Alexander opened the door and looked at Saladin's confused face. “What's wrong?”
Saladin entered the room and closed the door behind him. “I need to tell you something.”
This was serious. “What is it?”
With a nervous look, Saladin asked, “Would you mind walking outside with me?”
“Yeah sure.” Alexander grabbed his weapon and headed outside with Saladin. The village was quiet at night – most of the people were already in their homes.
Saladin started explaining what he heard. “I heard a plane coming so I investigated. There was this man who stepped out and started talking with the Commander about his soldiers or to be more correct, his mercenaries. I think we those people.”
Alexander looked at him confused. “I don't think you heard that correctly.” That was against everything he ever heard before. They were being raised to help save humanity and lead them back into a golden age.
“I know what I heard. I also heard the Commander talking about us like that.”
Crossing his arms, Alexander tried to understand what he was talking about. “Why would he lie to us?”
“I don't know. That is the one part of this I am not understanding.”
All of their lives, they were trained not to lie. It was enforced through a rigorous training which consisted of being shocked if they chose to lie. It would not make sense for the Commander to do this if he made sure the rest of them were always telling the truth. That was not how the future of humanity was supposed to behave.
Saladin shook his head. He couldn't blame Alexander for doubting him. Had he not heard it for himself, he would think it was a lie as well. “I think we should keep our eyes opened. I am turning to you as a friend.”
Alexander reached over and touched his friend on the shoulder, bringing him out of the thoughts he had. “Why don't you go sleep on it?”
Saladin nodded. “Yeah, let me go do that.” He continued walking with Alexander in silence until they made the circle back to the base. There had to be a logical reason why he thought he heard that. Perhaps his friend was right and all he needed was some sleep.
*****
“Do you think you can take me on a shooting lesson?” Boudicca asked Alexander approaching him in the break room. She had a smile on her face.
“I'd like that,” he responded trying to hide his grin.
Hadrian scoffed nearby.
“Something funny?” Alexander asked.
“If someone wants to learn how to shoot, I would never send them to you. I would send them to Joan before I sent them to you. I should take her shooting.”
Alexander rolled his eyes. This was typical behavior of Hadrian. “Tell you what, I'll take her this time and you can do it the next time. We'll see who teaches her better.”
“Really?” Hadrian asked. He had a smirk on his face.
It was hard to gauge Hadrian from his reaction. Alexander chose to walk away instead of dealing with the problem. He wasn't certain if Hadrian knew about their relationship from the way he responded.
The new soldier, Achilles walked up to Alexander and asked, “Would you mind taking me as well?”
“What?” both Alexander and Boudicca asked. She wasn't even sure who he was.
“If you're giving shooting lessons, I would like to learn from you. I am sure there are things you can teach me I don't know.”
Achilles was making a case for going with them. They both knew he should come with them. “Fine,” Alexander said, “You can come with us. Bring your gun.”
The rest of the day was spent with Alexander going over the proper shooting procedures with Achilles and Boudicca. Mainly with Achilles. Boudicca would sit around and watch them.
“That was great. I think you got the hang of it. We can do this some other day,” Alexander said quickly looking across the sky. It was turning into sunset which means he spent his entire day already.
“That was great. Thanks for showing me the trick with shooting past where I am aiming. I am sure that is going to come in handy later,” Achilles boasted proudly. He was pleased that he was able to hold his own against the captain of the squad.
As Achilles left and headed back to the base, Alexander turned to Boudicca and said, “I'm sorry.”
“It wasn't your fault. Next time we'll say we are going off somewhere to spend alone time together,” she joked.
He sat down next to her. “Can you imagine their faces if we said something like that?”
“We wouldn't have to sneak around.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in next to him. “You know, most of the others are away tonight. There's some sort of celebration in the village. We could always find somewhere to go.”
She blushed a little. “Let's go before Achilles comes back.”
“Absolutely,” he said standing up quickly. He could hear the music going on a distance from them. Everything must be starting already. They would have the time all to themselves.
Alexander looked down the hall and made sure no one saw them entering his room. He closed the door and kissed her. They dropped onto his bed and started taking off each others clothes. They would have to make this quick. When they were naked, there was a knock at his door.
“Are you kidding me?” Alexander said lifting his head from hers. Every time he turned around there was something else stopping him.
“Ignore it,” she said pulling him back down.
The knock sounded again.
He pulled away and got off of the bed. “I have to check it out,” he said throwing on a pair of pants. With his luck, it was going to be the Commander doing a surprise check for the night.
She sighed. She grabbed her clothes and rolled off his bed onto the floor away from the door. If someone came in, she would be in trouble.
Alexander took a deep breath before opening his door a crack. It was Saladin. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you about what we discussed last night.” He was busy looking over his shoulder. He heard more about the problems the Commander was having with the soldiers. He wanted to alert Alexander to this.
