“Damn,” Clements whistled. “You’re saying that planes can’t fly over it? That nothing can?”
“That’s right. And our satellites will pull in some images, but as you can see on the screens, this valley is blurry. Every time, it’s out of focus. Yet if you look at the overhead map of the nearby region, it zooms in just fine.”
“That makes no sense,” Clements said.
“No, no it does not,” Reynolds agreed.
72
“Okay, then why’s it happening?” Dale asked. He turned to Elizabeth, saying, “Surely someone has an idea of what causes such an . . . event.”
“We have theories,” Elizabeth said. “None confirmed.”
“So, there’s a chemical that can drop planes from the sky, but it’s of no harm to my men? I call bullshit,” Dale said.
“It’s not the chemical doing this, it’s what the chemical created. Somehow, these things control the skies. The closest we got was a drone that got a few snapshots on its way down. You can see the cave entrance here,” Elizabeth said, pointing to the map again.
“So, we’re basically going in blind,” Dale muttered.
“Deaf too,” Colonel Reynolds said. “You’ll receive radio interference once in that valley. The closer to the cave, the more interference there’ll be. York reported this, that they could hear one another, but not command.”
“Again, we have no clue as to why?” Dale asked.
“Our best assumption is these creatures use what I’d refer to as a steady electromagnetic pulse. They use the earth’s magnetism to their advantage. How they do it, we are clueless,” Elizabeth answered. “We’re working on it, though. We have some good guys at the controls—Michael is the best, I’ll add. We have NSA approval to access three of their satellites if need be. We can hack into six private ones too, if we lose feed. We’ll use thermal imaging and a new generation of optics to see if it works.”
“Ah, so we’re lab rats too,” Dale said.
“It’s untested, but we’re desperate at this point,” Elizabeth. “We’re hoping we can be able to provide you with up to date intelligence. If our eyes overhead don’t work, we’ll revert to our second option.”
“That is?”
“We have a Tier One asset inside,” Elizabeth explained. “Older guy, his name is classified, though it doesn’t matter much. Back during the Soviet invasion, he aided us. He’s still on the payroll, so to speak.”
“Thought nobody can go in or out?” Dale questioned.
“He’s been there all along. Before this thing was created.”
“How ya pay him? How?” Clements bellowed.
“He provides this information of his own accord. I can’t say why, but thus far, his information has been sufficient, verified with our current intelligence.”
“Okay, so how do ya contact him?” Clements asked.
“Yeah, you just said you lose signal in the valley,” Thompson added.
“Wow, you are paying attention,” Elizabeth said to the man who couldn’t keep his gaze off her breasts. She turned, saying, “Colonel?”
He answered. “We have what we’ll call a land-line. It’s a buried communications line, quite primitive. In the states, lots of people don’t have house phones anymore, just their cells. Here, there’s lots of lines. We just happened to tap into one,” Reynolds said.
“Okay, so you can talk to him via direct line. Fine and dandy, but how do we receive it?” Dale asked.
“Good question. You’ll carry fifth generation radios. They’re encrypted, and more importantly, encased. Whatever electromagnetic interference there is, we’ll attempt to bypass it. As for the asset, the communication system we use is ancient. Buried lines, dug by the Afghanis before they even fought the Soviets. Typed messages. The man’s English is good enough, and he’s been reliable. Here’s the thing, there will still be a lag. We listen to what he has to say, translate it, then we’ll have to report it to your team. So the intelligence won’t be instant.”
“I don’t like it,” Dale said. “Not one bit.”
“That shit will get us killed,” Clements added.
“Hence why we’re not playing by our normal rules. We’ll attempt using our technology. Rivers has some accessories that might also help in the field. Surveillance items and such. But still, we don’t know what will work, if anything,” Reynolds replied.
“Guess we’re going old school,” Jefferson said with a grin.
“That’s exactly why you gentlemen were brought in,” Elizabeth said. “You’ll use whatever tactics are needed to complete this mission.”
