Prologue


     The year is 2015.  What was once the United States of America has turned into an
almost barren wasteland.  The cities that are left are riddled with crime and poverty.  All
this was caused by one man.
     In the year 2001, Saddam Hussein, after a 11-year hiatus, rose once again in
power.  He united the Middle Eastern nations to bring down the oppression of the West. 
He threatened with nuclear force, force that was hidden until then.
     The United Nations assembled to discuss how to stop Hussein.  A task force was
to take out the dictator, then the U.S. would lead an all-out attack on the Middle East. 
Hussein was severely underestimated.
     After destroying the task force, Hussein hired terrorists to bomb the U.N.
headquarters.  The bombing left the world in shock and disarray.  Many nations withdrew
and cut communications out of fear.  The U.S. was left to oppose the Middle Eastern
nations alone.
     Hussein never even let the U.S. lift a finger.  He launched a nuclear assault on all
the major cities simultaneously.  New York, Chicago, San Francisco, every state capital
was hit.  No one knows where Hussein got all his nuclear weapons, but it's believed he
raided Russia's supply left over from the Cold War.
     Washington, D.C. was spared.  Hussein flew there himself and executed the
president.  Everyone in the city was taken as prisoner.  Hussein set up his dictatorship in
the capital as the last part of his conquest.  For the Middle East, the oppressive West was
finally defeated.
     With the fall of the Democracy, all U.S. citizens left were in a state of panic. 
Hussein sent out hand picked members of his military circle to set up rule over assigned
regions.  The five major regions were the North, South, West, Mississippi, and Hussein's
East.  Eventually, order was brought by force.
     Crime and poverty rose under the new rule.  This was fine by Hussein, who cared
only about using the still abundant resources for his own means.  Those means were
making money and building more weapons.  Any money that wasn't his was dirty.
     For 14 years Hussein ruled with an iron fist.  However, there is a movement for
revolution growing within the nation.  Those who remember the old democracy are now
fighting to bring it back.  Calling themselves the "Sons of Liberty," these revolutionists
fight against the tyranny of one man just as their ancestors fought against England more
than 200 years ago.  Hussein has ordered the death of these revolutionaries, but they fight
on . . .



     John Masaki is a mercenary.  Filipino by blood, yet raised in Japan, he came to
New Iraq to seek perfection in what he does.  He is a swordsman.  He wanders from place
to place, doing "jobs" for anybody with money.  He doesn't use a gun unless he needs to,
which is very rarely.  He does not kill needlessly, but will for money or if he is forced to. 
He now wanders around in the Mississippi region, the place where the Sons of Liberty
keep their headquarters . . .




































                               I


     "No one's comin'."
     "Trust me.  This is the only road into the city without any fuckin' tolls.  Just keep
your pantyhose on."
     "Okay, but what happens if someone does come?"
     "We'll act like we're the new toll collectors."
     "Whatever."
     Both men stood on the middle of a dirt road, the sun beating down in the late
afternoon.  The man with the plan was a six foot tall, well built caucajin with tanned skin
and dark hair.  His partner was six inches smaller, pale in skin and hair, and built like a
stick.  The odd duo wore camouflage pants, black tank tops, army issue boots, and semi-automatic rifles slung over their shoulders.
     The road they stood on was a side road which led to a city on the banks of the
Mississippi River.  The city was fairly big for cities nowadays.  Considering it was the
capital city of the Mississippi region, it was a center for people to come and make money. 
Named Jihad, it was named after its appointed ruler, General Arafat Jihad.  Of course,
naming the city after himself was only routine for apprentices to dictatorship.
     The smaller guy vaguely saw a figure coming down the road towards them.  "Hey,
someone's comin'!"
     Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum unslung their rifles and held them in a ready
position, barrels down.  As the man came closer, the two "toll collectors" were baffled by
what they saw.  The man wore a long, black trenchcoat that reached down to his ankles. 
A hood covered the man's face.  On his back was slung some kind of sword with a white
hilt.  He wore some weird boots that had a slit in the middle of the toes, and in his left
hand was some kind of curved stick.
     The man in the black trenchcoat walked casually up to the two "toll collectors,"
stopped in front of them, and looked up.  His face was of an Asian look.
     "If you wanna pass, you gotta pay a toll," the bigger man said.
     The trenchcoat man removed his hood, revealing his short, curly black hair.  He
said, "There was no toll here before."
     "We're the new toll collectors, so pay up!" said the smaller skinny man.
     "I don't have any money," replied the Asian in the trenchcoat.  He switched the
curved stick form his left hand to his right, then stepped forward.
     Both men lifted up their rifles.  The taller man said, "If you don't have any money,
then give us, uh, that sword on you back."
     "Yeah, or we'll shoot tcha!"  said his smaller companion.
     The trenchcoat Asian took another step forward, saying, "You are not real toll
collectors and you may not have my katana."  He took more steps forward.
     The two pretenders turned to each other.  The scrawny man asked, "What're we
gonna do?"
     "Waste  im!"
     Both men opened fire.  In a blur of motion, the Asian in the trenchcoat jumped
over the gunfire, flipped once in the air, and landed behind the two men.  He had jumped
so quickly that the two men didn't even see him move, so they kept on shooting.  After a
couple of seconds, they stopped shooting.  Their target had mysteriously disappeared.
     The scrawny man asked, "Hey!  Where'd he go?"
     Just as he finished asking, there were two thumps.  First, there was the thump of
the trenchcoat man's curved stick to his big companion's head.  Second, his companion
fell to the ground, unconscious.
     "What the hell!?" said the scrawny man as he spun around to shoot the trenchcoat
man who had appeared behind him.  Before he could pull the trigger, his rifle was
knocked out of his hands by the Asian's blurring stick.  The stick blurred up and started
coming down towards the scrawny man's head.
     Right before contact, the stick stopped a hair's width away from the forehead of its
target.  The scrawny man looked at the stick, then its wielder, then he promptly fell down
on his ass.
     The Asian lowered his stick, turned around, and walked away.  All the scrawny
man could do was stare at the Asian in the trenchcoat as he walked away, toward the city.





















                               II
                             Jihad


The Arafat Mansion

     Gen. Arafat Jihad stood on the balcony of the top floor of his mansion and looked
at the city, his city.  The sky was quickly darkening and night lights of the buildings
around him flickered on.  He walked to the other side of the building and gazed at the
Mississippi River.  The river reflected the sun and the lights of the city.  It was a breath
taking sight that almost wasn't.
     After the downfall of the U.S. and Saddam Hussein set up power, he assigned
Gen. Arafat to set up rule of the Mississippi region.  Arafat decided to set up rule in what
was St. Louis.  He had a mansion built for himself on the bank of the mighty Mississippi
and renamed the city after himself.
     At the time, the Mississippi was horribly polluted from nuclear fallout.  All the
vegetation had died except for house plants and some algae in the river.  That is when
Gen. Arafat had a huge water cleaning plant built.  Since it was the twenty-first century,
the technology for cleaning up toxic waste was readily available.
     After more than ten years, the Mississippi was almost totally cleaned.  Returned to
its former glory, it was now being used for drinking, bathing, and transport.  Supplies
were shipped to the city weekly and it was faster than the old roads.  Jihad had become a
prominent river city.
     As Gen. Arafat stood and watched night fall while the city came to life (the
criminals and lowlifes always did rest in the day), a brunette haired woman wearing a
business outfit opened the glass double doors to the balcony.  She looked around, saw the
general standing at one end, and said, "Mr. Jihad?  Mr. Jafar is here to see you."
     "Thank you, Beth."
     Beth, his secretary, stepped into the mansion and walked back down to her work
desk on the ground floor.  Gen. Arafat Jihad looked at the city once more, then turned
around and re-entered the mansion.  He closed the glass double doors to the balcony and
walked downstairs to meet his guest.
     The general walked down the main stairs, which gently curved from top to bottom
at a right angle .  At the bottom of the stairs was his secretary, Beth, and his guest
standing in front of her.  The man was Iraquian, in his thirties, and fairly well built for his
age.  Gen. Arafat was a little jealous, since he was in his forties, developing a gut, and his
hair was greying.
     Gen. Arafat called out to the man, "Muhammad!"
     The man looked up and called back, "Arafat!  I see you are still alive."
     Gen. Arafat reached the bottom of the stairs and shook hands with the younger
man.  After shaking hands, the general lead his friend to the main business room adjacent
to the front door.  In the room, the general sat in his leather desk chair while his friend sat
on the ordinary wooden chair across his mahogany desk.
     Gen. Arafat asked, "How is the jail?"
     "As empty as always."
     The general nodded, as was his routine reaction to his friend's routine answer to
his routine question.
     Captain Muhammad Jafar was General Arafat's second in command ever since the
Nuclear Holocaust of the United States.  Gen. Arafat picked Capt. Jafar to accompany
him to rule the Mississippi region because of their friendship and number of years serving
together.  Captain Jafar was an excellent captain, perhaps the best.  That is why he is in
charge of the law.
     When rule was set, Gen. Arafat assigned Capt. Jafar to what equals a
commissioner in the police.  Jafar put into affect the old Iraquian laws.  If one was caught
stealing, their hand would be cut off.  If one killed, death was to be delivered
immediately.  Petty crimes became practically non-existent.  Soldiers of Capt. Jafar's
army replaced police officers as keepers of the law, but not necessarily peace.
     Under the new law, all criminals in the jail were put to death.  This emptied the
jail nicely.  Also, the law dramatically lessened the influx of criminals for two reasons. 
One was most people didn't dare risk getting a hand cut off or getting killed.  Second, the
richer of the criminals bribed the soldiers with drugs, money, and women, which they
readily accepted.  The only criminals in the jail were those charged with treason.  This is
what brought Capt. Jafar to the matter at hand.
     "We have captured one of the main leaders of the so called  Sons of Liberty.'"
     Gen. Arafat leaned forward and said, "Did you find out their base of operations?"
     "No, but we did try a new tactic.  Instead of torturing him like the others, we
bribed him."
     "Did it work?"
     Capt. Jafar smiled.  "Like a charm."
     "So what is he going to do for us?"
     "Well, he held off telling where the base is until he gets his money.  Until then, he
will act as our insider.  He will inform us of their activities."
     "Good.  And what price did he ask for?"
     "Doesn't matter.  We'll eliminate him after he gives us the information we want."
     "Excellent.  Now, shall we dine?"
     "Well, we didn't get dressed up for nothing."
     Both men stood up and admired each other's outfit.  They wore highly decorated
military suits with the general's having more metals than the captain's.  Both suits were
dark green, which matched perfectly with their dark brown skin and black hair.
     "What has Gaynor prepared tonight?" asked Capt. Jafar.
     "I think stuffed lamb's stomach."
     "Yummy."
     The general and the captain left the business room talking about their favorite
ingredients for stuffing.


A Bar

     The Asian wearing the trenchcoat walked in through the door and looked around. 
This bar had many little tables between the door he just entered and the bartender's booth
at the opposite end of the big room.  There were many people sitting at the tables, a
couple at the booth, and a few just walking around (excluding the waitresses).  These
people were the scum of the earth, criminals who bribed the soldiers out of jail time. 
These were his kind of people.
     The Asian walked through the tables to the main bar and pulled up a bar stool.  He
set his curved stick down next to his legs, unslung the katana from his back, put it next to
the curved stick, and sat down on his bar stool.  The bartender, a fat man with a jolly
face, saw his new customer and walked over to find out what he wanted.
     "What can I get tcha?"
     "Water."
     After raising an eyebrow at the request of a non-alcoholic drink, the bartender
complied.  "One water comin' right up."  He took a glass, scooped some ice into it,
turned a faucet on, filled the glass to the brim, and slid it across the bar to its intended
recipient.  The Asian held out a hand and caught the glass before it slid past.
     As he drank, the Asian thought about what he was going to do.  The city seemed to
have many possible "job" opportunities.  Other cities in the Mississippi region were too
small to have any good employers, so he decided to come to the capital to hunt for
employment.  Many people in his career field found high paying jobs here and that was
exactly what he was looking for.
     Just as the Asian finished his water, the door to the bar slammed open.  Six men in
Iraqi soldier uniforms ran in and surrounded a single table.  At the table was a single man
dressed in grey overalls.  All the soldiers had automatic rifles pointing at their man.
     The man at the table slowly stood up.  Everyone in the bar, including the Asian in
the trenchcoat, was watching the scene with interest.  The man under arrest asked,
"Whadda ya want?"
     One of the soldiers, apparently the leader, answered, "Chris Scholtz, you are guilty
of treason against General Arafat Jihad.  Come quietly or we'll use force."
     "Then I choose force," replied Chris Scholtz as he reached back with his right
hand to draw his handgun.  The soldiers started to tense their trigger fingers.
     " Scuse me."
     Everyone, including Chris Scholtz and the soldiers, turned to look at the owner of
the voice.  It was the Asian in the trenchcoat.  He had his katana slung on his back again
and held his curved stick in his right hand.
     The bartender said, "Hey!  Are you crazy?"
     Ignoring him, the Asian continued, "Six-to-one odds just isn't fair, you know?" 
He reached down with his left hand and lifted his stick, now holding it at one end with
both hands, up.
     The leader of the soldiers said, "Mind your own bus---"
     He was cut off as he saw the Asian rush all six soldiers.  The closest one received
a blow to the head, knocking him unconscious. This surprised the other five soldiers long
enough for Chris to draw his handgun and take action.  He brought it up, gripped it with
both hands, spun around, and shot the leader and a soldier next to him in rapid
succession.  The three remaining soldiers panicked, one trying to shoot the Asian.  Before
he could get a shot off, the Asian hit his rifle out of his hands with the curved stick, then
he received a strike to the head.  The world went black.
     The last two soldiers double teamed Chris Scholtz and were going to make Swiss
cheese out of him.  Chris quickly grabbed the rifle of one, pointed it up so it didn't fire at
anyone, kneed the soldier's groin, and pushed him toward the other soldier.  The last
soldier opened fire on his own.  He stopped firing as what was left of his last partner fell
to the floor.  Now, Chris was totally vulnerable.  The lone soldier smirked.
     "I'm gonna enjoy this."
     Just as he tensed the trigger on his rifle, a loud thump came from the back of his
head.  His eyes glazed over as he fell forward.  Behind him was the Asian who used his
stick on the head of the last soldier.  Chris looked at him briefly, then he looked around
the bar to see everyone had taken cover behind the bar or under the tables.
     "Come on!" the Asian in the trenchcoat yelled.
     Chris nodded and both men ran out the entrance to the bar.  Everyone in the bar
slowly came out of hiding.

     Chris and his rescuer walked down an alley after running for a couple of blocks
from the bar.  They came to the end of the alley into an empty street.  Chris stopped
walking, as did the Asian.  They turned and faced each other.
     Chris Scholtz said, "Thank you.  I owe you my life."
     The Asian replied, "You don't owe me anything, unless you have money to pay
for my services."
     "Money?  I don't have much."
     The Asian turned to walk away, but Chris grabbed one of his shoulders.
     "Wait!  Why did you help me back there?"
     "I thought you might need help.  Six against one didn't seem in your favor.  And I
also hate anybody in the employ of Husseinian rule."
     "Then join me!  I'm a patriot, one of the Sons of Liberty.  We could use a good
fighter like you."
     The Asian smiled.  "Patriotism is a virtue for the vicious.  I really need to be going
if I'm to find a place to sleep."  He turned to walk away again.
     Chris quickly put himself in front of the Asian to stop him.  "You can come with
me to our headquarters.  I won't ask you to join again, but you'll have a place to stay and
sleep.  Please, it's the least I can do to repay you."
     The Asian rubbed his chin for a couple seconds before answering.  "Very well."
     Chris smiled.  "Follow me."  Chris turned and lead the way down the empty street. 
"Oh, I never got your name."
     "You may call me John Masaki."


The Red Cross

     Two nurses sat on one of the beds meant for patients to lay on.  They were dressed
in white overalls with the red cross on one of the breast pockets.  Both looked to be
women in their twenties and Filipino.  They looked like sisters but were just friends, as
their names suggested.  Their names were Grace Acierto and Kathleen Hogle.  As they
gossiped, their voices filled the presently empty medical center.
     "So, did you tell him yet?" asked Grace.
     "No!" answered Kathleen.
     "Why not?"
     "What if he doesn't have any feelings for me?"
     "That's why you tell him!  You go up to him and say,  Chris Scholtz, I'm in love
with you.'  It's that easy!"
     "Yeah right.  Easier said than done."
     "You're such a wimp."
     Kathleen pointed a finger at Grace.  "What about you?  I haven't seen you go ga-ga over anyone.  What about Jeremy?"
     "I just like him as a friend.  Besides, I'm waiting for the right guy."
     "Okay, but you'll be waiting for a long time.  We're not getting any younger, you
know."

     Chris Scholtz turned a corner with John Masaki (the Asian in the trenchcoat did
have a name) in tow.  They walked for a block, then Chris stopped in front of a building. 
The building looked like an old gym with a huge red cross above the double entrance
doors.
     Chris said, "Welcome to our headquarters.  We can enter through the rear, but
there are other entrances around.  We never enter through the same place twice in a row
so Arafat's troops can't pinpoint our exact location."
     John nodded.  Chris looked around to make sure no soldiers were around, then
walked into one of the allies between the gym and a neighboring building.  John followed
him closely.

