Commandos (19 page)

Victor had spent years practising his combat skills. He specialised in budo, a combination of judo, karate, kyuodu, kendo and a number of other martial arts. The art required him to work on his mind as intensively as on his body.

He plunged into his memories of Japan, allowing a faint smile to cross his face. When he arrived in Kyoto, he was shocked by the extent to which this formerly beautiful and technologically advanced country had been affected by terrorist attacks and the greenhouse effect.

The city, once housing over a hundred beautiful temples and pagodas, now mourned the destruction of the Emperor’s Palace. On the day when over a thousand statues of the Buddhist goddess of mercy were robbed and the temple of Sanjunsangen-do levelled in the process, the residents had begun to fully feel their own powerlessness in the face of the barbarity of terrorist attacks.

Victor recalled a small house in the Takao district, where he used to rent a flat, and its owner, a spiritually burnout collector of tacky memorabilia.
Wait a second
, Victor thought while strolling down one of the city’s streets.
How did that go? That Motoori Noringana’s poem I used to have framed on the wall of my apartment?
He tested his memory and tried to recite it in his mind.

Blessed islands of Japan,
Should a stranger enquire
Into your soul Yamato, say
Breathing air light up by the rising sun
A cherry tree blossoms, wild and beautiful.
Pleased to be able to recall it after all those years,

