THE RECRUIT
By; Gerald A. Polley
Chapter 10
Few could understand a military wedding unless they'd been part of one,
and the base's personnel followed every tradition. As Imal exited
the vehicle troops in dress uniform with fixed bayonets shining like
silver lined the steps. Buglers on either side played flourishes
as he mounted them. His escorts joined him and led him inside,
taking their places as he came down the aisle behind them. Then
the band inside struck up "Here Comes The Bride," and Sabrina came down
the aisle. Her wedding gown was something befitting
royalty! Tabitha proudly walked behind helping with the
train. Imal realized how beautiful his wife was. "I'm
having too much luck!" he muttered, "Too much!" She joined him,
they knelt in prayer, asking The Lord's blessings on their union.
To Imal's surprise the base commander came out in the robes of a priest
and took up position before them. The contract was brought forth,
everybody signed it, the commander gave the blessings and to cheers and
fanfares from trumpets with officers holding their swords over them,
they made their way to a waiting vehicle and to cheering crowds made
their way in town to one of the most luxurious hotels! The bridal
suite was something spectacular! But Imal, for the first few
days, didn't see much of it. They barely left the bedroom!
Then the fourth morning the phone rang. It was their beloved
doctor. "I cannot tell you," she began, "how much I hate to
disturb you! But we've got some real problems, some terrible
problems with the girls you brought back. As you are temporarily
responsible for them I can do nothing unless you sign the consent
papers."
"Well, I'll get right out there!" Imal snapped. "What's the problems?"
"Ten of these girls aren't as bad off as they seem," the doctor
answered. "With a little bit of help they could be made almost
fully functional. I've got five doctors coming, two from North
Korea, two from China, and one from The United States. They're
the absolute best in these conditions. Nine of the girls there's
nothing we can do for other than give them as comfortable a life as
possible. Three of them we're going to lose in a couple of
months. There's nothing we can do. That they've managed to hold
on this long borders on a miracle! But their babies should be
healthy. The worst thing, the absolutely worst thing, is that
four of these girls are the cardinal's daughters, and apparently their
babies are his granddaughters. They have to be aborted!
There's nothing for it! I have never seen such genetic
damage! I don't know what this man has been doing but it's the
only thing for the girls. That's about it! There's little
things, but if we can get these other surgeries these ten we can help."
"Get the papers over here!" Imal managed. His wife, who had heard
the conversation, stood near Imal in tears. "If I was to play
executioner," Imal remarked, "would you mind?"
"Not one goddamn little bit!" his wife answered, "If you don't I will!"
Imal managed a smile. The doctor came in, Imal went through the
papers, checking what needed to be done, and signed them. When he
got to the last ones, the four girls that needed the abortions, he
began to cry. He managed to sign the papers, the doctor helped
him up, and took him to bed. "I'll get help," he told Sabrina.
His wife comforted Imal until there was a knock
on the door. When she came back Dr. Johnson was with her. "I
heard somebody needs to have a talk!" she remarked, pulling a chair
over by the bed. "Do we know what the problem is?"
"The problem is," Imal answered, "trying to understand how men that can
do things like the things that were done to those girls can still call
themselves men! Executing those men, I didn't really feel
bad about killing them physically. But I'm a true believer.
I knew where they were going, what was waiting for them. That
bothered me!"
The doctor sighed. "If it didn't
bother you," she answered, "you wouldn't be the man that it's obvious
you are. I wasn't much of a believer. I respected religion, I
understand it, but I wasn't much of a believer. However.." she
hesitated a moment, "I've seen things. I've seen things that
couldn't possibly happen, that couldn't possibly be unless there's some
kind of power, some kind of wonder. If Osama had not come
forward, if you hadn't raided that place when you did, if you hadn't
got those girls out of there...it's too damned much to just be
coincidence! And Rumple getting you out of there. I think
he's one of the finest men I've ever come across! They asked me
to evaluate him, to tell them if I think the girl would be safe with
him. She couldn't be safer with anyone! But there's
something about that girl, something that bothers me. I shouldn't
say that. She's done absolutely nothing wrong. She's perhaps the
most courageous one among them! But still, there's something!"
"I know!" Imal put in. "The doctor mentioned it too, when she came in with the papers."