     A door shut near the back.  Grace and Kathleen jumped up from the bed they were
sitting on.  They looked to the rear and saw Chris Scholtz walking in with someone
behind him.
     "Chris!" Kathleen called in a somewhat damsel-in-distress tone.  Grace rolled her
eyes and followed Kathleen as she walked over to meet him.
     "Hi Kathy!" Chris said as he and Kathleen stopped in front of each other.  John
stopped behind Chris and saw two nurses standing across from them.  John noticed Chris
stand a little taller as he looked at one of the nurses, the one with her eyes glazed over,
and raised an eyebrow.
     "Hey , Chris," Grace said.
     No answer.
     "Chris!!"
     Chris blinked, looked at Grace, and said, "What?"
     Grace pointed to the Asian behind him.
     "Oh!"  Chris stepped aside to expose John.  "This is John Masaki.  John Masaki,
this is Grace Acierto and Kathleen Hogle."  Chris pointed to each nurse as he introduced
them.
     John bowed and said, "Pleased to meet you."  He looked up and saw Grace giving
him a curious look while Kathleen was once again staring at Chris.  "I see you two are
Filipino."
     "Yes," Grace answered, surprised by his observation.  Then she noticed he was
too.  "Are you?"
     "Only physically."
     Grace was even more perplexed by his answer.  Kathleen didn't notice, since she
was still staring at Chris.  Chris took this opportunity to explain things.
     "Grace and Kathleen run this place.  It's the only Red Cross in the city and it has
the best two nurses in the nation."
     Kathleen found her voice.  "You're too kind."
     Chris continued, "They also act as the spies for us.  This is the only place Gen.
Arafat sends his troops for treatment, so Grace and Kathleen here listen in on their plans. 
They are also very persuasive when finding out these plans."
     John asked Grace (since she was actually paying attention), "Why do you do it? 
Helping revolutionists is considered treason."
     "We help because Gen. Arafat cut our funding.  He only sends us enough money
to buy the bare essentials and food.  We can't charge enough money for our services to
make up for Arafat's cuts.  What's worse is he blackmails us."
     "How's that?"
     "If we don't treat his soldiers for free, he'll cut our budget completely.  The sooner
we can take him down, the better."
     John nodded.  These fools really believed they could overthrow Gen. Arafat and
eventually Saddam Hussein himself.  No wonder they wanted his help so badly.
     Chris said, "Come on.  I'll show you where you can stay."  He turned to Grace and
Kathleen.  "See you two later."
     Kathleen sighed, "Yeah."
     Chris lead John to a door which opened to a short hallway.  As they walked to the
end of the hallway, other doors lined the sides.  Bathrooms, old shower rooms, and locker
rooms were some of the labels on the doors.  At the end of the hallway was a door
labeled "Fire Escape."  Chris opened the door and stepped in.

     Grace slapped Kathleen on the back of the head.
     "Oww!  What'd you do that for?"

     The door, which was supposed to open to the outside, opened to a steep, long
flight of stairs down.  John followed Chris as he walked quickly down the stairs.  At the
bottom of the stairs was another door with a number pad on the wall next to it.  Chris
typed in 121278.  A click confirmed the code acceptable.  He opened the door.
     In the middle of the hallway was a man with a handgun pointing at Chris.  He said,
"Chris, get down!"
     Chris put his hands up as if shielding himself.  "Ben, put it down!  The guy's with
me!"
     The man put his handgun down.  "Sorry.  We saw two coming down on the
monitors.  We knew one was you but we didn't know who the other was."
     Chris stepped aside.  "This is John Masaki.  John Masaki," he pointed to the man
with brown, slicked back hair, "this is Ben Mettler.  He's numero dos next to our leader,
Maria McGuire."
     "Yup, and this numero dos is gonna have your ass!  What were you thinking going
to a bar?  You could have gotten killed!"
     "Chill Ben!  I'm okay, thanks to John here.  That's why I brought him here.  I owe
him."
     "Fine, but he's your responsibility."  Ben ran his right hand through his hair and
turned around.  "Maria wants to see you."
     Chris swallowed audibly.  Ben started walking down the hall and Chris and John
followed.  Just as in the hallway upstairs, this one had many doors.  The labels on the
doors were a variety of names such as Josh Arnold, Kelly Shields, Jeremy Sanderlin, and
Pete Bryson, to name a few.
     They came to the end of the hallway only to hang a right into another hallway. 
More walking and they finally came to a door labeled "Command."  Ben Mettler knocked
the door three times.
     A woman's voice said, "Come in."
     Ben opened the door with Chris and John following.  John's eyes widened slightly
in surprise at what he saw.  Inside was a large, square room with a rather large monitoring
system at the opposite wall from the door.  Two men, one with black hair and glasses and
the other with straight blond hair parted on his right side, sat in swiveling chairs and
watched the monitors.  Behind them stood a woman with brown, shoulder length hair also
watching the monitors.  The two men were typing on keyboards as the woman gave them
commands.
     John, being the last to come in, closed the door behind him.  The woman turned
around at the sound of the door closing.  She gave Chris a cold, hard stare that made
Chris look down in shame.
     She noticed the Asian behind Chris and asked, "Is this the other man we read on
our sensors?"
     Chris looked up.  "Yeah.  His name's John Masaki."
     John stepped up next to Chris and bowed to the woman.  "I presume you are Maria
McGuire?"
     "Why, yes," Maria answered.
     Ben Mettler cut in, "John, here, was the one who rescued Chris' ass in the bar."
     Maria said to John, "Thank you.  We heard of your rescue on the soldier's radio
band.  If not for you, our best foot soldier," she stared at Chris again, "would be dead by
now.  Anything we can do to repay you?"
     John answered, "Food, water, and a place to stay for the night."
     "Done."  She stared once more at Chris.  "Excuse me, I need to speak with Chris,
in private."
     Maria exited through another door in the room.  Chris swallowed, turned to John,
and said, "See you around."  He followed Maria out.
     Ben said, "I better follow.  I can't miss this."  He tapped the black haired man with
glasses on his shoulder and said, "Show John to this room."
     The man looked up and said, "Okay, boss."
     Ben followed the other two.  The black haired man stood up form his chair.  "Hey,
I'm Jeremy Sanderlin.  I'll be your tour guide."  He looked down at his partner, the blond
haired man with the part on his right side.  "Hold the fort while I'm gone, Peto."
     Without looking up, the blond haired man answered, "Will do."  His typing sped
up a little to compensate.
     Jeremy looked up at John.  "This computer nerd is Peter Bryson, Peto for short. 
He's the best damned hacker in the city and he's on our side."
     Peter stopped typing and swiveled around in his chair.  He thumbed Jeremy.  "And
Jeremy, here, is my co-computer hacker.  He's almost as good as me."  He looked up at
Jeremy.  "Computer nerd?  You're the one with glasses."
     "Just keep typing."
     Peter swiveled back around and resumed typing.  Jeremy walked to the door John
came through.  "I'll show you where we train for our ongoing war."
     Jeremy opened the door and stepped into the hallway.  John followed as Jeremy
walked to the end of the hallway to another door.  This door was labeled "Training." 
Jeremy entered with John behind.
     The room was fairly big, being longer than it was wide.  There were at least thirty
men in grey overalls doing different exercises all around the room.  Closest to the door
was a big mat where men were practicing close combat with knives, sticks, unloaded
rifles, and a few practicing hand-to-hand.
     Jeremy launched into a detailed explanation of the room.  "This whole
underground facility used to be a safe haven intended to provide safety in case a nuclear
explosion wiped out the city above.  We found it and turned it into our headquarters.  The
gym above was already a Red Cross, so we had the perfect cover for our operations.
     "This particular room we use for practicing close combat and target practice. 
Actually, it's split into three sections.  The mat's for close combat, of course.  I usually
teach the basics of close combat to the newcomers.  My specialty is double stick fighting,
so they call me the  Stickman.'"
     John lifted his curved stick so Jeremy could see it.  "We should spar sometime. 
I'd like to see your level of expertise."
     Jeremy smiled.  "You're on."  He continued his explanation.  "In the middle, we
have the target practice with the rifles.  We use silencers on them to keep the noise down. 
Also, we only allow three at a time to practice.  Cans make fairly good targets.
     "Lastly, we have a little obstacle course for developing footwork and reflexes. 
The trainee has to run through tires, climb a rope, jump over a bar, and crawl under
barbed wire, among other things."
     Three men stopped their close combat training and looked over at Jeremy and
John.  One was a blond with dark skin, one had curly brown hair and muscles, and the
last was tall with brown hair and pretty skinny.  The tall skinny man called out, "Hey,
Stickman!  What's up?  Who's the new guy?"
     Jeremy answered, "His name's John Masaki.  He's only a guest, so don't bother
him."
     The blond said, "Okay, Sticks!"  All three men laughed and resumed practicing.
     Jeremy shook his head.  "Those three are so immature.  The blond is Josh Arnold,
the smaller brown haired guy is James Mijatovich, and the tall skinny guy is Kelly
Shields.  They're some of the best damned soldiers I've ever trained."
     John nodded.  Jeremy led him across the whole room for a glance at every section. 
Next to the obstacle was another door which Jeremy and John exited through.  John
found they were in the hallway again, right next to the door to the command room.  On
the opposite side of the hallway was another door, but the written label made no sense.  It
read, "Cramer's private stash."  The door was opened slightly, and Jeremy noticed.
     "Cramer must be listening in on Maria again."
     Jeremy walked over and pushed the door to open it more.  John tagged behind as
they entered the room.  Inside, the square room looked like a storage room for weapons. 
All along the walls were piled various rifles, handguns, grenades, rocket launchers, and
some flame throwers.  Boxes of TNT and dynamite were stacked under the weapons,
probably enough to blow the place to kingdom come.
     To the left was a man sitting on a box of dynamite with a stethoscope to the wall. 
From behind, the man looked kind of chubby with straight, dark brown hair on his head. 
He didn't have grey overalls on, like the other revolutionists, but wore a short leather
jacket, blue jeans, and green boots.  He seemed to be enjoying what he was listening to.
     Jeremy tapped him on the shoulder, making him jump.  "Cramer, what did I tell
you about listening in on Maria?"
     The man turned around on his dynamite box and looked up at Jeremy.  He had a
big smile on his face with his eyes wide open.  "I couldn't help it!  The voices told me
to."
     "Try again."
     "Sorry, Sticks!  It's kind of a habit, you know?"  He took the stethoscope off his
ears.  "Chris is really getting his ass chewed out."  He handed the stethoscope to Jeremy. 
"Wanna hear?"
     "No thanks."  Jeremy seemed to notice John's presence.  "Oh, this is John
Masaki."
     The man stood up from his dynamite box.  "I heard Chris talking about you! 
Really cool how you took out three soldiers with a big stick!  I'm Jeff Cramer, by the
way."
     John shook Jeff's extended hand.  "Pleased to meet you."
     "Since you're so good with big sticks, you can call me Cosmo!"
     John raised an eyebrow.  "Okay, Cosmo."
     Jeremy cut in.  "Jeff, here, is our guns and explosives expert.  He's a mercenary,
but we were able to convince him to join us by promising him whatever he wanted after
we overthrow Hussein."
     Jeff let go of John's hand.  "This room's full of my own private stash of stuff.  The
other people get their weapons above ground, but this stuff's all mine."  He pulled John
close and whispered, "Personally, I don't care what happens to the  Sons of Bitches,' just
as long as I get a shot at world domination!"
     John nodded, albeit a little amused by Cramer's ludicrous idea.  Jeremy tapped
John on the shoulder.  "I'll show you to your room now."  He turned to Jeff.  "Cramer,
stop listening!"
     Jeff responded, "Fine!"
     John and Jeremy exited the room.  Cramer sat back down on his box of dynamite,
put his stethoscope back on his ears, turned to face the wall, and continued listening.

     Jeremy led John down the hallway, away from the command room, and turned left
into the hallway John originally came through.  There were three doors, minus the
entrance, on each side of the hallway.
     Jeremy said, "These six doors are all living quarters.  Me and the other major
commanders stay down here twenty-four hours a day so there's no chance of getting
caught by soldiers.  Chris will probably stay too because of what happened today." 
Jeremy walked to the closest door on his left and opened it.  "This is the last room empty
after Chris'.  You can stay here as long as you like."
     John stepped into the room and looked around.  To his left was a cot all set up, to
his right was a small table, and the far right corner was separated by a drape.  John
walked over and looked at what was behind the drape.  There stood a perfectly clean
toilet.
     From the doorway, Jeremy said, "I'll have someone bring you something to eat
and some water."
     "Thank you."
     "See you around."
     Jeremy closed the door and walked back to command.  John unslung his katana
and set it down next to his cot.  He put his curved stick down next to his katana.  Lazily,
he unzipped his trenchcoat, slipped it off, and threw it on the little table.  Under the
trenchcoat, he had on black jeans and a white tank top on.  He slipped off his split toe
boots and slowly lied down on the cot.  As sleep found him, he thought about when he
should go see Gen. Arafat for a job.

     John's eyes popped open.  Someone was at the door, about to come in.  He could
sense it.  Slowly, John reached back and grabbed his curved stick.  He sat up from the
cot, lifted the stick to a ready position, and waited.  The door knob turned and the door
slowly opened.  John tensed.
     "Hey John!  Dinner time!" Chris Scholtz said as he entered the room.  In his hands
was a tray with food and two cups of water.
     John let out a breath and relaxed.  He set his stick back down and said, "Hi,
Chris."
     "I saw you with your stick ready for somethin'.  You expecting someone?"  Chris
set the tray on the little table.
     John stood up and said, "Not really.  I make it a habit to stay alert at all times.  It's
a necessity in my line of work."  He pulled up a chair and sat at the little table.  "Why are
there two cups?"
     Chris pulled up another chair and sat down.  "Since I gotta stay down here, I figure
I'd keep you company.  That okay with you?"
     "If you wish."
     John took a plastic fork from the tray and poked the contents of the bowl in front
of him.  It looked like discolored oatmeal.
     Chris said, "Sorry I couldn't get anything better.  I'm not allowed to go top-side,
so I made some instant oatmeal.  We found a shit load of the stuff when we found this
place."
     Chris dug into his bowl.  John hesitantly scooped some out of his bowl and slowly
put it in his mouth.  Actually, it didn't taste as bad as he had thought.  In fact, it didn't
taste like anything at all.  He drank some water to wash the oatmeal down.
     John said, "What do you want to talk about?  I know you didn't come just to eat
with me."
     Chris took a big gulp of water before answering.  "I've never seen anyone take
down three trained soldiers with nothing but a stick in hand.  I mean, those were
professional soldiers!  Where'd you learn to do that?"
     John smiled.  "Well, for one thing, I carry around a bokken, not a stick.  Didn't
you notice how it resembles a sword?"
     Chris eyed the curved stick.  "Come to think of it, yeah."  He looked back at John. 
"So, where did you learn to use a bo-ken like that?"
     The door moved a little and both men turned to look.  At the door was a small boy,
looking like he was about seven or eight years old.
     Chris called out, "Come in, kid!"
     The boy ran in and sat on Chris' lap.  The boy asked, "Is this the guy that saved
you?"
     "That's right Jeremy.  This is John Masaki."
     "Hi John!"
     John replied, "Hi, uh . . ."
     Chris said, "This is Jeremy Espino.  He's an orphan who stays with us and the
girls upstairs.  He wants to be a Son of Liberty someday."
     Espino said, "Yeah, and I'm gonna be just like Ultrazone man!"
     John asked, "Ultrazone man?"
     Chris said, "It's his nickname for me."
     "Oh."
     "And we usually call Espino here kid, since there're two Jeremys."  He patted 
Espino on the head.  "Now, how did you learn to use a bo-ken the way you did?"
     Both Chris and Espino listened as John told them his story.  "Well, I was raised in
Japan.  I'm Filipino by blood, but a Japanese family adopted me.  They raised me in the
Japanese ways.
     "A brother of my adopted father owned a kenjutsu, or sword fighting, school
nearby.  I became interested and went to take lessons.  Turns out I was a natural at
Sanjuro ryu kenjutsu, my uncle's style.  I quickly reached advanced levels and I was
destined to take over the school."
     Chris asked, "So, what are you doing here?"
     "I felt my karma was here."
     Jeremy asked, "Karma?"
     "It means destiny.  One of the things I learned at the school is that karma is karma. 
Through my ki, I felt my karma was to come here and develop my kenjutsu skills."
     "What's ki?" asked Jeremy
     "Basically, ki is the energy which eminates all around.  Through training, one can
use it to see the future, see people's intentions, and perform special sword techniques."
     "Can you do any?" asked Chris.
     "To a certain extent.  I use my ki mostly for my kenjutsu techniques."
     "Can you teach me to do some?"
     "I don't think I can.  It took me more than ten years just to feel my ki, let alone use
it in sword fighting.  I could teach you the sword techniques, but not the ki part."
     "That's fine."
     "What'd your uncle say when you wanted to leave?" asked Espino.
     "He didn't protest.  He knew this was my karma, so he gave me the school's
treasure."  John stood up and picked up his sword.  "This katana is the Sanjuro ryu's
symbol.  My uncle said it should go to the most gifted student.  I protested, but he
believed I might need it someday.  So, here it is."
     John set the katana on the table to let Chris and Jeremy look at it.  Jeremy said,
"Wow!  The handle looks like a dragon!"
     Indeed, the handle did look like a dragon.  Most of the handle was the body with
the scales meticulously carved.  At the end was a fierce looking Japanese dragon head.
     John said, "It's made out of pure ivory.  Legend has it that the sword will glow in
the hands of a true master and will cut through anything.  Legend also says the school's
founder, Sanjuro Yojimbo, slayed a dragon with it.  He took one of it's teeth and, out of
respect, carved it into the shape of the dragon he slayed."
     Jeremy Espino touched the handle to feel the scales.  Then he asked, "Can you
make it glow?"
     John smiled.  "I've never tried."
     "Why don't you do it right now!  Please?" pleaded Espino.
     John picked the katana up and set it back down next to his bokken.  He turned
back to Chris and Jeremy and said, "No.  The best swords are kept in their scabbards."
     Jeremy looked disappointed.
     "When the time comes, I will."










                              III


The Jail

     Gen. Arafat Jihad stormed down a hallway full of empty jail cells.  Captain Jafar
had called him early in the morning about an "important" matter.  Something about some
of Jafar's soldiers getting their asses kicked by some guy who didn't even have a gun. 
The general came down to the jail just to make Jafar shut up.
     Arafat threw the door labeled "Warden" open and yelled, "This had better be
good!"
     Jafar stood up from his desk chair and said, "General!  Calm down!  I think you'll
be most interested in what we discovered."
     "Then you better show me soon, or I'm gonna get really angry!"
     "This way, general."
     Captain Jafar lead General Arafat out of the warden's office, down another hall. 
Before long, they came to another hallway with more doors labeled "Interrogation."  Jafar
entered one and Arafat followed.
     "On one wall of the room was a huge window made of one-way glass.  Next to the
window was a small table with a monitor and videotape player.  Arafat and Jafar looked
through the window to see a man sitting at a table.  He was dressed in army issue garb,
signaling he was a soldier.  It was one of the soldiers at the bar during the attempted
arrest on Chris Scholtz.
     The interrogator entered the door of the other room.  Capt. Jafar said, "Here comes
the interrogator.  General, listen to his story.  It's most interesting."
     Gen. Arafat watched as the interrogator stood at the other end of the table and
started the questions.
     "Okay, let's start from the beginning.  You and your team went into the bar to do
what?"
     The soldier answered, "We went in to arrest a leader of the Sons of Liberty."
     "Who?"
     "Chris Scholtz."
     "And did you get him?"
     "No.  We, um," the soldier started to sweat. "We met some resistance."
     "What kind of resistance?"  The interrogator circled him.
     "Ummm . . . ten men surprised us."
     "Ten men, huh?  Why don't you tell the truth!!"
     "I am!!"
     "Oh really?  Eye witnesses say one man took three of you out.  One man!  Is your
memory clearing up any?"
     The soldier broke down.  "Alright.  This guy in a trenchcoat, I think, came at us
with a stick.  He moved too fast for us to react!"
     "You're a pitiful excuse for a soldier."
     Gen. Arafat turned to Capt. Jafar.  "One man in a trenchcoat, holding a stick?  Is
this a joke?"
     Captain Jafar walked over to the monitor and put a video into the player.  "No
joke.  Here's the video from the security camera in the bar."
     Gen. Arafat walked over and watched the monitor.  Jafar pressed play and the
monitor showed:

         Six soldiers surrounded Chris Scholtz.  A man in a trenchcoat said something in      the lower left hand corner.  The lead soldier said something back.  The trenchcoat   man charged and knocked out the soldier closest to the lower left corner.  Chris Scholtz ducked and shot the lead soldier and a soldier next to him.  The trenchcoat
     man knocked out another soldier.  The last two  faced Chris.  Chris grabbed one  and shoved him towards the other.  The other soldier opened fire and shot his   companion.  The last soldier said something to Chris, who was now wide open.                   Before he could shoot, the soldier received a blow to the head from behind, from the trenchcoat man.  Chris and the trenchcoat man ran out the bar.

