The Marines moved quickly through the thick dry 110 degree air. Gunnery Sergeant Cole Piermont led his men composed of four new marines and six Iraqi police members that he had trained in the past six months.
They moved through the small town 60 miles north of Baghdad looking for an insurgent cell. Military intelligence has reported that they were ones responsible for the latest suicide market detonation killing 20 civilians and took an Iraqi cleric and assistant as hostages.
Piermont was 47 yrs old and affectionately called the "old man" among his Marine group, but only behind his back, 20 yrs older he could still kick their asses. He was a state prosecutor before he was mobilized from his reserve unit and now was two thirds done with his tour of duty. Piermont wanted nothing more than to get back home to his family, but he wasn't going to hide or play it safe.
Piermont had planned this mission and the squad had practiced back at base. They took up their positions and Piermont looked at each of his men. He saw the tension in their eyes, the sweat beaded on their foreheads underneath the Kevlar helmets and their chests heaved heavy.
"Okay guys...just as we planned." Piermont calmly ordered.
"Sure thing Gunny." replied one of his men.
The Marines had surrounded a small ram-shackled house and a thermo scan showed six figures, two of them sat back to back. From his experience in other missions, Piermont tagged them as the hostages.
Piermont gave the arranged signal and although filled with apprehension the squad moved with quick precision moving into place and firing their weapons. The muted sounds of the gunshots were followed with the thumping sounds of the insurgent bodies hitting the floor. The two men tied back to back had their eyes closed and shoulders tensed as their face grimaced.
As the squad checked each dead body and gathered weapons, Piermont untied the two Iraqis. The cleric was very grateful and praised Allah for their rescue. The second man was much older and Piermont gently removed the ropes binding his wrists. The man smiled at Piermont's concern.
"I thought you Marine all tough." the old man said in a whimsical manner.
"Tough enough I guess." Piermont smiled back.
Piermont rubbed the old mans wrists, for some strange reason he felt an affinity toward him, he liked him for some reason, liked him a lot.
"You come with us and we will make sure you get back to Baghdad and your family."
Piermont sat in the back of the Humvee with the old Iraqi, which the rest of his men thought was unusual since the gunny always rode shotgun up front. However, all the men liked the old Iraqi; he had a smile that was infectious.
"So how you think our country will survive, with years of guns and soldiers, eh?" asked the old Iraqi?
"I hope not. I was always a believer of that Beatles song, 'All you need is love', you know it?"
"Oh" laughed the old Iraqi, "I know that all too well, and so will you. Take this."
The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small charm in the shape of a lamp that fit in the palm of his hand. Piermont smiled, said thanks and put it in his front pocket.
After returning the hostages, the squad headed back to base. Piermont was sitting up front now and when they were within sight of the "Green Zone", the safe area controlled by US forces, he felt a sigh of relief. But Piermont saw something with his peripheral vision that sent small hairs on the back of his neck standing.
"Slow down." he ordered.
He saw a figure sneaking off the side of the road and thought he saw a couple of heads behind an abandoned vehicle. Piermont yelled to his squad to "be sharp" and they all knew what to expect. They made sure their weapons were fully loaded and gear ready. He gave the signal to pull to the side of the road, stop and they raced out of the Humvee. Piermont gave the hand signal to fan out, all of his men searched for their target. Just as one his men yelled and pointed to something, a roadside bomb detonated several feet in front of the Humvee sending most of them to the dusty road.
The blast startled most of them and the three insurgents that planted the bomb moved from their hiding spot with their AK-47 rifles aimed at the squad. Piermont felt a sharp jab on his hip and he reached into his pocket. He pulled out the trinket the old Iraqi gave him and there was a small stream of smoke coming from the bloodied tip of the lamp. He heard the clip of the rifle over him and he forgot about the trinket he stared into the face of one of the insurgents. Piermont felt his hip with a burning sensation and his penis began getting an erection. Piermont didn't understand the feeling; it was a heat emanating from his body he never experienced before. He felt the "heat" leave his body then something strange happened. The insurgent slowly brought down his rifle and smiled at Piermont. Another of the insurgents rushed to his side yelling something, and then he too stopped, looked at Piermont and began to smile.
Both of them handed their rifles to Piermont who now rose to his feet but finding his left ankle was broken. He stood up on his right foot pointing his own weapon at them. The third insurgent who was 30 feet away did not know what was going on but as the rest of the squad started to recover, he handed over his weapon and in his confusion surrendered also. The insurgents were taken into custody and Piermont was taken to the hospital for his injuries.
Piermont's squad was all released after their minor cuts and bruises were tended to. Piermont's ankle was bandaged but he was bedridden when the doctors noticed an infection on his hip they assumed was from shrapnel. His commanding officer visited him with his staff; the general told Piermont that he was put in for a Purple Heart and the Silver Star for capturing three armed insurgents with I.E.Ds. The general to show his appreciation put Piermont in a private room.
Lying in the hospital bed Piermont thought about the circumstances of the surrender. He has been in battle situations before and never got an erection from it. He thought about the lamp and the smoke, wondering about the fairy tale of Aladdin's Lamp. He caught himself with that one inwardly smiling that next he will be given a flying carpet.
Just then one of the Iraqi attendants came in bringing him some cool water. She was wearing a full Burka with a veil. He had seen her around before her name was Nadeira. Because of her clothing, he could tell she was very religious. He recognized her eyes; they were a perfect almond shape, wide dark eyes that seemed to dance. He tried to imagine what she looked liked beneath the veil. Suddenly he felt his penis getting aroused; a heat started filling his hips and body. He was sporting a full erection but the heat that filled his body seemed to pulse.
Nadeira brought the water and was taking out the empty pitcher when she stopped in mid-stride. She turned to face Piermont and smiled underneath her veil.
Piermont felt like he could hold the heat he felt in his body and when he saw Nadiera's eyes glistening he held on to the heat. Nadeira reached from her veil and pulled it away smiling at Piermont.
