by Mike Ryan
The Cain Conspiracy
By
Mike Ryan
Maverick Spur Publishing
Copyright © 2013 by Mike Ryan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously
Formatting by Polgarus Studio
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Chapter 1
Syria—Two U.S. citizens were captured and being held hostage in the basement of a Syrian house in the city of Al Qutayfa. They were part of a 23 member United Nations peacekeeping force that were monitoring events in the Golad Heights area between Israel and Syria. The other hostages had already been released and negotiations with the U.S. for the safe return of the Americans had broken down. The U.S. government decided the best course of action was to send in a small, elite team of soldiers to find the hostages and bring them back home. The U.S. Ambassador set up a meeting with Syrian officials for the following week to talk about freeing the hostages knowing that it would never take place. With luck, the team of soldiers would bring the prisoners back before then. The plan was set into action for the following night.
A ten man force of Team Delta soldiers slipped into Syrian territory using the Lebanon border to enter. Lebanon officials were appraised of the action and were completely cooperating with the mission. The Lebanon government was happy to help as they had their own issues with Syria. All entries between the two countries had been closed down due to feuding and policy differences. Lebanon agreed to also let the U.S. use its airspace for the missions conclusion. Black Hawk helicopters from the 160th SOAR would bring the team and its evacuees to safety into Lebanon territory before heading to their base in Israel. The Night Stalkers, as they’re frequently called, are often used on missions conducted at night and at high speeds. Al Qutayfa was less than 50 miles from the Lebanon border so a small band of soldiers could still reach the city on foot in a relatively quick period of time. It would also be close enough for them to evacuate on the Black Hawk and be out of Syria within minutes. The team had to be on guard for not only Syrian forces but also rebels. It was completely possible for Syrian forces to be on one street and rebels on the next street over. Both were equally dangerous to the squad.
The Delta team was led by Captain Terry. He had led several rescue missions before and had been on the ground in Syria previously. An informant had given the tip about the location of the U.S. prisoners and a picture taken with a cell phone was used as proof that they were still alive. They appeared to have some cuts on their faces so it was assumed they’d been beaten. There was no telling how much more time they had until they met their end so the mission needed to take place now. They were being held in the basement of a four story residence on the edge of the city. If there was a positive it was that they wouldn’t have to fight their way out of the entire city.
The squad reached the outskirts of the city by nightfall. They took cover amongst a clump of trees that were on the other side of the road that led into the city. There wasn’t much activity on the roads, but enough for the team to stay undercover as they waited a little while longer. They identified their target location as the informant marked the side of the building with black chalk. It was a rather plain looking building. Tan in color, there were four stories, with lots of windows and balconies. As soon as it slowed down a little more they’d make their move on the residence. While they waited, Terry went over the plan with his men one more time. Once they breached the building seven of the men would go inside to rescue the hostages while three would remain outside. Two would protect each corner of the building and the other would watch the door to make sure the backs of the other two soldiers were protected. As he finished up, Terry’s radio started.
“Romeo Two-Four to Echo One-Two, come in.”
“This is Echo One-Two, over,” Terry responded.
“What is your status, over?”
“We are just outside the target location. Waiting for activity to die down a little, over.”
“Roger that. Let us know when you begin your approach so we can get Super Six-Two en route.”
“Roger that.”
Captain Terry continued talking to his men to make sure there was no confusion about anything. “Everyone remember the rules of engagement, nobody fires unless fired upon. We don’t know how many people are in that building so be alert.”
The mission required precise planning and timing. Once Black Hawk Super Six-Two entered Syrian airspace it could possibly be subject to air defense missiles. Israel became involved in the mission at the request of the U.S. government. Israel had previously been successful at confusing Syria’s air defense system by using an array of intense electronic warfare operations to confuse and deceive Syrian communications. They were able to successfully block Syrian radar units to where they could not detect an enemy presence in their skies. Israel would attempt to do the same to protect their U.S. counterparts but could not guarantee the same results. Therefore, the ground team needed to radio Super Six-Two when they were ready to be picked up so they could arrive at the exact time needed. Any delay by the ground team or the Black Hawk would compromise everyone involved. A couple of hours passed and Captain Terry waited until midnight before beginning their approach. The road was virtually deserted and hadn’t had any traffic on it for over an hour. He contacted JSOC in Israel to inform them.
“Romeo Two-Four, this is Echo One-Two, we’re beginning our approach now, over,” Terry said.
“Roger, Echo One-Two.”
