She launched herself into the soldier, knocking the gun from his hands as they both sprawled across the sand. Alina was up first, rising to pound the Iraqi with a solid right-left combination to the jaw.
The soldier tried to retaliate by throwing a right of his own. Alina parried it with a swiping blow and then lanced stiff fingers into the man’s throat. He fell back, choking. Yet even as he fell, he pulled a knife from his belt. Alina grabbed the knife and rolled, pulling it out of his hand. As before, her first impulse was to kill him. Then she remembered Ramyar’s words yet again. She flipped the blade and rammed the hilt against the man’s skull. He would be unconscious long enough for her to finish the job at hand.
Without so much a second glance at him, she picked up his AK and proceeded to the next truck, slowly completing the circle. As she neared the end of her pickup, she was met with a torrent of gunfire. She fell back. After a brief moment, she tried peeking again only to be met with the same desperate defense.
Alina held her AK at arm’s length and extended it around the corner, firing blindly down the side of the other truck. Dozens of hypersonic slugs popped past her, each side locked in a brutal exchange of blind fire.
Suddenly, the shooting stopped. She wondered if her shots had any effect at all. Her gun clicked empty and she reached for her last clip in her pants pocket—but it was gone! Must have fallen out in the last skirmish, she thought.
The desert grew deathly silent once more.
The men must have known she was out of ammo because they rose as one. Three of them—and without their rifles. They were out, too. They strode toward her with obvious murderous purpose in mind. The last remaining men from their squad out for revenge.
Off in the distance, a trail of dust appeared, coming from the city.
Alina rose to meet their challenge, smiling. That seemed to have an unnerving effect on them. Perhaps they were not expecting to see a woman square off against three men with a slight curve to her lips. They looked at one another and then fanned out, each taking a different front.
They stayed like that a moment, eyeing each other. For a moment, all was silent but for the soft rustle of wind under the hot desert sun. Then, they attacked. Alina was ready.
Each of them tried a frontal assault with raised fists. Alina took a fast step forward. The move interrupted their timing. She was on them before they could set their feet.
A high kick to the face rocked the left one on his back. Spinning, she swirled a looping foot at the head of the middle one. Then she bent low, still spinning, and leg whipped the last. He started to fall as Alina rose and powered a left palm up through his jaw. In three seconds, all three men were down.
Alina backed off. She noticed the dust trail on the highway was now thicker, closer, and coming fast.
The soldiers staggered to their feet shouting something in Arabic and pointing at Alina. She was already moving toward them. Each man took a step back this time. One of them said something to the other two. He then charged Alina while they ran for the nearest pickup.
Alina again broke into a run. She met the man head on, leaped and smashed a boot into his unprotected face. The Iraqi crashed onto his back, blood pouring from his broken nose.
One of the men reached into the truck. Alina kicked the door closed on his arm. She heard the snap of bone before his howling screech. The third man turned to face her. She stopped, backing up for more room when the first man grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. With blood pouring from his broken nose, he said something to the second man.
The second soldier smiled an evil smile. He waded in like a prizefighter ready for the knockout blow.
Alina kicked at him, keeping him at bay while she struggled to free herself, but it was no use. The man behind her had too good of a hold. She resorted to the old trick of stomping on his arch and squeezing his groin, but he was wise to that and squirmed out of the way. He crossed one leg around hers. Her desperate attempt thus left her unguarded for what happened next.
With Alina’s feet tangled, the second soldier clubbed her with an overhand right. Black stars marred her vision. He hit her repeatedly in the stomach, a left to the face, another right to the chin.
Behind him, the third man dragged out a tire iron from the front seat of the cab. His broken right arm hung loose by his side. He held the makeshift weapon in his left as he approached her.
Alina’s mind reeled. The man with the broken nose laughed as she squirmed and wiggled in his arms. The second man came in again, presumably to finish her off.
Alina dropped to the ground. The sudden change in weight caused the man holding her to step to the side and jerk up. This wrested Alina’s feet free. Using the big man’s weight as leverage, she then lifted both feet off the ground and kicked the second man in the face.
