Commandos

by Madlen Namro

“Oh really?” Akira laughed out loud, clearly enjoying

  himself. “Step up and choose your weapon. Sword, katana

  or wakizashi?”

  So far Alec usually had used the halberd, a long stick

  topped with a curved blade, so he picked the katana sword

  as it was similar to the halberd in shape. He assumed

  position and confidently awaited the man so bluntly

  admired by Akira.

  When Victor stepped into the room Alec felt the weight

  of the man’s gaze, as if the tracker was trying to defeat him

  by just staring at him. The closer he was, the more Alec got

  the feeling they’d already met somewhere before. “No way!” Alec eventually exclaimed in recognition,

  holding his sword in initial stance. “The arsehole from the

  base!”

  Victor stopped and calmly sized Alec up with his eyes.

  ‘The Zen schools didn’t do much good I see.’ He thought,

  haughty as ever.

  They started fighting. Alec’s disadvantage was clear

  from the very first swing he made.

  “It’s not about waiving your sword in the air!” Akira

  shouted at him.

  Alec fell down and dropped his sword and the next

  second he felt Victor’s blade on his throat and the look in

  the tracker’s eyes chilled him to the bone. He was suddenly

  very scared.

  “Enough!” Akira called out. He turned to Alec. “There

  are samurai who only need to make one move to kill. I

  want you to know that you fought one of such men and

  remember the old saying, ‘even monkeys fall off trees’.”

  He clapped his hands. “That’s it for today!”

  Victor reached down to help Alec to his feet, but Alec

  pushed his hand aside and got up by himself.

  “Alec?” Victor followed him.

  “What now? Haven’t you had enough fun yet?” the

  commando snarled.

  “I’m here to take you to Tenerife, to the commodore.”

  He showed him the letter from the president. “You’ve been

  given a new assignment.”

  Alec snatched the letter without a word and turned

  around towards the changing room. Victor followed. It took

  some time for either of them to say a word.

  The tracker changed his clothes faster and approached

  the commando.

  “It’s urgent. We must leave Kyoto at once. Levi, David

  and Jo are waiting for us.”

  “Jo?” Alec was suddenly interested.

  “Yes, but I’m on the team as well. You’re going to have

  to accept it.”

  Alec slammed his locker door closed and turned to face

  Victor.

  “If I ever go to Tenerife, it won’t be for Levi, or David,

  and definitely not for a show-off, smart-arse arsehole like

  you!”

  Victor growled and dashed towards Alec and they

  started fighting. The tracker had always tried to control his

  anger, but there was something about this man that really

  made him furious. The others barely managed to pull them

  apart.

  “I know you’ll only be going because of Jo. You still

  think you can win her back, don’t you?”

  “How the hell would you know that?” Alec spat blood

  from his mouth and struggled to get up.

  “I don’t know anything, but we can soon find out how

  she feels about that.”

  “You think she’d choose you?” Alec stepped towards

  the door and turned around to give Victor a furious look.

  “Don’t count on it. I’ll make sure she doesn’t leave me!”

  He scowled. “See you at the airport.” He left the room. Victor felt Akira’s hand on his shoulder.

  “Be careful with this man, brother.”

  “Thanks Akira. Take care.”

  Victor left the school building and spent the time

  remaining in a sushi bar, thinking about Jo. Did she even

  still remember him? Did she remember that night they’d

  spent together? When it was time, he set off towards the

  airport with a heavy heart.

  * * * *

  The journey lasted several hours but neither of them said a word. Victor kept wondering why Levi had kept Alec on the shuttle for all those years, but could not understand it.

  As soon as they landed and found transport to the Sun City base, they found David and Levi. The commodore was clearly weary. Something was bothering him. Alec nodded at his colleagues and Victor shook both their hands.

  “Where’s Jo?” Alec asked straight from the hip. Silence. No one said a word. Victor was curious too. “Good question. Where is she?”

  “We have a problem,” David explained. “We can’t

  locate her.”

  “I knew it!” Alec burst in. “Trust you to always screw

  something up.”

  “Settle down!” Levi silenced him categorically and

  turned to David. “Take Alec away and explain to him why

  we’re here. I want to have a word in private with Victor.” They strolled around the base, the chilly breeze from

  the Atlantic cooling their faces.

  “We tried searching through databases but found

  nothing. Then we started our own investigation.” “What did you find out?”

  “We asked around, even found an officer who

  confirmed she’d arrived on the island.”

  “And?”

  “That’s it. Then the trail went cold. We’re going to

  need your tracker’s skills to find her.”

  “There’s not much time. I’ve been informed by the

  president that Kaminsky is about to make his move really

  soon.”

  Levi clutched at his beard. He’d not shaven for quite a

  while.

  “Excuse me, Charles.” Victor was visibly worried.

  “I’ve got to read through Jo’s files again.”

  “All right, I’ll talk to Alec and David.”

  Victor briskly walked back to the hotel and with a heart

  heavy with concern started reading the files again. He tried

  going chronologically, trying to figure out some key to her

  behaviour. Nothing. Zero ideas. Before he could start his

  search, he needed to memorise as much of it as he could.

