News From the Red Desert (26 page)

 

PRESS RELEASE

Announcing
Stars Earn Stripes

Hosted by General Wesley Clark (ret'd) and Samantha Harris,
Stars Earn Stripes
is an action-packed competition show that pays homage to the men and women who serve in the US Armed Forces and our first-responder services. The star-studded cast includes four-time undefeated world boxing champion Laila Ali, actor Dean Cain (
Out of Time, Five Days of War
), actor and former National Football League player Terry Crews (
The Expendables 2, The Newsroom
), multi-platinum recording artist, actor, producer and television personality Nick Lachey (NBC's
The Sing-Off
), Alaska businessman and four-time Iron Dog snowmobile race champion Todd Palin, NBC's
The Biggest Loser
trainer Dolvett Quince, Olympic gold medalist Picabo Street, and WWE diva, Eve Torres.

In this fast-paced competition, the eight celebrities will gather at a remote training facility where they will be challenged to execute complicated missions inspired by real military exercises. From helicopter drops into water to long-range weapons fire, the contestants will be tested physically, mentally and emotionally. Each will be paired with a special operative from a military branch or one of our first-responder forces, including former US Army Delta Force and Green Berets, US Navy SEALS, US Marines and police officers, who train alongside their partners and compete in the missions with them. Each of the teams is competing for a cash prize on behalf of a military, veterans' or first-responder charity.

Committed to hiring recent vets on the crew,
Stars Earn Stripes
hopes to inspire other employers throughout the country to make similar commitments to our returning heroes to show audiences just how incredible these heroes' missions really are. Dick Wolf (NBC's
Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU
), Mark Burnett (
Survivor,
NBC's
The Voice
) and David A. Hurwitz (
Fear Factor
) serve as executive producers. The series is a production of Universal Television, One Three Media, Wolf Reality, LLC and Bill's Market & Television Productions.

R
ami Issay sat up in his cot. The sky was still black and the morning birdsong was building. He sat and listened to it for a few minutes while he tried to decide if it would be possible to go back to sleep. Since he had to consciously stop his thoughts from racing, he concluded there would be no more sleeping. He did not remember the birds being so loud so early before. He would have to be sharper than this to carry off his responsibilities with the chess tournament.

When he finally dressed and walked into the café it was five and the sky was lightening in the east. Rashid was alone, mopping the floor. No one was outside. It had been quiet on the tarmac, too, the post-mission traffic light. It was a blessing to have had a quiet night.

It was the day of the chess tournament. All the slots had been filled within twenty-four hours of the posters going up. Even better, the secretaries of generals Jackson and Lattice had called, asking if their bosses could still enter. Of course they could.

And if that weren't enough, Major Horner had telephoned Rami Issay to tell him that Mark Burnett of
Survivor
would be arriving the same day. He had been told about the chess tournament and thought it might be a useful thing to depict on this television show of his.

At six Major Horner telephoned Rami Issay to ask if everything was ready for him when and if he arrived.

“Of course it is. But, pardon me, sir: if?”

“Mr. Burnett is an extremely busy man. He is the producer or executive producer of no fewer than twelve currently active productions around the globe.”

“Will he need something to eat when he arrives? Does he eat dairy? Gluten?”

“We've taken care of that. Please, on no account should you feed him anything from your kitchen.”

“What's wrong with my kitchen?”

“Just let us feed him. Okay?”

“Who was that, boss?” Rashid asked.

“A very excitable Major Horner.”

“He's taking quite an interest in your chess tournament.”

“He says Mark Barnett may be coming to see our chess tournament.”

“Mark Burnett?”

“That might be it.”

“The guy who made
Survivor
?”

“Yes. Is it good?”

“It's huge.”

“Rashid, is the food we serve here in any way suspect?”

“No, boss. The food safety officer comes by every month. We always pass easily. I sign the form for you. Why are you asking?”

“No reason.”

Rashid and Rami Issay began laying out the chess boards as the sun came up. Customers wandered into the café to buy coffees, but faced with sets and
RESERVED
signs on the tables they took their coffees to go
and the café remained quiet with anticipation. Rashid set out the game clocks his boss had procured and hung blackboards from every wall—one for the tournament round-robin schedule, and four to depict the progress of games for those spectators unable to see the boards.

The tournament was scheduled to begin at eleven a.m. At eight a woman knocked on the door of the café before trying the handle and realizing she could walk in. She looked as if she were nineteen, if that; she wore a black hoodie and carried a messenger bag adorned with band stickers. “Hello,” she said. “Is this the Green Beans?”

