Operator Down

by Brad Taylor

  Shoshana shouted, “Pike!” and I whipped both my head and barrel to her, fearing somehow Johan had gotten behind me. She pointed, and I shined the light, catching a man running across a rock-strewn lot with an old chimney standing by itself, heading toward the river and the soldiers in the field.

  Shoshana raised her barrel, and I shouted, “No! Cease-fire.”

  My earpiece came alive. “Pike, this is Veep. Soldiers are leaving the truck. They’re spread in a skirmish line and headed toward us.”

  I started after Johan, moving just fast enough to barely keep him in the cone of my light, his figure coming in and out of it as I ran, the rain giving it a strobe effect.

  I said, “Johan’s coming toward your rear. He escaped. I’m behind him. Break, break, Carrie, Carrie, sweep to the right, see if you can get ahead of him.”

  Veep said, “You want us to close on you? Meet him in the middle?”

  “No. He’s clearly in radio contact with them, and I don’t want them at our back. We have no exfil platform. How many are there?”

  “Looks to be about ten.”

  Johan went down, then came back up, and for the first time, I noticed he was limping on his right leg. I said, “Remove your suppressors and put down a base of fire. Scare the shit out of them. Make them think you outnumber them.”

  Brett came on: “You want us to take them on?”

  “Yeah, but do it noisily. If they return fire with any skill, or start maneuvering, then fall back. Put the river between you and them. We’ll meet you on the other side.”

  Five seconds later, I heard the crackling of a gunfight, recognizing the noise of our weapons at first, then a couple of desultory blasts from an AK. Johan heard it too and dropped to the ground. I lost sight of him and crouched, killing my light. I cocked my head but could hear nothing over the rain.

  There was another round of sustained fire, and Brett came on, saying, “I thought you were insane, but it looks like you’re a genius. They’re running back to the truck like a band of circus clowns.”

  I started crawling forward, slowly, a foot at a time, not wanting to bump into Johan by surprise. I knew that whoever got the drop in this contest would win.

  Shoshana said, “I’m at the river. The bank is very steep, about twenty feet deep, but there’s a concrete footbridge across it . . . wait, wait. Someone’s on the bridge. Johan’s beat me to it. Johan’s crossing.”

  I stood up and began running as fast as I could, saying, “Blood, Veep, you know that bridge?”

  “Yeah, it’s to our right about fifty meters.”

  Shoshana said, “I’m chasing him.”

  “No. Don’t. That’s a funnel with no cover. If he chooses to fight, you’ll have to kill him. We need him alive. Break, break, Blood, what’s the status with the truck?”

  “It’s bugging out. I’m moving to the bridge. Veep’s got coverage on the truck, but it’s hightailing it out of here.”

  I reached Shoshana and ran right by her, onto the concrete of the bridge. She watched me go by, and I heard, “What the hell? Where are you going?”

  The bridge was long, about seventy meters, and I saw a figure more than halfway across, limping along. I sprinted about thirty meters, took a knee, hit the figure with my light, and shouted, “Johan! Stop!”

  He did, crouching down. Hearing his name must have completely blown his mind. Shoshana reached me and turned her light on him as well. I considered trying to trick him into thinking we were friendly but decided he was too smart for that.

  I shouted, “Johan, your troops are gone! Let me see your hands.”

  He turned and started running as fast as he could to the far side. He got about three steps before he was slammed to the ground by Brett. I heard, “I got him.”

  We sprinted across, seeing Brett holding Johan in a joint lock, the South African continuing to struggle. I leaned in to him and said, “Johan, I’m cold, wet, and tired, and I don’t have the patience for any fucking around. You’ve done a very bad thing. You took a friend of mine, and I want to know where he is.”

  “Who the hell are you?”

  I took the light off my rail and shined it in my face. The look of shock was priceless. He sagged back, ceased struggling, and muttered, “Fuck me.”

