| From: | Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Prisoners of War |
| Date: | Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:53:12 +0000 |
>>>>>[This was easier than I expected.
+++++begin video
Another blankly empty interrogation cell, the camera staring through the
mirror.
Major Kirk Regan sits in the bolted-down chair: he rises as two soldiers in
partial combat gear (battledress trousers, T-shirts, shoulder harnesses for
sidearms) enter: he comes to attention and salutes.
When he stands, you see the explosive restraint collar around his neck.
Lynch and Lilith both return his salute, and Regan drops back into his
seat.
"How you doing, Kirk?" Lynch asks.
"Okay. My people?"
"Five dead. Hopper, Archman, Malle, Chango and White. The rest are alive
and the wounded are recovering well." Lynch takes a list from a pocket,
unfolds it, hands it to Regan. "These are the guys we have in custody."
"Yeah... yeah. Good. Thanks for taking care of them. I thought for sure
I'd lose more than five KIAs. Okay. I want my men treated as prisoners of
war. They were following _my_ orders and any of their actions are _my_
responsibility. This is not a criminal case, we were conducting military
action against the UCAS and I ask that we be judged on that basis. Any
criminal actions were carried out by military personnel acting under my
command and I take full responsibility." Regan has obviously prepared that
speech and worked it over in his mind many times.
The Lynches exchange glances. "Kirk, how the hell did a guy like you get
so deep in the shit?" Lilith asks.
Regan shrugs. "I liked to play poker. I lost, big-time. Malone's repo men let
me keep the unit together and just let me pay off what I owed at twenty
per cent."
"Twenty per cent a year? You got gouged." Lynch shakes his head.
"Twenty per cent a _month_. They had me by the balls. So, sure, I run
some BTLs north out of the Yucatan, it's the fastest way to clear what we
owe." Regan shrugs. "When that goes to ratdrek, I need a new big-ticket
contract and there aren't any. So I renegotiate and get us hired as
Malone's private army. We do some bad drek for him but it's paying off
what I owe."
"So why the last stand at Hazleton?" Lynch asks.
"Because I had to stay. Had to. Malone said, I stand and fight, he and I
are square, all bets off and all debts cleared. I told my guys to go. They
didn't, they stayed with me." Regan shakes his head. "They knew the
whole deal. Always did. But they stayed."
"Yeah, well. They figured you could do better for them in an interrogation
cell, than Malone would do free and clear." Lynch shrugs. "Probably right,
too."
"Maybe. The man's a real buttwipe." Regan shakes his head slowly. "Could I
have a cigarette?"
"Sure." All three take Marlboros from Lynch's stainless-steel case, and he
lights Regan's with a battered Zippo.
"I recognise that. First Desert War?"
"Yeah. I was in one of the target battalions. Expendable bodies, hired for
the elite corp grunts to slaughter. Three hundred walked in, nine walked
out." Lynch shrugs. "I was young and stupid, didn't know any better. Got
lucky and lived."
Regan nods. "I knew a couple of early Des-War veterans. Bad deal, back
then. Look... I don't have anything to bargain with. My guys will follow
orders and do what I tell them to, so long as they're not getting _too_
obviously shafted in the hoop. But I guess you don't need freelancers for
supervised ops, you got your own people, and the way I screwed the pooch
in the Yucatan you won't want to trust us on detached missions. And I
don't know jack about Malone's Vegas setup, we were never allowed
anywhere near that. I could tell you a lot about Seattle, except I know half
the sites already got their clocks cleaned and the rest are probably gone
by now."
Lynch and Lilith exchange glances, with that slight head-cocked look of
tightband radio communication. "Tell you what, Kirk." Lilith says. "You
tell
us the whole story about your work with Malone and you tell all your
people to sing along too. You bring in your stragglers, you've got at least
two who made it out - the RPG team at Hazleton?
"In exchange, you and your troops get prisoner of war status. You guys did
some bad shit, but you did it for Malone. You sing loud and clear, including
testimony in court, and we can go for the big fish. Then, you go free. Out
of the UCAS, as a unit, with an honorarium to let you get your unit back
on its feet."
Regan ponders this. "I'll accept for myself. I need to talk to my men
before I can speak for them."
"Fair enough. We'll set that up for you." Lynch nods, and he and Lilith rise.
+++++end video
Maybe Regan's the fifth target? Or maybe we're being egotistical in
assuming Jane, Jason and I are the top three?
Anyway, Quinn confirmed his sincerity. I'd hesitate to call Kirk Regan a
_good_ guy, but he's at least fiercely loyal to his unit. Most of them seem
to know a better-than-they'll-otherwise-get deal when they see it.
Won't help us much in catching Malone, but might help clean and gut him
if we do.]<<<<<
-- Major L R W Lynch <23:56:49/02-16-61>
Special Operations Command
