“We’re Americans,” Pauley rasped out proudly, trying to stand even straighter.
The young Navy Seal stood up, nodding at the rest of his team. They fanned out into the corridor beyond the cell. “I’m sorry we don’t have much in the way of comfort for you guys. We’re Seal Team Six. We’re point on this mission, to make sure they don’t blow the chemical stuff up, they haven’t already shipped out, poisoning the area. Help’s on the way though.”
Pauley recognized the camouflaged face, peering at him sympathetically, and he laughed. The Seal looked quizzically at him, as the haggard, bearded apparition before him, tried desperately to keep his laughter from turning into sobs. The US Navy Seal put a hand on Pauley’s shoulder, comfortingly.
“We have some extra rations with us, Sir. Do you think you could eat something?”
Pauley looked into his old friend’s eyes, pride filling the emptiness, which had been inside of him for so long. “Thanks Dan, I could eat a little.”
The Seal grabbed Pauley, looking desperately into the man’s face. “Pau... Pauley, is that you?”
Pauley placed one grimy, blistered hand over Dan’s. “Yea, it’s me, my friend. It looks like you’ve saved me from myself once again, even here. Thank you.”
Dan paused for a moment, and then hugged his friend tightly to him. His voice caught a little as he answered. “Anytime, buddy... anytime.”
Chapter Two
Different Path
“Peace?” a whispered voice spoke.
A hundred yards away from the whispered word, a face moved minutely in the early dawn chill. Even the camouflage paint could not mask the scars, nor the crooked grin, the result of a pistol-whipping years before.
“I’m here, Dan.”
“Got ‘em?”
“On your command,” Peace replied, as he sighted in on the head of a soldier at an outpost checkpoint nearly five hundred yards from where Seal Team Six lay in wait.
“When you see him stir, tap him,” Dan said quietly.
“Yes Sir,” Peace replied, thinking about the stupidity of keeping the jungle foliage trimmed in front of the checkpoint.
Having already sighted in his prey, the man called Peace, used a night vision scope to watch his comrades’ movements. Seal Team Six moved noiselessly forward. Peace could only see vague stirrings of the foliage in front of the checkpoint for the next forty-five minutes. When they came within fifty yards of the guard, Peace shifted to his weapon. The scope still revealed no recognition of the attacking Seal Team, but Peace squeezed off two silenced rounds anyway. The target simply collapsed.
“Peace?”
“He moved, Dan.”
Peace heard the sigh, as his unit leader immediately changed his battlefield plan. Seal Team Six moved more quickly now, and ahead of them, within the compound they were attacking, Peace watched for movement. Soldiers in jungle fatigues began to emerge from the prefabricated huts, making up the compound encircled by barbed wire. Peace fired two rounds into each one as they appeared. The soldiers died in the morning darkness without any sound other than the faint rustle of their clothing as they dropped. By the time Seal Team Six came through the unguarded checkpoint, seven of the enemy lie motionless in front of their quarters.
The Seals spread swiftly across the compound, working through each of the makeshift huts while Peace covered the open area. Three more soldiers fell victim to his long-range death dealing when they exited quarters not yet cleared by the attacking Seal team. Peace could only watch, as brief flashes of silenced gunfire lit up the darkness within the huts. It took the Seals only minutes to overwhelm the compound’s guardians, before they were moving quickly back through the jungle towards Peace.
Their progress, slowed by the twelve people they had extracted from the center hut, Seal Team Six guided the former prisoners through the dense foliage. Peace swept the area of the compound for any other movement. Knowing the thoroughness of his team leader, Peace concentrated on using his night vision, wide-angle scope to search for any sign of danger coming from outside the compound. With his team only minutes away, Peace loaded up his equipment, and moved silently to meet them.
“We’re almost to you, Peace,” Dan said quietly. “How’d it look?”
“Flawless,” Peace replied. “I’m approaching you now.”
“Come ahead. We’re stopping here for a moment while I get our new group organized.”