The Colonel nodded. “Your mission is to kill. Simple, eh? Most important, you must get them all.”
“How do we verify that?” Dale asked. “Shit, depends on how big the cave is. If any slipped out.”
“Remember one thing. It’s in their upbringing to obey. In the eighties, the Muj had seen many great warriors. Each region consisted of counsels of some form, mostly warlords. The tougher the warlord, the more power he had. These were the leaders of men. These were the Soviet’s primary targets.”
“You’re saying some remain,” Dale said, beginning to understand.
“Exactly. These things are living in the past. If still alive, they have a strong leader, one who they’d answer to without question. The goal, in our opinion, is to find the head of the snake, and cut it off,” Reynolds told.
“Who is . . . or was he?” Dale asked.
“Ahmed Massoud. He was a great leader, one who loved getting his hands dirty. Especially with Soviet blood. He was in the top ten on the Soviet hit list, so to say. They tried over and over again, but could never kill him. He was very elusive, and very dangerous.”
“Did they know he was in this cave when they fired that shit into it?” Clements asked.
It was a good question.
Elizabeth nodded reluctantly.
Sighs were heard throughout the room.
“Thing is, we’re pretty sure he was in that cave, and if he’s still alive, even if he’s changed, he’d be in charge,” Reynolds said. “Without a doubt, they’d answer to him.”
“So we need to get to this Ahmed,” Dale noted.
“Cut the head off the snake and the body dies,” Reynolds replied. “Seek and destroy all that inhabit that cave, but make sure you take out their leader. We’re hoping, if you can do this, it’ll put them in complete disarray,” Reynolds said.
“That’s our strategy, eh?” Dale said smartly. “How we going to find him? Or is he going to come out waving his arms saying he’s the leader?”
“Sergeant, I’m just telling you the best strategy we have at the moment,” the Colonel said. “Besides, Ahmed Massoud was the sort of leader who actually led his men. The kinda guy who’s boots touched the ground first,” Reynolds said. Then, as if an afterthought, he added something very important. “Oh, and Sergeant York saw him. He didn’t hesitate when we showed him this picture,” Reynolds said, motioning to Michael.
He clickity-clacked on his keyboard, pulling up the photograph.
“This is the last known photograph taken of Ahmed Massoud. It was taken within a few hours of the Soviet strike,” Reynolds said. “The picture is grainy, but his features are memorable. If you’ll note, there’s a large scar that runs down the side of his face.”
“Wait, this picture was taken the same day they fired that shit into the cave?” Thompson questioned.
“That’s correct.”
“Damn, guess the Soviets wanted a before and after shot,” Clements said.
“It wasn’t taken by the Soviets. It was taken by the Americans.”
“Did we know about the chemical?” Dale asked, hoping he wouldn’t hear a ‘yes’.
“No, of course not. Remember, we were financing the fight. Training their men. Building caves and tunnels, supplying them with weapons. It was our fight with the Soviets, done by proxy.”
The men stared at the picture, taking in the image, remembering his
features. Luckily, Ahmed did look unique. They’d remember his face.
“So the Americans just happened to be there?”
“Just watching is all. From a distance, as you can tell from the picture.”
“Who took it?” Dale asked.
“I did,” Reynolds replied.
Eyebrows raised, each of the men curious, though knew better than to ask questions. Instead, they took their time, studying the picture even longer, gazing at Ahmed’s features, taking notice of the long scar, staring into his cold eyes.
“All right, it’s settled,” Dale said. “We go in and we kill them all. Especially this Ahmed guy . . . we’ll make sure and take him out.”
73
“So, if we can’t fly over, how we getting down there?” Thompson asked.
“Your drop point will be here,” Elizabeth pointed to the map. “It’s the adjacent valley. You’ll have to cross this path, in the dark. We want you set up on the other side by dawn.”
“Damn, that’s pretty far,” Thompson said. “Another problem, you say drop point? How we getting there?”
“Plane,” Elizabeth said.