  66

  Aaron heard the footsteps in the gravel and knew it was time for another round. The door slammed open, Alex whimpered, and he clenched his stomach, waiting on the blow, as had happened the last three rounds. The strike didn’t come. Instead, his hood was ripped off, and he found himself squinting in the bright light.

  Lurch stood in front of him, sporting his asinine smile, but now he was followed by two other guards, both armed and also grinning. As if this was simply great fun. Behind them was General Mosebo, his face contorted in a scowl.

  Lurch brought his cane over to Alex, who so far had avoided the punishment. He rubbed her naked belly, causing her to squirm and sob. He said, “You’ve proven tougher than I would have thought, Jew. But we haven’t used the salt on your wounds yet. Or our other tools.”

  Aaron said nothing. Lurch lashed out in a rage, striping Aaron’s belly for the hundredth time. Aaron grunted, then panted from the pain, feeling the bamboo split his skin. General Mosebo tapped Lurch on the shoulder, and Lurch retreated.

  The general leaned in so close that Aaron could smell his fetid breath. He said, “I have a very, very big night tonight. By this time tomorrow, I will own this country. The only thing standing in my way is you.”

  He brought up a finger and used it to tap Aaron’s forehead hard enough to bounce it against the wall, punctuating what he was saying. “What. Do. You. Know. Of. My. Plans?”

  Aaron said, “Nothing. I swear to God, nothing. You can have this place. I don’t care. I was in Johannesburg. I was nowhere near Lesotho. This has been a huge mistake.”

  General Mosebo smiled and said, “Since the planning has continued without a hitch, and my friends who are helping me have actually landed, I almost believe you. But I have to be sure. And unfortunately, that won’t end well for you.”

  Aaron said, “You can beat me to death. You won’t get a different answer.”

  Mosebo nodded, saying, “Yes, I believe that to be true, but I’ve questioned your prison friend, Thomas, as well. Poor guy has delusions of grandeur. He thinks because he was protected before, he would always be protected—but he is dying tonight as well. Anyway, it seems you have a fondness for this thing.”

  He backhanded Alex in the belly, and Aaron felt his killing instincts rise into the red. The two guards went to her and hoisted, getting her off her hook. Lurch cleared a table from the middle of the room, tossing it to the side and saying, “Put her right here. Right in front of me.”

  Alexandra began fighting like a cornered tomcat, until one of the guards smacked her hard enough to render her senseless for a moment. Aaron began thrashing on his hook, screaming unintelligibly.

  Mosebo said, “So, I see it’s true. You care more about her than your own life. And you can save her. Just tell me.”

  “I don’t know anything! I fucking don’t know.”

  Alex was put on her hands and knees, the hood still over her head. Aaron was close to losing his mind, his impotence to help splitting him apart, and then he focused. Returning to center. Returning to what he was.

  He didn’t have the ability to escape before, while he was hooded. He couldn’t even see to fight. But his hood was removed precisely so he could witness the horror about to occur. All he needed was leverage. Some way to raise himself high enough to remove his hands from the hook above him.

  Lurch unbuckled his pants and positioned himself behind Alex. In a low voice, Aaron said, “I’m warning you. Don’t.”

  General Mosebo laughed and said, “Tell me if there’s anyone against me, and I won’t allow it.”

  Aaron began thrashin
g like a shark on a line, screaming that there was nobody against them, doing anything to get someone near him.

  Mosebo said, “Don’t let him knock himself out. I want him to see this.”

  The first guard ran over to him, pinning him against the wall. Mosebo said, “You want to change your answer?”

  Aaron curled his lips and said, “No. I said I would kill the lot of you. That hasn’t changed.”

  Mosebo looked confused, Lurch sniggered, and Aaron raised his legs, locking them around the neck of the guard, the chains from his ankle shackles working just as efficiently as they had before. He hoisted himself using the man’s shoulders, releasing the handcuff chain from the hook, and dropped to the floor with the man’s neck in his legs. He felt it snap with the impact. He leapt up, knowing he had to stop the second guard from firing.

