Flags

“I’ll take Houston.”1

“You can have it.  I want Denver.”2

“Fine.  That takes care of this session gentleman.  Do we have any other business to discuss before we adjourn?” A man in green fatigues asks in his usual commanding tone while sitting at the head of the conference room’s table.  He is joined by twelve other men who are also dressed in green fatigues.3

A soldier located on table’s right side raises his hand.  Several others roll their eyes and fight the urge to groan.  When he gets the nod from the leader, he lowers his hand.  “Has anyone bothered to complete a resistance analysis yet?”4

“No.  We discussed it in the offensive planning meeting, but elected to proceed without it.  From all of our research, resistance will be limited at best.”5

“Limited?” the man demands to know.  “I have no idea how you can even say that.  All the research I saw indicates that resistance will be one of our biggest problems.”6

“That is providing we invade with any kind of warning.  We have determined that we can coordinate our efforts so they will not create undo initial resistance.  Surprise is always a great tool in warfare.”7

“Has this approach been tested in any way?”8

“It is still in the development stage.”9

“Then I can assume we shall not proceed with complete mobilization until this development stage is completed.  Plus after the testing phase is also finished?”10

“Must we put up with this?” A soldier questions who is sitting opposite the man.  It draws an angry stare from the man who asked the first question.11

“Without a winning strategy there can be no expectancy of real victory,” the first man retorts.12

“I consider that to be irrelevant,” the second man protests.  “Need I remind you that we are going to be fighting for sacred territory that was conquered by our enemy?  This is about waging a war to ensure our very survival.  Every citizen of our country is aware of this fact.  Each is personally dedicated to not quitting until the enemy is destroyed.”  Getting up from the table, he walks over to the map.  He points at a bunch of flag pins that are symbols of all their cherished places the enemy now controls.  “We will can only rid ourselves of this evil scourge that took our freedom through force.  This can't happened without a total commitment of our entire population and using every single weapon we possess.”13

“I thank you for reminding us, Colonel Jarvis, of what is at stake,” the leader, General Maitland comments.  “I’m sure that Colonel Whitaker did not mean to suggest that we couldn’t expect victory.  Every soldier and civilian is aware of just how critical success is to our future.  I’m confident the spirit of patriotism will inspire each person to serve our country to the fullest.  After all, the enemy did attack without provocation or warning.  They moved so quickly and decisively, capturing every major city and territory that our country possessed.  I have personally met with our President and his cabinet in their retreat.  They continue to maintain the government there till the day comes when they can occupy Washington D. C.  I can assure you that nothing dwells foremost in their thinking more than a resolve to avenge the injustice of this enemy’s evil actions.”14

There is silence around the room as the officers stare at the map and flag pins.  The silence remains as the eyes of each officer exudes a pure resolve as only the General can inspire with his words.15

In a few seconds a Chaplain enters the room.  His will be a prayer for guidance and victory.  Everyone knows that God is on their side.  It is one more  assurance that these valiant will not rest or stop until their foe is defeated.16

After the prayer all the officers leave except for Colonel Jarvis.  General Maitland was expecting him to stay.  Their relationship had always gone beyond one of duty.  As he collects his notes and puts them into his briefcase, the Colonel comes closer.17

“How was the speech?” Maitland asks.18

“Too me it was inspiring General.  I just can’t speak for anyone else.”19

“You mean you have doubts about Colonel Whitaker’s loyalty?”20

“The General knows me too well I’m afraid.”21

“I appreciate your concern Colonel.  I’ve known Whitaker for years and despite his liabilities he is a good soldier.  When the time comes he will do his duty.”22

“If you feel that is enough, then I’m satisfied.”23

“In the meantime, I think you and I do need to take one more inspection tour.  It never hurts to make sure the men are really ready for the attack.”24

“As you wish, General,” Jarvis replies.  He does his best to hide his confidence.  All the troops have trained for weeks.  They may have lost face because of the enemy, but that will change.25

“Excellent,” General Maitland says when back at the Colonel’s headquarters.  “The troops are definitely as ready for battle.  Thank goodness the new weapons are finished.  It was difficult for them to get into production, given the war, but the boys in the labs really came up with some truly inspired devices.  I’m particularly proud of the laser beam rifles.”26

“You’re serious General?  They actually have made a working laser rifle?”27

“Absolutely.  They work as good as in the sci-fi movies.  They can disintegrate a target at a hundred yards.”28

“My men haven’t been trained on them.”29

“I’m aware of that.  Don’t worry, they are on route and will be here in plenty of time for your men to learn how to operate them during battle.”30

“That’s fantastic General.  Why wasn’t I told before now?”31

“You know how paranoid our upper echelons can be.  They wanted to keep the facts under wraps till the last minute.”32

“General this is such amazing news.  Between those weapons and all the extra training our special forces have been enduring, I almost pity the enemy.”33

“Confidentially Colonel, and you have to promise you won’t tell a soul, Command has some other even more lethal tricks up their sleeve.”34

