Otto and Dieter crept onto the porch and hunkered below the level of the door's glass pane. Otto had the door key in his right hand, the doorknob in his left. Dieter had two flash grenades in his hands. Dieter would roll one grenade into the living room, and lob the other towards the back of the house.
Sven was in a similar position on the backstairs stoop. He too had a key in his right hand. However, he'd need his left hand to turn the knob at the same time as the key. For this reason, his flash grenade was on the stoop within easy reach. Sven's attack into the kitchen would start about three seconds after the attack into the living room because of his delay in picking up the grenade. There'd be no sound when the three grenades exploded – nothing to cause neighbours to poke their heads out of their houses. All flash, no crash just like Mac had ordered for her own attack. The flashes should immobilize their targets for at least ten seconds. This would be more than long enough for the three SODs to follow the blast into the room, draw their weapons, and finish the job. Pre-emptive strikes. You gotta love them. Unsuspecting victims. Yum.
"Keys in."
Two keys slid noiselessly into the locks.
"On 3. 1...2...3!"
Dieter and Otto waited for the two flashes and entered the living room, guns drawn. One gun tracked left, the other tracked right, looking for the general's body. It should have been on the ground in front of his chair. The chair that had some sort of body pillow in it right now.
"Out here, boys," the general's voice said.
Reacting exactly as they had been trained to do from an instruction manual written by the general, Dieter poked his head around the left jamb of the door, searching for a target. Otto poked his head around the right jamb. The general's ceremonial sword flashed once, and then a second time.
"That's for killing my wife," General MacLatchie informed Otto and Dieter's bodies. Then he wiped the blood off the sword with a towel he had prepared in advance, stepped over the bodies and moved silently towards the back of the house. The noises coming from the kitchen indicated that Mac was almost finished.
A few seconds earlier, Sven had completed a summersault roll into the kitchen on the heels of his flash grenade and was coming to his feet, looking for Mac's body. He saw it coming out of the broom closet. Her towel was no longer hiding the communications gear on her head. Her bathrobe was no longer hiding... her near naked body?
Sven froze at the unexpected turn of events, and Mac was in front of him by the time he was able to pull his eyes away. He saw a ceremonial knife in her hand and his hand was flashing to his holster when she struck.
"This is for what you did to my father," she said and thrust the knife deep into his stomach. She used two hands to pull the knife upward and then out. "The hari-kari strike that my father was planning on using on himself. First used in Japan in the late 19th century. A wound like this is a sign of a dishonourable act."
Sven had fallen to his knees, his hands clasped to his belly. Mac moved to his side and Pea Sticker was suddenly out of the sheath on her forearm and in her right hand. "This is for my mother whose neck you broke because you were greedy for some money." The knife flashed and blood spurted out of his neck and into the air. Sven collapsed onto his back.
"This is for me. I told you what I'd do if you came after me again." And she leaned over his face and Pea Sticker did what Mac had warned Sven her knife would do.
"Did you disrobe to your skivvies so that he would be stunned?" the general asked from behind her.
Mac straightened and turned her head. The general's back was turned and he was removing his communications gear from his head. "No, although I figured that it would have that effect. I didn't want his blood all over my clothes. Give me a minute to rinse off and get dressed. I'll use the garden hose."
"I wondered why you had moved that. I'll remove the surveillance bugs. I expect I should report a break-in," the general said.
"Expecting any problem?"
"No. The Military Police have been told what was going to happen here tonight and why. Sven, Otto and Dieter attacked us. We have the right to defend ourselves."
The general's mention of police brought back a memory for Mac. "Do you remember teaching me about fragmenting bullets way back when?"
"Certainly. They're usually constructed like hollow point bullets but with deeper and larger cavities. Introduced first into the UK in the late 20th century."
"Fragmenting bullets saw plenty of action during the English rebellion in 2136. Their main advantage was that if the shot missed, it would not injure nearby citizens because it would break into tiny pieces when it hit a solid surface." Mac finished the lesson.
"Why did you ask?"
"Your mention of police reminded me of a quiz show that I had been on recently. I competed against a British policeman."
"Win?"
"Yah. He didn't know that fragmenting bullets wouldn't leave a scar on some pavement."
"Win much?"
"No, not much. Equivalent in Monopoly terms to a Get out of jail free card." Mac moved towards the back door to rinse off when the general's voice stopped her.
"Nice job, Soldier."
Some things are never going to change. But other things can change. "Right back at you, Dad," she replied.
# # # # # # # #
Some of my readers may have been dismayed by the coldness that Mac and her father displayed in their actions against the SODs. You saw swift executions but with inexplicable attention to details like keeping blood off one's clothes or wiping the blood off a ceremonial sword. Callous. Dispassionate. Mac and her dad were not eager to enjoy the killing, unlike the SODs, but they may have been uncomfortably uncaring for the reader's taste.
Military forces of that time were, in many cases, the last bastion of democracy and freedom. Soldiers put their lives on the line and could expect to be killed in a battle, or from a sniping position at any time. They had to be able to respond immediately and effectively to any threat to their lives. One didn't do that with a Stop, let's talk about this entreaty. Nor could you shoot to wound. Soldiers were expected to kill: effectively, efficiently, and without undue pain to your enemy. That was the code. And in the military, the code that governed all their actions kept them sane. And alive.
