by Gennita Low
In his short message, he’d mentioned forbidden zones in deforested areas of the island. Dec, maybe with the help of McNeil, should be able to get high-resolution satellite images to identify possible locations. That would increase the chances of discovery exponentially.
His last message reiterated Surya’s and his plan. “Once location of prisoners is confirmed, we’ll plant target signal boost. Then we leave.” The SEALs would handle it from there while his own small team of three headed back to the car. After that, with a short rest, he would prepare to meet for negotiations. If the SEALs arrived at the target and their operation was successful, he would hold an ace in his pocket. Then there would only be the rocket to worry about.
Gasi stopped and looked back. The light from his headlamp splashed in Kirk’s direction, making him squint until the guide adjusted the brightness.
“This spot. Last red signal blink-blink,” he told them quietly.
“Okay,” Surya said. She turned to Kirk. “They shouldn’t be too far from here.”
Kirk peered into the darkness. “I need to get close to the river so we can plant the signal. Then we’ll leave.”
“Gasi?”
The guide pointed in one direction. Kirk saw only shadows and branches.
“There,” Gasi said. “But that’s very, very close. I can smell smoke. That means it’s near where they cleared land.”
Yes, Kirk could smell the acridness hanging in the air too. Fire from deforestation had been a major contributor of decreased air quality in Indonesia. The smell of smoke sometimes could overwhelm a whole island, especially when there was no rain.
“Let’s go close enough where I can see it,” he said. “I need a clearing or the river to send with the satellite phone. One of us can plant the device while the other makes sure the feed is working properly. Shouldn’t take more than a minute.”
“Right,” Surya replied. “I’ll do it while you test the satellite phone. Gasi, you stand guard.”
Someone had cleared a path through the thicket and the progress was easier. It didn’t look like a freshly made path, though. If they were really entering a forbidden territory, then this must be used by the Abu Sayyeh terrorists. It only emphasized how close they were to danger. He tapped Surya’s shoulder.
“Be careful,” he mouthed.
She gave him a thumbs-up. “In and out,” she said, and winked at him.
The clearing appeared behind a big clump, like an unexpected shadowy ribbon. The glow of moonlight and starlight made everything visually clear. After a moment or two, he could make out shapes that weren’t part of nature. A dock? Some kind of dark shapes on the river. Two small building-shaped shadows. A few glimmers of light blinking from cracks of those standing structures—perhaps from gaslights between wooden planks in huts.
Dimming their headlights to pin pricks, they set down their small bags. Kirk pulled out the equipment and Surya quickly assembled the device. He watched her quick, sure hands, putting together pieces of plastic and the small computer card.
“Ready. Three, two, one,” she said, and sprinted out into the darkness.
His satellite phone was ready, hooked up to a small device that would pair the signal to the one Surya had. His gaze followed her shadow as she moved, zigzagging in and out of trees and shrubs. Aiming his phone toward the sky, he called Dec’s number, then punched in the codes.
He watched as she squatted close to the river bank. She had to secure the device somewhere in the open, away from trees. In the semi-darkness of that clearing, she had to be careful not to step on anything—traps, rocks, anything that could bring attention to her.
She stood up. He pressed the ‘On’ button to pair the signals. A red light, a few blinks, then green. Success.
She turned, heading back toward them.
That was when all hell broke loose.
* * * *
The crack of gunfire was sudden. Surya instantly dove to one side, rolling to the nearest shrub. She’d been extra careful, was sure she hadn’t been seen. Besides, the shot didn’t hit anything around her. She quickly took a look between two small branches.
There were shadows running toward her. Lights flared up and shouts were heard, as if someone had been caught by surprise over at the enclosures and was giving a warning to others. She caught a few words. Filipino. The Abu Sayyaf terrorists were Filipino-based. She frowned. Weren’t the rogue SEALs in league with them? So, if these weren’t the guys they’d been following, who were these new intruders who had invaded the SEALs little hideout? And if they were intruders, what the hell was going on?
