Solomon's Private File #84
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 16 in this story, in the Winter of 2042-2043.
Solomon's Private File #84 "Angels?"
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Most of us were in the living room, in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. The
prisoners were handcuffed and on the floor. The captain came out of the
bedroom and said, "That's all we can do tonight." I said, "Good enough.
Think there is more?" He said, "Another day at least." I said, "We will
stay here. You police may go home, but report here tomorrow morning.
Know any take out restaurants?" They did. I said, "Chinese! They are
everywhere! If they don't invade us with military, or with televisions,
it's with food! I know, can't eat electronics. The worst part is, we
like it." Chuckles. I said to the captain, "Have one of your men go
with them and where they direct, and buy a lot of food and drink. No
alcohol. Here's some money." One of the police called for a car, and
they left. The enemy boss was brought in, handcuffed in the front.
I said, "Soon we will have food. We have some time for a discussion.
What does the Koran say about angels?" They were REALLY surprised. The
captain controlled himself well. I said, "Well? For people who would do
the bidding of Allah, how do you even know what that is, if you don't
know the words of the Prophet?" Their boss said, "Do you know the
Koran?" I said, "I do. Memorized. And the Christian Bible. In my line
of work, I often encounter people who are strongly motivated by their
holy books, so I must know them. My comrades here may not be so
knowledgable. You now have the opportunity to correct that. It would be
foolish of you to waste it. Or do you believe the Koran is not worthy
of being taught?" One said with heat, "That is not true!" I said, "Then
show us. What is in there about angels. Surely that is a safe subject."
He nodded and said, "Yes. They are messengers of Allah, and do his
bidding." I said, "Are there different kinds?" The boss looked
surprised. He said, "There must be!" I said, "Must is a strong word.
First we should ask ourselves who they are. Are they people something
like us with a free will, or are they wholly creations of Allah, and
only an extension of his will? Are they supernatural, or are they flesh
and blood? Do they obey Allah in all things?" One said, "I have studied
to be an Imam. What you ask, we also ask and debate." I said,
"Conclusions?" He said, "None. Too many different and strong opinions."
I said, "Point of view. Look at us. To you, I may appear to be a
demon, because I have done things to you that you don't like. Do you
think my friends here think the same of me? Might they even think of
me, because I saved millions of their people's lives with what I did
here today, as something of an angel?" There was some serious thought
going on. One said, "In the Koran, there were angels that did bad
things. But they are creatures of Allah." I said, "You know how to
extend that." He nodded and said, "His bidding. That means that some
things we think are bad, are for our own good. Oh, like He is our
father!" I said, "As the Jews think of Him." They nodded. The boss
said, "So what we think is good or evil depends on how we look at it."
The captain said, "I think more, how selfishly we look at it." That got
them all to thinking again. I said to him, "Wiser words have never been
spoken." They all looked at him in admiration, and he was embarrassed.
I said, "Please, in the awareness of what we have been discussing,
review WHY we are all here in this house." The boss whispered, "The
innocent! You saved us from killing them." He was heard, and his
friends were looking awfully sick. I said, "Yes. Am I a demon for doing
that, or an angel? Is there really a difference?" More thought.
I said, "I am a man. Within us is the ability to be like a demon, or
like an angel. That poses a problem. How do we know which is which?" A
sergeant said, "We must understand good and evil?" I said, "That can be
complicated. Is it evil to control a nation against the will of the
people? Is it evil to resist that? Do the methods employed determine
that?" There was a lot of thought going on. One of the enemy said, "We
were wrong. Evil." They agreed with him. The boss said, "More, that it
wouldn't have worked in our favor. It would not have caused them to do
what we wanted." Another said, "We would have caused the whole world to
be against us." One said, "Why didn't we see this before?" The captain
said, "A great many people say that, after doing things they didn't
think about first." They nodded. The boss said, "But about demons and
angels?" I said, "Like humans, might they be all purpose beings, taking
on different aspects for different duties, appearing to those few who
see them, as partial reflections of who THEY are at that time?" The
boss was really surprised, and then very thoughtful. Then he said to
me, "You are more than a man." I said, "At times, we all can be so. The
touch of Allah within us can grow stronger when there is supreme need.
Who knows, but that He might work through us at times, causing us to
be, at least for a few instants, one of his angel-demons. Who here
wouldn't like to think that could be so?" They all nodded.