There was no justice system back then. There was only the code. The SODs had violated the code in numerous ways. Did they receive justice? Certainly. Was it uncomfortably immediate and bloody for you the reader? Perhaps. But that's what happens when you knowingly attack professional killers. Mac and the general did what they had been trained to do. Then they put what happened out of their mind and went on with their lives. Just as they were expected to do.
There was one small footnote to the attack, however. The day after the attack on the general's home, as the base buzzed about what had happened, Mac went to the base's supply warehouse. Peering cautiously around the large door to the interior, she saw Q and walked directly in. Q was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the warehouse, his side arm a few feet in front of him, stripped to its components. He himself was stripped to his military boxers. The rest of his uniform was folded neatly to one side; his beret and service medals on top.
"Figured you'd be by," he said as Mac approached.
"Why did you do this, Q? Why you of all people?"
"Money," he said. "I was going to be wealthy. I was going to have my own ranch, a big house, and servants. The guys too."
"But you weren't paid when you delivered the arms," Mac said.
"You knew that?" and Mac nodded. "We were on the installment plan. A couple more years, and we'd have it all."
"My mother had to die for you to have a ranch?"
"I had nothing to do with that. I provided the stolen weaponry and cooked the books. I never talked with them; didn't know what they were planning. I didn't want anyone to get hurt."
"Accessory after the fact," Mac judged. "You're as guilty as Sven. Plus you kept on stealing after the murder. You could have said somet
hing to someone. You could have done something."
"Yeah, I know. Sven's blackmail stuff is hidden in the bottom of the base's water tank."
"I know. We'll retrieve it after everything dies down."
"I put all my stuff over there," and he nodded to his uniform.
"There won't be any military honours, Q."
"I didn't expect any. I always liked you, Mac."
"I liked you too, Q." Mac put a pistol on the ground next to her feet. "There's only one bullet. Do it properly so you won't suffer. Or take the public trial and jail time. Your choice."
Mac turned and walked away.
Q did what the code called for in this circumstance. Don't bring public disgrace to the Corp.
# # # # # # # #
Here's a question for my readers. Do you remember how Will learned about something that happened in Mac's past that was so troubling that he didn't know if he should inform Wolf about it or not? That event, of course, was the murder of Mac's mother. Will was afraid that if he told Wolf about it, Wolf might do something that could change the future. He tried to ask a pretend Izzy but she wasn't too willing to help. She was checking his shirts for perfume at the time.
Will never did tell Wolf what he had discovered. He decided that he had to let the future play out the way it would play out without his involvement in Mac and her father's lives. As you've seen, Mac and her dad did figure out that the SODs had arranged the fatal accident. Mac's meeting with her mom's friend in Regina was the vital event. Once she asked the question how could Mac's mother be killed in an accident that didn't cause any harm to the other occupant, it was only a matter of time before Mac was able to adjust enough of the garden to give her father the news. It was at that point, that he turned the corner on his alcoholism.
And that code that she used? And her father's code? How could they have set that up while the SODs were keeping them from talking to each other? The code had been set up years before as part of the lessons on communicating through physical clues that the general had given his young daughter. Will saw a bit of them inventing it but thought only that they were gardening.
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Chapter 36
In the days before the battles that the Wilizy would wage with the Alaskans, I found few records on what the Wilizy were doing in their compound. This was typical for the warriors. They would first move their non-combatants out of danger and then engage the others in extensive training. I know, in this case, that Yollie, Liset, and Stu went for a trip but I do not know where. Stu wanted to take part in the war, but Izzy kindly said that Yollie was going to need help with Liset and just moving around in her last month of pregnancy was going to be difficult for her. Izzy didn't say that Yollie would also need Stu to help her in the event that the battles went badly.
The threat of defeat was very much on the minds of the two senior strategists – Izzy and Mac. Izzy pulled all of Will's options into a multi-battle war that took place in different locations and, at times, simultaneously. Mac worked out how each battle would be run. For the simultaneous battles, Mac would be in charge of the tougher battle to manage and Izzy would take the other. If the Wilizy lost an early battle, that meant there'd be a battle in the Wilizy's river valley. Whichever battle commander was still alive would take charge in their home compound. If they lost, survivors could escape in the Wilizy/America that was anchored nearby. Should they succeed in the first two battles, there'd be a battle in Anchorage. If she were alive, Mac would be in command, otherwise Izzy.
The risk of death was very real, and that possibility was driven home in a closed strategic meeting where the entire battle plan was presented to the adults for comment. The Alaskan forces were used to plastering their battlefields with electronic grenades. Should one bubble strike even a portion of a sling, that warrior would probably die from a long fall out of the sky. Will had tried to minimize the warriors' exposure to those bubbles by creating his offensive weapons.
The fact that the Wilizy recognized the danger is borne out by the secret ceremony that was held on Friday, November 9. Doc performed a quick double marriage ceremony for Mac and Wolf, and for Will and Izzy. There were no festivities and the youngsters were not told. If everything went well, they'd hold a proper ceremony. There were no honeymoons after the wedding. Somehow, the mood just wasn't right.