  The guard raised his weapon, and Alex came up off the floor, head still hooded but realizing something was happening. Something that required her to fight. She whirled her cuffed arms in a circle and connected with the guard, knocking him off-balance before he could fire.

  Aaron launched across the room, looping his cuffs around the armed guard’s throat, then rotating around and hoisting the guard onto his back like a bag of wheat. The guard dropped his weapon, his arms flailing ineffectually, his mouth squirting out obscene noises. Aaron bounced on the balls of his feet, using the guard’s own weight against his throat, and felt the cartilage break. He lowered, then sprang upward, flinging the guard over his shoulder.

  Aaron felt the neck vertebrae separate even before the man hit the wall. He whirled back into the room, the two men with weapons out of play, and saw Lurch run like a scalded dog out the door. Alex scurried to the corner, still wearing her hood. General Mosebo backed up, saying, “You stay right there. I am in charge here. Men are coming for you.”

  Aaron’s mouth slowly curled into a smile. He said, “Really? I hate to tell you this, but there’s only one thing coming here tonight. And I already told you what that was.”

  He advanced forward, and Mosebo said, “Wait, wait, wait. There’s going to be a coup tonight. This could work out well for you. Lots and lots of money.”

  Aaron reached him and leaned his face in just as Mosebo had done moments before. He said, “Give me your cell phone.”

  Trembling, Mosebo did so, saying, “Why?”

  “Because I need it to call my wife. She’s worried about me.”

  Confusion flitted across Mosebo’s face, and Aaron saw Alex raise her hand to remove the hood. He said, “Alex. Leave the hood on for another couple of seconds.”

  Her breath hitching, unsure of what was happening, she said, “Why? . . . Are we free? . . . Why?”

  Aaron smiled at General Mosebo and said, “It’s just better this way. Trust me.”

  And he snatched the man by the throat, bending him over and slowly choking the life out of him. Aaron savored the death, drawing it out, relishing it much more than he should have, the mighty general gargling and ineffectually thrashing his fists back and forth.

  After the body had dropped, he turned to Alex and said, “Take the hood off. Put on General Mosebo’s clothes. We need to move.”

  Alex looked at the carnage, then at the bloody ribbon of stripes on Aaron’s upper body. She said, “My God. My God. What have they done to you?”

  He ripped a shirt off the guard he’d thrown into the wall and said, “Nothing I wasn’t willing to pay, but you need to harden up. We are not out of the woods yet. Get dressed. We need to go.” He began digging through the guard’s pockets, looking for the keys to their cuffs.

  Seven minutes later they were slinking along the back wall, then racing to the woods at the base of the mountains. They were deep inside the military base and had just killed the head of the entire Lesotho Defence Force. Aaron had no illusions about his chances of getting out. All he had was the single AK-47 that had been left behind, with one magazine of ammunition.

  He saw a stand of trees and dragged Alex toward it in the darkness, burrowing inside. She said, “What are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to call my wife. She’ll come get us.”

  Alex started crying, rocking back and forth, saying, “What are you talking about? We aren’t finishing a movie at the mall and waiting on our mom. We’re going to die. You killed all of them. They won’t let that go. We can’t get out of here.”

  Aaron grabbed her chin and said, “Two things have just happened: One, I killed the head of the Lesotho Defence Force. Two, we’re fucking free. Start thinking about the future, not the past.”

  Alex drew strength from his words. She nodded, wiped her eyes, and said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t any help. I was so afraid.”

  Aaron shifted his grip, now cupping her chin. He said, “Sabra, your little action in there saved us both. You did everything you were supposed to do.”

  She gave a tentative smile, scrubbed her eyes again, and said, “What was that about calling your wife? Is that a joke?”

  Aaron looked embarrassed, pulling out the cell phone. She said, “What?”

  Aaron turned to her and said, “This is going to sound insane, but Shoshana is here. She’s looking for me.”

  Trying to maintain her new positive attitude, but failing, she said, “How do you know? She’s in Israel.”