“But I thought—”
“Sergeant Thompson, your team will execute a HAHO jump, about twenty miles out,” Elizabeth said. “You’ll glide in.”
“Um, excuse me,” Svetlana raised her hand, asking, “What’s that mean?”
“High Altitude High Opening,” Rivers said. “We’re jumping from an airplane, high up too,” he said, grinning.
“Um, how high?” Svetlana asked.
“Thirty-two thousand feet,” Elizabeth answered. “You’ll be wearing oxygen masks at that altitude. You’ll pull your chutes quickly, and float on in.”
“Float?” Svetlana looked appalled, paler, as if she might get sick.
“Ah, it’s no big thing,” Rivers said.
Elizabeth ignored him, knowing Jeff Rivers to be quite the womanizer, knowing that he was flirting. It irritated her, but she continued, saying, “You’ll land here,” she pointed to the map at the adjacent valley. “Gather your supplies. From there, you’ll hike in.”
“That’s pretty far,” Dale commented.
“We can’t risk flying too near the valley. This provides us the safest option.”
“HAHO, eh?” Thompson said. “Who’s taking the woman?” he asked.
HAHO was a technique used to covertly insert behind enemy lines. The Delta team were experts at it, having done so many times. Thompson always enjoyed the rush, but then again, he had trained for it many times. He had a valid question.
“Someone will have to tandem with her,” Elizabeth explained.
“I’ll do it,” Rivers volunteered. Again, it angered Elizabeth, but Rivers added, “You said she’s my problem.” He looked at Svetlana, his voice gentle, saying, “Don’t worry, hun. It’ll be safe. Done it a million times.”
Nothing he could say could soothe the woman.
“Can I assume we’re doing a night drop?” Dale asked.
“We hope so,” Elizabeth said. “You’ll be dropped in the early morning hours. Once you gather your supplies, you’ll make your way to the valley. It should take most of the day, and you can set up recon that night. You’ll wait until the next morning before going in. Like I said, you’ll have no resistance from the villagers.”
“Sure, maybe . . . if you say so. But that area is still hot. Should we expect any resistance from other parties? Taliban?”
“Some, perhaps. It’s where the original Delta team encountered theirs.”
“Fair enough. But if we’re jumping HAHO, we’re limited with supplies. Only what we can carry, really.”
“At your landing point you’ll receive more gear. Colonel Reynolds will go over the inventory, but you’ll have access to three dune-buggies and enough weaponry. You’ll use the dune-buggies to make up for time. However, once you reach the valley’s crest, you’ll be on foot,” Elizabeth said.
“We bringing the norm?” Dale asked.
“You’re bringing everything,” Elizabeth said, “including the kitchen sink. Your team might encounter some resistance, but once you near the valley, they’ll back off. Trust me on this.”
“I don’t trust anyone but my boys here,” Clements said brazenly. “But if we have the gear, we’ll do our thing.”
“Yup,” Jefferson replied in his deep voice. “What happens if we see Taliban along the way? You got us exposed by doing this shit in daylight. What’s our rules of engagement?”
“You have no rules,” Elizabeth stated bluntly. “You are under no jurisdiction, no formalities. You may exercise whatever force you believe is needed. If you see a threat, neutralize it.”
Jefferson grinned. “Darling, I’m starting to like you.”
She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Once set up on the ridgeline, you’ll be able to formulate an approach. The cave is your destination. The Colonel and I will be here at the command center. We’ll provide you with up to date intelligence, with anything you need. But once you’re in, the mission plans will be up to you.”
“We like it that way,” Dale said. “Once we’re inserted, and once we’ve done recon, and we enter the cave, then what?”
It was a straightforward question, one needing answered.
“You’ll kill with no hesitation,” Colonel Reynolds said, his eyes steady. “Sergeant, your team is to kill any and all hostiles within that cave. Simply put, there are no rules. We want . . . we need them all dead.”
“I see,” Dale said, frowning. “And we’re up against how many again? Possibly two thousand?” The whole situation was baffling to the hardened war veteran. Two thousand monsters?
