John Porter & Jenny: The Windward Passage

Epilogue of Explanation

Not so much an epilogue as an explanation for those unfamiliar with the show. I know there are some, especially in the U.S., who have not seen it yet.

At the end of the first series of "Strike Back", John Porter is seen escaping from Afghanistan into Iran with proof that the CIA has been colluding with a local warlord, providing him with weapons and intel, in order to set up a stable, Pro-U.S. power in the region prior to pulling out. The two major players in this scheme were Sharq, the Afghan warlord with a very modern, corporate/mobster approach to gaining power, and Arlington, the CIA Liaison in London who had been harrying Section 20 and plotting behind their backs throughout the episode(s). He was the CIA's the point man for the deal with Sharq.

My story begins a few weeks after John Porter has returned to London with the intel. John got home from Afghanistan/Iran, MI6 took some time debriefing him, and he and Alex were invited to go in this trip by an old friend, Greg Randall, who was also my character's instructor. Somehow, Arlington learned of it.

Sharq was a pragmatist with his own system of gaining power. It was slow, but an effective way of consolidating a very stable power base. He did not need the information and weapons he was getting from the CIA in that deal to survive and be a powerful player in the Western Asian landscape, which was all he was interested in. He was willing to exploit the opportunity when it presented itself, but he wasn't going to be devastated if it fell through. I saw Sharq as a man who knows the wisdom in being ambitious but not too ambitious, and having a secure fall-back position.

Arlington did not know that wisdom. He had his ego wrapped up in his career and his career wrapped up in that deal, and because of that he was a little emotionally unstable. He was essentially the "Ollie North" of that situation, the man on point that would have been made to take the fall if that information became public. He's the one that would have been dragged before a senate committee hearing. I imagined MI6 was considering what to do with the intel, if they should go public or use it to bend the CIA over a barrel. Arlington was moving to protect his own butt if they decided to go public by eliminating the one witness (John) as well as trying to take out Sharq, who had threatened to blackmail him.

Since these were private hits and not government sanctions, he was trying to do it in a way that would not look like a hit, which is why the assassin (Robert) kept trying to use indirect means to take John out rather than just pulling him aside and shooting him in the head.

But Sharq sent his own agent who got to Arlington first.

Though it would have been *very* interesting/cool to write a story in which Sharq's agent and John Porter had to work together.

The assassin, of course, was Robert the retired U.S. Navy (Seal) from the Elissa who "disappeared" in Jamaica. He was detained and interrogated by the JDF and MI6. How much his wife Jane knew of his activities? Well, I can let the readers speculate whether he went it alone, or they were a husband and wife team. I threw the character Paul in as a little red herring.

John's showdown with the intelligence officer who utterly screwed him over (as he describes in my text) is also shown at the end of the series. It was an unusual and very emotionally aware way of ending a journey of redemption in the action genre and really cemented the character of John Porter as something more than an action hero. It made him into a dramatic character.

I hope that this makes things a little clearer for people who have not seen the show and that everyone has enjoyed my story. I have definitely enjoyed writing it and learned a great deal from the experience. Thanks again for the kind gifts of your time and attention.