“Is the agent you took still alive?”
Alvarez looked up at Peace without expression. Peace leaned down and whispered in his ear.
“If I find out you knew anything about him, I will get you alone, and fillet the skin right off you. You will look like a chicken, ready for the pot.”
Alvarez stared up at Peace’s face with dawning apprehension.
“You cannot do that. I…”
Peace’s hand clamped over Alvarez’ mouth in an iron grip. Alvarez felt something sharp puncture his suit, and enter his side, under the ribcage. Sweat beaded up on his brow, as he felt something wet trickle down into his pants. Peace smiled into Alvarez’ face. He twisted the knife he had embedded half an inch into Alvarez. Alvarez moaned, his eyes as big as saucers. Bull moved between Peace and the rest of the bridge crew.
Only Doc and Lieutenant Righter could see what was going on.
“Is he alive?” Peace whispered fiercely into Alvarez ear.
“Si…Si… he is alive,” Alvarez mumbled through Peace’s fingers.
“Please… I know where he is. I…”
Peace rattled off the directions to the CIA safe-house, watching Alvarez’ eyes betray the accuracy of what Peace said.
“Now, how many guards do you have on him?” Peace asked.
“Thr…three, just three,” Alvarez panted.
Peace backed away, pulling the knife out of Alvarez side, and slipped it into his coat pocket again. “If it is not as you say, I will come for you.”
“He… he is there. I…I’m bleeding,” Alvarez whined.
Doc Jameson came over with his med kit. Without a word, Jameson opened Alvarez shirt and coat. A few minutes later, he had the blood flow stopped, and the small wound bandaged tightly. Doc tucked the man’s shirt in and buttoned his suit coat.
“Thanks, Doc,” Peace said.
Jameson shrugged. “I can’t do anything about the slice in his coat and shirt. How’re your holes doing?”
“Not bad, thanks to you.”
“He tell you what you wanted to hear?” Doc asked, glancing at Lieutenant Righter and Bull.
“He confirmed my friend is still alive,” Peace replied.
“Good, count me in if you need help getting him out.”
“I don’t know if it will be a sanctioned mission, Doc,” Peace told him.
“It wasn’t sanctioned when you came and got me in Syria either,” Doc said, walking away. “Count me in.”
“What’s he talking about, Peace?” Dan asked, seeing Peace look at Bull uneasily. “There something you two cretins been hiding from me? What about Syr…”
“We’re on, Peace,” Dave’s voice in his ear told him. “Ibrim has the gear set up for you after we give them a taste.”
“I’ll get right down there, Dave,” Peace replied.
“Say the word, Lieutenant,” Dave continued.
“On my mark, Sir, thirty seconds,” Dan said, glancing at his watch. “Now.”
A moment later, Dan watched the M60’s open up on the startled dock workers, engulfing the area between the trucks and the ship. By the time Peace had reached Ibrim, the Apache helicopters were hovering in a perimeter around the port area. Peace took the mic from Ibrim as the gunfire clattered to a stop. Peace shouted out in first Spanish, and then Arabic, for the soldiers below to throw down their weapons; and get face down on the ground, hands behind their heads. Screams echoed out from the wounded on the dock, as Peace watched the chaotic scene unfold beneath him in the smoky haze.
One of the Apache helicopters, near the port facility fired a rocket into the front entrance, with devastating effect, as Peace continued his call for their surrender. After the explosion, Peace could see the soldiers complying with his orders. Within moments, hundreds of prone bodies lie around the dock and port area. The eerie silence, following the cessation of gunfire, was broken only by the sound of numerous helicopter rotors.
“It looks good, Peace,” Dave said in his ear. “There was a group with an RPG at the port facility building, but that threat is gone. Our other teams will be dropping down from the transport helicopters to join us in the mop up.”
“Any trouble from the Mexicans?” Dan asked from the bridge.
“Not yet, but the day is young.”
“Roger that,” Dan answered. “Peace, you stay where you are.
We’ll need as many translators as we can get.”
“Aye, Sir,” Peace acknowledged.
