WESTERN IRAQ

  FORWARD BASE CHEYENNE

  "Who the fuck authorized the bombing of that ammo dump?" Colonel Stricknd yelled at Jack.

  Colonel Adam Stricknd was stout, compact and in his mid-fifties with thinning to balding hair. He and Jack were in what passed for Stricknd's office in the middle of the desert (a table, some folding chairs, and some filing cabinets inside of a tent).

  "I asked for an airstrike. What HQ sent is out of my hands," Jack replied.

  "Have you any idea of the trouble you've caused? Langley was monitoring the damn thing to track enemy supply lines!" Stricknd shouted at Jack.

  "Langley" was a euphemism for the CIA.

  "Requesting crification," said Jack.

  "Granted," said Stricknd.

  "If I am hearing the Colonel correctly, I was supposed to let MY people get killed so Langley can continue to collect its data," said Jack. "Am I correct in making that assumption?"

  "In not so many words ... Yes," said Stricknd. He then added, "We all have to make sacrifices."

  Stricknd then handed a brown legal-sized envelope across his desk to Jack and said, "Here ..."

  "What is this?" Jack asked as he opened the envelope.

  "Unit citation ... Courtesy of General Higgins," Stricknd replied. "For the successful demolition of the enemy ammo dump."

  REGIONAL HEADQUARTERSWESTERN IRAQ

  "All the propeller heads at Langley ... and not ONE of them thought to blow the danged thing UP!" Major General Jasper Higgins thundered at Stricknd in his thick West Texas drawl.

  Higgins was tall, lean, and in his te sixties. He wore Corps-issued desert camos and tan combat boots. His bald head glistened with sweat.

  Stricknd stood at attention in front of Higgins's desk. The two were inside Higgins's makeshift office inside of a tent.

  "Sir, our mission is to support Langley," said Stricknd.

  "We are UNITED STATES MARINES! Our MISSION is to kill the enemy! Kill the enemy and destroy their capacity to wage war!" Higgins shot back. "And once we have FOUND the enemy, our mission to find more enemies and kill THEM!"

  "You might've known that had you been out there FIGHTING as opposed to spending your career behind a desk in LOGISTICS!"

  "Yes, General," said Stricknd. He then added, "Begging the General's pardon ... we've lost a crucial data gathering point."

  "This is WAR, Colonel! Things can change in an instant!" Higgins shot back. "Had Jack and his team not destroyed that ammo dump, it could've just as easily gone up in fmes by accident!

  "Jack is running a tactical assault unit. It's his JOB to run, gun, kick ass, and take names!

  "Yes, General," said Stricknd.

  "How many boys have we lost because of Langley's little science project?" Higgins fumed. "Jack and his boys have saved all our LIVES!"

  "Get out of my office," Stricknd growled at Jack. "Dismissed."

  Jack stood at attention, saluted the Colonel, turned on one heel, and left Stricknd's office.

  "I am so sorry," said Ali to Jack ter that day. The two were in Jack's tent.

  "Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong," said Jack. "You saved all our lives."

  "I did not mean to get you in trouble with the Colonel ..."

  "Nothing bad is going to happen to any of us," said Jack. "General Higgins has our back.

  "If Stricknd punishes me ... or the unit ... after General Higgins has just given us a unit citation, he risks embarrassing General Higgins.

  "That is NOT something any Colonel who's angling for a General's star wants to do."

  "I am happy for you," said Ali.

  "This is YOUR award, too," said Jack. "You're a part of this unit. We couldn't have done this without you.

  "You saved our lives."

  DJINNISTANTRIBUNAL CHAMBERS

  "Jack was supposed to die," said the Chief Justice. He sat in the center of the tribunal table fnked by the other two Justices.

  "My mission is to protect him," said Ali as she stood before the Tribunal.

  "You preserved those who would destroy us!" the Chief Justice bellowed.

  "Jack and his men are innocent," said Ali. "They came long after Those Who Would Destroy Us."

  "Jack and his men are VERMIN!"

  "Why? Because they are mortals?" Ali asked. "I have fought with them, marched alongside them, lived with them ...

  "They have good hearts. They are fighting to protect our homend."

  "Your home is HERE! In DJINNISTAN!" thundered the Chief Justice.

  "My home will always be here, but it is empty," said Ali.

  "Jack was supposed to DIE!"

  "Is that your decision to make? Should that not be a matter for The Most High?" Ali asked.

  After a long, pregnant pause, the Chief Justice said, "Go. Return to Jack."

  THE END