The food came and we ate. The boss said to me, "You acted well as the
repairman. Have you done other acting?" I said, "I work in
intelligence. In the field, that often involves acting. If you mean on
the stage, no. Under it, is another matter." They laughed. One said,
"What is the most difficult part of acting?" I said, "For me, on the
job, it is showing fear. When you don't have it, but need to show it,
that can cause you to have it, which can interfere with your thinking.
For a professional actor, that is not a problem. They are always in
fear of not being chosen for another job. Or that their face might fall
off." Laughter. He said, "You have an amusing way of speaking." I said,
"Most of the time I don't try for that. Habit. Can be a good thing.
Laughing people are less likely to kill you. If nothing else, it spoils
their aim. But not something you want to encourage in a public rest
room." That really cracked them up.
We finished eating. I said, "We have had a good discussion. Now we
have to make some decisions. Serious crimes have been committed. There
are always consequences. They can't be avoided." The enemies nodded. I
said, "Cooperation could be very helpful, but still won't prevent some
legal punishment. And some will always think the worst of you from both
sides, believing you only cooperated to avoid some punishment, and not
because you felt and expressed what you thought was right. To some, you
will always be traitors or enemies. Your future will not be filled with
fun and luxury. It is not within our power to stop that, even though we
might want to." They nodded acceptance. I said, "I speak only for
myself in this, but to me, you are not now an enemy." They had some
tears. I said, "In two days, your friends will come. Any advice on how
we should handle that?" The boss said, "If they don't see me, they
could fight." I said, "We would be prepared. They could die." He said,
"They might prefer that, to prison." I said with a slight smile, "I do
not prefer to give them what they prefer." That drew some smiles. We
constructed a plan. They were surprised at what I had already prepared.
The captain had a big grin splitting his face when he heard some of it.
I said, "It is now time for setting up sleeping arrangements. All of
you will be on the second floor, but one soldier here. On the floor
above, one should be on guard at all times. Our prisoners will always
be handcuffed, if not to both of their wrists, then one wrist to a
plumbing fixture. I will remain down here. If there are any problems, I
WILL know." I was looking at the boss, and there was a flash of fear on
his face, before he nodded acceptance. I said, "Captain, please see
that it is done." We all used the bathroom. I was in the living room
when the captain came back. I said before he could say something, "He
is trying to listen to us, ear to the floor." He grinned, and
whispered, "A plot?" I said, "No, just burning curiosity." He said,
"How do you know?" I said, "Our senses are much more acute than we
realize. The mind, with its discriminating and prioritizing functions,
reduces the effective sensitivity. In plain speech, we hear best, what
we recognize and expect to hear, that is plain and loud enough to
capture our attention." He nodded. I said, "If we need to go beyond
that, we can use the clock technique, but this time in a different way.
We relax, and let our minds go free, and close our eyes and get
comfortable. We imagine our ears existing where we want to hear. With
practice, faint sounds we couldn't hear before, become available to us,
and with that, their interpretation. It's a quiet house. I can place
each of them by their breathing that I recognize. I can hear the floor
move under them. So can you with practice. And with a lot if that, it
becomes relatively easy. Very useful in a life saving way." He mouthed
"Wow!" I said, "I almost heard that." He grinned. I suggested he get
some sleep.
In the morning we washed up in relays, but not me. I looked like I
had before. All neat and well groomed. I caught the boss looking at me
strangely, and I let him see a slight smile, and he had some confused
reactions. He, the captain, and the tech, went into the downstairs
bedroom for more intelligence sharing. A big military truck arrived.
They unloaded crates just like our bombs, and took them inside, and
took away the real bombs. They were going to be sent back to their
usual place of storage. The men and prisoners cleaned up the house. We
had more takeout meals the returning police brought with them. In
between, we had some discussions. One was, I was asked, "Sir, you are
VERY strong, but you are not large. Can you explain that?" I said,
"Yes." They all stared at me while I was silent. I sighed, and said,
"Should I guess that you are actually wanting me to talk some more? Oh
well. Spies stay alive by not being noticed, and part of that is caused
by not looking dangerous. Big strong looking spies, well, there aren't
any. Why employ them just to be killed? But then, there ARE some
extra..." Chuckles. I said, "As for me being strong and a good fighter,
that is because I have been well trained since childhood. Tell me, what
is the most important physical ability for a spy?" They had a lot of
guesses, but didn't name it. I said, "No. It is the ability to run
well. All those other things are important, too, but most often, you
really need to run, and fast." One asked me, "Can you escape from
handcuffs?" I said, "I think that is not a proper subject for
discussing in front of people who are wearing them." He was embarrassed
while the others laughed, even the cuffed ones.
