“The world was shocked today when it was revealed that the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un was assassinated, as well as his two top Generals. Reports from the North Korean government claim that two Americans dressed in the North Korean uniform opened fire, killing the Generals in the initial attack. Kim Jong-Un was escorted to the safety of his limousine. After making a quick getaway, the limousine was blown up by what North Korean military experts are saying was an unmanned drone strike.” The reporter said.
“You’re shitting me.” Neil stood in front of the TV, mouth agape.
She continued.
“The DPRK’s politicians are up in arms, claiming that this attack is a declaration of war. They have begun mobilizing troops, and demand retribution from the United States government. All government officials have vehemently denied any involvement in the day’s events, claiming that the United States had nothing to do with them. The North Korean government, however, claims to have photographs of two American spies attempting to drive their way into the city earlier in the day. The spies allegedly shot and killed two policemen who tried to arrest them after making a traffic stop.”
“Looks like you’re famous.” Steele said.
“This is absolutely insane. I had nothing to do with Kim Jong-Un’s death. The Generals were shot by their own people, and a bomb blew up his limo, not a UAV. How can they expect to prove any of that?”
“Does it matter? Their leader is dead, and there is blood in the water. Their people have been clamoring for war since the last time we fought them. Their country is in shambles. They have two choices – starve to death in peace, or starve to death in war. At least the latter makes them feel like there’s hope.”
Neil couldn’t argue with reasoning like that. He imagined himself in their place, and saw how war could actually be desirable for them.
“This isn’t going to end well for them, but at least they’ll have fewer people to feed.” Neil smiled. Steele gave him a cold look, and Neil immediately felt embarrassed for making light of the situation.
“You know we need you to help end this, right?” Steele said. “If they gather their forces and charge the DMZ, there’s nothing we can do to stop that kind of manpower. If you don’t help, hundreds of thousands of people could die.”
“If I help change the tide of the war, the whole world will know about me.”
“Haven’t you been paying attention? The whole world already knows about you. Now all that’s left is for them to see what you can really do.”
Neil thought for a moment, and decided that he didn’t have any rebuttal.
“How long until they attack?”
“Two weeks. Three, at most.”
“I’ll be there when it happens.”
There was a period of silence where the two sat watching the news story on Korea.
Neil remembered what had happened earlier.
“I went to see Emma. Carl sent a thug to hold her hostage. I killed him, and she shot me in the chest with a shotgun to say ‘thanks’.”
“What?!” Steele stood up out of his chair.
Neil told the story of what happened.
“That son of a bitch! I’m going to kill him.”
Neil didn’t think Steele meant it facetiously. Steele walked towards the door with conviction in his eyes.
“I already socked him in the face for you.” Neil said, “If anything like that happens again, I’ll deliver him to you on a silver platter.”
Neil held the door shut until Steele calmed down.
“Carl is desperate, but not that desperate.” Neil explained, “Emma is the only thing he has to use against us. Without her, he’s got no leverage. He’s not going to let anything happen to her, and neither am I.”
Tanya’s voice came on over the intercom.
“Gentlemen, General Dempsey is on the line. He needs to speak to both of you. Expect a call on the video teleconference.” As soon as she finished speaking, the phone in the middle of the room rang. The projector displayed the incoming call. Neil answered it, and General Dempsey’s face appeared on the screen.
“Son, it’s good to see you made it back from Korea.”
“Sir, look, about what happened, I didn’t kill Kim Jong-Un. They’re trying to blame us for something we didn’t do.”
“Don’t worry about that. We saw the whole thing, I know it wasn’t you. We’ll worry about that in due time. Right now, I need something else from you.”
Neil wondered how exactly they ‘saw the whole thing’, but decided not to press his curiosity.
“What is it, Sir?”
“It looks like we kicked up a storm in the Middle East. The story of al-Zawahiri’s death has spread around the region like wildfire. Some details have been slightly…embellished. It is being said that God himself descended and took the soul of al-Zawahiri as a reward for his successful jihad. They say God’s appearance as an American is a sign that we are the true enemy and that their holy war is justified.”
“That sounds bad. What does that mean for us?”
“It means we have to prepare for a lot of hopeful Muslim extremists that want a piece of the pie. In the past 48 hours, we’ve already had five times as many attacks. What’s worse is that we’ve received multiple corroborating sources warning of an impending large-scale attack on Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.”
“Just how large scale?” General Steele asked.
“Our sources are saying there are hundreds of hopeful insurgents all convening to plan the attack. Maybe even as many as a thousand. We are expecting the attack sometime in the next 72 to 96 hours.”
“What’s the problem? Can’t we just drop a bomb and be done with it?” Neil asked.
“We can.” Dempsey said, “In fact, we’re not really worried about the attack at all. Instead, we are looking at it as an opportunity. Rather than drop a bomb, we want to show them our ace card. We want to use you. We want them to believe that God is on our side.”
Neil considered the situation. They wanted to use him to kill a thousand people just to send a message. He killed al-Zawahiri to make the world a safer place, but all he had done was add fuel to the fire. His actions in Korea were meant to prevent war, but now it seemed they had instigated one. Wherever Neil went, he brought only destruction with him.
