Commandos

by Madlen Namro

  She tried to reach back into her memories – graduation day at the academy, her first kiss, and her parents seeing her off at the airport.

  She managed to pull herself to her feet. She’d always been a diligent student and never caused trouble as a daughter. In the evenings, after she came back from school, she would sit in front of her models and construct military bases or plan out battles, her computer and her father equally involved in her childhood games. Her father, a computer programmer, taught her a great deal, while her mother, although suffering from a serious illness, eagerly took care of the house. Jo was a single child and she grew up surrounded by love.

  The events outside the safe haven of her home, however, were far from peaceful. Terrorist agencies took over more and more territory, which eventually forced her family to move out to former France which was the seat of the United Nations. It was still a place of relative stability. It also had the best schools.

  “I have to go.” But Margaret made her sit back on her bed.

  The military academy she attended was one of the best in those days. It trained the best commandos, even though women were still a minority in their ranks.

  The main focus of her studies, apart from years of theoretical classes, was on practical application and onfield training. She’d spent many years mastering her piloting skills and driving land vehicles. She learnt cybernetics and trained her body to peak physical shape. With each passing year, her fascination with aircraft and spaceships grew stronger.

  “I have to go. I feel fine, really.” Jo made an effort to lift herself back on to her feet again, ignoring the obvious discontent of the nurse. “I have to. We’re flying to Atlantis, aren’t we?”

  “Atlantis? I really think you should rest.”

  She watched Jo gather herself. Her protests were of not much use. Jo was as stubborn as any captain.

  In her last, tenth year, at university, she knew, unless she made it into special forces, she would never amount to anything. She would spend her days with thousands of other soldiers cooped up in military bases, swallowing nutrition pills and helplessly watching terrorists take over the world. She wanted to fight and win back her parents’ home.

  During the final examinations run by NASA she slipped up. She was not accepted for the base. Far from giving up, she wrote a passionate letter requesting another chance to take the exam and, although she was given the most difficult shuttle pilotage task, she passed with brilliant results.

  Jo noticed she was dressed in nothing but her underwear. She grabbed her clothes from a chair and, not without difficulty, started putting on her trousers and tshirt. Her body felt heavy. Every muscle seemed to be carrying the weight of ten kilograms more than usual.

  “I’m not going to just sit here. I have to know why we’re flying to Atlantis.”

  Margaret approached her with a glass of water. Jo drank it in one swig and as she handed back the empty glass noticed that the woman was holding something else in her hand.

  “What’s that?”

  Margaret took Jo’s wrist and placed the disc in her hand.

  “It’s a carrier, Jo. The last five years of your life are recorded on this disc.”

  A wave of memories overwhelmed Jo again. During that exam, she proved that she was the kind of commando needed on the Luna, a skilled professional, but also a decent person. Someone capable of sympathy were needed, someone who could comfort others when reports of yet another bombing came through from areas where crew members’ loved ones lived.

  “Thanks.” Jo pocketed the carrier, surprised it was handed to her just like that. “I reckon Levi is the only one who knows the password to it, isn’t he?”

  “Exactly as you wished.” Margaret looked up anxiously. Jo was known for her strict respect for both the law and unwritten rules. She left the room, where everything seemed familiar and new at the same time. Once more she started scanning through her memories.

  Memories of her graduation, and her parents’ joy when she first boarded the Luna; so that must be this shuttle, she thought. After that, it had been all work, hard work and more work. Until one day an order from the NASA council assigned her to take part in a secret mission for which she was to report to the nearest base. She also remembered a new draft of commandos, but at that time she had already been preparing to leave the shuttle. As she was leaving the medical quarters she realised that past that moment her memory was a complete blank.

  * * * *

  “Atlantis back online, Commodore!”

  Levi rushed towards the videophone, but before he could get to it, the connection was lost once more. He told Leon to keep trying. The pilot was feeling under the weather and held a handkerchief to his nose while trying to re-establish the com-link with the base.