Peace still approached the group carefully, letting them know his progress before coming through the last of the jungle between them. Three of the team had their MAC 10 machine pistols sweeping the area around their group for approaching enemies. The Seal guarding the area approached by Peace grinned at him as the team’s sniper came into sight.
“The guard never moved, did he?”
Peace shrugged in the graying light at the huge Seal. Chief Jenkins was the largest man on their team. The Chief’s hands completely engulfed the weapon he held. “You guys were pretty quiet, Bull.”
“We could have ghosted right in, without you wiping out half the studs before we even came through the gate,” Bull replied, good naturedly.
“I didn’t have a spotter,” Peace reasoned. “No use taking chances. How are our guests?”
Without taking his eyes off the jungle area he was responsible for, Jenkins shook his head slightly. “They look better than you did when we pulled you out of that toilet in Iraq, mostly just hungry and tired. The two guys have been slapped around a little, but we may have to carry three of the women out. They’ll slow us down too much on the way to the LZ.”
Peace turned to face back outwards next to Jenkins. “Did they get a call out?”
“Nope, but we still don’t want to hang around here. Chili frowns on foreign soldiers and CIA ops.”
“Was Dan pissed I shot the guard?”
“Nah, he laughed a little after he cut you off,” Bull answered, glancing back at the team leader. “When we saw how many of them you dusted inside the compound, it was pretty clear we needed to move faster, so it worked out.”
“Peace,” Dan called out from where he and the team’s Medic were assessing their charges.
Peace moved smoothly over to where Dan knelt next to an injured young woman, who was grimacing in pain as the Seal Team leader wrapped splints around her lower leg. “Yes, Sir?”
Dan wrapped the last piece of tape around the splints, and turned to look up at his old friend. “Can you carry one out? We have three to carry, and I can only spare you, Bull, and Tracer.” “No problem,” Peace answered.
Peace slung his wrapped sniper rifle around his neck, with the padded part in the collar area, and shifted his pack to the front. Dan and the team Medic, they naturally called Doc, picked the young woman up carefully, and threaded her legs through the rifle sling on either side under Peace’s arms. The woman gasped in pain, but gamely clasped her hands around Peace’s neck.
“Just grip the pack straps, Ma’am,” Peace directed.
“You… you don’t look like you could carry me very far,” the young woman said through clenched teeth.
The pronouncement brought quiet laughter from Dan Righter and Doc. Although just five feet, eight inches tall, Peace was second only to Bull in strength, and his endurance was surpassed by no one on their team.
Dan patted her shoulder. “He’s kind of puny, but he’ll get you where you’re going.”
Peace put his hand over her right hand where it now gripped his pack strap. “We’ll make it, Ma’am, just hang on.” “Get over here, Bull,” Doc called out.
Bull waited for Peace to take over his position, covering the front with his MAC 10, which he kept comfortably in his left hand, with the sling over his left shoulder. Although Peace handled all long range snipping for the team, he also carried a smaller weapon to use when they moved operations on a mission. He kept his right hand over the young woman’s as they waited for Dan’s order to move on through the jungle.
When they were ready to move out toward t
heir pickup coordinates, the rest of the Seal Team took up positions around the group of nine walking wounded, and the three others being carried by Peace, Bull, and the other Seal, nicknamed Tracer. Peace led, inside the cordon, made up of the other five Seals, with Bull and Tracer bringing up the rear of the group.
Over the next hour, they moved steadily through the dense jungle, pausing only long enough to allow the nine former hostages to catch their breath. The woman, Peace carried, could not tell any difference in the way the Seal moved, nor had she noticed his breathing change in the slightest. He only removed his right hand from hers when he needed to thread through a dense part of the underbrush, or turn to make their passing easier.
“My name’s Jill,” the young woman whispered. She saw Peace nod his head slightly, but he did not answer.
They reached the small clearing, picked for the extraction point, only moments later. The Seals quickly helped the carried women off of their comrades, and then spread out to protect the landing zone. Peace, Bull, and Tracer stayed with the civilian group, kneeling near the ones they had carried, just in case they had to move away from danger. The woman named Jill peered at Peace’s face, where the left corner curled up slightly. In the dawn light, she could see the scarring on both sides of his face, and particularly the one, which ran down his left cheek, causing the permanent grin.
