Beyond Valor

by Lindsay McKenna

  Luke leaped back as Shaheen jerked opened the door. Instantly, Gholam came inside, his lips drawn away from his yellowed teeth, his rifle pointed in his face.

  “I want the woman pilot!” he snarled, jabbing a finger toward Aylin Sahin. “She stays here! She’s my insurance you will bring my wife and baby back to me. Now move!” He jabbed the rifle barrel into Khalid’s chest.

  Luke remained crouched where he was. This was crazy!

  “She has Lokhay,” Khalid said, glaring into the back toward the Taliban soldier. “You can’t do this.”

  “Yes, I can. And I will.” Gholam sneered into Shaheen’s face and jerked his hand, indicating Aylin should come out of the cockpit.

  The woman was one cool customer, her face expressionless, her gold-brown eyes narrowed on the soldier. It was the gleam in them that told Luke this Apache pilot wasn’t the least ruffled by the threat.

  “I’ll go,” Aylin said, unhooking her harness. She pulled the pistol strapped to the chest of her Kevlar vest and slowly placed it where Gholam could see it. “I’ll play hostage,” she told Khalid in English, derision in her tone. A slight, feral grin came to her lips for that moment. Pushing to her feet after taking off her helmet, she squeezed between the two seats.

  “Put your rifle down,” Aylin growled at the Taliban leader in Pashto. “I’ll be your hostage, you pitiful excuse of a dog. What true Muslim man would hold a woman hostage?” she added.

  Gholam’s lips moved away from his teeth as he met and locked gazes with the woman pilot. He lowered his rifle and moved out of the back of the helo.

  Luke watched the brave Turkish pilot. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. For a moment, she was nothing but pure warrior, the look in her eyes lethal as she regarded the five Taliban soldiers outside the helo, all their rifles pointed up at her.

  “Cowards,” she muttered to Luke and Khalid. “What scared little boys they are, eh?”

  Khalid barely smiled. “Be kind to them, Captain. They have no idea what and who you are.”

  Laughing huskily, Aylin turned, her hands on either side of the door. “They do not know the warrior Turks, do they?”

  “No,” Khalid said evenly, “and I hope they don’t need to find out. Just stand down and be patient. I’ll be back to pick you up. That’s a promise.”

  “I’ll take an Afghan’s word anyday,” Aylin called over her shoulder.

  Luke watched Aylin walk like a graceful cat out of the helo. She moved away from the slowing blades, her head held at an imperious angle. The five soldiers scrambled and rushed to catch up with the proud, unflappable Aylin Sahin. Luke admired the woman. She was fearless, but then, that was what everyone said of her at Camp Bravo. She ambled into the cave as if she owned the place.

  Khalid turned. “Luke, go ahead and prepare for Tahira. I have to stay with the helicopter.”

  “Roger that, sir.” Luke quickly exited the helo, his medic bag on his shoulder.

  Another Taliban soldier, a young, thin boy no more than fifteen years old, approached them.

  “Take me to Lord Gholam’s wife,” he ordered the boy in Pashto.

  The boy’s eyes widened with surprise that Luke spoke their language. Bobbing his head, he quickly lowered his rifle and gestured for Luke to follow him. He trotted off and Luke followed on his heels.

  Megan’s eyes widened when Luke stepped through the door. In that split second, their gazes met. So much silently passed between them. Her throat closed with tears, but she gulped them back.

  Luke smiled as he approached Tahira. Kneeling down on the other side of her litter opposite Megan, he softly introduced himself. The woman’s face relaxed. Luke had a way with everyone. He had a way with her.

  Quickly, Megan filled him in. Just as she finished, Gholam and two soldiers entered. The leader’s eyes were dark with worry as his gaze flew to his weakened wife.

  “I am fine, husband,” she protested, waving her hand weakly. “I am being very well cared for.”

  Luke rose to his feet. “We need to transport her to the helo right now,” he told Gholam in a firm voice. “No more waiting and no more games.”

  Glaring at the medic, Gholam ordered his soldiers to pick up the litter. They did so with great gentleness. Gholam opened the door and exited.

  Luke moved to Megan’s side while they came down the rocky hill toward the medevac.

