Lieutenant Grey

“They know it was him, they just didn’t know he was yours. I can’t believe you got him in there, I nearly turned white when I saw him. I tried to distance myself as much as possible but then, next thing I know, the Crown Prince is dead, and I’m in custody,” I heard the journalist say as I stood guard outside the tent in the desert sun.

“An unfortunate coincidence certainly. I appreciate you staying tight-lipped through that,” replied the Lieutenant.

“Yeah, I’ve been through worse. They had no reason to believe I was involved since I wasn’t and most likely they still think it was the Iranians. Much of their questioning led that direction. Though, no doubt, if they would have found any piece of my background, I would have been done for.”

“Why do you think I requested to oversee your transfer after your release. I wouldn’t want the wrong people getting their hands on you,” the Lieutenant said.

“Is that why we’re in this makeshift camp?” he asked.

“Something like that.”

“Jessica, I have to go public with this. I’m only giving you warning because of our… history. I’ll give you 48 hours to pass the word along if need be,” he said.

He called her by her first name? No one calls her by her first name. Whatever history he had with the Lieutenant must have been more personal than the interviews I had been around for.

“There’s no way I can get to my people in 48 hours,” came the Lieutenant’s growling response. “This will compromise years of work and endanger tens of thousands of people. It’ll be impossible to anticipate their response going forward.”

“The truth will out. It’s only a matter of time before they find we’re responsible, even if they can’t prove it.”

“They’re guessing. Putting this out there would blow the cover off our operations. Everyone, everything we’re trying to protect would be put at risk.”

“Our citizens need to know about this. The government can’t go around killing whoever they deem a significant threat. He hasn’t committed any crimes.”

“He was planning the largest terrorist attack in history!”

“So arrest him. Notify the other nations of his plans. Anything but assassinate him.”

“Arrest the Crown Prince? Do you want us to start a war?”

“You don’t think this will start a war? They will respond, even if it isn’t overt. This was wrong.”

“Thousands would be dead, and we would end up at war anyhow. It’s wrong to save thousands of lives?“

“If it means murdering someone who hasn’t committed a crime, yes!” he said, growing louder.

I could tell this wasn’t going well. There was a pause of several seconds.

“So you’ve made your mind up then, there’s no swaying you?” the Lieutenant asked eventually.

“Jessica, this isn’t an attack on you or your people, I know you’re just following orders. I don’t know who made this call but, once the public finds out about it, there’ll be an investigation and, if what you say is true, I’m sure no one will blame you.”

“What if I made the call, would it make any difference?” the Lieutenant asked.

“You? Why would you make the call?” I could hear a new tension in his voice as it had gone higher. “Assassinating a Crown Prince is far above a lieutenant’s clearance. Besides, you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t have a man killed for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“The politicians have to keep their hands clean, and someone has to ensure the safety of our people, so it was left up to me.”

“I know you wouldn’t kill an innocent man,” he said.

“You know I believe in justice. You know I believe in protecting the innocent. I’m sorry, Mike, protecting the innocent is much more complicated than that. I need to know if you’re with us or not?”

There was silence for quite a few seconds, maybe a minute. “I’m with you,” he said finally.

“I want to believe that Mike, but you never were a good liar.”

“No,” came his startled yelp, cut off by two shots ringing out.

I stepped into the tent after I heard the shots. The Lieutenant was standing, her sidearm in hand. The journalist lay on the opposite side of the table in the sand, bleeding out, two holes in his chest, his chair toppled over next to him.

The Lieutenant took a deep breath looking at the journalist for a moment and shaking her head.

“I’m sorry Ma’am. I take it you knew him well,” I said.

Without turning to look at me, she said, “Once, I did. It’s unfortunate he happened to be there, a thousand other journalists would have had no clue. But, he made his choice long ago, idealism over protecting reality. We were never close since.”

I stood there, dumbfounded. Perhaps the Lieutenant, once, had been human.

“Have the men get the shovels. Once it’s cleaned up, take the tent down and return to camp," she said coldly, then checked her watch. "Quickly, only another two hours outside of satellite coverage, you need to be on the road by then.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I replied, stepping aside and saluting her as she walked out.

As she passed, I noticed a wet streak down her cheek.