"Well, anyway," the doctor continued, "there's something else you have
to believe, something else you have to understand. You did
absolutely nothing that could hurt their souls. We're incapable
of doing anything that can hurt their souls. They do all that
themselves. You might send them to eternal death by destroying
their physical forms, but they brought themselves there. What is
it The First Speaker says? 'The only thing that keeps me going is the
sure and certain knowledge that those who hurt our children will be
destroyed forever, that no matter how powerful they think they are they
will not escape! Justice will be done!' We're not
responsible for that justice, we only send them to it. They make
the debts that have to be paid.
I tell
you, I'm glad to see this little break down. I know full well
you're not one of The Children, you're human and you have
emotion. There's absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about
it. I will tell you, there's been nights I've had to have a good
cry before I went to bed, nights that no matter what I did somebody
went the wrong way. It's not your fault, you did the best you
could, it was totally their choice. Now, I know you guys have
been having fun but how about getting out of the room for the next
three days? They've got a beautiful pool here. Your wife
tells me you can't swim. You really ought to learn!"
Imal laughed. "Yeah! Probably a good idea. Thanks for coming by!"
"Thanks for letting me be here!" the doctor managed. "Now, I've
really got to get going! I've got to see what I can do with
these children. It's going to be a shock for young girls who have
never heard before to suddenly start having noise all around them, and
be aware of what's in their world."
"I can't imagine!" Imal sighed, "I can't possibly imagine!"
The doctor left. Imal's wife brought him a swimsuit and a
robe. He got it on. When she returned her robe was open and
Imal saw her swimsuit. It was just three triangles in the right
places!
"Absolutely and positively NOT!"
he snapped. "I will accept the Spiritist minimum. But you
will not be in a public place where other men can see you like THAT!"
His wife giggled. "Jealous?" she asked.
"Absolutely!" Imal answered. "No question of it!"
They both roared with laughter. She stopped in the store
downstairs and bought a swimsuit that was acceptable under Spiritist
custom. When she came out the clerk smiled. "Still WOW!"
she commented.
The next three days
were almost as enjoyable as the first four! But their leave was
quickly coming to an end, and Imal knew when he got back to the base
the next morning he would be going to training. He had been
exercising and had instructed his friends to exercise. But he
knew they weren't going to be ready, not for what was coming. The
day after their first sessions he didn't know if he was going to be
able to get up and go back again, but he did. And he did the day after
that. The instructor constantly complained about his
weight. They got him protein drinks and special vitamins.
Nothing seemed to work. "It'll come!" the instructor
assured. "you've been malnutritious for years. It's gonna
be hard for your body to start absorbing the nutrients and protein you
need to build you some muscles. There is some medication but it's
better that you start putting on the right kind of weight without it."
Imal agreed. They were just about to finish the first month when
an adjutant's officer came up as they were getting done one afternoon,
holding out a paper. "Sorry to be formal, sir," he snapped, "but
the trial of the cardinal is starting tomorrow. They want your
testimony right away. It has been decided that the crime he will
be charged with is the attempted murder of his own daughter. We'd
like you to get your testimony first. Then we'll build the case
with the other two witnesses and documents we've captured."
"Too bad we're not gonna get to try any of the UN people!" Imal snapped.
"Yes," the officer answered. "It's too bad they all chose the
easy way out rather than be taken prisoner. Those were a few
nasty fire fights, though, until the end."
Imal
looked to Rumple. He'd been told just how nasty those fire fights
had been. "Yes," he answered. "I don't think I'll need any
coaxing! What I've got to say is pretty straight forward."
The adjutant nodded and headed off. There were some parts of duty
that Imal did not like. Having to relive that night was something
he would not enjoy, but he would do his duty. Raphael came over.
"Question," he asked.
"What?" Imal answered.
"With all the people this guy has killed why pick just one?"
"Because they only need one," Roseanne answered before Imal could
speak. "They can only kill somebody one time. They like to
pick the most heinous crime, the most despicable act. I think
they picked the best one. A father who, in his insanity, rapes
his own daughter and then plans to have her killed? What could be
worse?"
"I can't think of much," Imal answered, "maybe somebody else could, but I can't!"
Everybody headed home. "Well!" Imal asked Rumple as they headed
for the bus, "Regretting you decided to be a soldier?"
"Not at all!" Rumple answered, "if they let the nurse stay and help
take care of my wife and one of the other girls it will be
perfect! I've got a lot of things to make right. I think
being a soldier, the right kind of soldier, will help do that."
Imal smiled and then for the hundredth time thought about what he would
say. Suddenly he found himself saying "Rumple, can my wife and I
come over tonight?"
"Sure!" the soldier remarked. "Our humble dwelling is yours!"
Imal headed home. Before he testified there was something he had to know.
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