  “Put me through!” the commodore demanded. “It worked a moment ago, didn’t it?”

  “There’s no signal. I can’t get the values right, Sir!” Leon felt helpless looking at the console. All he could think of was going to bed, but the commodore’s breath over his shoulder felt much hotter than the fever he felt overtaking him.

  “Get rid of the spheres,” said Levi firmly, the timbre of his voice growing stronger. He already knew that the connection would soon be established.

  “What’s he talking about?” Leon whispered to Eric, clearly at a loss.

  “Mental blockage. You’re stressed and it’s holding you up. Try to unwind and everything will work just fine. In the commodore’s book, every mental weakness is a sphere.”

  They glanced at each other anxiously. The combination of respect and fear they felt for the commodore was their best motivation.

  Levi’s eyes suddenly went bleary. He felt a wave of heat rushing down his spine. He only needed to focus for a brief moment and he would be able to sense all he needed to know about one of his commandos, thousands of kilometres away. The commodore’s abilities were commonly known to his crew.

  There had been many nights when entire cities had burnt in the fires from yet another terrorist attack and when everything in sight came shuttering down and had disappeared off the face of the Earth.

  It was on such a night, in one of the furthest corners of the globe that David, a commando of formidable reputation, was nearing the end of a long and perilous mission. He’d managed to infiltrate a terrorist base and place a transmitter with which the surveillance of the enemy’s movements was to be taken to a new level. He was one of the commandos held in the highest esteem by the commodore. David had developed great inner discipline. He was in full control of his body and mind and had the rare ability to master his pain, be it physical or mental. He was a man utterly devoted to his ideals, fearless and absolutely reliable. He had the motivation and courage necessary to undertake this sort of mission.

  David finished packing his rucksack and prepared to leave the house which basement had been his hideout for the last couple of days. As he passed the doorway, he glanced back at the wall-screen which was continuously airing news of current global developments.

  “The United Nations has called for a special sitting of the Defence Council. The exact date of the session is yet to be disclosed.”

  He switched the wall off with a remote, strapped on his rucksack and walked out the door. He took one last weary look at the beautiful landscape stretching in front of his eyes. He was exhausted, dirty and unshaven. He longed to finally return home, see his son Robert and once more talk to people he could call his true friends. He wanted to feel safe again. He nodded. He’d waited long enough. He walked briskly towards the shed where his console was hidden. He pulled it out, swept off the thin layer of dust and turned it on. It was time to get in touch with the Luna and call for a ride home.

  * * * *

  Jo was making her way through the endless maze of the shuttle’s corridors. Whenever a passer-by greeted her she would return the salute, but she did not recognise anyone. She felt silly, nodding at everyone she walked into. She struggled to fish their faces out of her memory but foun
d nothing but blankness. With each corner she passed, the unpleasant sensation grew stronger. After a while she decided to focus on her surroundings rather than the people. She’d always had a good sense of direction. She carefully studied training rooms behind the see-through walls and the doors leading to private quarters. She rediscovered the emotions associated with the ship. She’d always loved space shuttles and this one was more of a second home than simply a means of transport to her. Jo had fallen in love with the Luna at first glance. The obiter looked a lot like a gigantic passenger plane. She had a low-wing design with an appealingly proportionate wingspan and a long, threehundred-metre passenger deck. She followed the corridor, engrossed in analysing every detail of the ship’s construction, until it led her to the door of the navigation room. As she approached the doorway, she was spotted by Alec. At the very same moment a child called out to her from behind. The commando hid behind the corner carefully watching her. He was curious how she’d react.

  “Captain Jo!” The boy ran up to her and gleefully hugged her around the waist.

  “Yes?” She could not remember who the boy was. He couldn’t be her son, could he? No, he was at least seven or eight years of age and her memory wipe had only gone back five years.

  “Have you heard from Dad?” As he looked up at her, Jo noticed adorable dimples in his plump cheeks and could not but smile back at him.

