by Night, H. T.
“Is the only reason you want to do this is so Atticai will come and join us against Krull?”
“There are a lot of reasons why I think this is the right thing to do. The main one being that I’m a romantic at heart. Atticai’s one true love is still out there. He has believed for over 40 years she has been dead. I want to bring her to him. If he wants to join up then that would be fantastic, but that is not the reason why I’m doing it.”
“What do you need us to do?” Yomaida asked. “Remember, Tommy and I are grounded. We can’t exactly fly to the Philippines like the rest of you.”
I looked at Tommy and Yomaida and said plainly, “I need for you two to sit and watch over the property while were gone and take care of Lena.”
“Seriously? That’s all you want us to do?” Tommy asked perturbed. “Keep the home fires burning?”
“We’re going to need to be in and out, extremely fast. I am going to need you here with Lena because you need to notify me the second she goes into labor or if anything happens.”
“So mine and Yomaida’s job is to play nurse to Lena?” Tommy was enormously disappointed.
“Tommy, you guys can’t fly. It will be a liability, having you two grounded. Plus, I’m going to need someone to hold down the fort. I can’t exactly feel that comfortable about leaving Lena alone. Even if it’s going to be just 24 hours. Please, Tom, see it for what it is. I’m asking you to be there for my family. I wouldn’t trust that job with anybody but you.”
“You’re just sugar-coating the fact that I can’t fly,” Tommy said, not buying my hard sell. “It’s cool, Josiah. We will gladly stay back and make sure Lena is okay.”
I looked Tommy in the eye and walked over to him. I knew this guy and he wanted in on the mission. I just couldn’t risk someone who was tied to the ground. God only knew what kind of ammunition they are going to have.
I walked up to my best friend and placed my hand on his chest. Not in some Christ-like way for healing, but in bonding way to recognize my friend for his worth. His value was more than anything in this world to me in terms of friendship and union.
As I placed my hand on his chest, Tommy gave me a look like ‘what the hell are you doing?’
“Tommy,” I said. “You’re my dearest friend, I love you more than words can express. I need you here. I want you here. You paid your debt to me tenfold already. Sit this one out. I won’t ask that of you that often. Plus, I promised you in Mexico that you could take the rest of the year off.”
Tommy resisted my affection and then gave in to my touch. He placed his hand over the top of my hand which was still on his chest. That was his way of saying okay. I looked at the rest of the group and said, “Now that we all know that I am mortal, I can’t even be on the inside because of guns. There will be too many chances for me to get shot in the back.”
“So, what? You want us to do all the heavy lifting?” Wyatt asked.
“Does that sound like me? When is the last time you heard of me not going balls out on a task? I only need for those of you who can take a bullet to step up and go with me. I understand if you don’t want in on this mission.” I paused and looked my friends in the eye. “So, now is the time to tell me that you’re willing to put your bodies on the line for me.”
Everyone nodded and said under their breath, ‘I’m in.’
“Sion, you will stay here. I know actual physicality isn’t your thing.”
“Thank God,” Sion said.
“But you would go if I needed you, right?” I asked Sion.
“Of course I would.”
“Very good. But what you can do is brief everyone.” Sion had graduated from MIT and had the IQ of a character from The Big Bang Theory.
“I have found the exact location where Donya is being held,” Sion said. “She is on an island just south of the Philippines. Iran runs an underground prison camp on the island. They keep their political figures there. They like to bring them out for trial when needed.”
“Not to be weird,” Tommy stated. “But why has the government kept her alive so long? What good is she to the Iran government?”
“Some mysterious donor paid a very large sum of money to their government not to execute her in 1968. By now, the government is probably just waiting for her to die.” Then Sion and I went over the rest of the details of our mission. We were going to take an airplane down there and fly ourselves back. It was going to take precise planning. Thank goodness, I had Sion.
Chapter Fourteen
Lena was not too thrilled about what I wanted to do in regards of recuing Donya. As a matter of fact, she was against me going. Well, she knew by now that once I had my heart set on something that I was going to do it, especially when it’s something this selfless.
Before I left, I promised her that I would come back the second she went into labor. My gut was telling me that wasn’t going to happen. Plus, I planned on being gone less than 24 hours.
“Okay, Lena, I’m leaving but I promise to be back first thing tomorrow morning.”
“You’re really leaving?” Lena rolled over to her side on our bed and refused to look at me. I should say, she rolled over as much as she could roll over. She didn’t quite make it. It was actually a funny sight. She looked like an injured animal that was stuck on its back trying its best to move.
“I promise you, I’ll be back before you know it.” I walked over to the other side of the bed and made Lena look at me by sticking my face an inch away from hers. “Do you trust me?” I asked.
“Of course I trust you. What I don’t trust is a bullet in your chest.”
“That’s why I’m bringing Yari, Hector and Wyatt. All of them can take a bullet. Please give me your blessing to leave and I promise everything will be okay. I have survived this long.”
“What if I don’t want to give you my blessing?” Lena said, in her cute, little-girl voice.
