Revelation Against the Nation Series: Legacies and Secries (Book 1)

Chapter 7: Revealing of a Hidden Secret

What was that?! Frantically, I began feeling my chest. No bullet holes there, nor is there any blood on my hands. I started running my hand over my head. I still don't feel any bullet holes or see any blood. Maybe I wasn't shot!

As I continued to check the rest of my body, I prayed I wasn't shot. I didn't feel any kind of pain, but my body felt like it was in shock. Without a medic, I wasn't sure.

I finished inspecting myself and felt a wave of relief wash over my worn and weary self. I wasn't shot! I quickly hustled outside to check out where the sound originated from.

Upon arriving at the spot where the sound occurred, there stood a soldier in camo fatigues with a gun in his hand while a corpse lied on the scorching ground. A pool of red crimson liquid encircled the dead body.

"What happened?" I asked as calmly as I could, trying to hide my jittery, shaking hands while trying to maintain my composure to hide how frightened I was.

"We had someone try to attack us. Nothing too big. We've got security covered. No need to worry, Sarge," he replied nonchalantly, almost like it was more than just a frequent occurrence.

"That's good. I thought I was shot there for a second. Is Megan available?" I queried as I began glancing around trying to see if I was able to spot her.

The look on his face told me he was thinking. I was hoping it wasn't along the line of "classified." After standing there, three minutes in silence from his hesitation, Megan came walking out of their command tent.

"I was just looking for you! Can we talk right now while we both have the time? I have a few questions that need answered," I inquired to Megan as she stopped and began to think about it.

"I'm sure you do. Follow me. We'll sort them out. It shouldn't take too long," she said as we walked into a tent one-hundred yards from the furthest bunking tent. Upon entering, she turned and motioned toward a chair. "Ask anything. I'll answer it the best that I can. If I don't know, I'll find the answer for you and get back with you on it," she said.

"Well...when you first mentioned your name, it sounded familiar. After doing some extensive searching, your name appeared the same as a deceased military woman who died in a bombing. Are you lying to me?" I questioned with a stern interrogating voice.

I had to be honest with myself. I was scared to know the answer, mainly because I didn't know what to expect. I sat there in a self-drawn suspense, my adrenaline surging through my veins, awaiting an answer. I tried to calm myself, but it was futile. The wait seemed long and never ending.

After several agonizing moments, she released a response, "Yes. I'm that Megan Baker. The cover story of me dying never happened in real life. Everything was processed like I was dead since the explosion made it plausible. Being hunted by terrorists isn't the happiest feeling, you know? My life was almost claimed by that explosion. That must remain, especially since I'm a SpecOps member. I have to remain anonymous. I know lots about terrorist operations. No one else knows my name except for your platoon, you, and my platoon. The world thinks, "Megan Baker, the anti-terrorist leader, is dead." The story was convincing. A fake funeral tricked terrorist groups into thinking I was dead. I am that Megan Baker. I never really died."

"You've lied to the whole world! How can I believe you? You haven't given me the best terms to trust you on!" I said heatedly, thinking I had the upper hand.

"I haven't lied to you. I like you and care about you, James! I know you have a wife, and I respect that, but I haven't lied to you because I care. About the feelings, they formed before I knew you even had a wife. Couldn't you see that? The walk when you were to be sent here? Or our deviation from our current mission just to save your ass? Did none of these send a signal off in your head? I want you to be safe and have a great time! I haven't had that kind of time since the death of my husband, nor do I have that luxury because of my position! I envy you for that!" she screamed angrily.

"How can I start to believe that?" I queried in a deep hoarse voice that brought forth the anger that was bubbling deep within to the surface. The look on her face showed shock, telling me she knew I was angry.

"Would I have let you talk to me, especially alone, if I didn't trust you? With so many people in terrorist organizations, do you think I trust people easily? Especially since they want to kill me? You can't tell who belongs to what group because they all look the same, James!" she said as her voice began to stutter from the anger, "I'm constantly looking over my shoulder, hoping the people I run into don't notice I'm still alive. It's not easy living a life of deception! You don't have to worry about that like I do! I was afraid to even tell you! I didn't even know if you were part of one! Luckily, my chance happened to land correctly!" she yelled back.

"Yeah, that's-" I sputtered out before she interrupted me.

"If you can't believe me, don't let it affect the teamwork between us and our platoons. When we get back to the others, this conversation never happened! We must cooperate to achieve our mission! If you can't trust me, then the little bit of our relationship as friends would be built on a lie! If you have no trust in me, just trust me on this, I want to get you and your team back home alive and safe. Who would want anyone to die? It hurts too much! I especially don't want to see you hurt again like you were when Private Kim died," she said with fire in her eyes. Her words were sharper than a sword; they were piercing through my soul.

"Alright. I'll trust you on that. After all, you did come and rescue our sorry excuse of a team," I said with a small sorrowed chuckle, "And thank you for talking with me. I guess I'll find out, in time, if all the things you said were true. I won't let it affect our teamwork. I trust your leadership, but I can't trust that you're going to tell me everything truthfully; considering that we both have completely different levels for security clearances."

"I understand that. I definitely don't want to get myself in trouble, but we must be able to follow each other's commands if we're expecting to be functional and efficient. No bickering, no yelling, no challenging each other's authority – that's the deal I'm proposing to you," she said as the conversation began to come to a close.

"I'll take it. As long as I command my platoon and you command yours, unless we give permission for the other to command theirs as well," I added, hoping she'd accept my proposition because then that would increase efficiency when and if that situation would ever arise.

"You've got yourself a deal," she said as we both reached out, clasped hands and shook on it. We walked out of the tent with a new understanding of each other. The talk and the deal helped me learn about her personality a bit more.

The deal established the line in which we had control over. I didn't want her to have complete control over everything just because she had higher clearances than I did. That didn't mean anything other than she had more difficult missions than I did. If she took control, that wouldn't allow me to show my skills as a leader. Even though she could've pulled rank to claim full control, she agreed to the deal which was now on record.

If there was a negotiation recorded on a mission, it was to be adhered by stated under the Platoon Convergence for Cooperation Operations. If it was failed to be adhered to by the stated lines that were set, consequences were set for those, by Command, who broke the concordance.

Now, it was time to try and figureout what to do from here. One person dead, three were pinned down, and three cameto save us, sacrificing their own mission and lives. Having three people for amission wasn't allowed for normal military operations. It posed too much of arisk since we were given the bulk of the heavy work that showed signs of lifethreatening situations. Time's wasting! We have only a few more minutesbefore we have to pull out! We must find someone to fill her spot!