The Maverick Experiment

by Drew Berquist

  The constant traffic on the street behind Habib made it difficult for Rafiq to hear, and he continued toward his friend. “What?” he returned as he stepped closer to Habib.

  “Go away. There is a bomb!”

  As Habib yelled, others in the area who had heard him began to scatter as he now waved his hands for Rafiq to get away.

  Miller moved his finger onto the trigger and prepared to fire in case he had to. “He is getting spooked. We gotta hit it.”

  Carson didn't even finish his next breath or question the decision. He struck the button, detonating Habib, and fell back in a shower of blinding light and shards of colored glass as the front of the wedding hall was destroyed.

  Miller slipped off his position on the rifle, splitting his lip on the rail of the weapon as he rolled to the ground. The blast, as often happened, had created a vibration that rivaled that of an earthquake.

  Derek and Randy turned to look out the back window of the TownAce only to see a cloud of smoke rising above the buildings near the wedding hall.

  “Oh shit, did they just blow it?”

  “Apparently,” laughed Derek as Shafi continued to follow Ikram. “Four, this is One. Thanks for the heads-up on that one, brother. Did we at least get him?”

  Carson crawled toward what was left of the front wall to check on Miller. The blast had completely knocked out the power to all the surrounding buildings, and he had to struggle across broken glass to reach his teammate as he responded to Derek, “Oh, we got him all right. In fact, parts of him will probably be landing near your location.” He laughed. “Habib started to panic, and our window of opportunity almost closed on us. We had to do it.”

  Carson paused his communication with Derek as he reached Miller, who had pinned himself up against the front wall, keeping his head down.

  The room had completely filled with dust and smoke, making it nearly impossible to see anything. That was actually good for the two, however, since the curtains and windows were no longer concealing their position. Both men were caked in dust and bleeding: Miller from his mouth, and Carson all over from crawling on the glass.

  “You good, man?”

  Miller nodded and smiled. “Did that shit just happen?”

  “It sure did, brother.”

  Derek's voice chimed in over the team's communication system, “Roger, Four. Move to the rendezvous point now, and we will be there soonest.”

  Derek turned to Randy. “Imagine that. Habib panicked.”

  “I guess I would, too, with that many explosives rigged to my body,” replied Randy.

  Carson and Miller heard sirens erupt from all over town as local emergency vehicles began to respond to the incident. Habib's suicide vest had created a massive crater in front of the wedding hall. The blast had shattered the glass windows in nearly every building in the area and caused mass chaos on the road in front of it. Vehicles of various types and colors had smashed into each other, creating a tangled collage of wreckage covered in dust.

  People began to climb out of their vehicles and check for wounded as Carson and Miller gathered their gear and prepared to egress. Fortunately, many of the innocent bystanders in the streets had survived with minor injuries, but anyone in the front corridor of the wedding hall had most certainly been killed. The detonation had collapsed the second-floor area above the foyer, causing a huge pile of rubble and overall building instability.

  “Shafi, move in on Ikram and cut him off. We are gonna do this quick because we need to get back to our boys ASAP,” said Derek.

  Shafi swerved around the taxi in front of him and was now parallel to Ikram's red Corolla.

  “I'll do this,” said Derek to Randy as he sat by the sliding door, ready to exit. “Pin him into this wall, Shafi!”

  Shafi cranked the wheel to the right, slamming the Town- Ace into the side of the Corolla, forcing it into the concrete wall to its right.

  Before Ikram could exit his damaged vehicle to ascertain what had happened, Derek quickly slid the door open and put several rounds into him.

  The mission was complete. Habib, Malawi Rafiq, and now Ikram had all been converted to worm chowder.

  Police responding to the bombing were passing as Derek assassinated Ikram in his vehicle. Quickly they screeched to a halt and began firing on the TownAce. Shafi thrust the van into reverse and attempted to pull away.

  “Go, go, go!” yelled Derek, spraying rounds at the police as the van squealed away. “Four, this is One. We are going to be coming in hot. What is your location? Over.”

  Carson sprinted down the back stairs as he responded, “We are moving to the back entrance now and will be at the rendezvous point in about two mics, over.”

  “Roger. We are being pursued and are going to have to make an adjustment. Stand by.”

  “Roger,” replied Carson as he looked at Miller in frustration.

  Shafi swerved to miss a woman and her son as they scrambled across the street to flee the bomb scene. The city was in a state of chaos as dust and smoke still billowed from the blast site and emergency vehicles continued to respond to the scene.

  While most scattered in fear, a curious and angry mob made its way toward the wedding hall. Derek knew the Taliban would certainly send in some of their folks to assess the damage and ready their press statements. Weddings, and thus wedding halls, were sacred. Though they were not as off limits as mosques or madrasas, the US, under normal circumstances, would never hit such a target for fear of collateral damage, of which there had been plenty.