The Delta team emerged from the cover of the trees and quickly ran across the highway. They encountered no resistance and reached their target location without incident. There was a small fence surrounding the development, but it had numerous holes in it so the team had no problem getting through it. It looked like the complex was going through some renovations as there was a small ditch in back of the property that ran the length of the building with some construction material along the fence. The soldiers took up residence in the ditch for a minute as they sized up the situation. Three men stayed in their positions in the ditch to cover their respective areas as the rest of the team approached the door. Captain Terry quietly turned the handle of the door to see if it was open. He shook his head to the rest of the group to indicate it wasn’t. It was a plain wooden door which wouldn’t take much to break down. Terry stepped aside as another man stepped up with his size eleven boot and kicked the door open on the first try. The group quickly entered with their M4A1 Carbines raised, ready to fire. They hoped it would be a mission where they could quickly identify the prisoners and get them out before anyone knew they were there, without an eruption of gunfire. This, however, would not be one of those missions. As soon as the Delta team breached the door, four men seated at a square, wooden table jumped up with their weapons drawn. They were immediately taken down with a barrage of bullets. They were two more in the corner of the room that were dispersed of before they had a chance to reach their assault rifles.
“Nails, stairs,” Terry yelled at one of the soldiers.
“Got it,” he replied.
Nails was probably the most respected man of the unit. He was a ten-year soldier and was often picked for the toughest assignments. He was nicknamed Nails by his fellow soldiers for being as “tough as nails”. He never complained about anything and just did his job as well as he could. Everyo
ne respected him for it. Nails had his eyes, and his M4, locked on the stairs to the side of the room in case any of the insurgents came rushing down the steps. A few seconds later he had a couple targets in his crosshairs as two men came running down, only to be cut in half as they fell down the steps. The rest of the team carefully reached the basement steps and began descending down. It was pitch dark in the basement, though the Delta members could see with their night vision goggles on. As soon as they reached halfway down the steps gunfire screamed out, three soldiers jumping down the steps, diving onto the floor, ready to fire. The other three halted, and retreated up the steps. There were some barrels on the far side of the basement. It seemed to be the only spot for someone to take cover. Didn’t take long to find out as a couple heads peaked over the barrels seconds later. The prisoners were tied together along the side of one of the walls so they were sure it wasn’t them peaking over. The soldiers waited for the insurgents to fire so they could be sure of what they were hitting. There was a small piece of wood by Terry’s hand that he picked up and tossed across the room, away from the prisoners. The noise drew the fire of the insurgents, which immediately caused the soldiers to fire in their direction. The two men fell into the barrels, knocking them over, as the men laid on the floor, bleeding out.
“Shit,” Terry stated, as he heard gunfire erupting outside the building. He grabbed his radio to bring in the Black Hawk. “Echo One-Two to Super Six-Two, over.”
“This is Super Six-Two, over.”
“Prisoners secured, Six-Two. We’re coming out now.”
“Roger One-Two, we’re in route. ETA ten minutes.”
“Roger that.”
The prisoners were quickly untied and asked a couple questions to make sure they were who they were supposed to be. Although their faces had taken a little pounding, they weren’t in such bad shape that they couldn’t walk, which would make the escape much easier. The group rushed up the steps where Nails was still holding down the steps.
“Sounds like trouble outside,” Nails said.
The men outside found their own problems as a group of rebels heard the gunfire and rushed over to see what it was. The two soldiers on the corners were holding down their spots without much problem.
“Coming out,” Terry yelled.
“You’re clear,” the soldier watching the door shouted.
The group came out, Nails guarding behind them.
“We got ten minutes,” Terry informed the group. “Let’s move out.”
As soon as they began to move Nails started firing back into the building as insurgents came running down the steps. They got to the fence while still guarding their backs and one by one went through the hole. They were met with gunfire on the other side though as a group of rebels took position down the road. The team waited a minute as they figured out the best option. They had to move soon as more rebels were starting to flank them.
“Sir, we need to move,” Nails yelled. “Starting to get hot back here.”
Terry and two other soldiers started firing at the rebels on the road to provide a little cover for the rest of the team to cross the road as Nails kept firing towards the complex. Nails started to cross when he suddenly dropped to the ground. Terry looked behind him and noticed that Nails wasn’t moving. He ran toward him and knelt down at his side. Nails was still breathing though it was heavy and he appeared to be unconscious. Terry moved his head and noticed the hole in his forehead. Terry and another man dragged him the rest of the way as the rest of the group unleashed a tremendous barrage of gunfire toward the insurgents.
“Super Six-Two this is Echo One-Two, we got a hornets nest behind us, over,” Terry quickly yelled.
“Roger Echo One-Two, we’re comin’ in hot and heavy,” the pilot stated.
