Book+1

=The Journey Begins: Odysseus spies undercover in Iraq. Loses teammates. Tries escaping. =

Four years. That is how long Odysseus has been fighting in the Iraq war. Four long years in the hot desert with the sweltering sun beating down on him. Whenever there is a moment of down time his thoughts immediately went to his family, back in New York. He misses his beautiful, graceful wife Penelope and his strong, young son Telemachus. But those thoughts never stay long. Looking around at some of his comrades he notices many of them are new. Shuddering at every sound of gun fire, nervous and anticipating their first kill. The guns going off around Odysseus had become white noise, their loud “boom” consistent and countless.

U.S. General David Petraeu called Odysseus into the tent that he had set up as his office. General Petraeu was one of the top U.S. generals, intimidating commander, powerful leader, raised officer. He was so ancient, the battle scars from the Cold War, Vietnam War, and Korean War, all still hauntingly fresh in his memory. Making him the soldier he was today. His life was in the military. He was strict, ruthless, and strong. As Odysseus arrived, he immediately new something was different, the General looked weak, tired, and //human // .

The General told Odysseus his plan of sending him and a select few others over into enemy camp to spy and collect information. Odysseus had taken many years of Arabic, he was fluent in the Iraqi’s language. He told Odysseus about the advantage it would give the U.S., having someone on the inside giving them warning. He mentioned the honor and glory those few would have. Odysseus new this job wasn’t optional, it was being entrusted to him. He had no choice but to take it with a purpose above anything else. Odysseus was going to be sent over almost immediately. He introduced himself as Odysseus, warrior of the land, man in charge, king of battles, to his 3 comrades: Erich Rhodes, Trevor Browne, and Steven Anderson. He had worked with Erich Rhodes in a previous assignment, so they were already acquainted. All of them had extensive practice in Arabic and were fully trained to handle this mission. Erich told Steven and Trevor that they have no fear when they were with Odysseus, natural born warrior, ruthlessly loyal companion, honorable soldier.

They were allowed to write one last letter to their families. They weren’t able to tell anything about what there were going to do. Odysseus saw the men sit down and pour their heart out to their family. Odysseus didn’t want them to worry about him. He would be home again to see them. He would make sure of it. He simply stated how much he missed them, and how after a special assignment, he couldn’t wait to get home.

The men learned being send over, was no easy task. They had to fly to Iran and sneak over in crates along with explosives and ammo for the Iraqi’s AK-47s. When they arrived in the center of the Iraqi camp they discarded all items, except Odysseus who carried the transmitter in his robe. They were already changed to dress like the Iraqi, and since they had been outside these past years their original paleness had vanished, leaving a smooth, even tan. If they wrapped a turban around their head, they could fit right in. Well, almost.

The transmitter went directly to the top US General David Petraeu, who was only 20 miles away in the US military camp. They were to report to him when they learned of any important information. Any other use of the transmitter or English, would put the mission at risk.

They did any work that avoided being in battle against their own team. They loaded and cleaned guns, transported supplies to the battlefront, and helped injured to the infirmary. One day, Trevor was drafted to go to the battlefront.

There was nothing anyone could do. He had been picked, and to have protested would mean they would be discovered. He was forced to go. When he finally returned well past nightfall, he looked empty. They knew nothing could be said to comfort him, so they left him in peace.

After about 5 weeks, Trevor and Steven were captured. They were caught mumbling in English to each other, worried that the transmitter didn’t have a good enough connection, that all was for a waste. Trevor and Steven were interrogated and tortured for a solid week in a private building. Odysseus and Erich contacted General Petraeu, telling him what had happened. Unfortunately, the General couldn’t do anything. Since Odysseus and Erich were safe, there was no reason to abort the mission. Sometimes their screams were heard in the night. Since they gave no information that would help the Iraqis in any way, they were killed.

Erich and Odysseus didn’t want to risk getting caught and killed so they limited all their talking and went on with their days. They transmitted a few pieces of information, but nothing too big. They both felt out of place and lost amongst the Iraqis.

Erich had just learned of an upcoming bombing. While he was trying to use the transmitter to tell the General he was discovered, ambushed, and captured. During the attack, the transmitter was destroyed. He, like the others, was tortured for information. But he, also like the others, gave nothing. He was killed.

With no outside help for Odysseus, he began to loose hope. As a lion cub separated from his mother, even so was Odysseus when he was inside the camp, trapped and isolated. He had absolutely no way of escaping. Since the Iraqi discovered the three spies, security in and around the camp had tightened. They interrogated every new solider that came into camp.

He lost track of time, each day seeming all to similar to the day before. One day, Odysseus heard it. A few Iraqi leaders planning an attack. They were bringing in everyone, and their plan was to go around and attack the U.S. from the rear. Odysseus knew he was responsible for what happened. He had the information and had to warn them before anything happened. He had to escape and get 20 miles across desert to warn them.

There was a small airstrip for planes landing with supplies. His plan was to sneak aboard a plan that was headed that towards the U.S. base that was planned to bomb them. He would parachute down and run into his base.

He took the next flight out, sneaking out the same way he snuck in, through crates. In his haste, his misread the planes direction. Unfortunately, he was unknowingly headed to Kazakhstan. 