Dresden: For God and Country

Chapter 3

It was never dark in our cell so I didn't know what time of night it was when I awoke. I didn't know what had woken me and could still feel sleep trying to enfold me and so I closed my eyes and tried to return to my dreams. Beside me, Parker sighed sadly. Startled, I waited to see if he was really awake. A few minutes passed and I had just decided that he must be asleep when he spoke.

"I'm so sorry about this Alex. This is all my fault." I was about to disagree with him, to protest that it was unfair to blame himself when he said "You weren't supposed to be here when this all went down. They promised that you'd be safe. Now we're here and you don't even know why." Shock froze my brain. What on earth was he talking about? Silently I pleaded with him to say more, to explain. After another minute, he complied. "I wish I could tell the truth. I know you can't hear me but I have to say something. For the last couple of years, I've been working for the CIA. They recruited me to be an analyst, but every analyst has to put in two years of field work before they can take up the job. This is my fourth major mission. I'm so sorry you got mixed up in this, you were supposed to be safe. But that ass, Tyler Kattan double crossed me and set the whole thing off a week early." I was almost as shocked by the profanity as what he was saying to me. I'd never heard him swear before. He brooded for a minute before continuing.

"You see, Kattan was my contact. I was sent here to infiltrate the ISIS splinter group operating here in France. It was an ideal mission. Kattan is a member of the group and has been for decades, but lately he has become dissatisfied and wants out. You don't hand in your two weeks' notice to a man like Rashid, so Kattan was willing to turn traitor to get protection from him. My job was to use Kattan to get me into their base, rescue the 21 prisoners they have left, and then send their location, the identities of the secondary leaders, and their descriptions to the wet team that's on standby to come clean up this mess. It was a textbook assignment. Kattan was supposed to make it an easy mission." He complained. I was wondering if he was ever going to get around saying what went wrong. And wondering why the CIA had entrusted such a seemingly important task to a new agent who wasn't going to be field operative for very much longer.

"Everything was going so well until the snatch. Today he told me what went wrong, and I suppose I can't really blame the idiot for what he's trying to do. If my son had joined a terrorist organization and then got cold feet, I'd use whatever leverage I had to save him too. I almost feel sorry for what's going to happen if we escape, but I'm not willing trade my future wife for the son of a terrorist. No deal. Still... I wish I could do something for the kid. He's only 19."

Heck, I was only 19. Poor boy. Poor Kattan. Hold up, how was it that I could feel sorry for the man? What about poor Parker? What about poor Alex, for that matter?

"I have to get you out of here, but I can't think how to do it. We're both going to die and I can't even tell you why. Some protector I am. Alex, I wish you weren't here. Well, no. I don't wish you gone. I wish we could both be gone together. Away from here and the evil and the pain, in a safe place, getting ready for our wedding. What if we never get the chance to be married?" he asked, an odd catch in his voice. "We have to make it out of this mess." He pulled me closer to him and placed a possessive kiss on my forehead. I moved slightly.

"What is it?" I asked, lacing my voice with false sleep.

"Sorry" he said. "I didn't mean to wake you." I nestled myself more comfortably in the crook of his arm. I didn't fall asleep for a very long time.

A few hours after we awoke, they came for Parker again. I was pleased to see they were much more respectful about it this time. They entered with something bordering on fear.