Chapter 23: Battle Plan

Soon after Mira had been debriefed, Terry Sideman arrived. He hugged Pru warmly, then turned to the others asking to be brought up to date.

"You're late, boss," Pru said. "You'll have to catch up as we go."

"The real issue is," Terry said, "do we have a right to do anything here? Is this a real Special Ops assignment?"

Zahlman began. "First, as you said before, it's illegal to be without implants, and removing implants from your own body is a felony. Removing implants from someone else is also a felony, only worse. That's Number One."

"Agreed," Terry said.

"On the other hand," Pru continued, "religious freedom is respected. They have a right to worship — and to live, I suppose — as they please."

"Not without implants, Pru," Terry said. "That's been established by the International Court."

"Right. And with implants, they can't have children without mutual consent."

Isabella said, "But consent can be coerced."

"True," Terry agreed, "but that's down the road. The children need their med implants, that's top priority. And, the IDs and fertility implants for the adults. We can send in a Special Ops team to take care of that."

"Terry, that won't do the job," Pru retorted. "You aren't thinking. First, these guys are perfectly capable of tearing those implants right back out. And, there are pregnant women and children there. Did you leave your head in Nyack?"

Terry shook his head vigorously. "Sorry. Pru, let's change this process. Tell me what you think needs to be done. Then, I'll tell you if we can do it."

Pru began, "We need an augmented Special Ops team. Mira, Isabella, can we get Bravo Force together again?"

"I've talked to all of them," Isabella said. "They're ready for whatever you need." She turned to Mira. "You too?"

Mira nodded.

Pru went on. "We need an SO team — that's 50 troops, right?" She looked at Terry, who nodded agreement. "And we need a medical team, too, to replace the implants and give primary care."

Zahlman looked to Terry, "Are these medical teams all male?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"The women must be treated only by women. Here in the CA, it's the individual's option, but these people have religious attitudes, and I'll bet anything they'll go nuts if a man touches one of the women, especially to install a med implant on the inside of her thigh."

"Absolutely, Zahlman," Pru said, turning to Terry. "A mixed med team, 50/50 at least. And Terry, do we have an SO team that speaks Arabic?"

Terry shrugged, then said, "I'll have to see what we've got. I don't know if we can get women medical techs. That is, we have them; I need to check availability. And, Arabic speakers could be a problem." He went on, "But what then? Do we leave them there in the village? I don't think so."

"No, they'd just begin all over again," Mira said. "And, it would be worse than it is now."

"Well, then, what's the legal position?" Terry asked. "The men who started this, and those who went along with them, are felons. The women, most of them, and all the children, would probably be considered victims."

"Not all of them, Terry, as you say," Mira said, "some of those women are as bad as the men."

"Well, the usual for most non-violent criminals is Expulsion, but that's not what's needed here. And, it's complicated by the fact that there's religion involved."

"Can't we just turn this over to OSG and let them worry about it?" Zahlman asked.

Terry thought for a moment. "Of course, that's what we should do, but we all know the state of OSG forces here in North Africa. Depending on who's involved, they might just turn them all loose to start over, put them all in jail, or anything in between. No, we need to find a better solution."

"How about condemning them to a year of Neo-Tantra training?" Zahlman chuckled. "That sure changed my outlook."

Terry looked at him speculatively, then grinned. "Well, you might have something there. I've got a lot of confidence in Neo-Tantra; maybe I can develop a Sufi method for this situation." He grinned, and shook his head. "No, that's speculation." Terry, his face thoughtful, began coding into his remote, then excused himself and left the room.

Mira ventured, "Is there some way of tagging them and restricting them to a limited area? That way, those who wanted to leave could do so. The rest could stay and have all the fun they want. We'd have to monitor the area — not let the wrong supplies or wrong people get in, but..." She trailed off.