  “What’s your name?” she asked, perplexed. The blanks in her memory were beginning to get to her far worse than she’d expected.

  “Don’t you know? It’s me, Robert!” The boy gave her a weary look, taken aback.

  “Oh, of course, Robert… I’m sorry…” The situation made her feel awkward.

  “When is Dad coming back?” the child demanded.

  Puzzled, Jo had no idea what to say.

  An elderly woman approached them. The boy’s grandmother? Jo’s thoughts raced, trying to put this increasingly confusing puzzle together. The woman nodded at her as she reached for the boy’s hand.

  “Hello.” She pulled at the boy’s arm, “You’ll talk later. Your classes are starting.”

  They walked away. Jo stood still for a moment, following the boy with her eyes, before she turned back to the navigation room doors. She was disheartened. The meeting made her realise just how much she’d lost and how many questions she would have to answer soon. What else could they ask about? Deep in thought, Jo walked past Alec, who was still hiding behind the corner and moving away as she came closer.

  Inside the navigation room the atmosphere was heating up.

  “Commodore!” Eric called out. “We have an incoming transmission from Earth.”

  The commodore put on his headset. It was David.

  “Commodore Levi, the mission is done. I repeat: mission accomplished. I request permission to return to base.”

  “Copy that. We’ll contact you ASAP, but you have to hold out a while longer. We must first reach Atlantis.”

  “It’s not a picnic here, Sir! I can’t wait much longer!”

  “I realise that. We’re coming to get you. You have my word.” The commodore’s voice expressed more certainty than he really felt. He knew it would not be easy.

  “How’s Robert?”

  “We’re taking care of him.”

  “And you?”

  “We’re all doing fine. Hold on David. Over and out.” Levi lifted his hand to his closely shaved head.

  Everyone else in the room seemed relieved. The pilots were excited by the successful communication. They knew that for security reasons the conversation could not have been longer. Leon and Eric exchanged high-fives.

  “Does David know about Jo?” Eric asked the commodore.

  However, Levi did not respond. How the hell would David know, he asked himself.

  “She doesn’t remember him?” the pilot insisted, looking his commander straight in the eyes.

  “It’s going to crack him up.” Leon shrugged and got up from his seat.

  Suddenly, they all noticed the captain standing in the doorway and froze.

  “Hey Jo, what’s up?” Eric tried to strike a lighter tone. He was happy to see her.

  “I’m okay,” she answered coldly. She had no idea who the two pilots were. “I want to pilot the ship to Atlantis.” She looked at the commodore, who smiled.

  “She’s all yours.”

  * * * *

  Diana was on tenterhooks, sitting in her room, thinking. She’d only just begun to realise how much of a deal it could have been to Alec to find out about Jo’s memory erasure. It was as if they’d never met, as if they had had no history together. This may have been a good thing from Diana’s point of view, but from Alec’s? How was she to know what he would feel? She felt lost and confused. She could not even get her mind around the reason why Jo had had her memory wiped in the first place. She’d seemed to have come to terms with the fact that Alec was with his new wife now. Maybe she needed the procedure to be able to fall in love with someone else, to start anew. But that would mean Jo could fall for her husband again. Doubts piled up in her mind like mountains over a stormy ocean. Her heart pounded. She may as well never fall in love again

  – Diana tried to calm herself down. And Alec is mine now, isn’t he?

  It took a while before she realised that someone had been knocking at her door unobtrusively for some time.

  Pregnant and barely three weeks from her term, she struggled to get up. She would give Alec a son, something Jo could never match. When she opened the door, she saw Margaret, her face grim and pale.

  “Do you have it, Meg?” Diana skipped courtesy and came straight to the point.

  Margaret walked inside. She was distressed, her hands glistening with sweat.

  “I shouldn’t be doing this, Diana.” Without asking for permission, she poured herself a glass of water and downed it in one swig, wishing it was something much stronger.