The part that bothered Neil the most wasn’t that he left carnage in his wake. The worst part was that he liked it. A four star General stood before him asking him to appear as a god before man and obliterate them. He felt empowered, and that scared him. Neil knew that he was changing. At times he felt conflicted with himself, but most of the time he felt sure that he was fulfilling his destiny. Every move he made seemed like the correct move. He was being guided by fate, and this was the next step towards achieving greatness.
Neil opened his mouth to speak, but the words came from somewhere beyond himself. His mind had been made up for him. A fire appeared in his eyes. His shadow loomed over the rest of the room when he stood up.
“As long as enemies are placed before me, I will strike them down with the vengeance of a god. I will show no mercy. I will never bear the burden of defeat. So long as I live, all who oppose me will perish.” When he finished speaking, Neil snapped out of a trance. He looked around the room, confused. Steele was staring up at him fearfully, and General Dempsey looked back with raised eyebrows and a surprised expression.
“Well, I definitely appreciate the enthusiasm, son, but you might want to tone down the dramatic undertones. Let’s keep a level head, shall we?” Dempsey said.
“Sorry about that, I…I got a bit carried away.” Neil said.
He looked down at his feet, ashamed of his strange monologue. He didn’t know what compelled him to speak that way. He felt like an inferno had kindled in his stomach, and spoke on his behalf.
General Dempsey went on to explain his plan for Neil. He and General Steele would both need to go together. Neil was still anonymous, so he would need Steele to travel around without attractin
g attention. They would have to fly overseas on military aircraft, since it would be impossible for Neil to get anywhere near Bagram undetected by flying on his own.
Once on the ground, Steele would be able to gather information and give them a much better idea of when to expect the attack. After that, all they needed to do was wait. Once the attack came, Neil would travel just outside the base and wait for the insurgents to get close. He was instructed to appear as godly as possible as he destroyed them.
The locals working inside the base would see the events transpire and spread the news of what happened. The Army’s Psy Ops program had also planned psychological operations to spread rumors using their field agents. Once the insurgents heard the stories of God defending the Americans, they would lose hope in their cause. As strong Muslims, they would not give their lives for a cause once they believed that God was not aligned with them.
It sounded like a good plan to Neil. If his actions were interpreted the way General Dempsey said they would be, he could end the threat of terrorist organizations in the Middle East single handedly.
Neil and General Steele left the NSA building after being fully briefed by Dempsey and Dunford. They received all the equipment they would need to take with them, as well as new uniforms. In order to blend in, they had to ditch their current uniforms for the Multi-cam pattern that was used in theater. They planned to fly out the following morning, so they had the rest of the evening to themselves.
“You know what sounds fun?” Steele asked Neil, as they drove back towards the NSA building in the rental car Steele had ordered.
“What’s that, Sir?” Neil asked.
The ‘Sir’ was just a habit for Neil at that point. The two had bonded enough over the past couple weeks that there was no longer a professional separation between them. Steele was the only person Neil could call a friend since leaving home.
“Let’s go into town and get hammered tonight.” Steele looked over and smiled.
Neil smiled in return and nodded in agreement.
“We are going to war, after all.”
Steele turned the car around and headed towards downtown Augusta. They changed into civilian clothes out of Steele’s bag from the trunk of the car and parked at a local country bar.
The sun had barely begun to descend, so the bar was nearly empty as they took seats on the stools along the high-top.
“Four whiskey sours, two of them to my friend here.” Steele said to the bartender.
He nodded and began fixing the drinks.
Neil scanned the room and observed the small crowd of people inside. They all had their attention fixed on the same thing. He traced the direction of their eyes and found a big screen television on the wall.
The news was still playing the story about what happened in Korea earlier that day. Neil realized that the rest of the country was probably glued to the same broadcast. His life had been so full of excitement that he had almost forgotten how boring the lives of everyone else were. To them, this story and the sightings of the flying man were probably the most exciting thing that had happened all year.
“Crazy shit, huh?” The barkeep said as he set the drinks down in front of them.
“Lots of crazy shit happening lately.” Neil said, sipping from his drink.
“I’ll say. It’s gotta be more‘n just coincidence, ya know? Like, I think it’s gotta all be connected somehow. The government’s got all the answers, but they ain’t tellin’ us.” The barkeep said enthusiastically.
“Maybe the government has some secret flying assassin that’s been going around the world killing off America’s enemies.” Steele said sarcastically.
“No way, you think so?” Neil said, playing along.
“Nah, that sounds crazy, now that you mention it.” Steele said.
Neil laughed out loud and took another sip from his drink.
The two sipped at their drinks while talking to the bartender about the events on the news. They kept themselves entertained by giving away actual details while making them sound like crazy conspiracy theories. After a while, the bartender and the other patrons that had gathered around to chat were convinced Neil and Steele were insane. They continued joking and telling stories with the other patrons until the sun began descended and the bar filled up.
