So Shall You Reap

The clock struck four in the morning when general Adams was forcefully woken up from his sleep by the incessantly ringing telephone at the corner of his bedroom. He lazily woke up from his bed, cursing. His wife rolled in the bed and went back to her slumber after noticing her husband attend the call. “General, this is colonel Marsh speaking, we have a situation”, the man sounded apprehensive.

He rushed towards the cupboard for a change of clothes in the dark, after opening which, he paused for a second. “Elizabeth, where is my green uniform”, he yelled. His wife walked towards the cupboard, switching on the light irresolutely. “Something happened?”, she asked, picking his clothes from the top of the pile. “We have an emergency, I need to go”, he said, his eyes stern as ever. “Take care, dear”, she said handing over the uniform, too sleepy to be worried. Such was her husband’s job, emergencies were not uncommon. Not for a general of his stature.

********* 

“Explain the situation”, Adam demanded, waving a dismissive hand at Marsh who stood up to salute. “We received a call at midnight that the radio station in new Boston was hijacked by terrorists who are holding its employees hostage. At first, we were skeptical, but after confirming with the local authorities, we realized that the threat was real. They demand the release of their leader.”

“Why was I not informed of this earlier?”, Adam asked, visibly infuriated.

“General Mark did not want to disturb you when you were on leave, the remaining officers thought the situation could be handled until…. ”

“Until?”, Adam frowned.

“We received a call from the headquarters, the government does not want to release their leader, General Mark is currently planning a rescue operation to neutralize all the terrorists in the building to save the hostages and wanted to seek your help. We have reasons to believe that this is the same group which attacked New York a year ago”

The scar on Adam’s forehead throbbed. A year ago, terrorists attacked a hospital in New York when he was the leader of the team which was supposed to eliminate the attackers. He was unofficially titled “The Hero of Military” after he miraculously killed three terrorists single-handedly and saved one of his comrades although he was badly hurt. It took three months for his injuries to heal, but the scar on his head remained, which, he bore as a symbol of his courage.

“Sorry to disturb you when you are on leave, but such is the weight of the situation”, said General Mark as Adam entered the control room followed by Marsh.

“I would like to lead the rescue operation, Marsh”, said Adam. His eyes were resolute. One would think that Adam wanted to complete his unfulfilled task from last year, but Marsh knew the real reason behind his resolve. “I wanted you to help me in the control room to formulate a plan while our soldiers commence the operation”. Marsh of all people knew that Adam has not been the same person after the incident a year ago. Something happened, something in the attack a year ag changed him completely.

“I am going in”, Adam sounded stubborn.

“But you haven't been on the field since last year. You have lost your touch, Adam”, said Mark. Nobody knew the reason why Adam quit fieldwork and transferred to the desk after that fateful incident. Marsh tried to ask Adam what happened during the attack that day, but Adam never answered. Eventually, Mark gave up, assuming he was perturbed by the death of his comrades.

“If there is anyone out there who is supposed to kill them, it is me”, said Adam with a stern voice. Mark did not retaliate. “Alright, gear up, we want to deploy the squad in 10 minutes. You shall enter the building from the entrance at the back. The hostages are on the second floor along with a few terrorists, remaining in the third according to the intel. We have confirmed five armed terrorists, and there is a possibility of possession of explosives. Your team shall have six soldiers. We will be in contact via radio and the bomb squad will instruct you how to diffuse a bomb if you encounter any.”

***************

The team climbed up the stairs neutralizing the terrorist at the door and another whom they encountered at the stairs. As they reached the second floor, Adam signaled for four of the soldiers to take the second floor while he would go to the third along with the remaining soldier.

Adam was leaning against the frame of the door of the room on the third floor which reportedly had the remaining terrorists. The other soldier mirrored his posture across the aisle. He took a deep breath, turned around and crashed opened the door, shooting a terrorist in his head as he did. His reflexes did not fail him, even after a year. Unfortunately, there was another terrorist in the room who started shooting at them frantically. Adam jumped to take cover at the nearest table, while his comrade, failing to react so quickly took too many bullets and fell on the ground with a thud. He never expected everyone to leave the building alive. The mission was to save the citizens. He peeked from the corner of the table, expecting bullets.

“You made a dumb move by coming into the building, you will regret this”, said the terrorist, clicking two buttons on the remote in his hand. During the short span of his distraction, Adam rose and shot the other terrorist in his head, but it was already late. The terrorist had activated the bombs. The stairs connecting second and third floors blew up, shaking the ground. He immediately reached to his radio. “This is Marsh, The terrorists in floor three have been neutralized, but before dying, two bombs were activated. Over”.

“The second floor is safe. Two terrorists present were neutralized and the bombs attached to one of their bodies diffused, but the explosion blew upstairs connecting first, second and third floors. You're on your own”, Marsh replied.

“The bombs on their bodies are far more dangerous than the ones at stairs, each capable of bringing down the whole building. But defusing the bomb is simple. Your team already diffused a couple of them on the second floor. Just cut the red wire connecting the bomb and the timer. Make sure you don’t cut the green one, it will immediately trigger the bomb and the building will blow up.”

A drop of sweat trickled down Adam’s forehead, his scar was throbbing harder. He kept looking at the bomb. His cold, stern gaze turned into dismay. His eyes screamed fear while his mouth remained shut.

“Adam, you there?”

“Now that the hostages cannot escape the building, if I don’t diffuse this bomb everyone in this building will die, right?”, said Adam, his scar throbbing harder.

“What are you saying! Cut the wire already”

“Marsh, do you know why I shifted from field to desk after the incident a year ago? I am suffering from Achromatopsia due to a huge blow to my head.”

60 seconds.

“I bribed the doctor to hide the fact that I was color blind. I didn’t want to quit the military nor did I want the hero of the military to be imperfect.”

40.

“My lie might cause the death of more than 100 people today.”

20.

“You were right, I put the operation at risk. I should have stayed in the control room. I am sorry Marsh.”

He closed his eyes, and with a resolution, he cut one of the two wires.