The End of the Beginning

It all had happened in seconds. Sergey ran to the handrail and looked at his brother. His body was already dead on the pavement below, mangled in an unnatural position.

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Why did you do that?” Sergey asked, speaking to his brother four stories below. “Samir, why did you do that?” William, Major Hansen, and the guardsmen could not do anything.

“Ah Shit,” muttered Hansen.

It had been a long time since William had encountered death and it made him remember how much he hated it. Cradling his face in his hands, leaning over the handrail, he did not know what to do. Sergey started to cry and pushed everyone aside as he made his way down to the ground floor, somehow hoping his brother was still alive when he got down there.

Major Hansen looked at William and said the nicest thing William had ever heard him say, “Captain, I’m sorry.”

The guardsmen radioed in for a medical team and more guards to cordon off the area.

“If… you would like I can tell his family.”

“No, Major, I’ll do it. He was under my command, my squadron.”

“Very well.”

Boots pounding away, the major left to go downstairs with the two guardsmen, leaving the stunned captain alone on the walkway…

Why did he just do that? Why? I’ve lost an officer. I let him go. What made him jump? Who was he talking about? They. Who are they? They’re coming. They’re coming. Thou art amongst traitors. They’re co- Terra Nova…” William stood there looking down until a UNIRO Medical team arrived, along with ten more guardsmen. Two were stationed at the Mamedov’s room, the rest were down below. Caution tape soon surrounded the small plaza around the barracks. ISAF investigators began taking photos.

A crowd of other rescue officers had grown on the open walkways, who were also looking down at what was now effectively a crime scene. Major Hansen noticed this. He grabbed a megaphone from his Blazer and screamed, “Everyone back to your rooms, now! Training ain’t stopping for this. Get some sleep. If any of you are late because of this tomorrow cause you overslept, and I hear about it, you’ll end up in worse shape than what you’re looking at now!” Chief Hernandez drove up. Hammond and her escorts arrived seconds later. The time was 11:57 p.m. Hernandez caught sight of William watching over the scene. He whistled loudly, catching William’s attention. He motioned for him to come down.

“Chief,” panted William as he jogged towards Hernandez. “Chief, I don’t know how this could have happened. There was a fight and then Sa - ” “Okay amigo, slow down. From the beginning, please.”

“I came here to…” William stopped when Hammond walked up beside Hernandez. He felt deep animosity for her now and his glare at her showed it.

“I believe, Captain, you are supposed to come to attention in the presence of a superior officer,” she said.

William reluctantly drew himself to attention. “Ma’am.”

“At ease. Please, continue. Give us every detail.”

“Samir just killed himself,” William screamed in Hammond’s face. “What more detail do you need? He just killed himself because… Because…” Hammond wasn’t phased by the screaming. Her face was stoic. “Because what, Captain?”

“Because he knew something, something he thought was going to hurt him. He said that they were here and that more were coming.” “More of who?”

William looked at Hernandez, trying to calm down. Hernandez lightly shook his head just out of Hammond’s sight.

“More of who?” demanded Hammond.

“Perhaps now is not the time, Commander,” said Hernandez, stepping in between William and Hammond. “There will be time for interrogations where we will more accurately learn what happened tonight. ISAF will do a full and thorough investigation being that this happened on base. All press will be directed through me. No UNIRO personnel should be allowed to comment about what happened so as to prevent rumors and a misinterpretation of events.” “We have sixty-eight days left ’til we open this organization,” stated Hammond resolutely. “This will not get in the way of that fact. You have sixty-eight days to get this investigation finished and on my desk and to UNIRO Command in San Francisco. Is that understood, Chief?” “To be proper and thorough this investigation may take more than sixty-eight days ma’am. We must exercise patience and - ”

“Sixty-eight days, Chief,” Hammond insisted one final time before walking back to her vehicle with her escorts. As she got in, she stood up on the doorstep and shouted back, “Captain, never speak to me like that again. Training your mouth is just as important as training your body. Don’t bloody forget it.” “I hate her,” muttered William so that only Hernandez could hear.

“Don’t hate,” said Hernandez with an equally small of voice, “cooperate. That is all you can do at this point. It’s all you should do. Your team will be looking to you in this difficult time. Be there for them and not drifting to find something that may not even be there. Do not take yourself away from them. Leave this investigation to ISAF and me. Please Will.” “But she - ”

“No, Captain. No. You have done more than enough already. Go home. Get some rest. Please. I will keep you apprised of every development. You have my word.” William shook his head, sighing deeply. He looked over at Samir’s now covered body. He had not felt this infuriated in years. The exhaustion of the day though was hitting him.

“Fine,” breathed William. “Fine.”

“Okay, amigo. I will see you soon. Okay?”

“Yeah. Sure. Thank you, Chief.”

They shook hands, then Hernandez walked away towards Samir and the investigators. But William did not move from where he stood. He was in too much shock. Witnessing this suicide made him cringe at the thought that at one time he wanted to do the exact same thing. What a waste. A month into training and he was already down a team member. Fixated on his thoughts he was startled when John came up behind him.

“Hey, Will.”

“Ahh, Doc, you scared me again.”

“Sorry, Will. I was called to take a look at Samir and I saw you here. I just thought you would like some company. Are you okay?” “It’s dumb Doc, really freaking dumb. He should have come to me sooner for help. He should have talked to someone. He shouldn’t have jumped… He shouldn’t have felt alone.” “It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Shows you why I felt so strongly about a certain someone I know who was doing the same thing…” John gave William a nudge of his elbow. William chuckled for just a second.

“Yeah, I feel your pain now. But you saved me from my proverbial fall. I didn’t save him. I’ve already messed up.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Will. No one could have seen this happening. Not even his brother it seems.”

“Doc, it was crazy. He thanked me…”

“What did he thank you for?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. He appeared, happy, to jump and get away from, someone. He kept saying they. They were coming. He was also sorry, sorry for helping whoever they are. Right before he jumped he said to use this. It was like he wanted me to find something, to search for something. I think he was thanking me because I gave him a chance to jump.” “Or someone to finally trust…”