“I promise I won’t say a word.”35

“Good because what I’m about to tell you would end with both of us getting court marshaled. I have no desire to stand before a firing squad if anyone did find out.  I just felt considering the situation you had a right to know,” the General says with a fatherly twinkle in his eye.  He had always thought of Jarvis as more like a son.36

“Thank you for that consideration.”37

“Jarvis — Steve, I think you appreciate how this war has struck at the very nerve of our national identity.  After the invasion the public lost any concerns about thinking of any fair treatment of the enemy.  At least according to the usual standards of military conduct expected in a war.  In this case it means there will be no options we will not consider in order to insure victory.  None.”38

“I understand General,” Jarvis says.  His mind conjures images of them unleashing every kind of possible horror of war on the enemy.39

One includes the gory vision of mutilated enemy soldiers falling on the ground.  Then writhing in agony after being exposed to barrages of chemical warfare.  He swallows hard.  In his gut  the whole idea of that kind of unrestrained barbarism goes against his basic training as a soldier.  However, he also knows in this case nobody would dare voice an objection.  Judging from that intent look of pure determination in the General’s eyes Jarvis isn’t about to complain.40

“I see you’ve lived up to my expectations Colonel.  I knew I could depend upon you to be obedient, which is what I assured Command.”  The General responds, preparing to leave the office and return to his own headquarters.41

“Of course you can count on me to do my duty as with my men.  I do have one question though?”42

“Which is?”43

“Should the enemy choose to surrender —”44

“There will be no prisoners, Colonel.  You understand?” the General asks in a very ominous tone while opening the door to the Colonel’s office.45

“Yes sir,” Jarvis replies.46

The General shuts the door after he leaves.  Jarvis sits back and begins planning how he is going to make sure his troops understand the order.   It is a tough thing to accept, but he comprehends how Command has chosen to eliminate the words “war crimes” from their dictionary. 47

Back at his headquarters the General has a visitor.  A Senator is waiting to see him.  He shakes his hand and then they sit down in a couple of easy chairs.  The General pours them both a glass of bourbon.48

“Sometimes I can’t believe how this all started General.”49

“It was a shock to everyone.”50

“Imagine all those years of thinking we were invincible and no one could defeat us.   It had always been part of our history.  One that gave us such a rich heritage of world domination.”51

“I know Senator.  But then science destroyed that illusion.  Who could have ever known there was life beyond our skies?  It is hard to believe that one new and extra powerful telescope could change reality forever.”52

“True, but it also was their genius and innovation that made the difference.  We all have been entertained by the sci-fi stories on the screen.  The ones about how one life form lives on some planet oblivious to the reality it is a spec on some other planet.  Then one day science affirmed for us this wasn’t a fantasy in our case thanks to that telescope  Afterwards the ensuing scanning of our probes confirm their fears.  It was humbling discovery.  Imagine our entire nation, even our world and the space around it, weren't as big as we thought.  In fact they were nothing more than a microscopic dot in a carpet of some clerk’s cubicle who works in an insurance company.”53

“The good news is that our scientist did figure a way of transporting us to that world.   Then enlarging our men so we could fight in that realm.  They also sent those scanners so we were able to detect their radio and television transmissions.  It allowed us to copy their language as well as other qualities.  This discovery just went against our basic sense of security by making us find out we didn’t truly have dominion over the boundaries of life.     So now, when the invasion starts we shall have our troops materialized in their nation’s cities.  We can truly reclaim our national pride in being the masters that we feel is divinely ordained.”54

“Yes it will be glorious when it happens Senator.  I can’t wait to see our great flag waving in their cities.  It will be a great replacement for that red, white and blue one they call “Old Glory.”  Believe me all of our troops have totally memorized every detail regarding each city so we can keep accurate record of the progress of our invasion.  ”55

“Of course we do know from our investigation that this country we will be conqueing isn’t the only one on the planet.”56

“I know Senator, but one war at a time.  Once we have possession of this nation and have eliminated its population, we shall worry about the rest.  If our surprise attack works at planned then we shall have a victory before anyone else in that world knows we invaded.”57

“Are your troops ready to be transported to their invasion destinations?”58

“Yes.  It should be completed just in time for the attack to be coordinated.”59

“Very good,” the Senator stands, raising his glass for a toast.  The General also stands to his feet and raises his glass.  Then the Senator adds, “To ultimate victory over our enemy!”60

“To victory Senator!”61

Later, the clerk in the insurance company cubicle takes a large stack of envelopes and drops them at the nearest mailbox.  They are destined for numerous cities.  In a nation that is blissfully sleeping in assumed safety they have no clue about the impending invasion.  Nor do they know that somewhere inside the postage stamps on those letters is an untold number of invaders.  The soldiers’ attack will come when their military computer sends a signal that will materialize the troops to a proper “invaders size” for war on planet Earth.  Ever after the phrase, “It’s a small world after all,” will have a very chilling and traumatic meaning.62