by Greg Gotti
Diaz looked at him in surprised confusion as he found the switch and flipped it. The heavy door buzzed as it was released from its lock, and Heredia ran to it. He pulled it open and slid aside the panel covering the small window in the interior door. The cell was completely dark.
“Ughhhh, come open this interior door!” he yelled.
Diaz brought the keys and slid one into the doorway. He pulled, but the door wouldn’t move.
“I hate this stupid ring,” he said. “I can never find the right key.”
“Hurry up!” Heredia yelled. “Command is already pissed enough!”
“Hey, I’m trying, man!” Diaz slid another key in, but the door still didn’t move.
Heredia looked on in exasperation as Diaz tried a third key. This one worked, and he pulled the door open. Heredia rushed inside to find an empty cell. He felt the blood drain from his face.
“What the… where is he?” Diaz exclaimed in surprise.
Heredia ran for the elevator. He had to go through the security protocols again, and he howled in frustration as he waited. He finally cleared the doors and took the elevator to the upper floor. He ran for his office and picked up the phone trying to catch his breath enough to speak clearly as his heart pounded.
“Sir?” he said into the handset.
“What did you find, sergeant?” Rodriguez asked.
“He’s gone, sir. Wallace is gone.”
He heard Rodriguez curse, and he cringed as he waited for his reply. When the High General spoke again, his voice was icy and struck fear into Heredia’s heart.
“I want you to immediately put the facility on lockdown. Wake everyone up, and I do mean everybody. Initiate defense protocols. Arm everyone. Do I make myself clear?”
“Very clear, sir,” Heredia answered as he felt beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He suddenly realized he was holding his breath and forced himself to exhale.
“Time is crucial, sergeant. Call back when you’ve done it.” The line went dead, and Heredia jumped up and ran out the door.
John stood in stunned silence as Maria stopped and looked into his eyes. She looked so beautiful in the moonlight; almost like an angel of some sort in the soft glow of the moon. Her eyes shone with a mix of pain and love as she smiled at him. He reached out for her and she rushed to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He embraced her tightly and kissed the top of her head as she buried her face in his chest. John felt the tears stream freely down his cheeks. He couldn’t stop kissing her head. She pulled away just enough to tilt her head up to look at him. He saw her tears and lowered his lips to hers and kissed her deeply. His legs felt weak and he leaned back against one of the beams. He looked into her eyes and smiled.
“Maria, they told me you had drowned. They’ve kept me in a cell for all this time. I wish I could…”
“I know, John,” she said softly.
His eyes widened in surprise.
“You understand me?” he asked.
“It has been a year, John. I’ve been in a place much like the one you have been in. I have learned your language enough to understand it.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“I am fine. They fed me and gave me clean clothes and medicine. I am more worried about you.”
“I’m fine, Maria. Did they touch you? Did they…”
“John, nobody hurt me. Nobody touched me. I need you to listen, John. We don’t have much time.”
“Time? What do you mean?”
“Listen, I told them I would go back, but only if they returned you unharmed. So much has happened. I don’t know what they’ve told you, but much has happened. Everything is different now.”
“What do you mean, ‘go back’? I’m not going anywhere without you, Maria.”
“Yes, you are, John. You have to. They know about us. You know it’s not allowed. They won’t let us be together. They can’t let us be together; it would ruin things.”
“Wait, is this a prisoner exchange? Is that what this is? I’m not going back without you. There’s nothing back there for me now. I don’t want to be anywhere but with you.”
“That’s two minutes! Let’s go!” a voice came from the end of the bridge Maria had come from.
“Don’t go, Maria. Come with me,” John whispered.
“I can’t, John. This is the only way.”
“I’m NOT going without you.”
“Yes, you are!” she whispered forcefully. Her eyes filled with urgency. “Do you love me, John?”
“With all my heart; I love you, Maria.”
“Let’s go. NOW!” the voice came again. This time it sounded angry.
“If you love me, walk to the other side. You have to trust me. If you want us to be together, you have to trust me. I love you, John. Go.”
She broke away from him and walked towards the end of the bridge where Martinez waited.
“Maria!” John called to her.
She turned as she walked away and pointed to the other end of the bridge. He watched as she disappeared into the shadows and stood staring into that darkness as he felt a tight squeeze at his heart. He hung his head as he turned and walked to the other end of the bridge.
He was met at the other end by two young, blonde SSS soldiers holding rifles. John didn’t recognize them. He stopped at the end of the bridge and the younger men stepped aside.
“Welcome home, Captain Wallace,” one soldier said as he held his rifle sideways across his abdomen.
“Thank you,” John mumbled with a nod. “Where are we?”
“Please come with us, captain. Our commander is waiting. He will have some of the answers you seek, sir.” The young man was smiling, but there was nothing friendly about him. John walked with one soldier on each side as they escorted him to a pair of jeeps where three men stood waiting. Two of them he didn’t recognize; the third one he did.
Schwarz.
His old friend stood smoking a cigarette wearing a smirk John could see from 50 feet away in the moonlight. He suddenly felt more like a prisoner than a man who had just returned to his own people. He stopped about five steps from Schwarz and waited. Schwarz took a long hit of what was left of his cigarette and tossed it away. He blew the cloud of smoke off to the side and smiled.
