Page 42 of House Divided
“Anyone else?” he asked calmly. “No? Then wait here.”
Enoch left the room and locked it behind him before joining the others in the next room. “Don’t let any of them go before you review the footage,” he warned. “Watch their reactions to see if any of them aren’t surprised by the man’s decision to attack me. I think it’s only the one I knocked out that we have to worry about, but let’s make sure. And get the unconscious guy out of there. We don’t want him harmed any further; he may tell us something useful later.”
None of the others answered him. Enoch looked at them all and asked, “What?”
Finally, General Marwan spoke. “We…we thought you were going to torture them all.”
“I despise torturers,” replied Enoch simply.
“Enoch,” pressed Madeline, “that story you told. About being captured and the rest of it. Was that true?”
Enoch put the blade he had captured down on the console with a sharpclick. He was silent for a moment. “I suppose that’s for you to decide,” he observed flatly, “because I never intend to mention it again.” He turned and left the room.
***
A little less than four hours later, the command staff was sitting in their war room again. Each person attending had a data tablet in front of them as they monitored different events. Madeline, Enoch, Aurelian, and General Marwan kept their eyes on the larger screen on the wall at their end of the room.
“Okay,” breathed Madeline, watching the digital clock in the corner of the screen, “just about go time.” Enoch closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath.
“What did you say?” asked Madeline.
“Just a little prayer for those going into battle,” replied Enoch.
“I didn’t think you were religious,” said Madeline, surprised.
“I’m not,” he answered. “But they can use all the help they can get.”
“Amen,” muttered General Marwan.
The clock ticked over to zero hour. Suddenly, every tablet and screen was alive with activity.
“Report, by the numbers,” ordered Marwan.
“Enemy base TB 5 reports a large explosion in an ammo storage facility. Extensive casualties, and fires spreading out of control,” announced one officer.
“Enemy base TB 6 is asking for assistance,” reported another officer. “They report a fire in their aircraft hangars, multiple fighter-bombers destroyed.”
“Enemy base TB 3 reports medical emergency,” announced another. “Widespread water contamination and suspected E. coli outbreak.”
“Enemy HQ has suffered EMP attack and has no communications network.”
The reports kept coming in, one after another. Steadily, the larger screen flashed more and more casualty reports and situation updates. Within half an hour, Enoch Immanuel’s infiltrators had managed to create complete and utter chaos.
“That’s about as hot as the iron is going to get,” said Madeline. “General Marwan, time to make your calls to the neutral commanders.”
“On it,” replied Marwan, tapping on her phone as she stepped out of the situation room.
“Enoch, get your people out,” said Madeline. “As many as you can.”
“Thank you, Madeline, but my troopers know what to do without my telling them,” Enoch replied. “Each one will have judged their own situation, and escaped or sacrificed their own lives if they deemed it necessary for mission success.”
Madeline was upset. “I don’t like sending people to their deaths. I’m not that kind of person.”
Enoch laid a hand on her shoulder. “No one with a conscience ever becomes that kind of person. You develop a tolerance for it if you command troops in the field, but you have to be a sociopath for it to come easily.”
Aurelian looked away from the main screen to glance at Enoch. “You know, I’m becoming steadily more convinced that Marc was right. The media have told many, many stories about you, and they really do seem to have gotten it wrong.” He paused and grinned. “Or, as Marc himself would say, you are a consummate and dangerous actor who should be immediately killed for the safety of all.”
Enoch grinned back. “For someone I met only briefly, I must admit, I do miss that old rascal. I hope he is all right.”