  He needed to find a key to her mind, to understand what

  drove her to do what she had done. Where are you, Jo? He

  got up, took off his glasses and walked to the window. He

  stood there, gazing upon the horizon over the ocean when

  his eyes suddenly fixed on the nearest island. Suddenly, it

  all fell into place. He ran out of the room and joined the

  commandos downstairs.

  “I think I know where she is.” The sudden certainty in

  his voice got their attention. The men gave each other

  puzzled looks and Levi seemed relieved.

  “I’m coming with you,” Alec said.

  “Out of the question. If I’m right, I’ll see you all

  tomorrow.”

  Victor nodded at them and left the room without

  waiting for their answer. All he could think of was the hope

  of not being wrong about this. He rented the fastest

  motorcycle the base could come up with and raced towards

  the port. The ferry to Fuerteventura was about to leave.

  There was not a minute to lose.

  * * * *

  Levi knew that if there was anyone capable of finding Jo, it would be Victor. He was truly the best in what he
did. However, the commodore got an impression that the tracker was acting on instinct in this case. He was following his heart rather than logic. This was not typical of Victor and Levi was rather curious about it, but he would not question his friend’s attitude knowing that Victor would tell him about it when the time was right.

  Alec and David did not get along well, as was to be expected. Even the long months of separation could not weaken their mutual aversion.

  Before his split up with Jo, Alec used to be a generally friendly and tolerable companion. He’d always fulfil his tasks diligently, sometimes even fast enough to help one of his slower colleagues, but the affair and subsequent marriage seemed to have changed him into an entirely different man. To make it worse, his situation did not encourage anyone’s sympathy. People were generally critical of him, seeing as he only had himself to blame for the mess he’d got himself into. Levi had to repeatedly remind everyone that Alec’s private life had nothing to do with the mission at hand. He also could not forget about Jo and her place in all this. If she had recalled all her past, she might have suffered another mental breakdown. He would have to keep a close eye on her as well. He actually considered excluding her from the group should her mental condition be worse than he expected. That, however, was strictly the last resort, as her knowledge of Kaminsky and his habits was an invaluable asset in this mission.

  Each of them had their own problems. They were all human first and soldiers second. They would simply have to find a way to cope and make sure their personal affairs did not interfere with the mission.

  Levi’s own dilemmas were constantly on his mind as well. He’d sworn to himself that if he survived the mission he would do anything in his power to find his daughter. Every night, before he fell asleep, he saw the face of his six-year-old daughter calling, ‘Dad, look how high I am’ each time the swing carried her towards the sky. She had two long plaits almost reaching her waist and adorable freckles on her cheeks. She looked so much like her mother. He frowned at the memory. Even in those days work had already become more important to him, but he could still fix it. He would not rest until he saw her again.

  An hour before he spoke to the Defence Council and acknowledged the team’s readiness to take up the mission, he was told that the intelligence services expected a wave of massive terrorist attacks on an unprecedented scale. I’ve heard that before, he thought. He wasted no more time on idle pondering and started preparing the plan of reaching the caliph. It looked like the success of the entire mission would depend on the skills of one man – Victor.

  * * * *

  The ferry travelled at excruciatingly slow speed barely forcing its way through the waves. Standing by a window, Victor watched Tenerife slowly shrinking in the distance while the next island of the archipelago gradually closed in on the right. It would take the ferry another hour to reach Fuerteventura.

  As soon as the platform opened, Victor rode onto the pier. He took a deep breath and sped towards the town. Entering Betanucria he discovered that it was hardly as modernised at it seemed at first glance. The streets were crowded with dozens of coffee shops packed with people, yet there was no buzz of conversation you’d normally expect in this kind of place. The town felt unbelievably peaceful, almost boring.

  Victor stopped several locals and tried to discretely question them about Jo, showing her picture to the more talkative ones. No one seemed to have a clue who she was. As he was checking through hotels and lodgings, darkness gradually fell on the island. He began to realise that even if Jo really was here, she’d somehow managed to make herself invisible. He rode to the town’s outskirts and continued searching. Still nothing. After a while he parked his motorcycle and sat heavily on a bench. He had not felt such a strong urge to smoke for days. If she was not in the town he would have to comb the rest of the island in the morning. He got back to his bike and rode back to the centre to get a room for the night. After checking in, he was about to go upstairs, when a thought struck him. It seemed he would have to take a risk and ask the receptionist for help, not the best of ideas if someone wished not to attract unnecessary attention, but he was fast running out of options. He walked up to the deskbound man and pulled out the commando’s picture.

  “I’m looking for this woman. Have you seen her?” he asked, possibly a little too anxiously.

  The man looked up reluctantly and briefly glanced at the photograph. Apparently Victor had interrupted an interesting computer game.

  “I’m afraid not,” the receptionist growled under his breath.

  “Take another look, please,” Victor insisted. “Notice the features rather than her hair. That could easily have been changed.”

