My sister's fiance is being reactivated.

[xiphias]

He's 42. But he was in the Special Forces, so he has useful skills, and is therefore being called up.

I was just talking to Sibling, and we were commenting that, in all honesty, his brain is far more useful right now than his ability to be shot at, so we're really, really hoping that he's stationed, ideally, stateside as command-and-control, codebreaking, or training, or at least nowhere near the front lines. We thought about how we could get this message to someone, and I pointed out that at least ONE of us has to have our phones tapped.

"Yeah!" she said, "and I'm on a cell phone anyway, so they're definitely listening: his name is XXX XXX XXX, and he's stationed out of XXX XXX XXX, and he's really going to be more useful in a training or control role, so that's what you should do -- it would be a waste to put him on the front lines. Plus, he's got many years of experience as a police officer, so he can help set up that sort of thing, too. See? This is the good part of illegal wiretapping!"

He's 42, engaged to my sister, and has a teenage daughter. He's got a number of years in various police departments, and a postgraduate degree in theology. If they ask him to carry a gun and be shot at, he'll go and do that, and won't even complain about it any more than average, but I hope, for his sake, for my sister's sake, and for the country's sake, that they have a better idea in mind.

Comments

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

And he looks at his word the way you look at yours

Rather better than mine, I should think. I've made too many mistakes I knew better than to make to say otherwise.

Okay, so I can't imagine you taking an open-ended oath of service to a country, no matter who controlled that country, although I can imagine you taking an oath to a person -- but that's what Kent did.

This is really the essential difference, yeah. I wouldn't take that oath.

Warriors have always been known for swearing great and terrible oaths that come back to bite them later, though, so he's in a vast tradition. I hope the forces that recognize that tradition will watch over him now.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Don't those often end in the warrior's death? I hoping something a little more merciful is looking out for him.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

Only sometimes. Usually SOMEBODY dies, but not always the protagonist. But, y'know, warriors tend to have that sort of life.

I don't think it's a lack of mercy, although that's an argument I keep having with people who adhere to the religions of the Book. I'm not going to try to stuff everything I could write about that into a comment, so let's just say I meant it as something a bit more positive than all that.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

It's simply that those things tend to be a bit more into justice. Which is a good thing, and all, but I was hoping for something that would be willing to give mercy even at the expense of justice, rather than to balance them.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

See, this is why I was going to try to avoid writing a book, because this gets into theological definitions of "justice" and "mercy", and there just isn't space and it'd bore everyone else reading the thread to tears as it is.

But if it'll make you feel better, I'll refrain from prayer.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I trust your judgement, actually. Just . . . if you can include a request about him coming back safely and in honor to his family, I'd appriciate it.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that you felt the need to specify that.