  “We’re . . . connected. I don’t know how I know. But she’s here, looking for us.”

  Alex shook her head and said, “This whole thing is crazy. I wouldn’t have thought you could get us out of that room. If you believe it, I’ll believe it.”

  Aaron dialed a number on General Mosebo’s phone and said, “Belief’s got nothing to do with it. Trust me, this isn’t blind faith. It’s more like gravity. It exists, and she’s here. It’s time to put her in play.”

  67

  I circled Johan in his chair, no longer listening to his protestations of innocence. I was growing aggravated. I watched his head swivel around, trying to keep track of my movements. I said, “Johan, I don’t want to hear the lies anymore. I know much more than you think I do. Where is Aaron?”

  He said, again, “I don’t know! I gave him to General Mosebo and I never saw him again.”

  I said, “Look, I don’t even give a shit about the coup. I really don’t. What I care about is Aaron, and the fact that you fucks are trading this coup for nuclear triggers. You want to make a profit selling nuclear triggers, that’s your business. When you want to sell them to Hezbollah, that’s mine. I’m surprised, honestly. I didn’t think you were a pure mercenary. I thought you had some honor. Some respect.”

  He looked shocked, saying, “What the hell are you talking about?”

  I glanced at Shoshana, and she nodded, meaning she thought he was telling the truth, using her freaky empath ability. Something I’d grown to trust. I was surprised that she didn’t want to skin him alive, but she’d been strangely submissive since we’d caught Johan. She’d just sat in the back of the room, looking subdued.

  Brett opened the door to the house, entering and saying, “Got the two Land Rovers running. We can now get out of here.”

  We’d bundled up Johan on the bridge and then hustled him back the way we’d come. I’d told Brett to hot-wire the SUVs in the field that the locals had abandoned, and left Veep on watch for the return of anything nefarious. It sucked he’d stay in the rain, but I couldn’t leave our back door open. We’d returned to the overturned SUV and retrieved Johan’s kit, which included weapons, radios, and body armor that he’d never get to use.

  We’d marched on foot to the safe house, meeting Jennifer and Knuckles at the door, both prepared to receive us after breaking into the cabin. I’d taped Johan to a chair and had begun questioning him.

  To Brett, I said, “Any trouble with that? Any reaction from the gunfight?”

  “None at all. Shit, there are only like four houses in this place any
way. With the rain, they probably thought it was thunder.”

  I nodded and returned to Johan. “You didn’t know what this whole coup is about? You didn’t know that Tyler Malloy is doing all of this for nuclear triggers from Project Circle? Don’t play me. You’re not in the position to do so.”

  Johan became reserved, but I could tell he wasn’t surprised at the revelation. If he didn’t know, he sure as shit suspected.

  He said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  I looked at Shoshana, and she shook her head. He did know something.

  I said, “I thought you fancied yourself the white knight. Someone who didn’t simply play for pay. Why are you here, working to get nuclear triggers into the hands of a terrorist organization?”

  He shouted, “I’m fucking not! This is a strict contract. There are no nuclear triggers. A guy in Israel paid us to cause a coup. All we were doing was changing one prime minister for another. There isn’t going to be any effect to the damn country. Twenty-four hours later, it’s running just like it did before. All that happens is a guy in Israel gets favored-nation status for the diamonds. That’s it.”

  I began to think he was telling the truth. At least as he believed it. I said, “Jennifer, get me the intercepts.”

  She said, “Pike, that’s classified.”

  I looked into Johan’s eyes and said, “Do it.”

  She left the room, and I said, “I’m about to show you what you were doing. If I believe you were duped, I might be persuaded not to fucking kill you.”

  Johan showed no fear whatsoever. He said, “Honestly, something stunk about this mission from the beginning. If what you say is true, you’ll get no fight from me.”

  Jennifer brought out the transcripts we had, along with the photos of him at the Castle of Good Hope. I cut his hands free, letting him survey the reports. He saw the pictures and said, “You’ve been following me for that long? Why didn’t you simply stop it?”