stories pop up in the region. They say the angel of death descended from the heavens wearing a US Army uniform and took the soul of al-Zawahiri back up with him.”
“That about sums it up. When do I get to see Emma?”
“We’re working on locating her right now.” Dunford said, “As soon as we find her, we’ll let you know where she’s at. I’m sure you’ll want to go meet her in Michigan?”
“What do you mean you’re working on locating her? I thought she was in custody?”
Neil sensed there was something fishy about the situation.
“Well, there seems to have been a miscommunication. She was released shortly after the police picked her up. The information wasn’t properly disseminated that she was to be kept until further notice. In the meantime -” Neil interrupted him.
“What the fuck, Sir? We had an agreement! Either I get to see Emma, or you can say goodbye to me doing you any more favors.”
He should have seen it coming. He shouldn’t have put it past the higher ups to go back on their word, even when Neil was helping them.
“Listen here, Lieutenant, I am in command here. If I tell you I’m doing something for you, it’s out of the kindness of my soft fucking heart, and not because I owe you anything. If I -”
Neil disconnected the conference.
“Did you just hang up on a four star General?” Carl asked.
“He’ll call back.”
Neil leaned back and put his legs up on the table. A minute later, the screen displayed an incoming call. Neil didn’t answer it.
“You gonna get that?”
“Nah, I don’t feel like it.”
He wasn’t going to let some General think he was in charge. Neil was the one calling the shots. He waited for eight rings and finally answered the call.
“Listen you little mother -” The General’s face was completely red.
“Before you speak, I want to make sure you understand something. I am not your Soldier. I do not fall in your chain of command. I am a weapon. I decide where I go, what I do, who I talk to, and who I kill. You can point me in any direction you please, but I ultimately decide if I will fire when you pull the trigger. Is that clear?”
Neil couldn’t help but smile at the baffled look on the General’s face. He was not used to people speaking to him that way. It took several seconds for Dunford to respond.
“I’m transferring you to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He wants to speak with you.” Dunford spoke quickly, and transferred the call before Neil had a chance to say anything back.
The phone rang a few times, and General Dempsey answered.
“Son, you’ve done your country a great service. You can’t possibly begin to imagine the significance of the job you’ve just done for us.” Dempsey said.
“All in a day’s work, Sir.”
“Look, I know you just got back, but we could use your help with another urgent matter. I realize this is all coming at you rapid-fire, but I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t extremely important.”
Neil got the feeling he was going to be hearing people tell him that quite often.
“What is it?”
“North Korea. We’ve been battling all kinds of wildfires up here at the White House, and you just wiped out one of the biggest ones we’ve got. The bad news is that there are always more that pop up in their place. I don’t know if you’ve been following the situation in the Korean peninsula lately, but things have been quite heated. We need you to cool them down a little bit.”
“Let me guess, you want me to take out Kim Jong-Un?”
“No. Actually, it’s just the opposite. We want you to take out his two top Generals. We want you to protect Kim Jong-Un.”
Neil didn’t understand. Why protect the man that constantly threatened war on the United States?
“I don’t follow, Sir.”
“Right now, Kim Jong-Un is the one man preventing all-out war. He’s the only one that seems to have any kind of idea how badly a ground war would go for the DPRK. His Generals have been pushing for war for the past year. They are planning a military coup, and if they succeed, they will most likely invade South Korea. We would be able to fight them back, but not before they take over Seoul, and not before hundreds of thousands of people die.”
Assassinating two North Korean Generals would only make things worse for America if they found out who was behind the assassinations. Neil wasn’t quite sure their plan made sense.
“Sir, wouldn’t an American assassination of two North Korean Generals just further provoke war?”
“Yes, it would. That’s why it’s not going to look like America had anything to do with this. You must not be discovered. There is a council meeting in the capital of Pyongyang tomorrow evening. You will be in the city disguised as a reporter. You’ll need to take them out without arousing any suspicion whatsoever.”
How the hell was Neil supposed to pull that off?
“How the hell am I supposed to pull that off, Sir?”
“Get creative. The council begins at 0800 KST on Friday, which is 1800 tomorrow evening. You’ll meet our contact southwest of the city along the Taedong River. He’ll get you into the city near the palace where the council will be held. After that, it’s up to you. I have the utmost confidence in your abilities.” General Dempsey said.
It was easy to have confidence when he wasn’t the one who had to figure out how to complete the job.
Neil spent the rest of the evening planning for what seemed to be an impossible task. He tried to imagine a way to sneak into the palace without being detected, but there was no way to do it without taking a huge risk. If he couldn’t get in the palace, he wouldn’t be able to identify his targets.
Even if he was able to ge
t visual confirmation while remaining undetected, how would he kill them without arousing any suspicion? North Korea was on edge enough already. Any obvious assassination would be blamed on the United States by default.
The only logical choice would be to make it seem like an accident. Even then, someone would notice that it would be too large of a coincidence for two conspiring Generals to be accidentally killed on the same day.
Neil lay awake all night thinking of a plan, but nothing came to mind. He had gone through every possible scenario in his head, but everything seemed to have the capacity to go wrong. There would no doubt be too many guards in the council room for Neil to form a plan while guaranteeing he wouldn’t be caught. Kim Jong-Un was worshipped by his people. There’s no way they would let anything that could possibly harm him into the room.
Just then, Neil had an idea. It would require some practice, but it was just crazy enough to work.
---
“I need to borrow your body.” Neil said the next morning in the conference room.
“What?” Carl replied.
Neil knew he wasn’t going to like the idea.
“Look, it’s important. It has to do with the North Korea thing. I need to practice controlling your body. I need to make sure I can make it look real.”
“What kind of crazy ass plan did you come up with? I’m almost certain there has to be some better way that doesn’t involve you controlling my body.”
Carl definitely wasn’t very keen on the idea.
“I asked out of courtesy. I don’t exactly need your permission.”
Neil saw the look of defeat on Carl’s face. He would get over it.
“I’m never going to forgive you for this. What do you need me to do?”
“Absolutely nothing.” Neil said, as he took control of Carl’s body.
Neil froze Carl’s motor functions and tried moving each joint one by one. The movement was difficult to get used to. He tried to move Carl’s hand over an apple on the table and pick it up, but precisely controlling the fingers was problematic.
Neil tried adjusting the way he thought about using Carl’s body. He imagined that they were his own fingers, and that he was controlling them the same way he would pick up an apple.
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