Victor turned towards the ecology centre to locate Alec. When he got there, a man informed him that Alec
would be spending the evening at the recently reopened
samurai school. He took down the address and went on his
way. He was not sure what to expect from the meeting. On
the one hand Alec was without a doubt a good soldier, a
professional, but on the other Victor could not forget the
way the commando had treated Jo and later Diana. He was
surprised to find out that Alec had frequented Zen schools
and now also attended a samurai school. It turned out he
was focussed on constantly improving himself, aiming to
excel.
But to become a fearless samurai, one needed more
than just the physical skills. A samurai’s most important
commitment was to the warrior code. Victor doubted a man
like commando Ross would ever be capable of
unquestioning loyalty and obedience. He had no honour as
clearly shown by his attitude to women and colleagues. The tracker’s mind drifted once more to his school
memories. As one of the five best students he was awarded
a scholarship to attend classes taught by a true master.
From his classes he remembered that samurais were
followers of the type of Buddhism known as Zen. He now
realised that Alec’s studies of Zen were supposed to allow
him to become a samurai.
Victor stopped in front of the school and glanced at the Japanese adage painted across it:
a man’s word is stronger than iron
, and immediately realised that there was only one man who would see it fitting to place those words above his
door. Akira.
He walked inside and caught the intensive scent of
incense, a truly comforting sensation. He heard voices from
somewhere at the back of the building. He walked towards
a glass door and gazed through the pane. Gathered in a
circle, a group of men were reciting a poem, one that had
always accompanied samurais wherever they met: “
Colours are marvellous, yet they fade. None can linger
eternally in this world. Set out today to climb the highest
peaks of life’s illusions and there will be no more dreams
or intoxication.”
Leading the recitation was Akira, Victor’s old
schoolmate. When he spotted the tracker behind the door,
he excused his students and left the room to welcome him. “Victor! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” They embraced each other in a friendly welcome. “I’m surprised to see you teaching here. You’ve always
been a man of poetry… and a samurai school?”
“One does not rule out the other, my friend. You know
that an uncut diamond doesn’t glitter.” Akira laughed as he
quoted the proverb. “What are you doing here, Victor? You
always wanted to become a commando. I didn’t expect you
in a place like this.”
“I am… a commando… in a way.” His friend’s surprise
amused Victor. “But I’m here to find somebody.” “So, any luck with that?” Akira, cheerful as always,
grinned merrily, showing off his silver teeth. Victor pointed
at Alec sitting on the other side of the door, cross-legged
with his eyes closed.
“He’s a commando; I’m teaching him,” Akira said. “Yes, I know.” Victor smiled. “Could you do me a
favour?” He leant over to the shorter man and whispered
his plan to him. Moments later Akira grinned again. “Sure thing, my dear Victor. You can take over there!
Ha! Ha!” He pointed to the changing rooms. When Victor
was gone, Akira stepped back into the room and informed
his students, “My friends, we have a visitor today, an old
friend, one of the best warriors in the world.” Everyone’s
curiosity was immediately aroused by this introduction. “A
man who cannot be beaten!”
“Everyone can be beaten,” Alec murmured.
“Oh really?” Akira laughed out loud, clearly enjoying
himself. “Step up and choose your weapon. Sword, katana
or wakizashi?”
So far Alec usually had used the halberd, a long stick
topped with a curved blade, so he picked the katana sword
as it was similar to the halberd in shape. He assumed
position and confidently awaited the man so bluntly
admired by Akira.
When Victor stepped into the room Alec felt the weight
of the man’s gaze, as if the tracker was trying to defeat him
by just staring at him. The closer he was, the more Alec got
the feeling they’d already met somewhere before. “No way!” Alec eventually exclaimed in recognition,
holding his sword in initial stance. “The arsehole from the
base!”
Victor stopped and calmly sized Alec up with his eyes.
‘The Zen schools didn’t do much good I see.’ He thought,
haughty as ever
.
They started fighting. Alec’s disadvantage was clear
from the very first swing he made.
“It’s not about waiving your sword in the air!” Akira
shouted at him.
Alec fell down and dropped his sword and the next
second he felt Victor’s blade on his throat and the look in
the tracker’s eyes chilled him to the bone. He was suddenly
very scared.
“Enough!” Akira called out. He turned to Alec. “There
are samurai who only need to make one move to kill. I
want you to know that you fought one of such men and
remember the old saying, ‘even monkeys fall off trees’.”
He clapped his hands. “That’s it for today!”
Victor reached down to help Alec to his feet, but Alec
pushed his hand aside and got up by himself.
“Alec?” Victor followed him.
“What now? Haven’t you had enough fun yet?” the
commando snarled.
“I’m here to take you to Tenerife, to the commodore.”
He showed him the letter from the president. “You’ve been
given a new assignment.”
Alec snatched the letter without a word and turned
around towards the changing room. Victor followed. It took
some time for either of them to say a word.
The tracker changed his clothes faster and approached
the commando.
“It’s urgent. We must leave Kyoto at once. Levi, David
and Jo are waiting for us.”
“Jo?” Alec was suddenly interested.
“Yes, but I’m on the team as well. You’re going to have
to accept it.”
Alec slammed his locker door closed and turned to face
Victor.
“If I ever go to Tenerife, it won’t be for Levi, or David,
and definitely not for a show-off, smart-arse arsehole like
you!”
Victor growled and dashed towards Alec and they
started fighting. The tracker had always tried to control his
anger, but there was something about this man that really
made him furious. The others barely managed to pull them
apart.
“I know you’ll only be going because of Jo. You still
think you can win her back, don’t you?”
“How the hell would you know that?” Alec spat blood
from his mouth and struggled to get up.
“I don’t know anything, but we can soon find out how
she feels about that.”
“You think she’d choose you?” Alec stepped towards
the door and turned around to give Victor a furious look.
“Don’t count on it. I’ll make sure she doesn’t leave me!”
He scowled. “See you at the airport.” He left the room. Victor felt Akira’s hand on his shoulder.
“Be careful with this man, brother.”
“Thanks Akira. Take care.”
Victor left the school building and spent the time
remaining in a sushi bar, thinking about Jo. Did she even
still remember him? Did she remember that night they’d
spent together? When it was time, he set off towards the
airport with a heavy heart.

* * * *

The journey lasted several hours but neither of them said a word. Victor kept wondering why Levi had kept Alec on the shuttle for all those years, but could not understand it.

As soon as they landed and found transport to the Sun City base, they found David and Levi. The commodore was clearly weary. Something was bothering him. Alec nodded at his colleagues and Victor shook both their hands.