“Captain Wallace, words cannot express how happy I am to have you standing before me tonight. Welcome home.”
It was everything John could do not to reach out and snap Schwarz’s neck. He forced himself to smile and play the part of the good Soona soldier as Schwarz stepped forward and embraced him. John patted him on the back and gave his most convincing happy face.
“It’s good to be home,” he said. “Where exactly are we?”
“On the Arcangel, a good deal east of where you were captured,” Schwarz answered. “This is one of several ‘neutral zones’ we have established with the RID. We use them for exchanges like this one.”
“The Ristas were willing to give me up for a single Soona woman?” John asked. That didn’t make any sense to him at all. Something wasn’t right.
“The daughter of the soon-to-be president of the Rista Federation is not just another woman, John.”
“John? What happened to ‘Captain Wallace’?” John tried to give his voice the authority his rank commanded, but Schwarz was having none of it. He waved his hand as he turned his head.
“Please, John, let us not play this game. I think I can call a fellow officer by his first name after that officer falls in love with Rista woman. I mean, that is pretty much treason.”
“I did what I had to in order to survive, Schwarz. Standard protocol when trapped behind enemy lines, as you well know. It’s not like I married the woman.”
Schwarz laughed out loud, and John was surprised to hear the others laugh with him. He wondered why that was so funny. He really hated the SSS sometimes.
“Let’s take a ride, shall we?” Schwarz asked as he stretched a hand towards one of the jeeps. John followed him to the closest one
and climbed into the front passenger seat as Schwarz got in back. One of the blonde soldiers got behind the wheel and fired up the engine. They set off across the moonlit countryside, and John closed his eyes at the feel of the air whipping through his hair. They drove into the pine forest and traveled for a few minutes until they reached a gate. Two guards approached the jeep, and after checking their credentials, they allowed them into some sort of complex. There were several buildings and a water tower, all concealed by the thick trees all around the installation. The jeeps pulled up to one of these, and the men got out. Schwarz dismissed the other men as he motioned for John to follow.
“Come on, John. Let us talk inside.”
He followed Schwarz through the door and across the small lobby as Schwarz casually mentioned how the facility was just recently finished and all the things that had gone into building it without anyone knowing. John listened as they walked through the halls and got onto an elevator.
“You see, John; this facility is a key location in our struggle against our sworn enemy. Many of our operations are supported from here and similar installations throughout our territory. We interrogate prisoners here, and we even house strategic personnel like your little Rista girlfriend. We kept her here; waiting for the time to be right for tonight.”
The elevator made a pinging sound, and the doors slid open to reveal another lobby. Schwarz made a right out of the elevator and continued down the hall with John.
“You see, John. Your little Rista woman is the sole reason you are standing here today. When we discovered who she was, some wanted to trade her back to her father in exchange for territorial concessions, but we both know Rodriguez would have sent in his special forces instead. That man is as brilliant a military mind as there has ever been. He still does not know his daughter is alive from my understanding. Your Maria was caught in one of the traps you ordered placed in the shallows of the Arcangel; that is irony of the highest order. They tell me you were found in the river holding her face just above the water to prevent her from drowning. You could have escaped easily, but you didn’t. You were not simply doing what you must in order to survive. You were willing to be killed or captured to save the woman. I did not fully understand why at first, but now it makes perfect sense.”
Schwarz stopped and opened a door just around the corner from the hall where the elevator was. He turned on the light and walked into the room. There was a small bed against the wall, and a blonde woman sitting in a rocking chair feeding a child with a bottle. John watched as the baby quietly sucked away, and the woman gave him a smile. She rose and came to him. John looked at the baby, and it suddenly dawned on him. The boy had light hair with a distinct reddish hue and a light caramel complexion. The woman held the child out to John. He looked at her confused, and she gave him a look imploring him to take the baby. He took hold of him gently and carefully. He sat down in the chair and took the bottle she offered him. He held it to the child’s mouth, and the little one sucked at the nipple as he opened his eyes and looked at him.
“His eyes,” said the nurse with a smile, “they are the same royal blue as yours.”
John looked into the eyes of his son and felt the tears coming. He didn’t try to hold them back. He leaned over and kissed the little one’s forehead as the floodgates opened. He looked at the woman, who stood by smiling with genuine happiness.
“What’s his name?” he asked.
“Juan,” she answered, “the same as his grandfather. It’s the Rista version of your own name.”
John smiled and looked at his son. The little one was tired and slowed his sucking until he stopped. John carefully moved him to rest on his shoulder and gently patted his back until he burped. The nurse brought a towel and wiped the bit of spittle from Juan’s mouth as John cradled his head in the crook of his elbow and gently rocked him to sleep. He stroked his hair and caressed his cheek as the nurse quietly followed Schwarz out of the room.
Chapter Thirteen
Heredia stormed through the halls of Facility 4, his fatigue just a memory as the red lights flickered from the ceiling. The entire facility was on lockdown. Every operative on site was now checking every inch of Facility 4 for any sign of the escaped Soona officer. Colonel Martinez was nowhere to be found. Heredia returned to the communications center and called Command. Colonel Garcia answered, and Heredia filled him in.