She studied the shadows scrambling toward her. There were three. The two in front were close together. The one behind appeared to be giving them orders. As they ran closer, she made out the words.
“Get in the boat. If you value your life, hurry up and get in the boat! My guys can only cover us for so long before everyone comes running out.”
Surya blinked in reaction. That sounded like the man they’d talked to in the market earlier, the one she’d said was the rogue SEAL. Wait a minute, who was he running off with? She could come up with an answer, but there was only one way to find out. She couldn’t let that boat get away.
* * * *
When the first shot rang out, Kirk’s first reaction was to run toward Surya. Gasi stopped him, pointing at the lights flaring up in the semi-darkness. The gaslights gave shape to the liquid shadows and the outlines were now clear—two hut-like structures. He could see silhouettes coming out of doors, running. There were shouts of confusion. More shots rang out, some from his side of the clearing and others from the direction of the lights.
Kirk frowned. He and Gasi weren’t firing any weapons. Who was over on this side?
Then he caught sight of the three figures rushing toward the shape on the river, the one he’d recognized as a boat of some kind. One of them stumbled and was dragged up by the one behind, who was yelling at them.
“He got them in. Go, go, go!” someone about a dozen meters away from where he and Gasi were hidden shouted, startling Kirk into ducking behind a tree for protection. Then he saw more figures emerging from the nearby clumps of bushes. He made a quick count. Three. They’d been there all along. His heart went to his throat at the thought of Surya creeping around the shadows only minutes ago. Had they seen her?
He turned his attention back to the most important thing—Surya—and his whole being came to a stop when he realized her intention. She was running toward the boat. What the fuck was she doing? There were shots everywhere. The three men heading toward the boat would shoot her before she could—
Another group of men were rushing from the lit area, shouting obscenities. And, in the midst of the chaos, other dark shapes suddenly popped up out of nowhere from the direction of the river. A familiar war cry rose in the air.
“Hooooo-Yahhhhhh!”
Kirk rushed out of his hiding place. If the first one was hell breaking loose, this one was definitely a bigger, noisier one just arriving.
“Gasi, those are my guys showing up for the party. You stay put!” he yelled as he started off.
He saw Surya leaping like some pirate into the boat.
“No!” he shouted. “Surya!”
Dammit. She was going to go off without him again. From the corner of his eye, he caught movement and ducked just in time as a shadowy figure came at him with something long, knocking the small gun he was holding out of his hand. As he rolled back to his feet, his low headlight caught the attacker’s face. One of the men from the market. He came at Kirk again with his weapon, a curvy blade on a long handle, a remade machete, perhaps, for cutting down higher branches.
Kirk knew the longer weapon had a better reach, so he dove to the left, rolling several times, as he groped for his weapon belt. The flash of the long blade slashed the air and hit the branch of the shrub next to him. Snatching up the broken branch with one hand, he turned to use it to stave off the next assault while his other freed his spare weapo
n from the holster.
Suddenly his opponent let out a howl of pain and turned in another direction. Kirk’s dim light caught a smaller figure standing behind the man. It was Gasi, waving his stick. He had obviously used it hard enough to get the enemy’s attention.
The man towered over Gasi’s smaller stature, but that didn’t seem to bother him at all. He countered each slash with his own stick and seemed to be using both ends of it as he bashed the bigger man on the knee, then turned and jabbed with the other end, causing another growl of pain.
Kirk couldn’t wait to see the outcome of the fight. Gasi appeared to be able to handle it. He had to get to the moving boat.
He made a run for the river again, ignoring the gunfight going on. The shouts mostly came from the men rushing from the huts. They were carrying lanterns and the area became brighter as light appeared here and there. He could see the boat Surya had jumped into. The engine rumbled as it moved slowly at first, going around a dark bobbing object in the water. He suddenly realized it was what the SEALs called a “rubber ducky,” their CRRC—Combat Rubber Recon Craft—used precisely for missions like this. He caught sight of another similar silhouette not far ahead. Two of them. Good, but did they know what was happening? He sure as hell wasn’t sure.