Peace looked down at the woman across from him. She glared back at him with hate in her eyes, but also fear. He could tell she remembered the Batiste mission. Peace walked over to the two guards near her.
“Mancuso, and Septien, right?” Peace asked, smiling.
“You have a good memory, Peace,” the big dark haired man, Peace knew to be Septien said.
“Syria was a long time ago,” the shorter man, with bush cut reddish toned hair added, nodding with a grin.
“You guys, and Ibrim here, have been with Dave a long time,” Peace said. “Any of you guys know Julio?”
“We all do, Peace,” Ibrim said, as he came up alongside Peace.
“What about him?”
Peace outlined the circumstances, while the three men glanced down at the woman shackled near their feet. Lastly, he told them he didn’t know if he’d get permission for a rescue.
“Just tell us the plan,” Mancuso said, trading looks with his comrades, who were nodding in agreement.
“We’re going to get in that limo over there, and take a ride out to where they have Julio,” Peace said, indicating the vehicles he referred to by the damaged port facility. “This bitch over here will be our intro into where they have him.”
The woman spat on the deck at their feet, cursing them in Spanish. “I will not help you bastards do anything, and especially not rescue that…”
She screamed as Septien kicked her in the side. He knelt down next to her, clamping her neck in a vice-like grip, as she writhed in pain.
“Julio is like a brother to me, puta,” Septien said quietly in Spanish, shaking her head gently as he spoke. If Peace says you will help, you will help. In fact, if need be, you will beg for the privilege of helping.”
“What’s going on?” Dan asked, as he and Bull walked up, fully armed, without their beards and makeup.
“I’m putting together a little group to go after Julio, Sir,” Peace answered. “This woman, and Alvarez’ limo could make it a walk in the park.”
“These men were torturing me,” the woman screamed at Dan.
“Could you gag her?” Dan asked Septien. “I’m already sick of her voice.”
“By your command, Lieutenant,” Septien said, taking the piece of duct tape, Mancuso handed him. He spread it over the still protesting woman’s mouth.
“If you’ve finished your business, let’s get down to the dock, and clean up the rest of these weasels,” Dan said, walking towards the docking ladder.
“Thanks, guys,” Peace said, with a wave back at the three men.
“I’ll be down as soon as Dave relieves me, Peace,” Ibrim said, as Peace fell in next to Bull.
Peace nodded, and turned to Bull as they started down to the dock.
“Dan say any more about Doc?”
“Not yet,” Bull replied quietly. “What the hell got into Doc?”
“I don’t know,” Peace admitted.
“You think that little mess on the Syrian border has been eatin’ at him all this time?”
“Man, I haven’t given it a thought since then,” Peace continued. “It must be bothering him, otherwise he would have left it alone. Of all the times to bring that up.”
“Maybe he wanted to make sure you didn’t bypass him again, JB.”
“Oh boy, here we go again,” Peace sighed.
“The Lieutenant ain’t going to let this go,” Bull said, ignoring Peace’s reaction to his send up of recent events. “He was already pissed from the incident with Holly.”
“Doc would have never la
id that egg if he’d known what bad timing it was for us,” Peace added. “I guess we should have talked about it with him when we made it back to the states. I just assumed he’d figure shit happens, and let it go. There really wasn’t any need to involve Dan in it.”
“Doc knows he screwed the pooch on that one; but damn, he lived, we lived, no blood, no foul,” Bull continued in the same vein. “Later, if something was mentioned officially, the Lieutenant had deniability. He’d see it plain if you hadn’t decided to become James Bond behind his back.”
“Why you no good turd,” Peace retorted as Bull grinned. “I…”
“Hey, you two,” Dan called out from the dock. “If you ladies can hold the chatter for the time being, maybe we can get this wrapped up before the Western seaboard starts glowing in the dark.”
“Hoo-ya!” Bull and Peace replied smartly before jogging down the rest of the way.
Peace gritted his teeth as every step reminded him of his injured ankle. When they reached Dan, he pointed at a squad of special-forces soldiers roping down from a hovering transport helicopter.
