War Kids (10 page)

GERARD

19 Years Earlier

“Sergeant Gérard Mynatt reporting for an interview with Captain Marshall,” I inform the receptionist.

A faint smile appears on her face, then she looks down to a large book. Slowly she moves her hand over the page, then looks up at me.

“Sergeant Gérard, please take one step away from the desk!” she orders.

I quickly do as she says, and she returns her attention back to the book, apparently still looking for my name. Jesus, how many interviews do they have in one day? Did I think that Mossad was a selective group?

“Sergeant Gérard Mynatt, please take a seat. Captain Marshall will be with you shortly.” The receptionist raises her hand and points to the brown leather couch behind me.

“Thank you.” I nod like an excited school girl. I take a deep breath, trying to keep myself calm. I don’t want to blow my chances by acting like a nervous idiot.

The main door opens, and a man around my age walks over and heads straight to the reception area.

“Sergeant León Coupe reporting for an interview with Captain Marshall,” he informs the receptionist. Looks like he got an invite as well. León takes one step back from the desk…
Damn! That’s what I should have done!

The receptionist gives me a pointed look and smirks. Then she signals for him to take a seat beside me, and he saunters over.

“Hi, I’m León,” he says, holding out his hand for me to shake. “What was that all about?” He nudges his head towards the receptionist.

I shrug. “Oh, nothing really… I'm just not too good at following the rules. I’m Gérard. Couldn’t help but overhear that you have a meeting with Captain Marshall. I have one as well.”

León smiles and nods. He’s a bit smaller than I. I wonder what his special skills are? He looks like a smart guy… maybe languages; or he could be one of those that like torturing people -- who knows?

“Sergeant Gérard Mynatt and Sergeant León Coupe, Captain Marshall is ready to see you now,” the receptionist says. “Private Para will show you the way.” She motions to the man in the corner.

León and I follow the private to the elevator. I try to hide my disappointment and confusion… I thought the interview would be one-on-one. As I glance over to León, it’s clear he thought the same.

The elevator stops at the top floor. “Please take a seat here.” The private signals toward two black chairs. But before we even take two steps, the office door opens.

“Sergeant Gérard Mynatt and Sergeant León Coupe, I’m Captain Marshall. Please come this way.”

The captain walks into his corner office with a grand view of the city. The sky is gray with smoke from the local factories. He takes a seat at his large mahogany desk.

“Please sit,” he says. “Apologies for the test, paperwork and interviews, etcetera. You must understand, we are very selective about our team.”

I nod, but silently agree that their requirements are a joke. Paperwork up the wazoo!

“Gentlemen, you passed all the tests,” he continues. “You both excelled in several areas, which is why you’ll be working together and combining your strengths.”

Fuck, a partner?
I struggle to keep a straight face, despite my annoyance. He said I passed… one of the few. That’s all that matters. Focus on that.
Jesus… the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations accepted me!

“You’ve both been selected to attend a two-year training program at Henzelia. There you will be taught how to use the weapons appropriate for each target. You’ll learn how to plan, execute and hide any trace of your missions. I expect to see both of you at 0500 hours at the training school tomorrow. You are dismissed.”

HAYTHAM

Like any normal, boring week day, I was sitting at my desk in my classroom. Mother thought it was important for me to continue my education, even with the war going on. We could hear the bombing, but it was far away from our school and our village. I would’ve preferred to stay at home, but Mother, unfortunately, would not allow it. So I was forced to be here, suffering from boredom all day.

Suddenly, we all heard a noise in the hallway. Our teacher told us to stay in our chairs, and he went to find out what the sound was. But we all disobeyed him and followed him outside to see what was going on.

Peeking around the door, we saw our teacher in the hallway with another teacher, and they were heading toward the commotion. It was a few mothers, nearly hysterical with panic. Something bad had happened. Why were they here?

My mother was there with my younger sister in her arms, sheer terror covering her face.
My God, what’s happening?

She spotted me through the crowd, and I ran over to her. As I dodged around my teacher, my mother carefully placed my sister on the ground and opened her arms to me, tears rolling down her cheeks.