     Jafar pressed stop and looked at Arafat.  The general asked, "What's the name of
the man in the trenchcoat?"
     "No one knows."
     "Where does he come from?"
     ". . ."
     "Do you know anything about him?"
     "We do know that he's not with the Sons of Liberty by the way he's dressed."
     "Anything else?"
     "He must be a mercenary.  Only an independently employed man can be skilled
enough to kick three of our trained soldiers in the ass."
     Gen. Arafat rubbed his chin and walked towards the door.  "Find this man.  I want
him in our employment.  I could use a man like him as my bodyguard."
     During the last few months, there were several attempts on the general's life.  All
these attempts were from the Sons of Liberty and all were foiled.  However, each time
they came closer.  Gen. Arafat felt he needed a bodyguard more than ever.
     Capt. Jafar answered, "Yes, sir.  Oh, what do you want me to do with the
soldiers?"
     Arafat opened the door.  "Failure in the apprehension of a criminal deserves the
mark of a criminal.  Have their right hands cut off."
     "Yes sir."
     Arafat closed the door as he left the observation room and walked back down the
hall.


Sons of Liberty HQ

     John opened his eyes.  It felt like morning, but he couldn't tell since there were no
windows.  Morning or not, it was time to practice.  After all, life is training.
     He sat up in bed and stretched out a little, then gazed at the table.  Chris had left
the tray with the empty food bowls and cups of water still on it.  Yawning, he slipped on
his split toe boots and stood up from the cot.  After stretching a little bit more, John
picked up his bokken, left his room, and proceeded to the training center.
     As he walked down the hall, a voice cried from Cramer's private stash room. 
"Burn baby, burn!"
     John walked to the door, opened it, and looked in.  Cramer was lying down on
three boxes of dynamite and used a bag labeled "gunpowder" for a pillow.  John turned
up a corner of his mouth in a half smile.  Cramer was talking in his sleep.
     "You've heard of Dante's inferno?  Feel Cramer's inferno!"
     John slowly closed the door and walked back down the hall.
     "Satan was an amateur!"
     He opened the door to the training center and entered.  All the lights were off, so
he felt the wall for a switch.  He found one and flipped it.  The florescent lights blinked
on and illuminated the entire place.  It looked bigger with no one else around, and it was
a lot quieter, too.
     John walked onto the hand-to-hand combat mat.  He held his bokken in his left
hand as if it was in a scabbard, and his feet made a patting sound as he neared the middle
of the mat.
     He stopped in the middle and turned around to face the way he came from.  Then,
to no one in particular, he bowed.  After straightening up, John pulled his bokken out of
its imaginary scabbard and held it in a middle level position.  His breathing slowed and
his body relaxed.
     With a shout, John started his kata.  His bokken blurred around in motion, as did
his whole body.  He performed horizontal cuts, diagonal cuts up and down, and overhead
cuts in rapid succession from all conceivable angles.  He performed blocks against
imaginary opponents, then counter strikes.  He jumped high into the air and also did
crouching cuts.  He covered the whole mat in a matter of seconds.
     Before long, he came back to the middle of the mat.  He let out a concluding
shout, "Kiai!!" and performed a last overhead cut down.  Sweat dripped down his
forehead as he held his last position for a few seconds.  With a flick of the wrist, John
shook off imaginary blood from his bokken and, with another flick, slipped the bokken
back into its imaginary scabbard.
     Jeremy, who had been watching from the edge of the mat, said, "You're very
good."
     John wiped his brow with his tank top.  "Thank you."
     Jeremy, dressed in some baggy pants and a T-shirt, walked towards John.  "You
wanna have a little match?"  He twirled his two escrima sticks.
     "Sure."
     John resumed a battle stance.  Jeremy started his stretching routines.
     John asked, "What are you doing?"
     "Stretching."
     "In battle, one doesn't have time to stretch."
     "Yeah, but we're not in battle."
     John smiled and waited as Jeremy finished stretching.  Jeremy adopted his own
battle stance.  "Let's go."
     The two circled each other.  John was a bit worn out from his kata, but Jeremy was
fresh.  Jeremy lashed out with a double stick strike.  John jumped over Jeremy, flipped,
and landed behind Jeremy.  Jeremy tried a roundhouse kick to the rear, but John ducked
under it.  As Jeremy finished his roundhouse, John just stood back up and waited. 
Jeremy launched into a series of attacks.
     Chris, James, Josh, and Kelly walked into the training room to start their morning
workout when they saw John and Jeremy sparring.
     James said, "Hey!  Jeremy and that new guy are going at it."
     "Yeah, and he's not connecting," said Kelly.
     "Looks like Sticks met his match," commented Josh.
     Chris added, "No match, Josh.  John's gonna win."
     James said, "No way!  Sticks can't lose!"
     "Just watch."
     John dodged every attack Jeremy threw at him.  They circled each other again,
Jeremy panting with exhaustion and John not even breathing hard.  Jeremy tried one last
attack and rushed at John, sticks blurring in a criss-crossing motion.  John side stepped at
the last second before contact, pivoted to the side, and hit Jeremy on his back.  Jeremy
was knocked down, face first, into the mat.
     "Ouch!" said Josh from the side.
     John let down his guard and held out a hand for Jeremy.  He took it and John
pulled him up.
     "You're not bad," said John.
     Jeremy picked up his escrima sticks and said, "Not bad for not even laying a finger
on you?"
     "Exactly."
     Jeremy chuckled.  "I guess it's been a while since I met someone who could
soundly whip my ass."
     "You showed some good moves.  I can see why the others admire your skills.  Just
remember, humility is a good thing every once in a while.  It keeps your skills in check."
     "Well, for what it's worth, good match."
     John and Jeremy shook hands.  The four guys watching made their way towards
the two combatants.
     "Hey Stickman!  Nice shadow sparring!" said Kelly.
     "Kind of reminds me of sparring with you guys," said Jeremy as Josh, James, and
Kelly surrounded him.
     John was walking to the exit when Chris said, "Hey, John!  Where you goin'?"
     "To a job interview, with General Arafat."
     Chris was confused by John's answer, but let him go.  He turned around and
joined the other three in making fun of Jeremy.

     John walked down the hall and was about to enter the his room when the door next
to his opened up.  Kathleen came out of the room and slowly closed the door to keep it
quiet.
     "Hello," John said.
     Kathleen was startled, to say the least.  "John!  What are you doing up so early?"
     "Who's room is that?"
     Kathleen shut the door completely.  "Oh, it's Chris' room."
     "What were you doing in there?"
     "I slept, er, stayed with Chris last night."  Kathleen looked down and blushed
furiously.  "Uh, I gotta go.  Bye!"
     Kathleen turned around and walked quickly to the door of  the stairs leading up. 
John smiled and entered his room.


The Water Cleansing Plant

     Gen. Arafat Jihad and an engineer in a white robe were walking in one of the
underground cleaning chambers.  Huge pipes covered the walls and the ceiling. 
Thousands upon thousands of gallons of water were pumped through these pipes every
day.  The general made routine checks to make sure it kept running on schedule.  This
was one of those check-ups.
     The general asked, "How is everything running?"
     "Everything is fine, general."
     "Good."  He thought for a second.  "What's the latest reading of pollutants in the
water?"
     "It's presently at point-zero one percent, sir."
     "And what do you report as the reading?"
     The engineer smiled.  "One percent, sir, as you have ordered."
     General Arafat nodded in approval.  "Very good.  You may carry on."
     "Yes sir.  May I escort you out?"
     "No.  I'll find my own way out."
     The engineer turned and walked off in another direction.  General Arafat just kept
walking.


The Jail

     "Your timing is perfect.  We need someone like you in our forces," said Captain
Jafar.  "I trust your escort here wasn't too unpleasant?  My soldiers have a tendency to
overdo things."
     "Let's just say I had to fight them off with a stick."  John held up his bokken.
     Capt. Jafar let out a laugh.  "A sense of humor too.  I like that."
     John Masaki had just been wandering around the streets when some of Jafar's
soldiers spotted him.  They tried to take John by force, but John "persuaded" them to take
him to their boss peacefully.  They took him to the jail and Capt. Jafar dropped his whole
schedule to meet him.  They were presently walking to Jafar's office.
     "Why are you so interested in me?"
     "General Arafat saw a tape of your rescue of Chris Scholtz.  He was, to say the
least, most impressed by your skills.  He wants to employ you as his bodyguard."
     They reached Jafar's office.  Jafar let John in and sat down at his desk.  John sat
down across from him.
     "A bodyguard?  I didn't think the general needed one."
     "I don't think he does, but he thinks he does.  There have been several attempts on
his life by the  Sons of Liberty,' so he has grown a little paranoid."
     "I see."
     "Oh, by the way, what happened to Chris Scholtz after you rescued him?  Did he
take you to their headquarters?"
     "No.  After I rescued him, I asked for payment for my services.  He didn't have
any to give, so I just left him."
     "Ever the mercenary, huh?"
     They both chuckled.
     Jafar asked, "How much do you want for your services to us?"
     John rubbed his chin for a couple of seconds.  "500 an hour."
     "That much?  You must be very efficient."
     "So it's a deal?"
     Jafar stood up from his chair and held out a hand.  John took it.  "Deal."  Jafar sat
back down.  "Do you have a place to stay for the nights?  I can provide one for you."
     "No thanks.  I already have a place."
     "Good.  Then come!  We shall go to the general and tell him the good news!"
     Both men stood up and left the office.

Sons of Liberty HQ

     In the command room, Pete and Jeremy sat in their chairs, eating brunch.  The
monitors were off and music was playing from the speakers.
     Pete said, "I'm sick of this oatmeal shit!  Why can't we get any real food?"
     Jeremy answered, "Because no one's allowed to surface for a couple of days, after
what happened to Chris."
     "A couple of days?  I'm gonna kill myself."  Peter turned up the music.  "Oh well,
at least we've got good music."
     "What music is this?"
     Pete smiled and wiggled his lower jaw.  "The Jurassic Park soundtrack, baby!"
     The door opened and Chris Scholtz entered the room.  "Hey Peto, hey Stickman. 
Has the meeting started yet?"
     Jeremy answered, "Nope, not yet.  Maria hasn't come out of her room yet and I
have no idea where Mettler is."
     "I'll just wait here then."  Chris walked up to Jeremy and patted him on the
shoulder.  "Nice match this mornin'."
     "What happened this morning?" asked Peter.
     "Sticks, here, had a match with John Masaki."
     "Your friend?"
     "Yeah, and he lost."
     Peter turned to Jeremy.  "Lost?  Jeremy  Stickman' Sanderlin, undefeated for 50
straight matches, lost?"
     "Yup.  I could feel the wind from all his missed swings."
     Jeremy broke in, "Shut up!  He was way outta my league."  Jeremy smiled
mischievously.  "At least I wasn't up half the night making noises in my room."
     "What?"
     "You kept me up with all that thumping."
     Pete smiled and wiggled his lower jaw again.  "Jeez!  You were thumping with
Kathleen again?"
     Chris exploded.  "Me and Kathleen just talked!  It was so late I told her she could
just sleep on my bed and I'd take the floor!"
     Jeremy waved his hands as if to deflect any flames that came from Chris' mouth. 
"Alright!  I was just jokin' with ya!"
     Chris relented a little, but still gave Jeremy an angry look.  Just then, Maria's door
opened and Maria came into the room.
     "What's all the shouting about?"
     Pete replied, "Oh, just Chris making noises in the night again."
     Chris shot Pete an evil look.
     Maria said, "That's enough.  Chris, go get Cramer.  We'll begin the meeting in
five minutes."  She looked around the room.  "Where's Mettler?"
     Jeremy shrugged his shoulders.  "I don't know."
     Maria looked at Pete.  Pete shook his head.  "Don't look at me."
     Maria walked back into her room.  "Well, if he's not here by the time we start,
we'll just start without him."  She closed her door.
     Chris looked at Pete, then Jeremy, then walked to the door.  "If you say anything
else about me and Kathleen, I'll kill you."  He opened the door and left the command
room.  Peter and Jeremy looked at each other and laughed hysterically.

     Chris knocked on Cramer's door.  "Cramer!  Meeting begins in five minutes."
     There was a rattle and then a thump from inside the room.  The door flew open
and Cramer stared at Chris.  "You woke me up from a great dream!  Me and Lucifer were
talkin' about fire and destruction."
     Chris said, "Sorry to wake you, but Maria wanted you to be there.  You angry?"
     Cramer stepped out of his room.  "If I were, you wouldn't be breathing."  He
locked the door with a key and proceeded to the command room.
     Chris was about to follow when he spotted Ben Mettler going to the training
center.  He called out, "Mettler!"
     Mettler turned and saw Chris.  "Whadda ya want?"
     "We've got a meeting in five minutes.  Didn't you know we were having a meeting
today?"
     "I kinda forgot."  Ben changed directions and walked to the command room. 
"Where's your friend, John what's-his-face?"
     "I think he went out for somethin'."
     "He better not tell the Jihad soldiers where our base is."
     "He won't.  I trust him.  Besides, he told me he hates those soldiers."


The Arafat Mansion

     Beth, Gen. Arafat's secretary, opened the front door.  There stood Captain
Muhammad Jafar and a man in a black trenchcoat.  She said, "Hello captain.  What may I
do for you?"
     "Is the general busy right now?"
     "He just arrived from his inspection of the cleaning plant.  He's in the dining
room, eating a late lunch."
     "Then I think I'll join him."  Capt. Jafar stepped into the mansion, followed by the
man in the trenchcoat.  "Oh, Beth, meet the general's new bodyguard.  His name's John
Masaki."
     John bowed to Beth and said, "Pleased to meet you."
     Beth closed the door and bowed a little awkwardly.  "Likewise, I'm sure."  She
straightened up and looked at the captain.  "Should I tell the general you'll be joining him
in the dining room?"
     "No, Beth.  I want to surprise him."  Jafar proceeded behind the staircase, to the
hall leading to the dining room.  John followed.
     Beth walked back to her desk, sat down, and day dreamed about a prince who
would someday rescue her from this boring job.

     Gen. Arafat sat at the head of his long dining table, eating some vegetable soup. 
Hanging from the ceiling, in the middle of the room, was a beautiful glass chandelier. 
Along the walls were paintings of him, Saddam Hussein, and the other regional generals. 
The room had an elegant, almost Victorian quality very alien to the city around the
mansion.  If Gen. Arafat was going to dine, it might as well be in style.
     The double doors to the dining room opened.  Gen. Arafat looked up from his soup
and saw Capt. Jafar and the man they were looking for.  He stood up to greet his guest.
     "Welcome!"
     Capt. Jafar said, "This is John Masaki."
     "John Masaki?  I am very pleased to see you!"
     Gen. Arafat shook hands with John.  John said, "The captain said you needed a
bodyguard."
     "Yes.  From what I saw of your skills, I am most impressed.  You are the only man
I've seen who is qualified enough for the job.  Will you take it?"
     "I already have."
     "Wonderful!  Come, join me for lunch."
     The general sat back down.  Captain Jafar sat in the chair closest to Jihad, but John
kept standing.  Jafar said, "Sit down and eat."
     "No thanks.  I already ate.  Besides, I'm on duty."
     Gen. Arafat chuckled.  "Very well."
     John walked around the room, looking at the paintings and listening to the captain
and general's conversation.
     "Have we heard anything from our mole?" asked Gen. Arafat.
     "No.  We're supposed to meet him tonight.  Then, he'll give us the information we
need on the Sons of Liberty headquarters."
     "Good, good.  And the money?"
     Capt. Jafar smiled.  "What money?"
     "Even better."  The general sipped a little of his soup.  "We will finally crush this
little band of rebels, once and for all."