  Derek and the men would have to egress from the area quickly because things were headed south real fast. Having a police vehicle pursue them did not make things any easier and certainly didn't lower their profile. Small-arms fire began to crackle on all sides of them as angry civilians fired on the speeding car that was being chased by the police.

  “Shafi, turn here now!”

  Shafi cranked a hard left down a back alley and sped through the winding channel. The road wasn't paved, and Randy and Derek struggled to stay in their seats as the Town- Ace gave it all it had. The Ford Ranger the police were driving would hold up much better on these suspect roads, but Derek knew they had to get off the main streets and avoid picking up additional pursuit vehicles.

  Carson and Miller cracked the back door to the hotel and peered out to make sure the rear alley was clear. The front of the building had become a mob scene of angry protesters and official government personnel. They would need to utilize the back alleyways to reach the rendezvous point. The plan had gone to shit.

  Derek and Randy's vehicle took another hard left down a separate channel between two sets of residences. “Stop the vehicle, Shafi!”

  Shafi continued on, glancing at Derek with an expression that clearly indicated he thought his American friend was crazy.

  “Shafi, stop it! We're gonna take their truck.”

  “We're gonna what?” said an equally surprised Randy as Shafi stopped the van.

  Derek smiled and exited the vehicle as he prepared another flash-bang. “I don't know what we would have done without these on this trip.” He yanked the pin and tossed the grenade as the police vehicle rounded the corner. The blinding light and noise caused the driver of the truck to slam on the brake and attempt to reverse. Randy took the cue and fired with Derek on the truck's occupants, killing them all, including the gunner on the rear truck bed.

  The truck's rear slammed into the wall, but the damage was only aesthetic. The truck would still run—at least, Derek hoped it would. He and Randy unceremoniously dumped the dead police onto the ground.

  “Shafi, let's go.”

  Shafi jumped out of the TownAce and followed the others into the police truck.

  “I'm driving this time.” Derek jumped behind the wheel as Randy and Shafi piled in, and they sped away toward Carson and Miller.

  “Four, this is One. We are en route. We had a slight complication. What's your twenty?”

  Miller raised a finger from his left hand t
o shush an oncoming child as he kept his right hand firmly on his Glock pistol and fired on an armed man patrolling the alley. He and Carson crept down the alleyway, hoping to find a nook or cranny of some sort away from the hotel to settle into for a while, because the hotel would undoubtedly be searched for suspects and victims alike. He placed his left hand on his throat piece, “One, this is Three. We are wondering where the fuck you are, over.”

  A shot whizzed past Miller and Carson as they dove to the side of the road and prepared to return fire. They turned to see several Talib-looking men closing on their position from the street entrance at the opposite end of the alleyway.

  Carson returned fire and wounded one, but the men ducked behind vehicles for cover. A barrage of gunfire ensued as Carson and Miller low-crawled behind a vehicle of their own. Each man chose one of the hardened wheelbases and crouched behind it.

  “One, we are taking some serious fire. Could use assistance or preferably a ride, over.”

  “We are en route. Hold on. We will be there as quick as we can,” came Derek's reply.

  “I got your six,” said Carson as he turned and covered the end of the alleyway he and Miller had originally headed toward. “See what you can do about picking these fuckers off.”

  Miller nodded and lay down in the pile of trash beneath him so he could peek his head around the tire to see if he could get a shot. The alleyway reeked of garbage and human feces; the region wasn't known for modern public services; the two-foot-deep trench that ran alongside the road right next to Miller's face was all the sewer system that existed.

  “I can only get one from here.” He fired and eliminated one of the several fighters as the shot ripped through the taxi and, subsequently, the chest of the Talib who was behind it.

  “Hand me a frag!”

  Carson pulled a frag from his kit and handed it back to Miller as he left prone position and switched to a knee.

  “Give me some suppressive fire real quick.”

  Carson turned and unloaded a string of shots down the alley as Miller yanked the pin and heaved the grenade toward the group of enemies.

  The detonation shattered the glass in the nearby vehicles, but Miller was unable to determine how many, if any, had been injured or killed from the explosion. “Give me another!”

  They repeated the sequence and again ducked for cover behind the vehicle as the second grenade exploded down the road.

  “We need to move, brother. They're gonna flank us here if we stick around too long,” Carson said. He stood and heaved a smoke grenade toward the vehicles, followed by a third frag. Smoke began to gather as the frag detonated, and he and Miller stood to move in the opposite direction. As they did, a small cluster of armed men raced at them but were quickly eliminated by Carson in two quick bursts.

  Derek's voice came in over the radio. “Guys, we are speeding toward the mouth of the alley and will be there in a few seconds.”

  “Roger. We are headed toward the opposite end of our original pickup now,” exclaimed Carson. “Be advised, we are getting heat from both ends.”