One asked "Where did these fake bombs come from?" I said, "They are
training aids. Almost identical to the real ones, but do not have real
explosives and radioactive material in them that can explode. It was a
simple matter to change the serial numbers and the locks. An expert
can't tell the difference without completely disassembling them, and
they wouldn't do that except with remote handling devices in a secure
shielded facility." An enemy said, "Are there tracking devices in
them?" I waggled my finger at him, and they laughed. One said, "You
have memories of the Koran. I think we have not, fully. May we have the
opportunity to do that?" I nodded, and went into another room and made
a call. An hour later, there was a knock on our door. A soldier opened
it, and there was a package on the steps. He brought it in, and opened
it. I passed out the books. There were Bibles, too. One asked about
that. I said, "To be fair. A comment. In both books, there is horror
and misery, love and wonder, good deeds and bad. Why?" They didn't
know. I said, "Do any of you play chess?" They all did. I said, "From
which did you learn more? By winning, or by losing?" They all said by
losing. I said, "So, does that mean you should always try to lose?"
They stopped thumbing through their books, and looked at me in awe. I
said, "You, explain." He said, "The bad parts in the books are there
for us to learn from, so we will know what NOT to do. Lessons!" I said,
"Yes, but the lessons are for the times they were written in. We are
different now, so they might not always be obvious to us, and they
suffer from poor translations, some being deliberate. Read with that in
mind, and you will know more than you thought to."
The boss and the captain were with us then. While they were all
reading avidly, and comparing notes, he asked to see me in private. He
said, "He keeps asking about you." I gave him an evil grin, and he
tried not to laugh so they could hear him. He said, "Your tech won't
say a word, which frustrates our prisoner. Your order?" I said, "Did
you have to ask?" He grinned and said, "Not really. We are finished. He
doesn't have any more to give. So he says. I think he was truthful." I
said, "When the recordings are reviewed, there might be more questions,
but that is something neither you nor I will likely be involved in." He
said, "You are much more than just a spy." I said, "That is true for
all spies. Most of what we do in spying is incredibly boring. Learning
fills that time well. So does teaching, which needs to be done, or we
will not have new spies to replace the dead and old ones." He said, "I
suspected. You are a very good teacher." I said, "Thank you. I measure
my success in that by the success of my students. They still live." He
said, "I am glad." I said, "But you. More wise than one should be at
such a low rank." He looked at me strangely, and said, "Thank you sir.
That means a lot to me. I have thought of becoming a teacher." I said,
"I have no doubt you will make a very good teacher. There are
possibilities. Let me think on them." We shook hands.
The evening and night were uneventful. So was the morning. Save for
some odd looks at me from time to time from all of them but the
captain, who was amused by them. I received a call, fake of course. I
said, "A truck is approaching. 15 minutes. Yes, it's coming to us. And
yes, I have assistants that are unknown to you. Standard spy work.
Divide the job, and not share more information than necessary, can save
lives and missions." Some nods. I said to the boss, "Do you think we
should trust you?" He said, "I know you. You will not trust anybody." I
to one of my boxes, and brought back something that looked like a thick
square bandage. I said, "On the back." He lifted up his shirt, and I
stuck it there, where he couldn't reach it. I said, "Radio activated by
button, and automatically by exceeding a set distance from the
receiver-transmitter." He said, "And you will not tell me what it
does?" I said, "Very good. Learn from all situations, and from your
opponent most of all." He said, "Oh, I am doing that!" I smiled and
moved to slap him on the back, and stopped myself, and said, "Oops!" He
laughed so hard he almost fell down. The captain almost choked trying
not to laugh.
I said to the boss, "Of your team, and the new team, who has the
lead?" He said, "We are equal after they have their bomb. Until then, I
am the leader." I said, "Do they know all your men?" He said, "They
know none. You will stay?" I said, "Yes. And our second best fighter.
Two of your men will leave." The sergeant stepped forward. We changed
into civilian clothes. The others of the enemy also were fitted with
back patches. We removed all signs from the house that we had been
there, and my team and prisoners packed into the repair van, and drove
down the block and parked. They were watching us through the
surveillance system. Then the new truck pulled up and parked. One of
the men from it came in, and greeted the boss. Then the others came in,
and we were introduced. Sarge and I had already given them names to use
for us. We shared some food and refreshment. The host told them about
how they took the bombs. Then he said, "You have a technician. Please
have him check these. I have to know they are real." That was agreed
to. After some work, the tech said, "They are real, and in excellent
condition. Here are the keys to your unit, and the instructions for
arming it." Then he conducted a class in it. I was the best student,
which impressed him.