Sons of Liberty HQ

     The meeting had already begun.  Pete and Jeremy were typing on their keyboards,
Maria looked at the screens and was giving commands, Ben just watched, and Chris was
talking to Cramer, who was in a corner with his Zippo lighter.
     Cramer flipped open the lid and flicked the flint stone, lighting the wick.  A small
flame erupted from the wick and Cramer's eyes glazed over.  He ran his index finger
through the flame slowly.
     Chris said, "You ever wonder if we'll be able to take down Hussein?  I mean, I
know we can take Jihad, but Hussein is practically immortal compared to him."
     Cramer replied in a voice possessed, "Even Jesus had to die."
     Chris slowly nodded.  Cramer always became like this whenever he lit his Zippo. 
Chris turned around and joined Maria in looking at the monitors.  He asked, "What's
going on?"
     Maria answered, "Pete and Jeremy are hacking into the central computer system of
the water cleansing plant."
     "Why?"
     "Today was inspection day.  I want to see what the computer reports about the
water, whether it's completely clean or not."
     On one of the monitors came up a screen with the words "Enter password" and six
lines for six letters.  Jeremy said, "Peto, you wanna get this one?"
     Pete answered, "Why not.  I'll use my find-a-password program."
     On another screen was a Dos prompt.  Pete opened his file folder "Peto's
Programs" and ran his find-a-password program.  Jeremy opened the CD player, took out
Jurassic Park, and put in another CD, Judas Priest.  He pressed play and a song came
blasting through the speakers.
     Chris asked, "What's this?"
     Jeremy answered, "A little mood music.  It's called  Breaking the Law'."
     Chris nodded.  They always played this song when hacking.  On the find-a-password screen, the program quickly scrolled through all the letters of the alphabet until
it came to the correct letter.  After doing this for all six blanks, the program displayed the
whole password, "donkey."
     Pete said, "What kinda stupid password is that?"  He typed the word in and "Enter
password" changed to "Access granted."
     Jeremy said, "Okay Maria.  Where'd you like to go?"
     "Let's check what the pollution content of the water is."
     "Righty-o."
     Jeremy typed in a couple commands.  The screen brought up a form labeled
"Pollution Contents of Mississippi River Water."  It was filled with a list of the pollutants
in the water and the percentages each content either rose or fell in the span of a month. 
Jeremy scrolled to the bottom of the form for the last item.
     Jeremy reported, "Looks like pollution content of the water is holding steady at
one percent."
     "Is this the actual reading or the report?" asked Maria.
     "Just the report."
     "Can you guys hack into the computers of the water cleaning machines
themselves?"
     Pete answered, "No problem."
     Both Pete and Jeremy started typing.  A screen with "Access denied" and a
beeping sound came up.
     "Oh fuck.  This is gonna take a little while."
     Pete and Jeremy typed rapidly.  After a while, the "Access denied" screen came up
again.
     "Looks like someone's trying to hide something," commented Jeremy.
     After more typing, the screen finally changed to "Access granted."  A schematic of
the whole plant came up.  There were six huge cleaning tanks spread throughout the
entire plant, each unit with it's own monitoring computer.
     Maria commanded, "Check the north eastern tank."
     "I got it," said Jeremy.
     He typed a couple commands in.  The screen zoomed in on the tank and a reading
of "Pollution content .01%" showed in the middle.
     Pete said, "That can't be right."
     Maria said, "Check the other tanks.  It might be a false reading."
     Jeremy repeated his keystroke for all the tanks.  The reading was the same for all
six tanks.
     Pete said, "This can't be right.  There must be a glitch, the decimal's in the wrong
place."
     Jeremy retorted, "It's right.  If there was a glitch, the decimal would be in different
places for each tank."
     Chris broke in, "I don't get it.  Why would the report percentage be higher than the
real one?"
     Jeremy swiveled around in his chair.  He laid his elbows on the arm rests, put his
hands together, and touched his index fingers to his mouth.  After some silence, Jeremy
spoke.  "Money."
     "What?"
     Jeremy looked up.  "For the money."
     Pete added, "That's right.  One of the things our taxes pay for is the cleaning of
our water."
     "But if the water was below harmful levels, say, point-zero one percent, then the
plant would be shut down and we wouldn't have to pay taxes for it."
     "And that means no more mulla for the general to spend on toys."
     Maria concluded, "So he has the engineers lie about the pollution content, put that
down as the real deal, and keep taxing us for  cleaning' the water."
     "Oh," Chris said.
     Cramer stood up from his corner, the Zippo still lit and his eyes glazed over, and
said, "Let's make the plant go boom."
     Everyone turned around and stared at Cramer.  Cramer just kept running his finger
through the flame.  Jeremy spoke up, "Not a bad idea."
     Now, everyone looked at Jeremy.  Jeremy continued, "The alarm system isn't
complicated and from these schematics, it looks like security is at a minimum."
     Maria asked, "Are you sure we can pull it off?"
     "Positive."
     Ben Mettler spoke for the first time, "Let's do it tonight."
     "Wait a minute, isn't it a little soon?  We need to prepare!" exclaimed Chris.
     "If we don't do it now, they'll keep taxing the people until they have nothing left!"
Jeremy countered.
     Maria felt everyone lay their eyes on her.  She thought for a second, then said,
"It'll be tonight."  Chris deflated.  "Here's the plan: I'll get point.  Chris," she turned to
him, "you, James, Kelly, and Josh will be my infiltration team."  She turned to Pete and
Jeremy. "Jeremy will guide me through the plant with a com link from his computer. 
Pete, you'll stay here and relay info to Jeremy."  She looked at Cramer.  "You and
Jeremy will shut down the security systems, both inside and outside.  Still have that
computer hook-up in your van?"
     Cramer nodded.
     "Good.  Cramer's van will be our mobile base.  Get everything ready.  We'll meet
top side at twenty-hundred hours."
     Ben Mettler said, "What about me?"
     "You'll stay here.  We need someone back here to continue the rebellion if I don't
come back."
     "But I want some of the action!"
     "But nothing!  I want you back here.  If we fail, you're our last hope."
     Maria walked back to her quarters and closed her door.  Everybody looked at each
other.  Cramer opened the door and exited the room first, saying, "See you at boom-boom
time."  The others followed to prepare for the raid.













                               IV


The Jail

     Capt. Muhammad Jafar sat in his office desk, watching his little desk top
television.  The channel suddenly changed to the face of the jail entrance guard.
     The guard said, "Sir, we have someone here who wants to see ya."
     Capt. Jafar said, "You interrupted my show, soldier.  You know I always watch
 Iraquian Baywatch' at this time."
     "Sorry sir, but he says he's got an appointment.  He says his name's Mouse."
     Jafar paused.  This was the traitor.  He might reveal the rebel's base tonight.  "Let
him in."
     Capt. Jafar shut off the television and picked up the phone.  He dialed the number
of Gen. Arafat's mansion.


The Red Cross/Sons of Liberty HQ

     In the back alley of the Red cross, a full sized 1988 Chevy van, dark blue, pulled
up to the back door.  However, it was not an ordinary van due to Cramer's special
modifications.  On the back bumper were three stickers reading, "0 to 60 in 15 minutes",
"I brake for no one", and "He's peddling as fast as he can."  On each side of the van,
above the rear tires , was a rocket launcher.  And on top was a small, twenty foot tall
broadcasting and receiving antenna.
     The driver's side door opened and Cramer hopped out.  Just as Cramer was about
to go into the Red Cross, John rounded the corner of the building.
     "Hey John!  Where ya been?"
     After curiously looking at the van, John replied, "Working."
     Cramer nodded and opened the back door.  John followed Cramer in.
     Grace had heard the van pull up and met the two men as they came in.  "Cramer,
where're you taking the van?"
     "We're going to the Water Cleansing Plant to make it go boom."
     "Why?"
     "They're lyin' about the pollution content of the water.  We figure since the
plant's suckin' up taxes for nothin', we might as well get rid of it."
     "When will you be back?"
     "That's classified."
     Grace stopped and turned around.  "I better tell Kathleen about this."
     As Grace walked off, Cramer and John made their way below to the Sons of
Liberty HQ.  Cramer walked down to the command room while John stopped at his room.
     "Later, John."
     "Later Cosmo."
     Just as John opened the door, Chris came out of his room and saw John.  "John! 
Where were you?"
     John turned around.  "I got a job."
     Chris closed his door.  "Where?"
     "At the jail.  They hired me as Arafat's bodyguard."
     "What!?"
     "Don't worry.  I'm not going to give away this place.  They're paying me too
much anyway."
     Chris looked at John for a second, then spoke.  "Okay.  I trust you."
     "Chris, don't go!!"
     John and Chris turned to see Kathleen running down the hall towards them.  She
practically glomped onto Chris before saying, "Chris, please don't go!  I'd kill myself if
you didn't come back."
     Chris tried to peel her off.  "Kathleen, clam down.  It's only a raid.  I'll come
back."
     "I want you to stay here, with me!"
     Chris looked at John with pleading eyes.  John just smiled, turned, and walked into
his room.

     Twenty hundred hours.  All seven members of the raiding party stood next to
Cramer's van.  Maria and Jeremy had on headset walkie-talkies and were testing them
out.  Jeremy also had in hand a laptop computer that hooked up to Cramer's "small"
antenna.  Chris, James, Josh, and Kelly were chatting with each other.  They had small
automatic rifles slung on their backs, just in case.  Cramer was checking the rocket
launcher on that side.
     Maria and Jeremy finished checking the com-links.  Maria turned to the others and
said, "Here's what's gonna happen: Cramer and Jeremy will stay in the van.  They will
knock out the alarms and Chris, James, Josh, Kelly, and me will infiltrate the plant.  Once
inside, Jeremy will direct us through the place via my com-link.  While we set the
explosives, Cramer and Jeremy will wait outside until my signal.
     "When we're done setting the explosives, we get out of there ASAP before they go
off.  Jeremy and Cramer will rendevouz with us at the drop off point.  Everyone got it?"
     Everyone nodded.
     "Good.  Let's go!"
     Jeremy opened the passenger side door and got in.  In place of the glove
compartment was a tray table on which he set his laptop computer.  He took the
connection cable and plugged one end into the cigarette lighter, which Cramer had rigged
the antenna to receive and transmit through.  Jeremy unfolded his laptop, turned it on, and
established his modem connection with Pete in headquarters.  A blueprint of the plant
showed up on the screen.
     Chris opened the sliding door and the infiltration team loaded up.  Inside, all the
seats had been removed to accommodate everything else.  On the rearview mirror hung
seven pairs of fuzzy dice, all different colors.  In the middle of the van, twenty new car
air fresheners hung all clumped together to make a chandelier of sorts.  The scent was, to
say the least, overwhelming at first.  In the back, near the rear double doors, stood a huge
black anvil.  Its purpose there was totally missed.  At one corner of the van were a bunch
of boxes containing the ammunition for the rocket launchers and, of all things, fireworks.
     Cramer opened the driver side door and sat down at the wheel.  Kelly yelled from
the back, "Hey Cramer!  When did you add the air fresheners?"
     "I thought the van could use some sprucing up."
     Maria interrupted, "Okay!  Let's move Cramer!"
     "First, some music!"  Cramer opened the drawer between the driver's seat and
passenger's seat.  He pulled out a CD, removed it from it's cover, and popped it into his
in-dash CD player.  String instruments came through the speakers.  The violins and cellos
gave way to a stoic melody being played by brass instruments.
     Jeremy looked up from his laptop.  "What's this?"
     "Ride of the Valkyries."
     Jeremy nodded.  Cramer shifted the van to drive and stepped on it.  As everyone
riding in the back tried to stay upright, Cramer reached behind his seat and pulled out
some clear, plastic material with little bubbles in it.  He started popping the bubbles to the
beat of the music.
     Jeremy, not looking up this time, asked, "What's that stuff?"
     "Bubble wrap.  You know, the stuff they use to wrap fragile suff in for shipping
around?"
     "Oh.  How much ya got?"
     "Yards and yards.  Wanna pop some?"
     Jeremy shook his head in the negative.  He established the frequency through
which he'd communicate with Pete.  He decided to try the com-link.
     "Peto, you there?"

     Under the Red Cross in the Sons of Liberty HQ, Pete answered.  "Yeah, I'm here." 
He had on a headset like Jeremy and Maria that was hooked up to the main computer.  On
one monitor was a screen reading "Modem connected."  Another monitor showed a map
of the city with a blinking dot moving through the streets.
     Pete said, "I've got you guys on the tracker."

     Maria ordered, "Start downloading the blueprints of the plant to Jeremy's
computer."

     "Okay."  Pete typed in a few commands and the monitor that read "Modem
connected" changed to "Uploading files."

     Jeremy's laptop screen read "Downloading files."  He turned to Cramer and asked,
"How long till we get to the plant?"
     "If I don't slow down on the turns, about fifteen minutes."
     "What if you slow down on the turns?"
     "Half an hour."
     Jeremy looked down at the laptop monitor and saw it display "3% downloaded." 
He turned back to Cramer.  "Better slow down on the turns."
     "Damn.  And I wanted to try rolling the van too."

     Pete looked around the command room.  As he did, he asked, "Hey Jeremy, did
you see Mettler anywhere before you left?"

     "No.  Why?  He's not with you?"

     "Nope."

     "That's weird.  I thought he'd be there to watch us.  Oh well."
     Maria said, "Maintain radio silence until we get to the plant."

     "Okay."


The Water Cleansing Plant

     The plant was just outside the city, along the banks of the Mississippi River. 
Three hundred yards from the plant was a ten foot tall barbed wire fence that surrounded
the place.  The only opening to the fence was a gate for the only road that led to the plant. 
This was the road that Cramer's van was presently on.
     Cramer slowly pulled the van up to the gate and stopped.  He said, "Gate's closed. 
Looks like no one's home."  He turned around to look at Maria.  "Want me to knock?"
     "No.  Jeremy, is there any section of the fence that's closer to the plant?"
     Jeremy opened the file in his computer for the outside of the plant.  He scrolled
around the blueprint while Bach's "Toccata and Fugue" filled the van.  "Yeah, the far
west side is only two hundred yards from the plant.  Why didn't they put the gate there?"
     James answered, "Because they're damned foreigners?"
     Maria said, "Forget about it.  Cramer . . ."
     "It's off-road time!"
     Cramer jerked his steering wheel counter-clockwise until it stopped, then he
stepped on the gas.  The van made a sharp left turn and practically hopped from the road
onto the grassless terrain.  Everyone in the back held on as the whole van vibrated from
the rough ground.  Cramer turned up the music and a pipe organ came blasting through.

     Pete watched the monitor as the bleep that was Cramer's van came to a halt at a
western section of the fence.  He contacted Jeremy and Maria.
     "I'm gonna disable the fence's alarm."

     "Do it," Maria ordered.  She walked up and kneeled next to Cramer.  "Any way
we can make a quick hole in the fence after Pete turns the alarm off?"
     Cramer smiled and rubbed his hands together.  Worried looks crept onto
everyone's faces.

     Peter finished hacking into the security network and the fence, which was usually
yellow with power was now white and alarmless.
     "Fence is down."

     "We're going in," replied Maria.
     Josh and James finished loading the rocket launchers with the ammo that was in
one of the boxes in the back.  Fortunately, both launchers could be loaded from the inside
of the van so they didn't need to get out to load the launchers.  Cramer backed up the van
to face the fence and to avoid any shrapnel that flew at the van.
     Jeremy asked, "You sure this'll work?"
     "Of course!" answered Cramer.  "Well, actually, I've been havings problem with
the left launcher.  I found a crack in the barrel the other day.  There's a good chance the
rocket could blow up in the barrel and blow us all to kingdom come."
     Everyone just stared in silence at Cramer.  Cramer looked around.  "Relax!  If this
doesn't work, you won't have time to worry about it."
     Everyone crossed their fingers.  Cramer reached down and pressed the left button
on his steering wheel.  Originally, the buttons were for the horn, but of course Cramer
had modified them to fire the left and right rocket launchers, respectively.
     The left launcher kicked back a little and the rocket erupted from its barrel.  It
whooshed towards the fence and exploded on contact.  After the smoke cleared, a big ten
foot wide section of the fence was gone.  Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
     Cramer looked back.  "More?"
     "No!" answered Maria.  "Move in."
     Cramer complied and drove through the hole in the fence, towards the plant.

     Peter looked on as the bleep breached the outer fence and made its way towards
the plant.  Most of the power was off, so none of the lights were on.  The only things on
in the plant were the main water pumps and the filters themselves.  Piece of cake.
     "Shutting down the plant's security system."

     "Okay," said Jeremy.  "Keep going straight, Cramer."
     "Righty-o!"
     "Maria," Jeremy looked back, "what's the plan?"
     Maria looked over Jeremy's shoulder at the laptop.  "Me and the four guys will
enter through that door."  She pointed at the door they were headed towards.  "You and
Cramer will drive around the plant to make sure there are no soldiers.  At the same time,
you'll be giving me directions through the com-link to the main filters and pumps."
     "How will I know where you are?"

     "I'm tracking them, Jeremy.  I'll be in touch with both of you."

     "Right, Pete," Maria said.
     Cramer stopped the van in front of the door marked "Exit."  Maria looked back at
Chris, James, Josh, and Kelly.  "Move out!"
     Chris opened the sliding door.  "It's game time."
     Chris, James, Josh, Kelly, and finally Maria jumped out.  They ran to the door
and, before entering, waited for Pete's signal.

     "Security system's down.  Good luck."

     Jeremy also said, "Good luck."
     Maria looked back briefly and nodded at Jeremy.  Then Chris opened the door and
they went in.
     "Let's move, Cramer."
     Cramer put the van in drive and started the first circle around the plant.

     No one was in the hallway that Maria's team entered.  She reached down and
pressed the talk button for her com-link.
     "Peter, where to?"

     "Straight ahead."
     On the monitor were now two yellow bleeps.  One was Jeremy, riding around
outside the plant in Cramer's van.  The other was Maria, and she was moving down the
hallway they had entered.  Just ahead of her and her team was another hallway that
crossed this one.
     "Jeremy, they're gonna pass another hallway.  Should they take it?"

     "Let's see."
     On Jeremy's laptop was a blueprint of the interior.  He zoomed out to see where
the hallway would lead.
     Cramer, meanwhile, had changed the CD to Metallica.  "Fight Fire with Fire" and
"Ride the Lightning" were programmed in and were on repeat.  Cramer was head banging
while he drove.
     Jeremy traced the hallway to the main water filters.  "Maria, take a right into the
upcoming hallway."

     "Copy.  Where does it lead?"

     "Right to the water filters."

     The team turned right and made their way down the new hallway.  As they neared
the filters, a loud noise filled their ears.
     Maria looked back.  "Charges ready?"
     Chris and the others held a thumb up.  Cramer had given them some potent
explosive he called "napalm soup."  Basically, it was a little syringe filled with napalm
and other chemicals.  To set it off, the team also carried some plastique.  Their
instructions were to stick some plastique onto the machinery, take the syringe, and give
the plastique a shot of the napalm soup, hence the name.
     After setting the explosives, the team would have three minutes before the soup
becomes volatile and explodes.  It'd be up to Peter and Jeremy to get them out as quickly
as possible.

     Peter watched as Maria's bleep came closer to the filter room.

     Cramer's van reached the other side of the plant.  As it rounded the corner, there
were several vehicles parked next to the plant.  One, especially, was a limousine with
little flags of Iraq sticking up from the from bumpers.  It was Arafat's limousine.
     Jeremy panicked.  "Holy shit!  Cramer, they're here!"

     "Holy shit!"
     Peter watched as the filter room's lights suddenly turned on.  Maria's team just
reached the entrance to the room and were about to go in.
     Jeremy shouted over the link.  "Peter!  They're here!"
     "I know!  Maria!  Get out of there!"

     "Maria!  Abort, abort!"

     Maria couldn't hear the com-link very well.  The sounds of the filter room's
pumps were so loud, she had to give hand signals instead of verbal commands.  They
were just in front of the entrance door to the room when Maria gave the signal to go in.


     "Fuck!  Jeremy, she can't hear us!"