Besides the initial war cry, the SEALs who had arrived were not as vocal as the enemy, instead letting their weapons do the talking. They easily took out the first ones carrying the lanterns. While the shooters stayed in position, others scrambled up the river bank. There was just enough light to catch running figures in muddy camo engaging in hand-to-hand combat with those who had run down the embankment. It was clear they were caught by surprise at the number of intruders in their territory because Kirk kept hearing shouts of “Kiri! Kiri! Disitu! Pusing kanan!” He recognized those words from his short lessons with Surya in the car—left, left, over there, turn right. Clearly, the overwhelmed kidnappers were confused about where to turn.
He didn’t want to get caught up by friendly fire. When he ran close enough, he whistled and sharply called out, “Hawk! It’s me, Kirk Ryan!”
A figure turned. “Get your ass over here.”
He did so. Explanation had to be quick. “The Americans we’re after are behind us and are coming down here. No idea what’s going on, but the rogue SEAL has taken off with the two prisoners. I have a feeling they’re trying to figure out who you are and what’s happening.”
Hawk didn’t turn to look at him, his focus on shooting down the easy targets holding the lanterns. “How many?” he asked.
“Can’t tell. One tried to get me alive, obviously to ask questions, but my guide is fighting him. There were two men with the SEAL earlier today, so at least two I know of. I need to go after the boat that just took off, Hawk. Surya’s on it. So are the prisoners.”
“Cucumber!” Hawk barked out.
“Aye, Sir!”
“Take Ryan on the rubber ducky and chase that fucking SEAL on the boat.” Hawk finally turned. His voice was calm as he headed off toward the woods with his weapon. “Put on the spare helmet to talk to Declan. Jazz, you’re leading the raid. Zo, you and I are going hunting back there.”
“Aye, Sir!”
“Copy!”
“My guide—Gasi—is the very short one. You can’t miss him,” Kirk added as he donned Hawk’s helmet.
A tall, dark shape loomed near him. That must be the coxswain, the one in charge of the boat.
“Follow me,” the man said.
“Cucumber?” Kirk asked, recognizing the fellow. “Umm…Lucas?”
Cucumber was a strange moniker for a SEAL to have. The man’s teeth were very white in the moonlight.
“Let’s go for a boat ride, young man. Hope you don’t get too seasick.”
* * * *
“I knew you weren’t just a friend to a bunch of thieves. I don’t recognize you, so you can’t be working for MacKenzie. You’re part of the American negotiating team, aren’t you?”
Surya nodded. “And you’re the kidnapper.” She glanced at the two people lying face down on the boat, with the man’s weapon pointed at them. “But why are Americans kidnapping our people and using Abu Sayyeh terrorists to front them? That’s the confusing part.”
The man laughed bitterly. “Yeah, that’s the million dollar question. You shouldn’t be here. Now you’re probably going to die.”
Surya cocked her head. “Probably?”
The boat was slowly picking up speed after navigating past several other dark shapes. From the sounds of combat behind them, she guessed they belonged to the SEAL team Kirk had been telling her about.
Kirk.
She pushed her worry for him firmly out of her mind. He was all right back there. He wouldn’t come running after her when there was a firefight happening.
“It all depends on how good you negotiate.”
“You got a name? Hard to negotiate without names. Mine’s Surya.”
“Mark. These two here are your scientists. It took me two days to figure out where those two-faced fuckers had hidden them. Now, what I want to know is, if you aren’t with MacKenzie, who are those fucking SEALs who suddenly appeared out of nowhere? I can recognize a CRRC sitting on the river even if I were blindfolded.”
“Must be because you’re a SEAL too, right? From that tattoo?” Surya asked. She slowly took a step closer. “So, you took the prisoners from the terrorists. What’s up with that? I thought you and they were buddies.”
