Tess Awakening (8 page)

He swabbed the head wound, put on his
uniform, donned his leather belt with the holstered weapon, and
proceeded to clean up the mess outside. In quick strides, he
surveyed the damage, ordered the dead buried, and sent the wounded
to the nearby hospital, hoping it was still standing.

After reordering the compound, he called a
staff meeting in his office.

In short order, his top commanders, in from
the front lines, assembled around a long table, along with Abdul
Tek, the Fedayeen group leader assigned to Amir’s unit.

Amir sat at the head of the table and
demanded a tactical update. A Colonel summarized the situation. The
British had taken Basra. The Americans were racing through the
desert with incredible momentum, destroying anything that stood in
the path. It was obvious that they were headed for Baghdad, and
that there was not much that the Iraqis could do about it.

The rest of the officers agreed with the
assessment and turned to Amir for guidance, orders or any insight
that would give them hope.

Amir remained silent. ‘This is a replay of
the first Gulf War in 1991, only worse,’ he thought. At the time,
Amir had commanded a tank unit. He felt proud to be a member of the
world’s fourth largest Army and proud of his battalion of
Russian-made T-55s. They were effective weapons — a fact proven by
several victories over the Iranians in 1980.

However, during the Gulf War, the Iraqis had
severely underestimated the effectiveness of the Coalition field
forces led by the Americans.

In a very short period, 100 hours, the enemy
pressed the ground attack with surprising speed, unleashed enormous
firepower and pursued the Iraqi forces against disintegrating
resistance. Most Iraqi Army units surrendered, were destroyed or
retreated. Many of the retreating units abandoned their equipment
as they fled toward Basra.

In a desperate attempt to slow down the
enemy, some elements of the Republican Guard engaged in several
battles with the Coalition forces. However, without a central
command, these remaining elements had to operate independently and
could no longer conduct cohesive operations.

Amir’s unit made a valiant attempt to buy
some time for other units to retreat. He and his men tried to fight
the Americans, but the guns of his tanks did not have the range of
the enemy’s Abrams tanks and weapons. All of the rounds fired from
Amir’s aging T-55 tanks fell short. The attacking American units
rained hell on the Iraqi positions, destroying 61 tanks and 34
armored personnel carriers of the Medina Division in less than one
hour. At the end of the battle, Amir lay wounded outside his
burning tank. The Iraqis has just been outgunned and overwhelmed by
the most formidably capable armed forces the world had ever seen.
His entire unit was in flames. Shattered tanks lay everywhere, some
of them still burning and exploding as the intense flames engulfed
them. Most horrifying of all, the smell of burnt flesh and the
cries of the few crew members that survived by bailing out of their
burning tanks created a surreal nightmare.

Amir had no delusions of victory this time
around. Abdul, the Fedayeen commander, proposed a fight to the
death. “What better glory than to die for Islam and the Great
Leader Saddam?”

Amir did not respond. He loathed Abdul, the
repulsive fanatic. He and his band of barbarians had been assigned
to Amir’s and others’ units not to fight, but to make sure that the
field commanders and soldiers fought. Any doubt at all, and they
were authorized to shoot the reluctant ones through the head.
Abdul’s men had already indulged in a few such executions just to
make a point. When Amir found out, he had grabbed Abdul by the
throat and promised to tear him apart if he dared do such a thing
again without his permission, Saddam’s orders be damned.

Abdul made a suggestion. “General, I feel
that we need to motivate the troops to fight the Americans. They
have heard stories of what happens if they resist the enemy, and
the morale is low. I heard talk of defections. We can’t have that
happen here.”

“What would you propose?” Amir felt it
coming.

Abdul stood up and started to walk around the
room, forcing the officers to follow him with their eyes. “The
ancient Romans understood what it took to make motivated soldiers
and fierce warriors. Sometimes, when the Legions did not perform
well, the generals employed the military practice of decimation.
Legions that performed poorly in the field were punished by having
each squad of ten soldiers draw lots and beat one of them to death
with staves.”

