No Greater Love!!!

TREATMENT

ACT I

It was a sunshine filled morning but the air still smelled of smoke and rubble and probably charred human. This morning though, in its amalgamation of glory and terror was special. US Army Major General Luke McGarret and his son US Navy Lieutenant Commander Matthew McGarret were situated at the same Army base after a joined effort to fight of attacks at base the night before. They met for breakfast. It had been 6 months since they last saw each other back home in Pensacola, Florida and it was 2 months until they head back. Luke admired his son for his courage showed through his teen years and now as a lieutenant commander in the Navy. Matthew knew this but he didn’t know that his father was always worried about him. Luke was Thinking of Matthew up in the sky and the danger flying held. Being in the army was dangerous but flying an aircraft 1000s of feet above the ground, flying through attacks, the possibility of your parachute not opening or being shot down even if it did, that is far more dangerous he thought. The two men continue to talk about being home and Luke’s last deployment. Right then the announcement was made over the intercom for the Navy unit to move to the gate in 10 minutes. They had another mission that morning. Luke and Matthew shared a short yet warm good bye and before parting Luke had given Matthew a badge with wings, which had belonged to his great grandfather who was a Brigadier General in the Air Force and died in the Vietnam War. At 12h00 Luke received news that the Unit Matthew was in had been attacked and his aircraft was one of 3 that went down in the dessert on the border between Syria and Turkey. Luke’s unit was called in as a search and rescue team, they were being briefed and waiting for orders to leave. Luke had done all the waiting he could do, his son was out there somewhere and he needed to get to him.

ACT II

Luke left the base with his back pack and riffle and got into one of the HUMVEE. The location the attack took place was not far from where they were situated. As he exited the base he spotted something that looked like a body not too far off in the distance. As he got closer he saw it was a body, that of a soldiers. Luke hurries toward him fearing and hoping that the soldier is his son. He reaches the injured soldier only to find that it isn’t Matthew. The young man is one of the soldiers from Matthew’s unit. The soldier is barely alive. His injuries will never allow him to survive. Luke speaks to him to let him know that someone is there. He asks what happened and if he knows of any survivors more specifically does he know Matthew McGarret. The boy nods but no more. There isn’t much more that he can say though his injuries will not permit him to stay alive until help comes the pain is agonising and a slow death seems inevitable. Luke suffocates the young man to make it easier on him. It’s not the first time he’s had to do that. Being in the service for over 30 years he is quite familiar with how to deal with situations like that. He has a moment of silence for the boy and places the American flag across his chest. It’s something the army guys are familiar with and so carry quite a few in their backpacks on missions. Luke moves out again. 40 minutes later he crossed into a small town just before the supposed place the aircrafts went down. From here he had to move on foot because going any further with a vehicle would leave him open to attack whereas on foot he can be more subtle and virtually invisible if played right.  Luke makes his way through the town. He runs round a corner and quickly dodges a blow to the head. The man attacking him is injured. He has a gunshot wound to his left shoulder and his side. It’s clear to Luke that this man was caught in the cross fire and now just wants to protect his family who are standing close by. The man looks tired and weak but pushes on, he does not give up. After a close encounter Luke is forced to knocking the man unconscious on the head with his gun.  He treads more carefully as he exits the town. He jogs through the desert about a kilometre out of the town and spots a crashed aircraft. Luke’s heart beats as if it’s about to leave his body. This time he is sure it’s Matthew. He reminds himself to breathe and makes his way to the crash site. There he sees Matthew. A deep gash to his thigh but nothing life threatening for this Luke breathes a sigh of relief. Luke runs toward Matthew but stops when he sees the look on his boys face. Matthew was standing on a mine, his body weak for not being able to move for over an hour. To Luke this is impossible as the Army was aware of this area being a minefield and so their specialist had long since cleared the area but Matthew knew about mines and would not have waited all this time for no reason. Luke had had a fair share of dealings with mines and knew how the timing on it for it to go off worked as well as disabling mines. With this being the basis of his argument he persuaded Matthew to change places with him. They would have a 2.5 second opening to change places. After adjusting his gear so his weight would match Matthew’s, Luke counts to 3 and they switch successfully. Luke tells Matthew how far to go from the mine and he obeys. Luke begins working on the mine. He gets to the inner part where the trickiness begins. He turns back to let Matthew know how far he is and what else he has to do. Matthew looks at his father and thanks him and they share a moment only the two of them will ever understand and remember. Luke continues with the mine. He tells Matthew that he has a 3 second window to know if he is successful. He turns back and smiles at his son and moves away. Matthew breathes a sigh of relief and smiles. And then a distant explosion which shakes the ground and sets the mine of again this time Luke looks at his only son and covers his heart with his hand.

ACT III

The moment was surreal. Matthew knew the danger about mines but this was too much. He just witnessed his father dying. He thought of how that could have been him. Matthew had never known heart break but if what he was feeling was anything to go by, he was certain this was it. 20 minutes later a chopper flew down to where he was. They were too late but he understood their respect toward following protocol. The men each distraught by what happened. Everyone at base was familiar with the man General McGarret was. They remembered the way he tried to make the men sure that this was the place for them and that death no matter when or where is like a roaring lion that prowls around the earth seeking whom it may devour and so in the time they have to live they are doing what can be considered the highest honour. They made their way back to the base camp and Matthew telephoned his mother. They shared many memories and talks but none as painful as this. Matthew decided that on his next tour things would be different. He would ask for a transfer. He would become a specialist in the task force and his passion would no longer be flying but mines. The badge from his father, he wore daily, proud to be the son of a man who would give his life gladly.