Mark waved his weapon and pointed it to the right. “That’s close enough. You can sit down right there.” He angled his face toward the front of the boat. “How much further to the island, Jackson?”
“Fifteen to twenty minutes, depending on conditions.”
“Good. We’ll meet the rocket deadline.”
Surya frowned. “Island? You’re heading to where they have the rocket? But isn’t that defeating your purpose then?”
She couldn’t quite make out his expression in the dim light given off from the engine room, but there was a strange stillness to Mark’s stance. He gestured to her to sit down again and she obeyed.
“Will the good scientists please get up and go into the cabin?” Mark continued. “If things go well, you won’t get hurt and will be back in the States in no time. Come on. The doorway to your left. Just go down and wait. Don’t come up for any reason because if bullets start flying, you might get shot.”
The two scientists got up slowly and complied with Mark’s orders. Surya leaned back against the seat. She still had her weapons in her belt, although her chances of shooting an armed SEAL before he got her were absolutely nil.
“You do know there will be other SEALs on that island, right? Probably this MacKenzie about whom you’re so concerned,” she said.
“I’m counting on it,” Mark said very quietly. “Oh, listen to that. Your friends are behind us.”
* * * *
The CRRC was a vehicle for recon work. It offered no protection; there was no hiding from the enemy in open waters. The boat ahead moved steadily but not too quickly, as it navigated toward the deeper waters.
“He can hear us, so keep low,” Lucas said. “He isn’t shooting at us, though. Either he’s in a hurry or he doesn’t care. Or maybe the asshole doesn’t want to make more SEALs angrier at him.”
Kirk nodded. He’d been relating what had happened to Declan via the helmet mic and Lucas had been listening in. They’d concluded the men at the market had been looking for the forbidden territory to retrieve the prisoners. Why the terrorists had kept the location a secret from their “friends” hadn’t been sorted out yet. However, it was apparent their arrivals—his and then Hawk’s team—had been right at the moment the Americans had freed the scientists and were heading to the boat they were currently on.
“Declan has updated your commanders that there are two groups. The confusion will be sorted out once the dust settles. Sorry you’re missing the action, Lucas.” He didn’t think he should call the big guy Cucumber. �
��They’re tracking Surya’s GPS right now.”
Lucas glanced at him. “That’s the GEM operative, right?”
“Yeah.”
He grinned. “She’ll kick that fucker’s ass.”
In spite of his worry, Kirk grinned back. “Yeah.”
“Kirk,” Declan’s voice interrupted.
“Right here, Declan,” Kirk said.
“It looks like he’s taking Surya and the scientists to where Jed and my team are stationed.”
Kirk sat up in surprise, then hunched back down. “What? He’s heading toward your operation?”
“Jed traced the sale of the rocket and we’ve tracked it to here. We’ve been pinpointing the exact location quietly, hoping to get the terrorists before or while you’re negotiating, but it looks like we’re ditching that plan.”
“No kidding.” What the hell was that rogue SEAL up to?
“You’re probably ten minutes away.”
“He just killed the engine, Sir.” Lucas interrupted the mic exchange. “I did too.”
“Follow closely.” Hawk’s voice came on. He must have been listening in too, while coordinating his combat operation back in the jungle. “He’s trying to keep his presence quiet. That means he won’t shoot at you. Declan, you there?”
“Yes, over.”
“Boy’s on a solo mission. Apparently, he left behind the mercenaries he’d hired and they’re plenty mad here. He has an agenda.”
“So what do you think he’s up to?” Kirk asked.
“The mercs don’t know but they told me there are two SEALs on that boat. Two dishonorable traitors who betrayed our code. They know it and right now, they know their asses are history. Declan, what do you think?”
“Desperate men and desperate measures,” Declan said. “Kirk, whatever they’re planning, it’s likely going to turn bloody. Get your weapons ready. Cucumber, much as I’d rather do it myself, shoot to kill.”
“Copy, Sir,” Lucas said.