Bloody teeth spewed from his mouth.
Maintaining her momentum, Alina continued her flip, rolling up and over the top of the man who held her. Despite his strength, he could not maintain his grip as she somersaulted over his head. They fell together. The impact broke his grip. Alina was on her feet in an instant, kicking the man’s broken nose and snapping his head to the side.
She turned and grabbed the tire iron as it arced for her head. With a twisting wristlock, she tore it from his grip. With two fast swipes, she clubbed the left and right of the man’s head. He dropped where he stood, unmoving.
The second man had recovered from the hit to the mouth and tried to get away. Alina threw the tire iron. It hit him at the base of the skull. He staggered one step and then fell face first with a resounding thud.
By now, the rising dust trail materialized into a row of Hummers speeding across the desert. Steve came from the opposite direction and slid to a stop in the middle of the semi-circle of pickups. He got out with his weapon and scanned the mess of injured and dead.
Alina ran to meet him. She threw both arms around his neck, hugging him warmly. Then, she kissed him—a move causing Steve’s eyes to open wide.
“Thank you,” she said. “I owe you my life.”
A squad of Marines poured out of the Hummers and quickly covered the area, but it was of little use. All but a few of the men were still unconscious.
A sergeant emerged from the crowd and demanded of Alina, “You mind telling me what’s going on here? I got a call from Corporal Miller that there was a matter of life and death here.” He looked at the bodies littering the desert. “I guess he was right.”
“It’s all about this,” Alina said, walking to Delic’s Hummer. She pulled out the briefcase of money and dumped it on the ground. “Drug money.”
She pointed to Delic, who was only now beginning to stir. “That man’s name is Naser Delic. He’s of the Blackbrier Unit. He and a man named Sokolovic were running heroin out of here and funneling it through Istanbul, throughout Eastern Europe all the way to Bosnia.” She pointed to the Iraqi bodies. “These men were his contacts. I was sent here by the Turkish National Police to put a stop to the drug trade.” She walked to Delic, who was mumbling incoherently to a medic. “You should be able to get all the information you need from him. He reported to the cartel leader, a man named Itsakovic in Istanbul. That’s the big prize, getting him.” She then walked up to the sergeant. “However, as of this moment, I’m out of it. I am finished. They’re all yours”
Alina walked to Steve’s Hummer and got in. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. She could not believe how tired she was. Steve got in the car and started it up. Soon, they were hurling down the road to Kirkuk.
Chapter 30
Colonel Johnson did not look pleased. Alina and Steve stood in front of his desk, Steve at attention.
“So all this time you’ve been working with Colonel Demir of the Turkish National Police.”
“Yes, sir,” Alina said. “I knew Delic and Sokolovic were dirty. I just couldn’t prove it.”
Johnson nodded. “I checked out that part of your story with Colonel Demir. You’re telling
the truth, so I’m not going to hold you. By the way,” Johnson continued, “he said to tell you he found the snitch who gave Delic and Sokolovic your picture. They undoubtedly gave it to the insurgents. It must have been them who set up the ambush for you. They needed you out of the way before they could continue their drug operation. I’m going to have a nice little chat with Colonel Thomas. Seems he either did not vet his personnel correctly, or he was protecting them. Either way, he’s not long for this base.”
“Nor should he be,” Alina said.
“So what was the shooting about last night, the one where the civilian and Sokolovic were killed?”
“After they found out who I was, I had to get off base and lay low. It was just blind luck they were back in business that night, so I followed them to a drug deal. I walked in on them during the act. The civilian drew a gun on me. During the ensuing firefight, Sokolovic and the civilian were hit. My shooting was necessary. It was the only way I could get out of there alive.”
“So it was self-defense then,” he said.
Alina nodded.
“And Delic? He’s one of the men who raped you. Why did you leave him alive?”
“When I was in hiding, a Muslim couple opened my eyes to a better way of life. I figured Delic would be more useful alive than dead. Mind you, it felt good to inflict a little pain on him though,” she said with a smile, “but I couldn’t kill him. Still, if it wasn’t for Corporal Miller here, I’d most certainly be dead. He saved my life out there more than once.”