     "I know!"  Jeremy turned to Cramer.  "What're we gonna do?"
     "For one thing, calm the fuck down!"

     Maria, Chris, James, Josh, and Kelly stopped dead in their tracks.  Facing them
were thirty of Arafat's soldiers, blocking the way, guns raised and ready to fire.
     Suddenly, the pumps stopped and a man cut his way through the line of soldiers. 
Its was Gen. Arafat himself.
     "Welcome, so called Sons of Liberty.  I heard through the great vine that you were
going to destroy my precious water cleansing plant, so I came to stop you."
     Capt. Jafar stepped up next to the general.  "We decided to give you a warm
welcome."
     Maria stepped forward.  "We should have known it was a trap.  It was way too
easy to enter the plant."
     Gen. Arafat bowed to her.  "Ahh, Maria McGuire.  You have been a worthy
opponent.  If not for the traitor in your midst, we would never have met."
     "Traitor?  Who?"
     "He does not want his identity revealed just yet.  But, he would like to meet you in
person."
     "Then you'll agree to take just me.  Let my friends go."
     Gen. Arafat shrugged his shoulders.  "Agreed."

     "Shit, shit, shit!"
     Peter looked at his monitor.  Both bleeps had stopped moving.  Maria's, because
she had run into a trap, and Cramer's van, because him and Jeremy were trying to figure
out a way to rescue Maria's team.
     "Jeremy, Cramer, what're we gonna do?"

     "I don't know!" Jeremy shouted over the com-link.  He had calmed down slightly
from full blown panic to a mild panic.  Cramer, meanwhile, was totally calm.
     "Don't worry, I've gotten out of stickier situations than this."
     "Then what should we do!?"
     Cramer sat up from the driver's seat and walked to the back of the van.  He sat on
his anvil, made a fist with his right hand, and put his chin on it, copying the pose of that
famous sculpture of a man thinking.
     Jeremy just stared at him.  Peter's voice came through the com-link.
     "Jeremy!  What should we do?"
     "Cramer's thinkin'."
     "Uh oh."
     Cramer looked down at the boxes of rockets and fireworks.  Then, he stood up,
walked over to Jeremy, and looked at his laptop.  He looked at Jeremy and said, "By
Jove, I think I've got it!"

     Peter waited impatiently for Jeremy and Cramer's plan.  Maria's bleep hadn't
moved since she entered the filter room.  Cramer's bleep, though, started to move.  It
came around the plant and stopped right next to the outer wall of the filter room.
     "Jeremy, what's going on?"
     "Cramer's got a plan."

     "Maria, don't do it!" Chris shouted.
     Maria turned around to face her team.  "Chris, I have to.  Can't you see?  All they
want is me.  It's up to you four to continue after I'm gone."  She turned back around. 
"Gen. Arafat, I surrender."
     General Arafat smiled .  He turned to Capt. Jafar and said, "Have her bound."
     Capt. Jafar motioned to some of the guards.  Two broke from the line and ran to
Maria handcuffs and ankle cuffs at the ready.  All Chris and the others could do was
watch as they took off her headset and stepped on it, and put on the handcuffs and ankle
cuffs.  They dragged her to stand next to Gen. Arafat.
     Gen. Arafat nodded at Capt. Jafar, who nodded in reply and shouted, "Fire at
will!"
     All the soldiers took aim at Chris and the others.  Maria shouted, "What about our
agreement!?"
     Gen. Arafat looked at her and said, "I lied.  Proceed!"
     Maria turned and looked at the team with sorrowful eyes.  Chris, James, Josh, and
Kelly looked back with equally sorrowful eyes.  The soldiers squeezed their triggers.
     Suddenly, from outside, their was a long whistle and a pop.  Colorful flashes of
light shown through the filter room's high windows.  Then, there was another whistle and
pop, and another.  Everyone looked up and watched the brilliant display of colors.
     "Fireworks?" Josh muttered.
     The wall to the soldier's left, and the team's right, exploded.  Everyone reflexively
hit the deck.  Shrapnel flew over their heads and smoke started to fill the room.
     Two headlights came threw the newly made hole in the wall.  Cramer's van rushed
towards the people, piercing the smoke and crushing the debris in its way.  The stereo
inside was pumped up all the way and Metallica's song "Fight fire with fire" could be
heard through the van's windows.
     Gen. Arafat was the first to stand back up, dragging Maria along with him for
protection.  He shouted, "What are you waiting for!?  Kill the rebels!"
     Cramer saw the soldiers start to get up and did the only thing he could think of. 
With all his might, Cramer jerked the steering wheel counter-clockwise.  The van spun,
back tires skidding, and completed a full 180 degree turn.  Quickly, he shifted the
transmission into reverse and stepped on the gas.
     Chris, Josh, James, and Kelly jumped up and out of the van's path, as did the
soldiers.  Cramer mashed down on the brake and the van screeched to a halt, right
between the soldiers and the four Sons of Liberty.
     The soldiers finally regained some composure and opened fire on the van. 
Fortunately, Cramer had sprayed on an extra layer of his special "Armor All" bullet-proof
armor in a can.  Sparks flew as the soldier's bullets bounced off the van harmlessly. 
Cramer made faces at them from behind his driver's side window.
     On the other side, Jeremy opened the sliding door to let Chris and the others in.
     "Come on!" Jeremy shouted.
     James, Josh, and Kelly hurried in, but Chris stayed outside.  He unslung his
automatic rifle and pushed in a clip.
     "Chris!  What're you doin'!?" James screamed.
     "Goin' after Maria!"
     Chris ran around the van and started firing wildly at all the soldiers.
     "No!!"
     James tried to follow, but Josh and Kelly held him in the van while Jeremy closed
the door.
     "Let me go!  He doesn't stand a chance!"
     "We can't do anything for him now!  We have to get out of here!" Jeremy shouted. 
"Cramer!!"
     Cramer stopped making faces and kicked the van into drive.  He gassed it and the
van took off.  James struggled out of Josh and Kelly's grasp and watched Chris through
the rear windows.
     In the end, it was a futile effort.  Chris yelled and cursed as he took down some
soldiers with his spitfire, but all the soldiers focused on him and showed him no mercy. 
Maria looked away.
     Inside the van, James yelled, "Chris!!!"  The others inside bowed their heads.

     Peter saw the bleep of Cramer's van escape from the plant.
     "Jeremy, did it work?"
     There was a long silence before he answered.  "Almost."
     "Almost?"
     "Something happened."
     "What?"
     "They got Maria, and Chris . . ." Jeremy hesitated.  "Chris is dead."
     Peter was silent.

     The soldiers stopped firing.  Tracks left by the van led out the hole it entered
through.  Maria looked up and saw Chris' body on the ground, his outfit soaked red with
blood.  She quickly turned her head away and closed her eyes to reduce the tears.  It
didn't work.
     "Dispose of that trash," Arafat ordered of Capt. Jafar.  "I'm taking the prisoner to
her new home in the jail."
     Gen. Arafat grabbed the chain link between Maria's handcuffs and pulled her
along.  She looked up at him.
     "I hope you burn in hell."
     Gen. Arafat merely smiled.


The Red Cross/Sons of Liberty HQ

     Grace and Kathleen were sitting on the same bed, having the same kind of chat.
     "Did you tell him before he left?"
     "I couldn't."
     "Why?"
     "I don't know!"
     "Your hopeless."
     "I'm gonna tell him when he gets back."
     "Whatever."
     "I will!  I'm gonna tell him that I love him and we're going to live happily ever
after.  You'll see."
     Grace put her right hand over her eyes, lowered her head, and shook it.
     The sound of Cramer's van came from the back of the building.  Kathleen jumped
up and ran to meet the raiding party.  Grace lazily stood up and followed.
     The door opened and the party came in.  Jeremy, Josh, Kelly, and Cramer walked
in, silent and heads down, on their way downstairs.  The looks on their faces stopped
Kathleen dead in her tracks.
     "Where's Chris and James?" Kathleen called to the others.
     James came in last, the grimmest looking of all.
     Kathleen ran to him and asked, "James, what's wrong?  What happened?  Where's
Chris?"
     James stopped and slowly looked up.  He struggled to speak.  "Chris, is . . . he . ."
     "What?"
     James looked deep into Kathleen's eyes, and he slowly, very slowly, shook his
head.
     A long silence filled the converted gym.  Grace, who heard the whole thing,
understood, and her eyes started to moisten.  Even James' eyes were starting to water as
he stared at Kathleen.
     In the silence, Kathleen's heart could almost be heard breaking.  Tears welled up
in her eyes and she started to shake her head.  "No . . ." she said quietly as the tears were
flowing.  She lifted her trembling hands to her mouth.  Kathleen couldn't take it.  She
turned and ran in no apparent direction, shouting as the grief came full force.  "No . . .
Chris can't . . . NO!!"
     Grace looked at James briefly, then she followed Kathleen.  James lowered his
head and slowly made his way downstairs.

     In the command room, James, Josh, and Kelly were standing around while Pete
and Jeremy sat in their swiveling chairs.  Jeremy had his elbows on the console, his hands
together and his forefingers touching his mouth.  Peter just stared at nothing.  Cramer,
meanwhile, was sitting in his corner of the room.  An uneasy silence was in the room.
     James couldn't take it anymore.  "Come on!  What're we standin' around for? 
Let's go rescue Maria!"
     Peter looked up at him.  "Are you fuckin' nuts?  They've probably taken her to the
jail."
     "I don't care!  We'll kill every one of those mother fuckin' soldiers and break
Maria out."
     "I'm with James!" said Josh.
     "Me too!" added Kelly.
     Peter stood up.  "Now wait!  This ain't the time for revenge!"
     "It's what Chris woulda wanted!" shouted James.
     "What about what Maria wanted?" Cramer said softly.  James, Josh, Kelly, and
Pete looked at Cramer as he continued.  "Jeremy, Peter, and I heard what Maria said
before she was taken.  She told you to go on without her, to continue the cause.  Even if
Chris is gone, you can't fulfill Maria's request be getting killed.  I think you guys should
calm down."
     The room was silent again, with James, Josh, Kelly, and Pete staring at Cramer. 
Jeremy lowered his hands away from his mouth and spoke.  "Cramer's right."  Everyone
turned to look at Jeremy as he swiveled around to face them.  "I can't let you guys throw
away your lives just to avenge Chris.  Maria wants us to carry on and we will do what she
asked."
     James' face showed rage, but he clenched his fists in defeat.  He nodded to show
he understood.
     "Good.  Now, on to another matter.  Gen. Arafat knew we were comin'.  That
means he either guessed we were gonna raid the plant, or we have a mole."
     "Or a spy," added Peter.
     "Yeah, but who?"
     "All of us, except you, Pete, were in the party.  I don't think the mole would risk
his own life on the raid he reported to Arafat.  So, that leaves everyone who stayed
behind."
     They all looked at Peter.  "Hey!  What're you looking at?"
     Jeremy smiled.  "Don't worry, Peto.  It couldn't have been you.  You tried to warn
us of the trap."
     "He could've been acting," said Josh.
     "I've known Pete for a long time and one thing's for sure, he's not a good actor."
     "Gee, thanks," Peter said sarcastically.
     "So that leaves Mettler and John."
     "Hey, where is Mettler anyway?" asked Kelly.
     Peter answered, "I think he just left."
     "What about John?" asked Jeremy.
     "He's still in his room."
     "Cramer, go get him."
     Cramer stood up in his corner and walked out of the room.

     Several moments later, Cramer came back in with John following.  Cramer had to
wake him up, so John had left his katana, bokken, and trenchcoat in his room.
     As the door closed behind him, John yawned and asked, "What's so important that
you had to wake me up in the middle of the night?"
     "You knew about the raid on the Water Cleansing Plant, didn't you?" asked
James.
     "Yes, but could you answer my question?"
     There was a short pause.  Jeremy delivered the answer.  "The raid was a bust. 
Maria was captured and Chris . . . Chris is dead."
     John's face was neutral as he said, "I'm sorry to here that.  Chris was a good man. 
Now, if you'll excuse me?"   He turned to leave the room.
     James, Josh, and Kelly blocked his way.  James said, "Not yet.  We've got some
questions that need answering."
     "Such as?"
     "Where were you this afternoon?  Chris had said you went out."
     "I went out to get a job."
     Josh inquired, "And where were you during the raid?"
     "I was in my room."
     "He's right," Peter confirmed, "he was in his room."
     "But you were here the whole time, Pete," said Kelly.  "He coulda sneaked out."
     James asked, "Where's Mettler?"
     John shrugged his shoulders.  "How am I supposed to know?"
     "Because you're a damn spy!"
     John's face became serious.  "What proof do you have?"
     James looked like he was going to start throwing punches.  Jeremy stood up and
interrupted, "James!  Calm down!  John . . ."
     John turned to look at Jeremy.
     ". . . we are just trying to figure out who gave our plans to Arafat.  Right now, all
evidence points to you."
     "I see.  Please, enlighten me."
     "It seems convenient that you happened to save Chris the other day from an arrest. 
He led you here and, in turn, you gained our trust from saving him.  Then, after our
sparring this morning, you left and went somewhere.  It was probably your boss, Arafat."
     John smiled because of the irony.
     Jeremy continued, "Then, you came back and heard our raiding plans.  You went
into your room, waited till we left, and left yourself to tell Arafat of the plan."
     John nodded.  "Excellent reasoning, but there's still the matter of the missing
Mettler."
     "You've probably either taken him to Arafat already, or you killed him and hid his
body somewhere," Jeremy finished.
     John nodded again.  "Very impressive, but I assure you that none of what you just
said is true.  Still, all proof points to me.  So, what will you do?"
     "We have to keep you from leaving.  James, Josh, Kelly . . ." Jeremy looked at
them, ". . . lock John in his room."
     "Right!" said James.  Him, Josh, and Kelly grabbed John's arms and held tight. 
They pushed John towards the door.
     Jeremy said to John, "There's no other way.  I'm sorry."
     John looked back, "So am I."
     The three pushed John down the hall and closed the command room door.  Peter
turned to say something to Jeremy.
     "Do you think he really did it?"
     "I don't know, Peto.  I just don't know."

     Kelly opened John's door and James and Josh pushed John into his room.  Kelly
closed the door and turned the dead-bolt lock into position.  The dead-bolt locks were
installed in the doors for any person who went out of control.  The person would be
detained until they calmed down, so the locks could only be opened from the outside.
     James, Josh, and Kelly walked back to the command room.  John turned his light
on and sat on his bed.  He crossed his legs Indian style, leaned back on the wall, and
closed his eyes.  Since he wasn't going anywhere for a while, he started to think of ways
to get out.


The Jail

     Maria also sat on a bed, but it was in a cell block much smaller than her regular
room.  Outside of the cell were two guards, one on each side of the bars that made up the
door.  Apparently, Gen. Arafat didn't want his prized prisoner to be harmed in any way.
     The sound of footsteps approached the cell.  Maria looked up to see Gen. Arafat
and Capt. Jafar coming down the hallway.  They stopped in front of her cell and Arafat
looked in.  Capt. Jafar nodded to the guards.
     "I trust your cell is comfortable?" asked Arafat.
     Maria gave him a hard look.  "What are you going to do to me?"
     "Nothing at the moment.  I am hoping your absence will wreak havoc on the
morale of your so called  Sons of Liberty.'"
     "Go fuck yourself."
     "Oh, that reminds me.  You have a visitor.  Mouse?"
     Gen. Arafat stepped aside and Ben Mettler stepped up to the bars.  "Hello, Maria."
     Maria stood up and walked to the bars.  "Ben, what are you doing?"
     "Isn't it obvious?  I'm the one who told Arafat about your plans for the raid."
     "But, why?"
     "Why?  Because you've always treated me like your lackey!  You've never trusted
me with anything!"
     "Yes I did!"
     "No you didn't!  I wanted to help with the raid, I really did.  But you wouldn't let
me.  I had to stay behind and watch over headquarters."
     "You had to follow my orders, not question them!  Don't you want to see our
dream of democracy come true?"
     "It'll never happen!  We've been fighting for a long time and where has it gotten
us?  Nowhere!"
     "You have to have faith!"
     "I'm tired of fighting!  With the money I'm getting , I'll never have to fight again. 
And your dream?  That's all it'll ever be, a dream."
     Mettler turned around and started to walk away.  Maria screamed at him.  "Damn
you Mettler!  Damn you to hell!"
     Gen. Arafat and Capt. Jafar chuckled and followed Mettler.  Maria fell down on
her bed, anger and hurt coming out in the form of tears.


Sons of Liberty HQ

     The dead-bolt clicked open.
     John opened his eyes and looked at the door.  He picked up his bokken and stood
up, deciding to escape by knocking out whoever opened the door.  The door opened and
John readied himself.
     Jeremy Espino popped his head into the room.  "Hey John!"
     John dropped his stance.  "Kid, what are you doing?"
     "I'm letting you out!"
     John put his index finger to his lips.  "Shhh."
     Jeremy came into the room and apologized softly, "Sorry."
     John sat back down on his bed.  "If you get caught , they'll punish you."
     "I don't care, you have to rescue Maria!"
     "Why?"
     "Antie Grace told me what happened, and she said they got Maria and sent Chris
off to a better place.  She told me we can't get Chris back, but we could get Maria!"
     "Why me, kid?  Don't you think I'm a spy like the others think?"
     "No!  Ultrazone man said you were his friend, and any friend of his is a friend of
mine!"
     John smiled at how innocent youth was.  He patted Espino on the head.  "Okay,
kid.  I'll rescue Maria, but you have to stay behind."
     "But I wanna go!"
     "Sorry kid.  I work alone."
     John stood up and put on his tabi boots.  Then, he slipped on his trenchcoat, slung
his katana over his left shoulder, and picked up his bokken.
     "Wow!" said Jeremy Espino.
     John opened his door some more and looked out into the hallway.  Coast was
clear.  He stepped out of the room, as did the kid.
     "Okay kid, you saw nothing, right?"
     Espino held up his right thumb.  "Right!"
     John was about to leave when an idea came to him.  He closed the door and locked
the dead-bolt the way it had been.
     "What'd you do that for?" asked Espino.
     John smiled.  "To mess with their minds."  He turned to leave.  "See you around,
kid."  He ran quickly to the door leading to the stairs, opened it, and made his way out.

     A half hour later, Jeremy brought John some food.  John didn't answer Jeremy's
rapping at the door, so Jeremy opened the door himself.  How surprised he was to find
John had disappeared into thin air.