Bull noticed Jill staring at Peace, and nudged Tracer, who knelt next to him. Tracer saw what Bull indicated, and nodded his head silently in agreement.
“He’s kind of cute, ain’t he, Ma’am?” Bull asked in a hushed voice. Tracer chuckled in appreciation of the Chief’s comment.
Peace looked back from the jungle. Jill turned away with some embarrassment; but Peace only smiled at his comrades, and returned his look to the jungle. Fifteen minutes later, a transport helicopter moved overhead, with fifty caliber machine guns poking out of both open sides. Dan had lit off green smoke canisters to signal it was safe to land only moments before. As the helicopter landed, Peace shifted everything to his back, and gently picked Jill up in his arms. He led the other Seals over to the open side of the helicopter, shielding Jill from the vortex caused by the rotating helicopter blades. Doc had already hopped on board, and now helped the Seals load the rescued hostages. The Seals vaulted on board last, and stayed near the machine gunners. Two Apache helicopter gunships provided escort for the rescue craft.
With the helicopter airborne, and headed to the aircraft carrier group waiting for them, the Seals relaxed quietly in the back. The hostages were still in a state of shock, and they whispered excitedly to each other, even though the helicopter noise made being heard difficult. The Seals all wore communications gear allowing them to communicate under any conditions. Dan made his way next to Peace, but took off his com gear.
“Nice shootin’, Tex,” Dan said near Peace’s ear.
Peace nodded with a smile, taking off his com too. “I didn’t mean to go rogue on you down there. I just didn’t want to miss something, working without a spotter.”
“I figured as much, Pauley,” Dan said, reverting back to Peace’s real name, which only he used. “It turned out more than we figured were stirring anyway. I’m just glad we reached the camp in time.”
“So am I,” Peace replied, nodding. “They’re just kids.”
“They’re only a few years younger than we are, buddy,” Dan reminded him. “If they had taken the warnings about not going on a class field trip for the oppressed people of Chili, we wouldn’t be here.” Peace chuckled at Dan’s remark, but stayed silent.
“What, no comment?”
“Anything I said would sound a little stupid, don’t you think?”
“Man, you put that episode behind you long ago,” Dan replied, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You can enjoy the moment.”
“I am, and thanks to us, so are they. I’ll cut them some slack, just like you did with me, for so long.”
“We could have been killed helping them out of there. How about that risk?”
“What risk? This is what we do. You taught me that.”
Dan paused, looking out over the dense jungle below, as the helicopter sped along. “I learned a little from you too, Pauley. What you’ve done since then means a lot to me.”
Bull came up alongside the two men, from the other side of the compartment.
“Hey, did you guys get engaged or something? You all are lookin’ a little too touchy feely over here.”
Dan glanced over at Jenkins, grinning good-naturedly at his unit’s second in command and resident wise-ass. “You jealous, Bull?”
“If you mean about Peace here, no,” Bull said gruffly, “but the girl he hauled out hasn’t taken her eyes off him. I think she’s in love.”
Peace never turned, but his shoulders shook in laughter with his two comrades.
“C’mon, Romeo,” Bull needled. “What’s your secret?”
Peace waved his hand, without looking back, gently in the space between him and Jenkins. Turning just slightly to be heard, he said, “breath mints, Bull, breath mints.”
__
On board the United States Carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, Seal Team Six disembarked quickly, and helped their charges off into the arms of the waiting medical staff. Jill tried to say something to Peace amongst the shouted orders, and cacophony of the moment, but he and the other Seals left quickly to be debriefed. It was the last she saw of him on board ship. At first light, the rescued prisoners were flown off the carrier by transport to the States.
Chapter Three
Jill
“I can’t do this, Peace,” Bull stated in frustration.