I hugged her tightly. Normally I wouldn’t let my mother hug me in front of my friends, but I could tell from the look on her face that something had happened and she needed me.

Mother looked at me like she thought she’d never see me again. She hugged me so hard it hurt. I wriggled out of the hold and stared up at her. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

Mother started to explain. She’d been walking back with my sister from the doctor’s after a checkup for the baby, and she’d decided to go see my father at work.

All the men in the village work at the factory. When she got there, the whole place was empty, and everyone was gone. There were tire tracks on the ground from trucks, and hundreds of footprints. It was clear they’d all been taken.

They’d taken my father.

When she looked over to the village, she could see flames roaring in the sky, with smoke bellowing up to the clouds. Whoever had taken the men had then gone to our village and burnt everything down. She was terrified that they’d come here and taken… or killed… me.

Other children came out of their classrooms to see what was happening. A couple kids saw their mothers and came running to where we stood.

Then I realized that many mothers of the other students weren’t here. If soldiers had burnt down the village, many mothers were probably killed. And with their fathers kidnapped, these children now had no one.

I looked at Mother and hugged her again.

More teachers came out to see what all the commotion was. Soon, they told everyone to go to the school gym.

The teachers tried to protect us from what was going on. They played a movie, and the younger kids didn’t know what was happening. I noticed a few of the teachers had disappeared. I guessed they were going to the village to see what had happened, to see if the mothers were telling the truth.

This was when I met Zak. He came running into the gym, screaming for Tilly like a crazy man. Also out of breath, he continued screaming. Everyone in the gym fell silent. Tilly stepped forward from the crowd. He ran to her and hugged her, just as my mother had embraced me.

Zak ran to the door carrying Tilly in his arms. A teacher blocked the exit and shouted at him that he couldn’t take her out of the school.

She told him to wait until his parents came.

The other teachers had gone to the village to get the parents. Zak shouted at the teacher that no one was coming back – and that it was not safe here and that he was taking her. Everyone in the hall was silent, waiting for what he would say next.

Zak placed Tilly on the ground, walked over to the teacher blocking the door, and sucker punched him squarely in the nose! It was a great shot. We all hated that teacher anyway.

Tilly ran to her brother, and they left the gym. We were all shocked, but my mother agreed with Zak that we were not safe, and she grabbed hold of my hand. We followed him out of the school.

“Where are you going?” my mother asked Zak. He shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know where to go. Mother told him about the tent town. So we all decided to go there together.

Zak was right. We had just gotten out of sight of the school when the shooting started. The soldiers were there. We got away just in the nick of time. Some of the other kids we brought with us were also from that school. We have met several other children, who have joined us as we've traveled on.

I finish my story, and I know Jada will have some questions.

She was very quiet when I was talking. I hope it makes her feel better to realize she’s not on her own.

“What’s tent town?” she asks me.

“Mother calls it the refugee camp. It’s where everyone is going. We call it tent town. It’s supposedly a place where they have thousands of tents for you to sleep safely. It has the only hospital in the area, so I want to get my mother there before she has the baby. The thought of her going into labor out here is scary. Zak keeps the group moving quickly… he’s the oldest one here, so he’s kind of our leader.”

“How old is he?” Jada asks, and I bristle. I hope she doesn’t have a crush on him!

“He’s sixteen. Tilly is nine. I am eleven.”

“I’m fourteen. It’s my birthday next week, I think in a couple days. I’ve lost track of time.” Jada takes a key from the tin. “Do you know this address?” She shows me a key ring with some writing on it.

“No, but my mother will. We can ask her when she gets up. Try to get some sleep. Zak will have us walking a long way tomorrow.”

“What about you? Do you not need sleep?” she asks.

“Don’t worry about me, I have the first shift. Then he has the second.” I point over to the boy lying on the floor.

“We take turns.” With that, I head back to where I was sitting before and pick up the mirror. I reflect the sun over to Zak three times to let him know everything is okay.

