He heard the screen door open and glanced lazily in the direction of the front door. General Sanderson pushed the squeaky door further out, and stepped down onto the wide planked porch. Out of instinct, Daniel tensed in preparation to stand respectfully for his commanding officer, but that was as far as it went. Still, it shot a blinding pain through his ribcage. His knee throbbed sympathetically as the muscles in his leg also tightened. He might reconsider the offer of pain medications once Jessica arrived, but until then, he wasn't about to dull his senses any further.
The General was dressed in old blue jeans and a flannel shirt, tucked in of course, his tan work boots planted firmly on the deck. He stared off at the dirt road, waiting for his flock to arrive. Without looking at Daniel, he began to talk.
"Feeling better?"
"About what?"
"Moping around doesn't suit you, Daniel. I've built you up as a legend around here, so I suggest you ditch the 'poor me' act, and start showing your true colors," he said, burning a serious look into him.
"You're really a piece of work," said Daniel, shaking his head.
"Do you know the first trait I look for in my operatives?" asked Sanderson, leaning up against the weathered porch railing with both hands.
Daniel remained silent.
"Unhampered pragmatism. The test you took while rotting away on that tin can in the Navy? It was designed by a team of psychologists to gauge this trait. On paper at least. When I saw your results, I thought there had been a mistake. Your score was off the charts, and I was skeptical. I thought you would turn out to be some disgruntled, sarcastic junior officer messing with the test…but you lived up to the results in person. Exceeded them, even. Others might call you a sociopath, however, I like the term ‘unhampered pragmatism’."
"Maybe you should patent it," said Daniel.
"Not a bad idea. I know you're pathologically practical, and you've already moved on. This is how your brain works. Now it's just a matter of figuring out exactly how we can work together moving forward. I need instructors, and you need a safe place to stay off the radar for a while. I have a nice warm weather location in mind, a new training site already built. You and Jessica can start a new life in a familiar setting. Not that phony suburban existence the two of you have suffered through for the past five years.
"Our so called existence worked pretty well."
"Barely. I know all about your trips into the woods of Maine, with a trunk full of rifles, ammunition and survival gear. Vast tracts of land purchased in the middle of nowhere, so you can return to your natural state for a few weeks at a time, and keep from killing everyone in your cubicle block. You kept your skills intact, which is not the behavior of someone who has abandoned their past. You still embrace the true nature we unlocked. I sense the same with Jessica."
"Who are you, Darth Vader?"
General Sanderson laughed. "Give my proposal some serious thought. Did you know that your graduating batch was the most successful in the program’s history? One hundred percent survival rate, and they all volunteered to come back. I don't need staff psychologists to tell me that the success stemmed from your influence during training. I need this in the new program."
"I think your concept of the word ‘volunteer’ is different than mine."
"I know you don't want to believe it, but everyone else did volunteer to join the new program when asked."
"Except for the guy in New Hampshire. How many other nervous breakdowns do you have on your hands?"
"One exception to the rule. An outlier. We need you back, Daniel. I'm asking you to volunteer."
"We'll ask Jessica. If she shows," said Daniel.
"She's less than two hours away."
"Is she?" asked Daniel, and Sanderson shot him a strange look.
"I am, after all, the most practical person you've ever met."
For the first time ever, Daniel sensed a momentary lapse of confidence in General Sanderson's face as he processed Daniel's last comment. He saw the general's eyes involuntarily dart to several locations along the tree line.
"In order to truly walk away from all of this,” Daniel continued, “I would have to offer up a pretty big fish. A fish big enough to buy me the biggest immunity deal in history."
"You might be pathologically practical, but you're also one of the most loyal soldiers I have ever worked with," said Sanderson.
"You don't sound so confident," said Daniel, leaning back in his rocker.
General Sanderson glared at him, then broke into another laugh.
"You're fucking relentless, Petrovich. I look forward to meeting Jessica in person. We have women in the program now, and I lack an experienced edged weapons instructor. Someone with recent real world experience," said Sanderson.
Petrovich stifled a laugh.
"Was it that obvious?"
"To me it was. I only had one known knife guy assigned to a target. You are not a knife guy, my friend. Far from it. I knew the two of you were onboard as soon as I saw the details in the news," said Sanderson.
"She was onboard. I tried to convince her that your mission had absolutely nothing to do with crippling Al Qaeda operations in the U.S., but she still believes what they sold her in Langley, even after the hell they put her through. I told her that I had no intention of carrying out your plan, but she insisted that it needed to be done. That was my mistake…telling her about Parker's visit. I should have skipped town with her that afternoon. Sadly, she's desperately seeking some kind of redemption, and she still buys all of this nationalistic, Uncle Sam shit. A dangerous combination."
"We're all believers here, Daniel. We did the government a favor yesterday. The HYDRA investigation had been ongoing for nearly three years, and they had barely cracked the nut on Al Qaeda. This would have dragged on for another year or two, until it was too late, or somebody tipped off the terrorists. It was a sideshow, but a worthwhile production. I had to remove that file from government custody. We're rebuilding, and the file contained information that could immediately undermine the process. We're going to take the fight to the enemy, in ways our government can't."
"And get rich in the process," replied Daniel.
"I never heard you complain about your 'finder's fee,' or whatever you called it to make yourself feel better. I didn't take a cut and walk away like you did. I reinvested every dime of that money into the program, and kept it going for an entire year after government funding vanished. Anyway, we won't need to skim off the top anymore. We have the guaranteed backing of some very powerful and wealthy individuals."
"What do you get when you combine my unhampered pragmatism with your undying patriotism?" asked Petrovich.
"A damn effective team," said Sanderson.
"I was thinking along the lines of filthy rich," said Daniel.
"For you, maybe," Sanderson grumbled.
"Is that a helicopter I hear?" Daniel said, cupping his hand to one of his ears.
"Very funny. I'll be inside, working on our exfiltration from the States."
Daniel smiled, and General Sanderson opened the screen door, shaking his head. Out of nowhere, Petrovich fired a question into the air.
"What kind of deal did you make with the CIA?"
"The kind that will keep them off our backs, and give us an early warning system. Maybe some new recruits."