One of the officers blanched, and almost fell
off the chair. “You must be mad! Are you proposing such a thing
with our troops — now?”

Abdul shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t need
to be barbaric. A shot in the head would do.”

The room fell into a deep silence. Amir
finally stood up and declared: “It makes sense. We must fight hard
to slow down the enemy advance. We will do as Abdul suggests. Let’s
assemble the men in one hour. Dismissed!” The officers stood up and
started to file out, looking like zombies.

Abdul remained behind. When they were alone,
he added “General, to obtain the best effect, perhaps you might
want to execute a couple of your less enthusiastic officers. I have
recommendations if you wish to hear them.”

Amir looked at the fanatic with a murderous
stare. “Not yet!” He stormed out.

He went back to his office and summoned
Colonel Najaf. When the officer arrived, he closed the door.

Within an hour, the troops assembled in
formation. Amir and his top officers stood in front of them. Abdul
was at Amir’s side. His troop of murderers stood apart of the
soldiers.

The Fedayeen commander was smiling in
anticipation of the upcoming execution of cowards. So were his men,
looking conspicuously relaxed when compared to the rest of the
troops. He looked at Amir, waiting for the go-ahead to initiate his
sadistic massacre.

Amir took his revolver out of the holster. He
looked at his troops, and without any preambles shot Abdul in the
face. The Fedayeen fell back as if hit by a vehicle, his head
almost blown off. That was the signal. The first rank of Amir’s
troops raised their weapons and sprayed automatic fire on the squad
of Fedayeen. They all fell instantly. There was a moment of
silence. The rest of the soldiers stood still, shocked, not
comprehending what had happened. The squad that executed the
murderers dropped their weapons, unsheathed their knives, and fell
on the corpses like wolves. With screams of fury, they started to
stab and mutilate the bodies.

Amir’s second in command moved as if to
intervene, but the General grabbed his arm. “Leave them alone. Let
them have their revenge for their comrades murdered by these pigs”
A minute later, the avengers stopped the mutilation, their faces,
hands and uniforms covered in blood.

Amir now spoke to the troops.

“Soldiers of Iraq! The enemy is fast
approaching. Our courage is fierce, but our weapons are no match
for theirs. If we fight them now, we will almost certainly die.” He
paused for effect.

He recalled something that Tess had said to
him and decided to use the phrase.

“There is no honor in fighting a lost battle.
You may fight, if you wish, but I now authorize you to shed your
weapons and uniforms and to go back home to your families. If you
meet Americans, do not resist. Stay alive to safeguard your
families and live to become a part of the new Iraq! The last task
you must perform is to position your tanks and vehicles in battle
formation. Don’t stay with the equipment, because its destruction
by the enemy is assured.” As soon as you are done, your officers
will dismiss you. Good luck and Allah preserve you!” Amir saluted
the troops, turned around, and walked toward the palace.

As he walked, he motioned to Kemal to follow
him.

“I will leave in one hour. I have made
arrangements to leave the country until things settle down. I want
you and a dozen men to stay here to protect my house. When the
Americans arrive, don’t fight. Tell them you are servants awaiting
the master’s return. You have seen nothing and know nothing.
Explain that you have weapons only to ward off looters. Do you
understand?”

“Yes, General!” Kemal’s knees were
shaking.

“Don’t be afraid. The Americans will ask you
a lot of questions. Once they realize you are not a threat, they
will let you go. Stay here, take care of things, and I will reward
you handsomely.”

“General, where are you going?” Kemal
asked.

“I will try to make it to my house in
Istanbul. I will return in a few months after the war is over.
Things will eventually return to normal. They always do. Now go and
prepare your men.”

Amir went inside to pack a few things,
destroy some documents, and bring out a suitcase full of American
dollars. He changed into civilian clothes, went to the carport and
slipped behind the wheel of his Mercedes SUV. On the way out, he
picked up two of his bodyguards and proceeded toward Turkey. The
Americans would not be in this part of the country for days, and he
had his escape route carefully planned. With enough bribes, you can
buy just about anything. I will be back! Eventually, Allah willing,
I will deal with the American Major again.