Then the other boss said, "Would you like to know how we are going to
get our device out of the country?" Our boss said, "No! Don't tell us.
We don't need to know, so we shouldn't know. What are you doing, taking
a risk like this?" He said, "Easy! It was just a test. I had to know."
Our boss said, "Oh. Well, don't do it again. Need help loading?" He
said, "Yes, but we shouldn't. We need to practice it for the many times
we will be doing it in the future." Our boss smiled and said, "I see
your men are not completely joyous about that." Some chuckles. Other
boss said, "We have a tight schedule, so we should start now." They
did. It was heavy. More than they expected. In lifting it into the back
of the big covered truck, one of the men lost his grip. The whole thing
would have fallen onto the ground, so I rushed in, and held it up, and
pushed it inside. Then I stood back and shook my arm, like I had
strained it. The other boss said, "Oh! Thank you! It was heavier than
we expected. Are you injured?" I said, "I'll be alright. Just don't try
to shake my hand. I don't think it wants to." Chuckles all around. Then
there were some hugs between teams, and they drove off. We went back
inside. I said, "Now we wait. A smart spy would come back to see what
we were doing, that we were still acting like we are supposed to." They
looked at me, impressed. I said, "I can hear them. Back they come." Big
grins. I said to sarge, "Think the captain is trying not to laugh?" He
grinned said, "Right, sir."
The truck stopped outside, and the other boss came back in and said,
"Say, do you have an extra gun we could have?" Our boss nodded and
looked at me. I picked one up left handed, a little awkwardly, and
said, "This one alright?" He took it and worked the action, and said,
"Fine. Thanks. We''ll be going. May Allah bless you and your mission."
Our Boss said the same, and that was that. I said, "We still wait a
little. I have to confess that I'm just a little disappointed that we
didn't get to have a nice little fight." Sarge laughed well. He said to
them, "He's the best fighter I've ever heard of. I would have loved to
have seen him take all of them by himself." The boss looked at me
strangely. I said, "To introduce myself to them, I challenged the best
to attack me." He said, "Oh. You are not injured?" I said, "See for
yourself." I did a right handed one armed pushup. They were very
impressed. I said, "I can appear threatening at times. Injured, not so
much." Sarge laughed again. The others chuckled.
I said, after receiving a fake call, "Their truck is proceeding.
Captain, you may return." He did. I said, "Now we end this. All our
prisoners but the leader, are to go with the police. After that, is not
in my hands or authority, but I will make some favorable
recommendations, which could take some time to work their ways through
the system." They called for transport. They would also take the repair
van, minus my equipment. I said, "Captain, you will take their truck,
after loading the bomb and their other things aboard. You know where.
Patches. Come to me for patch removal, and bracelet adorning." We did
that. The boss wanted to speak to me alone. We went into the downstairs
bedroom. He said, "Are you Solomon?" I said, with some curiosity, "Why
do you suspect that?" He said, "Your demon. I don't think you are a
real one. He uses illusion. You must be him." I grinned and took my
false teeth out of a pocket, and showed him how it worked. I said,
"Radio controlled. Same for the ears." He said, "But your eyes and
color?" I took out the the light and the contact lenses, and showed him
how that trick worked. I said, "And active paint on my face and hands.
Voice amplifier on my neck. Oh, and those lenses really bothered me! If
I were Solomon, I wouldn't have had to use these things. My people saw
me put all those things on and test them, and they almost wet their
pants. I tell you, I'm very glad I never saw myself like that!" We
chuckled together. I said, "But that doesn't make any less what I told
you. It is all true." He said, "I realize that. Thank you. You are a
great actor!" I said, "But no actor ever felt as bad as I do, when I
have to use that skill." We hugged.
The police and prisoners left after the bomb and weapons were loaded
on the truck the captain would take. I said to him, "Your prisoner
knows now about my, er, equipment assisted deception. I showed him some
of the things I used." He grinned and said, "Will you use them again?"
I said, "I hope not!" Chuckles and hugs. They, and my tech, drove off.
I removed all my things from the house and the hotel room, and fixed
everything. I sent my report to my Russian handler, and another to the
Captain's commander, praising him, and a larger report to the PM's
desk, and a personal crystal of all that happened. I sent copies to
Homeland, too. Then I ported home, to a lot of hugs and kisses. I said,
"That was interesting. End of story." Lots of pokes.
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Grant
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