THE RECRUIT
By; Gerald A. Polley
Chapter 5
When he awoke he was in a bed. A nurse immediately
appeared. "Just relax!" she comforted. "We've got to remove the
tube from your throat that was helping you breathe. You're just
fine!"
The nurse quickly proceeded. "There!" she inquired. "Everything all right?"
"Excellent!" Imal answered. He looked down and saw there was a large shape over his foot.
"I'd better show you," the nurse commented, "so you won't be
alarmed." She pulled back the covers and lifted the shield.
Imal's foot was not in a cast. There was a strange looking
apparatus strapped to his leg, and metal rods disappeared into his
foot. "We've kinda got to keep things in place," the nurse
explained, "until nature takes care of it. You'll have to have
this for several weeks."
"It looks weird!" Imal
commented. He heard moans and looked to the bed beside him. A man
was in it with both hands strapped to the side of the bed. He
recognized one of the men who had been punished. "What's this?"
he asked.
"Damned fool wouldn't leave his
incisions alone!" the nurse explained. "Infection can occur very
quickly around here. We had to remove some infected tissue and re
close the incisions. We want him to heal! So we have to
keep his hands restrained."
Imal nodded.
The nurse covered his foot back up and he tried to get some rest.
But the man's moans wouldn't let him. Finally Imal snapped "Will
you grow up and act like a man?"
"I'm not
a man any more," the voice came back. "Sooner or later I'll be
some pervert's plaything. Why wouldn't they just let me die?"
"Because someone," Imal answered, "thought
it was a good idea that you not, that you may yet have some purpose to
help other people. And just because you can't do that any more,
doesn't mean that you can't have relationships and a good life.
You made a mistake. You listened to an idiot! Snap out of it man!"
"O.k., you're so smart," the voice came back, "tell me something I could do that would be of any value."
A sudden thought entered Imal's mind. "I know a very special
young lady," he answered. "She's only about two years old. Her
nanny was murdered last night. She needs somebody to take care of
her, watch over her. How about you?"
"A little girl?" the voice came back. "Me, take care of a little girl?"
"Would you be any danger to her?" Imal asked.
"Of course not!" the man came back. "A little girl?"
"She should be around some time today," Imal continued. "Why don't you
think about it and when I get a chance I'll ask her mother. She's
already got one prisoner working for her. I don't think she'd
mind another. Think about it."
The man fell
silent. Imal pressed the call button for the nurse. She hurried
in. "Remove those restraints," Imal requested. "He's not
going to bother the incisions any more, are you?"
The man nodded. The nurse hesitated a moment then removed the
restraints and hurried out. "Someone to see you!" she snapped.
"What's the little girl's name?" the other man asked.
"I don't know!" Imal admitted. "That's something I gotta find out!"
"I can tell you!" came a deep man's voice. "It's Tabitha.
Her mother's name is Sabrina, her real name. I'm Major
Santana. I'm with the Georgia contingent helping train recruits
here. I got a fax this morning and was asked to bring it to you
and to wait for a reply. Can you write Spiritist?"
"No," Imal answered. "I can barely write Somali. Can you?"
"Yes sir!" the officer nodded. "When you're ready I'll write your response down, if that's acceptable."
"Quite!" Imal answered. He was handed the letter and opened it.
"From The Ministry Of Defense, Republic Of Georgia, Tbilisi,
To Muhammed Imal, Republic Training Center, Spiritist Republic Of Arabia
Most Sincere Greetings!
I do not know how to express my gratitude to you for the saving of my
granddaughter's life! I understand there is already talk of
marriage. I would very much appreciate it if you could hold any
such plans until my wife Endora, and I can arrive. We have not
interfered with our daughter's wishes since she ran away, taking
another young woman's identity. However, we have been very proud
of the life she has lived. And in no way are we ashamed of our
granddaughter. We wish so much that she would retake her own name
if only long enough to change it to yours. We want so much to
witness her contract.
Things certainly
happen like a thunderstorm around The Children! I have noticed
this with a good many of them. But their services to my country
will never be forgotten. Again, my sincere regards. I hope
when we meet you will not hold me to the Spiritist custom of simply
taking your shoulders, but let me embrace you as the son I have never
had.
Iosed Jughashvili
Chairman, Ministry Of Defense."
"Woo!" Imal sighed. He looked to the officer who had a clipboard and a pen ready.
"My most gracious sir," he began, then hesitated and remarked, "can you
put the proper greeting on the top?" The officer nodded, then
Imal continued "your letter has solved a lot of mysteries for me.
I will most certainly ask your daughter that she put her proper name on
our marriage contract. I have barely got to know her, but from
one conversation have found that she is an incredible woman, that I am
not sure I am worthy of, but who I will do my best to honor. I
assure you, no ceremonies will take place until you arrive. And
when you do, feel free to greet me in any manner that is comfortable
for you. I am not a Child Of The Lords, I am Islamic. But I
deeply respect The Children's ways.
My deepest regards to you and your wife.
Muhammed Imal, Trainee."
He looked at the officer who understood his unspoken question. "I
would consider it excellent, sir! If you'll excuse me, I'll go
get it off."
