Texas Nights - Book 13 of the Damned of the 2/19th

Ignorance is Bliss

The III Corps grader nodded slowly, looking grave.

"How?" Captain Hiddle asked, his usual abrasiveness back.

There was silence.

"I know," I said, stepping forward.

Lieutenant Johnson, the Bravo Company XO, suddenly blushed. Captain Hayes gave me a pleading look.

"Go ahead, Chief," Colonel Krait said.

"Enhanced interrogation," I told everyone, walking up to the front of the room. "More commonly known as... torture."

"They what?" Colonel Legget blurted.

"Red Team OP4 tortured them for the codes, they gave them up," I shrugged. I held out my hand and Donovan slapped one of my camouflage colored plastic covered folders into my hands. I looked at the treatment and examination forms inside.

"In my semi-professional opinion," I stated, "They were exposed to: physical beatings, stress positions, waterboarding, and phobia exposure. Specifically, in the last case, chair drops."

"Waterboarding? What the fuck is that?" Captain Hiddle asked.

I shivered, pushing back the memory of SERE. "You put someone in a chair, pull their head back, cover their face with a cloth, and pour water over it. They feel like they're drowning. It's extremely effective."

Everyone looked at the three officers, all of whom looked down.

"The Red Team OP4 commander probably ordered it or performed it," I said.

"He's a fucking bastard," Lieutenant Johnson spat. "That asshole beat the shit out of us, waterboarded us, until we gave up the codes, then made us squat down against a wall with a tent pole behind our knees."

"If it helps, they used to expose him to that on a yearly basis for anti-interrogation training," I shrugged. "He knows exactly how it all felt."

"I want that man prosecuted," Colonel Legget said. "This is supposed to be a training exercise, not an excuse for him to indulge in his sadistic desires."

That made me burst out laughing. Everyone turned and looked at me but I waved my hand. I knew I was out of line when I took off my sunglasses and looked at the Colonel. "Oh, my sweet summer child, you have no idea the kind of hell he can unleash on all of us if he was allowed to go at us full throttle."

Colonel Legget colored and opened his mouth, but Colonel Krait cut him off, addressing the III Corps grader.

"Can we discuss the man himself, or just his training exercise profile?" He asked.

The III Corps grader thought for a moment and said: "How about profile first, then the soldier you've put in that role."

Colonel Krait nodded, waving at Major Eubanks. "Are you ready to give the briefing?"

Major Eubanks moved up, stopping in front of the easel and white-pad. He flipped back the canvas cover, revealing photos taped to it and data.

"Anton Stoyachavavoda, formerly a Senior Sergeant with the Russian Army. Records are spotty at best, but it looks like he had been part of the Soviet Army guarding several biowarfare and chemical warfare production plants," Major Eubanks said. I had to admit, Stillwater looked sharp in the mockup photos. "State Department can't find much on him. He's currently the leader of the Red Faction and is known by the moniker "Fireant", which refers to usage of flamethrowers on civilians in the early years of the civil war."

Even though it was training, and bullshit, it still gave me the chills. He flipped the page, showing the more recent data. Pictures of Stillwater on the move, with that eyepatch adorned with the Soviet Red Star raising goosebumps on my skin.