                               V


The Jail

     The first rays of morning shined through Maria's cell window.  She slowly stirred
awake and looked up.  It was morning already and she was still kneeling on her cell bed. 
She tried to wipe her eyes but found the tears were already dry, and her eyes felt very
sore.
     "Hey, you awake in there?" asked one of the guards.  He looked back and saw
Maria pick herself up and sit down on the bed.  "Got some breakfast for you."
     Maria looked up.  There was a tray sitting on the ground just in front of her cell
door.  On it was a small loaf of bread and a small cup of water.  Arafat definitely wanted
her alive.
     The guard who had said she had some breakfast kneeled down and lifted up the
bottom part of the cell door.  He pushed the tray into her cell and let the bottom part fall
back down.  Then, he looked up at Maria and said, "Go on.  Eat."
     "A little too kind to the prisoner, aren't we?" said the other guard.
     "I'm just making sure she's okay."
     The nice guard stood up and resumed his duty.  Maria slowly stood up, walked
over to the tray, picked it up, and sat back down on her bed.  Even though she wasn't
hungry, she ate the bread and drank the water.  The days looked grim for her Sons of
Liberty.

     In the warden's office, Ben Mettler sat across from Gen. Arafat, who sat in Capt.
Jafar's desk.  Capt. Jafar himself stood next to Arafat.  There was a suitcase on the desk.
     "Is that the money?" asked Mettler.
     "Yes, now give us the information," answered Arafat.
     "Show me the money first."
     Gen. Arafat looked up at Capt. Jafar and nodded.  Jafar opened the suitcase and
turned the contents towards Mettler.  Mettler leaned forward to look closer at the money
which filled the suitcase.  Before he could touch it, Jafar slammed the suitcase shut.
     "Now, you tell me their base location," said Arafat.
     Mettler leaned back in his chair.  "It's under the Red Cross."
     Gen. Arafat smiled.  "How clever.  They were right under my nose the whole time. 
Those two nurses must've been spies.  Now I see why they knew where I'd be for all
those assassination attempts."
     "I don't want to interrupt your steam-of-consciousness, but can I have my payment
now?"
     "Of course."  Arafat held out his right hand, palm up.
     Mettler leaned forward again to grab the suitcase.  Just as he was about to touch it,
Capt. Jafar pulled out a handgun and shot Mettler in the chest.  Mettler fell back into his
seat, gripping his chest, and let out a gurgled, "Why?"
     "Traitor or no traitor, you're still a rebel.  Besides, I can't go wasting money on
petty informants."  Arafat motioned his right hand at Mettler.  "Finish him."
     Jafar aimed the gun higher.  The last thing that passed through Mettler's mind was
regret for what he'd done.  Jafar pulled the trigger.  The bullet entered through Mettler's
forehead, blowing the back of his head open as it exited.  Mettler's body fell limp into the
chair.
     Gen. Arafat said, "You better have that chair removed.  It's a mess."  He grabbed
the suitcase and opened it.  Pulling out a single wad, Arafat removed the huge bill on top,
which covered the blank pieces of paper underneath.  He then did the same for all the
fake wads of money.
     Capt. Jafar turned on his desk T.V. and called the front gate guard.  "Send some
men up to my office to clean up a mess, pronto."
     "Yes, sir," the guard on the monitor answered back.  "Oh, and sir, John Masaki is
here reporting for duty."
     Gen. Arafat put the real wad of money, which he made from all the real bills, in
his pocket and said to the guard, "Tell him we'll meet him downstairs."
     "Yes sir."
     Arafat stood up and Jafar followed him to meet their new bodyguard.

     The guard pushed a button in his booth to open the gate.  The gate rolled open
slowly and John stepped in.  Just as John started walking towards the jail, he saw the
general and captain walking towards him.  John waited until they reached him.
     "Good morning John," said Gen. Arafat.
     John bowed and said, "Good morning."
     Arafat looked at the guard.  "Have my limo brought around."
     The guard saluted. "Yes sir."
     Capt. Jafar asked, "Leaving already?"
     Arafat looked at him.  "I have business to attend to."
     "Do you have plans for the revolutionists?"
     "We know where their base of operations is.  Gather all your soldiers, we'll attack
this afternoon."
     "Yes sir!"
     John listened to their conversation.  They somehow discovered where the Sons of
Liberty's base was.  They were attacking this afternoon, so that meant John had to work
fast.
      Arafat's limo pulled up to the gate.  The general asked John, "Are you coming?"
     John answered, "If it's okay with the captain, I'd like to stay here for a while.  I
had a busy night which deprived me of some sleep."
     Arafat laughed hard.  "A busy night?  That can only mean you were lucky with a
woman!"  He hit John on the shoulder.  "Very well.  Jafar, look after our tired bachelor."
     Jafar nodded.  Arafat walked to his limo.  The driver opened his door and Arafat
ducked into the limo.  After closing the door, the driver walked to the other side, took his
position in the driver's seat, and started the limo.  He stepped on the gas and the limo
sped off.
     Capt. Jafar and John turned around and started walking back to the jail.  Jafar said,
"The guard room next to the warden's office has a cot you may use."
     "Thank you."
     "So, how was she?"
     "Who?"
     "The woman last night."
     "Oh, it's not a night I'd like to discuss."
     They entered the jail, Jafar on his way to the warden's office and John on his way
to the guard room to think up a plan.  John really didn't get the details of what happened
last night, so he decided to get that info from Jafar.
     "What happened last night, captain?"
     "We ambushed some Sons of Liberty at the water cleansing plant.  They were
going to try to blow it up, but we stopped them."
     "How'd you know they would try to blow it up?"
     "There was a traitor in their ranks, so he informed us on their activities.  He
wanted pay for the information."
     "Did you give it to him?"
     "No, I gave him a bullet in the head."
     John smiled as did Jafar.  John continued his prying, "Did you capture or kill any
of the rebels?"
     "Both, actually.  We killed Chris Scholtz, that rebel scum.  He tried to rescue
Maria, but we shot him dead!"  Jafar laughed.
     "Rescue Maria?"
     "Yeah, we have Maria in custody."
     "Interesting."
     They reached the warden's office.  Jafar was about to go in when John asked,
"Where's Maria being held?"
     "Cell number sixteen, block C.  Going to visit her?"
     "Something like that."
     "Have fun.  I need to call some commanders to assemble the soldiers, so don't
disturb me."
     "Okay."
     Jafar opened his door, went into his office, and closed the door.  John turned
around, decided what to do, and started walking to Maria's cell.

     Maria finished her "meal."  A loaf of bread and a cup of water wasn't much, but it
was better than nothing.  Her guards were talking to each other as she thought about what
she was going to do.
     "How stupid can you be?  Trying to fight the general and Hussein for freedom? 
It's impossible!"
     "Some people have hope that the old democracy will rise again," said the guard
who gave Maria her food.
     "Fuck hope, and fuck democracy.  I couldn't make the mulla I'm makin' now in
some damn democracy."
     "Money isn't everything."
     "Of course it is, Matt!"
     "Get real."
     As the two guards kept bitching at each other, John rounded a corner and walked
towards Maria's cell.  He could see the two guards having a verbal sparring and Maria in
her cell.  As he came closer, neither of the guards noticed.
     "What about all the stuff you can buy with money?"
     "What about love?"
     "You can buy that too!"
     John stopped in front of the two guards and cleared his throat.  The guards kept
arguing.  John cleared his throat louder.  The two guards heard him, stopped arguing, and
looked his way.
     "Shouldn't you two be guarding the prisoner instead of heckling?" asked John.
     Maria vaguely recognized the voice, but was too tired to care at the moment.
     The money loving guard asked, "Who the hell are you?"
     "Gen. Arafat's new bodyguard, and your superior.  I came to talk to the prisoner."
     "Go ahead," said the guard named Matt.
     John walked up to the cell door.  Matt and the other guard gave each other dirty
looks.  John took a glance at Maria, who looked pretty worn out emotionally and
physically.  Her ki wasn't very strong, but it would have to do.
     "Maria," John said.
     No answer.
      "Hey, Maria!"
     Maria slowly looked up.  She finally recognized John and stood up, saying, "What
are you doing here?"  She walked up to her cell door.
     John said, "Listen carefully.  Arafat plans to attack your base of operations this
afternoon.  Your Sons of Liberty will need your leadership badly."
     "But I'm here."
     John smiled.  "That's something we shall have to remedy."  He turned around and
asked, "Which one of you has the key to this cell?"
     The money loving guard answered, "I do."
     "Open up this cell."
     "I can't do that, sir.  Only Captain Jafar and General Arafat have authorization."
     John switched his bokken to his right hand.  "Then I'll have to do it myself."
     John quickly swung his bokken up and hit the money loving guard across his
cheek.  Matt lifted his rifle, but John pivoted around and swung down, hitting Matt in the
back of his head.  Matt fell down with a concussion.  John pivoted back around and hit
the other guard on the top of his head, knocking him down and out.  John quickly kneeled
down next to the knocked out money loving guard and took his keys from his belt.
     Maria had no idea what was going on until John opened her cell door and yelled,
"Let's go!"  Maria's mind snapped back to reality for the first time in twelve hours and
she had hope once again.  She followed John as they ran down the hall.

     The money loving guard regained consciousness.  He looked up in time to see
John and Maria running away, so he picked up his rifle.  The guard lifted the rifle to
firing position and was about to squeeze the trigger when a sharp pain suddenly came
from his leg.  He yelled in pain and reached down to feel his right calf.  It was bleeding
heavily.  He looked up to see Matt with his rifle pointing at the presently bleeding right
calf.  Matt had shot him.
     The injured money lover turned his head to see John and Maria disappear around
the far corner of the hallway.  He looked back at Matt and shouted, "What the hell did
you shoot me for!!?"
     "For freedom!" answered Matt.
     Anger rose within the money loving guard.  He pointed his rifle at Matt. 
"Bastard!!"
     Both guards squeezed their triggers.  Later on, those who would find their bodies
would have no explanation as to why two seemingly good friends would shoot each
other.

     John and Maria ran down the hallway.  Fortunately, it seemed like no one knew
Maria had escaped from her cell.  John, for the most part, knew where he was going, but
kept a vigil on their direction.  He looked back to spare a glance at Maria.  She looked a
little better, now that she was actively running.  But John felt her ki was still a little weak.
     John turned his head forward.  There were ki signatures heading towards them. 
Some soldiers must be coming their way.  John stopped and looked around.  Maria was
far enough behind to stop before bumping into him.
     "What'd you stop for?"
     "Somebody's coming."
     John spotted a janitorial room, opened it, and pushed Maria in.  He closed the door
before Maria could say anything and leaned back on it.  Four soldiers turned the far
corner and walked down the hallway, passing John in the process.  John waited until the
soldiers were far enough down the hallway before opening the door to let Maria out. 
They continued down the hall, John in the lead.
     Capt. Jafar finished calling the last senior officer about rounding up all the soldiers
in the city when there was a knock at his door.
     "Come in."
     One of his soldiers came in.  He was obviously in a panic by the look on his face. 
"We have a problem, captain," said the soldier.
     "What is it?"
     "The prisoner in cell sixteen, block C has escaped."
     "What!?"  Jafar stood up.  "Where are the guards?"
     "Dead sir."
     "Shit.  Go and alert all soldiers in the building."
     "Yes sir!"
     The guard turned and left.  Jafar called the front guard at the entrance gate from
his videophone.
     "Soldier."
     "Yes sir?"
     "Be on alert.  We have a prisoner loose and they may try to escape.  She is dressed
as a Son of Liberty."
     "Yes sir."
     Jafar turned the videophone off and left his office.

     John and Maria made it to the front door.  They had to avoid quite a few more
guards, but were for the moment undetected.  As they looked out at the front gate, they
saw the guard who controlled the gate and two guards on each side of the gate itself. 
John rubbed his chin.  He looked to the right and left for some way of getting out.
     "How do you plan on getting me out of here?" asked Maria.
     John held up a finger to signal he was already searching for a way.  At that
moment he spotted the dark green Hummer the two gate guards must've used to come to
the jail.  John turned to Maria and said, "I've got an idea.  Follow me."
     John pushed open the door and Maria followed as they ran to the Hummer.  As
they got to it, John opened the driver's side door.  He peered in and saw the keys in the
ignition, then turned to Maria.  "Get in."
     Maria jumped into the Hummer.  Before starting it up, she looked at John and
asked, "What about you?"
     "I'll stay behind and cover you."
     "But they'll kill you."
     "Don't worry about me, just go!"
     Maria turned the keys and the Hummer roared to life.  John slammed the door shut
and stepped back.  Maria pressed the clutch and brake, shifted to first gear, let go of the
brake, and stepped on the gas.  She steered the Hummer towards the gate, intent on
ramming through it.
     The two guards saw it coming but had only enough time to jump out of the way. 
The third guard watched from the booth as the gate was ripped from it's hinges by the
speeding Hummer.  Maria upshifted and the vehicle sped off into the distance.
     Both gate guards stood back up and watched the Hummer disappear.  The third
guard picked up the phone in his booth and contacted Capt. Jafar in his office.  Jafar's
image came up on the monitor.  "Yes?  What is it?"
     "Someone has escaped!" the guard said in a panic.  "I think it was Maria McGuire,
sir."
     "Why didn't you stop her!?"
     "She stole a Hummer, sir.  Wait!  I see someone else.  It appears to be a man in a
trenchcoat . . . it's John Masaki."
     John walked towards the two gate guards.  "Are you guys okay?"
     One of the guards answered, "Yeah."
     The other asked, "Who the hell was that?"
     John answered, "Maria McGuire."  He smiled.  "I broke her out."
     "Wha . . ." the first guard was cut off as John raised his bokken and struck both
guards down with lightning speed.  The guard in the booth had to blink after John's attack
before he realized John was now heading his way.
     "Captain, he has taken out the two guards in front of the gate!  He's headed my
way!  Please send backup!!"
     John tapped the glass of the booth with his bokken.  The guard inside immediately
dropped the phone he was yelling in.  His fight or flight instinct reluctantly chose fight,
so he tried to draw his handgun.  When it didn't move, he looked down to see the holster
strap was still buttoned across his gun.  Unbuttoning it, he finally raised his piece and
looked up to aim.
     John had disappeared.  The guard looked around at the other sides of the booth,
but saw nothing.  More soldiers started walking out of the jail as backup for the booth
guard.  Feeling safe, the guard decided to leave his booth.  As he stepped outside, John
stood up from his position next to the door and gave the guard a right cross to the face,
instantly knocking him out.
     After the unconscious guard numbly fell down back into the booth, John turned
around to meet the oncoming soldiers.  He took a few steps forward and stopped, his
bokken at the ready.
     The soldiers stopped too and aimed their guns at John.  One of them said, "The
captain wants you alive, so please come quietly."
     John smiled.  "Make me."
     John ran at the soldiers and jumped high in the air, raising his bokken to strike. 
The soldiers were caught staring as John came down on them.  Swiftly, the first batch
was knocked out with John's quick swings.  A second batch came out, then a third and
fourth.  Even with John's incredible speed, the fifth batch was too much and John was
knocked down.  The soldiers proceeded to beat him to a pulp.
     Before they could do any major damage, Captain Jafar came out and yelled, "Stop! 
I want him alive and undamaged!"  The soldiers reluctantly stopped.  "Bring him to me!"
     Several soldiers pulled John up to his feet and dragged him to the captain.  John
looked up at him.  "Your soldiers suck."
     Captain Jafar shook his head.  "I'm very disappointed with you."
     "That makes the two of us."
     "You would have gone very far with us.  Now, I have to punish you."  Jafar held
out a hand.  A soldier put John's bokken in it.  "First, this."  Jafar threw the bokken down
on the ground, drew a handgun, and took a shot at it.  With a crack, the bullet shattered
the oak weapon.
     "I made that myself," John said with a very serious voice.  "What're you going to
do with me?"
     "Because I respect you skills, I won't kill you, yet."  Jafar looked at the soldiers
holding John.  "Take him to a cell and guard him well."
     The soldiers answered, "Yes sir!"
     As the soldiers dragged John away, he turned his head and said, "I was going to
quit anyway!"  Capt. Jafar shook his head in disappointment and followed.


The Red Cross/Sons of Liberty HQ

     Kathleen sat on a bed and hung her head.  Chris' death had taken its toll on her. 
Her eyes were red and bloodshot and she felt very tired.  Needless to say, she was very
depressed.
     James walked up to Kathleen and sat down next to her.  He was in an argument
over who was to blame for John's escape when he decided he had to leave.  Seeing
Kathleen, he wanted to comfort her.  She had been hit the hardest by Chris' death.
     "How're you feeling?" James asked.
     Kathleen looked up at James.  "Why?  Why did he have to die?"
     James looked down and shook his head.  "I don't know."
     "I should've stopped him.  If only I could've convinced him to stay . . ."
     James looked up again.  "Don't blame yourself.  It was his choice to go.  If it's
anyone's fault, it's mine.  I was there, I could've done something to stop him."  James
looked down again.  "I should've done something."
     Kathleen looked at James and realized they both suffered the same guilt.  She
scooted over next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.  James put one of his hands on
top of her hand and they just sat in silence for a couple seconds.
     From outside the front doors, there came the sound of a vehicle coming to a stop. 
Thinking it was Cramer, Kathleen and James thought nothing of it.  However, when
Maria came barging in, Kathleen and James received a shock.
     "James!" Maria said as she walked towards them.
     James stood up, as did Kathleen, and said in a surprised and excited voice, "Maria! 
How did you---"
     "No time for that now.  Where are the rest of the guys?"
     "They're downstairs in command."
     "Good.  We have to prepare."  Maria headed for the stairs while James and
Kathleen followed.
     "For what?" James asked.
     "The soldiers are coming."


The Jail

     John sat Indian style on his cell bed with his hands cupped together in front of his
bellybutton, a meditating position.  He was breathing slowly and calmly, trying not to be
too angry with the loss of his bokken.  Coincidentally, the captain had put him in Maria's
cell for reasons totally unknown to him, but probably way up their on the mental
punishment ladder.  John smiled at the thought of psychological warfare.  But, first, he
had to get out of here after the soldiers left to annihilate the Sons of Liberty.
     His two guards were passing his katana back and forth, looking at it closely and
trying to decide what it was worth.  They even tried to unsheathe it, but it wouldn't
budge.
     Footsteps came towards John's cell.  The two guards, one still holding the katana,
stood up straight in attention.  It was captain Jafar, John discerned.  He stood up and
walked over to the cell door to meet the captain.
     Jafar walked up to John and said, "Why did you help Maria escape?"
     John answered, "I have my reasons."
     "Oh well, it doesn't matter.  We will crush those rebels once and for all.  After
that, I will decide which way to kill you."
     "I can't wait."
     "Perhaps I will use your own weapon?"  Jafar held out a hand and the guard put
John's katana in it.  He looked at it carefully.  "What a magnificent sword."
     "It's a family heirloom."
     "I wonder what the blade looks like?"  Jafar took hold of the hilt and pulled, but
the sword didn't move.  He pulled harder.  It still wouldn't move.
     John snickered.  "Want me to pull it out?"
     Jafar gave John an un-amused look and gave the katana back to one of the guards. 
"I have to finish the preparations for our attack.  Savor these last hours of your life, for
they will be your last."
     With that, Captain Muhammad Jafar turned around and walked away.  John sat
back down on his bed and resumed his meditating position.