“Dave says that’s the group you guide, Peace. They’ll be spearheading the roundup, and they need an interpreter. The man in charge is Lieutenant Gomez,” Dan told Peace.
Peace saluted formally, and limped/jogged over to where the men were touching down, right in the middle of the cringing men laying prone all over the dock.
“You’re with me, Chief,” Dan said, walking towards the still smoking port facility. “I already sent for the rest of the team. We’re to secure the building. We’ll meet up with the others at what’s left of the entrance. We won’t have Peace to ask for them to come out, come out, wherever they are, in Arabic. If they don’t know Spanish, or Chinese, or hand gestures, they die, clear?”
“Hoo-ya,” Bull answered.
The two Seals jogged past wounded and dying men, interspersed among the surrendering force on the dock. Squads of men, roping down from the helicopters, spread out amongst Alvarez’ small army, getting the ones still capable of movement to an open section of the dock. Dan and Bull did a quick, but thorough check of the limousines, while two other squads went over the fleet of trucks with Apaches flying cover. After completing their search of the limousines, Dan and Bull jogged to the wreckage of the front entrance of the port facility. An explosion in the sky east of the port facility, caused both men to glance up while huddling next to a wall.
“One cowboy from the Mexican Air Force just got splashed,” Dave said over the com. “The others are taking the hint. I think there’s going to be some tense relations between us, and our buddies, south of the border.”
“Wait until we demand they turn over that Colonel, working for the terrorists,” Dan replied. “How many men do you think went into the building here?”
“We counted twenty-two before the fireworks,” Dave answered. “You be careful in there, Lieutenant. If it’s too hot, we’ll vaporize it.”
“Roger that,” Dan acknowledged, turning to Bull, while they waited for the rest of Seal Team Six. “Okay Chief, what the hell’s all this Syrian business, Doc mentioned, while you and your little partner exchanged goo-goo looks?”
“Peace was on point, and…” Bull began, hesitantly.
“When we were in Abu Kamal?” Dan interrupted.
“Yea, just before we went inland,” Bull confirmed. “A Warthog had just cleaned out that Syrian listening post, and Peace was on scout, with Doc just behind, and me bringing up the rear. We hear what sounds like screams from a child near a few of the shacks on the outskirts of the town. I… I don’t know what got into Doc. He just took off for the one he thought the noise was coming from. Before we knew it, we’re taking fire from the buildings where Doc had disappeared to. Peace drops prone, and gets his sniper rifle out. While he starts causing more screams, I worked my way over to him. When…”
“Why the hell didn’t you call the rest of us in?” Dan asked, interrupting again.
“I tried, Sir,” Bull protested. “Something disrupted our com units. All I had when the gunfire started, was static.”
Dan nodded. “I remember the sound of firing, and you guys had been told to keep silent unless something big came up. We almost hauled ass towards your position anyway, but I figured one of you would have called. I gave you fifteen minutes.”
“As it was, I see a bogey pop up with Doc in front of him, a gun barrel jammed up under his chin. A split second later, the bogey’s head exploded like a ripe tomato, and Peace is up and running. I hosed the place around with M60 fire, until Peace gets in where we saw Doc go down. A couple minutes later, Peace comes out, leading a groggy Doc. They’d sapped him the moment he went through the door. With the guys clear, I used the M60 to pacify the place until Peace made it back to me with Doc.”
“Doc knows you should have reported him,” Dan nodded in understanding. “Did Peace talk you out of reporting it?”
“Hell no, Dan,” Bull retorted uncharacteristically. “We didn’t think anything about it. I considered letting you know, but we got a little busy right after. Doc went on for a few minutes after Peace hauled him out about what a boot camp he was. He never mentioned it again until up on the bridge. Peace thinks maybe it’s been bothering Doc ever since, and he just never let on.”
“It hasn’t bothered his performance since then; and we’ve logged quite a few mission hours since, including that recent hot one down in Chile,” Dan commented, as he looked back towards the ship, to see the rest of the team approaching in a spaced orderly fashion, weapons ready, as they threaded their way amongst the prisoners being processed. “I’ll talk to him. Hell, I doubt I would have given it a thought either, other than watching him a little closer for a while. I expect you did do that.”