“Yes it is, child. How may I help you?”

“I'm Chayse Simpson. I work for One Three Media. Are you Rami Issay?”

“I am. You must work for Mr. Mark Barnett.”

“Burnett. Well, sort of, yes. I'm here to scout your location and learn about the job you do here at KAF. The network people are curious about you.”

“When will Mr. Barnett be arriving, if I may ask?”

Simpson didn't correct him again, just smiled. “He does not spend a lot of time talking to me. I really can't say.”

“Today, though?”

“Who told you that?”

“Major Horner suggested it.”

“Who is he?”

“The base adjutant. He is most looking forward to meeting Mr. Barnett.”

“Burnett,” she tried again. “Okay. Well, I'll just start by shooting some video of your café. Is that okay?”

“Of course it is.”

She pulled out a measuring tape.

By 10:30 the café was crowded. Those scheduled to play later in the day had come early to watch the first round of games. There was a
contingent of Romanians, a few Germans, half a dozen Poles, and a dozen Americans. Ten minutes before eleven, General Lattice walked in. One minute after that, General Jackson arrived.

General Jackson was to play a Romanian NCO who spoke no English. He did not appear to understand his opponent's rank or role, and that struck Jackson as fortunate, as least at first. Lattice played a Polish captain who was very aware of whom he was playing against.

Both generals had looked around for media when they arrived, and together their eyes fell on Chayse Simpson and her small video camera. She shot them close up as they shook Rami Issay's hand in turn but not one another's. Her camera swung from one general to the other for long minutes as they each sat down in front of the boards.

Rami Issay stentoriously read out the key rules of the tournament. One hour of playing time would be permitted to each player. The second round would begin immediately following the conclusion of the first. Anyone not ready to play when called would be disqualified. No cell phones could be used during play. He urged spectators to remain as quiet as possible.

And then he said, “Players, you may begin.”

There was a clicking sound as pieces were advanced. Of the sixteen tables, twelve players had opted for the king's pawn opening. There were two queen's pawn openings, a knight's pawn and a Reti. Jackson had played the Reti. He had evidently been thinking about Fred Shaw's insouciance.

The clocks were tapped nearly as one. But after the third move the number of possible responses began to grow and the clock striking was no longer synchronous. The pace of the poorer players slowed first and then all of them slowed down, except the Romanians. The Romanians played like demons, their hand movements precise and sharp. The sophistication of the play was quickly beyond what Rashid could follow. He watched Simpson instead. She filmed all the players but was most drawn to the generals.

Jackson began struggling early. He glanced up at the camera on him and, dispelling his irritation, smiled good-naturedly. Lattice refused to look up from the board for the camera; by the twelfth move, he was
beating the young Pole by two pawns. Clearly the younger man had been cowed and had made several elemental errors. The general did look up at the Pole after each of his moves, and smiled. The camera caught these. Lattice knew how that would seem and that darkened his mood. Jackson knew equally that he looked both more gracious and less clever than Lattice; this infuriated him and lent his good cheer an insincere quality. He began hoping for a rocket attack.

Lattice, for his part, regretted coming here at all. One of his communications staff had learned that Jackson had signed up and had argued that so must he. It was the most idiotic thing he had ever heard of and the only thing that made it remotely tolerable was the realization than Jackson was losing his first game. Lattice captured a knight in the next move and with the one after that he forked the Pole's rooks with his own knight. The Pole leaned back in his chair, smiled, and then reached over the board to shake the general's hand. He stood and walked to the counter to get a coffee. The captain's happiness at being done with the game was evident.

Simpson walked among the tables, filming the event without much concern for her effect on it. The contestants tried to ignore her as she took close angle shots of the most interesting faces. In addition to the generals, she paid particular attention to Rami Issay as he acted his role of host and adjudicator. Rashid was surprised by this.

The Romanian playing against Jackson had traded pieces for position with a confidence that puzzled his opponent. By the twentieth move the Romanian was behind three pawns, though he dominated the centre with presciently positioned bishops. By the twenty-fifth move, Jackson no longer questioned his opponent's wisdom. With the bishops' support, the Romanian's knights came slicing down the middle and within three more moves, Jackson had to trade a rook for a bishop. Six moves after that it was all over. Jackson hadn't even seen the checkmate coming. His ego was sufficiently robust that this didn't shatter him, though he was irritated that his schooling had been caught on film. Deirdre would have told him it only made him look more confident, playing chess against people better than him. “How many generals anywhere would do that?”
she would have said. “Describe it as an education you sought.” He wished, again, that they could still speak with that sort of ease.