I knew now she was coming around. “Look, sweetie, close your eyes and go to sleep. Tommy and Yomaida are here and the second your water breaks, we have a sea of nurses on call who will be here in minutes.”
“Josiah, just promise me one thing. Once you do this for Atticai, then let it be over. Don’t try to keep reeling him in. Let him go.”
“I promise,” I said. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep that promise in the long run, but it was what she needed to hear. I kissed her goodbye and made my way downstairs.
The four of us who were making the trip met with Sion in the bunker for one last briefing and then we were off to LAX airport. We were taking a trip to Manila.
So, Wyatt, Yari, Hector and I all took the next flight out of Los Angeles to the Philippines. We flew into Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila at 2 o’clock in the morning. My plan was to get Donya in and out before 5:00 a.m. We were going to fly back to California on our own power, as Mani. If we flew at that time, we would hit night sky, the whole way back.
The island that Donya was being held on was called Tiachia. It was the same distance to the Philippine coast as our own Catalina Island was to California’s beaches. Tiachia was an island that didn’t appear to be what it seemed. On the outside, it looked like a military training ground for the Philippine army. That was just ‘a ruse.’ In reality, the island was not even owned by the Philippines. It is owned by a notorious Iranian political activist, Albiat Qumar. Certain nations outsourced their political prisoners to him. I could only imagine the conditions of the place and the horror that Donya had experienced for the last forty-plus years.
Hector, Wyatt, Yari and I were now on the ground. We didn’t bring anything with us, other than our skills and abilities. We quietly went over every detail of the plan on the plane before we landed.
The island wasn’t too large. There were two areas of the islands where they kept their prisoners. There was a giant concrete building in the northwest section of the island that appeared from the outside to be a government building. Sion figured out exactly what the building was being used for by
cracking into some CIA sites. It was our belief that Donya was being held in there. There was also a smaller prison on the south side of the island that physically looked like a prison from the outside. The island claimed it was only used for training, and that it wasn’t a prison at all. We obviously thought otherwise.
As the four of us exited the airport, I informed them that we would be heading out immediately to the island of Tiachia. I added, “Are you guys okay with the plan?”
“This is what we do, Josiah,” Wyatt said, stone-faced. “We help those in need. We went from not giving a shit for years to saving the world.”
“At times,” Yari added, “I need to remind myself I am now one of the good guys.”
“I like being one of the good guys,” Hector said, as a matter of fact.
“So do I, Hector,” I said. “I just need to ask one more thing of you all.”
They looked at me expectantly. “There will be blood. I would ask you not to feed upon the Tandra here, but to keep your mind on the fighting, protecting each other and saving Donya,” I looked pointedly at Yari, who I thought might break ranks if she was hungry enough.
“That goes without saying,” Hector said and everyone else nodded their assent.
“We all fed at home in the Mani mess hall before we left,” Yari said. “We are well aware of your policy for our Mani soldiers.”
“Whew,” I said. “Because I always see feeding as a weak point when we fight, if anyone was to get distracted from the mission.”
“Not gonna happen,” Wyatt said, “no matter how much blood there is,” and I saw my team was all in top form and all dedicated to the mission. They all bore intense fierce looks on their faces.
“You are the best of the best,” I said, wishing Tommy would have been here to see how our small Mani team worked so well together. “Everyone transition,” I said.
I transitioned into the great white eagle. Hector and Wyatt turned into black ravens. And Yari turned into my old friend Daphne, the beautiful red hawk. The four of us were off, darting through the sky in a beautiful formation. I was at the head, and my three dear friends directly behind me. In about thirty minutes, we made it to the coast. All that separated Donya and us was ocean, prison guards, and some bars. We needed to do the plan 100 percent the way Sion explained it to me. He calculated the exact time to be in and out with the least casualties. I didn’t want to blow up the place because I remembered the warning The Deity had given me. As an American citizen, I didn’t want to start World War III.
At exactly 3:30 a.m., we flew across the ocean to Tiachia’s island. We needed to do this quickly, but we had one giant problem. We had no idea what cell she was in.
As the four of us crossed the ocean to the island, I had knots in my stomach. Mani and Carni was one thing, but these kinds of people made my blood boil; the type of people that had taken liberties away from individuals in the name of government, a government that operated on the fear and misfortunes of others. A part of me wanted to just destroy the joint, Mad Max style, but I knew that was exactly what The Deity was afraid of. That was why she never let Atticai know that Donya was alive. He would have blown up the joint.
As we made our way closer to the island, the giant concrete prison as visible as the Great Wall of China, must have been a hundred feet up in the dark. It was just right out in the open. It amazed me that people could just get away with torturing human beings right smack out in the open.
I glided over at a safe distance with my crew close behind me. The last thing I wanted was to be target practice for some bored night prison guard who had nothing better to do than to shoot some pretty birds out of the sky.