  “Are you all right?” he demanded, giving her a concerned look. Megan wore a scarf over her head, her expression strained. He wanted desperately to embrace her, kiss her, make love to her, but none of that was possible.

  “I’m fine,” she replied in English, holding the IV above the litter.

  “Gholam’s holding our copilot as hostage,” he warned her.

  “What?” Megan gasped.

  “Shh, it’s all right. They took Captain Aylin Sahin. She’s from Turkey and I think you know her from Camp Bravo.”

  Nodding, Megan slowed as the men slowed. “Yes. You don’t mess with her.” They were going down a very steep embankment. She slid and caught herself. The soldiers were like goats and were able to traverse the slippery, graveled path with assuredness.

  “Tahira is a ticking time bomb,” Megan warned. “Is there a surgical operating team waiting for her at Bagram?”

  “Yes.” Luke looked up as they approached the helo, the blades now still. “All we have to do is get her there before she starts hemorrhaging.”

  “Right now she’s stable,” Megan said, giving him the blood pressure and pulse information.

  “Good to hear.” He hurried ahead and trotted up to the lip of the medevac. There was a special litter anchored to the floor. With the help of Gholam and the other two soldiers, they carefully transferred Tahira onto the gurney. Megan climbed in and knelt at the woman’s shoulder, hooking the IV overhead. It left her free to help place the dark green wool blankets over her.

  Gholam remained at the helo’s door, his gaze pinned worriedly on his wife.

  “I’ll be fine, husband,” Tahira called. “I am in good hands.”

  Reaching in, he gripped his wife’s long, graceful hand. Kissing it fiercely, he rasped, “Come back to me, beloved. Bring our baby back with you. Life is not worth living without you....”

  Tahira nodded, giving her husband a tender smile. “Pray for us, my husband. I know Megan will be calling you on the radio and letting you know how our baby and I are doing.”

  Megan was touched by the leader’s sudden, raw anxiety and love he clearly felt for his wife. She met Gholam’s eyes, which were filled with tears.

  “I promise, I will call you, Lord Gholam. As soon as we land at Bagram, I’ll be on the radio and let you know how Tahira is doing.” Megan touched her heart. “I promise.”

  Glaring at her, Gholam said, “You had better! If I don’t hear from you, I will behead that arrogant woman pilot! Understand?”

  Megan gulped and nodded. Gholam wouldn’t get near the Turk, but she didn’t tell him that.

  Gholam retreated and so did his soldiers. All rifles were now on their shoulders, no longer a threat.

  “Let’s turn and burn,” Shaheen told them over the intercom. “Close that door and let’s go!”

  Tahira’s eyes widened as the door shut. It became a murky darkness in the cabin, the medevac shaking and shuddering as the blades whirled faster and faster. Megan saw the woman’s fear and she reached over and held Tahira’s hand. She had never flown before, and Megan didn’t want the stress to push her into starting contractions or hemorrhaging.

  “It’s going to be all right,” Megan said. With Luke’s help, they put a helmet on Tahira’s head, explaining it would stop the racket and noise. And she could hear them speak to her through the intercom. The gesture wasn’t wasted, Megan discovered. Almost instantly, Tahira relaxed as she heard thei
r voices within the helmet.

  The medevac lifted off, moving straight up into the cloudy sky. Luke placed a permanent blood pressure cuff on Tahira’s left upper arm for the flight to Bagram. They hooked her up to several instruments to monitor all her functions. The straps across the gurney were there to prevent Tahira from being jostled if they hit air turbulence on the way to the base.

  Megan focused on keeping Tahira engaged. Her eyes were wide with wonder. Khalid was a smooth flyer and he kept the medevac moving at top speed, hopping over several mountain ranges and then dropping into the brown desert plain that led to Kabul. Bagram was twenty-six miles north of the capital.

  She forced herself not to talk with Luke other than for medical purposes. The longer they flew, the more Tahira relaxed. Her blood pressure moved down, indicating she was no longer as fearful.

  They landed at Bagram’s hospital in a flight oval just outside the emergency room of the massive building. Khalid had brought the medevac in for a smooth, gentle landing. Megan spotted a surgery team waiting nearby. She turned and told Tahira about it.