Chapter 10

Jake woke up groping the bed, hoping for his
hand to land on Tess’s breast. No luck. He managed to open his eyes
and heard the shower running. ‘I can’t believe she is up and
about,’ he thought. His body was a mass of aches and bruises; it
felt sore and battered, and still tired beyond exhaustion. He just
wanted to go back to sleep, with Tess in his arms.

Tess came into the room, still toweling off,
carelessly if lusciously naked.

“Good morning sleepy head,” she teased him
while rummaging through her bag for underwear.

“Where are you going?” Jake responded, quite
annoyed at what he saw. The last thing he wanted was to see Tess
dressed. “You don’t have to get up. We can send for room
service.”

“I’ll grab something to eat on the way
back.”

Jake repeated his question: “Where are we
going?”

“I am going back to the base. I called ahead
to have my men ready to go back to that Iraqi General’s
compound.”

“Are you nuts? We went through hell to get us
out of there, and now you want to go back?”

“Yes I do,” Tess responded. I want to go back
to find out where in the world the General has stashed Kejal’s
little girl, and then I am going to get her away from him.” She
finished putting on her fatigues.

“Tess, think about it. You were taken
prisoner. According to protocol, the Army will not let you go back
in combat until they have completed your debriefing and
psychological assessment. You are even entitled to repatriation!”
His voice now had a tinge of desperation. He was disappointed to
the core. He wanted her back in bed, not back to the desert chasing
ghosts.

“I don’t care about protocol. I’m going to
find the girl before the bastard kills her; period!” She left no
room for argument.

Jake reluctantly got out of bed, still naked.
He approached Tess and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Are you
always so relentless?”

Tess freed herself violently, suddenly
recalling the manhandling she received by Amir. “You are hurting
me! Let me go!”

Jake dropped his hands and pleaded: “Tess, we
both have been through hell. We deserve to rest and heal our
bruises. Besides, I want more time with you!”

Tess put her hat on. “Don’t get any ideas,
buddy! That was a comfort fuck. Let’s not make it more than it
was.”

Jake most definitely did not agree. “Do you
really think that’s all it was?”

“They all say that when they want more. Let’s
not make a big thing about it. Come on, get dressed. If you want to
spend more time with me, it will be on a chopper, not in bed!”

Jake was furious. He would have loved to tear
off the ugly military clothes, expose that flesh that he craved to
touch, throw her in bed and smother her with his body which ached
with a need to possess her once more. Last night, it was gentle and
brief. Now, he wanted her with lust that he had not felt for a long
time.

“Tess, get real! The chances of finding that
girl are practically nil. Even if you do, that bastard will
probably have killed her.”

“If you don’t come with me, I’ll go by
myself. As they say, it’s not over until it’s over.”

Jake wanted to scream and walk away, but he
wanted her even more. He also realized it was not going to happen
just now. It had to be her way. Once she made up her mind, no power
on earth could stop her.

“All right, Tess, fine. Let me take a quick
shower and we are on our way,” he said resignedly.

“Excellent; I will go downstairs a get two
lunch bags. I will be in front waiting in the Humvee.” That’s it;
end of discussion.

Jake quickly checked out, jumped into the
vehicle Tess had running on the hotel driveway, and set off for the
base camp. While munching their sandwiches, they both marveled at
the ironies of a relatively modern city going about its business in
the middle of a major war in its backyard. There seemed to be
little out of the ordinary, men and women walking through town,
businessmen driving to work, people in the modern shopping malls.
The only sign of something amiss was the presence of several
military vehicles at major intersections.

After passing through the base checkpoint,
they stopped at the command building. Tess jumped off the Humvee
with the ease of a dancer, in the process further impressing Jake,
who was still feeling the deep-seated soreness in his muscles. This
woman is something else, he thought. Behind her beauty, she is a
tough cookie with a determination and drive that few people
possess.