“Roger that. We’re putting smoke down just along the trees. Fire whatever you got north of that and it should give us a little more time.”
“Roger One-Two. We got you covered.”
Terry put down some green smoke to mark their positions so the Night Stalker could fire its machine guns on the enemy. Terry and his men continued through the trees as one of them carried Nails over his shoulder. Just as they reached the edge of the trees the Black Hawk came in as promised, firing its M240 machine gun just north of the green smoke rising through the air. A few rocket propelled grenades went scorching through the air, trying to take down the helicopter, though none hit their intended target. The rebels had no choice but to retreat or else they risked being cut to shreds by the Black Hawk. The Night Stalker then set itself down just beyond the trees as the Delta team rushed toward it. Once they all safely boarded, the helicopter was up in the air. The Isreali’s had successfully blocked the air missiles of the Syrian army so the helicopter was never in danger and didn’t even appear on their radar. As the Black Hawk flew back to base Terry took a few deep breaths and made sure the rest of his men were OK. A couple had minor bumps and bruises, but none sustained any major injuries, except for Nails.
“Romeo Two-Four to Echo One-Two, come in,” the radio bellowed.
“This is Echo One-Two, over,” Terry replied.
“Roger One-Two, what’s your status?”
“We have one man critical and have both prisoners in tow. Will need immediate medical attention as soon as we touch down.”
“Roger that.”
New York—Director Ed Sanders was concluding a meeting with his Deputy Directors when a call came in on the intercom.
“Director Sanders, sir?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“We’ve just learned of a situation in Syria. The possibility exists for a new recruit.”
“Excellent. We’re done here. Bring the information in,” Sanders said.
A man came in, file folder in hand, and walked around the oval table where the seven men were seated. He handed the folder to Sanders, who immediately began looking over its contents.
“So what do we have here?” Sanders asked.
“A soldier with Team Delta is in critical condition in a combat support hospital in Israel. He was shot in the head while on a mission in Syria.”
“And what are his prospects?”
“Actually pretty good. He just came out of surgery about 30 minutes ago and is in stable condition. The bullet’s been removed and they think he’s gonna make it,” the officer informed the staff. “His military record makes him an ideal candidate.”
“Excellent. Get the jet ready for Israel,” Sanders told his subordinate as he stood up. “Gentlemen, we’ll convene next week as usual.”
Sanders gathered a few things and called for his car to be ready. He summoned for a few operators to meet him. He made his way down to the basement where his car was waiting for him. He got in the back seat and began reading the background of the soldier he was about to meet. His military records as well as his personal transcripts which went as far back as elementary school.
“What’s the verdict, sir?” his lieutenant asked.
“There are some issues which we’ll have to overcome. But nothing’s ever perfect. I think he should do nicely,” Sanders responded.
Israel Combat Support Hospital—The four government officials stepped into the hospital and were immediately taken to the commander, Colonel Jefferson.
“Can I help you gentlemen?” Jefferson asked.
“We’d like to know all you can tell us about this man,” Sanders told him, handing the colonel a paper with the soldier’s name on it.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss anything with you.”
“I believe you will,” Sanders said, pulling out his top secret clearance. “Unless you wanna take this matter to the very top and I don’t think you do.”
“He had surgery early this morning to remove a bullet in his head. The surgery was successful and he’s currently recovering.”
“What are his chances that he actually makes it?”
“I’d say he’s already done it. Gunshot wound head trauma is fatal about 90% of the
time. The biggest issue is the loss of blood. Most die before they even reach a hospital. For those lucky enough to get to a hospital alive, 50% will die during the surgery. So considering he’s made it through the biggest two hurdles I’d say his outlook is good,” Jefferson stated.
“Is he currently awake?”
“Not yet. He‘ll be kept under anesthesia for the next couple of days so we can monitor him for any swelling in the brain.”
“What will his prognosis be?”
“Impossible to say at this point. If you want to say a man who’s shot in the head is lucky, you can say he is. The brain has two hemispheres, each with four lobes, and in his case the bullet was only lodged in one hemisphere in a single lobe. It appears that a limited amount of tissue was damaged.”
“How long will it take for him to recover?”
“It depends on his condition. If he wakes up and the damage is as minimal as we think it is, he could be up and about within a couple weeks. If there’s further damage than we think, it could take months or years. The major issues would be motor, sensory, cognition, memory, speech, and vision. Any combination of damage in these areas could set him back in his recovery. I should also note that 50% of people who survive will suffer from seizures and require anti-epilepsy medication.”
“I thank you for all the information, Colonel. I’m going to leave two of my men here for a few days in case anything arises that needs my attention. They will stay out of your way and will stay with our subject to observe the entire time.”