“Sir, we are searching the entire complex. I haven’t been able to locate Colonel Martinez yet, but we are searching everywhere.”
“You aren’t going to find Colonel Martinez anywhere, sergeant. He has likely taken Wallace with him.”
“Sir?”
“I want you to listen to me very carefully, Sergeant Heredia. Colonel Martinez has violated the trust placed in him by the Rista Federation. He may very well even be a traitor. I want you to arrest him on sight under the 111 authority I have given you. If he will not go peacefully, you are authorized to take him by any force needed. I am relieving him of command on that basis as of now. Am I understood?”
“I understand, sir.” He could feel his pulse in his temples.
“Good. The High General is on his way to you. It will take him several hours to get there. In the meantime, Special Forces are heading your way. They should reach you any time now. When Captain Fuentes arrives, you are to give him anything he wants. Do you hear me? Absolutely anything Captain Fuentes asks for, he gets.”
“I will help him in any way I can, sir.”
“You’d better! Now listen very carefully. If I find out you endangered the Federation by giving Fuentes any crap about clearance levels, I will have you overseeing prisoners in the mining labor camps within a week. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand, sir. I am on it, sir.”
“Good. Have Captain Fuentes call me as soon as he arrives. Don’t disappoint me, sergeant.” The line went dead, and Heredia replaced the handset in its cradle. What the heck is going on, he wondered as he hurried off to carry out his orders. Something big was happening, and it seemed obvious Martinez was at the center of it. Command was calling the colonel a traitor, and that was as serious as it got. If he found Martinez, he would arrest him without hesitation and lock him up. Rodriguez could decide what to do with him after that.
Jose Martinez and his two men led Maria through the woods on their way back towards Facility 4. Things had gone well to this point, but this was always going to be the hard part. This plan had been many months in the works, and the trust built between the parties involved was a fragile one. Having to move the timetable up on short notice had forced everyone to alter their approaches. Much depended on how John was handling things with the SSS. If he failed to convince them everything was on the level, they would walk away; leaving him the only one without a chair when the music stopped playing. He looked at the diminutive woman walking beside him. He figured her to be about five feet tall; maybe just a shade under. Her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail that hung to the middle of her back. She was small, but she kept up with them easily as they hurried across the terrain. She was not particularly beautiful, but she was far from plain. She had the type of face that conveyed a sense of strength, yet she was delicate and pretty in her own way as well. He could see why Wallace had been taken with her.
“So, Miss Rodriguez,” he began, “did they give you something for me?”
Her face registered her recognition, and she removed the necklace hanging around her neck and handed it to him. He smiled as he read the numbers inscribed on it: 1865. The year the first American Civil War ended, he realized. He appreciated the sentiment and hoped his counterpart would appreciate his own. He slipped the chain around his own neck and smiled at Maria.
“They tell me your son looks much like his father.”
She nodded in agreement but said nothing.
“I have gotten to know John pretty well over this time. I do not think you could have chosen a better man to father your child.”
Maria kept her silence, and he looke
d away perplexed. They had warned him she was strong-willed. She probably needed a man like Wallace to be happy; someone strong enough to handle her.
Perez turned into the woods ahead of them, and Martinez led Maria into the darkness of the trees. His other agent, Finkes, guarded their rear as they advanced.
“Your father is poised to become the next President of the Rista Federation. He still believes you are dead; drowned by the Soona.”
Maria stopped in her tracks and shoved Martinez. Finkes came running up, but the colonel raised his hand up to stop him.
“Why? Why did you not tell him I am alive? Why?” Maria’s voice grew louder as she demanded an answer, and Martinez motioned for her to calm down.
“Miss Rodriguez, this is all a chess match. I have a responsibility to our people to protect them. Had I told your father you were alive, he would have demanded your immediate return. The Soona would have refused, and he would have sent our boys storming across the Arcangel to rescue you. We had no idea where they were keeping you until recently; although, we did try to find out. We do not have the strength to launch an offensive against the Soona. We could not have our northern army decimated as it looked under every rock and in every cave north of the Arcangel trying to find you.”
Maria thought about that for a minute while they walked. She understood what Martinez was saying, but she felt a tug at her heart as she realized what pain her father must have been enduring over the past year. She felt a deep sadness about everything. She had to leave her beloved baby behind to buy John’s freedom and ensure both his and Juan’s survival. Her father thought she was dead. She had hoped he would be here when she returned tonight. Even knowing how he would feel about her bearing the son of a Soona, she missed him and loved him dearly. She wondered how he would react to finding out she was still alive. Would he take her into his arms and rejoice? Would he be furious with the RID for not letting him know? Would he bring Diego Fuentes with him? Maria felt a shiver run through her as she contemplated that. Her fiancé was about to find out what she had done. She fervently hoped her father would tell Diego what had happened, and Diego would wash his hands of her. She wished that with all her heart. Nothing could ever go back to the way it had been. Not now; not ever.