This night, I needed to use all my skills. I needed to fly over and focus on the building and get a sense of what was going on inside. As we flew over, I focused my attention inside of the building. I didn’t have X-ray vision like Superman, but I had the ability to see and to feel people inside without a clear visual. I could feel that there was misery below in the concrete building. There was death and distress at the highest level. The despair of the prisoners overwhelmed me as I concentrated on the building below me.
How was I going to figure this out?
There was supposed to be a woman that I never met in that building. There must have been 400 cell blocks in the concrete hell hole. I did the only thing I could do. I flew over and felt the presence of each individual in every cell block. I might not have been able to see them, but I could get a sense if they were male and female. And that was a good start.
Sion had said he’d be surprised if there were more than five women prisoners on the entire island. These types usually just killed women who stepped outside the lines of what was acceptable in their strict society. They didn’t value the women. Unfortunately, that’s the way life was in this part of the world, as in the Middle East. The radicals put so much value in their beliefs, but they forgot the golden rule about treating others the way you want to be treated. Or perhaps they never knew that rule at all.
I flew over slowly and as low as I could with my three friends close behind. I could see guards at every corridor through the few windows they had. They were very much on alert, so I couldn’t fly any lower without being seen. I concentrated on each cell block as I flew over them.
One thing became very apparent, cell after cell. There were only men in that building. There was not a woman anywhere.
I flew over four different times and detected not one drop of estrogen. I knew we needed to regroup. So, I headed back to the beach on the mainland across on the other side. We all landed on the beach.
“Any luck, Josiah?” Yari asked.
“Nope. There isn’t a single woman in that building. It’s just a sea of testosterone. There is a lot of heartache and distress in that building. But they are all men. I feel their pain, their suffering. It’s huge.”
“Be smart, Josiah. You can’t go around freeing prisoners of crazy people. God only knows why they are here,” Wyatt said.
“I know we can’t rescue everyone.”
“Josiah, look at me,” Yari said. “Look me in the eye.” Yari grabbed my face and forced to look at her, eye to eye. “Josiah Reign, you cannot save anyone else other than Donya on this mission. We don’t have the resources for it.”
I sighed. “I know. We need to find Donya. We need to check the other prison on the south side of the island.”
“There is no way they are keeping her right out in the open,” Wyatt said.
I looked at Wyatt and thought about it for a second. “Why wouldn’t they? She is a 65-year old woman who probably doesn’t need much looking after.”
Then something odd happened. I saw flashes of light. The images took over my body. I started to get a vision. “Hold on, everyone.” I closed my eyes and knelt down.
“Are you okay?” Yari asked.
“Hold on,” I said. As I closed my eyes, I could see her. She was sitting up on a very dirty mattress. I saw a lovely older woman with gray hair. She seemed very beaten down, but I could see a little bit of hope in her eyes. She has faith. She has always believed she was going to be saved. Tonight, she is sitting up… because she feels a presence. She feels us, she knows were near. I opened my eyes and said to the others, “Follow me. I know exactly where she is.”
I transitioned back into the great white eagle in a flash and torpedoed over the ocean with my wings spread wide. She was in the south-side prison. She was right on the easternmost corner of the building.
We flew around the island this time to the south side. We came up the back way onto the beach. There was a guard tower and that was the first place we needed to attack. These prison compounds had three levels of security. The first one was the guard tower. This first level had two guards, one on each side of the tower. The second line of defense was an officer shed which had at least six prison guards inside, guarding the front of the prison. If somehow, we got past them, the third line of protection was two security guys patrolling both floors of th
e building. We needed to get past at least twelve men armed with machine guns and everything else under the sun. So, once again, ‘let the good times roll.’
We had run the two scenarios of attacking both buildings on the plane. We knew the easier task was the one that was given to us. Thank God. The other scenario might have been thirty-to-forty guards.
After weighing the vulnerability of my immediate surroundings, the guard tower needed to be our quickest attack. The reason was, we couldn’t let the shed guys know we were here because they would signal the guards on the other side of island and then all hell would break loose.
I motioned with my wing for Wyatt and Hector to take care of the two guards in the tower. They flew above the two guards in the tower in their raven forms and slid behind them easily without being noticed. Both transitioned quickly without being seen and were able to slit their necks in seconds. They immediately dumped them into the brush below, which made almost no noise. Wyatt and Hector were flawless assassins. It was chilling to see them work. Thank goodness they were on my side. Their unhesitating efficiency made me shudder.
It was Yari’s job to get the guards to come out of the shed. I flew over the shed to gauge how many men we were dealing with. I felt the breath and heartbeats of seven different men in the shed. So, we had thirteen guards to deal with. That was still better than forty.
Yari, as Daphne, crashed into a pile a wood that was at the front of the shed. It was a much louder commotion than any of us anticipated. We were hoping it would cause a couple of the guards to come outside, not all seven. But there we had it, all seven guards were outside with their automatic weapons engaged. We needed to act fast. Once they realized that the two guards in the tower were dead, they would alert the whole island.
As the eagle, I soared down into the men. With my beak, I pierced the first man I saw in his chest. He flew backwards ten feet from my momentum and was dead in seconds.