"Can I ask a question?" the
man in the other bed put in. "Those names. I've heard them
before. Didn't they come from some t.v. show?"
The Georgian officer laughed. "Yes!" he answered, "The
minister's wife's mother was American. She was infatuated with
that program! It was insinuated that she actually had some
powers."
The man looked thoughtful then muttered, "I'm not surprised! Thank you!"
The Georgian officer nodded and departed. Imal's companion stared at him. "What?" Imal asked.
"You've got them, you know."
"What?" Imal asked again.
"Powers," the man answered, "all kinds of them! Now, can you buzz that nurse again?"
Imal did so. The nurse quickly entered. "Can you get us two
readout boards?" Imal's neighbor requested, "And a flash drive with
courses of The Children's language on it?"
"Certainly!" the nurse snapped. In a few minutes she returned
with the items. Imal's companion held out one of the screens and
nodded to Imal. The nurse gave it to him.
"Now!" the man sighed, "My name's Raphael, this is The Republic's
alphabet. Their language is phonetic. Some people think it's a
little boring because it has no synonyms. A word can mean several
different things but no two words can mean the same thing. Now,
first letter... A then B, D, E, F.." They continued to work until
lunch. The doctor came in, examined Imal, and, his companion.
"Well!" she remarked to his companion. "You look a lot better!"
"I've got something to do!" the man answered, "Something of importance."
The doctor smiled, winked at Imal, and departed. They worked some
more. Imal was picking it up! Raphael was right. The
way the language fit together made it easy to learn. The words
sky and light combined to mean star, and so forth. They were
working when he heard someone clear her throat. He looked up.
"Ah!" he cried, "Sabrina! Tabitha! I need to talk to
you, woman!"
He picked up the
letter. "This is from your father. I would very much appreciate
it if you would go to records and have your proper name put on
all documents. I think it is an honorable name. Your father
seems like a most gracious man. Of course I cannot order you to,
but I like to begin a relationship on an honest basis."
The little girl just looked at her mother with a big grin. "As
you wish!" her mother sighed. "Is all well?"
"Except my foot hurts like anything," Imal answered, "and having this
thing on it makes me feel absolutely weird, everything is fine.
But there's going to be no ceremony until I can stand up. I
guess it's going to be a couple of weeks."
"Then
it will be a couple of weeks!" the commander snapped. "It sounds
like you're really picking up basic! Who's your teacher?"
"Raphael, here! I've been discussing the possibility with him of
him becoming Tabitha's nanny. Would you mind another prisoner
working for you?"
"Well, as her last one was a prisoner," Sabrina answered, "I suppose, but a man?"
The little girl came over and looked at Raphael. "He's one of
those they did it to, mother," she remarked. "but even if they
hadn't it would be all right. But sometimes I need to be brushed
all over. Would that bother you?"
Raphael
smiled. "Whatever needs to be done," he said, "to properly take
care of you, I would do it. Anything too embarrassing I'd ask
your mother to do. My goodness! Clothes must be uncomfortable over all
that fur!"
"Sometimes!" the girl answered. "But I don't get sunburned!"
Everybody laughed. "Well!" the commander snapped, "I guess
we'd better get out of here! I'll have the doctor let me know
when you can be moved back to the house."
"Could you send somebody from base security?" Imal asked.
"Certainly!" the commander promised.
Her and Tabitha quickly departed. About an hour later an officer
from base security entered the room, an adjutant with him. They
went to Raphael. "A proposal has been made," the base adjutant
remarked, "that I'm not too sure of. But as the parties involved
desire it greatly we'll approve. However, if there's the least
bit of trouble you'll think what was done to you before was
nothing! Sign these papers by the X."
Raphael signed the papers. The adjutant looked at them. "No second name?" he asked.
"Never knew what it was!" Raphael answered. "Didn't even know my mother's last name."
The officer nodded and came over to Imal. "Would you mind witnessing?" he asked.
Imal quickly signed the papers. That done, the adjutant
left. The security officer asked "You required something?"
"Yes," Imal answered. "As I was
getting in the window I noticed an emergency key had been used to open
the security bars. I want to know how that man got that
key! I seriously doubt he was in any way employed that he would
have access to them. Am I right?"
"You're
absolutely right!" the security man sighed. "Yes sir!
You're absolutely right! Oh, God! I'm gonna be chewed out
for this! We'll get right on it, sir! My apologies!
Damn! Why didn't we see it? I bet the damned key's still in the
lock! Thank you sir! I've gotta go!"
He quickly hurried out. "Ow!" Raphael moaned. "Somebody's gonna catch it!"
"Somebody should catch it!" Imal answered. "Now, where were we? This hard and soft pronunciation thing."
Supper time came and while they were busy with the trays the nurse took
the readout boards. "Enough!" she snapped. "I'll give these back
in the morning. Watch a movie! Relax!" She looked at
Raphael. We wanna get you outta here. We need the bed. You, too!"
she snapped to Imal. "They're sitting up a hospital bed in the
commander's house. I don't know how to say this politely, but
absolutely not! No stress on that foot. Do you understand
what I'm saying?"
Both Imal and Raphael
laughed. "Yes!" Imal answered, "Yes ma'am! I understand
what you're saying!"