I watch as Jada places her belongings carefully in her backpack, and Liquorice curls up next to her. She settles down... and I bet this is the first time she’s had a chance to sleep in days. She’s pretty; the kind of girl that doesn’t know she’s pretty. She wouldn’t be interested in me. I’m too young!

*****

“Jada, Jada. It’s time to wake up. There are people here to meet you,” my mother whispers. Jada jumps up in surprise and ready to attack.

“It’s okay Jada; it’s just us, and we mean you no harm,” my mother says softly. Jada shakes her head as if she is trying to compose herself.

She rubs her eyes and lets out a little yawn. “Good morning,” she says, with a wary smile, to my mother.

“Good morning,” Mother says. Then she wakes the rest of the children. She woke us at the perfect time… just as the sun is setting over the abandoned city. I quickly snap a few photos.

“Jada, this is my daughter Waliyah. She’s four years old.” Mother found a white dress with ruffles for Waliyah, and she loves it. Girls love that sort of stuff. Tilly gives me a smile as my sister twirls around.

“Hello, everyone. Pleased to meet you,” Jada says. They’re all excited, especially the older boys.

“Jada, you’re welcome to get yourself ready – pack some food for the day and extra for tomorrow, just in case. And don’t forget water. Zak keeps us walking till the sun rises.”

“Thank you, Sahar,” she says. Then she pauses. “May I ask you something?”

I pretend that I’m not listening, but of course I am.

“Yes, of course, child,” Mother says.

“Do you know this address?” Jada asks.

I turn around for a quick look; Jada is showing her the key ring.

“It’s the address for the airport. It’s on our way to the refugee camp. Is it something important?” Mother asks.

“I think so,” Jada replies. “My mother left it for me.”

Mother passes back the key back to Jada.

“Keep it safe.”

GERARD

15 years ago

“Sergeant Gérard Mynatt and Sergeant León Coupe, welcome back,” Captain Marshall says to us. León and I haven't been back to the Mossad headquarters since we graduated two years ago.

We were put on a plane the day after graduation to begin our first mission. Since that time, we’ve taken down loads of terrorists. Too many to count.

León and I are good together. Captain Marshall was right; we both have different skill sets, each with our own strengths and weaknesses. We balance each other perfectly and together we're unstoppable. León can speak any language and fits in like a local. He’s a genius… it’s like his brain never stops, and he can work out what the terrorist is going to do before the terrorist himself even knows. And I, with my perfect shooting skills, complete this great team.

“Sergeant Gérard Mynatt, Sergeant León Coupe, congratulations on your last assignment.”

“Thank you, Captain Marshall,” León and I say in unison.

“You’ve had a very successful two years as members of Mossad. Your next assignment will be your most difficult to date. You’ll be working with another agent, Mia Andréa.”

What the fuck did he say?
We’re working with Mia Andréa? I haven't seen my girlfriend for over three months, since she left for her last mission.

Mia and I met at the first day of training at Mossad. Mia is a petite lady; you’d never guess that she was a spy -- a definite advantage in her favor! Just like in the movies, it was love at first sight. At least for me. But I’d never tell anyone that.

León was pissed off as soon as he realized what was going on between Mia and me. He thought it was a bad idea from the start. As a member of Mossad, it’s recommended that I have no personal ties or commitments. No one is married. It’s much safer that way.

I know León won’t be happy about this, Mia joining our team. To be honest, I’m not sure I’m happy about it either.

“Mia Andréa has been working undercover in Nairobi, Kenya, and has infiltrated a terrorist group and begun a relationship with Kagan Abulafia.”

Fuck, what kind of relationship?
With Abulafia of all people
! Abulafia is the founder and supreme leader of one of the largest terrorist groups known to us. He currently stands accused of crimes involving the harming or killing of some 30,000 people.

“Abulafia was expelled from Syria. He fled to Moscow, Russia, and then a few other European countries, but was not granted asylum. You’ll be working with Mia and Turkish Special Security to capture Abulafia alive. Do not kill this man… we need him to stand trial. Do you understand?”

I understand I will kill him if he has harmed Mia!