  “Maybe she does look a bit familiar.” Something in the man’s voice raised the trackers hopes a bit.

  A plump woman entered the hall with a little girl at her side. The child ran up to the receptionist and jumped into his arms. He lifted her off the ground provoking her to grab at his moustache and turn it up as apparently she usually did when held by her father. Victor was about to put the photograph away but the girl was evidently curious about it.

  “Dad, is this man looking for someone?”

  “Yes, honey.” He kissed her on the cheek.

  “The lady with the cool car?”

  Victor froze, trying to decipher the childish accent of the girl’s Spanish.

  “Show the picture to my daughter,” the man suggested, and Victor took it out again and held it out for the girl to see.

  “That’s the lady who gave me and Mum a lift.”

  “Oh, yes…” The receptionist handed the photograph to his wife. “Didn’t she keep her car in our parking lot for a couple of days, Eli?”

  The woman carefully studied the picture.

  “Yes, I remember her. She had the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen. She never laughed. Has something happened to her?” The woman’s warm-heartedness moved Victor.

  “She’s a good friend of mine. I need to find her.” He took the picture back and sighed with relief. His hunch was right. She was on this island.

  “When did you meet her?” Victor asked the family.

  “Some months ago. Haven’t seen her since then.”

  “And do you remember what car it was?” the tracker asked, turning to the girl.

  “A big one, black.”

  “An off-road car,” the child’s mother added. “No one else on the island has a car like that, so it’s easy to remember. Brand new, computers, screens and the like.”

  “Super cool!” the girl exclaimed as her father lifted her to sit on the counter.

  “Thank you all very much. I think that will do.” He smiled and winked at the girl who merrily grinned back. Feeling greatly relieved, Victor ran up to his room and took a quick shower before contacting the other commandos. He told them of his discoveries and the trail he’d just picked up. Then he lay down and tried to fall asleep, wishing for the night to pass faster. First thing in the morning he was going to circle the island again, this time not looking for Jo but for her car.

  Meanwhile David, on Victor’s request, had started scanning local databases for big, black vehicles on the other islands. Alec checked the ports for any traces of similar cars travelling onboard the ferries. None of them got much sleep that night.

  * * * *

  In the morning David compiled a list of all off-road cars on the islands and Alec checked whether anyone on Fuerteventura had a similar car. Finally they established that a car matching the description had been delivered to the island to a cassa Mendez. All the data was ready for Victor before he even got out of bed, so he could immediately resume his search. He had no doubt that the name they found was fake and the car belonged to Jo. That was unless she’d already sold it. Either way, he would soon get to the bottom of this.

  Before noon, the commodore asked his two commandos to join him and, without waiting for Jo, briefed them on his plan of getting to Kaminsky. After they’d all gathered in the hotel room, the commodore asked
for their undivided attention.

  “I’ve repeatedly changed my mind whether I should or shouldn’t tell you about Victor’s past, but in the end I believe knowing his background will allow you to understand my plan of getting to the caliph.” The two men looked at their commander questioningly. “Several years ago, I came across a file in one of the Defence Council’s archives. The file detailed Victor’s close relations with Kaminsky.” The commandos straightened in their chairs, puzzled. Levi began anxiously pacing around the room. “I found out that Kaminsky was remarried to Victor’s mother and at a certain point in his life Victor was raised by the man. Once I had confirmation of that, I decided it would be best to meet him face to face and try to get some first-hand details. I tracked him down to a prison. Some months after our first meeting, I managed to secure his release. I then already knew it had been his stepfather who’d framed him for the terrorist attack. After that Victor decided to work for us.”

  “I’ve always known there was something wrong with him,” Alec burst out with his fist angrily in the air. “He’s connected to terrorists. We ought to arrest him, not follow his orders!”

  “Will you shut up for once!” David exclaimed, irritated. “Stop it, both of you!” Levi shouted. “We’re all expected to work together and there are certain facts you will have to come to terms with.”

  “What facts?” they asked in unison.

  “Victor was born in former Germany. His father was a pilot, his mother a Russian intern at one of the hospitals. She was a talented geneticist for what I’ve been told. After her husband died in a terrorist attack, she decided to return to Russia and was hired by one of the most renowned genetics clinics there. During a symposium on gene therapies, she met a distinguished scientist – her future husband. Yes, that’s right, Kaminsky. First, they were inseparable at work, later pretty much everywhere. Kaminsky divorced his first wife and moved in with his new lover in a large apartment on the outskirts of Moscow. He also took his son, Alexander, with him.”

  “Getting better and better.” Alec could no longer conceal his astonishment.

  “The couple began working together and soon created a team of scientists studying alternative methods of cloning.”

  “I’ve read about that.” David nodded.

  “After the United Nations refused to further finance his study, Kaminsky decided to move to the Middle East. He left the country alone. Soon his lawyer presented his wife with divorce papers, leaving her with two adolescent boys to take care of. Victor and Alexander were really close, inseparable as real brothers should be. They both took it hard when Victor was sent to Japan. His mother wanted to honour his dead father’s wish to educate him there.”