The Red Cross/Sons of Liberty HQ

     Almost total chaos was happening upstairs and down.  After a few quick calls to
all the Sons of Liberty in the city by Peto and Jeremy, the headquarters was now
swarming with activity.  Everyone was preparing it for the upcoming battle.  Amazingly
enough, the others had brought help too.  Disgruntled soldiers, postmen, mercenaries,
everyone who hated Arafat was here.  There must've been at least 200 people.  And, in
the middle of it, Maria directed the masses.
     Most of the people, including Maria, were barricading the Red Cross.  The beds
were being spread out around the edges.  Bags of the oatmeal were being piled around the
center to make a safe place for shooting and other mounds were made around the center
one.  As soon as the soldiers made their way in, they'd be met with a hail of gunfire.
     Outside, the first defenses were being finished.  Organized by Cramer, some
troops were positioned around corners and behind cars to take out a few Jihad soldiers. 
After shooting a few, the troops would rejoin the main forces inside the Red Cross. 
Lastly, for the outside defenses, Cramer had his van and some help from Kelly and Josh. 
The van was going to use it's rockets to take out more soldiers from all over the place.
     Downstairs, the last defenses were being readied.  Peter and Jeremy were
organizing troops in the rooms to make a gauntlet of guns and troops in the training hall
would finish off the soldiers who made it through.  Fortunately, Cramer let them pass out
his private stash, except for a bag of grenades, so the Sons of Liberty were armed well
enough.
     In the command room, Peter had the last line of defense.  He put a Jurassic Park
CD in the stereo and turned it all the way up.  The speakers were specially designed by
Peter himself to make sonic booms when loud sounds are played.  Peter also had a special
pair of protective headphones for shielding his ears.
     Jeremy came in and asked, "Peto, I have to go do something.  Can you handle the
rest?"
     Peter gave him a thumb up.  "No sweat."
     Jeremy nodded and closed the door.  He then made his way upstairs to the Red
Cross.  Making his way around, he looked for Maria.  Not seeing her, he went outside to
see if she was speaking with Cramer.  She was.
     " . . . When the soldiers get into position, I want you to take as many of them out
from the back as possible," Maria was finishing.
     "Why can't I take out Jafar?" whined Cramer.
     "Don't worry about him, just take out the soldiers."
     Jeremy decided to interrupt.  "Maria, I need to talk to you."
     Maria turned to Jeremy.  "Sure."  She turned back to Cramer.  "Got it?"
     Cramer nodded and walked to his van.
     Maria turned back to Jeremy.  "What is it?"
     "You didn't mention what happened to John after he broke you out.  Where is
he?"
     "He stayed behind to cover my escape.  Jafar probably captured or killed him."
     Jeremy looked at her for a second, then said, "I have to go break him out."
     "Why?"
     "We owe him that much."
     "What if he's dead?  I don't wanna loose you, Jeremy.  We need you here."
     "If he's dead, I'll come back as soon as possible.  Trust me."
     Maria thought for a couple seconds.  "Okay, go and get him.  But I want you back
here ASAP."
     "Gotcha."
     With that, Jeremy ran off.  Maria watched him go, then went back into the Red
Cross.  There was still some preparing to finish.

     Elsewhere, in the basement, James was helping set up the training hall.  The main
mat would be left alone for Arafat's soldiers, they'd be wide open if they charged across
it.  The firing range was turned to face the first entrance, and the obstacle course was
rearranged to provide shielding for the Sons of Liberty covering the second entrance.
     Kathleen came in, looked around, saw James, and walked towards him.  James
also saw her and met her halfway there.
     "Hi, James."
     "What are you doing here?  You and Grace should take Jeremy away somewhere,
it'll be dangerous here."
     "I don't care.  Grace and I are Sons of Liberty too.  We want to fight.  Besides, I
owe them for what they did to Chris."
     "So do I, Kathleen, so do I.  But . . ."
     "No buts, James.  We've already made up out minds."
     James paused for a second, and gave up.  "Okay, okay.  You, Grace, and Jeremy
can stay with Peto in the Command room.  It'll be safe there."
     "The Command room?  I want to help fight in the Red Cross!"
     "I want you in the Command room."
     Kathleen's eyes started tearing.  "I have to get back at them for Chris!  I want to
kill as many of them as I can!"
     "I can't let you do that."
     Kathleen started crying.  She made fists and started hitting James as hard as she
could.  James just stood there and took it.  After a while, she just gave up and started
crying harder.  James took her up in a hug, and she cried on his shoulder.
     "I'm sorry.  I know you want revenge.  I do too, but I think Chris would want you
to be safe.  I owe him that much."
     Kathleen looked up with a wet face.  "Are you sure?"
     James gave her a reassuring smile.  "Yeah.  Don't worry, I'll kill enough of them
to get revenge for the both of us."
     Kathleen nodded and gave James a hug.  "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. 
Then she turned around and left to get Grace and Jeremy.  James continued with the
preparations.


The Jail

     John opened his eyes.  He could hear Jafar barking orders outside to the gathering
of soldiers.  John stood up from the bed and walked over to his barred window to watch.
     Captain Jafar stood up in a jeep, facing the army of soldiers.  They stood in neat
ranks, maybe 500 soldiers in at least 20 ranks.  Talk about a little bit of an overkill.
     "I want the bodies of Maria and her command party intact!" Jafar shouted over a
megaphone.  "All other rebels are fair game.  Kill  em all and let God sort them out!  Got
it!?"
     All the soldiers answered in one big, "Yes sir!"
     "Good.  Move out!"
     The army did an about face and started marching.  Behind the whole army was a 
single M1 Abrams tank, probably for blowing holes in a building and taking out a bunch
of rebels at once.  And behind the tank was Captain Jafar and some high ranking soldiers
in the jeep.  It looked as though the Sons of Liberty were dead for sure.
     John turned around and sat back down on the bed.  He hoped the kid got out of
town, because being in a war was not a good memory for a kid to have.

     Jeremy Sanderlin hid behind the far corner of the jail wall.  He watched as a big
army of soldiers left the jail, no doubt heading for the Red Cross.  All the soldiers in the
city must've been in this mob.  Last to leave were a tank and finally Jafar himself.
     After the army was a good distance away, Jeremy ran stealthily to the entrance
where the gate was torn away.  He looked in carefully and saw no one.  Looking in the
guard booth, he searched for any clue telling where John was being kept.  Not finding
any, Jeremy ran fearlessly into the jail.  He would have to do this the hard way, looking
in each cell one by one.

     John stared at the wall in front of him and came to a conclusion: it was time to
leave.  He stood up from the bed and opened a pocket on his trenchcoat.  Reaching a hand
in, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes labeled "Do not smoke" and pushed out two
cigarettes.  After putting the pack back in his pocket, John walked over to the cell door
and tapped the guard on the right side of the door.
     The guard turned around.  "Whadda ya want?"
     John held up the cigarettes.  "Want them?  I quit yesterday, so I've got these
leftover."
     The guard looked at them suspiciously, but the other guard grabbed one, saying,
"Man I need a smoke!"  Dropping his guard, the guard on the right took the other
cigarette and lit up, as did the other guard.
     John walked casually to the farthest end of his cell, knelt behind the bed, covered
his ears, and yawned.  One of the guards began to ask, "Hey, why'd you stop smok . . ."
and the cigarettes exploded.  The heads of the guards splattered all over the walls of the
hall and some parts flew into John's cell.  Burned and headless, the bodies of the guards
fell to the floor.
     John stood up, uncovered his ears, and shook his head.  His resulting concussion
was telling him he put too much super dense gunpowder in the cigarettes.  After looking
his trenchcoat over to make sure not too much blood splattered on it, he walked over to
the cell door and knelt down to take the key to his cell from the body of the right guard. 
Ignoring the blood, John unhooked the key, put it in the keyhole, turned it, and opened
the cell door.  Carefully stepping around the bodies, he grabbed his katana, which was
leaning against a wall, and a handgun from one of the bodies.
     As John slung his katana over his shoulder, there came a sound from the corner
end of the hallway as if someone was running towards his direction.  He checked the clip
in the handgun, pushed it back in the gun, cocked the hammer back, and aimed in the
direction of the sound.  The sound became louder, John tensed on the trigger, and Jeremy
came running around the corner.  John let go of the trigger an relaxed.
     Jeremy shouted, "I came to get you!"
     John replied a little sarcastically, "You're a little late."
     Jeremy ran up to meet John and saw the mess on the floor.  "What happened to
them?"  Jeremy pointed to the bodies.
     "Smoking cigarettes."
     Jeremy raised an eyebrow.
     John shrugged his shoulders.  "They can kill ya."  He put the handgun back in its
holster on one of the bodies.  "Are there any more soldiers here?"
     "No.  They all left with Jafar."  Jeremy knelt down and picked up the rifles of the
dead bodies.  "I hope Maria's prepared."  He threw one to John, who caught it as Jeremy
stood back up.  "Let's get outta here."
     John nodded and followed Jeremy as they made their way through the jail.


The Red Cross/Sons of Liberty HQ

     A Son of Liberty ran into the Red Cross frantically and shouted, "They're here!" 
All the Sons of Liberty started to panic, but Maria gave them a command before chaos
erupted.
     "Get in your places!"
     All the troops of the Sons of Liberty ran and took their places within the self made,
wheat bag foxholes.  Maria ran over to the guy who yelled the news.  "Go down and tell
everyone to get ready."
     The troop nodded and ran to the stairs.  Maria looked around.  Everyone was in
place.  She saw Cramer, Josh, and Kelly running to the back exit because the van was in
the back alley.  Maria ran over to intercept them before they left.
     "Cramer, Josh, Kelly!  Good luck!"
     Kelly answered, "Good luck!"
     Josh answered, "Good luck!"
     Cramer replied, "Good luck, Maria!  See you after the carnage!"
     The 3 van team troops exited, and Maria took her place in the center foxhole.

     The news bringer ran down the stairs and yelled, "They're here!" as he ran through
the small hallway.  He opened the nearer door to the training hall and stuck his head in. 
"They're here!"  Lastly, he stopped at the command room, opened the door, and yelled at
Peter, James, and Grace.  "They're here!"
     All the troops in the bedrooms took their places in the far side of their rooms and
waited.  The new bringer joined James and his team in the training hall, awaiting any
Jihad soldiers who attempted to come in.
     In the command room, Peter had a plan.  "You two stay in Maria's private room. 
I'll stay here and stop any soldiers who try to get in."
     "Okay," Kathleen said.
     Grace looked around.  "Kathleen, where's little Jeremy?"
     Kathleen looked around also.  "I didn't see him."
     "We have to find him!"
     Peter pushed the two towards Maria's room.  "Don't worry, I'm sure he's in a safe
place.  You can look for him later.  Go!"
     Grace and Kathleen reluctantly complied and shut the door to Maria's room
behind them after entering it.  Peter sat down at his place in front of the monitors and
watched what happened upstairs.

     The army of Jihad soldiers were spotted a couple of blocks from the Red Cross,
but it was now only a block away.  Capt. Jafar was in the very back of the mob, right
behind the tank.  With some binoculars, Jafar looked ahead and saw the Red Cross, now
less than a block away.  He had a plan for getting inside.
     "Stop!!" Jafar yelled.
     The senior officers in the army echoed the order and the whole company halted.
     Jafar held up a walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button. "Go on.  Open the front
door."
     As the tank kept moving, the army parted in the middle to make way for it.  After
it passed the whole army, the soldiers closed the gap behind it.  Stopping in front of the
Red Cross, the tank swiveled its main turret towards the front of the building.

     A Son of Liberty lookout saw the tank outside through one of the windows.  He
turned around and hollered, "Shit!  They've got a tank!"
     Maria heard and shouted, "Get down!!"
     The first explosion took out a big chunk of the front of the building, debris flying
inside and landing in some of their foxholes.  Smoke from the explosion hardly cleared
from the huge gap before another tank shell took out the rest of the wall.  More debris
came flying in and smoke filled the inside.  Some of the troops emerged from their
foxholes and began firing their rifles at the tank outside.

     In the tank, the soldier manning the turret yelled down at the driver, "Door's
open!"
     The driver radioed back to Capt. Jafar.  "Door's open, sir."
     Jafar's voice came through the radio, "Good.  Make way for the rest of the forces."
     "Yes sir."  The driver yelled back at the turret man, "We're going in!"  He grabbed
the steering rods, pulled the right one back, and pushed the left one forward.  Pushing on
the gas peddle, the treads of the tank moved in opposite directions and the bottom part of
the tank rotated towards the Red Cross.
      The driver pushed both steering rods forward and was about to step on the gas
when two explosions rumbled from the back.  "Shit!  What was that?"
     The turret gunner panned his scope around.  "Looks like we were hit by two
rockets from . . ."  A blue blur flashed past the tank.  "A van?"
     "After him!" yelled the driver.  He steered the tank to follow Cramer's van and put
the peddle to the metal.

     Cramer yelled back to Josh and Kelly, "Is it following us?"
     Kelly yelled back, "Yeah!"
     "Damn, the cannon's aiming at us!" Josh shouted.
     Cramer jerked the wheel left and the van swerved out of the way just in time to
avoid the tank shell.  A big crater in the concrete where the van was a split second before
was left after the explosion.  Cramer turned up the volume of the stereo and "The
Beautiful People" came through as the pursuit continued.

     "Oh well, we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way," Jafar said to no one in
particular.  He stood up in his jeep and gave a command to the army.  "Go on to phase
two!  Spread out and invade their base!"
     Several  Yes sir's came from the army and they started spreading out to surround
the Red Cross.  Most soldiers joined the platoon engaging the front while the rest used
the nearest alley to enter through the rear.

     "Here they come!!" a Son of Liberty warned.
     Soldiers started pouring in through the enormous gap that was the front wall.  The
Sons of Liberty troops opened fire and the first wave of Jihad soldiers were shot down
before getting far.  The second wave was more cautious and used what was left of the
front wall as shielding.  A big firefight ensued.
     Maria yelled at her foxhole mates, "Keep shooting in bursts of three shots!  We
have to conserve ammo, there's a whole lot of them!"
     The troops in Maria's foxhole nodded in understanding.  Just then, the rear
entrance exploded and soldiers started coming in and firing.  Some Sons of Liberty were
shot from behind, caught off guard.  A group of soldiers was able to make their way to
the hallway leading to the door to the Sons of Liberty's underground headquarters.
     Maria and some other troops in the other foxholes turned to shoot at the soldiers
coming in through the rear.  She thought, Shit!  Some of them got through!  I hope James
is ready!

     Peter opened the door to the command room and yelled out to the troops in the
training hall.  "They're coming!!"
     James heard and commanded his troops.  "Get ready!"  All his troops took up their
guns and took their positions.
     The Jihad soldiers stopped at the door with the number pad.  The one in the lead
tried to open it, but it was locked.  He shouted, "Break it down!"
     The soldiers right behind the leader aimed their rifles at the door and number pad
and opened fire.  Sparking, the number pad failed and the door was made into Swiss
cheese.  After shooting, the leader and some other soldiers rammed into the door,
breaking it down.
     Storming into the hallway, the soldiers failed to realize the doors to the rooms
were open.  Gunfire erupted from them as the gauntlet troops started shooting.  Many
soldiers were shot, yet a dozen still made it past.
     The dozen soldiers split up, five going into the left entrance of the training hall and
five going into the right entrance.  As soon as they entered, they were greeted by a wall of
bullets from James' troops.  All ten were killed.
     Two soldiers made the mistake of trying to enter the command room.  When the
door moved, Peter pressed play on the CD player.  The sonic boom blew the two soldiers
away, instantly stopping their hearts.
     Grace and Kathleen held onto each other for dear life.

     Cramer jerked the wheel right to avoid another tank shell.  Obviously, the turret
wasn't equipped to fire on moving objects.  "Burning Inside" by Ministry was playing
and Cramer was seriously getting pissed off at being chased.  "Damn it!  We've gotta take
this tank out!"
     Josh and Kelly loaded two more rockets into the rocket launcher and Cramer fired
them.  The launchers were also rotatable from the inside and presently were aimed
backwards at the pursuing tank.  Like six rockets before, the rockets didn't even leave a
scratch after exploding on contact.  Cramer swerved left to avoid yet another tank shell.
     Kelly yelled at Cramer.  "Got any bright ideas?"
     Josh kicked the anvil in the back and it made a clang.
     Cramer got a glint in his eye and started laughing.  Josh and Kelly looked at each
other and said, "He's got a plan.  Shit."
     The van made a turn into an alley and temporarily lost the tank.  Now there was
enough time for Cramer to put his plan into action.


The Jail

     John and Jeremy were just outside the gate.  Jeremy turned to run back to the Red
Cross, but John turned to run the opposite way.  Jeremy noticed and stopped.
     "John!  Where are you going?"
     John stopped and turned around to answer.  "I'm leaving.  Isn't it obvious?"
     "But, you can't go.  Don't you want to help us fight for freedom?"
     "Nope."
     "Why'd you break Maria out then?"
     "Call it an act of kindness."
     John turned to leave, but Jeremy continued.  "I know the kid let you out."
     John stopped.
     "It's obvious.  He's the only one we wouldn't suspect.  And I bet he's the one who
asked you to rescue Maria, right?  You wouldn't have done it if anyone else asked. 
You're not as much a mercenary as you think."
     John turned around.  "You're right.  Bye now."
     John tried to leave again, but Jeremy said, "The kid's still there."
     "What?"
     "I don't think he left the area.  I don't remember seeing him leave the Red Cross. 
In all the commotion, I think we forgot about him."
     John shook his head.  He owed the kid one for letting him out.  Besides, he wasn't
about to let an innocent kid die in a stupid battle of who was right.  John gave up.  "Okay,
I'm going with you.  Lead the way."