“And you were in on this?” Johnson asked Miller, obviously impressed. “That is why you left your post?”
“Yes, sir. I knew Alina was in trouble. I took a chance she was being taken to the same meeting site we trailed them to before.”
“And how long did you know of all this espionage?”
“I—”
“I asked him to help me at the last moment, Colonel,” Alina cut in. “I had been working alone, and realized I needed help. I asked Steve, and he reluctantly agreed. I had to talk him into it.”
“Why wasn’t I made aware of this? I am after all commander of this base.”
“It’s my fault, sir,” Alina answered. “He wanted to, but I wouldn’t let him. I didn’t know how far up the chain of command the corruption went. Delic and Sokolovic were using this base to smuggle the heroin on your transports. For all I knew, you might have been in on it. I asked Corporal Miller not to tell anyone what we were up to until I was sure. It was necessary to protect the operation.”
“I see.” Johnson stepped around his desk to look at Alina, who stood straight in front of him. “I’ll smooth all this over with the UN. Of course you know that I have to deport you.”
“I understand, sir. Actually, I’m ready to go. It’s been a long trip.”
“Just be on the tarmac at 0600 hours. If you’re not, the MPs will escort you. You got that?”
Alina nodded. “I’ll be there.”
Johnson waved them off. “That is all.”
As Steve walked her to the barrack, he said, “Why did you cover for me back there?”
“I figured it best to downplay your involvement. I didn’t want you to get in more trouble than you are. By the way, is it true what the lieutenant said earlier? You’re not going to get in trouble for leaving your post?”
He nodded. “Seeing as how there were extenuating circumstances, the lieutenant decided not to press charges. He’s the one who talked the colonel out of a court martial. With the way things turned out, I may even get a medal!”
Alina smiled. “You deserve one. You are a good friend. I don’t have many, but you are one of them.”
“So, everything is done, right?” he said. “I mean, it’s over?”
Alina nodded.
“What about Itsakovic?”
She thought for a while, then said, “I’m going to leave him to Demir. I talked to him before we went in to see Johnson. Seems General Oric had a captain who paid Itsakovic a visit. Completely decimated his entire protection detail. When Colonel Demir arrived at the scene, there were only dead bodies everywhere. Itsakovic was nowhere to be found.
“I’d say that right now, Itsakovic is either dead or wishes he was. If he did manage to survive the attack on his compound and he’s on the run, he has nowhere to go, nowhere to hide anymore. So, I’ll just let him be and hope justice will finally be served on that man.”
Steve said, “How does Demir know it was him, this captain?”
“Security video captured the whole thing. Demir recognized him.”
“You really think you can just let it go?”
Alina nodded. “The people who hid me, they gave their lives to help me, a total stranger. They knew they were endangering themselves by doing so, but they hid me anyway. They told me the only way to true peace within was to let things go, to accept the circumstances and let the legal system take care of things. To them, forgiveness was the key to a life of happiness. I feel I owe it to them to give it a try. Lord knows I tried it the other way and it didn’t help the way I feel. When I got here, I was still full of hate even though I had killed all those men. They taught me the means to live a better way of life, a way to finally be happy.”
“And you really think you can do that? I mean, with all you’ve been through, after all these years, you can actually just let it go?”
“I think I can do that now. Besides, with the information I gave Colonel Demir and with Delic’s cooperation, he should be able to find Itsakovic now. That puts him behind bars where he belongs.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
“I spent ten years of my life living in hate. Revenge was all I thought about. Killing them was all I wanted. I think it’s time to start looking for that peace Ramyar and Dersima loved so much. So I’m putting down my gun.”
“You?” Steve seemed surprised. “You without a weapon? I find that hard to believe.”
“Believe it. I want to be someplace where there is no need for a gun, a place where there is no violence or hate. I want a place where I can be happy for a change. I think I deserve living in a place like that.”
“And where would that be?”
“Home, Steve. I’m going home.”
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