  “It is a team?” she asked in wonder, still holding Megan’s hand.

  “Yes, just for you and your baby. There is a woman doctor who is going to help you, Tahira. Her name is Dr. Laura Hunter. She’s a baby doctor. You’ll be in very good hands with her.”

  “And will you be with me?”

  Megan heard the sudden fear in Tahira’s voice. She understood she was the only person Tahira had to lean on in this new, strange world. Giving her a smile, Megan said, “I’ll be with you every step of the way. And I’ll be giving your husband radio updates all the time so he doesn’t worry.” Or blow off Aylin Sahin’s head, but Megan didn’t say that. She was sure Tahira didn’t even realize her husband had taken a hostage. And she wouldn’t know.

  Once the medevac was down, Khalid cut the engines and the blades slowed. Luke was nearest the door and slid it open. Instantly, the team of five people in desert fatigues rushed forward, a gurney on wheels propelled between them. Megan kept up patter with Tahira as she released the straps across her. She told her what was going to happen next. In a minute, they had her transferred to the gurney. Megan scooted out the door and moved to Tahira’s side, placing her hand against the woman’s shoulder. As they moved toward the hospital emergency room doors, wheeling the gurney, Megan made her first call to Gholam. He answered immediately.

  “I want to talk to my wife.”

  Megan placed the radio in Tahira’s hand. She spoke soothingly to her husband.

  By the time they wheeled Tahira into the emergency room, Luke was at Megan’s side. He was giving Dr. Laura Hunter all the medical information on Tahira. The woman was already in green scrubs, ready for surgery even though he knew Tahira didn’t know what was going to happen in a few minutes. As soon as Tahira had talked to her husband and signed off, they wheeled her into a surgical prep room.

  Megan saw Luke move back near the door of the room. His job was over. She gave him a quick smile and he responded in kind before he left. Returning her attention to Tahira, she continued to speak quietly in Pashto to the woman so she wouldn’t become frightened and confused by all the activity going on around her. A nurse came up and put another medication in her IV.

  “Tahira, this will help you rest,” Megan told her. “You will feel drowsy and soon you will be asleep. When you wake up, I’ll be here. I’m not leaving your side.”

  Tahira started to speak, but her lashes sank downward. The drug took effect. Stepping away, Dr. Hunter gave quiet orders to prep the patient.

  Megan felt shaky. She was safe. She was no longer under a rifle bead with Gholam wanting to kill her. Suddenly, as she watched the doctor begin to examine Tahira, she felt faint. Leaning against the wall, eyes closed, Megan allowed all the fear of dying to overwhelm her. Then she pushed it aside since she wanted to be in the surgery with Tahira.

  Megan knew her way around the hospital and went down the hall with the team. She didn’t see Luke. It was a busy place with doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff in constant motion. She pushed a door open. Inside were clean scrubs and deep sinks to wash and clean off her arms and hands before donning surgical gloves. Megan knew she wasn’t going to help in the surgery, but she would be present to give Dr. Hunter anything she needed to know about Tahira.

  As she scrubbed her hands and arms with surgical soap, Megan prayed that nothing would go wrong. Aylin Sahin’s life hung in the balance. And so did Tahira’s and her baby’s lives, as well.

  Chapter 17

  Luke waited impatiently outside the surgical theater. Tension ate at him. It had been an hour and a half since Megan went in with the surgery team to operate on Tahira. Tiredness washed through him. He had barely slept since her kidnapping.

  The doors opened.

  Megan gave Luke a weary smile and a thumbs-up. She stood back as the gurney bearing a conscious Tahira rolled by. In Tahira’s arms was a newly born baby, crying lustily in her arms. The whole surgical team was all smiles.

  “Success,” she told Luke, standing near him as she pulled the radio from beneath her scrubs.

  “Went well?”

  “Like clockwork. Dr. Hunter rocks. They gave Tahira a spinal block so that she could be awake to receive her baby girl.” Holding up the radio, she said, “I need to make a call to Gholam. And then I want to have Tahira talk to him directly.”