  “Don’t worry about it. No one’s going to find out. It’ll be our little secret.” A false smile appeared on Diana’s face.

  “Sure. But it was just me and the commodore in the room. If any of this comes out, I’ll be fired.”

  Diana walked up to Margaret, strangely amused by her second thoughts.

  “No one’s going to fire you. The whole bloody procedure was illegal, don’t you see?” She could no longer hold her laughter. “Check mate, get it?”

  Margaret drew a heavy breath and reached into her pocket producing a disc, a copy of Jo’s memories. There was a sudden glint in Diana’s eyes. She stared at it greedily.

  “All right. I’ll give it to you, but you have to promise me this will never come out.” She handed Diana the disc and left the room without as much as looking back. She knew all too well how stubborn Diana could be, how toxic her obsessions had become once she’d learnt about Jo and Alec. She used to be so different once. Margaret had no idea how she could help her friend, but she prayed for a solution to this mess, which would bring Diana back from this insanity.

  Meanwhile, Diana stared at her wedding photo with Alec and, stroking her belly with one hand, grasped at the disc with the other, as if afraid she might drop it.

  As for Alec, he felt lonely and confused. On the one hand, he had a wife, soon a son, and on the other there was Jo. They were no longer a couple, but they still worked together and had remained friends. Now he was going to lose even that. He walked into one of the gyms, surprised to see there was no one there. He changed into a kimono, feeling a strong need to sweat the tension out of his system. He switched on a simulation programme and began the training. With every move he felt heaviness lifting off his chest and back, as sweat started to bead on his skin. Literally translated, kung fu meant hard work. He’d realised long ago that physical exercise was the best way to deal with any form of stress, particularly one connected with women.

  The psyche can react pressure. Even the best extensive training could forget everything they’d learnt in a blink of an eye when stressed.

  He compl
etely concentrated on the training so that he did not notice Levi who walked silently into the room and was now carefully studying his commando. The commodore knew painfully well that all he had tried to teach this man, all the knowledge, lessons of respect, patience and morality were forfeited the moment he broke up with Jo.

  Alec noticed Levi and broke out of his trance. “Can I help you, Commodore?”

  Levi suggested training together. It had been a long time since Alec had last practiced kung fu with a living opponent. The commando was reluctant, but in no position to refuse. Sparring was the best form of practice available to any adept of martial arts. It incorporated every element of the art and prepared the practitioner for actual combat. For a while they exchanged blows without a word.

  The commodore broke the silence. “I see you’re really in the strangest ways under commandos with the most trying to vent out some anger.”

  “Oh yeah.” Alec made a high kick aiming for the forearm, putting all his strength into it, but Levi’s advantage was more than obvious from the first moments of the fight. Levi was a master of numerous combat styles, even the most exotic ones, imitating movements of powerful animals such as the tiger, praying mantis or dragon. He combined them all in a calm, fully controlled manner. Training was supposed to teach, not harm.

  “Better now?” Levi reached down to help the commando to his feet. But as he leant, Alec’s eyes fixed on the memorial access chip hanging from a chain around the commodore’s neck. He immediately knew what he was looking at and without a word gathered himself up and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Levi stood motionless for a moment, trying to get his head around what had just happened. He pitied Alec and realised how hard the last months had been for him. On the other hand, the man had so much negativity in him, so many flaws which the commodore had been trying to root out for years. A once polite, talented commando had turned into an edgy grump, so antipathetic that he’d managed to turn nearly every person onboard against him. After he had cheated on Jo, he begged her to forgive him, and she probably would have if it had not been for Diana and her pregnancy. Once Jo found out about that, she solemnly promised Alec they would never be together again. That was probably, more than anything else, what pushed him to marry the future mother of his child. It was no use explaining that he’d been drunk, that it had been an accident. Levi remembered it as if it had happened only yesterday. Jo went through another nervous breakdown, almost as bad as the one she’d suffered after returning from that mentally shattering mission. He pondered on it for a while.