“Can we talk about this tomorrow?”
“I really need to talk to you now.”
Alexander knew he should let Saladin in and talk about this problem. If it was troubling him this much for two days, it must be serious. Then there was also the fact that Boudicca was naked in his room. It was a hard call. “We will talk about all of this tomorrow. I promise you. We can spend the whole day.”
Saladin shook his head. “Okay. Remember – I am okay.”
“Good. I'll see you tomorrow,” Alexander replied closing the door.
Boudicca looked up from the side of the bed. “What was that about?”
“Nothing,” he smiled advancing towards her. They were finally alone. He wasn't going to waste any time.
*****
Saladin walked through the trees, trying to get as close as possible to the plane he saw land earlier. He knew there had to be something there that would let him know about the truth. He couldn't have heard wrong.
Three men were guarding the plane but they seemed more interested in their game of cards than anything else. He smiled. It would be easy to get close.
Moving with the shadows, Saladin made his way to the plane and opened the door. Looking once more to make sure he was safe, he climbed inside and ducked down.
Some of the items inside of the plane were written in a strange language he couldn't read. The few pieces he could read were general directions – nothing in particular.
The door to the plane opened and revealed the Commander standing right there. “Seems like someone got curious,” he said coarsely. He reached in to pull out Saladin.
Saladin knocked the Commander's arm away from him and felt someone grab him from behind. The other door had been opened while he was distracted. He backed his elbows into the person, knocking himself free.
A gun shot was heard. Turning
around, Saladin could see the Commander aiming a gun at him. “Now, get out.”
With arms raised slightly, Saladin made his way outside of the plane. He could see the rest of the Commander's specially hired members around.
“What do you know?” the Commander asked, his eyes not leaving from Saladin.
“I know all of it now,” Saladin responded. He knew he heard right earlier. This man was not to be trusted.
“That is a pity,” the Commander replied cocking the hammer on his gun.
Saladin knew it was his time to escape. He kicked the gun out of the Commander's arm, grabbed onto him by the neck, and turned him towards the other. He pulled out a knife from around the Commander's waist. “If any of you come closer, I will kill him.”
“He's lying. Shoot him.”
“Oh but we can't lie. Or have you forgotten?”
The Commander's eyes grew wide.
“Now, I am leaving. No one will come after me. Whoever comes after me will be responsible for his death.” Saladin backed up into the trees.
“You are never going to get away from here,” the Commander said while being held hostage, “We will find you and kill you.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
They walked through the trees for some distance before Saladin arrived at a small water area he found earlier. Raising his hand, he hit the Commander on the back of the head and watched him drop to the ground. This would be a good place to leave him. Hopefully something would come for a midnight snack.
Saladin walked off through the trees further. He needed to find a way to stay hidden until they left this area. Then he wouldn't have to continue to work for this man. He would be free.
*****
A sharp knock was heard on Alexander's door in the morning. He blinked twice and got out of bed. Boudicca had left a long time ago. They never stayed together an entire night. He opened the door.
One of the Commander's personnel stood there with a smug look on his face. “One of your fellow soldiers has defected. We need for you to find him before he dies from infection.”
Alexander wasn't sure he heard right. “Who left?”
“Saladin.”
That is what he wanted to talk about last night then. It must have been serious if he left during the middle of the night. “How long do we have?”
“Around twenty hours. The Commander wants you to assemble a team to search for him.” The man walked away briskly. He had accomplished his duty.
Alexander closed the door and quickly got dressed. He would have to make a team to go off and track down Saladin. He couldn't believe his friend would do this. It didn't seem his personality. Getting himself prepared, he went around and began knocking on other doors.
One of the first doors he knocked on was Boudicca's. “What's wrong?” she asked when she saw him. His face looked sullen.
“Saladin deserted. We need to go find him.”
“He deserted? When?”
He shook his head. “I'm not positive at what time. The staff member got me a few minutes ago and said we have about twenty hours. We really need to move out.”
“Are you sure you can handle this? You could delegate it to someone else.”
“I'm fine. I know what I have to do. Can you come with me to find him?”
“Yeah. Let me get ready,” she said closing the door slightly. She was worried he was going to do something rash.
By the time she rejoined him, he had already gotten Richard and Darius to come with them. “You didn't ask Cleo?” she asked Alexander on the side. The four of them were close friends.
He shook his head. “She didn't want to come.”
Boudicca nodded and took her place nearby. She would have to help keep him focused on the situation. Alexander cared about his duty but some things were more important.
Hadrian strolled into the common area, his weapons readied. “Well, I heard from a little bird that your friend decided to bail on us.”
“I didn't ask you to come on this team,” Alexander responded. He knew Hadrian would only cause more trouble than help.
“I don't need your permission. I talked with the Commander directly about it. He thought it would be wise to send me along with you.” Hadrian looked at Alexander to see his reaction.