  “Good idea.” He gestured toward the team down at the end of the polished green hall. “Let’s follow them to her room?”

  “Duh.” Megan gave him a silly smile. “I’m so exhausted, Luke, I can barely think straight, much less walk straight.”

  He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “I know. You’re doing great, though. Captain Shaheen is here at the hospital. He has an idea, but let’s get Tahira assigned to a private room first.”

  Luke had a crafty look gleaming in his gold-and-green eyes. How strong and virile he was, his shoulders squared, the darkness of a beard shadowing his face. Just his unexpected touch made her go soft with yearning. “Oh?”

  “Yes,” he said, walking with her. “We’re all hoping Khalid’s plan works.”

  “Tell me about it?”

  “Khalid wants to convince Gholam to fly in to stay with his wife and new baby. He was talking to another OB-GYN doctor earlier and she said it would be a minimum of four days Tahira would be kept here after her surgery. Khalid will do the flying. He feels Gholam will have far more trust in another Afghan.”

  “Really?”

  “Do you think he’ll go for it?”

  Grimacing, Megan said, “I don’t know. He hates Americans so much.”

  “Khalid’s going to remind him it was Americans who saved his wife’s and baby’s lives.”

  Megan shrugged. “It’s a toss-up.” They rounded a corner and then took an elevator with Tahira and her medical team down to the second floor. Megan smiled at Tahira and touched her shoulder. Although she’d just had surgery, she glowed, the black-haired baby girl wrapped in a pink blanket lying in her arms.

  “Okay?” Megan asked her in Pashto.

  “Oh, yes. I long to speak to Jabbar...to tell him the good news.”

  Holding up the radio, Megan said, “As soon as we get you to your room and settled I’ll make the call. Then you can speak to him yourself.” Tahira’s eyes widened with joy. She gently kissed her baby’s tiny, wrinkled forehead.

  Luke spotted Captain Khalid Shaheen in his olive-green Army flight suit near the open door to Tahira’s assigned room. The tall, lanky combat pilot smiled broadly and congratulated Tahira as they rolled her into the room.

  Megan hesitated at the door with them. “What’s the plan, Captain Shaheen?”

  “Did Luke get you up to speed?”

  “Yes, sir, he did. Should we tell Tahira first? Let her make t
he plea to Gholam?”

  Khalid grinned. “Exactly right.”

  “I learn fast,” Megan said, her mouth curving. “Let’s go on in.”

  The three of them stood quietly in the room as Tahira spoke excitedly to Jabbar. At one point, Tahira held the radio toward Khalid.

  “Please, my husband wants to speak to you.”

  Taking the radio, Khalid nodded.

  Megan listened intently to the conversation between the pilot and the Taliban leader. She saw hope burning in Tahira’s dark eyes, clinging to every word.

  Khalid gave them a thumbs-up. He turned to Megan and whispered, “Gholam’s agreed to come here.”

  “Yes,” Megan said softly. “That’s good news.”

  Seeing the weariness in her blue eyes, Luke reached out and touched her cheek. “You’re incredible.”

  His whispered words, the grazing touch of his fingers across her cheek, made her weak with need. There was a burning light in Luke’s gaze as he smiled down at her. It was a very male smile. A man wanting his woman. All Megan wanted was to be alone with Luke and love him.

  “Okay,” Khalid announced, turning off the radio and smiling over at Tahira, “Jabbar has agreed to fly in.” He handed the radio to Megan. Looking at his watch, he said, “I’m going to Ops right now. I’ll file a flight plan and take off. If everything goes well, I’ll be back here in about two hours.”

  “Wonderful!” Tahira cried. “Thank you so much, Captain Shaheen. I know my husband has great faith and trust in you.”

  Khalid nodded. “Jabbar is in good hands with me.” He looked over at Luke and Megan. “You’ll stay with her until I return?”

  “Absolutely,” Megan said, moving to Tahira’s bedside. She gently touched the sleeping baby’s soft black hair. “We’ll keep Tahira company.”

  Khalid strode to the door and Luke opened it.

  Tahira sighed and looked up at Megan. “I am so happy, Megan. You helped bring this all about. I am very sleepy now.”