“Where’s Jo?” Alec asked straight from the hip. Silence. No one said a word. Victor was curious too. “Good question. Where is she?”
“We have a problem,” David explained. “We can’t

locate her.”
“I knew it!” Alec burst in. “Trust you to always screw
something up.”
“Settle down!” Levi silenced him categorically and
turned to David. “Take Alec away and explain to him why
we’re here. I want to have a word in private with Victor.” They strolled around the base, the chilly breeze from
the Atlantic cooling their faces.
“We tried searching through databases but found
nothing. Then we started our own investigation.” “What did you find out?”
“We asked around, even found an officer who
confirmed she’d arrived on the island.”
“And?”
“That’s it. Then the trail went cold. We’re going to
need your tracker’s skills to find her.”
“There’s not much time. I’ve been informed by the
president that Kaminsky is about to make his move really
soon.”
Levi clutched at his beard. He’d not shaven for quite a
while.
“Excuse me, Charles.” Victor was visibly worried.
“I’ve got to read through Jo’s files again.”
“All right, I’ll talk to Alec and David.”
Victor briskly walked back to the hotel and with a heart
heavy with concern started reading the files again. He tried
going chronologically, trying to figure out some key to her
behaviour. Nothing. Zero ideas. Before he could start his
search, he needed to memorise as much of it as he could.
He needed to find a key to her mind, to understand what
drove her to do what she had done. Where are you, Jo? He
got up, took off his glasses and walked to the window. He
stood there, gazing upon the horizon over the ocean when
his eyes suddenly fixed on the nearest island. Suddenly, it
all fell into place. He ran out of the room and joined the
commandos downstairs.
“I think I know where she is.” The sudden certainty in
his voice got their attention. The men gave each other
puzzled looks and Levi seemed relieved.
“I’m coming with you,” Alec said.
“Out of the question. If I’m right, I’ll see you all
tomorrow.”
Victor nodded at them and left the room without
waiting for their answer. All he could think of was the hope
of not being wrong about this. He rented the fastest
motorcycle the base could come up with and raced towards
the port. The ferry to Fuerteventura was about to leave.
There was not a minute to lose.

* * * *

Levi knew that if there was anyone capable of finding Jo, it would be Victor. He was truly the best in what he did. However, the commodore got an impression that the tracker was acting on instinct in this case. He was following his heart rather than logic. This was not typical of Victor and Levi was rather curious about it, but he would not question his friend’s attitude knowing that Victor would tell him about it when the time was right.

Alec and David did not get along well, as was to be expected. Even the long months of separation could not weaken their mutual aversion.

Before his split up with Jo, Alec used to be a generally friendly and tolerable companion. He’d always fulfil his tasks diligently, sometimes even fast enough to help one of his slower colleagues, but the affair and subsequent marriage seemed to have changed him into an entirely different man. To make it worse, his situation did not encourage anyone’s sympathy. People were generally critical of him, seeing as he only had himself to blame for the mess he’d got himself into. Levi had to repeatedly remind everyone that Alec’s private life had nothing to do with the mission at hand. He also could not forget about Jo and her place in all this. If she had recalled all her past, she might have suffered another mental breakdown. He would have to keep a close eye on her as well. He actually considered excluding her from the group should her mental condition be worse than he expected. That, however, was strictly the last resort, as her knowledge of Kaminsky and his habits was an invaluable asset in this mission.

Each of them had their own problems. They were all human first and soldiers second. They would simply have to find a way to cope and make sure their personal affairs did not interfere with the mission.

Levi’s own dilemmas were constantly on his mind as well. He’d sworn to himself that if he survived the mission he would do anything in his power to find his daughter. Every night, before he fell asleep, he saw the face of his six-year-old daughter calling, ‘Dad, look how high I am’ each time the swing carried her towards the sky. She had two long plaits almost reaching her waist and adorable freckles on her cheeks. She looked so much like her mother. He frowned at the memory. Even in those days work had already become more important to him, but he could still fix it. He would not rest until he saw her again.

An hour before he spoke to the Defence Council and acknowledged the team’s readiness to take up the mission, he was told that the intelligence services expected a wave of massive terrorist attacks on an unprecedented scale.
I’ve heard that before
, he thought. He wasted no more time on idle pondering and started preparing the plan of reaching the caliph. It looked like the success of the entire mission would depend on the skills of one man – Victor.