Alexander glared at him. He knew the only reason Hadrian wanted to come was to gain some sort of prestige. “Fine. You listen to me. This is my team.”
“Anything you say captain,” Hadrian said with a little salute. He would follow Alexander's rules for now until it was time for him to become captain. Then things were going to change.
“I want everyone to make sure to bring him in without harm being done to him. This is Saladin – he is our friend. We don't know for sure if he is acting of his own free will. He may be captured or could be injured somewhere,” Alexander explained. He knew that was not necessarily the truth. A soldier such as Saladin would have managed to escape from his captors already.
The team left to go through the jungles around them. Each of them was prepared to bring their friend back if he wanted to come back. Alexander was skeptical. He knew Saladin overheard that conversation from earlier with the Commander and the mystery man. Perhaps he was thinking about the problem.
Making his way to the outskirts of the village, he noticed a few of the people were looking at him funny. One of them offered him some food which he promptly refused. The food from the outside was contaminated, the Commander warned them, it must not be eaten.
He continued walking through, checking inside of every house he passed albeit a bit quick. Part of him wanted to find his friend while the other part wanted to let him go. If he felt this strongly about something, he shouldn't have to do it. Maybe Saladin was misled and needed some time to reorganize his priorities.
“Alexander,” Boudicca said walking up to him and looking around nervously, “I need you to come with me.” She motioned for him to follow.
He followed her through the brush until they arrived at a small place far from the border of the village. Saladin was sitting there with his head lowered. “So you found him. Let's get back to the base so you can get your shot,” Alexander remarked.
“No,” Saladin said shaking his head, “I can't.”
“I'm leaving you two alone for a while,” Boudicca stated walking away. She heard what Saladin had to tell her but she wasn't believing any of it. Perhaps he had a mystery condition that needed medical attention. It was best to let Alexander handle this.
“What's going on?” Alexander asked, remaining standing. He was worried from the tone in Saladin's voice.
“They tried to kill me Alexander. When I asked about it, he sent some people after me and I barely made it out,” Saladin explained, “You need to get out of there.”
“What?”
“The Commander – he's not who you think he is. He's not helping us – he's not helping anyone. Come with me. We can get out of here and do some real good for people.” Saladin was trying to convince his friend. He knew it would be a hard sell especially for someone who grew up thinking he was helping people.
“You can't expect me to let you leave like this,” Alexander explained, “I have a duty to bring you in.”
Saladin stood up. “You'll have to shoot me before I go back.”
“Come back and we can ask him about this. I am sure it was some sort of misunderstanding.”
“Pull your head out of the ground. This man is wrong. Everything he does is wrong.”
Alexander looked around, biting his lip. “No one is around. I can ask Boudicca to keep quiet. You need to get out of here before I finish counting to ten. Otherwise, I have to bring you in.”
“Damn it Alexander, listen to yourself. This is the kind of stuff they drilled in us all these years. You don't have to do anything.”
“One,” Alexander started. He couldn't listen to this as the leader of the team. He had to follow what the Commander taught him.
Saladin looked at him. Alexa
nder couldn't look at him in the face. “Fine. I see how it is. Have fun working for the bad guy.” He turned around and headed further into the trees. He had nothing left to tell him.
Alexander kicked one of the rocks nearby. He couldn't believe his friend chose to go against them. The only thing he had going for him was that Hadrian wasn’t here. He could only imagine the chaos he would try to cause.
*****
“It is a shame we have lost on of our own out here. It only proves that it is a dangerous world in which we live. Hopefully Saladin will be in a better place,” the Commander explained to the troops during breakfast. He looked them over once more before leaving.
Alexander picked at his food, moving the pieces around without care. He felt horrible about Saladin being out there but he was also feeling the pressure to tell the Commander about what he learned. His years of training were plaguing him.
“Poor Alexander. No one left for you over here?” Hadrian asked walking nearby. He smiled and laughed, joining with his group waiting for him.
Alexander put his fork down and went off to the Commander's office. He needed to ask a few questions. When he reached the room, he could see the door was already open. “Sir?” Alexander asked before stepping inside.
The Commander quickly stuffed some files back inside of a metal cabinet. “What is it?” He cast a glance at Alexander, waiting to hear the response.
That action made Alexander suspicious. Placed with the information from Saladin, it sparked a controversy in his mind. “I was wondering if you wanted us to patrol today because of the Saladin situation,” Alexander said. He didn't feel as though he was lying – he was simply changing the subject.
“Of course. Today could be the day,” the Commander said with a grin, “It is good to know I have a true hero I can count on in you Alexander. We will restore the world.”
With a small salute, Alexander left the room and headed back to the others. Something was off but he couldn't figure it out. All his years of training were being questioned. He didn't feel like the hero he thought he was.
Soldiers of Legend : Chances Page 2