In case the reader is disturbed by how quickly Mac and Wolf moved into marriage, Mac had been drawn to Wolf from the first time she saw him when he handed off the New York library materials to her. She was married to Sven at the time and although it was a mock marriage, a soldier never breaks her vow. Mac's early reference to Wolf as Soldier was a sign of affection that she carried with her from her childhood. After she had realized that the B.C. general had made it possible for Sven to learn that she was fighting with the Wilizy, she left immediately. That wasn't for her own safety. She left to keep her troubles away from the Wilizy, and particularly, away from Wolf.
# # # # # # # #
For the Wilizy, the war began on Tuesday, November 6 at 10:30 in the morning. The Alaskans had a different starting date. TG triggered the war with this mind message to Mac.
TG: Mac, both of The Citadel's re-supply ships have arrived on schedule and they are offloading now. We can expect the replacement ammo and spare parts to be on their bases by Friday, November 9.
Mac: Message received. TG, begin Operation Confuse and Confound.
Mac: All warriors. We are now preparing the battlefield with Operation Confuse and Confound. Stay calm, everyone. We'll be in this phase for several days.
# # # # # # # #
Operation Confuse and Confound used a remote switch that TG had installed in the DPS Communications software. Alberta's military commanders used this highly protected software to communicate with their soldiers in the field. Right now, the DPS forces were conducting training exercises so that they'd be ready for their attack on the Wilizy's home compound, which was supposed to take place on December 2. TG had installed that switch when he and Will broke into the IOF's off-site data storage building way back in August. At that point, TG didn't know how their control of the DPS communication network would be used; he just knew that it would be. It was then that he built in the ability to control Zzyk's personal computer as well.
Today, TG sent a short electronic message to the DPS main server and the magic switch was turned from inactive to active. From now on, the software would scan any outgoing or incoming message for the presence of a numeral. TG's software adjustment had the ability to change that numeral to any other numeral of the same form. For example, 2:15 could become 8:25. Platoon 2 could become Platoon 5. On the first day of the operation, the software would change only one message out of ten.
# # # # # # # #
Operation Confuse and Confound began to have an effect two days later. An irate battle commander spelled out the exact problem to Rick.
"Rick, I sent a message to my battalion to move Platoons 1 and 2 into striking position. But that's not the message they received. My battalion received a message telling them to move Platoons 6 and 9. We don't have nine platoons. So they wrote me back telling me that I had told them to move Platoons 3 and 5 and what was I thinking? I had to travel personally to the battlefield to sort it out. I saw the messages, Rick. Other things are all screwed up as well. Nobody knows what to do because we can't trust the communications."
Rick was sitting in the command center underneath Hotel McDonald. "Alaskan spy," he bellowed. "Get Igor in here now!"
Well, he didn't actually say Alaskan spy. He actually called out Exec but Rick's new executive assistant was, in fact, the Alaskan sleeper. Rick believed in keeping his enemies where he could see them.
Igor expressed confusion about how this could have happened. The software had been working fine. He'd restore it that evening from the backup. Since that backup also contained TG's magic switch, and since that switch in the backup was in the on position, Igor
wasn't going to have much success correcting the problem. That's why TG started the operation slowly. To infect the backup. After Igor had bustled away, Rick expressed some curiosity about Igor's performances to the Alaskan spy. "Strange things have been happening ever since Igor took command. I can't put my finger on what. Keep an eye on him, will you?"
# # # # # # # #
Friday, November 9 saw two developments of note. Alberta's training exercise was now in chaos. Rick sent his exec to each military unit to personally tell the soldiers to return to base. After the exec returned to headquarters, Rick pulled him aside and told him that Igor was coming in and would the exec keep a close eye on his face? Was he looking guilty?
Igor already knew that the software was still in shambles, even more so today. He had run his own tests and confirmed that something was wrong, but he couldn't find out what. So when he stood in front of Rick's desk, he was already nervous. And when Rick told him that his incompetence was coming right before a major battle, Igor became even more nervous.
After the meeting, the Alaskan sleeper confirmed Rick's suspicions. Yes, Igor looked guilty. Well, Rick knew that guilt and nervousness produced the same facial expression and was counting on his exec to reinforce Rick's observation. That's exactly what a suck-up exec would do. Rick pulled the exec aside and closed the door and the window into the command center. "You can't tell anyone this. I'm still dealing with the fallout of a disaster. According to B.C., Zzyk directed our last two sleepers in B.C. to assassinate their entire military command. B.C. caught them in the act. No question that they were trying to do that. But Zzyk didn't order them to stage that attack. Why would he? It makes no sense to burn those sleepers now. Zzyk suspects that Igor hacked into his computer and he's livid. He's convinced that Alaska is running an operation against us. Keep your eyes open. We have a spy here somewhere."
All of that was true, except for Zzyk being angry. Zzyk was watching the I Love Lucy rerun where Lucy and Ethel were on the chocolate factory assembly line and were eating chocolates and also stuffing them into their clothes. Zzyk was chortling. Soon he might make it to a giggle.