“Peace and I both kept an eye on him,” Bull replied. “We knew he had a concussion, but we weren’t in a position to do anything about that anyway.”
“Procedure would have dictated Peace nail the guy holding Doc, and then you two wait for backup,” Dan said with a grin, seeing the look of annoyance cross the Chief’s face, before Bull realized he was being put on.
“Good one, Lieutenant Dan,” Bull sighed, using Peace’s occasional send-up of the Lieutenant. “How do you want to do this?”
“Peace briefed us pretty well on the building layout; but with the number of rooms, and places to hide out, this will take a while. You tell me.”
“We need two more teams,” Bull said, as the rest of the team arrived. “We should have a team start on the top floor, one in the basement, and another here in the main complex.”
“Good thinking,” Dan chuckled. “Now, if you’ll step back into our dimension, where we don’t have two other teams to spare on this gig, what do you think?”
“Wait for backup?” Bull offered.
“Okay, I asked for that,” Dan sighed, as the others looked at the two with some confusion. “Two man teams to start at the top, bottom, and main complex. Tracer, you and J.T. go up. Doc, you and Tony go below. Bull, you and Nick take the main complex. I’ll be go to here, and coordinate, so you bunch don’t shoot each other. Let’s make it safe for me at my command post. You all know the layout of this rat-hole. Get moving.”
Over the next hour, Seal Team Six went over the port facility complex with the precision of an experienced close quarter combat team. Dan directed, and acknowledged each cleared section on a detailed draft he had of the building, Peace had made up for him on the computer while they were in transit. Dan dragged the mangled remains of the men who had gone one on one with the Apache gunship, outside the front entrance. Bull and Nick returned with one terrified soldier, who they found hiding in an equipment compartment on the top floor. The other teams returned empty-handed.
The prisoner was Mexican, so Dan questioned him about whether they had found all of the soldiers he had been in the building with. After looking over the remains of the men Dan had lined up outside, the soldier indicated they had found everyone. He told Dan he had
faded back into the building as soon as the Apache helicopters arrived, once he found out his comrades had no intention of surrendering. Dan told Nick and Tony to take the prisoner over to where they were processing the other prisoners.
“That went well,” Bull commented, as the rest of the Seals took up defensive positions in front of the port facility.
“The Apache sure did a number on these bunched up idiots,” Dan agreed, indicating the bodies he had in front of the entrance.
“I count twenty-two down,” Bull commented.
“Yea, you and Nick collared number twenty-three,” Dan replied. “I’m glad he didn’t have a missile launcher. He could have popped up on the roof, and undid all this precision guesswork we’d put into operation.”
Bull laughed. “They would have nailed his ass, Lieutenant. If an Apache wouldn’t have gotten him, one of our snipers on the ship would have.”
“Yea, we hope,” Dan sighed. “I…”
“Lieutenant?” Dave’s voice came over Dan’s com unit.
“Go ahead, Sir,” Dan acknowledged.
“Peace outlined his plan to pick up our guy Julio, if he’s still breathing. I added a little to it. Take two limo’s, your team, if you want in, and my three men: Ibrim, Mancuso, and Septien.”
“You got the go ahead already?”
“I didn’t want to bother the brass with such a little side deal. They have enough on their plate,” Dave explained. “I’m Op agent in charge, and it sounds like a quickie to me. Volunteers only. You in or out?”
“I’ll let you know in two minutes,” Dan replied, as Nick and Tony rejoined the team.
“Roger that, my guys are on the way down with the woman. We unfortunately need her alive later. She doesn’t have to look good, but I could use her breathing.”
“I understand. I’ll be in touch.”
“No pressure, Lieutenant,” Dave replied. “Meathead will go anyway with my three other blockheads.”
“Ah,” Dan laughed. “You seem to have the same discipline problem I have. In fact, you have the exact same one, named Peace.”
“I can’t fault him on this one, Dan,” Dave added. “Julio’s the best. Peace don’t know this, but Julio saved my ass down South once.”
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