Somewhere

     "See that van anywhere?" asked the driver of the tank.
     "No," answered the turret and scope man.
     Even though the tank was able to keep up with Cramer's van, the van was still
more maneuverable and was able to lose the tank.  The tank was now just sitting still, the
driver not knowing what to do.
     However, he didn't have to wait long as two explosions came from behind.  The
turret man spotted the van behind them.
     "It's behind us!"
     The driver pulled the right steering rod and pushed the left one, then stepped hard
on the gas.  The tank did a quick 180 and pursued the van once again.
     In the van, Cramer yelled back at Kelly, "Did it work?"
     "Yeah!"
     "Good.  I hope Josh is ready with my bag of grenades!"
     Cramer jerked the wheel left to avoid the tank shell, saw an alleyway just big
enough for the tank to his right, and jerked the wheel right to enter the alley.  The tank
followed.
     Cramer slammed on the brake as he came to a dead end.  The tank stopped at the
entrance to the alley.  There was no escape for the van.
     The driver of the tank laughed.  "They're trapped!  Get ready to blow their ass
away!"
     The turret man answered, "Right!  We're going in!"
     The diver pressed on the gas pedal.  The tank moved forward a little, then hit
something.  For some reason, the tank wouldn't move any further.  Pressing harder on the
gas, the driver tried going faster.  It still wouldn't move.
     "Sounds like it's jammed," the turret gunner said.
     "Get out and see what's wrong!"
     The turret man opened the top hatch and there, standing and pointing a gun at him,
was Josh.  "Hi there."
     The turret man stared at Josh for a second, then quickly closed the hatch and
locked it.  "Shit!  It's a trap!"
     Throwing the tank in reverse, the driver put the pedal to the metal again.  The tank
sped backwards out of the alley, revealing the anvil stuck on the right side to jam the
tread.  Josh jumped off the tank and took cover.
     Cramer asked Kelly, "Did Josh put my bag of grenades on the tank?"
     "Looks like it."
     "Any second now. . ."
     The bag of grenades, shoved between the turret and the body of the tank,
exploded.  A combination of the 20 grenades in the bag plus the tank's own shells made
for an explosion big enough to blow the turret off of the body.  Inside, the driver and the
turret man were instantly incinerated.
     Cramer put the van in reverse and backed out of the alley.  Josh opened the back
and got in.  "That was awesome!"
     Kelly agreed.  "Never seen that happen to a tank!"
     Cramer put the van in drive and stepped on it.  "It's not over, yet.  We've still got
an army of soldiers to take out."


The Red Cross/Sons of Liberty HQ

     One of the troops in Maria's foxhole looked over to her as she crouched in it and
shouted, "Fuck!  They just keep coming and coming!"
     Another one said, "There must be hundreds of  em!"
     Maria fired three quick rounds and ducked back into her hole.  "Let's hope not!"

     James and the troops in the training hall were in a gunfight of their own.  The
soldiers had killed the troops in the rooms who made the gauntlet and now a steady flow
of soldiers were engaging the training hall.  Peter was barely keeping soldiers away from
the command room by putting the CD player on repeat and playing the bass drum hits
over and over to keep the sonic booms blasting.
     Peter thought, That last soldier came awfully close!  I could use Sticks here to help
keep them away!  Shit!

     Captain Jafar watched from a safe distance in his jeep.  His plan was starting to
work.  Overpower the rebels and wipe them out, once and for all.  It was a simple, yet
effective plan.  Victory was at hand.
     Guns started firing from all around.  The outside defenses decided to kick in.  A
senior officer sitting next to Jafar was hit in the shoulder.
     Jafar yelled, "Back rank!  Split up and dispose of the scattered rebels!"
     The very back rank of the army separated and split up.  Two soldiers jumped up
onto the jeep and covered Jafar from harm.  Jafar picked up his radio and contacted the
tank soldiers.
     "Have you disposed of the van yet?"
     Static answered.
     "Come in!  Answer!"
     More static answered.
     Just then, Jafar heard a whistle.  Two rockets flew into the middle of the army and
blew a bunch of soldiers to hell.  Cramer's van was rushing quickly towards the army,
rocket launchers blazing.
     Jafar looked up at one of the soldiers covering him.  "Take out one of the tires."
     Cramer's van plowed through the army.  The soldiers had to get out of its way so
they wouldn't get run over.  As it cleared the army and turned around for another pass,
one of its tires burst.
     "Shit!  Hold on!" Cramer yelled.
     Josh and Kelly tried to hold on to the sides of the van as Cramer fought for
control.  Cramer jerked the wheel too hard one way and the van tipped over and flipped
twice, coming to a crash ten feet from the army of soldiers.
     Cramer unbuckled his seat belt and fell on his door.  He looked to the back to see
if the other two were alive.
     Josh sat up and said, "Nice driving, Cramer."
     Kelly pushed Josh off of him and stood up.  "Let's get outta here!"
     Cramer and Josh nodded and all three grabbed their rifles.  Josh and Kelly kicked
open the back doors and were about to make a break for it, but were stopped by two
soldiers waiting for them.  Cramer was also stopped by a soldier when he tried to exit
through the passenger side door, which was now facing skyward.
     "Hands up!"
     Cramer, Josh, and Kelly put their hands up and got out of the van.  They stood up
next to each other and the soldiers lined up in front of them, firing squad style.
     Josh looked at Kelly and said, "Been nice knowin' you."
     Cramer shouted, "I'll send you a postcard from Hell!"
     The three soldiers squeezed their triggers, and were shot down from behind. 
Jeremy and John had rifles, smoking from the shots, and were standing behind the
soldiers.  The soldiers fell face first, dead.
     Kelly said, "Sticks!  Nice to see you!"
     Jeremy was about to reciprocate when more soldiers came around the van.  Jeremy
and John shot them and joined Josh, Kelly, and Cramer behind the van.  Soldiers started
shooting at the van, but fortunately the spray on armor didn't wear off from the raid.
     John looked at the Sons of Liberty and said, "Looks like you could use some
help."

     Maria watched as more of her Sons of Liberty were shot dead in the Red Cross.  It
looked as though there was no hope, there were just too many soldiers.
     "Shit.  We need a miracle now!"

     Josh, Kelly, and Jeremy looked at Cramer.
     "Hey!  I'm all out of ideas!"
     John looked around the van to see how many soldiers were left.  It looked as
though two hundred or more were still waiting to enter the fight in the Red Cross.  Not
very good odds.
     That's when he saw the kid, hiding behind a car next to the van.  The kid ran out,
holding a toy gun, and started "firing" at the soldiers.
     "Take this you bad guys!" the kid yelled.  He fired his toy gun at the soldiers and it
made sounds.  "For Ultrazone man!"
     The soldiers who saw the kid laughed.  One said, "Okay kid, you wanna play? 
Let's play."  The soldier raised his rifle and fired one shot, hitting Jeremy Espino in the
leg.
     Espino dropped his toy gun and grabbed his left thigh, crying out in pain and
crying.
     "Kid!" John shouted and ran to him.
     Jeremy yelled, "John!  Don't!"
     John ignored him and ran, reaching the kid, picking him up, and bringing him back
behind the van.  The soldiers were laughing too hard to shoot John before he got behind
the van.
     John put the kid down.  "It's okay kid.  You'll be alright."
     Jeremy, Cramer, Josh, and Kelly looked at the kid.  The kid looked up at them,
still crying, and said, "We're not gonna lose, are we?"
     John tied a cloth around the kid's thigh.  "No, they won't lose kid.  I'll make sure
of that."
     Unfortunately, everyone let their guard down and Jafar's jeep drove around the
van along with a squad of soldiers.  Before they could react, the soldiers surrounded them
and pointed their rifles.  Everyone, except John and the kid, put their hands up.
     Jafar looked at John and said, "I see you escaped your cell.  How fortunate for me,
I can now execute you along with your rebel friends all at once."
     "How can you be so cruel?  He's just an innocent kid," John said to Jafar.
     "He's still a rebel and I don't want anymore people to try and continue this useless
struggling."  Jafar looked around at the squad of soldiers.  "Get ready to fire on my
order!"
     John let the kid down really easily and stood up, giving Jafar a very angry look. 
"I've had enough of this cruelty.  It ends now!"
     Jafar looked at him and asked, "What are you going to do?"
     John slowly reached back and grabbed the hilt of his katana.  As he pulled it out, a
blinding blue flash of light erupted from the scabbard.  Everyone, including the soldiers
and Jafar, was temporarily blinded and covered their eyes.  When they uncovered their
eyes, they saw John, holding in his hands the katana, its blade and his body giving off ki
in the form of blue light.
     "Wow!" the kid exclaimed in awe.
     Jafar shouted at his soldiers, "Fire!  Fire now!"
     The soldiers opened fire, but none of the bullets touched the kid, Jeremy, Cramer,
Josh, or Kelly.  A blue light surrounded them, coming from John and his blade, the
bullets vaporizing before reaching them.  The soldiers stopped firing after wasting a
couple rounds and just stood there, baffled by what was happening.  Jafar was now
showing signs of fear on his face.
     John smiled at Jafar, then went into action.  Becoming a blue steak, John ran at
Jafar's jeep, jumped in the air, and performed an overhead slice on it.  A blue crescent
flew at the jeep and sliced the whole thing in half, also halving Jafar.  The jeep exploded
after the ki slice penetrated completely through it.
     The soldiers regained their senses and tried to shoot John down, but he moved too
fast.  With lightning speed, John ran at them and cut them down while dodging their
gunfire.  In a second, John had killed the soldiers who had tried to kill Jeremy, Cramer,
Josh, Kelly, and the kid.
     John looked around briefly at what he had done, then turned to the rest of the army
of soldiers and ran towards them.  Dodging gunfire and weaving through, John sliced and
diced every soldier he came across.  The soldiers saw nothing but a blue streak, then they
would be cut fatally without even seeing the blade or John.  Those that didn't know what
was happening fired at the blur, but they missed it and shot their fellow soldiers instead. 
The army became a panic, but John was quickly making it into a sea of dead bodies.

     Maria watched as the soldiers who were shooting at the Sons of Liberty in the Red
Cross suddenly stopped and were sliced in half by some blue blur.  All the troops in the
Red Cross stopped shooting and witnessed the cutting down of the soldiers.

     John finished with the front and ran to the back to finish off the rest of the army. 
The soldiers in the back had no escape root from the alley and were all cut down by the
blue streak before they knew they were being wiped out.  The attack on the Sons of
Liberty's base was ended.

     James and the troops downstairs shot the last soldier and no more soldiers came
down to continue the gunfight.  They stopped shooting and silence filled the training hall
for a few seconds.
     James said, "I think it's over."
     A Son of Liberty shouted, "We won!!"
     All the others thundered with celebration.  James ran out of the training hall and to
the command room.  He opened the door and saw Peter looking at the monitors.
     "There's no more gunfire upstairs.  Maria and the others are still alive.  It looks
like all the soldiers are dead," Peter said.
     "Thank God it's over," James said.
     Kathleen and Grace came out of Maria's private room.  "Is it over?" asked
Kathleen.
     "Yes," answered James.
     Kathleen ran to James and they embraced.  "Oh God, I was so scared!"
     "I know, Kathleen.  I know."
     Peter and Grace watched them hold each other while the Sons of Liberty
celebrated their victory.

     Jeremy, Cramer, Josh, and Kelly ran to the back of the Red Cross to see what
happened to John.  The kid came too, but was being carried by Jeremy.  They saw John
standing at the end of the alley, standing among many dead bodies.  He reached back with
his glowing katana and put it back into its scabbard.  The light which was coming from
John and the katana slowly faded and disappeared.
     The five Sons of Liberty ran to meet him.  Before they could say anything, John
said, "I hope I never have to do that again."
     There was some silence before someone else spoke.  It was Jeremy who broke the
silence.  "Thank you.  You saved us all."
     Everyone nodded in agreement.  The kid said, "That was awesome!"
     John was about to say something when Maria came into the alley via the back
doorway.  The door itself had been blasted away.
     She said, "You're all alright!"
     "Yup!" Cramer said.
     Josh looked at Kelly and said, "It's finally over."
     "No," Maria said.  "We still have one more thing to take care of . . ."


































                               VI


The Arafat Mansion

     Gen. Arafat waited for news of the battle.  Captain Jafar had been instructed to
contact him as soon as the rebels were all wiped out.  It has been hours since the attack
was supposedly started and Arafat was growing restless.
     He stood up from his desk and paced back and forth.  After a few seconds of
pacing, there came a noise from the front lawn.  Arafat walked over to a window and
peered outside to see what made the noise.
     Dozens of people, dressed in grey overalls and holding rifles, were climbing over
the fence and were heading towards the mansion.  They were Sons of Liberty.
     Arafat started to panic, wondering what had happened to Jafar and his bodyguard. 
He ran to the door to his office and opened it to see what Beth was doing.  Perhaps she
could call someone to come and help.
     "Beth, call for reinforce . . ."
     The front door broke down and a phantom figure dressed all in black came into the
mansion, followed by a crow.
     Beth's eyes became wide and she whispered, "Andy?"
     The man, wearing makeup like a mime, replied, "Yes Beth, it's me.  I've come to
get you out of this hellhole."
     The man, his name was Andy, picked Beth up and carried her out the front door. 
Arafat was dumbfounded.  He heard the rebels again, headed his way, and he ran upstairs
to his bedroom.  Opening a closet, he took out a rifle and some rounds he stored in it for
security.
     Just as he was about to load it, the Sons of Liberty entered his mansion and started
destroying it.  He looked out the bedroom window and saw dozens and dozens coming. 
Realizing the inevitable, all Arafat could do then was scream, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"


The Red Cross/Sons of Liberty HQ

     Morning, and cleanup had already begun hours earlier.  The front wall of the Red
Cross was damaged way beyond repair, but the rest of the place (except for the bullet
holes) was still intact.  Maria and half of the Sons of Liberty were picking up the rubble
that was the front wall and the bodies outside, while the rest cleaned up the underground
headquarters.  There was still a lot to clean up.
     Cramer pulled his van up to take away more trash.  After flipping it right side up
and changing the tire which blew, it still ran fine.  However, the body was totally crushed
and scratched.  Overall, it was a very funny sight.

     James and Kathleen were in the room that was for Cramer's private stash, taking a
break from the cleanup.
     "Did a lot of our forces get killed?" asked Kathleen.
     "No.  I'm sorry to say all the troops in the rooms were killed, but most of us
survived.  The rest who were shot were okay, after you and Grace treated them."
     "Yeah.  I guess you're lucky to have the two best nurses here."
     They both chuckled, then there was a moment of silence.
     Kathleen broke it.  "Were you scared out there?"
     James looked at her.  "Scared?  Naw, not really.  I was too angry at them to be
scared.  I was scared a little, though."
     "Oh?  Why?"
     James looked down.  "I was afraid I'd never see you again."
     Kathleen looked at James.  She saw in him strength and compassion, things Chris
had given her and she thought was lost, but she now found again.  She walked up to him
and lifted his chin to look into his eyes.  "Thank you.  I think Chris can rest in peace
now."
     They looked at each other for a long time, and never lost sight of each other again.

     In the command room, John looked after the kid, who's left thigh was bound in
lots of gauze.  Jeremy and Peter were messing around on the computers, seeing what was
happening in the aftermath of the battle.  The whole city seemed to be celebrating the
news of General Arafat Jihad's death and the wipe out of the entire soldier population. 
Everything seemed to be in an orderly chaos.
     "Wow, everyone sure seems happy," said Peter.
     "Yeah.  But just wait until we have to deal with Saddam Hussein himself.  He's
gonna be a lot tougher to take down."
     "Oh relax, we've got a whole city to back us up now.  The days for Saddam are
numbered.  When people hear of what happened here, they'll come and join us."
     "That would be great."
     "Just wait, you'll see!"
     John listened in on them and thought, It's going to be tough for them.  The battle
has only just begun.
     "Are we gonna be free now?" asked the kid.
     John looked at him.  "Not quite yet.  They still have a long way to go before
they'll be totally free."
     "Does that mean more fighting?"
     "Yeah."
     "Good!  As soon as I'm okay, I wanna fight some more!"
     John put his hand on the kid's head and shook his head.  "Fighting never solves
anything kid.  Remember that."
     "But you fight all the time!  I wanna learn to be a swordsman like you!"
     John smiled at his innocence.  "No you don't, kid.  No you don't."
     John rubbed the kid's head and stood up.  He picked up his katana and slung it
over his shoulder, then proceeded out of the room.  Jeremy saw him leaving and stood up
to say something to him before he left.
     "Are you going?"
     "Yeah.  There's nothing for me here.  I've got to keep moving."
     "You could stay here and help."
     John shook his head.  "No.  I'm not a revolutionist by a long shot and I plan on
staying that way.  Besides, after word gets out about what happened here, a lot of people
I know will come and join your fight.  You won't need me."  John looked at the kid one
last time.  "Take care of him, will you?"
     "Sure."
     Jeremy held out a hand, and John took it.
     "I want a rematch.  Maybe you can teach me some of that ki stuff."
     John nodded, then let go and walked out.

     Maria yelled, "How much more?"
     Someone answered, "Almost finished!"
     Maria nodded and rubbed some sweat from her forehead.  Cramer's van pulled up
again to take away some more of the rubble.  Cramer got out and him, Josh, Kelly, and
Maria loaded some bags of debris into the van.  As they were loading, Maria looked up
and saw John walking out of and away from the Red Cross.
     "John!" Maria shouted.
     John stopped and turned to look at her.  She and Cramer ran to him while Josh and
Kelly continued loading.
     "Where are you going?" asked Maria.
     "Away," answered John.
     Cramer interrupted, "Very cool how you did that blue light thing!  I must say you
rock!"
     John looked at Cramer.  "Uhhh, thanks Cosmo."
     "Don't mention it!"
     Maria spoke again.  "Thank you for rescuing me, and thank you for your help in
the fight.  Are you sure you can't stay and help some more?"
     John shook his head, "I can't and won't.  Bye."
     John turned around to leave, but he stopped after a few paces and said, "If you
need me, put word out you're looking for the Swordsman.  I'll be there."  He continued
walking away from the Sons of Liberty.


A road leading out of Jihad

     "No one's comin'."
     "Trust me.  This is the only road into the city without any fuckin' tolls.  Just keep
your pantyhose on."
     Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum stood on the same road, facing the same way,
doing the same thing to make money.  John smiled to himself as he walked up behind
them silently.  He tapped them on the shoulders and said, "Hi."
     The two pretenders turned around, recognized John, and in a panic, ran to opposite
sides of the road to take cover.  John just smiled and kept walking.




                               End