  The whole area had quickly become a lousy place to be an American. Going into the hornet's nest was one thing, but stirring it up was another, and they had taken a baseball bat to it.

  In the speeding Ford, Randy pointed to the alleyway as he and Derek approached the new rendezvous point. “There's the outlet.”

  Derek swung the vehicle in front of the alley as Carson and Miller sprinted toward the truck, taking fire from multiple directions.

  “Let's go, boys, we aren't getting much of a suntan out here,” yelled Randy from the shot-out window.

  Miller climbed into the back seat as Carson leaped into the truck bed and lay down.

  The area was full of smoke and protesters. The sound of crackling gunfire rang out again as Derek stomped the gas pedal. As he did, a burst of rounds lit up the rear quarter panel of the truck, barely missing Carson.

  “Ahh fuck!” yelled Carson. “Go, go, go!”

  As the truck started forward again, a round from another security vehicle ripped through the rear window and Randy's seat, killing him instantly and shoving him into the dashboard.

  Derek screamed as he continued to accelerate. “Shit! Randy!”

  Miller reached forward from the backseat and grabbed his longtime friend to check his status.

  “Carson, I need you, buddy,” screamed Derek into his throat piece.

  “On it.”

  Carson stood and mounted the heavy machine gun in the truck bed to return fire on the pursuing security vehicle.

  The first burst of rounds penetrated the driver's side of the vehicle in pursuit; it spun out of control, crashing through a series of fruit and vegetable carts along the side of the road.

  Derek peered through the rearview mirror as his teammate wreaked havoc on the vehicle and the surrounding area behind him. “Nice work. Get back down. I think we're clear for a bit.”

  As a cab driver on the side of the road swung his door open to get out of his car, Derek sped by and ripped the door from its hinges, sending the driver into a fit.

  “Randy! Randy! C'mon, brother!” screamed Miller. He shook the seat, hoping for a response as Derek used his free hand to reach across and feel for a pulse.

  “Fuck!”

  “No. No, this can't happen. C'mon, Randy, don't do this, brother,” pleaded a helpless Miller.

  “I am sorry, man, he is gone,” said Derek as he removed his fingers from Randy's neck. Randy had taken a clear shot to the head.

  The team continued on toward the safe house and was able to avoid any other pursuit vehicles.

  Sunday, January 31

  Miram Shah, Pakistan

  Safe House

  2053 Hrs

  The mood was somber as the team pulled in, but they wouldn't have time to mourn Randy's death. Their primary focus now would be exiting the country and getting home. They had accomplished quite enough for their first trip. If they stayed any longer, there wouldn't be anyone left.

  Randy had been a crucial part of the team, and Derek had grown quite close to his second-in-command over the course of the training and certainly over the past several days. Still, no one had been closer to him than Miller, who had served on the same ODA with Randy in Special Forces for more than five years. The two had been all over the world together and created an unbreakable bond. Miller sat in the corner across the courtyard, crying, as Derek and Carson gathered their stuff and prepared to depart.

  Derek approached Miller cautiously. “Hey, man, I can't tell you how sorry I am. He was a good friend, I know. But I still need you. We have to get out of here. He'd want you to get out of here.”

  Miller slowly looked up and nodded in agreement as he swiped a forearm across his face. “I'm good. Let's get out of here.”

  “Alright. Carson called the air crew. We're going to meet them in Kabul, and they'll fly all five of us out of here, but we need to get back and pick up Grimes.”

  Miller sniffed and nodded. He stood and grabbed his bag as Derek patted him on the back. They headed toward the driveway.

  Shafi had worked with Aziz to get another vehicle from a friend in order to slip out of the country. They hoped darkness and a different car would make the ride less eventful.

  C H A P T E R 21

  Tuesday, February 2

  Everglades, Florida

  Maverick Training Facility

  0725 Hrs

  The plane touched down as the sun began to break over the horizon, causing the morning fog to creep off the nearby swamp.

  The flight home had been entirely different than the trip out. The men had hardly talked at all, yet no one had slept. By most standards, the first mission had been a success. The team had infiltrated two countries and eliminated four major players in the War on Terror, but losing two team members had devastated the remaining men. Going into the mission, fewer than ten Americans, including themselves, had even known of their existence. And now that number was whittl
ed down even further.

  Carlisle stood and waited as the door opened and the plane stairs folded down. He snapped his fingers and directed a team of men to the rear of the plane to remove Randy and Grimes as the rest of the team deplaned in the front.

  Miller and Carson walked directly to the building across the runway, where they had all first met, as Derek approached Carlisle.

  “I am sorry about your men, Derek. They were great soldiers. Patriots.”

  Derek nodded as he stared over at the bodies, which were being escorted out of the plane toward the hangar.