Steele tried to contain his laughter as he watched Neil play against an overweight biker at the billiards table. The biker became visibly frustrated when none of his shots seemed to go where he aimed. Neil winked at Steele when he sank four balls with one shot, and then followed it up by sinking the eight ball to win.
“Fuckin young punk, got lucky is all.” The biker said, as he walked back to the bar to drink more.
Neil’s empty glasses began to pile up, and he became more daring with his bar tricks. Onlookers cheered him on as he made six bulls eyes in a row on the dart board. His opponent bet him $100 he couldn’t do it again. He did.
“That’s fucking impossible, you cheated, you little piece of shit!”
The man was at least 6’3” and had more muscle than a full grown bull. Neil was having too much fun to be discrete, and the alcohol wasn’t helping.
“Did I now? Don’t be a sore loser, man. Pay up.”
“I ain’t payin’ you shit, you little punk. Let’s see if you can make me.”
The man grabbed a nearby beer bottle and smashed it on the table. He held a broken glass fragment in his hand. Neil just laughed some more. The bar went silent, and everyone turned their attention to the drama.
“Give it your best shot, tubby.” Neil said.
That did the trick.
The man stepped forward towards Neil and reared his hand holding the bottle backwards to swing. Neil forced the man’s knee to bend forward, catching him off balance. He fell backwards and hit his head on the table as he tumbled to the ground. To everyone else, it simply looked like he had too much to drink. The bar erupted in laughter.
The man stood up, and his face was beet red with embarrassment. He looked around the room and saw that the entire bar was laughing at him. His embarrassment changed to anger, and he reached into his back waistband. Neil saw a flash of metal as the man pulled his hand back out. The bar became silent again, and many people cursed as they frantically pushed their way through the crowd to get out of the room.
“Ha ha ha, fucking hilarious, isn’t it? What, you don’t think it’s funny anymore?” The man said, as he pointed the gun directly at Neil’s forehead. Neil didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking afraid.
He could clearly see that the man wasn’t going to fire. He was just trying to redeem himself after the humiliation Neil had caused him. That didn’t matter to Neil. He was drunk with power, and with alcohol. He commanded the man’s finger to flip the safety. He looked down at his own hand in shock, as he realized what he had somehow done.
Neil forced the man to steadily squeeze the trigger. He looked back and forth between Neil and the gun, unable to determine how his hand was acting on its own. He was helpless as he realized what was going to happen.
The gun went off.
The room erupted in screams, but Neil stood perfectly still. Many of those brave enough to stick around up to that point ran for the exit. The rest stood in stunned silence. Several seconds of chaos ensued, but it subsided once everyone looked over to see that Neil was still standing.
“What the?” The man said.
He looked upon Neil with complete disbelief. The gun had been inches away from Neil’s head. Everyone knew there was no way the shot could have missed.
Neil held out his hand in the shape of a fist.
“Hold out your hand.” Neil said. The man hesitantly held out his own outstretched hand below Neil’s. Neil opened his fist and a small object dropped into the man’s open hand. After closely examining it by holding it up to his face, he gave a look of sudden realization as he determined what the object was. The crowd that still remained figured it out at the same time.
It was a crushed bullet
tip.
The man recoiled backwards and stumbled over a bar stool. He dropped the gun.
“How the fuck?”
“I’ll take my $100 now.” Neil said, slowly walking towards the cowering man.
He took his entire wallet out of his pocket, threw it at Neil’s feet, and ran out of the bar. The rest of the crowd looked on in silence, save for several whispers coming from the back of the room.
Neil picked up the wallet, took out his $100 in cash, and set the remainder back down on the table. Steele grabbed him by the shoulder and escorted him through the crowd and outside of the bar.
“Are you out of your mind?” Steele said, leaning in close to Neil.
“Maybe, but either way, that was hilarious. Did you see the look on his face?” Neil said.
He burst out laughing. Steele didn’t seem to find it quite as amusing.
“You can’t just go around making a scene. People notice. That kind of shit makes the news!”
“You still don’t get it, do you? There are no rules. I’m untouchable. I have the complete freedom to do anything I want.”
Steele looked at him quizzically. There was no way Steele could understand the true freedom Neil had.
He looked up into the night sky and saw the full moon. He felt a cool summer breeze in the air. He breathed and could almost taste the clean air. He had an idea.
“I need to show you something.”
Before Steele had a chance to protest, they were already accelerating quickly into the sky. For the first few seconds, Steele screamed in horror. After they pulled away from the ground, the nightlife below them shrank away, and all sounds of civilization went silent. So did Steele.
Neil could see the wonder and amazement in his eyes as Steele stared at the earth beneath him. Neil knew exactly what Steele was feeling. He felt it himself the first time he flew above clouds completely exposed to the clear sky.
He took Steele along the highway all the way to Atlanta. Over one stretch of road, he brought them right above the surface of the pavement as they weaved in and out of cars. The drivers didn’t even have time to react. Steele was scared out of his mind, but Neil knew that they were safe. There was no better way to demonstrate exactly how free he was.
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