“We have no clue,” Elizabeth replied. “Perhaps a few dozen, perhaps thousands. We do know this: they will be extremely hostile. In no way should you hesitate. I want that to be clear. Anything that lives in that cave is to be killed. We need every single living thing dead. That’s your mission.”
“Look here,” Dale began, looking up to the map. “We’ve done some fucked up ops, but the lack of intelligence doesn’t sit right with me.”
“It’s the way things are, Sergeant,” Colonel Reynolds stated.
“Fine. So be it. But there’s a few things we’ll need. You say we’ll have access to whatever we want. Great. I’ll tell you exactly what’s needed. First, air support. A shit-ton of it.” Dale decided to try once more.
“That’s a negative again, Sergeant. There’ll be no air support,” the Colonel said.
“Backup? Ya know, in case shit goes down. Got some Rangers standing by? Marines will do. Someone in case we need to get the hell out of there,” Dale requested.
“Again, that’s a negative. This is too sensitive a mission. Your team will be the only ones going in,” Reynolds stated, not bothering to hide the severity of the situation.
“All right. Guess we’ll do our thing,” Dale said, reluctantly.
“I have faith your team will do just fine.”
74
The meeting adjourned, Elizabeth went to her office. She had much to do. Reynolds returned to his living quarters, tired from a long day, knowing this upcoming week would be hectic.
Svetlana left also, leaving the six Delta members and the lone SEAL.
Rivers.
They huddled, all facing Rivers, chattering away, excited and anxious and nervous all at once.
Within minutes, Clements began starting trouble. He simply didn’t like Rivers, and his mouth began to do what it did best—pick a fight.
“Fighting monsters, or whatever the fuck they are, sounds fun and all, but I ain’t doing it with no SEAL,” Clements said, eying Rivers, huffing his chest.
“Rivers is perfectly capable,” Dale defended.
“Why you defending him?” Clements asked. “He’s not Delta. Shit, don’t know who he is.”
“I do. I’ve done missions with him. Been in combat with him,” Dale replied.
“Say what?”
“He’ll do fine,�
�� Dale said again, then turned to leave. He wanted to start some checklists, start going through what he’d need for this operation. He made it down the hall before turning back as the voices grew louder, and an argument ensued.
“DEVGRU, my ass! I call ’em as I see ’em. You’re a Vanilla, west coast, Hollywood pretty boy,” Clements said.
“Country Fuck, out of my face,” Rivers replied.
“You been in Afghanistan how long?”
“Few hours.”
“How you gonna handle it? Fucking mountains up here, rocks and Taliban up the ass. I’m not watching your back.”
“Don’t expect you to,” Rivers returned. “Not sure why you’re so hung up on me, but I don’t give two shits. See, they brought you along to shoot. Me, I bring the neat toys,” Rivers grinned. “And remember, we’re SEAL: Sea, Air and Land. Don’t ya worry, Country Fuck.”
“We ain’t in Hollywood,” Clements returned. “This isn’t the newest Alien movie, and if we’re up against—”
“Drop it,” Rivers said, stepping forward.
That was enough. It was all a man like Clements needed. He swung, and swung hard, catching Rivers on the left temple. “Fucking Vanilla Seal,” he shouted, raging, swinging wildly.
Rivers fought back, though. He hit Clements in the gut, hard, then two quick jabs to the man’s eye.
The pair locked up, Clements using his brute strength to shove Rivers against the wall. Rivers grabbed Clement’s wrist, swept his leg, and brought the man down. Then, Rivers smashed his fist hard into Clements’ nose.
It took Jefferson, Marcus and Rodriguez to pull Clements off. Thompson made no move to do so, enjoying the fight.
“Let me go!” Clements bellowed.
“Step up, I’ll bust you up more,” Rivers taunted.
Clements surged forward, the three men holding him back.
Yet Rivers held his smile; there was no fear in his eyes. “You can call me Hollywood all day long you country fuck, but I was running ops while you were still in Ranger school. So go fuck yourself.”
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