He sat at a booth, in a restaurant bar, where Bull met with Peace, and most of the members of Seal Team Six. The Seals, when back in San Diego, California, came together every Tuesday for dinner, and a couple of beers. They also held an impromptu class on computer usage, tutored by Peace. Each of them brought their notebook computers; where Peace instructed them on making field repairs, writing computer code, and basic computer hacking.
Edward Polasky, The owner of the restaurant, called Ed’s, was an ex-Navy Seal, who treated the team like his own sons. In particular, he looked on Peace as a blood family member. Dan Righter had introduced Pauley Peacenik to Ed after the Iraqi War. Initially, Ed had laughed at the young man’s stated purpose of becoming a Navy Seal, but Dan had vouched for him.
Polasky had accepted Peace on Dan’s recommendation without hesitation. Although it had taken months for Peace, as he was called now, to heal, Polasky had taught him the fundamentals of Seal training. For the following six months, Peace determinedly did more than Ed asked of him, sometimes continuing to train for hours after Polasky left him. The added benefit, of providing quarters for the young man, came in Peace’s complete overhaul of Polasky’s restaurant business, from accounting to cleanup. Ed’s became not only a Navy Seal haunt, but also a reputable family seafood restaurant. Polasky heard Bull’s comment, chuckling at the big Seal, whose fingers could barely fit on the keys of his computer keyboard. He watched Peace get up from his notebook computer, he had networked with the others for the lessons, and pointed at Bull’s screen with his pointer.
“Bull,” Peace said calmly, “you can field strip and repair M60’s, and every piece of gear we carry. You’re doing great. I watched you make the mistake on my screen, and it only took you a few minutes before you knew something was wrong. Your syntax is wrong right here on this line. See?”
Bull peered at the screen, and then sat up smiling. “I see it. It’s these sausages I have for fingers.”
“That’s right, but just slow down a little, just like you do when you’re breaking a weapon down to the small parts,” Peace instructed. “You guys have come further than I ever hoped.”
“Your idea of incorporating the technology into our missions when possible was right on the money,” Dan commented. “With what we find on some of these operations, we need to be better than average on this stuff. Are we anywhere
near to Turner and Chin?”
“Not likely,” Doc answered. “Those two yuppie larvae have been joined at the hip to computers since they were born. They can’t even stand to stay after dinner to watch us anymore.”
“No way,” Tracer added, shaking his head negatively, “do I want those two looking over my shoulder. They’re brutal.”
“Yea, but Master Peace put those two boys in their place,” JT said with satisfaction. “They only thought they knew everything about computers.”
The men laughed at the memory of Peace’s lesson to the two other members of their team. Turner and Chin had immediately challenged Peace’s place to carry out his idea, which Dan had adopted enthusiastically nearly six months before. With the two amateur computer hacks looking over his shoulder, Peace had put on a demonstration. Fifteen minutes later, the erstwhile Turner and Chin had backed away, bowing with their hands waving in supplication to Peace’s back, while the others laughed.
They had embraced Peace’s instruction completely afterwards, and had been helping their fellow team members. Without the patience to teach, however, they sometimes did more harm than good. Now, the two computer proficient members continued to meet as always with the team on Tuesday nights, but they said their goodbyes quickly after the meal. “They know their stuff though,” Peace replied, as he went back to his seat. “They just get a little curt with you guys because computers are second nature to them. Now, let’s try something a little different with the code in this program. Watch your screens.”
Polasky grinned happily, as he watched some of the most dangerous men on the planet continue their class. It was always slow on Tuesday nights, and Polasky enjoyed staying in the bar section of the restaurant with the Seals, as his minimum crew of employees handled the restaurant’s sparse customers. He knew Dan, Bull, and Doc best, because they had been on the team the longest.
Bull Jenkins, whose real first name was Harold, reminded Polasky the most of how he himself must have been. Both men were nearly equal in height and bulk, at six feet six inches tall, and around two hundred and fifty pounds. All the Seals had short cut hair. Jenkins, however, kept his blonde hair a little longer because he was so light skinned. Bull claimed he could get sunburned on the top of his head if he stepped outside at noon for ten seconds. Jenkins held Chief’s rank, and was second in command of the team.
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